Recent content by Gower

thanks for the link - very useful info. I'll be putting the QCs into roller cages, fixed in place to hang down by a blob of molten bees wax.

thanks for the reply. not sure whether I can do that though, as the heating element is wired into the lid of the incubator, and at the bottom is a small reservoir to hold water for moisture. I'm considering raising one side of the lid a fraction to make it a bit cooler than 37 degrees, however...

hi all I've "acquired" an incubator from my father - unfortunately its ancient and the thermostat is stuck at 37 degrees C. Is this too hot for QCs to cope with? I've a batch of plump QCs ready to emerge on Wed/ Thurs this week from a hive which i performed a demaree on recently, so I'm hoping...

.... chickens!!

hi there I've just acquired an incubator that my father used for his hickens, however the thermostat has stuck (it's quite an old model) and the temp is a constant 37 degrees centigrade - is this too hot? i have a hive which I've demareed, so there are about 6 or 7 plump QCs that i intend to...

thank you both very much - and the pollinator plant list is very useful too! I like the detail on the Old Man's Beard (Clematis cirrhosa 'Jingle Bells') which says it flowers June to October.

Hi all i'm looking to buy a bee friendly late/autumn flowering clematis to climb and cover a garden trellis - can anyone recommend a suitable variety please? it would be on a south facing wall with sun pretty much all day (if we ever get any that is). many thanks.

hi Sansai i received your pm and replied to you...

hi I have two 14x12 overwintered 5 frame nucs for sale, with summer 2012 marked queens, £175 each. Bees are very docile and placid, local mongrels with a lot of Welsh black in the strain. please pm for more details or if interested. thanks

drone brood and emerged drones on frames. plenty of health looking BIAS too.

yes, I did observe emerged drones in the colony, there was about half a dozen if that, however there are several small patches of capped drone brood. As far as i can tell, the queen (summer 2012 queen) is laying well at the moment with regular patterns of capped worker brood and plenty of eggs &...

hi, yes, as i put in my OP i recognised them as play cells - was wondering if there have been any early swarms reported though?

Second inspection of the season last Saturday, and in one of my standard nationals, there was brood over 5 frames - plus the start of a few queen cells on the bottom of 2 frames, but no eggs laid in them. These are probably play cells i would imagine but the warning signs are there. I've read a...

well done. I too had 8 going into the winter, but unfortunately lost 1.... Still, compared to some i guess that's pretty fortunate.

checked 3 hives today as 14C here this lunchtime, lots of nicely capped worker brood with small number of capped drone cells here and there. no drones emerged as yet though.