- 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
Tag Archives: Drones
Other uses for drones (hive 3 always was a bit different…)
The wasps probing my hives are being put off by masses of guard bees at the entrances. Watching the way they approach then suddenly veer off, I was struck by this pile of living bees at the entrance to hive … Continue reading
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
ONBG meeting – and a Christmas quiz!
On a freezing November night, ten folk gathered in the Victoria Arms in Oxford to review 2016’s beekeeping and discuss our plans for the coming year. Paul unveiled a surprise test… er, quiz…
Wisdom from an old beekeeper – especially on varroa
I recently had the pleasure of meeting Ron Hoskins, who has been keeping bees since 1943 (over 70 years!). He has been on the BBKA executive committee, trained lots of new beekeepers, and is well known, firstly, for his conservation … Continue reading
Natural drone culling
Bees are clean creatures, and the bodies of those that die in the hive are removed by “undertaker bees”. I noticed a worker struggling to fly off while carrying a white pupa away the other day. Then there was a … Continue reading
Bees and Biosecurity: Simple measures to control infections and keeping the bees happy.
Trees and Bees, the obvious top bar link. I have been promising to write something up for the blog for a few weeks now. What with the recent furore over Ash Die Back and other tree diseases its been one … Continue reading
Posted in Apiary visits, Books, Ecology, Hives, Honey, Inspections, Meetings, ONBG, Products, Research, Swarms, TBH, Wax
Tagged Ancient Tree Forum, Ancient Tree Hunt, At the Hive Entrance, Bees, bio-secure, bio-security, biodiversity, chalk brood, climatic changes, cross contaminantion, diseases, Drones, Environment, fungal spores, Garden plants, H. Storch, Hives, Inspections, life cycles, Microclimate, nature, OBKA, Parasites, pathogens, pollen, robber bees, smocks, spores, suits, Swarms, TBH, Varroa Mites, vectors, weather
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Meeting on 10 November 2012
Today ten beekeepers gathered here in Headington for coffee and tea and biscuits. We introduced ourselves and our beekeeping experience, as Peter at least was new to the group, and then we had a very instructive talk by Gareth on … Continue reading
