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Too late to be doing inspections ... what can you achieve apart from disturbing the hive winter preps which are now well underway and in some areas complete ! I also know people who are still poking around in their hives - misguided curiosity I assume ?

Ours was planted by the builders in 1989 so it's now 35 years old and it's not the most attractive hedge these days as it tends to put its efforts into growing upwards and not filling in the gaps lower down. It seems healthy enough but given the option I would rather have cotoneaster as it...

They've eaten the lot already ! They are a mix of red and orange - not a very heavy crop this year - they are usually laden with berries but what there was they have eaten. There were just a few berries left on the lower branches and I left those. A Coal Tit was cleaning them up as I was...

I've tried putting them in my own compost in the past and whilst everything else rotted, the thorns stayed intact... fine until you start seiving it to use it as seed compost and one sticks in your finger !

Having spent most of today doing the annual pruning of the hedge from hell (Pyracantha) - its grown nearly 5 feet in the last year) and then cutting it into small pieces to go in the council brown bin (Not one for the compost heap as the thorns don't rot down !) I managed to get very little else...

No ... not really been into them properly since the beginning of September and that was just a quick whizz through. The frames I replaced were out with the old dark ones at the back, slide along with the hive tool and in with the new ... 30 seconds frm start to finish. Had a look through the...

Yes... been very dull and overcast here for the last few days, they forecast sunny spells but I don't know where they were - certainly not here. Some of mine were flying but looking at the activity at the pond -probably water gathering, Still a little ivy in bloom so they may be finding that...

End of September when I sfarted feeding them ...

Or those with enough wax to create a dipped candle and then run the wax down the outside of the candle to create the impression of a poured candle and win at shows - not sure how you would know the difference ? There are those that need to win (at any cost !). Having said that, if the images in...

Years ago, when I had my spraying company, we used to buy airless spray pumps that were supposedly made in the UK. On a whim I bought one from a German company who openly admitted that they were importing them from the 'Far East; - it was less than half the price of the alleged UK made ones. I...

Yes - we had a meat safe at the top of the cellar steps when I was a kid - no fridges or freezers in those days - in summer Mum would drape a wet tea towel over it to keep temperature down. We used to shop locally and almost daily for fresh food so there was usually only butter, cheese and...

Is that mesh ? They look like some crownboards I inherited with a WBC - there were some with glass and some with mesh - I assumed the mesh ones were intended as a misplaced idea for ventilating hives (bearing in mind the construction of WBC's with the outer lifts protecting the boxes). I...

Silicon is terrible stuff ... almost impossible to eradicate and once a surface is contaminated its contaminated at molecular level... as a former spray painter...our worst nightmare. The only way to get paint to stick to a surface contaminated with Silicon is to add Silicon to the paint so the...

6mm polycarbonate crownboards ... strips cut off and glued back on make perfect rims ... I don't think it makes a bit of difference whether it is 6mm or 8mm ... It's usually quoted as between 4.5mm and 9.0mm. http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/bsp.html

I must admit that my bees build brace comb between the clear crownboard (which has a 6mm rim for top bee space) along the top and joining the bars to the crownboard. Talking to Derek - his explanation - they don't want space above the frames which permits convection so they try and block off...

I was talking to Derek and Elaine at the National Honey show .. what they are doing now is putting a thin sheet of correx (the thin stuff that contractors use to protect surfaces) immediately on top of the top bars - the bees propolise it in place - then a crown board with a rim and then top...

I keep getting tempted by this one on AliExpress ... you might get stung by customs - it's the luck of the draw I've found but it is still less than anything you can get in the UK...

It could be the changed genetics as a result of the new queen - however, bear in mind that they are now well into preparing for winter and if they are strong they could well resent you interfering with them. It's past time when you should leave them be - as long as they are well stored up for...

It was going that I had massive traffic problems and an accident about four cars ahead - took me over two hours to get there - coming home last night was a breeze. Good show though I hope you enjoyed it.

Any beekeeper that tells you different has never really kept bees ! I won't tolerate bees that sting without reason but if you cause a bee distress (accidentally trap it or squash it) it's obvious that it's going to sting you. Followers and those that are intent on attacking you ... the...