E Hive, the swarm from Barton, has been in a Nucleus box for nearly a month. That was too long so today I put them into a full hive.

I hadn't meant for it to take so long but they were getting on fine. There were plenty of bees; they were foraging; they had brood. Also, I didn't have a serviceable box. I glued; I hammered; I rearranged other hives. Now they have a National Brood, floor with Varroa screen, roof and an innovation.

The Regional Bee Inspector visited my out-apiary today.

We went through all 3 hives and checked all the brood. There were occasional dead brood which had advanced DWV - evidence of varoosis - but thankfully there were no other diseases. Best of all, the colonies are clear of AFB.

A bee protects by using its' sting. A bee keeper protects by using a bee suit. I'm trying to improve my protection.

Small colonies are relatively easy to deal with. There are fewer boxes and fewer flying bees to defend the hive. Bigger hives are open for longer and they have more of the mature, defensive bees.