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I am happy to be judged, this thread has already gone off topic and I feel that a balanced view in response to Poly evangelism is oft called for.

There are many reasons not to use poly, its not just an insulation issue. Its obviously time for a re-post: Many people are not aware of the harmful effects of Polystyrene, (including myself until very recently). This article aims to highlight some of the dangers, both to our health and to...

Sorry to confuse you John, I have spoken to others who were at the Dobwalls presentation she gave, refered to above, and was simply looking for confirmation/ discussion on what was verbally reported to me from that presentation. I am happy to end the thread here, having had some useful...

Well it just flies in the face of the research from everywhere else and not being an acedemic qualified to find the flaws in it, I'll have to then accept that France is different to the rest of Europe. You can understand my reticence....

Chris, can you point to a study of a number of colonies over a number of years that demonstrates this. the Uk studies show an average of about 2.6 years, probably showing that some manage 4 or five but more only manage 2 ?

The bees fighting back stuff is fascinating and lots of people are involved in a small way, using varroa resistance or resilience as one of the selectors for small scale breeding programs. It was interesting to hear about the B4 project setting up alongside Bibco and bibba in Cornwall recently...

Undoubtedly, but my query is really specific to varroa. How safe is it to say that untreated, colonies will only survive 2-3 years and is it possible that we could see the complete collapse of feral colonies if there was no husbandry. as above, could it get down to zero.....

Yep I can see that nests can be repopulated regularly by first or second year swarms from other feral ( or kept) colonies, that would account for all the tales of colonies that people think have been 'alive' for thirty years etc. but with the poor last three years how sustainable would that be...

Has anyone heard new information on Catherine Thompsons study of feral bee colonies. Verbally it would seem that of a study of her feral colonies suggests that none survive more than 3 years. This suggests that beekeepers are indeed entirely maintaining the population of bees in the uk and that...

Bookers 25k bags 19.49 today

I've planted 450 trees adjacent to my apiaries this year courtesy of the Woodland Trust. Silver birch is one of the group that is particularly good for supporting wildlife: Hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel, silver birch, rowan, wild cherry and common oak. There will be more available free to those...

Pollen patties on 6 hives today, lost one colony from suspect queen superseedure (not mated probably, this colony superseeded 3 times once even after requeening ?) late in the season . Remaining 9 colonies and 5 nukes all looking well, even one very late small swarm that I expected not to make...

(Yesterday)Planted 30 trees from the Woodlannd Trust adjacent to the bee site on my Allotment site. Watered 420 tree saplings from the Woodland Trust on my farm Apiary site. Watched bees from all hives and nukes bringing in Pollen during the afternoon. The temperature hit 14 degrees on both...

thanks Ian.

Sounds similar, there's no black or even particularly dark pieces in the stuff I'm looking at, so it probably is mostly capping's and occasional comb debris. Just spreadable so that there's no floating, Its on my list of things to achieve this year ( crop permitting ). Nothing to do with chunk...

Only occasional cleansing flights at the moment, but had a good deal of flying bees and pollen coming in when the sun came out just before the cold snap, don't worry, its perfectly normal here. We have generally mild winters and week to week variations between 3 degree and 10 degree daytime...

Having read Scuttlefishes thread on thick heather honey in supers, it reminds me to ask a question. I have always used the debris from the bottom of the extractor, collapsed combs and the unextractable honey frames etc. and had jars of "mash" which when fine enough makes a fabulous spread on...

Solid

Usually means the temperature you went to was too high, easily done. Bees can still use it but not so easily as it will require more water. Better than no fondant, taken more slowly not always a bad thing as we approach spring ?

There's a usable recipe in the January edition of the BBKA news. It reads: mix three parts by weight soybean flower, one part dried brewers yeast, one part dry skimmed milk (with added vitamins) prepare a solution of two parts by volume of sugar to one part hot water and allow to cool. Mix one...