- 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
- Horizontal hive types January 17, 2021
- Bees Without Borders: conference report November 23, 2020
- Winter is coming November 7, 2020
- 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
Tag Archives: Winter
Winter is coming
The Winter Cycle It’s getting cold at night – time to fit mouse guards! You may see dark stains or frost on landing boards early in the morning – this is the humid breath of the hive condensing as it … Continue reading
Winter survival surveys show ‘treatment-free’ works
Each May OxNatBees surveys our members for information on winter losses. This graph shows losses year by year, compared with other surveys. The stand-out point is that our losses for untreated hives populated by local bees (blue “ONBG” line) are … Continue reading
Posted in Members, ONBG, Pests, Research
Tagged Beeinformed, overwintering, Survey, Winter
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Spreading the Bee Buzz #10 – Surviving Winter
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. Over winter insect life disappears from our gardens. The frosts have killed … Continue reading
Observations with an Infrared Camera
The seasons are turning: we have days of fireworks and poppies, of squirrels skittish on ripe conkers, and clock-hours turning back. I worry about the bees. As I walk, misty-breathed beside the Thames, I think of them huddled together in … Continue reading
Posted in Experimentation, Hives, TBH, Technology
Tagged heat, infra-red, Insulation, overwintering, TBH, temperature, thermal, Winter
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Spreading the Bee Buzz #6 – Spring cleaning
Below is the latest in our series on beekeeping for the village magazine. Having covered the basics last year, with an article every 2 months, we’re now going into things in a bit more detail, but still writing in a … Continue reading
Top Bar Hives in January
Although the buzz word (sorry about that) these days seems to be Warre, I thought Top Bar Hive operators who lack a window might like a peek inside a happy hive at this time of year. Points of note: The … Continue reading
