todays news

[Castor]

I have had a badger problem in the past.
Large calibre machine gun and explosives. The only way.

[Little_John]

Another possibility going through my mind is to put in some stands built from scaffolding which the hives can be strapped to ...

I think the use of scaffolding poles would be a great idea - either as single poles hammered into the ground, as per that article - or as frames made to support long lengths of poles upon which several boxes could then be mounted securely. And if longer poles than necessary were used to construct the base of the supporting frames, then the footprint of those bases would be significantly widened thus twarting any attempts to overturn such a structure by head-butting or pushing.

There's got to be a trade-off between the amount of steel used, and the convenience of keeping such structures easily dismantle-able (is that a word ?).

LJ

[prakel]

Large calibre machine gun and explosives. The only way.

I see it as a challenge to my ingenuity and lateral thinking. Now, if we were discussing two-legged predators (who should 'know' better).....

[The Drone Ranger]

Bee house /shed might work with a solar power security light

[Castor]

>>>if we were discussing two-legged predators

...then we use a small calibre to maximise the pain and prolong the agony......


I think the proper solution is probab;y electrical.......

[prakel]

For those who use the Swienty BS boxes, CWJ are clearing the old style brood bodies @ £15.83 + VAT.

http://cwynnejones.com/store/index.p...roducts_id=683

[gavin]

Was a little surprised tonight to see frames filling up with nectar and honey at the association site. The weather has been cold and wet, and in previous years as soon as the willowherb is over that seems to be it in terms of foraging. There are still a few flowers at the tops of some of the willowherb spikes, maybe that's what they're getting? It is quite a distance to the nearest Himalayan balsam and there is no sign of white on their backs. I did think that one of them - when I was preparing some for a move to the heather - was actually bringing back heather itself (you could smell it - delicious!) despite the distance involved, but the colonies still there seem to be on something else.

So what could there be at this lowland site that isn't Himalayan balsam if it isn't the scraps from late willowherb? Perhaps later willowherb up the hills behind? I guess I should go back and look for waggle dances to show me where they're going .....

[gavin]

With the sun out today I was in these hives to do a spot of grafting. No doubt about it, the colonies have the odour of heather honey. So a quick look at Google Maps shows that there is a hill about 3.5km away with a good area of heather. Also, the breeze has been coming from that direction, and I always think that an odour trail from distant forage helps them decide to make the journey. However if they are going up there for heather then there is also likely to be late rosebay willowherb on offer too.

[fatshark]

Rosebay willow herb is almost over here as well. Just a few flowers remaining on blackberry. The only colonies bringing anything in are near balsam. I'm taking the last couple of supers off today and already have fondant blocks on a dozen colonies as most are low on stores. I prefer using 12.5kg blocks of fondant in the autumn as they take it a bit slower than syrup, leaving the queen space to continue laying. One good thing about the sudden drop in forage we get here in early/mid August is there's often a brood break. This means any mites are phoretic and more likely to be 'reached' by the Apiguard (which goes on with the fondant).

The end of the season with only extraction and tidying everything up (reclaiming my garage!) left to do. Shouldn't take more than 6 months ....

[gavin]

This means any mites are phoretic and more likely to be 'reached' by the Apiguard (which goes on with the fondant).

How do you manage that? Eke with the Apiguard and fondant over an open crownboard on top?

Plenty of things still happening here even without a garage to accumulate winter jobs. A kitchen full of supers for cut comb. Queen raising still (over-optimistically perhaps) underway. Still wondering whether there will be a late surge in the heather crop (though there is frost forecast tonight to the west of where my bees are). Preparations required for the Dundee show. Association heather picnic this afternoon. More requeening when the bees return from the heather. If October is warm there may be a small flow from the ivy at some sites just to give the bees some encouragement before winter.

G.