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I was wondering does hundreds of feed bags hanging from a workshop count.
Or piles of off cuts of various bits of wood used for landscaping /fencing.
Plus a few shelves of rusty nails/screws in tabacco tins because they will come in use one day.
I've started to collect odd socks what do you think. View attachment 24055
I buy exclusively black socks so I never have a problem matching what comes out of the drawer.
 
You could extend to two colours....you'd only need to pull three socks for a guaranteed pair;)
 
The middle ones are my favourite designs of hive tools. Always reach for them first amongst my (growing) collection. Why do hive tools grow in numbers, whilst Baldock cages always disappear for good ? 🤣
My new favourites are the small ones right of centre, they do everything I need and fit well in my pocket!
 
NBN, the good new is you are missing the 13th in your collection. The Australian J Hive tool.
Here we call the ones on the left, American Hive tools. The local beekeeping store will not stock those as "no one buys them".
I'll show my trouble and strife your collection. I have only the one hive tool and your collection makes me look like a very good boy.
 

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Swimbo never complains about me having to much beek stuff as it was her idea in the first place also never moans at my collection of push bikes. On the other hand she has several riding saddles about and dare I mention shoes and frocks.
On the sock front I will often pair odd ones together once the other is to badly holed.
 
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I dare not look..... but did find my lost favorite long handled J tool inside one of the colonies this last season... how on Earth the bees managed to carry it there beggars belief! :leaving:

Chonds da
Ditto the hive tools. Only seem to find them when cutting the grass or on top of a CB when checking a hive in a remote apiary.
 
Ditto the hive tools. Only seem to find them when cutting the grass or on top of a CB when checking a hive in a remote apiary.
I'm pretty good with hive tools, I find the slightly smaller J tool from Big T's fits snugly into your hand, and I hardly ever put it down - so much so, that sometimes I forget to put it back in the soda bucket at the apiary and have been seen driving along the road, hive tool still in hand
I buy exclusively black socks so I never have a problem matching what comes out of the drawer.
For years they were uniform issue for me, I still have a whole drawer full of them but they are a bit thin, more of the 'formal' type of wear and I prefer thicker woolen socks for everyday wear.
 
Mine get eaten by Oscar our Springer Spaniel..... you would not want to wear one after it has been through his digestive tract!
We had a labrador that had a penchant for eating anything - I think the worst experience was when he had devoured a pair of my wife's tights ... I don't think the dog enjoyed the result any more than I did ... amazing what they can pass through their digestive tract. Our vet told us once that he took one and a half kilos of stones out of a labrador's stomach that it had swallowed.
 
I visit 15 sites to inspect my or client's bees and because there were EFB alerts around a couple of my apiaries last year I have decided to keep a smoker and hive tool at any sensitive site and all my clients sites.
I went through all my bee sheds and van and came out with 5 smokers including a couple of lovely copper ones which came with a bundle of second hand kit I bought when first started. PLUS 12 hive tools!
I know I tend to lose these in the long grass regularly during the season and put another on my next order from the usual suspects but in the winter months I find them again.
Does anyone else accumulate items?View attachment 24047
So how many would you need if you recived the thirteen notifications for EFB and two for AFBcthat i've had on two sites?
 

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I have collected more than my share of expensive ex-wives in the past but grew out of that now
 
When my wife starts on about my extensive collection of tools (or other useful junk) I tell her that I’m going to count her shoe collection....
 
When my wife starts on about my extensive collection of tools (or other useful junk) I tell her that I’m going to count her shoe collection....
Braver man than I ...

I just retreat to somewhere in the piles of useful stuff (aka Junk) and avoid further conflict .. further discussion usually goes from general comments about the piles of stuff to closer inspection and more specific questions like - do you really need THAT ? or where did THAT come from ? Harder to answer ...

Avoid phrases like 'I may need it', 'it may come in useful', 'it's just something I wlll use'. Indistinct and non-committal mutterings about how you are 'slimming down the range' help and perhaps an exaggerated trip to the recyling centre with nothing much of any use or listing something on ebay and making sure she knows ... usually defuses the situation and you can then quietly acquire more ....
 
I visit 15 sites to inspect my or client's bees and because there were EFB alerts around a couple of my apiaries last year I have decided to keep a smoker and hive tool at any sensitive site and all my clients sites.
I went through all my bee sheds and van and came out with 5 smokers including a couple of lovely copper ones which came with a bundle of second hand kit I bought when first started. PLUS 12 hive tools!
I know I tend to lose these in the long grass regularly during the season and put another on my next order from the usual suspects but in the winter months I find them again.
Does anyone else accumulate items?View attachment 24047
Prompts me to ask; whats the purpose of the hole in the hive tool? I've often wondered and never found a use for it...
 

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