The beekeeper's world
Beekeeping
Getting started, choosing hives, managing colonies through the seasons, keeping them healthy and harvesting, step by step.
Contents
- 01Getting startedTraining, registering hives and finding your first colonies.2 articles
- 02Hives and apiaryChoosing a hive and setting up an apiary.4 articles
- 03EquipmentSuits, smokers, hive tools and extractors.1 article
- 04Through the seasonsInspections, feeding, swarming and wintering, month by month.2 articles
- 05Colony healthVarroa, hornets, foulbrood, nosema: spotting threats and protecting colonies.3 articles
- 06Breeding and selectionQueen rearing, grafting, splits, strain selection, instrumental insemination and stock improvement.4 articles
- 07Harvest and extractionSupering, harvesting, extracting and jarring.1 article
in the apiary
All articles
- Colony health
Asian hornet in the UK: how to identify it, report it and protect your hives
Asian (yellow-legged) hornet in the UK: how to identify it, how to report a sighting, what happens to nests, the 2026 figures and how to protect your hives.
- Through the seasons
Beekeeping calendar: what to do in the apiary month by month in the UK
UK beekeeping calendar month by month: inspections, supers, swarm control, varroa counts, feeding, winter prep and heather, from Kent to Scotland.
- Equipment
Beekeeping equipment for beginners: the full UK list, 2026 prices and a real budget
Beekeeping equipment for beginners in the UK: National hive, suit, gloves, smoker, hive tool, feeders, varroa kit, extractor and a 2026 budget in pounds.
- Through the seasons
Feeding bees: sugar syrup, fondant and pollen substitutes, when and how much to give in the UK
Feeding bees in the UK: NBU thick and thin syrup recipes, the 20 kg winter target, fondant, pollen substitutes, feeders, HMF risks and honey and organic rules.
- Harvest and extraction
Harvesting honey in the UK: when to take supers off, extraction, water content and labelling
Harvesting honey in the UK: when supers are ready, clearer boards, extracting, refractometer readings, rape and heather honey, jarring and the labelling rules.
- Colony health
Honey bee diseases in the UK: recognising foulbrood, brood diseases, nosema and viruses, and what you must report
Bee diseases in the UK: how to spot AFB and EFB, the rope test, chalkbrood, sacbrood, nosema and CBPV, what is notifiable and how the NBU, SASA and DAERA act.
- Breeding and selection
Honey bee genetics: inheritance, heritability, controlled mating and breeding for varroa resistance in the UK
Honey bee genetics for UK beekeepers: the csd gene, multiple mating, heritability, hygienic and VSH bees, the native black bee and how to improve your stock.
- Getting started
How to start beekeeping in the UK: training, rules, costs and your first year
How to start beekeeping in the UK: an association course, BeeBase, your legal duties, the cost of two National hives in 2026 and your first year month by month.
- Breeding and selection
Instrumental insemination of queen bees: protocol, equipment, success rates and UK rules
Instrumental insemination of honey bee queens in the UK: step-by-step protocol, doses, CO2, equipment and prices in £, success rates, semen storage and the law.
- Hives and apiary
National hive: dimensions, frames, brood box options, supers and cost
The British National hive explained: box and frame dimensions, bottom bee space, brood and a half or 14x12, supers, winter stores, the law and 2026 prices.
- Breeding and selection
Queen rearing: grafting, cell builders, the day-by-day timetable, mating nucs and selection in the UK
Queen rearing in the UK: larva age for grafting, the NBU queenright cell builder, a day-by-day timetable, the Miller method, Apidea mating nucs and selection.
- Getting started
Register your bees: BeeBase, the Hive Count, reporting varroa and the beekeeper's legal duties in the UK
Do you have to register bees in the UK? BeeBase and DataBees explained, the Hive Count, reporting varroa, notifiable diseases, medicine records and imports.
- Breeding and selection
Swarming: signs, swarm control methods, collecting a swarm and what the law says in the UK
Swarm control in the UK: why bees swarm, queen cell signs, the Pagden artificial swarm and vertical split step by step, collecting a swarm and the law.
- Hives and apiary
Types of beehives in the UK: National, 14x12, Commercial, WBC, Smith, Langstroth, top-bar and Warré compared
The UK's beehive types compared: National, 14x12, Commercial, WBC, Smith, Langstroth, top-bar and Warré, with dimensions, cell counts, weights and 2026 prices.
- Colony health
Varroa mites: monitoring, thresholds, UK-authorised treatments and husbandry control
Varroa in the UK: how the mite kills colonies, NBU monitoring methods and thresholds, VMD-authorised medicines, doses, resistance and the law in each nation.
- Hives and apiary
Warré hive: dimensions, building plans, nadiring, harvest and the law in the UK
The Warré hive for UK beekeepers: box dimensions in mm, building plans, nadiring, crush and strain harvest, varroa medicines, inspections and 2026 prices.
- Hives and apiary
Where to put a beehive in the UK: neighbours, the law, siting, water, drifting and moving hives
Where to put a beehive in the UK: nuisance law and allotment rules, shelter and sun, entrance direction, water, hive layout against drifting and moving hives.
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