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  1. L

    Randy Oliver OA sponges

    For what its worth, I followed Randy's recipe to the letter and tried it over quite a few hives in Summer 2020. The results were disastrous, with extreme varroa damage. Randy thought that humidity in the UK might have caused the ineffectiveness. I'm still dealing with the hangover of rusted...
  2. L

    Thymol Based Entrance Block for Varroa

    You are probably referring to Randy Oliver’s method (scientific beekeeping), which works very well in parts of the US. Swedish washing up towels soaked with OA and glycerine, giving extended release OA. I tried it and it failed disastrously. It seems UK humidity (wet!) has a very negative effect...
  3. L

    Queen sickness?

    I've been asking myself the same question, specifically apparently good 2022 queens suddenly disappearing, often surprising the colony (evidenced by emergency cells rather than supercedure). Saw this too last year, but 2021 Spring so was weird, I just put it down to that. I've seen queens that...
  4. L

    Extended release OAV

    Randy's method does not work well in the UK - not sure why, possibly our maritime climate is too damp. There was an interesting video on youtube by Bob Binnie a few weeks back where he was discussing Randy's work with some research scientists. They also found that it didn't work in their area...
  5. L

    Is HopGuard� 3 safe

    I stopped using MAQS after a very ineffective treatment in 2019, followed by fobbing off from the manufacturer. All hives were MAQS treated in the Autumn. Late Dec 2019 I did my round of OA sublimation treatment, and was very shocked to find mite drops in the 100's on most hives. I'd call that a...
  6. L

    Disturbing Bee Deaths in Belgium

    Lime trees - not always good news. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsbl.2017.0484
  7. L

    camouflage builders screening - any advice or recommended options ?

    Yes, really. I've not had it happen before, but last Summer had some comb collapse. These were big colonies in poly. Plenty of bees to ventilate etc, so no idea exactly why it happened, but bloody hot weather and newly made combs which were very full will have been part of the reason. So there...
  8. L

    camouflage builders screening - any advice or recommended options ?

    I used to use military surplus camo netting- worked a treat, BUT I stopped using it after I found a dead hare that had become entangled in it. Instead, paint hives in discrete colours. Dark/nato green works well......downside is they can get too hot in exceptionally warm weather.
  9. L

    What's happening here?

    I believe you are right! Just shows how you see what you expect to see sometimes. :-)
  10. L

    What's happening here?

    Looks like a terminal varroa infestation along with a laying worker and a dud queen and starvation. Doesn't get much worse than that - sorry to see it.
  11. L

    Treatment Free

    Maybe have a look and decide for yourself?
  12. L

    Treatment Free

    All I can see there is beekeepers amateur and professional, associations etc. Have I missed something?!
  13. L

    Treatment Free

    From Randy Oliver's www.scientificbeekeeping.com (for those who haven't read his research, it really is worth having a good look). He has found (as many of you have) that mite resistant/hygienic bees do exist. The difficult bit is breeding from these stocks to get an improved strain - the...
  14. L

    Honey Jar Sterilisation

    Jars from most of the suppliers are described as "clean but not sterile". There is no need to sterilise because of the nature of honey, BUT there is often a slight bloom on jars whether palleted or in boxes which I think is from the manufacturing process. We use a commercial glass washer...
  15. L

    Wiring foundation - what power source?

    Absolutely DON'T make wired foundation. I see a couple of other people have posted a similar message against doing that. In case there is any doubt: Wire your frames. Your comb will be infinitely more secure, even if they make a hash of building it, chew round the edges etc. Wired foundation...
  16. L

    14x12 extractors

    It rather depends on how many hives you are running....or whether you mind being over-equipped for what you have. With extractors for fewer frames, you are generally limited by the diameter (so physically not enough room for deep frames, and most of these will only take shallow frames. Also...
  17. L

    Here come comes Hive Beetle !

    SDM - agree with all of that. I forgot to mention the debris sample....although in many cases that would involve a view of an open stable door and a horses arse! I've heard different opinions of viability of SHB in the UK. Areas with lighter soil would seem to be more at risk. Interesting...
  18. L

    Here come comes Hive Beetle !

    CharlieL - it is good that you have engaged with this. I am a full time commercial bee farmer. I have imported packages in previous years, sourced from Italy. As part of this process, SBA's were present to inspect packages when the packages were decanted into my hives. As far as I know, this...
  19. L

    Adulterated Supermarket Honey

    ..
  20. L

    Jar pointer please?

    Beware the volumes quoted by the manufacturers. These are for brim full....ie volume of air, with a meniscus in some cases! Would be helpful if they also quoted a recommended fill level volume. Have a jar in your hands and test before having labels printed. Been there etc.
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