Recent content by Firefly

Twitter says the Royal beekeeper told them. I don't seem to be able to post the link. For some reason, I'm reminded of The King's Breakfast by A A Milne - maybe because it's a whimsical rhyme for children

A true constitutional job requires a true constitution, I think. Not holding my breath

We have spent the entire 60+ years of my lifetime wreaking devastation on the entire invertebrate population of the planet, but the RSPCA should worry about the one species that actually has a dedicated group of people looking after it? Maybe beekeepers sometimes lack a little perspective?

Good tip - thank you. Like Sturmer Pippin, no good until after Xmas :-) Soft set sounds like a good idea, the same jar is rock hard now

What does it taste & smell like? We bought a jar this year from your part of the world. It looks just like that but Mrs F refuses to touch it - she says it "smells like a farmyard". I've heard dandelion described as "smelly socks"

Not a particularly spectacular image, but this huge and very late-flowering buddleja was attracting not only honeybees yesterday, but two species of bumble, wasps, bee-mimic hoverflies, four species of butterfly and at least three hummingbird hawk-moth. There was also a large dragonfly...

I have treated 3 colonies with this method this year, with reasonable success. All the colonies have recovered; one lost the queen during treatment (I've no idea if this was due to the treatment or other causes) but have successfully raised another. A second colony are now trying to supersede...

I've just come back from a week in Pembrokeshire and this stuff is everywhere (where there is water) - not sure if it's a bumper year - prompting me to do a little research. Water hemlock (Oenanthe crocata) and 'Poison' Hemlock (Conium Maculatum, as administered to Socrates) are different...

Hemp straw - e.g. from equestrian supplies firms or sustainable building suppliers. Lights very easily; no prep/shredding/collection/rolling; easy to store; doesn't go out easily; carry top-up in a bag or your pocket; plenty of smoke. Just don't inhale

"What do you mean, you left two queen cells?! "

I think you will still need to go through the colony again in a week's time and probably need to take down any emergency QCs they have built in the meantime. Probably you already know that, but I thought I'd mention it as no-one else did

I'll let you know in June - I have some beans close enough for the bees to walk to :)

But how many were going to St Ives?

If you Google 'rothamstead honeybees field beans' you'll find they did some real research on this on the 60s: " Abstract 1. Honeybees make three types of visit to field beans: to the extrafloral nectaries only (a visits), to obtain nectar through holes at the flower bases (b visits), and by...

In the 1980s, I used to visit Wiveliscombe on a regular basis. Some of the most beautiful farm land I've seen anywhere in this country: never seen earth so brown or plants so green anywhere else; Tolkien-land. There's a tension between the price and the elevated risk of growing OSR now that...