-
And there she was – gone!
The observation hive isn’t quite working to plan this year. I have had to take radical action to ensure the colony doesn’t dwindle away. Why didn’t the queen return successfully mated?
-
Shy, retiring, but very vocal!
After a very noisy start to the morning, at last the queen in the observation hive has been spotted. She has been hiding well for a week, but now she is laying and telling the world that she has arrived.
-
Winter losses in the USA state-by-state
State-by-state honeybee 2013/14 winter colony losses in the USA, but perhaps the stats are a little optimistic and require careful interpretation.
-
Local college takes to beekeeping
On a rooftop less a few hundred metres from Vita’s HQ, Basingstoke College of Technology has installed two hives. We went to visit them this week.
-
Heater bees or hygienic bees?
Heads down, bottoms up, these are heater bees, not hive-cleaners. If they could channel their energy into a light bulb, they could light up their dark hive world. More from the observation hive …
-
Do bees go bananas?
Ripe bananas give off isoplentylacetate, the main component of the honeybee alarm pheromone. So do bees react in the presence of a ripening banana? Here’s a little test!
-
The empty cell
Bees, huh! After yesterday’s activity around the queen cell, I said I expected the queen to emerge in the next few days. They thought otherwise and she emerged overnight.
-
Paying right royal attention
The one remaining queen cell in the hive is being paid great respect as the small colony works hard collecting nectar for their eagerly awaited royal.
-
The bees are back
The bees have returned to the office and are thriving as the summer nectar flow has just started. The colony is queenless, but a sealed queen cell is in prime position and we await her emergence.
-
Bees with pretensions
A swarm takes over a pheasant’s nest. The swarm is now happily installed in a more conventional home, but the pheasant is nowhere to be seen! Were the bees trying to go up or down market?
-
Vita swarm lure in action in Greece
A video from a professional Greek beekeeper who used Vita’s swarm lure hung in a olive tree to attract a swarm in very quick time. The short video is in real time!
-
USA Winter Bee Losses – is all as it seems?
Overwintering losses in the USA are reported down by nearly a quarter on the previous year, but are the figures an accurate and true reflection of the situation?
