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Agreed. And two of them are ahead of me in this thread.* Dusty *It went rapidly downhill after that.

The winner should be able to choose three people to ban from the Forum for 12 months. Now, I've made my list........ Dusty

Hi Robbo, A certain RBI of my acquaintance uses something like those plastic boxes used for delivering bread, only larger (wider - only a little taller). Dusty

Good grief! It's a vaporiser! If it works, who cares? Dusty

I was at the Convention yesterday, and a couple of Harper Adams post-grads were showing their work and had two lots of bumble bees there. (Strange that these were the only live bees at a honey Beekeeper's Convention!) Anyhow, they had small colonies of bees in small plastic 'hives' to be put in...

Thornes were selling a new line in vaporisers at the Convention yesterday. £25.00. Dusty

BUT...... they don't carry Varroa! Win, win. Duaty

Hi pdicky1956! Welcome! I spent 5 happy years living in Pelsall, way back at the end of the 70s. Lots of good memories - not least of knocking back Banks's mild in The Old House At Home! Welcome to the Forum. Dusty

I'm not sure that I'm directly addressing your question, but you seem to see the only choices are to do an artificial swarm, or retrieve a swarm. There is the option of using the Demaree method to (try to) prevent swarming without increasing the hive count. Of course, it doesn't always work...

Interesting that I am concerned about the effect on those subjected to a traumatic event; you focus on the pleasure it gives you. Dusty

No, not funny. Take it from me, that sort of prank can cause severe psychological trauma in vulnerable people, including PTSD. I'm disappointed you thought Forum members would find this funny, Millet. Dusty.

Never seen a goldfish with varroa yet. Dusty

Yes, it was a really good afternoon's work. Both hives were really flourishing; four frames of good-looking brood, loads of pollen, plenty of honey. And quiet as anything. Even better than I'd expected. Good to be inspecting with Kaz again - and planning our trip to the Convention as well. Dusty

I Demaree. It's a good way to tackle the swarming and keeps the same footprint. And I can choose to increase, re-combine, remove old comb etc. Dusty

Indeed! I notice there's no mention of the Orthodox. Hence your dislike of matchsticks and solid floors! Dusty

Sadly, I agree. It's really important to do varroa drop counts a few weeks after treatment, as it doesn't always work. I found that out the previous season when one hive had to be treated very late in the season, as the earlier intervention wasn't effective. Hard way to learn, isn't it? My...

Well, I'll try. But I'm only licensed in the Church of England.... ......and you're in Wales. I'd suggest JBM on the grounds that th de'il looks after his own! But then I recall that he's some sort of Nonconformist - and not just denominationally! Dusty

I shall be doing my first inspections of the year in the next week. I will take off the nadir boxes then, if the bees aren't too stressed. If they are, I'll leave them till next time. Dusty

Fascinating video. And an interesting couple of bits of kit - of pricey. I like the off-screen stuff! There's a woman's voice taking part in the first half. Then around a minute in, a baby starts crying. The woman disappears - and the baby stops crying - whilst the chap blithely carries on...

Don't underestimate the value of MAQS if you have problems when they're filling supers. My failure in earlier years of beekeeping, was to cross my fingers and hope! I was lax in doing varroa counts. Plan ahead, do varroa counts every so often - but don't panic!. Use a variety of oxalic acid...