Recent content by Peter Cox

I put mine in sealed freezer bags with all air excluded (within reason) and then store it in the freezer. Never had issues with it drying out. However mine is all home made as it's next to impossible to find a source for ready made fondant here in Massachusetts.

You obviously haven't used the lead backed up up by gunpowder, it's VERY effective

"Scorch the hive, and clean out the frames, but don't waste them. drawn comb is all you really have left, so don't waste it. " Why do you see some sign of disease? All I see is a bunch of bees that starved and then mould grew on them. Brush the loose ones off. Pick the ones that are head down...

Be a good day to visit the hive/s. No need for you to light your smoker.

Looks like Langstroth deep brood boxes with medium supers above the queen excluders with an usual peaked roof.

The simple way is to go and buy a jar of creamed honey and then mix it at a roughly 1:10 ratio with your liquid honey, i.e. 1 lb of creamed honey to 10 lb of liquid honey and then let it set in a cool environment, around 55-60f is good, like a basement. If you have more liquid honey you now...

Never heard the term seam either but I too have a couple of hives that are on 18 frames of brood. What do you do at that point? We're still in the middle off the longest, coolest, wettest spring I've ever seen in in New England, was very used to them in childhood in the UK! Apple, pear peaches...

Bet you meant Aitkens Rowies didn't you?

Sad, not available in my area.

Much easier to use the same measure for both. 1 gallon of sugar to 1 gallon of water 1 litre of sugar to one litre of water etc for 1:1 2 gallon of sugar to 1 gallon of water etc for 2:1 The values are close enough that it saves messing around with scales and stuff. I just use a couple of the...

Guess it's a difference in culture or maybe climate. Never seen anything other than pine hives in North America. Typical life appears to be 10+ years depending on how often you re-paint.

A cheap stethoscope from fleabay makes listening for life in the hive much easier.

Hook end of a hive tool does it quite well.

The issue is that below a certain temperature the bees cannot evaporate the excess water out of the syrup so as to convert it into "honey", yes I know it's not real honey. That certain temperature was passed long ago from the pictures of your weather. After that point they will expend more...

Why not just buy from the Dadant site? The $36 price there would appear to allow you around $40 shipping, highly unlikely, before you exceed the £50 you're being ripped off for over there, unless your'e paying 100% VAT.