The selection of green and black for the Correx nuc box is based on practical considerations derived from Bee-Equipment’s historical research and development (R&D) notes. Bees are inherently attracted to bright colours, with yellow and blue being, particularly enticing. However, using these vibrant hues elicited heightened excitement among bees, leading to increased heat generation and subsequent moisture accumulation within the box. This, in turn, resulted in the unfortunate discovery of too many deceased bees at the bottom of the nuc box. To mitigate this issue, green was chosen due to ..read more

Two Thursdays ago and on behalf of KBKA (Kent Beekeepers Association), I attended a meeting hosted by the Dover group, called to discuss their area status and problems. It very quickly became obvious that the Asian Hornets had established themselves and things have since moved very quickly. I am no longer part of the KBKA set up. Myself and some others have set up a group to deal with recruiting volunteers, both public and beekeepers, to monitor across Kent (and hopefully eventually the whole of the UK) for Asian Hornets, to include simply being observant, to actively trapping to confirm find ..read more

At last! After 3 years of struggling with a Welsh supplier we have invested £360,000 to take the means of production in house and produce first class products from Western Red Cedar at affordable prices. We have installed 2 CNC wood cutting and routing machines, planer and more. Western Red Cedar is highly sought after, being one of the most durable woods in the world. It has an aromatic fragrance which can be retained for long periods of time and it also contains a natural preservative which is resistant to fungal attack. The durable wood is soft and good for construction, perfect ..read more

by Tamsin Harris Beekeeping seems to have a language all of its own and a prime example of this is the word nuc. This refers to a nucleus colonly or half sized colony living on 5 or 6 frames, complete with a laying queen, workers of all ages, possibly some drones and brood in all stages of development. There will be stores and pollen to keep this small colony supplied and the colony will most likely be housed in a wooden or polystyrene nuc box, although it may be delivered in a temporary nuc box. See our range of nuc boxes » Nucs are an ideal way for a new beekeeper to obtain a colony of bees ..read more

Multifunction Crown Boards & Feeds - A blog by Tamsin Harris A glimpse of much welcomed sunshine sees our bees out on cleansing flights, foraging for pollen and bringing back water. I’ve watched them today visiting the snowdrops and crocuses and packing the pollen tightly into their corbiculae (pollen baskets). What can we beekeepers be doing now to ensure that our colonies pull through the most challenging part of winter? Thinking about their needs at this time of year is so important as there is plenty that they have to contend with over the coming few months but also plenty that we ..read more

The simple answer is yes. We use plastic foundation in plenty of our hives and the truth is the bees love it. They will happily draw out comb on plastic as they would on wax. Now given the choice they will choose wax. So don't give them that choice! So what about the colour of the plastic? Bees don't care about this either. We sell much more yellow super and black brood foundation than the other way around - but bees will put their stores in black and lay in yellow without complaining! Browse the founation in our sale ..read more

Earlier this year when we were told by the National Honey Show organisers that they could not give us the same stand position as the last time we attended. We decided, reluctantly again, that it was unrealistic for us to attend the show. Our stand is a fixed size and cannot be located just anywhere. But we did promise to pass on the money we saved by not attending the the National Honey show to our valued customers. The show costs us £6,500 in pure cash terms to attend. Email subscribers will have seen last week how we reinvested some of that saving in product offers our customers need, n ..read more

I’m an artist and daughter of a beekeeper, so naturally, I started brightening up my family’s hives, turning each one into a work of art as well as a home to thousands of bees. What started as a bit of creative fun has recently led me to take the leap and set up ‘BeeSpoke By Sophie’, creating bespoke, hand painted hive boxes and other arty bee bits. I always have a creative project on the go, and I've realised my favourites are those that add some beauty to a 'useful' object, something that is on display by nature, and might as well be a blank canvas for something special. This includes t ..read more

When Rain Is not Enough! Even between showers bees are out foraging for water. From later winter right the way through until the nectar starts flowing in earnest, the water gatherers are braving the elements to get the vital ingredient needed to rehydrate  their winter stores. Any ivy honey that is stored within the hive has set rock solid and needs plenty of moisture added to it to make it a useable food source for the growing colony. Over the years I have noticed that there are one or two sites in my garden that are the favourite spots for the water gatherers.  I like to give them ..read more

So here we have a picture of Ribes Sanguineum in full flower that I took here in Cornwall on 7th March. Historically it was thought that when the flowering currant is in full flower then your first inspection of the year can take place. How the seasons have changed! I would be inclined to say that when I'm comfortable wearing a teeshirt in a sheltered sunny apiary then it's time to get my beesuit on. It's the microclimate around your apiary that will dictate inspection time. I certainly would not consider inspecting any of my colonies at the moment as the detrimental effect of opening th ..read more