Bramble Path Beeshttps://bramblepathbees.com/A beekeeping diary from four hives in the Taunus foothills above Frankfurt: inspections, forage, mite counts, and the winters that went wrong.enMite counts, treatment windows and the August I missedhttps://bramblepathbees.com/journal/mite-counts-and-the-august-i-missed/https://bramblepathbees.com/journal/mite-counts-and-the-august-i-missed/Counting what falls on a tray instead of guessing, the two windows that matter on this slope, and the year I treated three weeks too late.Mon, 08 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMTWinter losses: three colonies, and what the combs saidhttps://bramblepathbees.com/journal/winter-losses-and-what-the-combs-said/https://bramblepathbees.com/journal/winter-losses-and-what-the-combs-said/Five colonies went into one winter and two came out. Isolation starvation, a colony queenless since October, and a roof I had propped up wrong.Mon, 17 Nov 2025 12:00:00 GMTSwarm season: the two weeks in May I cannot look awayhttps://bramblepathbees.com/journal/swarm-season-two-weeks-in-may/https://bramblepathbees.com/journal/swarm-season-two-weeks-in-may/Queen cells, the nine-day interval, a split that worked, and a cast that left over the hedge while I was standing in the wrong hive.Mon, 28 Apr 2025 12:00:00 GMTThe forage year on this slope, from willow to ivyhttps://bramblepathbees.com/journal/the-forage-year-willow-to-ivy/https://bramblepathbees.com/journal/the-forage-year-willow-to-ivy/Which plants actually feed these hives between February and October, where the gaps fall, and how a fortnight of rape changes an entire summer.Mon, 16 Sep 2024 12:00:00 GMTWhat I look for in the first full inspection of Aprilhttps://bramblepathbees.com/journal/first-full-inspection-of-april/https://bramblepathbees.com/journal/first-full-inspection-of-april/The first proper look inside after winter: brood pattern, stores, whether the queen is laying, and how few frames that actually takes.Mon, 06 May 2024 12:00:00 GMT