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I had a colony with CBPV this year which went queenless and then developed LW. I wasnt prepared to shake them out and have infected bees trying to gain access to the other hives so they were euthanised.

AFAIK very few still do. Its nearly all demonstrated via prosection. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosection Plus the students now have things that didn't exist in my med students days - like computers and virtual reality 3D images

Wasnt the money - more - lets make this work better. Ive have plenty of free time and I love mending things. I only use it to to keep the Q from running away whilst I sort myself and pen out. I prefer to use my sponge plunger in tube thing to mark my Qs rather than pick them up as I have rather...

agree - my 340g Hex jars went from 34p/jar to 49p/jar in the last year (up 44%) (inc lids)

I've put it up to £5 for 340g sold at the gate.

I so miss StBK - was only mins away by car plus great prices. Now its all on-line and costs a lot more.:cry: And StBK's foundation came in packs of 11

I have a plastic one - it was useless. Cut the grill out and drilled holes all the way round and threaded with fishing monofilament - works great now.

Ive had a case of CBPV again this year. This time I went straight in with removing the OMF and jacking up the hive (WBC) on bricks and raising up the double brood boxes with an empty brood box. I requeened asap and they recovered over 6 weeks as the offspring of the old susceptible Q died off...

Does mosquito repellent work for horse flies ?

Some sort of "Isolation apiary" for the swarms makes a lot of sense, as does hitting them with an OA vape whilst broodless or with uncapped brood.

We've got a group of new beekeepers really keen to collect swarms. So in total we have about 13 swarm collectors out of 60 members. One member has a bee vac.

Looks to me like there is a lot of sugar crystals in there courtesy of OSR. I was surrounded by OSR this year and I had difficulty getting the honey through the second metal filter even after warming - needed to change the fine filter after every super as clogged with sugar crystals. It started...

But the media love to make it something more that it really is - click bait I suppose

Have others noticed a particularly busy swarm time - members in my BKA are struggling to keep up with requests for swarm removal

Beekeepers 'run out of equipment' as swarms rise https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-65746081 Ive only been beekeeping five years but Ive not known it this busy.

why? For aesthetic reasons ? Ive never heard of anyone using Nationals with WBC lifts. FWIW National boxes are heavier than WBC ones because they are larger, take an extra frame (which also adds weight) and made from timber 3mm thicker (19mm vs 16mm).

Interesting views on the subject being shared. From a practical point of view it would be easier for me to use thick all the time as I can then use less volume. I subsequently found this thread and work by Randy Oliver...

Thanks both - I'll have a look at those videos above in the cold light of day. My question arises because Ive been asked simply why are these concentrations used and would other mixtures be better. It seems to me that 1:1 syrup (originally 1lb of sugar with a pint of water) was a convenient but...

Is there any evidence to support the use of thick vs thin syrup ? I know we are taught thin in spring and thick for winter feed but is there any evidence to say it actually makes a difference which form of syrup is used ?

Ive used MAQS for two seasons and although it was effective against varroa it had negative effects on my hives despite adhering to the instructions and possibly giving a low dose because they were all double brood WBCs- I have queen loss/supercedure/brood loss. Anyone had experience of VarroMed...