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  1. T

    Another plant identification thread

    Definitely an Itea. ( With my 35+ years professional horticulturalist hat on. And yes, I do still make errors! )
  2. T

    Another plant identification thread

    Possibly Itea Virginica.
  3. T

    What is this flower?

    Looks like it might be Epipactis Gigantea. A rather nice plant if it is.
  4. T

    Disaster strikes......my fault!

    Glad you are still in one piece Enrico, don't worry bee's have short memories! I've only managed to drop one full national deep and that was bad enough. Feet up and a stiff drink called for (after the worst effects have worn off)!
  5. T

    Honey fermentation?

    Thanks for the replies. It's a full bucket, hence my reluctance to use for mead. ITMA's idea seems like a good one, and no this is only for home consumption. I think I will be cooking honey one evening this week!
  6. T

    Honey fermentation?

    I have got a few 30 pound buckets of rape honey all taken off in one batch in May this year. I was moving the buckets to make room for yet more honey and noticed that one of the buckets plastic lids was popped upwards. Obviously gas coming from the honey which is set. None of the others from the...
  7. T

    What did you do in the Apiary today?

    Had to do a honey extraction today as totally out of kit. Only mid season and 240 pounds of honey off 4 hives and more to come.
  8. T

    Removed the queen excluder

    I very rarely see my queens in my excluder-less hives and I have not squished one yet. The only time this gets to be a problem is if you have to do an a/s as I found out. I too have had brood in the upper boxes but they now seem to be moving down the hive as the upper boxes fill with stores...
  9. T

    What did you do in the Apiary today?

    Came home from holiday to find a swarm complete with 3 frames of eggs in my bait hive. Nice welcome home present!
  10. T

    Removed the queen excluder

    It's not just down to being without the excluder of course - that would be far too easy! Lets face it, we have had the mildest winter for donkey's years, I have masses of willow around to provide an source of protein for early brood build up and I am also surrounded by rape fields. But without a...
  11. T

    Removed the queen excluder

    I am using both deep and shallow boxes - but hopefully only for this year purely down to a shortage of kit. It's not a problem just a little inconvenient. Next year will be all deeps if everything goes to plan. The biggest hive is now 2 metres high so it will be interesting getting a deep box...
  12. T

    Removed the queen excluder

    Hi Tom. They all started out the season on 2 national deeps with roughly similar brood levels. Those with excluders are on 2 deeps, excluder, then 2 or 3 supers (shallow boxes). I had to do an A/S on the smaller excluder-less one last week and it was full of bees from top to bottom. I have only...
  13. T

    Removed the queen excluder

    After reading on here what others think (Finman etc) regarding Queen excluders I took the plunge with 2 of my 6 hives. They are on 6 and 7 boxes now after rape and look magnificent. Needless to say all my hives will be without excluders next year. Go for it - you won't regret it.
  14. T

    What did you do in the Apiary today?

    What I did today was to drop a full National deep from about 3 feet. They were not happy bunnies. Somehow I did not get stung, pure luck!
  15. T

    What is happening at your bait hives?

    One old box out with 1 black comb and a couple of foundation and some lemon grass. Loads of interest and maybe a 100 or so bees in and around it. And as per the last 2 years no swarms caught! One day I will be lucky!
  16. T

    What did you do in the Apiary today?

    Six box hive has swarm cells so I am trying to find an unmarked q. What fun! I have been through all boxes and no sign of her. So I have split the boxes apart and covered them, and will go back in a while and see which one is fanning to thin the possibilities down a bit. 50 or 60 stings to the...
  17. T

    What did you do in the Apiary today?

    I did nothing but gaze in wonder at just how busy they were this afternoon - almost like a cloud in front of the hives. (And no they were not swarming!)
  18. T

    Queen rearing

    Thank you all for your advice - all duly noted. The Queens would all be used, not just for the hell of it. I take Rab's point and under normal circumstances he's right but in this instance I want to expand my knowledge and get a bit more hands on experience too.
  19. T

    Queen rearing

    Thanks Heather. I do like the fat man. No fussin just facts!
  20. T

    Queen rearing

    I have got several very nice hives this year and I would like to raise maybe 6 to 10 new Queens from these good hives. I should say right now that I am only doing this for a bit of fun and to get to learn a little more about keeping bees. This is not about improving the world for mankind! I am...
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