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  1. Martimart

    First inspection?

    I've been thinking about not feeding now and looking at the weather. They've eaten the fondant I put on in February, and if I put anymore on and it leaves no room for egg laying then they will potentially swarm earlier. From hefting, which I'm still rubbish at as only my 3rd winter, I think I'm...
  2. Martimart

    Sulphur Discs from Thornes ? needed?

    Thank you for your post.
  3. Martimart

    Sulphur Discs from Thornes ? needed?

    Thank you I'll give it a go.
  4. Martimart

    Sulphur Discs from Thornes ? needed?

    I've seen a e-shot from Thorne saying that sulphur discs are back in stock, I've never used them before or needed to. Last year I lent one of my hives for queen rearing and when it came back it was full of wax moth. I've not really done anything with it over winter. A couple of years ago I'd...
  5. Martimart

    What did you do in the Apiary today?

    Had a quick lift of the roofs and decided with the weather looking a bit colder, decided to put a small fondant block on 2 of the Hives. Whip em off and put 'em on 30 second job. Lifted the empty container off and up they came, legged it back to the house to get a smock on, went back and both...
  6. Martimart

    God I love growing our own

    I spend about £8 on enough onion sets to last us as a family of 4 an entire year. Put them in the unheated greenhouse for about 6 weeks then gently replant them into the bed where they will grow until they are harvested in August / September. One that's great is putting 8 / 10 White Lisbon...
  7. Martimart

    Complete dead out !

    You don't have to totally leave them alone, I can easily get a cup of tea, walk to the bottom of the garden and stand amongst the hives and just watch the different behaviours, how many are flying, what they are bringing in, have a look at the floors, you learn just as much from just watching...
  8. Martimart

    What did you do in the Apiary today?

    Nice and sunny yesterday, a little cold at 8 degrees, so watched them come and go, bringing in some pollen already, maybe 2 in 10 Bee's arriving had pollen. Lifted roofs and there's some small amounts of ambrosia left in the wrappings. I think that will do them now depending on the next 6 weeks...
  9. Martimart

    Where do you buy your seeds?

    I visited Dumfries House last year and it started absolutely lashing it down, we dived into a warm room off the garden and it was the gardeners rest room. The head gardener said it wasn’t open to the public, but because of the weather she let us stay for a while. She showed me her greenhouses...
  10. Martimart

    Where do you buy your seeds?

    I buy most of my seeds from Franchi Seeds, Just Seeds and Chiltern Seeds. Found them to be far fresher than using Thompson and Morgan / et al
  11. Martimart

    Polystyrene v Cedar

    The use of plastics in Beekeeping was one of the things what really surprised me when I started out, just as everyone is starting to reduce plastics, people were starting to use these polystyrene hives, when a perfectly good cedar hive can last and be repaired. I'm still to be convinced that you...
  12. Martimart

    When to do my winter vape?

    Always do mine around the shortest day.
  13. Martimart

    Summer harvest?

    I‘ve only had my hives for 3 years, and the Apivar strips are all I’ve used beside a oxacylic trickle on the shortest day in December. Never really have any varroa when I’ve done the checks. Might just be luck.
  14. Martimart

    Moving from standard National deep to 14x12

    Everyone is different and has their opinions, but 14x12 suit me very well and I wouldn’t fancy any other type of hive.
  15. Martimart

    Summer harvest?

    I’m thinking I might leave it until the first weekend in September, which will potentially still give me time to put the apivar strips in. I’m more concerned about some settled weather to lift the onions, they’ve been ready for 2 weeks and need to come out, but also need to dry off a bit...
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