The Treatment-Free Beekeepers' Forum

I use fermented honey to make flapjacks (in place of Golden Syrup - Tate & Lyles in UK, King in US). Works really well for ginger flapjack (add chunks of crystallised ginger to the mix).

SiWolKe wrote:The seed balls I will try.
I collected many seeds from plants I saw used by bees over the year and can do the seed balls myself.
Wonderful idea!

Seed bombs are also good for turning wasteland into something productive.... with the permission of the owner of course!

First, forgive me if I miss anything - it's an age thing! ;) 38mm was decided by experimentation in top-bar hives. A few dozen of us tried various widths of top-bar from 32mm to 42mm (one size per hive) over a couple of seasons and watched for cross-combing (one comb being attached to more than one ...

On that topic Adam, what is the status of treatment free beekeeping in the UK? I've heard it is being done, but how genuinely sustainable is it? It's happening, but with varying degrees of success. One hobby beekeeer in NE England has not treated for around 8 years and gives swarms away every year....

GregV - 32mm is too NARROW. Hence the addition of 6mm shims to make up to 38mm, which is a bit more than in framed hives. It's been found that 38mm is best for the brood nest area as with natural comb (no foundation) you'll frequently see drone brood cells facing each other on adjacent combs, which ...

HI Ben and welcome from t'other side of the Pennines. I've only ever kept bees in top-bar hives. If you need any advice or tip on those I'll be glad to help. If all goes well you may get a swarm from your other hive. It's stunning how quickly than can build up in the spring in the right conditions. ...

I should add to that , I also consider the stability in the weather. In my area (NW England) we can get long periods of rain in spring which will prevent virgin queens flying and mating.

Added: I am thinking if you (and others also) have plenty of capped drone brood, it maybe an OK date to start splitting as well; just a bit risky in that the new queens will be ready to mate in about 3 weeks but the drones are ready in about 4 weeks; if split too soon, the drones may not be ready y...

Varroa Apiary wrote:... Are Homo sapiens is FERAL? Joking ...

Some humans are DEFINITELY feral!

I use top-bar hives with fixed (22mm round) entrances towards one end. The brood nest is at the entrance end of the hive in 99% of colonies (there's always one that hasn't read the book!). As the colony expands, combs beyond the brood nest will be for honey storage. I use this to decide where to sta...

FERAL - has been domesticated, but returned to the wild ie feral dog. WILD - has never been domesticated. While bees are not really domesticated (they just happen to live in homes we provide), most in UK that live in unsupported nests are described as feral to distinguish them from the managed colon...

I'd like to add my thanks to that. This forum has become pleasurable again. Well done all!

For the last week, here in the NW UK I've been able to smell the drying ivy nectar near the hives. They're clearly taking a lot!

Don't forget that bees don't see the red end of the light spectrum. Anything red appears as black to them, so maybe your red T shirt experience supports the black theory?

I live in one of the wetter parts of UK and have never had moisture problems in the roof of my TBHs. My roofs are deeper (minimum of four inch sides) than yours (by the photos on bee-thing) and allow a good airflow over the top-bars. For the roof covering I use aluminium sheet (litho-plates) recycle...

Hi Alan. I'm in NW England, but there are others lurking here. You could also check out an embryonic UK forum at http://treatmentfreebeekeepers.co.uk/ for local advice.

Most of my TBH are 48 inches long internally. I use seasoned wood of all sorts (cheap pine, red cedar, used scaffold planks, pallets) and have had no problem with warping (the oldest is eight years old). The sides are protected from the extremes of wet and sun by the roof which may help. I only prot...

I guess you can add this to the Warre and the topbar and all the whatever elses. There is no magical hive that makes everything better. We can certainly make things worse, but there are a whole lot of people using Langs successfully. I encourage people to try other hive styles, but let's not preten...

The evolutionary benefit of a big strong hive is the ability to increase reproductive success by throwing out swarm after swarm and to swarm as early as possible to take advantage of winter die outs. Hopefully not to the point of emptying the home nest altogether. Who knows there may be some hidden...

If you are seeing honeybees in your garden I'd try swarm traps/bait hives. To try and locate where those bees are coming from, have a go at beelining. Have a look at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJ7eqau_q5E for a description and method. The triangulation method (two bait stations a few hundred ya...

I have TBH with windows and without. Those with, I keep in places where land owners are keen to see what's happening and are happy for me to show others the hives. Those without (simpler to build) go to other places. In my early years the windows were (as you say) very helpful, but in time I've gain...

That has very clearly explained the "keep strong colonies" conundrum for me! Thank you!

In UK we usually find earwigs (don;t know if you have them is US but there's sure to be something similar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earwig) in bee hives. They eat much of the detritus on a hive floor or drop board including, I believe, Varroa. Hence the disappearing mite corpses.

Condensation is caused by humid air hitting a cooler surface. Speculation: Thinking back to bees in a tree, there is no additional ventilation in the summer, but they have at least 6 inches of wood between them and the outside world giving at least six times the insulation of the average hive. Extra...

Hi Moo I'm not quite treatment free yet, but close (one hive out of eight had a sugar dusting to knock back Varroa). I live in the far west of North Yorkshire (close to Lancashire) and the weather is my biggest challenge by far. My bees are dark local mongrels, most of them descendants of a feral co...

I have both solid & screened bottoms in top-bar hives. The screened bottoms are permanently closed. The reason for the screens was initially monitoring for Varroa, but as I treated less and less there seemed no point in building in an extra complication. In "Natural Beekeeping" I alway...

You could also try the method shown half-way down this page http://www.thegardenacademy.com/BK_-_Rescue_Frames.html

Once the bars are made they are easy to add combs to and I've found them very reliable.

Hi I live in the North-West of England on the top of a very exposed hill! Been keeping bees in top-bar hives for 6 years with varying degrees of success. The only treatment I've used in that time is sugar-dusting for Varroa. I've found I've had to do that less as time goes on and aim to be treatment...