Category Archives: Experimentation

ONBG meeting, March 2023 – new year, new lessons

Posted on March 9, 2023 by Paul

Twenty people convened at Gilliane’s to share thoughts on bees, and rather a lot of food. A recurring theme was winter mortality and factors affecting this: weather, hive design and climate change. Greeting and eating Food is a marvellous social … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecology, Experimentation, Hives, Meetings, ONBG, TBH, Warré | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Book review: Treatment Free Beekeeping, by David Heaf

Posted on February 9, 2021 by Paul

Rigorous metastudy marshals the evidence and pushes the debate forward Published by Northern Bee Books and IBRA, 2021. £24.95 / US$30, 119 pages, ISBN 978-1-913811-00-6 This is a seminal work – the first comprehensive review of treatment free (TF) beekeeping … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Experimentation, Honey bee research, Publications, Research | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

A new hive design: the Drayton hive

Posted on February 27, 2020 by Paul

A new hive design has just been launched by OxNatBees member Andrew Bax – the Drayton Hive. His new design consists of a deep horizontal hive which combines some of the best features of modern apicentric hive design such as … Continue reading →

Posted in Experimentation, Hives, Members | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Top Bar Hives, warts and all

Posted on January 4, 2020 by Paul

This article first appeared in BBKA News, January 2020. Background Over the 9 years I’ve been using horizontal TBHs (HTBHs), I’ve seen many experiments in design and use. This article is intended to help those considering one find their way … Continue reading →

Posted in Experimentation, TBH | Tagged , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

ONBG meeting, October 2019: Hive envy!

Posted on November 9, 2019 by Paul

17 folk converged on a north Oxfordshire village to share lunch, view some stunning and unusual hives, discuss When Honey Goes Wrong, and view the feral colonies round the village. Well, that was the plan. The schedule was instantly junked … Continue reading →

Posted in Apiary visits, Experimentation, Hives, Honey, Meetings, ONBG, Warré, Wax | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Convergent theories

Posted on September 17, 2019 by Paul

A potential problem with a natural beekeeping group is: members never talk to conventional beekeepers. So 14 of us visited a large (80 hive) commercial apiary… with a twist. It’s run by the Swindon Honeybee Conservation Group, headed by Ron … Continue reading →

Posted in Apiary visits, Experimentation, Honey bee research, ONBG, Pests, Research | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Learning from the Bees, Berlin – bees au naturel!

Posted on September 11, 2019 by Paul

The second international Learning from the Bees conference featured a recurring theme: bees in trees. It left two lasting impressions on me: It will influence German beekeeping for years to come, catalysing the spread of natural beekeeping; A paradigm-changing insight … Continue reading →

Posted in Experimentation, Honey bee research, Log hive | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment