I put the comb with the honey that wouldn’t spin out through the press today and increased the year’s honey yield by a third.  The residue in the press is a fairly large and solid block of wet wax; wet in that it probably contained another pound of honey. In days gone by I would have crumbled it and let the bees clean it up, they would have left dry flakes of clean wax; but since it was from more than one colony, there would be a risk of spreading disease. I have just read that, although the reported cases of the two foul brood diseases are all in commercial apiaries, there are probably a lot of amateur apiaries affected but, through ignorance, are not being reported. I makes sense although it has been assumed that the problem exists solely within the professional domain. It would be something of a disaster if I was the first Scottish beekeeper to be found to be harbouring one of these ailments, though there would be a certain amount of kudos if I discovered and reported it myself.
 
Having delivered Herself to the Inglistone quilt show first thing this morning, when I had cleaned up all the sticky from the house I had to return to fetch her. I had a chance for a quick browse and a couple of pieces caught my eye – one of which was reasonably well lit. Thus I have posted three extras, two of “Sugar Free Latte”, designed by Carol Clasper of Livingstone and designed by Kerrie Hay for her book “Latte Quilt” and one of “Phoenix.”