Recent content by markrogers

hornets too! like the other posters we have had a flux on queen wasps but unlike last year we have had at least 6 hornets around in the late evenings. i have managed to squash most of them but i certainly don't want them coming in the house! oddly i have seen hardly any in the summer. i can't...

kighill i am using a standard plastic feeder with a hole in the middle covered with an upturned cup. i think it's called a doughnut feeder. my 'swarm' hive is shifting nearly 2L plus every 2 days, the nuke 1,25L every 2 days, the problem hive only about 1L. i have just moved both hives 3ft...

i have been worrying about one of my hives that had a DLQ and then had a lot of it stores robbed by wasps. stupidly i didn't realise quickly enough that there was a warped lath on the roof which let them into the super. they aren't taking the sugar solution down quickly enough and i am getting...

nic i absolutely agree. a few months ago i was in tesco's trying to buy sugar for my brewing hobby. the location of the price tickets, in relation to where abouts on the shelf the product actually is, is very poor. i even think it is done deliberately to confuse customers. i had found the 2kg...

thymol in tea bags i am a new beek, but with a livestock background, so my comments may be based on ignorance when related to beekeeping. However i would have thought that continual exposure to thymol, as used by the elderly beek with 75 years experience, would be very likely to increase the...

invert sugar with invertase itma i agree that using invertase (also called sucrase) appears to be the best solution. my research backs up what you say about the bakers yeast supplying the enzyme. the 2 products i have located both say the enzyme is manufactured from yeast. i have only...

Russell Sorry it was your post no.6 that i followed and not Roachmans and that showed £1.59/2kg and not £1.20/2kg which you had obtained. i will try following your post no.38 but don't know how to 'clear cookies' as you advise. mark

just followed Roachmans instructions for tesco online and found sugar now £1.59 per 2kg!! they have obviously responded to demand by jacking up the prices. oh well! we know the multi nationals actually rule the world. pathetic goverments, of whichever party, like ours are to weak and...

my original hive, though low on numbers due to the DL Q (very recently replaced) , has alot of stores. virtually a full super plus some in the brood. my question is would it stimulate laying if i put some syrup on? i am getting nervous that they are running out of time. unfortunately i have...

candy probs thank you all for your comments i will try all of them to see which one suits me best. the good news is that she is out and still alive. no eggs yet as far as i could see. you were right there, oliver. i did think that her abdomen looked larger so hopefully she will lay very soon...

as a new bee i decided to make some candy to block in my about to be delivered mated queen (to replace drone layer). having read, enjoyed and followed clive de bruyn's book i followed his recipe. which was boil water add sugar until you reach 5:1 then boil for 3 mins @ 107 deg C. (can't...

thanks for your replies. enrico- mated queen should be here on thursday gbh- it is the hive that lost the swarm, there is a queen and i have marked her(the first one i have found unaided in a hive). there are larvae and only drone brood. dr s- thank you for that v useful info. i am relieved...

sorry the time line wasn't clear. inspector calls 22nd june. old hive and nuke had virgin queens not laying, swarm hive had queen, presumed old, not laying either as all thaction had hapend a few weeks before. as there was no eggs/larvae and oly capped brood the inspector sugested waiting for...

i,m almsot certain I have a DLQ. there are masses of capped drone cells in the centre of frames and i can't find any normal capped cells. i treated the hive with oxcalic acid, on the advice of the bee inspector, 3 weeks ago as there was evidence of varroa. the hive had swarmed (which i had...

As i'm only a 'new-bee' i asked a very experienced beek what this could be. he advised me that this sounds like a simple case of bee dandruff. Apparently it is often under-reported. Although I thought it odd he assured me that as bees have a great numnber of hairs dandruff was often a problem...