Recent content by n1arbs

Good points. As a basic assessor and a co course tutor I'd add the following comments: If you get the choice, go on Basic (aka Novice) course using the BBKA Course in a Case material. Generally it is pretty good and the bits one disagrees with (such as putting a smoker out by immersing in a...

Apologies if my reply was not very clear but I didn't want to go into specifics. I don't question the ability of membership secs/treasurers etc to keep information confidential. However once you join and (presumably!) attend meetings then you start to get known and someone somewhere may hear...

Ivor Davis's book BBKA Guide to Beekeeping is the best around, is up to date and has a modern layout.

Sadly this is quite common in the Cardiff area. It happens all the time and is clearly a beekeeper doing it. When she kept bees my daughter did not want to join a local branch because she did want anyone to know the location of her hives, but instead arranged a mentor.

A large colony in summer does not automatically mean a large colony in winter. Depends of the strain of bee. Generally 20kg or 40lb of stores is reckoned sufficient (in the past half that figure was quoted). Double brood is heaps.

In the end it is a choice between expense and convenience. I had a manual 4 frame tangential for a number of years with 4 colonies. I then sold it on ebay and got a 9 frame stainless steel radial in a sale, but still manual. A couple of years ago I got the motor kit but it was SO EXPENSIVE...

Mellifera397, Everyone has a copy of Yates but the books I recommend to Module 1 students are: Guide to Bees and Honey (5th. edition) (2010) by Ted Hooper Practical Beekeeping (1997) Clive de Bruyn The BBKA Guide to Beekeeping I Davis/R Cullum All are good but Ivor's book is the most...

Hi, I've been looking at this forum from time to time but only recently registered. I should mention that I used to work in the microelectronics industry and then helped run a B&B until last year so time on beekeeping was limited until recently. I've been keeping bees since 1990 when I moved...