OT one for the bee keepers

What happened?

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Simon Wilson

Twit. I mean *I've* been busted.

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - "He's hopeless, but he's honest"

I have already made the greatest contribution to the fight against climate
change that I can make: I have decided not to breed. Now quit bugging me and
go and talk to the Catholics.

 

Yeah, by the people who make the Eglu chicken runs (we've got one of
those). I'm not sure I see the point, when a conventional hive does
the trick for half the price. At least with the chicken run, you know
the damn thing is easily moved and is totally fox-proof (we can vouch
for that).

I don't know if the Beehaus is stackable, because if not, that's a
serious failing. Hives expand and you need to be able to add new
stories ('supers' as they're called) of frames for comb.

What worries me is the change in the government's attitude to
beekeeping. For those who don't know, it's a classic cock-up.

The Min of Ag, MAFF, Defra, whatever, decided to close down the little
bee office they had, to save money. Every bee group had a bod who
reported to the Min about what the bees were doing, for a small fee
(expenses, really). That went as well. This saved about £1.5 million a
year.

Then Varroa and Colony Collapse Disorder hit, and the Min had no idea
about what to do, and seemed oblivious to the importance of bees
(unlike its counterpart in the US, which takes them *very* seriously).
And they'd closed their bee unit.

So basically it's down to individual beekeepers, be they domestic or
industrial, to save the country, because the government has done
*nothing*.

What worries me now is the government's pronouncements that they're
worried about "hobbyist" beekeepers because they think they won't be
as ordered, professional and painstaking as the commercial outfits,
and may contribute to the spread of disease by poor husbandry.

I know *exactly* where this is leading. The cunts are now considering
registration of all beekeepers, and we all know what will happen next.
A small "registration fee" will be payable, and it'll turn into a tax.
Wait and see.

 

I reckon a beehive of any description is pretty fucking fox-proof.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, ogden

<G>

Probably. But it's not uncommon for a mouse to sneak in pretty much
unmolested over the winter (unless the beekeeper fits a mouse guard).

They get a nice warm bed and wax to eat for the winter. Then in the
Spring, the bees wake up, do a "What the ****!" and sting it to death.

Quite nasty to see, it is.

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - "He's hopeless, but he's honest"

I have already made the greatest contribution to the fight against climate
change that I can make: I have decided not to breed. Now quit bugging me and
go and talk to the Catholics.

 

heh. oic.

I'm special, me.

 

I keep a quantity of granulated paraffin wax in my shed, to be used for
sealing the ends of lumps of tree scrounged for woodworking. The wax
prevents the chunks of tree drying out too quickly and splitting.

A mouse got into the cupboard where I store the wax, see. Evidence - a
small hole in the corner of a 1Kg bag, a few granules of wax scattered
about. "Little fucker", I thought.

Mousey had crapped in the corner of the cupboard, too. On removing the
bag in order to further the investigation, it was obvious the little
blighter had crapped again in the far corner - and again to the rear of
the cupboard. The craps were getting sort of bigger and had signs of a
greater splatter effect ... then I found the little fucker.

Flat, he was. Dessicated. Crapped himself to death.

Parrafin wax obviously goes right through mice, like a CG125 off Beachy
Head. Bonus.

 

<G>