Recent content by thedaidai

I agree with the suggestion to ask your association. I was on the committee at mine and we were regularly offered gardens/land by people who wanted to help bees out but didn't ant to keep them themselves. Not all were suitable but some were.

Agree with the comments about May being a very bad month for queen mating in blustery and cool North Yorkshire. I ended up with 2 drone laying queens, 1 with laying workers and 2 which went AWOL. June was much better and now have 6 laying queens and 3 more virgins who should start any time.

Bee proof suits do one for 99 quid. Been using it for a couple of months without being stung. Feels bulky and heavy before I put it on but once on, I don't notice it. On blustery days earlier in the season, if anything I was a bit chilly with it on over a thin top. My only gripe is the zip...

Have you considered extracting the capped ones and leaving the uncapped on for them to finish filling. Or moving the frames around, pushing the capped middle frames to the sides and bringing uncapped end frames to the middle for them to finish off. Granulated OSR honey could scupper either option

Yes they are.

I am going to the Manchester side of Sheffield on Saturday so could meet there if interested but you wouldn't get the opportunity to inspect the colonies. PM me if interested.

Due to shoulder problems, I am looking to sell 2 14x12 colonies in brand new Paynes 14x12 polyboxes with normal national OMF floor, and Paynes polyroof Queens are 2014, marked and clipped Both colonies are building up well and are ready for supering Looking £200 each - PM me if interested

have a look on orangepippin http://www.orangepippin.com/inforequest.aspx contains a wealth of info on all things appley

PM sent

Is it legit to buy labels in bulk and write the lot number on each label by hand? I am thinking along the lines of printing Lot No. 13/ then writing 1,2,3 etc after the / Thanks in advance for any responses

I just bought one of the Abelo traps last night. picked it up in person. Damian pointed out the drone holes at the top. he recommended blocking up the side gaps with foam or blocks of wood. these were not designed to fit nationals (or commercials)

Have you thought about moving the capped frames to the outside and bringing the outer ones into the middle,, so everything is ready to extract at the same time?

a beek I know takes a flask of very hot water with her during inspections. she holds a cotton wool pad soaked with very hot water against the sting. the theory is that this "boils" the proteins in the venom, thus changing their make-up and reducing the effect of the sting

RogueDrone, What's the temp range of the ascott kit please? Cheers thedaidai

pains do one