- ONBG (OxNatBees) is an informal mutual support network for beginners and experienced beeks who aspire to practise bee-centric, low intervention, and chemical-free beekeeping in Oxfordshire. To join the group and share ideas, questions, information and experiences, please use this site's Contact Us form.
Next ONBG Meeting
Sunday 19th July 3-5PM, Oxford
Twitter: @OxNatBees
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Recent Blog Posts
- Winter survival surveys show ‘treatment-free’ works August 5, 2020
- ONBG meeting, July 2020: a Bee Tea at Dee Cottage July 20, 2020
- Book Review – Interviews with Beekeepers by Steve Donohoe July 1, 2020
- Look up during lockdown May 1, 2020
- Preparing for swarm season April 4, 2020
- Covid-19: evolution in action March 31, 2020
- A new hive design: the Drayton hive February 27, 2020
- Victorian Twitterstorms February 4, 2020
- Top Bar Hives, warts and all January 4, 2020
- ONBG meeting, October 2019: Hive envy! November 9, 2019
- Convergent theories September 17, 2019
- Learning from the Bees, Berlin – bees au naturel! September 11, 2019
- ONBG+ meeting, August 2019: insulation, cavity size, Golden Hives August 19, 2019
- ONBG meeting, July 2019 – what makes a good hive? July 25, 2019
- At the village fete June 30, 2019
- Learning from the Bees Conference, Berlin June 24, 2019
- ONBG meeting, 15th June 2019 – TBHs, Freedom hives and a surprise swarm June 16, 2019
- Swarm stories June 2, 2019
- Grow, shake or drum? Transferring bees between hive types April 26, 2019
- ONBG meeting, 6th April 2019 – TBHs April 12, 2019
Category Archives: TBH
ONBG meeting, July 2020: a Bee Tea at Dee Cottage
This was the first ONBG gathering this year as our normal annual cycle of events was interrupted by lockdown. Our last meeting was in October last year! Precautions were taken: access to handwash, masks, social distancing, everyone took their own … Continue reading
Top Bar Hives, warts and all
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 BBKA News, HTBH, Inspections, Low intervention, Non invasive, TBH, Torben Fischer, Warts and all
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ONBG meeting, July 2019 – what makes a good hive?
19 of us converged on the beautiful village of Long Crendon to discuss and admire a variety of hives built by Eric. This led to a wide ranging discussion of a plethora of hive types and their tradeoffs. Background – … Continue reading
Posted in Apiary visits, Hives, Meetings, ONBG, TBH, Warré
Tagged Chimney, copper, forage, Hemp, rewilding, TBH, Torben Schiffer, Warré
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ONBG meeting, 15th June 2019 – TBHs, Freedom hives and a surprise swarm
Fifteen of us met in a beautiful cottage hidden near the middle of Oxford. The plan was to have lunch, inspect Top Bar Hives and see a nearby Freedom Hive, and we managed to meet these targets due to skillful … Continue reading
ONBG meeting, 6th April 2019 – TBHs
15 of us converged at Zuzana’s to see her Top Bar Hive, and particularly how to move bars around an occupied hive to make room for the nest to expand. This is necessary in large, established colonies in this type … Continue reading
New adventures
“So what are you going to do with the bees?” it was the first question that anyone asked when I said I was moving house. The bees had lived for two years in a back-garden hive but now the tenancy was coming … Continue reading
Training new beeks
In early February, we held a couple of afternoon training sessions for new beekeepers, to give them an outline of what’s involved in keeping bees in the UK. We started with basic biology, and how this drives their very alien … Continue reading
