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I have seen a couple of white eyed drones, over the last few years, but never a complete white drone. The white eyed drones are blind due to a genetic mutation.

I have a couple of these seems to work OK. No better or worse than the other plastic ones i have. IanF. Isle of Islay.

Hello All. Just to let you know, i found another white eyed drone in the same hive i found one in last year and the year before. The Queen has been in this hive for three years and every year she gives me a present of only one white eyed drone. She has been a good Queen and i do not want to kill...

heather some of the bell heather is out, but the ling heather is not yet out here on Islay. hope the weather gets a wee bit better, then i may get some honey this year. as yet nothing. Ianf.

bad weather Here in Islay i can not see any honey harvest this year. If we get a wee bit of good weather i may see a few jars, but very little. It looks like it may have to be given up as a bad job, and hope for better weather next year. Ianf

frag plan I bought some stuff from them a couple of years ago. They gave me good service and i can not complain. Ianf.

You could be right, the hives are only 200mtrs from the distillery.

Has anyone out there ever noticed buckfast queens change colour. A couple of months ago, my three buckfast queens were a light brown, now they are a dark brown. They are of various ages, from three years to one year. The hives are in two different places. my black bees are in a different place...

Has anyone had problems introducing a queen of a different race into any hive. I am almost sure it makes no difference, as long as the bees need a queen. ianf.

bad weather The worst spring i have seen in the seven years i have been keeping bees. I am having to feed them as they have no stores left, the queens have stopped laying, i think this is due to the weather and lack of stores. Lets hope the sun will come out soon. Ianf. Isle of Islay.

old foundation to freshen up foundation, i usually run a hot air gun over it, you can also use the wife's hair drier, but make sure she does not see you. Ianf.

My bees do not like the smell of fish, and being an ex fisherman it was not easy in the past, but now i have retired from fishing, things are good. Ianf.

Hi Brian O. 2014. Very good year for honey, for me 65lbs from two hives. Hope 2015 will be the same or better. Regards. Ianf.

pollen My bees are are still a bit sleepy, Some bees flying but not many. The Gorse is in flower so hopefully they will make a start soon. Ianf. Isle of Islay.

I got 72 one pound honey jars, for £28 from Richmond containers (east killbride) near Glasgow. It could be worth checking if they have other branches. I picked them up myself. But i am sure the carriage to where you are would be competitive. Due to the good summer we had last year, I will have...

Hi all. Would anyone know where i could find a supplier of wood planks to make national brood boxes. Softwood will be ok, ceder would be the best but may be too expensive. I looked online but could not find the correct size. I have made supers from softwood before and treated them with wood...

Has any beekeepers out there tried the Walker Desmond fruit or wine press. For extracting heather honey. I understand they are on the small side but could be useful. I only have one hive at the heather. I am on the Isle of Islay and am almost sure there is not one i could borrow. I don't want...

Hi All. The nice surprise i had yesterday was to watch the queen inspecting a cell and then laying an egg in the cell. I was in the middle of an inspection when this happened. Also there were two bees doing a waggle dance on the same frame. I have not seen this before, so it was a nice surprise...

Many thanks, I think that answers my question.