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Maybe, but possibly not. I do, though, admire Ron Hoskins' tenacity. Leaving the bees to get on with it seems to be a bit of a 'crankish' thing to do, and if I was asked about treatment I probably wouldn't admit to leaving some colonies alone. Being hidden behind a pseudonym makes some things...

Fermented honey doesn't have a good taste, even when used in cooking. I don't know if you could heat it enough to kill the yeast and reduce the water content, nor if it would make much difference to the taste. Do you know a baker (hotel, cafe etc) who uses honey that would buy it from you "as is"?

:iagree: I think that, in this instance, we can hope that DWV B will spread quickly and offer our bees some immunity to DWV A and C. :iagree: with this too. Funding is obviously a key part of research and a key leader of research so, as long as the funders want so-called hygienic behaviour to...

It depends where your bees are, rural bees probably get a rougher time of it than urban bees. In towns there's usually something for them to eat almost all year round. At the moment, here in Hants, there are cyclamen and michaelmas daisies in flower as well as fuchsias, sedums, autumn flowering...

The NBU guidance suggests 1kg to 5 litres of water for all cleaning and sterilisation. I keep a bucket (ex-fatballs container) of this in the apiary and dump the mixture at the end of the season. It gets to look quite brown and mucky fairly quickly, but it still works. Here's a link to the NBU...

Thanks ITLD :). Will the pic upload to your forum album?

I think this argument could tie their brains into a myriad of knots.

I think the bulk (bucket) price in this area is between £2.50 and £3.50. Paynes is selling a £1.36kg of blossom honey for £5.80, larger quantities are proportionally cheaper. http://www.payneshoney.co.uk/honey-in-bulk/blossom-honey/

Good luck to you Headnavigator. I'm glad the allergy treatment is going according to plan. When will you finish treatment?

I'd guess that most beginners will be okay but ... We've had new beekeepers who only want a nuc or a 'little hive' because they're beginners and one or two who, no matter how much support and mentoring they have had over two or three years, will never make it as independent beekeepers. There...

Are these Swienty Langstroths?

:iagree: that this could be useful thing for some new beekeepers, that might even get them thinking about learning some more about queen rearing.

I made a board by cutting the rhombus in half over two holes, and tried it alongside a board with just the one hole/escape. I found the single hole/escape worked more quickly so, even though it could just have been the peculiarity of that particular colony, have never bothered with that board...

This? ...

I use a 'sulphur candle' for wax moth. I've only ever needed to treat once, so far, although Thornes suggests that their strips should be used once a month throughout the time frames are in storage. :iagree: I think that many will give up, especially if they either lose their colonies or end up...

I started wanting (longing) to keep bees when I was at school and helped a few neighbours etc with theirs whilst I was still living at home, but didn't have the money or the parents permission to have my own colonies. Moving around the country and travelling away for fairly long periods due to...

And ponies, which is why they fell holly trees on the New Forest when it's really cold, to give the ponies something else to eat. But if holly leaves are too prickly for livestock, how come the ponies eat gorse?

I suppose that's one way or organising a top bar hive, but most people who use them will give at least starter strips as a comb drawing guide. If you leave bees entirely to their own devices, and let them build completely random comb, how might a colony be inspected and given a health check if...

Give them a large block of fondant. In the spring you can take off what they haven't used, and store it for next time.

:iagree: Read the schedule for the show several times, and then do exactly what it says otherwise they can (will) disqualify an entry that doesn't comply. Some shows will let you use plastic gold coloured lids, some won't. Some still expect matching numbered jars but most don't bother any more...