What did you do in the Apiary today?

[Tom Bick]

Apparently urine was transported by canal barge from London to the Midlands and was not considered the best job so some would pretend it was wine until they were rumbled and told you are taking the piss.

 

[victor meldrew]

The canal system in Wigan had barges passing a popular recreation area when I was a kid . We would call out to the bargees "what's your cargo ?" They'd reply " **** for Oscar !" This was a well rehearsed exchange as the barges were carrying raw sewerage from Wigan to a huge sewerage farm on Oscar moss which lies between Wigan and Southport !


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[jonnybeegood]

Bought some bits from a retired beekeeper, 1poly hive & 4 supers, 2 wooden nucs, 4 perspex crown boards, 3 galvanised slotted QE's, 5 feeders, 2pkts of foundation, honey strainer, 9 frame honey extractor, 5 beekeeping books all for £200

 

[richardbees]

barges were carrying raw sewerage from Wigan

Thank you Victor- for a bit of living history.

And I wonder how many people know that 'dog excrement' was an integral ingredient in tanning leather. -

 

[Hivemaker.]

same as dog droppings were used in the leasther tanning process.

And I wonder how many people know that 'dog excrement' was an integral ingredient in tanning leather. -

JB and myself knew, and quite a few more now i expect, smelly old job.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

apparently in 'told days kids could make some pocket money going around collecting dog turds and selling them on to the tanner.
Nowadays most kids can hardly make the effort to inhale and exhale (unless there's some exotic herb involved)

 

[richardbees]

JB and myself knew, and quite a few more now i expect, smelly old job.

Thank you for pointing it out HM

......I've got a sudden feeling of Deja vu!

 

[Hivemaker.]

......I've got a sudden feeling of Deja vu!

I get that feeling every day, Richard

 

[Tremyfro]

Sounds like you bagged a bargain...enjoy...

 

[REDWOOD]

There is an old tannery in St Fagans, the plaque n the wall stated they used sheep's droppings and oak leaves.

Sheep's droppings make a fantastic natural fertilizer that surpasses any artificial feed and I always put a few pellets in the bottom of hanging baskets

 

[Nige.Coll]

Pee was used in tanning also.
If you were too poor to own a pot to collect it in you "hadn't got a pot to pee in " so very poor indeed.

 

[jonnybeegood]

so did you all piss & poo in the Apiary these last few days? I thought that's what this thread was all about, what you actually did in the Apiary Today?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

so did you all piss & poo in the Apiary these last few days? I thought that's what this thread was all about, what you actually did in the Apiary Today?

Pissed against both gateposts at the home apiary to deter foxes (bulb has gone on my lamp so I can't shoot them at the moment)

 

[margob99]

Walked out to see my bees yesterday
And not a thing to see;
A large and empty box,
But not a single bee
Today will be another day -
Another walk I'll do
Mayhap I'll see a single bee
Out up upon the loo ...

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

bees love pee, must be warm and nutritious, .

And salt, and I think that's what they're after.

That's what I was always led to believe, but whilst in Africa last year, during my visit to my cousin in Johannesburg was invited to a Braai at her friends' their daughter had done a study of bees and whether they foraged for salts in suspension as part of her PHD - at the end of it they found no evidence to support the fact that bees needed salts (we were then distracted by a bottle of cape smoke so I never got the chance to quiz her a bit more!)

 

[alldigging]

barges were carrying raw sewerage from Wigan

Thank you Victor- for a bit of living history.

And I wonder how many people know that 'dog excrement' was an integral ingredient in tanning leather. -

Anyone who has read Terry Pratchett's 'The truth'.

"They didn't wonder what happened to the full buckets, but Harry King had learned something that can be the key to great riches: there is very little, however disgusting, that isn't used somewhere in some industry. There are people out there who want large quantities of ammonia and saltpetre. If you can't sell it to the alchemists then the farmers probably want it. If even the farmers don't want it then there is nothing, nothing, however gross, that you can't sell to the tanners."

 

[Jimmys Mum]

Is it safe to deviate away from poo and wee posts ???

Still blimmin cold here in Berkshire. Took advantage of the cold snap to clean up some supers and drawn frames. The propolis chips off beautifully. No sticky fingers today, just a touch of frostbite perhaps!
I do like manleys, decapping is so easy but unless they are pushed up tightly together to avoid excess propolising they can be a devil to get out of the box!

Checked my post varrox mite counts - most showing 0 mite drop over a 10 day period. Hopefully its worked then, unless the little sods are now tucked up safely inside sealed brood. I guess time will tell.

Made up a couple of cheap M*more hive stands. Just twiddling my thumbs now until my Thrones order arrives - checked on Wednesday and another 7-10 days apparently!

 

[Cazza]

Bramble bashing round the apiary and mouse murder in the bee shed today. A good day for brambles as not a bee to be seen.
Cazza

 

[Amari]

Pissed against both gateposts at the home apiary to deter foxes (bulb has gone on my lamp so I can't shoot them at the moment)

Yes, that's all I could manage nowadays. 60-odd years ago me and my mates competed to clear a five-bar gate. That's when I lived in Carmarthen JBM

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Not much - had a quick mooch around the apiary - bees tucked up tight.
Had a pee against one of the chicken run posts on the way back to the house to keep my territory marked