Vendetta

To be fair to ‘the journalists’ - I wrote that part. But yeah - you are right - I do just enjoy fanning the flames.... Nothing beats an ‘apocalyptic scenario’...... 😉

House prices won’t drop nominally. Not until after 2028-30 anyway. Too many people sitting on the sidelines desperate to buy their little slave box and have been saving for their deposit. Their dream slave box based on their monthly payments. Suddenly they realise they can afford something bigger on their payments. Chomping at the bit. Likewise a large percentage of Mums and Dads have paid off their mortgages since the start of last 1997 start of boom and will be accessing their equity for children. Too many people remember 2007 and think ‘dam it why did I not buy them’? FOMO in action for next 10 years - as IRs stay low and go lower and governments throw even more at the property market and inflation starts to surge. As Fiat system collapses post 2028 - and we have the mother of all financial blow ups - the last of the people will be desperate to be out of cash. Crack up boom and ‘dash for assets’ that started in 2020 will have its final blow off. As many have said “one can sit on the sidelines and moan and bitch and complain or one can play to the rules of the game and as they change and are manipulated by government.” Position yourselves......

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-53257512 100s of elephants dying across Botswana and the cause is unknown. Evidence points to a neurological disease. There is also the concern that whatever disease it is - has the potential (like many animal diseases) to cross the species barrier and infect humans.

Interestingly.....this is not true life - but actually a fake - and this was in-fact ‘staged and acted out’ - and incorrectly refers to the man as being ‘Paul Charles Dozsa’ when it is just a comedic actor.

Gunmen have attacked the Pakistani stock exchange in the southern city of Karachi, killing at least two people and injuring others, local media report. The assailants stormed the building after launching a grenade attack at the main gate to the building. Latest reports quote police saying a number of the gunmen have been killed and the attack is continuing. It is not clear how many assailants are involved or who they are. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-53217227

I think if it keeps raining there is a good chance this dam will collapse.

https://www.rferl.org/amp/elevated-but-not-harmful-radioactivity-detected-in-baltic-sea-/30694110.html Elevated But 'Not Harmful' Radioactivity Detected In Baltic Sea June 27, 2020 17:51 GMT By RFE/RL Lassina Zerbo, the head of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization A global monitoring network this week detected unexplained "higher than usual levels" of radioactive isotopes at a station in Sweden that likely came from somewhere around the Baltic Sea. But the group also said late on June 26 that the levels it saw were "not harmful for human health." The head of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), Lassina Zerbo, tweeted that the elevated levels of three radionuclides generally associated with civil nuclear activities -- caesium-134, caesium-137, and ruthenium-103 -- had been detected on June 22-23. He highlighted an area including stretches of western Russia, seemingly including St. Petersburg, Estonia, southern Finland, and Sweden as a "possible source" of the radioactive particles at any point in the preceding 72 hours. The Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish nuclear safety agencies also said they'd identified amounts of radioactive isotopes in the area, adding the levels did not appear harmful to humans. The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment said on June 26 that its "calculations show that the radionuclides come from the direction of western Russia." Their character "may indicate damage to a fuel element in a nuclear power plant," the Dutch said. But Russia's hydrometeorological and environmental monitoring agency, Roshydromet, said on June 27 that it had detected no increase in radioactive particles. Russia has several operational nuclear power plants in its northwest, including near Kola, St. Petersburg, and Smolensk. The CTBTO oversees hundreds of monitoring stations that use seismic, acoustic, and other technology to look out for weapons testing anywhere in the world. But the network can also spot other anomalies. Radioactive particles can be carried long distances by the wind. "These are certainly nuclear fission products, most likely from a civil source," a spokeswoman for the Vienna-based CTBTO said, according to Reuters. That would suggest the particles originated from the atomic chain reaction that powers a nuclear reactor. "We are able to indicate the likely region of the source, but it's outside the CTBTO's mandate to identify the exact origin," the source added. The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority said on June 23 that it was "not possible now to confirm what could be the source of the increased levels" of radioactivity. “The radionuclides are artificial, that is to say they are man-made," the Dutch safety watchdog said. But "a specific source location cannot be identified due to the limited number of measurements." Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, and Interfax

Thanks SB. 👍 I am thinking as the new brood hatches over this week my bees should ‘change colour’ and become a lot lighter and ‘yellower’ (like their ‘buckfast’ mother) as the old bees (‘carniolan’.... I think they are/were?) die off and gradually get replaced?

This is a foundation frame that has been filled out with comb and filled with plenty of brood. In the top right I can see there is some honey store with the white cap. Worker brood is flat like this and drone brood would be more raised and domed. (This is what I’m learning anyway! Good for me to record it here - my own little blog for future reference!) No doubt the resident experts will correct me if I’m wrong.... It’s funny the way the queen does not lay above the metal wires that support the foundation.

Another new frame that the bees have moved onto and started to lay down their wax comb.... beautiful the way it builds up. Amazing.

Opened up the hive today to refill the feeder. Just these few 2-3000 bees had cleaned out 6 pints of 1:1 sugar solution in 7 days. I plan to refill every 5 days to speed up comb formation. Queen was easily spotted and is laying away - 3 frames of new comb being laid and one of these is full of brood ready to start to hatch - should be hatching within next 5 days. Should start to see the size of the colony and number of eggs laid per day rise exponentially over next 2 months. Bees were nice and calm. All seems well.

Don’t worry - I am not. Just checked once to see queen had escaped cage on day 5 - 2 min cursory check - spotted her straight away and removed empty cage. Will inspect on day 21 to do my first proper check of brood and laying and get acquainted with the whole process. Been thinking about the use of the smoker. Going to not bother with it for a while. Buckfast bees are naturally very non aggressive. Maybe your ‘welsh local bees’ carry an aggressive trait?

Buckfast bees by all accounts seem to be superior in terms of most of the primary, secondary and tertiary characteristics sought after by beekeepers. Mind it depends what your motives as a beekeeper are - and what traits you want in your bees. It will depend on what factors/traits are important to you: honey production, bee production and ability to grow and produce further colonies, calmness, ability to overwinter, ability to resist disease ..... or just want to see them fly whatever the weather. Each beekeeper ‘to their own motives ’ I reckon. I am not bothered about honey production - they can eat it as much as they want and stay in the hive all day. I value the mite resistance trait and low aggression traits the BF display - that ....and surviving winter and increased early spring colony growth. I’d be interested on hearing of a superior strain and why that perception.

Some good advice re. smoke. Im always careful it’s just a puff - wary of ‘burning’ them too. Why better off with a local queen?

Aye not many bees... yet! Only just started with 3 packed frames taken from another hive. Probably 2-3000 bees in total. I need to give my Buckfast Queen B a chance - but as of this weekend it will be 21 days ++ since she was released from her cage and I imagine if she started laying within a few days of her release her first larvae should be hatching any day now ..... I think? Hoping the population will increase by 1000 a day from Saturday/Sunday onwards. Just growing the nucleus this season. Plan to get the population big enough to get them through the winter and grow further from there. Wanted to start from scratch so I can learn the basics and grow the bees ‘organically’. Yes - weather been wet but warm - bees look busy and 2/3 carrying in loads of pollen when they return from their foraging - good sign for new brood - will inspect by Friday and update here.