Perhaps curiously.. I'm moving in the other direction.
I had intended to standardise on 8 frame full depth langstroth boxes for brood and supers as 10 frame isn't getting any lighter and having a single sized frame seemed so convenient.
This year I happen to be running two hives with 10 frame...
I agree with tidymeup. .. just put some fresh wax on them and use them.
As long as they have a nice coating of wax on them there's nothing experimental about the process.
You will find pretty much universally that people having issues have tried to use unwaxed plastic foundation (or just did it...
Yes.. insulation helps in hot conditions. We have lots of anecdotal support for that down here in oz. Though I'm not aware of any large scale, properly constructed trials for this (victor & dave the paradise poly distributors were going to try this but considered there was so much evidence...
Don't have any rat-chewed poly hives sorry .. but any chance I could sore a copy of the power point and/or talk?
Not sure how evident it would be in a photograph but I had a lid slightly loose on a paradise poly hive and the bees chewed a bit trying to make themselves an upper entrance...
I bought a microscope from the USA.
It wasn't particularly cheap but it was Crap.
It appears the crappy product itself was made in china but three quarters of the price and the freight and 100% of the crappy service and support was the American value add.
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Do you know that or are you assuming that?
I like the idea of locally made but "bought in a local shop" does not necessarily mean "locally made" or even "well made".
It might be different down here in oz but we destroyed our local industry many years ago so the stuff in the shops is often the...
I need to see where exactly but I think I saw this referenced a while back and the key factor involved was that he had all the hives indoors during winter so rising ambient temperature was a problem for him.
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I have a vague recollection that you use paradise polystyrene hives finman. Does your comment indicate that you don't like/use their poly nucs which only have screened floors or... do they make solid floors for the local market?
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You could attach tubing to the pressure release outlet to operate a steam uncapping knife, much better than electric or water heated. Bewdy!
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Solar-tracking racks and all the bits required to make your own can be purchased from solar panel suppliers/installers
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By blending 340 tons of manuka with 1460 tons of other honey to make 1800 tons?
Most manuka honey sold in retail packaging seems to be blends with only a small proportion of actual manuka
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Is 'tolerance' the correct term/trait? I would have thought that you'd want your bees to behave like proper little flag waving, speciesists towards the mites.
Isnt the 'success' of varroa based around the fact the bees passively tolerate them while they infiltrate colonies/bees.
If you need...