We're back!

[gavin]

Sorry about the break in service folks. Tapatalk access isn't back yet but should be soon.

How did you all amuse yourselves while we were gone?!

We're now up to date with all the patches, passwords changed, software re-installed, and hosting company placated and should be safe from further attacks .... until someone finds a new way of hacking vBulletin forums ...

[chris]

How did you all amuse yourselves while we were gone?!

.

I spent the day hand crushing Colorado beetles that are invading my potatoes:mad:
It's a losing battle......now, maybe one of those pestiwhatsits might work :cool: no no .....

[Jon]

I spent all afternoon sorting out swarming bees at our association apiary.
Well done Gav for getting the forum sorted. I know that involved a lot of work.

[mbc]

Sorry about the break in service folks.

How did you all amuse yourselves while we were gone?! ...

Rebooted my computer, bought new virus software, performed multitudinous scans, phoned my service providers help desk and kept hitting reload, still nothing!
Are you saying the problem wasn't at my end Gavin?

[Emma]

Spent the last two days in London (oppressively hot). Woke up this morning in Edinburgh bus station (ahhhh! - cool! grey! civilised!), urgently wanting to check queen cells in a demaree... in cloudy 11-degree weather. Ooops. Not expecting a great welcome from the bees!
Thanks for spending those valuable sunny hours getting the forum back online.

[SteveW316]

Spent 2 days wondering what i'd done to upset you all!!

[gavin]

Thanks everyone. Chris, there's nothing more organic than biological control with finger and thumb. Pity it is unlikely to work with small hive beetle or Asian hornet for that matter. Do let us know when they reach you. MBC, must have been you, then, who fell for the bank phishing site we briefly became?! Everything *ought* to be OK now. I struggled for ages with Tapatalk before realising I'd simply put the files in the wrong folder :o.

[fatshark]

How did you all amuse yourselves while we were gone?!

Having purchased the winning ticket on the Euro Millions lottery I then logged into the SBAi and signed up the fantastic banking deal you were now offering. There are 93 million reasons why I'm regretting the decision ..

More seriously, I've spent quite a bit of the last 48 hours working out my future profits from honey marmalade … I make this by replacing all the sugar (and water) with honey, so use about 4 lb for 6 lb or so of marmalade. And jolly good it is to. However, I saw this Scottish Marmalade with Heather Honey (http://www.britstore.co.uk/Marks-and-Spencer-Food-Marks-and-Spencer-Spreads/c1_20/p49638/Marks-and-Spencer-Scottish-Marmalade-with-Heather-Honey-300g/product_info.html) on the shelves of M+S. A snip at £3.50 for 300g. I was interested in how much heather honey they add, so read the ant tracks along the side of the jar … wait for it … 3 grams.

I'm obviously overdoing things a bit at 66% by weight. I need to aim for something closer to 1%.

That's almost homeopathic heather honey marmalade.

Once you've caught up on your sleep Gavin there's money to be made in those heather-clad hills ;)

PS Thanks for restoring everything ...

[Calum]

I invaded a small Eastern European country.
The beer was awful, so I gave it back.
But they will still end up owing the IMF 20billion dollars.
Such is life.

[Adam]

I know websites can be a real pain when hacked - we've had the problem at work too. The hackers need something hand-crushing if you're available Chris - that is, if a nut cracker is not available.

I rummaged around in a compost bin at the weekend. Not my usual passtime as there were too many slugs. However there was a swarm inside it. Tiny little thing; no bigger than a large fist and hardly covers one frame. Been there for a week or so apparently - Some comb and some eggs too. The queen must have mated soon after they arrived. My guess is that it's the last-caste and there are a few more around the neighbourhood somewhere. The previous compost bin swarm I was asked to collect some 3 weeks ago was large and drew the comb in a 8 frame polynuc in a few days and now has a super on it. And a queen of my choosing :)