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Not a lot variation in my spring sample from the praries of suffolk :ROFLMAO:. I'm reading this as 93-95% OSR. I'm surprised the bean inlcusion is so low and not many hedgerow species.

Out of interest does it actually smell like lavender?

Some farmers do grow radish as a catch crop after harvesting early cereals and will often incorporate the grown radish back into the soil before sowing the next crop. A catch crop as quick growing species of plant, which radish are which you use to try a 'mop up' left over fertiliser with and...

I do, I was recommended the process by a lot of people at my local society and have carried on with it. It certainly makes it easier for sorting out swarms and I think it gives you another one or two days before they decide to leave the hive after the q cell is capped. When they do decided to...

I wouldn't be worried about it not being drilled either, had another frost here last night plus the top inch of cultivated soil is dust currently. There's such a high percentage inclusion of grasses to carry the wild flower seed out of the drill otherwise it can be hard to so the wild flowers...

I opened up 8 for the first time in my lunch break today, pleasantly surprised is how I'd sum up the experience. I'll do my other site tomorrow. 7 out of the 8 were all doing well but one was very small compared to the others with a lot of dead bees on the floor. Plenty of fresh pollen was being...

Following on from the above point Crimson Clover Trifolium incarnatum is an annual so therefore it's not quite as preferable perennial clovers. It does flower early on in the year which can be a benefit. With my limited understanding of clovers Whites are split into three groups, small leaved...

@banwee40 I've got a 20 frame Radial I got from Thornes last summer and I would recommend it. Post 56 in the link were my thoughts and comments after using it Konigin Machines If you search for Konigin it will bring up the threads where their equipment is talked about.

I saw some snowdrops yesterday which were only about 2cm high, so they've got a little way to go yet

I've just got back in from my oxalic acid trickling. On a downside I found one of my nucs had died out, not 100% sure as to why, I think the wasps in late autumn caused quite a few problems with it and when I looked in it there were not a lot of bees at all. Interestingly this was a plywood nuc...

Another species which would be useful to increase diversity and flowers is Snowberry - Symphoricarpos. It might have been mentioned and I could have missed it.

@Corbeehives I bought my first extractor this year which is a Konigin machine from Thornes. This was after five years of hiring a 4 frame manual tangential from the local association. I've typed up a bit of a review here of it Konigin Machines Albeit it's a 20 frame one, I'd still recommend...

@pargyle how hot does that set up get if it can melt the thermometer plastic?

Thanks for everyone's comments. As I don't have a solar wax melter I think making a steam extractor is a possibility.

As the title suggests has anyone had any experience using a Thornes warming cabinet to render used wax down, more specifically old brood comb? I'm currently using a ban marie set up on a gas burner (not a very big one) but for convenience I was wondering if it's possible to use a cabinet...

I reckon I'm probably one of the youngest on here at 28, so I'm no where near retirement yet. I work in agricultural plant breeding, specifically working with sugar beet. With my job I'm always getting offers for apiary sites but I've only got enough time for the 15 I've currently got. I noticed...

I don't know what the bottom of your extractor looks like @pargyle but cannot you not have the tap open all the time so the honey always flows out and doesn't build up around the bearing so it wouldn't come into contact with the grease? I am assuming the floor is convex so it slopes upwards in...

I thought I'd post up a bit of a review about the 20 frame machine now I've finished with it for the season. Up until this summers extraction I've used a 4 frame tangential manual extractor which did the job but a very slow system as you had to flip the frames around multiple times and the fact...

I have yet (touch wood) not had a problem with Posca's. I bought a set 4 years ago and the blue I've used this year is holding on well and the green from lat year is still doing well, albeit there is less than what I initially put on. When I use mine I push the tip of the pen down on the back of...

Yes to both. Seeing the queen easily is always reassuring and clipping minimises the chances of losing a swarm and them becoming a nuisance to someone or I lose them. However I do try to not let them swarm in the first place......