Recent content by gavin

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    Asian Hornet heads up for the Scots

    The average honeybee colony is roughly the same size and scientists I trust (Seeley, Winston) report a range of estimates of the amount of pollen they would consume annually at 15-55 kg. Ish. Given that wasps will use some of their protein crop to turn into energy for the colony rather than...
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    I'm going to be lined up and shot.......

    This is Trump-like in its veracity. NIHBS is supporting PhD students, not doing research themselves directly, and if you want publications you'll have to wait until the students are ready. Their results are very clear and nothing like the statement above.
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    Beekeepers in the Floods

    Some bees there and equipment. Jason Learner and Jack Wilford, starting a bee business. Jason is a swarm collector for York Beekeepers: http://www.yorkbeekeepers.com/swarms.html I've met them through their NBU links (I was also at that Smartbees meeting) and on Abelo stalls. More on their...
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    Queen reared with deformed wing virus

    Yes, chilling (or overheating as HM suggested) on day 10 could cause malformed wings. Workers expand their wings around day 18-19 so 10 days post-grafting for a queen is also about two days before the end of the cycle. I've seen this myself this year.
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    Queen reared with deformed wing virus

    Queens in cells that have been chilled can have problems with wing development. After you trnsferred the cells to nucs could that have happened?
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    Newbies near Lanark

    Get some (one) old comb that you can trust from another beekeeper (ideally fumigated in acetic acid in a box in a black plastic bag for a couple of weeks). Put it in your new hive along with wax foundation. Stick the hive in a S-facing spot more elevated than normal, not too close to the...
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    Mini-Plus Hive (Beute)

    Bear in mind that there is more than one design of the Mini Plus. The Abelo (and Icko) one comes from Lyson and has the split box design. The one Holtermann and some others sell has just the one entrance and no partition. Without some serious hacking about it will not allow you to mate two...
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    Dave Cushman's Site

    I stand corrected. Thankfully the internet (OK, some of it) preserves itself. If you want to avoid anyone's commentary you can go back to the year Dave died, or even any other time before or after courtesy of the Wayback Machine...
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    Dave Cushman's Site

    Roger: Dave Cushman's friend in Sussex and entrusted with his site by Dave before his death. Roger never posts on here - perhaps because of the history between the old BBKA site (which he administered) and those who set up and initially joined this one. Polyhive: A different fellow entirely...
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    Conditions for OA treatment

    Good question I thought. I only use trickling for oxalic as it seems a lot safer, and a reasonably tight cluster works well. The bees are also less likely to fly up when it is cool. For sublimation you might have a dramatic effect on exposure rates if the cluster is loose and the bees very...
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    Small hive beetle in mainland Europe.

    A *very* risky strategy with so many watching and desperate to get some of the shysters out of the bee trade. Sent from my BlackBerry 8520 using Tapatalk
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    Small hive beetle in mainland Europe.

    How do you account for the huge tonnages of fruit and other plant imports from SHB positive countries, esp South Africa and the USA, yet it isn't established here? Fruit, veg, herbs, pot plants, these must all be a risk but they are nothing like the risk from casually inspected or uninspected...
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    raw honey

    Just stopping by from the Scottish forum .... Google: 'graeme sharpe honey' and you'll find a guy who sells at local farmers markets. He's also Scotland's beekeeping adviser. Alternatively you should find someone in the Ayr and District Beekeepers. cheers Gavin
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    Sourcing bees

    But the delivery charge is significant. I don't know which area code for 'Royaume Uni' refers to Dunoon, but picking one at random gives 75 Euros for bog standard La Poste which may not be suitable for live bees heading for the west coast. Anyway, local, adapted native or near native bees...
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    Wild flowers

    Must be remarkably attractive for wildlife if the monarch butterflies come across the Atlantic for that seed mix.
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