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Even with a small entrance block? I'd still like to try an underfloor entrance to reduce wasp attacks, even though my bees are quite defensive.

Normally we're ok here, plenty of brambles, knapweed and even the flowering eucalyptus we have produces a good crop of nectar. But this year everything was early and then dried up. The hives have plenty of spare stores but some colonies decided to start swarm preps when I wouldn't expect so I've...

I though it might be pollen from forage maize. I know it's wind pollinated but for the first time since we've had bees there's fields all around us planted with it and the pollen started to appear when the maize tassels opened, the maize tassels here also seems to be reddish. In previous years...

I don't think I've ever seen many mossie/midge larvae in our ponds. They quickly fill with all sorts of wildlife that'll eat them so you shouldn't get many adults. I've found the biggest problem around a house is uncovered water butts or a bucket left to fill with water. Down here in Devon the...

Lucky you. I posted an example of a real event these things should cater for, or at least be used as a dry run and in our case it failed. You say it's a communications network but our LRF seems to refer to various web sites which most could not gain access to as we had an area wide power outage...

Worth checking you local LRF out - ours is useless. It only seems interested in the village centre. I forgot they sent out some stuff several years back and produced 'a plan' but when we had the big storm 2 years ago we heard nothing from anyone even though power was out for over 30 hours and...

Over the last month or two our hives have brought large amounts of an orangy pollen in, any ideas? I have an idea and I don't think it's from your usual late season flowers.

A quick search does suggest for long term storage it's best to not leave it fully charged. In my case you can often plan for power cuts if you keep an eye on the weather, so I'd charge it fully a few days beforehand. Also with the planned outage you'd charge it up. I'd also take a bit of a...

Thankfully this outage is at our home not mums, although I doubt vulnerable people around here will get much help. With the switch to digital phones and lack of mobile signal most will not be able to call anyone either. I think Mum's fall alarm lasts 12+ hours and she's still on an analogue...

I should have bought a lottery ticket when I posted that. As part of some grid upgrades we're going to have our power turned off over a few days with one outage for 10 hours. Not a big deal but with many people working from home these days such long planned power outages don't seem sensible. It...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp931m8n3p5o

Hornets as well? Queen wasps seem to mostly leave the nest and hibernate in other places such as our log store, under our bee hive roofs or similar. I've even found a hibernating queen hornet in a log, she was carefully put back in the stack and left alone for spring. The old hornet nest in the...

I wonder what the old hornet nest in the garage would be like as a tinder... Actually, is there anything unique that lives in old paper nests?

Yes, it's the remains of a large rat. Innards skilfully removed in one piece, four feet cut off at the ankles an piled on top of each other, head chewed off behind the eyes. And although I didn't see the deed our stray/feral cat was snoozing very contentedly about three foot away. I was...

I know this is an old thread of mine, which I'd forgotten about, but I found something similar a few weeks back. I know the victim and the culprit, surprisingly good handiwork. Any guesses?

If you're worried about the top of the metal ( neck, socket, collar) you could use a hose / jubilee clip or two to strengthen the area. No holes required but not elegant.

Agree about the noise, even if you're just trying to work the noise could be off putting. Although I'm more concerned with coping with storm damage rather than major unrest. I would also be careful with a 2nd hand generator as the last thing you want is for it to fail to start if you are...

As an aside, it appears I don't get notifications if you @ me... I've not sorted anything out yet as I've spent most of the year away ooking after or visiting mum in hospital. So I've not had time to sort out a 12v setup or take delivery of a large powerbank. Funnily enough though, I'm now at...

I think in a strange way people find that belief reassuring. I think there's plenty of opportunity for a small scale nuclear exchange which would cause huge economic problems even if you escape the nuclear fallout. Just look at the pact between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and the fact...

I harvested the aubergine 'beast' today, surprisingly little wastage, probably 900g of usable fruit, good job I like them. (I think I've mentioned before aubergines are surprisingly easy to grow, similar to tomatoes).