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    Can I unite this chalkbrood colony?

    I had bad chalkbrood in one colony this year. Culled the queen and let them rear a daughter queen but the problem persisted, so culled her yesterday too. She was laying fairly well but the brood doesn't make it past larva stage. Colony now very weak, 2 frames w about 30% young brood. I have...
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    Queen with varroa

    Hi, saw a queen today with a varroa mite right ontop of her thorax. She is a laying 2019 queen, unmarked and unclipped. I left her because I was short on time, but what's the best way to deal with this? Could I hold her on a marking cage/plunger and try to kill the mite with fine tweezers, or...
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    Judging the quality of honey by tasting it

    I have a co-worker from Poland who is crazy about buying only good quality honey. He believes all the honey in the shops here is poor quality and is amazed to find out that I keep bees. Anyway, he buys honey through a source that brings it from Poland for him, but he is beginning to doubt if...
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    Crocus

    Hoping to plant some crocus in the garden. Are there any particularly good varieties to look out for regarding pollen yield for my honey bees?
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    Tossing the coin for winter

    Every year I seem to have a colony like this in September; a new queen but she stops laying late August. My instinct is to unite them and I've done this before with success, but last two years I just left them for nature to take it's course. Low and behold come Spring, they were doing well, with...
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    Which heat pad for my warming cabinet?

    I use an old fridge with a STC1000 and a 60W light bulb, but I want to sack the lightbulb and replace with a heater pad for better efficiency. It needs to be 240V and the fridge is a typical small counter-height model. I'm seeing 5W, 7W, 14W reptile heaters on ebay and guessing something like...
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    Q about an AS I did this week

    Last Saturday (Apr 28) I found a lovely big queen cell, charged with larva but not sealed. So I did an artificial swarm. Went back again today (7days later because I work all week) to check for more cells and destroy if necessary. I find the QC still unsealed and missing its larva. The bees had...
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    Do not refrigerate?

    I feel like I want to put this instruction on a honey label, but I don't think I've ever seen a label saying this before. Is there a particular reason why? I'm asking because I've spoken to a few people in the past who tell me they don't buy honey very often because they always have to dump the...
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    Grams to ml of honey

    Can anyone confirm if this sounds correct please? Googling tells me the density of honey 1.44g/cm3. (figures vary from 1.38 to 1.45) Some jars are sold in their ml quantities, so if I want a jar to hold 340g of honey, I divide 340 by 1.44 and get 236ml jar size. Does this sound about right?
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    Basic ling honey press

    I have an out apiary on the edge of some heather, so I have about 2 supers of ling. I have 4 others that were already part filled with earlier nectar from the rosebay and bramble etc. They weren't completely filled and sealed so I just left them on during the ling flow. I'm hoping they will spin...
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    Think I made a mistake

    I have 5 hives on the ling heather at the moment. All queens b.2017. I mark and clip them just when I happen to see them. PART1 Today I spotted the queen in hive 1 that had dodged me all summer so I catch her. I dont handle them, but rather trap them with one of those clear plastic tubes...
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    Lids for honey jars

    Anyone suggest somewhere to buy the just lids without the jars? To fit the round 1LB jars. thanks
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    extracting from unwired frames

    I have honey in frames that are fitted with unwired foundation. I now decide I want more run honey and less cut comb. I have a tangential extractor. Any handy tips for getting the honey out without the wax letting go. Are rubber bands worth a try?
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    Is this supercedure?

    New queen result of an AS in late April. She has been laying well and I marked and clipped her. Last week I found a queen cell and destroyed it. Today I find three more, all open and charged, all on the same side of just one frame. Queen is still laying, but not at the rate she was using flow in...
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    Poly rookie

    I have all wooden kit up to now, but I'm using a poly nuc for the first time this year. It's one of the yellow ones from Maisemore, although I've now painted it. My question is, with the "frame runners" just being moulded as part of the box, do they stay in reasonably good shape after a few...
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    Superfine foundation; tips please

    The very thin stuff with no wires. I like it for cut comb but anyone any tips for getting it to stay in the frame without dropping? Also, it bows side to side easily. I'm using a little melted wax to hold it in place, but are there any tricks I've been missing?
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    Define "swarmy"

    So I hear about being careful when selecting your queen for breeding; calm temperament, prolific layer, nice brood pattern among other things including not having too great a tendency to swarm. I'm wondering if my hives with 2016 queens produce queen cells this year (2017), then does that mean...
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    The match and crownboard thing

    I keep reading jokes and abrasive comments about this issue, but it's like the forum's secret handshake. I don't really get it. Personally, I don't make any ventilation space under my crownboards at all, even with matches. I've done it a few times in the past and didn't notice anything...
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    No varroa?

    I only had one colony to bring through winter 2015/16. I treated them with oxalic vape last January and saw very light varroa drop, less than 10 on the board. From that one colony I made five more this year. I now have 6 colonies; 1 new queen has been outstanding, 2 very good, other 3 med-small...
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    So what is it with my roof?

    I make most of my own gear but this summer I needed another roof in a rush and just bought a brand new one for convenience. It has new shiny galvanised steel on top compared to my other ones which are mostly weathered or painted aluminium. Most times I go to inspect there will be two or three...
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