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The lines are caused by the wax cooling past the setting point briefly as it comes into contact with the side of the moulds. The best way to alleviate this is to heat the moulds prior to pouring, then pour quickly and consistently in a single motion whilst trying not to hit the sides. Ensure...

Some cavitation is inevitable depending on the candle shape, if it's long and thin it's especially likely to cavitate. Cavitation is caused by two things, the temperature (and therefore density) of the wax and the air temperature. The cooler the wax is the less cavitation you will have (aim for...

It is, all the machines are made at the same factory in China. I've imported plenty of bits from China and it's honestly hit and miss whether you get hit with customs and import. For me, I got Thornes because I can return it without issue if it develops a fault, and it also comes with the...

Ignore the haters, I think it's a great little app and well done, could be extremely handy especially for new beekeepers. Maybe for future growth, you could put in current conditions of each hive and have it tell you what might/might not need inspecting this week, it's been something I've been...

Hello! I've been asked to give an opinion: I have both bottling machines, first I purchased the pneumatic one from Thornes at a convention after having a quick demo. After using it for a year, it's better than hand-bottling but extremely finicky and can't be left setup, the main cons are...

Our 3 Jolantas are in, settled and absolutely smashing it, also calm as a cucumber. Top queens, will definitely be getting more when the time is right.

How did you find them? did they provide useful and accurate information? How are they installed and how do they relay stuff back to their servers?

Reading this months BBKA that just came through the post, I noticed an interesting article on page 28 about a commercial hive monitor that's going to be shown at the spring (haha!) convention. I've been interested at the idea of a hive monitor for some time, a friend of mine was thinking of...

Honey made from rhodedendrons is quite toxic, to quote wikipedia " People have been known to become ill from eating honey made by bees feeding on rhododendron and azalea flowers. Xenophon described the odd behavior of Greek soldiers after having consumed honey in a village surrounded by...

I find it very easy to just peek open the lid to check the see-through containers, minimal heat loss and disturbance

I meant, when you take the empty container off, there will be bees on the crown board beneath it. If you put a full container on the same place, you'd crush all the bees with the fondant. Being able to add fondant without removing the crown board has its advantages.

I've taken to half filling plastic takeaway containers with fondant, each holds around .7kg, this is placed over the hole in the crownboard. You only half fill it as there will be bees in it when you need to replace it, if it was totally full you'd crush them, this also gives them plenty of...

taking the advice of old beeks at face value without doing your own research.

Sorry that was my bad then, I didn't notice it was a joke :willy_nilly:

Ok fair doos, sorry to rant, was just getting annoyed with the "Its all luck" thing. Yes that is one of the scenarios where you have little control over the bees survival. he sounds like a very good bee keeper if he can bring 47/50 hives through winter.

I resent that, I kept an extremely close eye on my bees, their weight and food level and activity, they came through this winter because I thoroughly checked them for disease beforehand, treated them where necessary, then fed them adequate amounts and monitored their infilling closely. Many...

Obviously its my unmatched prowess as a new beek. Actually I just fed them like crazy before winter and kept fondant on them all the way through, I also situated them in a warm and windless spot with plenty of early forage nearby.

I don't get that condensation thing, you'd get the same condensation as a regular crown board, it's just more visible as it doesn't soak into the wood. Also light really doesn't seem to bother them too much.

Yes, they are superb, about £5 more expensive that regular wooden ones, but totally worth it, I've been able to check the condition of my hive constantly over winter without disturbing them or losing any heat.

upload them on imgur and link them over, dead easy.