Recent content by Gilberdyke John

A 'Merikan personnel/management tool used in assessing an employee. Draw a pair of axis. Scale each 0 to 9. Vertical axis Attainment. horizontal axis Effort. A nine niner puts in maximum effort and achieves maximum attainment.

I seem to vaguely recall reading the words somewhere else? Probably not on a tee shirt though 🤔

Nice story. You'll be joining J P the beeman on youtube. After removal was there anything to stop reinfestation in the long term?

Were you a nine niner?

I make my own clear plastic crown board and drill a 25mm hole in the centre. It helps to draw a circle around the feeder which simplifies positioning when on a hive full of bees

Invert the feeder and fill the space with strong washing soda and a bit of bleach. Let it soak. Alternatively fill the space with Milton or equivalent.

Penzance, St Helier?

Or earlier when winter approaches 🤔

As a successful dowser using a couple of biro tubes and bent coat hanger wires, I've tracked down buried cables, pipes and drains in places I haven't previously visited. I don't know how or why it works or even if I miss some potential targets. I just accept the successes and forget about the...

Can't help at the moment but I have "Google lens" app on my phone which takes pictures and compares to a huge database. I installed it for plant ID purposes but discovered the database covers a truly vast array of other things.

Volume of posting does not equal value of posting. In my personal opinion such a split would obstruct/not provide members with the insight of situations countrywide (worldwide even) that we enjoy here under present arrangements. Reading the forum using the new post option brings up ALL the...

Not a water board but our local internal drainage board decided to merge with a few adjacent boards, allegedly to enjoy the benefits/economy of scale. Last year the new conglomerate moved from their long established office in Howden to a new build leased development in Newport (the East...

My far paddock hedge contains a mixture of blackthorn, Hawthorne and brambles with a few damsons at intervals. The blackthorn is just starting to flower. Nearer the house I have apple trees, pear trees and plum. The pears are coming into blossom but apples and plums lagging a bit. We had...

I recall during a hive thermodynamics talk by Derek M at York BKA he passed the cryptic comment "Bumblebees can be grumpy buggers". He didn't expand but the message stuck. There's a small, old hole in the concrete floor by the South West doorway to our stables. Evidently there must be an...

As the son of a market gardener we used both urea and formaldehyde (separately). Formaldehyde to sterilize materials, pots, glasshouses etc in winter between crop seasons, Urea as a growth promoter. A farmer neighbour called one day and encountered dad applying urea to the lawn. Asked what it...