- 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
Saturday 15th July, Oxford – rooftop apiary
Twitter: @OxNatBees
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Recent Blog Posts
- Summer starvation warning June 17, 2017
- ONBG meeting, 13th May 2017 – swarms and exotic hives June 7, 2017
- Bees in trees May 29, 2017
- The ‘other’ bees: Steven Falk workshop May 22, 2017
- Cob beehive – an experimental top-bar hive adaption May 5, 2017
- Adapting to foundationless frames in a National hive May 2, 2017
- The Bee Meeting: North Tawton and South Leigh April 8, 2017
- ONBG meeting, 1st April 2017 – an emergency cut-out April 4, 2017
- Spreading the Bee Buzz #11 – Starting Beekeeping March 29, 2017
- Two swarms in the same hive: an update March 22, 2017
- ONBG meeting, 12 March 2017 March 14, 2017
- Beginners start here March 2, 2017
- Angry bees February 16, 2017
- Winter forage February 8, 2017
- Calm bees February 5, 2017
- Spreading the Bee Buzz #10 – Surviving Winter February 2, 2017
- Modelling a Beehive January 30, 2017
- “How many bees?” January 30, 2017
- Open mating and genetics – Drones January 14, 2017
- Bees nest in a tree (not quite) January 12, 2017
Category Archives: Swarms
ONBG meeting, 13th May 2017 – swarms and exotic hives
Eighteen folk met at Gareth’s apiary in West Oxfordshire, where he experiments with hive variations and populates them with free mated bees descended from the extensive population of local ferals. Gareth is a trustee of the Natural Beekeeping Trust, has … Continue reading
Posted in Apiary visits, Experimentation, Hives, Meetings, ONBG, Swarms, Warré
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Two swarms in the same hive: an update
Last summer, I wrote about the arrival of two swarms into the same hive. A wild swarm had settled in the empty top-bar-hive in my garden, and a week later a second swarm moved in. The arrival of this second swarm … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Hives, Swarms, TBH
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Open mating and genetics – Drones
Conventional beekeepers aiming to maximise honey production suppress swarms, replace queens with ones from breeders, and cull drones as a “waste of resources”. This post covers some of the less discussed, subtle implications of drone genetics; and advantages of queens … Continue reading
Bees nest in a tree (not quite)
The picture shows an apple tree in the garden next door. Faith spotted the comb after the leaves came down in Autumn 2016. In between seeing it and taking this photo something has been munching the edges somewhat; it was … Continue reading
Posted in Ecology, Garden plants, Honey bee research, Local lore, Swarms
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“Imkers and Angels” – musings on a 1917 beekeeping documentary
It is winter. I have recently found a silent-film about beekeeping, a documentary entitled Het Leven der Bijen or The Life of Bees. You can watch it here. The film follows a simple and repetitive structure. First a juddering title-card describes … Continue reading
Posted in Stings, Swarms
Tagged angel, documentary, dutch, film, historical, imker, language
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Racial profiling of North Oxfordshire mongrels
Like many natural beekeepers, I am interested in having locally adapted bees, especially tough “survivor stock” from unmanaged feral colonies which thrive without treatments for varroa mites. In observing my several swarm-caught colonies, all gathered ‘locally’, I have always wondered … Continue reading
Posted in Experimentation, Honey bee research, Local lore, Research, Swarms
Tagged amm, Black bee, Carniolan, Hybrid, Italian
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Spreading the Bee Buzz #9 – Local Bees
The latest in our series on beekeeping for a village magazine – written for non-beekeepers, and to suit the broad range of ages and knowledge among the readers. Beekeepers have sometimes imported foreign breeds. Some large-scale bee farmers still do … Continue reading
