Recent content by Amari

I'm no musician but really enjoyed this event in our village last month: Percussion concert this Sunday - 7th April in the Village Hall The BBC Musician of the Year 2022 Jordan Ashman Concert Sunday 7th April. 3pm til 5pm Doors open at 2.30pm There will be an interval when tea coffee...

Anything to oblige: Bumblebee, Aunt Ruby's Green, Costeluto Genovese, Pentland Romanesco, Hungarian Heart, Bellhomme Fortuna, Granny's Throwing, San Marzano, Golden Sweet. :sorry: -SWMBO's choices.............!

SWMBO's tomatoes planted in Quadgrow self watering system. Peppers down the middle and melons & cucumbers at the end.

No, farmers plant and earth up all in one manoeuvre so what you see is parallel ridges of soil - which is what I do as per post 1863 above. I can't see the point of planting first then returning to earth up.

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The vital thing is that they should be tightly strapped, preferably using two of the ratchet-type straps in parallel rather than at right angles to each other. Check the entrances are securely closed (I use foam strips). I'm assuming the above is practicable with WBCs (my hives are Nationals)...

Glad to read your state play not far from me. Isn't the season late this year! One one occasion a few years ago I extracted the first OSR at the end of April, usually it's in the first two weeks of May with some comb beginning to crystallise. This year capping is only half complete with no...

That's very generous Zac - thanks++.

Are you sure your refractometer is calibrated correctly? Very strange that OSR honey with water reading of 30% is crystallising. I've never known any honey with water content of 30%!

Jet black! I don't think I've ever had a queen that colour.

Thanks for all the suggestions, I'll follow your advices.

After moaning all April about the cold, rain and wind, May has brought lovely weather and a heavy flow so that I now have 4-5 supers on my five productive hives. The hives, double BB, sit on stands 18" above ground level so that the hive roofs are at shoulder-head level. Not sure where the...

If you have random drone cells but no worker brood then that's the classical sign of drone-laying workers. The colony is doomed and the standard practice is to shake them out - though sadly they'd have nowhere to go as you only have one hive. It's unlikely that introducing a purchased queen...

I do it at any time of day wearing my bee suit - no problems.

Yes, I have to net BBs, otherwise the muntjac eat the pods - but only the lower half of each one - they obligingly leave the upper halves!