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Mine has a piece of balloon fabric tied over the top and is stored in the shed. I am also the wife. I wouldn’t recommend putting the wife in the garage/shed, they can do quite a lot of damage when necessary!

Now why anyone would do it is a question I can’t answer. It seems to be making candle making very difficult, when it can be difficult even with a mould.

My understanding of this, having asked a few people, is you literally pour the wax down the wick, so the opposite of dipping…. Sounds very messy, and the picture I saw showed runs and drips down the candle. I’ll try and find it again.

Does anyone have a kochstar dipping station they no longer want? I’d like to have a go with one.

I’m also in Somerest, and when going through my 4 hives, found one that was lovely and calm, but no brood, a few drones, and I couldn’t see the queen. There’s not a lot you can do at the moment, but wait until spring. I agree it’s quite possible you have a supercedure taking/taken place, so you...

Not a very helpful reply at all

Look for a semi commercial extraction set up. Talk to your local bee farmers for ideas.

I always nadir my supers, if they have one, and have never had any problems with the bees moving, or not moving, stores. I have had queens laying in the super when I left it on the top, when I was hoping to use it as a super in the spring. Had to wait for the brood to emerge so learnt to put it...

Not strictly in the apiary, but eating these, I remarked “they remind me of chalkbrood” and was told I need to get out more! Kalmykia arachidowe - or peanut pebbles.

Nigella Lawson: the food that makes me happy https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/879b1dca-fddf-48af-a6fe-d04ec80a70fd?shareToken=af9ee34803cf95a33f4198679cf0f8d4 Anyone fancy sending her their honey?

I have nearly all the exams, and I mean nearly all, but I do not think I know it all. I do know, and appreciate, those with a lot more practical experience usually have far more knowledge than I am ever going to collect. Those are the people I go to discuss beekeeping. There are also those who...

I think my bees got it wrong! I went in yesterday as I knew I’d got a colony on the brink of swarming, and they had swarm cells in, so I split them. They usually wait until there’s going to be a warm and dry spell - but according to the forecast here it’s meant to be showers and cool for the...

Most of the dross stays on/in the frame, and the wax seems to run well into the container. Comes out clean, but can have honey in the bottom. Depending on how long it takes me to remove it, it can still be called bakers honey, other times it’s turned itself into tablet! The dross that does end...

I altered mine, put an eke on it, and now hang the frames and it takes 2 boxes of frames. Works really well when we’ve got sunshine……

I hope she never sees this!

I went through all my colonies yesterday, it was 15d, with very little breeze. I did a disease inspection, checked for queens and laying, stores, and marked a queen. It all depends on where you are and what the conditions are like. I have a sheltered south facing apiary, I usually, and did this...

I’ve got a colony like this, which I put a QE and a super on a week ago when I did a full inspection, which has drones in it. I am fully expecting this to be in swarm mode by the time the weather is warm enough for me to look in again. I think you did the right thing. I’d keep a look out for...

How would you stop the pollen colour from fading? And store it so it wasn’t affected by mites? It sounds a good idea, and I’ll join in if you start it. So far, I use Dorothy Hodges colour chart.

I bought one of these, or certainly very similar (can’t be bothered to check the numbers!), and it’s very good...

I try and leave them undisturbed, they do quite a lot of good during the year - until they start to rob my bees of honey!