Hi Bill (Hughes), David (Eyre) and Betty (McAdam) First of all, many thanks for reponding to my request for advice, I mulled it over and plucked up enough courage to have a go last Saturday - here's an update from Monday night's inspection. CARNAGE! - Absolute carnage, there must be at least one or two thousand dead bees lying on the ground in front of the hive along with the shredded newspaper. A carpet 10" by 14" of little bodies, all with their tounges extended, stropping in submission? or a response to being stung to death? What a sad sight - what did I do wrong? At it seems that I have just managed to wipe out half the entire population of one of my colonies, is there anything I can do to redress the loss? How about feeding heavily to stimulate the queen to lay additional eggs as we still have 2 or 3 more weeks to go before the first frosts begin to bite. Cheers, Mike Pheysey. Oldbury-on-Severn, Bristol, UK (100 miles west of London) [log in to unmask] ---------------------------------------------------------------