I Built Them a Buffet
Wasps stripped our new queen’s colony back to a few dozen bees, and it turns out we’d left them a snack. What we did, what we got wrong, and how it all traces back to a split that went sideways in June.
Hive Diary
The Board Said Four. It Just Didn’t Say It Clearly.
We did the mite count before the Apiguard went on. Four per square sounded like good news, right up until I did the sum against the area the bees actually cover. Then the treatment went on, and one label instruction cost me my favourite gadget.
She Went Up on a Mating Flight, and Didn’t Come Down
Colony 001’s virgin queen went up on a mating flight while we were on holiday and never came back. How we confirmed the colony was truly queenless, why waiting wasn’t an option in late August, and what a twenty pound queen from a brand new contact actually bought us.
Where Did She Go?
If you have been following along, you will know that we have had a season. You can read the full version in How Do I Fix This but the short version is this: a hive that went queenless, a plan that went sideways, and two beekeepers standing at the apiary feeling considerably less confident than … Read more
How Do I Fix This
Before I start, a quick note. There are approximately twenty different ways to do everything in beekeeping and every beekeeper you meet will swear theirs is correct. They’re probably all right. This is just our way, our season, our very humbling few weeks. Your mileage may vary. The bees’ mileage definitely will. Right. Now that’s … Read more
The Weekend Beekeeper’s Dilemma
The weather these past few weeks has been miserable. Showers, thunder, cold snaps dropping into single digits when May should be settling into the teens. And like a lot of beekeepers I know, weekends are realistically my only window to get into the hive properly. The girls don’t care about my Monday to Friday. The … Read more
Detective Bee Girl: The Case of the Missing Reducer
Something knocked our hive entrance reducer off and left scratches in the wood. The bees were furious. Detective Bee Girl reviews the evidence and the suspect list — badger, magpie, squirrel, woodpecker, rat — and reveals her prime suspect.
Bring a Lid: The Great Mite Count Mishap of April 2026
A spring varroa board count in County Antrim, a gust of wind at exactly the wrong moment, and what we learned about mite monitoring when the week’s debris ends up scattered across the apiary gravel.
Not Today, Bees. (Why We’re Keeping the Lid On)
It is hailing outside. Not drizzling. Not “a bit damp.” Hailing. In April. In Northern Ireland. So today we are not opening the hive — and here is why that is absolutely the right call.