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There is a chap in a village near us, he practices healing with the dowsing method and has been running his practice for over 40 years. His results are astonishing.

I think his point is that if peopl consume honey instead of sugar the conditions he highlights will be avoided. This is about prevention, not cure. Sugar is addictive, is honey as addictive? If we switch to honey and do not consume refined sugars will our desire for sweetness decrease...

Does anyone use a varroa treatment on swarms? I'm thinking wait until eggs are seen and then trickle with Varromed. Opinions?

Thanks for the suggestions.

I am debating using acetic acid to fumigate a hive that failed this winter, I've never used it before. There seems to be 2 ways of going about it: bottom up (pad soaked in acetic acid at the bottom of the stack and between each box in the stack, as directed by Thornes) or top down (stack of...

Pidgeon control is part of pest control, just something that has to be done.

Not worth the damage to the roof, it would be unavoidable.

I have an old barn with a similar problem, the mess is awful and everything needs to be covered to protect it. I use a live trap baited with seed and am slowly catching them. Useless for storing bee kit unless you can clear it and keep it secure. Much cheaper and quicker to buy a shed.

Someone told me yesterday that warm way can be useful if you have a bad tempered hive. By not touching the frame by the entrance during inspection (it's not going to have any brood in it anyway) not all of the guard bees will be alerted to your intrusion. Having had a 'hive from hell' for a...

We kept bourbon red turkeys for a while. The stag (Tommy) was a horny beast, ready to get fruity with anything and everything, literally. A chap walked across the garden with a large plastic bag, the bag became the centre of Tommys universe and he was desperate to mate with it, the elderly...

I have a couple of cedar boxes that would disagree.... I give my boxes that aren't in use a quick run over with raw linseed oil in the winter. They slurp it up. Hopefully it does them some good, it gets me out of the house and may keep me out of mischief. I also use linseed oil based paints...

If you are using un-wired foundation, are you doing anything to hold them in place other than pinching them in with the bar at the top? Once the bees start drawing them out they will be fixed in place.

No one has mentioned Thornes, any reason?

Twiddling my thumbs and working out how much foundation I hope to need this year. Would anyone care to recommend suppliers to use and those to avoid? What do the bees prefer, if given a choice?

Relieved to see that all of the hives are intact - have lost the odd roof in the past despite weighting down/straps. Gave three of the hives a quick wrap of left over insulation (the stuff that looks like bubble wrap with a reflective surface) to try and keep them dry because it has been so...

Is there a risk to the colony from a build up of dead bees on the floor blocking the exit in winter?

Every year wasps descend on my apiary, the first year was horrific. I keep entrances small, bee height and no more than 3" wide all year round. Screens over the front made no difference. Now as soon as they start sniffing around I put the wasp traps out and they leave the hives alone. This...