[New post for sponsors] The queen does not walk randomly around the brood comb. How might this explain why shook swarms (and recently hived swarms) do so well?
theapiarist.org/walk-this-way/
#beekeeping

At what point does a labelling machine help restore your sanity? 10, 100, 200 jars? More? Asking for a friend 😉

'Turns out to be' … looks like it started that way 😉. The cages with the bars across the end are good. My blue pen, not so much 😄.

[New post for sponsors] The curse of laying workers and why they're rarely seen in queenright colonies, the survival of eggs after grafting and the (ongoing) attempts to produce bigger, better queens. Biology and beekeeping, what's not to like?
theapiarist.org/worker-polic...
#beekeeping

Post from the past
I don't think I'm going to write a post on Xmas presents for beekeepers this year, as it would probably consist of the same things as last year ... go on, treat yourself 😜
https://buff.ly/3ZxoLIY

In November, nothing says “failed queen” more clearly than drones in the hive and a load of unconsumed stores.

Ardnamurchan never disappoints …

Loch Sunart, 10th November ‘24

New post - Climate change and beekeeping

How will climate change impact bees and beekeeping? Flooded apiaries and poor queen mating might be the least of our problems. Don't think it won't happen ... it already is. https://theapiarist.org/climate-change-part-1/

Where’s your passport?

New Post
And then there were two. What happens when you split a colony into two? Why might ‘walk away splits’ not be the best way of increasing colony numbers?
theapiarist.org/doing-the-sp...
#beekeeping #localhoney #localbees

How do eggs appear in places the queen cannot reach?  Do these eggs produce worker or drone brood? If bees can move eggs, can they move them to queen cells?
theapiarist.org/do-bees-move...
#beekeeping #localhoney #localbees

Spring might be on the way ... the annual festival of froggy shenanigans is underway 😜