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Interesting you say that about top insulation. I use 80% wool carpet samples from the local carpet shop. They are exactly National size and cost 25p each, which goes into the charity box.

Just checked. Thorne's online sale starts 29 Oct.

Yes, you're right, Rory - Bookers now £20.99 for 25k. Sorry about that. But still find the big sack easier to use than all those Ik bags.

I've just had a look at Bookers wholesalers and they have branches all over the UK. Their price for granulated sugar last year was £19.00 for a 25 kilo bag. All you do is take your beekeeping association card along and they'll give you a Bookers card which lets you buy anything else you want as...

If there's a Bookers wholesalers near you they will give all beekeepers a Bookers card because they want to support us. Just show them your association membership card. I usually pay £15.00 for a 25 kilo bag of sugar.

Has anyone heard of a medication called "stopvarroa". Claims to be suitable for organic bees, comes from Europe, lots of good comments but no ingredient list on the website.

Apicultrice - what a lovely name - the only English name I know is bee-wife, unless anyone knows of a better.

Thanks, Pargyle, I'll do exactly that this Autumn.

Last week, a callout. Elderly couple, old farmhouse, a couple of bees round small hole in chimney stack, bees plastering the inside of sitting room windows. Been there all day. No point in opening windows - I thought they'd just go round again. So brushed off the thickest area into a skep...

Steve - did you use newspaper for this or were the receiving bees too busy celebrating? J

I'm in Kaz's situation - one hive on brood and a half, gone mad - I've 3 supers on, all full, and am both short and old. Is there any point in moving one super to another, smaller colony so that the moved bees can use their foraging energy there? Or wd I be better to take a couple of supers off...

That amounts to a masterclass, Eric. I'll print this with thanks. J

June, silver spoon?

I wish I'd looked at this before I went to visit my bee supplies man this afternoon - just spent £12 on two 1kg bags which I now see contain "93% sugar". j

So they make themselves feel good by persecuting us little guys?

I complained about one supermarket's use of the word "pure" - as most supermarkets do for their mix of honey and whatever else it is. But haven't noticed it being removed from the shelves. Are the supermarkets too big to tangle with?

What I did was to check supers and wonder again whether it would be a good idea to alternate narrow and wide spacers when replacing supers of drawn comb - does it save the bees work as I thought, or does it make slicing off capping at extracting time much messier? Can't remember now where I saw...

Thanks for that good advice, Ian. I've. developed the habit of keeping a super on over winter when it possibly wasn't necessary.

Just checked my notes - they had 4 brood and 6 super frames of honey after feeding in autumn.

I'd say a side and a half of a frame of bees were left in the hive, bottoms sticking out of the cells and some hardened fondant on top.