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  1. Bluetractorman

    Oh Beth Where is Thy Sting

  2. Bluetractorman

    Nuc measurements

    Has anyone got some measurements for plywood/any wood nuc construction? Dave Cushman/Roger Patterson has some here.. Nuc Box Plans Designed by Roger Patterson although I'd be interested to see others. I've searched the site without finding anything but that doesn't mean it's not on here...
  3. Bluetractorman

    Brave to braze?

    Anyone tried brazing a sublimator alloy "spoon" back onto the steel heat tip? The mapp gas flame is about 3000 degrees. Hmmmm. Or shall I be the guinea pig!
  4. Bluetractorman

    Bring out your dead..

    Temp up to 12 degrees today after the severely cold period. Dead being dumped out. Anyone else seeing this?
  5. Bluetractorman

    What to do with brood frames of stores?

    During the summer I removed some brood frames that were filled with stores, replacing them with foundation. Partly as swarm prevention, partly to increase brood nest size. I'd intended to feed these stores back in the autumn but having left a super on each hive I've been struggling to get them...
  6. Bluetractorman

    Drawn brood combs with stores in them

    I have a number of drawn brood frames with partially capped honey and some also with pollen. Assuming no chest freezer space what should I do with them? I have more than enough for making up nucs. They're not worth extracting but were they to be cleaned out by bees perhaps they'd be of use next...
  7. Bluetractorman

    Nosema?

    This mating nuc was filled with a cupful of bees plus a QC welded to some foundation on 26th, 48 hours ago. Fondant lump in there too. 24 hours after taking it from it's 24 hours of dark purdah in a shed it looks in a bad state. (Pic attached) Does this look like nosema? I know it needs a...
  8. Bluetractorman

    Ultra violet flower photo exhibition

    UV images of flowers, perhaps how bees see them. There's a link (I hope) to the the exhibition in the text below. Italian artist Debora Lombardi splashes individual flowers with UV light and photographs them, says Colossal magazine, “unveiling an entire spectrum of colours otherwise invisible...
  9. Bluetractorman

    Mouse in the house?

    The entrance block, which has panel pins to keep mice out, blew out of place in Feb's gales. It was half out for about 48 hours. It should have been a better fit I know. Judging by the strangely concentrated pile of cappings on the varroa board do I have a mouse in there? If yes, is an early...
  10. Bluetractorman

    European hornets lodgers in the attic

    This is where they were coming from. Glad to say no hornets in there. Now removed. Fine nest.
  11. Bluetractorman

    Melted correx with OA sublimator

    On the off chance that someone else makes this mistake here's what I c****d up today. From the school of learning the hard way. Second vape of three vapes at 5 day intervals to deal with one hive that for some reason had a high mite level a month after apiguard. I left the correx inspection...
  12. Bluetractorman

    Corfu bees

    In Old Perithia, a deserted mountain village in norther Corfu, there's a beekeeper called Vasilikis. His father Spiros was there the last time I visited in 2008, he has since died and Vasilikis has taken over. Spiros was extremely rustic and traditional, Vasilikis has increased the number of...
  13. Bluetractorman

    Queenless?`

    Almost certain a colony is Q'less. I would normally use a test frame but the time of year means no obvious frames to use. I could do it but the loss of a frame now would seem a greater theft than earlier in the year. How best then to be sure a colony is queenless before uniting?
  14. Bluetractorman

    How quickly will multiple VQ's reduce in number?

    Yesterday at 3pm I inspected a colony (brood and a half layout) that I'd left too long. The first sign of things to come was a VQ piping, which I put into a Q clip. I then saw another Q cell that, when I touched it with the hive tool, a Q emerged. Later, another Q, also piping, was spotted in...
  15. Bluetractorman

    White semi solid at the base of an empty QC

    To change a Queen I'd added a frame from another hive with a fine looking QC on it. Some days after it would have/should have emerged I had a quick peep to check it hadn't been torn down. The cell was intact and looked fine, the cap removed, not present but removed, rough edges around the...
  16. Bluetractorman

    Fondant dripping through to varroa board

    I put 12.5kg of fondant, in 2 successive blocks of 6.25kg directly on top of a Q excluder, on the top bars of national brood frames in early and late Oct. The second block is almost all gone but there's still about 1kg left of v hard fondant, the cluster is directly under the blue wrapper and...
  17. Bluetractorman

    Hello from West Sussex

    Bluetractorman here, aka Richard Elliott. Just started beekeeping this year. I joined the Chichester beekeeping course which had to be stopped after a few sessions. Undeterred I've gone ahead. Was lucky enough to get an over-wintered nuc which last week I transferred to a hive. All seems...
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