Recent content by ChrisS

No further AH in our monitoring traps a week later. Fingers crossed!

There's more detail and a picture at https://www.bbka.org.uk/news/first-asian-hornet-of-2022-confirmed It was a live queen flying around in a shed until the householder swatted it. We've now got monitoring traps installed at selected apiaries around Felixstowe thanks to very swift action by...

To add my tuppence worth - I have several Maisemore poly hives and nucs. They are about the only suppliers who do Commercial boxes and 6-frame nucs. They are bottom bee space, whereas all my wooden Commercial brood boxes and national supers are top bee space. That was a deliberate choice, I...

I should add that I have absolutely no commercial relationship with NOD. Oh, that's not quite true - they did once give me a teeshirt when I bought some MAQS at a Spring Convention.

Well, this article says it's okay to leave your honey supers on What Makes Formic Acid So Special? – NOD Apiary Products I leave mine on and have never noticed any problem, nor have any of my local customers or other beeks who use MAQS at my suggestion.

As I understand it, Formic Pro is just an improved version of MAQS with a longer shelf life and some changes to the permeable wrapper. I know some people are anti-MAQSers but I've used it for years with good results. It's a simple one-off treatment and works with sealed brood (unlike vaporised...

Our local beeks around Felixstowe mostly use Commercial brood boxes and National supers. A couple of my colonies in Commercials are on 9 frames of brood - that would be brood-and-a-half National which is double the work, or 14x12 which is harder to manipulate. Commercial boxes are cheaper and...

I had a cheap canister blowtorch that worked for a while with my Mk1 gasvap till the piezo failed. I tried a Cadrim but I don't think it generates enough heat to do the job properly, so it has been relegated to kitchen duties. I've now bought a Rothenberger Rofire canister torch type 35556R...

I've been using MAQS ever since it was launched, in my own hives and other people's. I've never had any problems or tainting of the honey, bar the occasional triggering of supersedure which the instruction leaflet does mention. I reckon it's a very effective and safe varroa treatment but VERY...

Jo Widdicombe has written some interesting comments on this subject in NatBIP News NatBIP News No6 - BIBBA .

Yes, the workers can produce a viable queen from a 3 day old larva if needs must. This is vital information for beginners IMO.

...and that's why knocking out all the queen cells won't stop them swarming. It may buy you a day or two's time to get your act together!

No, I'm not saying other races are incapable of adapting. They are all the same species. By (not very accurate) analogy, a dachshund can mate with a greyhound - but the offspring are unlikely to be much good at either winning races or going down badger burrows. Genetic studies show that AMM...

Pure breeds of cattle, sheep, dogs etc are not genetically diverse. Quite the opposite - breeders go to great lengths to avoid propagating any genes that differ from the "norm" for that breed. This works because most mammals have quantitative genetic traits (think Mendel's pea experiments, or...

It's called genetic instability, all explained by John Chambers