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Erica! Be still my beating heart! Yes, back in the mad, mad world of the Forum. Will you be at the BBKA do this weekend? A

Thank you jenkinsbrynmair. It’s good to be back. Life’s been too hectic over the last couple of years, to get hooked into the forum. But now I’m half retired I have time to be social. And as a sign of that, I’ll be paying a fleeting visit to the Convention tomorrow. Might see you there. A

Mulling over when to do Demarees on my hives. I go away in 3 weeks for a 3-week break leaving the remaining resident, a non-beekeeper, to ‘keep an eye on them’. (Yes, I know: a double error.) My stand-in beek is unwell and can’t cover for me. Only two hives but both have brood on 8-9 frames...

If you think I'm going to open up my hives every time I finish my dinner....... Dusty

I use 14 x 12 in all the 12 hives I look after, but if I need a nuc, it's always on B.S. standard bb frames. Yes, they would normally draw them out, but at this time of year they may not bother. My trick is to do a Demaree (q.v.) swarm control the next season, removing the old frames when the...

Fame at last! http://www.manchestercathedral.org/news/521/capture-the-cathedral-winners-2017 There's a link to the Cathedral's Facebook page for Joe Pubic* to vote for their favourite. Thought my fellow beeks might like to do to this poll what the ruskies did for Trump. Love, light and...

I think I'm right in saying that MAQS can be used at any time and will not taint the honey. Dusty

Have to disagree with you there. People on black look a lot like a bear - just about the only predator of bees, barring humans. Last season, I was having this discussion with a couple of novice beeks at the association apiary, as we were finishing inspecting and clearing up. As we walked away...

Just a really lovely time going through my two home hives with kazmcc. One of them is so quiet, it's hard to believe. They have a super queen, which is slow to build up early in the season - but then takes off like a rocket! The other is a huge colony - too big for its own good. So last...

At this time of the year I find myself removing frames of unused winter stores. As they are usually the result of autumn feeding, I can't extract the 'honey' - and anyway I use 14 x 12s, which won't fit my extractor. I hate to chuck it all away - so I end up storing the fuller frames for the...

Inspected the hives on the PrintWorks roof in Manchester to find one with no queen or eggs - and emergency/supercedure queen cells. It's 9 days since I last inspected them, so I don't think I damaged the queen last time. There were quite a lot of drones around so I wonder if this was a planned...

Shame. I'd planned to come to the WBKA convention, but daughter decided we needed a Planning Weekend, so I had to cancel. Selfish. Just because she's getting married in the autumn. One day we will meet, ericA. Dusty

Next inspection, put the super under the bb. Ensure the queen is in the bb then put a QE between the two. After 3 weeks or so, remove the super. At that point decide if your queen needs a double brood or just hinge supers. If she needs double brood, think about converting to 14 X12 next spring...

I had a really lovely hour and a half with cazmcc looking through my 2 hives. How different they were. One with 9 frames of brood on double 14 x 12 bb, the other on 5 frames. The first active and inquisitive, the second, so laid back they're entering for the 4man bobsleigh at the next olympics...

Utter rubbish! Retract that daft idea at once! Dusty

At this time of year there is no more important job than looking through the catalogues to select those items which you can con your relatives into buying you for Christmas. Think of it as an act of charity as they're probably scratching their heads trying to decide what to get the person who...

To which Stan replied.......... Dusty

How the heck do I get a car battery up a spiral staircase and onto the roof of Manchester Cathedral? Any other suggestions? Dusty

Any truth in the rumour that they've dropped Polish tins because of Brexit? And they intend to replace them with good, old-fashioned British tins? Dusty