Recent content by drfraz

Sad news about Ronnie Corbett who kept bees in East Lothian. Apparently he used a special hive tool made of 4 candles...

A lovely country with great people. Very fond memories of my time there, it's a pity I don't get the chance to go back very often.

Was it only their collar you felt?;)

Nice bee related cartoon on the Oatmeal today http://theoatmeal.com/comics/bees_vs_hornets

Be a bit careful adding a dollop of honey to the top of jellies. I'm not sure what the water content is but I did some small jars of half quince jelly & half honey last year (which looked very pretty)and after a few months the tops were close to popping off as the honey had turned into mead! I...

The other hive seems OK apart from the broken crown board, but not in the best of moods when I cleared off the glass & put on a new one. I suspect it was some little sod who got stung when hiding from the police, as it's actually quite nice around here now compared to some parts of town. There...

New Queen from a split started laying last week & 5 frames of bees [/ATTACH]

When I was practising shaking bees off frames with one sharp jolt I managed to dump a large ball of bees into my welly and after a heart stopping moment, soon felt them working their way up the inside of my trouser leg. I walked very very slowly and carefully away and after removing boots &...

I think some bees don't like the cold. Mine are very placid on nice sunny afternoons, requiring no smoke and taking little interest as I take their home to bits, but when I've had to open up first thing in the morning or in winter for Oxcalic acid treatment it makes me wonder why I do this! Wait...

Extracting honey without lots of small children or tipsy adults around is a lot less messy.

Always wondered where our hospital sends it's sheets....

Marrow & ginger jam. Had to do something when my nephew kept bringing them round, even the local WI took some of the jam away.

I was planning to give one as a christmas present, so please make it expensive!

Home made from scraps of plywood on a rainy day. Bit bigger than an Apidea with 5 frames & was on the 8mm entrance. The first thing I noticed was the lack of bees trying to squeeze their way out.

My happy little mating Nuc with new laying queen got wiped out between Thursday morning & Friday afternoon. Hardly seen a wasp till Friday.:(