Who's a pretty wasp?

#Swarm entering skep this afternoon. See how many #bees are pointing at the entrance, fanning scents out to signal arriving bees "in here!"

Alternative hive inspectors...

Fun fact: both #bees' and #butterflies' wings get a bit ragged at the ends as they age. Here's a pic of an old forager. Some #beekeepers mistakenly assume this is Deformed Wing Virus. It used to be a common sight, but these days "farmed" bees rarely live long enough to show this.

Just got a gorgeous gift - this book on #beekeeping by @jagungal.bsky.social ! About 10% of way through, love the writing style bubbling with joy, the amazing photos and so full of fascinating stuff I didn't know I didn't know. Learning lots of fun stuff. Need to read it fully and write a review!

Below one of the robbing/robbed colonies (see vudeo) bees were fighting.

Very odd thing here: two wild #bee colonies at opposite ends of the same roof, robbing each other. Went on for hours but by next day all quiet again.

It's an Ox. As in Ox Ford.

Just loved this post box in Oxford with its knitted cap.

National honey show. Zillion types of honey.

Propolis barrier from Warré hive entrance, built by colonies to reduce hole size to guard / reduce draughts / sterilise incoming air. Tree resins and wax. You can see it's not a uniform material, and surprisingly thick. A dynamic construction, removed in summer for peak traffic and airflow.

Queen cell from deadout. Features: dimples, showing the workers knew it was a viable queen. Cap hanging open, showing she hatched, not stung to death by a rival. Nearby cells are rounded.

Here's a hive (centre, against wall) in an orchard with some Blue Sky. The hive is heavy and glows strongly on a thermal camera - strong colony with lots of honey stores for winter. The curious circle is logs from a tree which a young child arranged as seating, and it's good for group chats.

Just as humans wear shortcut paths across lawns, bees may find it more convenient to use unofficial entrances. This WBC has a gap at roof level. Beekeeper has nailed mesh across (bees have propolised it - "we know ventilation best") and in summer the bees prefer this to the main entrance 50cm below.

"Is it the right thing to do?" Yes. Here are 3 Warres pictured with an IR thermal camera a few nights ago. The one on the left is wrapped like yours, its surface is cooler than the others, because the heat is kept in. Lower colony stress for the colony, less food needed over winter.

Hallo World! Are you hoping for something insightful and worthy? You may be waiting a while. Meanwhile, here is a picture of a family of swans waddling past some beehives. I think they were OK about me being nearby because they mistook me (in a baggy white bee suit) for another swan.