Portrait of C L Farrar

In Praise Of The Great C.L. Farrar

C.L. Farrar, Department of Economics University of Wisconsin I have a soft spot for certain wise personalities from the past, such as R.O.B Manley. It’s with this in mind that I wanted to write something in praise of the great…
Steve Donohoe on Loch Fyne 2022

Reader Survey Results 2022

Many thanks to those of you who completed the survey that I posted on here a few weeks ago. Several people got halfway through then bailed out, which isn't surprising as it wasn't the most straightforward thing to fill out;…
Newly painted Kieler mating nucs

Murphy’s Law Applies To Bees

Kieler mating nucs Some Of My Beekeeping Mistakes Murphy's Law - "If anything can go wrong, it will" - comes from a chap in the US Air Force in the 1940s. He was involved in testing new engineering designs. Perhaps…
Chickens in a tree

Latest Events Of Note

Chickens in a tree Latest Walrus News I don't know why, but this tickled me. A couple of enterprising chickens managed to hop onto the tree. They were furiously pecking at the green leaves, the only green things available at…
Frame showing no brood

Have I Lost My Queen?

Where's the brood gone? They Are Not Necessarily Queenless When I was a beginner beekeeper, I thought I knew most things about the noble art of 'bee bothering', but I was wrong. In my case, the beginner years were the…
Barrels of stored honey - Olivarez Honey Bees

Achieve More For Less

Barrels of honey at Olivarez Honey Bees, Orland, California Beekeepers invest a considerable amount of money in their equipment. Hives, frames, foundation, bee suits, smokers, extractors, warming cabinets, mating nucs and so on, ad nauseam, all add up to a…
boats and reflections on water in tighnabruaich

Whatever Floats Your Boat

Floating boats Countless beekeepers are offering their thoughts and opinions on all manner of things (I'm one of them). There are books galore, not to mention Facebook and YouTube. Hence, as with so much modern life, the challenge is information…