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A very regular customer, who is also a friend, is suffering from macular degeneration. He has been making eye drops using manuka honey, but has discovered that 'raw' honey can be used and is obviously much cheaper. So he proposes to use my honey for making eye drops. I am rather uneasy about...

Half way through last year's laying season, one of my two geese stopped laying and gradually took on the characteristics of a gander, showing signs of aggression and protecting the other goose. I hoped this situation might right itself this season, but it seems the sex change is permanent - one...

I get on pretty well with bucket contact feeders over the centre crownboard hole.. The drawback is that, without dislodging the feeder from the crownboard to feel the weight, there is no way, from the outside, of seeing how much syrup is left. I thought the anwer would be to find a clear...

This year I have tried heating the frames gently to something a bit below normal hive temperature, so around 30°c, but I think this is too high as the wax is quite soft and a couple of frames have blown. I have read elsewhere a temp of 20 - 25 is best, but I find this too low. Wondering, does...

My summer honey crop this year (and last year) is very runny. 17 - 18% moisture. I am wondering, although it shows no sign of crystallizing, whether I can seed it with some of the same soft set honey I have used effectively with crystallized OSR? Will seeding kick start the honey into action...

I know it isn't possible to be sure, without analysis, what nectar the bees have foraged on, but my latest batch of honey was so different in colour that I did a bit of googling. Came up with this chart of varying white clover honey colours...

For the first time this year I am using hex jars, but am finding the 'shoulders' tend to trap air bubbles. Is there a way to avoid this? Sometimes the bubbles rise to the surface if I leave the lids loosely fitted for a day or so, but not always.

Do different honeys vary in sweetness? (My grandson, who does NOT have a sweet tooth but loves honey, said that this latest batch of summer honey is very sweet. I had a taste and think I agree with him.)

Has anyone a suggestion for a mesh to replace the usual wire guard on a chimney pot? The regular wire guard keeps birds out, but not bees. Are there building regs which would apply if altering the chimney pot...

This is very off-topic, but I know bee keepers have a range of eclectic talents, so thought I would give it a try. Does anyone have advice/tips on how to sing the semiquaver runs in 'Unto us a Son is Born' (Messiah), AT SPEED. I have no difficulty with the notes but rather lacking in...

My problem this year is quite the reverse of normal years. My main crop is spring honey with a high proportion of rape, so I usually extract in June and honey begins to crystallize within a month or so. Very little summer honey, which is mostly left for the bees. But this year no spring honey...

Having mulched half of the vegetable garden with my own compost a month or so ago, I now have hundreds of small goose grass seedlings covering that area. It is back breaking work removing these by hand; my question is, will the cold weather kill these seedlings off, as it does the adult plants...

I decided to try Thymovar this Autumn as I don't get on very well with Apiguard but like using thymol in principle. The first strips have now been in for three weeks; looking beneath the crownboards of all three hives I can see the strips have been heavily propolised at the bottom where they...

I don't understand what these 'latest profile posts' mean, or why they appear beneath 'what's new'. Is there something difference between ordinary posting? Not much gets posted here which couldn't be posted elsewhere. Or maybe I'm missing something ... as usual!

Despite using Apilife Var in the autumn and oxalic trickle mid winter, l still have some natural varroa drop. Would oxalic acid strips be ok to use this time of year? I understand the strips need to remain on for 6 weeks. Build up has been slow and supers not put on yet, but hope to in the next...

l have removed remains of fondant on one hive but still need to feed a bit as less than 2 frames of stores, although there is also some nectar. I use contact feeders. My question concerns how to configure the Abelo 5 hole crownboard. The four corner holes are closed with both polystyrene and...

Am l right in assuming that bees drinking water this time of year are diluting fondant on which they are mainly feeding? V cold for the last week and anyway little in the way of forage now the pussy willow is finished.

I have been spending a lot of time these last few days on my knees digging out individual buttercup plants in my wildflower lawn. I find they spread exponentially and as far as I am aware are no use for wildlife or domestic animal forage. More than happy to be corrected if I am wrong, then I...

I have several bee suits/jackets and have yet to find a veil that gives me clear vision especially when looking for eggs. I wear glasses and find the various veils all seem to distort or cause a 'swimming' effect. Is there such a thing as a clear, non-fogging plastic one?

I have noticed some varroa drop on the inspection boards of two of my three hives, approx 12 on each board. Should l treat before brooding starts in earnest? I treated with apilife var in autumn and trickled OS mid December. l do not have the equipment for OS vaping.