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Steady on, if you give someone, or yourself, the contents of an epipen when they DON'T need it you are quite likely to kill them. It is not just a case of oooh, my scalp itches and I feel a bit strange with tingly lips and so WHAMMO with the auto-inject adrenalin syringe. It is very serious...

I had an Hawaiian Queen and, later, a new Zealand Queen from Peter Kemble this year and both have been going great guns. The Hawaiian was put onto the only three remaining frames of an ailing (badly mated queen last year) colony of savage bees in May. She built the whole commercial box out and...

My understanding is that nearly all Red Cedar is used for housebuilding in the States and in Canada. The recession has led to this industry virtually grinding to a halt, so they stopped felling it. This has led to a 'man made' shortage of the stuff - hence the rise in price. As the recession...

With the gift buying season coming up can anyone recommend a decent all-singing all-dancing book that will cover plant pollination, basic flower botany and stuff like that? I'd like to be able to dissect different flowers, identify the different parts and generally marvel at how the whole...

Have you done a course on AI? If so could you post some details, please? Swienty seem to do the kit but I couldn't comment on price, etc, as I don't know enough about it. Cheers

I splashed out on a Sherrif all in one fencing mask suit and it has been fantastic except...... I have been stung twice on the right ear through the hood. I do not know if they got me through the cloth on each occasion but I suspect I had turned my head a tiny bit too far and had my ear resting...

I was stung a lot in a couple of nasty incidents when I started beekeeping - I'm talking about thirty odd stings in a couple of minutes - and reacted with a bit of painful localised swelling and generally feeling a tad beaten up, but that was it. Things are much better now, due to re-queening...

Yes, that was the problem beekeepers struggled with throughout history until the discovery of the beespace which led to the modern hive. I suspect there is no proper answer as if there was I dare say our ancestors would have sussed it out for themselves (Not mine, obviously - far too thick!)

Long story short - a member of our assoc has been given a skep containing an established colony of bees which are living in it in the 'old fashioned' way. The original owner captured a swarm in it and just flipped the skep over, raised one edge and let the bees install themselves in it. The...

Kid leather gloves with blue latex Screwfix gloves on top. They fit really well and I reckon I can handle the frames etc just fine. They can get you straight through the leather gloves if they are a particularly evil bunch, but the double layer of latex over leather seems to stop this. It...

This isn't the definitive answer by any means but I was talking to someone about this method a few days a go and from what he was saying you should leave it a little while longer. The ideal is when there are just a few bees near her, as there would be normally. If they are still reacting to...

'Guide to Bees and Honey' by Ted Hooper MBE, recently revamped which coincided with his sad death a couple of months ago. If you only get one book on beekeeping make it this one.

The Buckfast Bee doesn't exist at Buckfast Abbey these days but there are still plenty of them about in other places with lots of skilled and dedicated people ensuring their continued survival - a bit like whippets don't just come from Whippetshire anymore.

You won't be able to move them to your dad's unless you are going to do it one foot every day which may take a while. If you move them in one go there really will be a problem because the flying bees will all return to the original spot and just mill about unable to find their new lodgings. So...

Just my thoughts, but I reckon the back end of the season is the idea time to start beekeeping. I got my first two hives in the middle/end of a July and it means you can get used to having them, inspecting them, going through the frames etc followed by the 'putting them to bed for the winter'...

Brewing beer Cleaning Shotguns Making a tinfoil hat

Like most things, it is all down to personal attitudes and philosophies. There are a few 'holier-than-thou' TBH users who always remind me of people who proclaim themselves to be vegetarians as if they deserve the Victoria Cross for it, followed by 'but I do eat fish.' But then again there are...

I am becoming more and more interested in the subject of bee breeding and wonder of anyone can recommend a reasonably priced, simple, entry level book on the subject. Is there a 'Bees and Honey' equivalent about it all? I'm not so much after the 'hands on' queen producing methods, more a...

Microscopy course - top banana My first post! Having been on John Cowan's microscopy course at Flatford Mill I can tell you it really is excellent. Great tutor, great subject, great place; all you could hope for, really. As well as a microscopy expert and Dr in Botany etc John is also an...