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When you're doing a split and moving a full double brood hive to the other end of the apiary in one go, do make sure you pick up the correct one before you pick it up, move it and come back to the new hive. How we laughed! James

Until this evening I've never really stopped to consider in depth what's going on in this situation. It's easy just to follow the instructions, do X, Y and Z and Bob's a none-too-distant relation. Having given a bit of time to thinking about it, here's my current my idea of what happens. By...

If you have one, which one? And is it actually any good? I'm on the point of buying one, partially for use around the apiary, but also so we have something that's sufficiently light for my late-80s father-in-law and my wife and daughter to use comfortably. James

I don't think this is actually that hard to do. I've been considering putting something similar together to scare off deer from my veggie plot and I've seen one described that scares foxes and badgers out of someone's garden. All the software exists and is open source, and I think runs on a...

I switched on the ignition when I got in the car just before lunch to return home from the dentist (I'd not realised that I was using a BDSM dentist, but much of their treatment now appears to start by smothering me with a rubber sheet) to have Jeremy Vine start blaring out of the speakers...

We have been to Wokingham this weekend. Quite horrifying to find that what was a sleepy little town when we lived nearby in Sindlesham has become what appears to be a massive housing estate. However, the reason for the visit was to attend a birthday party for the wife of a university friend...

The winds over the last few days seem to have finally done for my current one. James

A gift (to me) last week: I shall certainly wear them whilst beekeeping. James

Which is doubly impressive given that as far as I'm concerned they work by magic and I had no instructions other than how to remove the case which was actually more than I expected. I can't deny there was a fair amount of luck involved. The tensioning mechanism wasn't working at all and when I...

I have made some frame feeders from softwood timber and hardwood ply (for the faces) fixed together with D4 wood glue and nails. I'm disinclined to seal them in favour of allowing the bees to do that for me the first time they get used. Any slight weeping will surely get handled by the bees...

Yeah, that old chestnut. Today I received the final payment for my Fiesta being written off. I have started looking at possible replacements with a view to making it easy to transport beekeeping kit around. Damn, but cars have become expensive! I had in mind that I might look for a Berlingo...

After having my Hoffman frames snorted at derisively by a long-term member of my local BKA where I was giving a talk last week (he apparently insists on the use of plastic ends), I have discovered that whilst most (UK) Hoffman frames seem to have 35mm (1⅜") spacing, Dadant frames appear to use...

I've completely lost track. I think those from STB used to be considered pretty good (ie. not requiring further work to make them usable), but perhaps I made that up. And of course STB isn't quite STB any more. Anyone care to make a recommendation? James

I have been using stainless nails and screws for making up beehive parts that are exposed to the elements for long periods of time. This weekend I needed to order some more as I want to get ahead of the game a bit and start making up some more UFEs. I was horrified to discover that since I...

I've been wandering in and out of the house all day doing jobs under SWMBOs instruction because we have guests this weekend. I have absolutely no idea what's going on in my subconscious, but this just dropped into my head pretty much complete. I'm sure you can work out the tune... You shall...

King Charles III new coin designs revealed I'm guessing it's meant to be bumble bees rather than honey bees. Shame they couldn't come up with a nicer design though. It looks like it's been cribbed from a bumble bee identification diagram. B-. Must try harder.

Maybe... I had to go to the dentist this afternoon for a consultation regarding the removal of one of my wisdom teeth. It has been growing forwards and outwards for a while, regardless of the fact that I'm well into my fifties and I should be past all this palaver by now. My regular dentist...

I was chatting with a friend this evening. His son keeps bees and apparently has about 200 hives, but it's possible that before the end of the year he'll be going abroad to work as a beekeeper and perhaps occasional sheep-wrangler for a few years. The question was raised as to whether I might...

Details here: Product Recall James

It's not even two weeks since the anniversary of our neighbouring farmer driving his quad bike out of a field entrance into the side of my wife's car. Unpleasant business, but all now sorted to our satisfaction if not his. This morning my son was coming home from the local "town" in my car...