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If it’s last year’s honey then I would think it’s crystallised by now and will be impossible to extract. If it’s not crystallised then there’s probably nothing wrong with extracting but, personally, I don’t think I would use it.

This is a poorly thought out poll as it takes no account of the number of hives someone has. e.g. A beek who loses his only hive is given the same weight as a beek who loses all all ten of his hives.

LOL

I disagree. We are all beekeepers here so it is easy to side with ourselves without considering non beekeepers "the others". Emotive conjecture is a good way of bringing out the truth. It's what barristers rely on :)

Blimey your "The neighbour may originally have been a towny and not know the intricacies of rural life" is enlightening. You don't know anything about them but already have put them in a little box marked "towny not worth considering". They may have lived in the countryside all their lives...

Glad to see your intelligent wit hasn't deserted you jenkinsbrynmair ;)

I can't help feeling we are hearing only half the story here. So perhaps this is really what's happened. Your neighbour has a nice view of the paddock. You want to put some beehives on it. Rather than discuss it with your neighbour, and perhaps offer him a few jars of honey to get them on side...

“Nill below London” you must be joking! We live in Sussex and have had at least six swarms from our four hives in the last three weeks. I would agree that our swarm control was inadequate (we were away on a months holiday in April) But even so…

I.e. shake them off back into the hive.

If you only have a few frames to extract. Take the fully capped frames out of the super, vigorously shake the bees off (then brush off the last few), extract the honey and put the frames back.

“poisoning” is an attractive cause to attach to the loss of a colony. It means the beekeeper can put the blame elsewhere without examining what they may have, or not have, done to contribute to the loss.

Hi Bruce, I suspect the problem is almost certainly Varroa related, either directly or indirectly. What Varroa treatment regime did you use?

So my conclusion is wrong because it is at odds with yours jenkinsbrynmair, no surprise there ;) You really need to look at this: Varroa destructor feeds primarily on honey bee fat body tissue and not hemolymph

I'm sorry Dani, I just don't buy it. This is just not the way viruses work. A much more likely scenario, IMHO, is the DWV is much more damaging to bees that have been weakened by varroa.

Hmm... Dani, that sounds rather incredible to me. Can you point me at the research?

Hi mbc, I don't think you are right. Varroa being a vector for viruses may be a factor but research shows the major issue is Varroa feeding on the bees fat bodies and weakening them. Suggest you follow the link that Erichalfbee sent to learn more.

Is this more climate change hysteria?

For British Sugar fans British Sugar: Too Much of a Bad Thing - Feedback Oh and didn't many of those good old British Farmers lobby hard for the use of neonicotinoids Government breaks promise to maintain ban on bee-harming pesticide

How can you check that? How much more do you pay for your sugar? Have you factored in the diesel, pesticide, fertiliser, usage of UK farmers v third world? What about sugar productivity of sugar beet v sugar cane? The whole question is too complicated. Perhaps buy cheap or, if you have a...

Anyway back to the topic. Sugar price is driven by supply and demand plus tariffs. A quick search of the internet reveals “The confluence of unfavourable weather conditions and decreased production, especially from the European Union and Thailand, further exacerbated worries about supply...