Recent content by contadino

Bees (bumble or honey) can all sting. However, they're pretty predictable in their behaviour so you can avoid stings very easily if you treat them right. 1. Don't disturb a nest. I see other beekeepers tending their hives without protective clothing and really don't know how they do it. I...

:lol: Sometime in the next few weeks I'm supposed to be heading for Stoke on a week-long trip. It's the first time in many, many years. The craving for English fish & chips has become overwhelming. :wink:

I have quite a long list of things to get from Axminster, and being outside the UK I have the option to either get them delivered to a friend and picking them up from him or just visiting one of their shops. I've opted to make a small detour and pop into their High Wycombe branch. It's so much...

I couldn't get into town for nearly a month this winter due to flooding. It was the wettest in living memory, apparently. We've finally had a couple of weeks of sunshine, and now I'm sitting here crossing my fingers hoping for rain... No, we're never happy... :?

The thing that's confusing me about a router table is setting the depth. I have a Bosch POF 1200 AE which doesn't have a screw-type depth adjustment thing. I've looked at things like the Router Raizer, but it's not compatible with my router. I've read about sticking a car jack under the...

I give mine a wipe with olive oil after I've used them, otherwise the humidity here rusts them up in no time. Also, for garden tools like forks and spades, I have a bucket filled with sand and old engine oil. Before I put the tools away each day, I shove them in the bucket. It cleans them up...

As an utter novice I'd agree with this statement 100%. ALL the mistakes I've made have been due to bad measuring or inaccurate marking.

I got my plans from http://www.biobees.com/ . It's a downloadable PDF. There are also quite a few in the Google Sketchup gallery - both Top Bar and the modern types.

This type of hive is less geared towards the production of honey, and more towards letting the bees make their combs the way that they think is best. My goal is to not feed them at all and still have a healthy colony in 12 months time. If I get no honey this year it won't be an issue for me...

Hi, My next project is to make some horizontal sliding windows to close in our verandah in winter, and also to make a matching half-glazed door. I've been looking around for information on how to do it and have drawn (not quite, but very close to a) blank. Any recommendations most welcome. I...

I recently completed a top bar beehive using the plans available from the Biobees website. It was a pretty simple project and if you want, you can see it in the blog entry my wife wrote up about the bees arriving. http://www.growveg.info/viewtopic.php?f=3757&t=15083 It has provided me with...

In August, you'll need to book as it's ferragosto - the national holiday period - between 15th and 25th. Nowadays, people get a little flexibility in some jobs, so it'll likely be busy either side for a couple of weeks. If you've never camped in Italy before, bear in mind that camping is very...

For that sort of gradient, you'll need netting to start with. Things like lemongrass will bind & hold the soil together but need to get established first.

The deeds to my place has the land listed as "12.2 days" because until only about 10 years ago, that's how land was measured here.

I just got an email back from Axminster and their brush will fit my router model, so I'm going to give it a go. A 0.5mm error wouldn't really worry me at the moment - far better than my chisel work. If it really is not much cop, I'll go for a Unibase. Thanks for the help everyone.