Recent content by martin.henwood

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  1. M

    Can Foundation be rejuvenated.

    Thanks for the advice so far. I'm still a bit concerned about the frames that have been in a hive and never drawn out. I've no reason to believe its inferior foundation (it was bought from a reputable supplier). Cheers.
  2. M

    Can Foundation be rejuvenated.

    In the process of stocktaking in my beekeeping equipment shed last week I found, some unused foundation stored in a drawer. I've also found some unused frames that my bees never drew out. My question is: can old foundation be rejuvenated to make it more attractive to bees? Ive heard it...
  3. M

    Wasp trap

    True. Very few wasps last year. But the year before I had a colony completely robbed out by the little stripy buggars.
  4. M

    Wasp trap

    The BBKA are offering supplies of the Vaso Wasp trap. And suggest it could be used around the apiary. Vaso suggest a honey water mix as bait. Wouldn't this trap as many bees as wasps, rendering it unsuitable for the apiary?
  5. M

    Still got stores.

    I didn't feed with syrup last autumn as I had returned lots of wet supers to the fives, consequently the bees had plenty of stores. Also I seem to have plenty of bees, and brood at all stages of development. I'm reluctant to replace frames on a peace meal basis as I'm thinking of putting the...
  6. M

    Still got stores.

    I did my first inspection on Tuesday. Three hives and two nucs survived the winter all queen-right. However, all the colonies have stores of honey in the brood boxes. I was wondering, if I put supers on, will the bees move the honey stores up in order to give themselves more room for brood?
  7. M

    Shook swarm V Bailey change

    Time, I think, for my bees to be moved onto new foundation. So, do I shook swarm them, or do a Bailey change. The objectives are: to reduce the veroa and any other decease. And to discourage swarming later in the spring.
  8. M

    What did you do in the Apiary today?

    Rebuilt a re-cycled shed to use as a beekeeping equipment store. Bees flying nearby, don't seem to have any loses.
  9. M

    Planting for Bees

    Is it correct to say 'only certain varieties of lavender are suitable for honey bees'. Something to do with the flower shapes and the length of the honey bee's proboscis. If so, which particular varieties of lavender are the most beneficial. We have lavender in our garden, covered in bees but...
  10. M

    Steam powered wax removal.

    So, it seems this idea is a runner. There also seems to be mileage in using steam to help in the cleaning of poly hives. Cheers
  11. M

    Steam powered wax removal.

    I'm thinking of taking BeeBase advice and using my domestic steam wallpaper stripper to recover old wax from frame etc. Having converted to poly hives I have some old wooden National hives I could use. I wonder if anyone has used this method of wax recovery, and if they have any advice on the...
  12. M

    Selling nucs.

    Thank you Redwood. What size and shape package? Cheers.
  13. M

    Selling nucs.

    In the spring I'm hoping to sell three colonies at the Brinsbury college beekeeping and equipment sale. At the moment the colonies are on jumbo frames. My intention is to sell them as six frames nucs. I intend to shook swarm them onto new foundation early in the season. My question is: What...
  14. M

    Super cleaning.

    Ok a bit more information. I put the wet supers back on the hives above a large feeder. The feeder had cappings in it (I like to give the bees the opportunity to take the residue honey off them). Above the feeder I put a brood box with just a few odd-sized frames in it ( this was to try and...
  15. M

    Super cleaning.

    Last autumn I put my honey supers back on the hives for the bees to clean. With the mild weather, they continued to forage. Consequently the supers were never cleaned/emptied. Now we have a cold snap I went to the hives to treat with oxalic acid I removed all supers. Some of them have a bit of...
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