After soaking a hens egg in vinegar for twenty-four hours, I inspect the egg.

In this video I set the scene on leylines by introducing you to Alfred Watkins. I share my observations about St Nicholas Church Beedon and St Mary the Virgin Church Hampstead Norreys.

In this article I share my experiences of my solar beeswax extractor. For the avoidance of doubt, this piece of kit is sometimes referred to as a solar beeswax melter, a solar beeswax rendered or even a beeswax solar extractor. They are all the same thing.

About The Solar Extractor

I purchased the solar beeswax extractor from a company called Thorne, and the link to the product can be found at https://www.thorne.co.uk/processing/wax/wax-extraction/solar-wax-extractor-small-with-glass.html. There is no affiliation to this company or product.

The solar beeswax extractor comes with a double-glazed lid, metal trays and a wood-chip body. Generally, it is pretty sturdy but the one small gripe I have with it, is that only a short baton of wood prevents the glazing from sliding from the lid. Something to be mindful of when handling the top.

For the extractor to work well, you need a blue sky and a blazing sun. In addition, the unit needs turning at period intervals to face the sun. Furthermore, it needs to sit on a flat surface, otherwise the liquid beeswax won’t run into the collection tray or in an extreme example, it might spill over the side of the metalwork and into the base unit.

A Few Improvements

I painted the woodwork black to improve its efficiency; black if you remember from science lessons absorbs heat. It is worth noting that the melting point of beeswax is 60 degrees celsius, or 140 degree fahrenheit, so I use rubber gloves when handling the hot metal trays.
Be careful where the liquid wax drips, because it is akin to glue when it sets. Therefore, I put vaseline on the edges where the lid meets the base, otherwise removing the top will be difficult and/or damage the paintwork.

I am looking for a effortless way of turning the solar beeswax extractor. One idea was to repurpose an old swivel chair, but that didn’t prove successful. Maybe I need to buy a small turntable? For now, I lift and position the melter to face the sun.

Solar Beeswax Extractor – Is it worth it?

One thing you might need to consider is storage. It is likely that from autumn through to spring, the days won’t be warm enough to get full benefit from the extractor. Therefore, if you don’t have somewhere to keep it during the colder months, then maybe this melter isn’t worth it.

On the other hand, the extractor is useful for converting the contents of my crud bucket into a compacted form. I place a lot of value on having an easy way to dispose of burr comb, foundation edges and general crud from the hive. This solar device doesn’t refine the beeswax, so I use my warming cabinet and sieve for purifying.

Overall, I am very happy with my purchase.

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In this video I show you two tools that make a big difference to hive assembly. Namely the Record swivel bench vice and the Record corner (clamp) vice.

I construct one corner of modified national super box to prove the point of how convenient these two vice can be when combined.

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Find me at:-

https://www.beehiveyourself.co.uk/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO1OUlmNgYuaYNos-URJZ1g

BitChute: https://www.bitchute.com/channel/apCDNRLKMxbN/

Odysee: https://odysee.com/@BeehiveYourself:4

Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/c-1309551

Minds: https://www.minds.com/beehiveyourself/?layout=grid

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Related Key Words:

[#BeehiveYourself, #Beekeeping]

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One way to find customers is to put flyers through their letterboxes. For the best chance of success you need to create something remarkable, and here's my attempt at doing just that - using cardboard, ink, and string .

Oh and also, and a pair of scissors, a scalloped punch, silicon stamps, an arbour press, an adana 6 x 8 letterpress and a hole punch.

In this video, I demonstrate how to move a hive of bees on your own.

The first task is to ensure that the colony of bees is securely contained within their hive.

I insert a strip of foam into the entrance to block it up, and this is done with the aid of a hive tool.

Secondly, remove the winter feeder from the hive, and ensure the crown-board is bee tight.
Next, strap-up the hive up from all sides. I use a cross configuration with ratchet straps to do this. This ensures that the hive parts don't become separated during transit.

When you move the hive, the sides of the frames need to be facing the direction of travel. This way the frames are less prone to moving about.

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Find me at:-

https://www.beehiveyourself.co.uk/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO1OUlmNgYuaYNos-URJZ1g

BitChute: https://www.bitchute.com/channel/apCDNRLKMxbN/

Odysee: https://odysee.com/@BeehiveYourself:4

Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/c-1309551

Minds: https://www.minds.com/beehiveyourself/?layout=grid

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Related Key Words:

[#BeehiveYourself, #Beekeeping, #MovingBees, #MovingABeeHive, #HowToMoveAHive,]

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William Woodley And The World's First Mass-Produced Car

In this video, I explore the history of a 'Benz Velo Comfortable' motor car, which once resided in the village of Beedon. This vehicle was once owned by William Woodley and I discuss why, on the face of it, he seemed an unlikely man to become a motorist. I describe his preparations for a motor house, his first drive home, a trapped motorist, and an unusual repurposing of this vehicle. I conclude by detailing what finally happened to this car.

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Find me at:-

https://www.beehiveyourself.co.uk/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO1OUlmNgYuaYNos-URJZ1g

BitChute: https://www.bitchute.com/channel/apCDNRLKMxbN/

Odysee: https://odysee.com/@BeehiveYourself:4

Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/c-1309551

Minds: https://www.minds.com/beehiveyourself/?layout=grid

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William Woodley's Benz Velo Comfortable can be found at the Beaulieu Motor Museum

https://www.beaulieu.co.uk/

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Related Key Words:

[#BenzVelo, #Beedon, #BeaulieuMotorMuseum, #Beekeeping, #VeteranCar,]

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About Beehive Yourself | The Number One Swarm Collecting Tip.

I have been collecting swarms for over ten years and in that time I have had many successes and my failures.

Common to all my successes is this mantra:

take the swarm and the thing it's on.

It seems that whatever the swarm is or has been attached to, the bees will be determined to stick or return to it.

This video is part of an ongoing series of videos' about beehive yourself.

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Find me at:-

https://www.beehiveyourself.co.uk/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO1OUlmNgYuaYNos-URJZ1g

BitChute: https://www.bitchute.com/channel/apCDNRLKMxbN/

Odysee: https://odysee.com/@BeehiveYourself:4

Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/c-1309551

Minds: https://www.minds.com/beehiveyourself/?layout=grid

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Related Key Words:

#BeehiveYourself, #SwarmCollecting, #Beekeeping, #SwarmInABush, #HowToCollectASwarm,

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About Beehive Yourself | What Attacked My Hives?

In this video, I discover that my hives have been attacked.
I investigate the damage, and speculate on who the culprits are,
and I spend time making good the damage and beefing-up my hives.
This video is part of an ongoing series of videos' about beehive yourself.

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Find me at:-

https://www.beehiveyourself.co.uk/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO1OUlmNgYuaYNos-URJZ1g

BitChute: https://www.bitchute.com/channel/apCDNRLKMxbN/

Odysee: https://odysee.com/@BeehiveYourself:4

Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/c-1309551

Minds: https://www.minds.com/beehiveyourself/?layout=grid

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Related Key Words:

#BeehiveYourself, #Mouseguard, #Beekeeping, #MaisemoreHives, #PolystyreneHives,

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In this video I assemble a polystyrene 14 x 12 National Brood Box which is manufactured by Maisemore. This hive is assembled by fitting together dove tail joints with screws. I use filed to cover holes and cracks. I paint the hive with smooth masonry paint in the hope it will last 30 years and I review how compatible this brood will be with standard wooden National Hive equipment.

I transfer a growing colony of honey bees from a nucleus hive to my new maisemore poly hive brood box and lid.

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Find me at:-

https://www.beehiveyourself.co.uk/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO1OUlmNgYuaYNos-URJZ1g

BitChute: https://www.bitchute.com/channel/apCDNRLKMxbN/

Odysee: https://odysee.com/@BeehiveYourself:4

Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/c-1309551

Minds: https://www.minds.com/beehiveyourself/?layout=grid

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Related Key Words:

Maisemore Poly Hives, Maisemore Polystyrene Hives, Beehive, National Hive, 14 x12 Brood Box, 14 x 12 National, Painting a Maisemore poly hive, Painting a Maisemore Polystyrene hive, wooden vs polystyrene hives, Do Polystyrene hives fit wooden hives?, assembling maisemore poly hive, beekeeping, honeybees, honey, thermal mass of hive,

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Related Key Words:

BeehiveYourself, Maisemore, Bees-online, PolyHive, 14x12Hive, AssemblingPolyHive, ReviewMaisemorePolyHive, Honeybees, Beekeeping,

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This video discusses a question posted by William Woodley in 1893. Is spraying the spraying of fruit trees prejudicial to bee culture? We look at the arsenic compounds used in the nineteenth century and early two decades of the twentieth century. Also, I tell the story of the family who was poisoned by a bag of apples. I end this video by answering William Woodley’s question, the answer might surprise you!

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Find me at:-

https://www.beehiveyourself.co.uk/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO1OUlmNgYuaYNos-URJZ1g

BitChute: https://www.bitchute.com/channel/apCDNRLKMxbN/

Odysee: https://odysee.com/@BeehiveYourself:4

Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/c-1309551

Minds: https://www.minds.com/beehiveyourself/?layout=grid

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Related Key Words:

BeehiveYourself, Paris Green, London Purple, LeadArsenate, CropSpraying, SaveTheBees, InsecticideHarmBees, WilliamWoodley,

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In this video I explain how I crowd funded my mead project, turned a bucket of honey into a bottle mead and we see Pauline creating labels.

Because I sell honey people would ask me “why don’t I make mead?”
My response was always I don’t have the equipment to make it. After hearing this question one too many times I decided to see if people would put their money where their mouth is. I made an appeal for about ten people to stump up £10 so I could by fermentation equipment.

15 people donated £10 and I bought fermentation equipment.

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I recommend Ken Schramm’s book”The Complete Mead Maker”.

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Find me at:-

https://www.beehiveyourself.co.uk/

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Related Key Words:

Mead Making, Making Mead, Make Mead, Brew Mead, Brewing Mead, Fermenting Meda, Mead, Honey Wine, Mead Making Process, How to Make Mead, Honey, Label Making, Bottle Label Making, Mead Brewing, Brewing Mead, Make Bottle Lables, Linocut printing,

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This video is about William Woodley's time in the hamlet of Stanmore, Berkshire. We meet the fairies who inhabit Stanmore and the antiquarians who created thunderbolts, and discover how the boy-William was introduced to beekeeping. Lastly, I discuss how traditional beekeeping was practised on the Berkshire Downs and how it changed.

#BeekeepingHistory, #BeehiveYourself, #WilliamWoodley, #StanmoreBerkshire,

The Life Of William Woodley Of Beedon, Berkshire - beekeeper, showman, writer

This video is an introduction to William Woodley. During his lifetime William Woodley was a household name in the world of beekeeping. He was an avid correspondent to beekeeping journals over the course of forty plus years.

He built a bee-farm which at one point was the largest bee-farm in Britain. And sold honey sections to all parts of Britain and its Empire.

He was a champion at the show bench; winning many top prizes and was even presented to Queen Victoria.

He worked tirelessly for his local community and was the Chairman of the Parish Council.

William Woodley’s legacy is his large volume of writing which is found in various bee journals (many are freely available on the internet). In a sense, he has left us with a valuable time-capsule of life on the Berkshire Downs during the last quarter of the nineteen century and the first two decades of the twentieth century.

William Woodley’s writings chronicle a number of historic transitions:-
In Beekeeping - the move from the skep to the movable frame hive and the rise of bee diseases;
On the Berkshire Downs - the move to the towns and cities of agricultural labourers because of mechanisation in farming and competition from the New World;
In general - he describes a shrinking world due to the advances in communications, transport and trade, yet with sadness, describes the disappearance of the way of life on the Berkshire Downs.

This video is an introduction to the world of William Woodley. I plan to make a series of videos about various topics related to William Woodley and his life on the Berkshire Downs.

Also, I have written an article which accompanies this video and it can be found here. https://www.beehiveyourself.co.uk/william-woodley-beekeeper-1845-1923-from-beedon-berks-england/

New videos out every week.

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Related Key Words:

William Woodley an introduction, William Woodley Beedon, W Woodley, Mr W Woodley, Beedon, Beedon Berkshire, Stanmore Berkshire, Worlds End Berkshire, Garden Cottage Worlds End, Beekeeping History, History of Beekeeping, National Honey Show,

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Every so often I discover an apiary at a surprising location, and one such place, albeit in a photograph, was in the back garden of a railway-crossing cottage at Compton, Berks. This article tells the story of C W Dyer and his wife Sarah, their beekeeping activities, and the railway which served the Berkshire Downs. I finish by considering why Charles Dyer was able to adopt the modern version of the beekeeping, when so many in the countryside were abandoning the craft.

Conversations on coersion from the people attending the Parliament Square Rally 19 July 2021. Includes scene of Police violence.

Wantage folk go to London to participate in the Freedom Rally/March.