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A wise beekeeper always leaves sufficient honey for his hive but unlike Langstroth hives where many are killed during honey extraction, the removal of honey from top bar hives is far less disruptive. In light of the declining bee population top bar hives provide a viable alternative where supplemen...

Here is a link to an excellent Top Bar Hive beekeeping forum: http://www.biobees.com/forum/index.php I was going to start keeping bees in a TBH, but got a whole hive of bees in a National on Freecycle, so I've been plunged in at the deep end (definitely not complaining though!). It's really not that...

jim wrote:
Does anyone have any really rational , backed by evidence, counter argument

Hi Jim

There are such a lot of rational, evidenced arguments for some really horrible practices in the world, that I nowadays doubt the value of such things.

I've got 2 bantam cockerels and lots of huge hens - it took them a few goes to figure it out (the girls just shrugged them off and carried on eating :lol: ) but where there's a will there's a way and even the Barnevelders are laying fertile eggs. So, the chances of him doing the business are very hi...

I would love one or any of mine to go broody. I'm planning to rear birds for meat, and would prefer them to have had a mothers' love and a natural life as much as possible. So if any of you get fed up with having a broody, please let me know and she could enjoy a full time job here with me

Thanks for the welcome!

One thing they find hard to resist is melon. Plus, when I've had a poorly one refusing to eat, if she's still drinking then try & dissolve some honey in her water. Sometimes it just gives them enough of a boost to carry on. If desperate then you could try syringing some honey/water mix into her,...

I've been lurking on here for a little while so thought I should join and say hello! So far I'm growing vegetables, fruit & herbs, and keep chickens for eggs. Next on the agenda is to start keeping bees and the beginnings of a forest garden. There's just too much to learn in one go! Anyway, hell...