Hubble Bubble ........a bit of hive keeping

After yesterday's swarm I inspected our hives to see if it had come from one of our colonies. All was well except that a vigorous lot had sneakily made lots of queen cells during the bad weather.One was opened which means they will almost certainly swarm in the next few days. We have part of a hive but the new floor needs painting and the frames needing new wax have to be cleaned and sterilised. Years ago I bought an old tea-making boiler in a junk shop and this is great for boiling up the frames. Washing soda in boiling water cleans them up a treat, dissolving old wax & propolis ( bees make this from tree resin and use it as disinfectant & glue!) and sterilising the wooden frames.