Recent content by xray7

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  1. xray7

    Does foundation matter?

    I was told that Thorne's standard foundation is produced from imported beeswax from China which comes in by the container load and premier is produced from British wax.
  2. xray7

    United hives

    Last Autumn I united several colonies so I now have them on double (national) brood. My thinking is to keep them on double brood but to reverse the boxes with the aim of placing the probably empty brood boxes on top to give them more space to expand upwards and reduce the risk of early...
  3. xray7

    Wasps again

    Big wasps ? could they be queen wasps looking for somewhere warm and dry to hibernate I wonder.
  4. xray7

    HELP - Hornets

    On the subject of wasps I thought this was worth a mention. Whilst in the garden today I spotted a queen wasp on a leaf on my fig tree copulating with three drones who took it in turns to get a piece of the action.i felt very privileged to witness such an event when she swiftly flew off with a...
  5. xray7

    EH Taylor Honey Extractor - Identifying Plastic

    Mark, I had the same problem with my extractor, these are now 30 + years old and showing their age.But there is a quick and easy fix. Measure the distance on the spindle between the collar at bottom of the cage and the collar which interfaces with the bush. Then cut a section from a copper water...
  6. xray7

    Blocking entrance

    Try cutting a piece of sponge / foam to size. Easy to quickly block the entrance and remove without harming any bees
  7. xray7

    Plastic foundation

    I used some black plastic brood foundation a few years ago.on the plus side it is easier to see eggs against black background. Against this it is a messy job to clean off old wax to reuse.I've now reverted to wax foundation.
  8. xray7

    Honey at 20%

    Plenty of ideas on YouTube to deal with this ! Search ' reducing water content in honey '
  9. xray7

    HELP - Hornets

    I agree with little_bees except to say that at this time of the season when queen wasps have stopped laying the worker wasps are redundant and instead of predating insects as protein for young brood they turn their attention to sweet rewards in which case they outlive their usefulness.
  10. xray7

    any oncoming sale from thornes?

    A little carpentry may be called for , filling holes caused by knots, runners are not included either but otherwise they are good value and I have seen keen Beekeepers buy them by the pallet load leaving not many for anyone else.
  11. xray7

    Amount of brood at this time

    According to a local bee farmer who is also a seasonal bee Inspector whenever his bees are not bringing in honey they are being treated for varroa. Round here where it is almost entirely agricultural decent volumes of Honey have finished by end of July so mid August I start treating for varroa...
  12. xray7

    What did you do in the Apiary today?

    I wonder if the honey you have might have been from phacelia.it is very pale , similar to borage honey and tastes great.
  13. xray7

    Set honey in frames

    A commercial Beekeeper I know cuts out the wax from the frame and uses an apimelter to separate honey and wax. Due to the cost it's not viable to do this on a smaller scale so we use a clean paint scraper and gently scrape the comb back to the foundation replace frames in super and given back to...
  14. xray7

    sugar price.?

    65 pence per kg in Aldi yesterday.
  15. xray7

    Apivar question

    I should like to know whether it is necessary to fit plastic inserts in OMF floors during treatment period. I have checked Apivar use instructions and faq but it is not mentioned. So I thought I'd check here and ask for advice. From what I can learn Apivar has slow release so I guess it is not...
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