Sheffield Beekeepers

@Bythebeesknees @ElmTreeBees I fear they might be consuming more stores in flying than they might be finding. Ill-prepared colonies might need fondant sooner than we might expect.

The bees seem think its spring today not sure if the warm weather is a good or bad thing for the bees. Still plenty of pollen coming in, iv not looked but with the lack of cold weather I'm sure there will still be brood.

Lots of criticism on twitter for councils cutting flower-rich verges, and rightly so. Hats off to @PowysCC for letting our local verges grow despite opposition from the ‘tidy brigade’. Meadowsweet, yarrow, birdsfoot trefoil, meadow brown & ringlet aplenty. More of this please

@eng_cam_noel @RhonddaBryant @adamboultonTABB You might like this, courtesy of Newent Onion Fayre. I believe the ‘exhibitor’ was a 12year old girl!

This is more about the scenery than the honey....stunning location in a deep valley wirh heather all around...sadly prone to katabatic winds...but gets serious honey most years.

I was watching a pair of #WoolCarderBees and their antics on the stachys plants when a bumble bee strayed into their territory 😮 I grabbed the phone and filmed slow motion - watch the little male wool carder bee come in from the right like a stealth fighter! #Shutterton #Dawlish

You just know when you here that noise that summats up !!! Swarm leaving the hive but all wasn’t lost !!!!!!!! I watched and waited and got the queen leaving, safely in a queen cage with swarm in new box 😑@britishbee @BBCRadioLincs @melvynprior @ZoeTheBall @DerbyshireBKA

This stunning roadside verge was up until recently managed by a resident as a short mowed lawn. With encouragement he agreed to allow it to grow for the benefit of #pollinators & #wildflowers I think most will agree this has been a top result! #dontmow @PollinatorPlan

This little strip of land beside a public walkway on a recent development has had wildflowers added making it a bee-highway and a haven for insects. #seedball

@SheffieldHoney Keep good bees, treat them well. Works for me.

Abandoned bee work after getting beat up 🙁 sod em

ANs firing on all cylinders but are hungry.

Was a buzzy Convention, but as springconvention.bbka.org.uk is open until May 31st, I'm enjoying Market Place exhibits again. Liking Worshipful Company of Wax Chandlers 'Pollinating London Together' springconvention.bbka.org.uk/exhib/528464 For Earth Day & beyond! #earthday @britishbee @PollinatingLT

Blue skies & #bees Perfect! Our senior #BeeTeam just get on with the jobs in hand, super group of young #beekeepers! #proud #BeekeepersHour @britishbee @EastLancsBees #youngPeople #outdoorEdChat

Anybody got any queens available? Struggling to find any early queens either overwintered or imported. Has brexit put an end to all queen imports??

Skeps & Hackles is an article I'm drafting about rural beekeeping. Skeps are cone-shaped bee homes woven from straw, grass, rushes etc. and made waterproof by covering with daub (dung+straw) or by weaving a hackle, a bit like a skep umbrella! @britishbee @BkaBev @BeeCraftMag

@ElmTreeBees Our collective experience is that the bees come back quickly and strong. Last year they demo hive I used had drawn comb and the queen was laying within 6 days!

@sheffbeekeepers Good luck to you and your members. We may start to shook swarm a certain percentage each year as a preventative measure and by means of comb replacement. It's a shame throwing all that brood but hey ho.

A fairly interesting piece on foulbrood. I'm quite shocked at the lack of information on this fairly common brood disease. The information available is largely outdated and superficial. Have DEFRA ran out of money for research or something? youtu.be/yOpJfrYTd9g

@ElmTreeBees EFB is a big deal. The “no big deal” refers to what we should all be doing-looking after hygiene at colony, apiary and overall management levels.

@sheffbeekeepers No big deal? I was under the impression Sheffield had a big problem with efb. Is it under control then?

A bit of a theme for #WorldBookDay @HoneySommelier @DaveGoulson @britishbee @nthnbeebooks. Current #reading and some of the reference collection #beekeeping

Welcome to our live #ScienceWeek Q&A for #NatureDetectives and anyone interested in how, why and what evidence we collect to help us protect the wildlife on our nature reserves and beyond! Ask your questions below and we’ll answer as many as we can – we’ll be here live from 1pm!