tudor

It really depends on the point of view. I have always been a hobby BK and used one size (3/4), don't use queen excluder, and freely use boxes anywhere which have had brood. Honey has lots of pollen in it, and is full of flavour, and lots of bits of wax especially if it contains kanuka - it needs "tickling" to get the honey out of the comb. And, obviously, no active brood in the cells when considered for extraction. It is strained and not filtered, and in high demand with people who like really tasty honey. But only a couple of hundred kg's per year, completely different view point!

good catch, @Otto they just wanted a home !

Harsh ? That's the Socratic teaching method I have used for many years to help produce effective doctors. "The oldest, and still the most powerful, teaching tactic for fostering critical thinking is Socratic teaching. In Socratic teaching we focus on giving students questions, not answers. We model an inquiring, probing mind by continually probing into the subject with questions. Fortunately, the abilities we gain by focusing on the elements of reasoning in a disciplined and self-assessing way, and the logical relationships that result from such disciplined thought, prepare us for Socratic questioning." And producing good, inquiring bee keepers as well.

come on, @Wildflower you can do your research about the life cycle of wax moth, and then ask questions here which arise from your basic knowledge. 😀

Ask Auntie Google 😀

Yes - honey does give a significant benefit, but there is no proof that manuka honey is any better than another honey. More work needed.

The acid is injected into the wall of the stomach, then it's soaked in saline and the abdomen closed up. The "agents" are then introduced down the throat by gavage which is "the administration of food or drugs by force, especially to an animal, typically through a tube leading down the throat to the stomach" (Wikipedia).

"Anyone making a purchase ... the product they think/believe they are buying" is what it is all about. Misinformation about the benefits has been very successfully used, and reminds me about the measles epidemic which is with us now, partly due to misinformation about the dangers of immunization with MMR. The link to autism has been shown to be fraudulent and the doctor involved struck off, but it is still seen as a risk and contributes to reduction of "herd immunity". So with the benefits of oral manuka honey, consumers have been told so often about how good it is for health - it is not, but it's ridiculously good for the folding notes of people along the chain from the manuka trees to the shelf. Journalistic beat ups sometimes reveal the truth.

It's about time to raise the point again that all the MPI standards and mumbo jumbo may have an effect on the quality of medicinal honey, but have no effect at all on honey taken by mouth. Certainly, keep our non-medicinal honeys free of adulteration with non-honey compounds, but they are all just honey, and people buy them because they are nice to eat. True advertising should say "buy and eat our honey because it tastes and smells so nice, and that's the only reason".

Hellebores, daffodils, echium, tree lucerne, and gorse.

Thanks, Plant Snap named it as Clematis cirrhosa and that looks spot on, varieties are 'Freckles', 'Wisley Cream' and 'Jingle Bells' !

This climber is still in flower in Dunedin in July, and a few days ago was covered with bees when they were out. Could it be a clematis, and I hope not Old Man's Beard. Thanks for help. Tudor.

Prices: Hoveno 10g costs $27, https://www.lifepharmacy.co.nz/home/shop-by-category/health/medicines/mouth-treatments--cold-sores/nutra-life-lysine-1200mg-tablets-60s/ Zovirax cream 2g costs $19. https://shop.countdown.co.nz/shop/browse/health-wellness/medicine/cold-sore-remedy

I would be surprised if the bee population in a healthy hive is diving because the bees should be winter bees by now. And they are expected to live for some months. It should be no problem if there is little or no brood, as the queen will start laying again quite soon.

This sounds very biased and I think a rebuttal argument is needed to test the validity of many of the statements. .