What did you do today (2015)

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

Perhaps you could construct a sort of cloche or small greenhouse over the buddleia to coax some nector from it? Sort of bee engineering!

Merry

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

Hello Merry, bees communicate by whats called a , 'Wiggle dance', this is a set piece that gives direction and distance related to the Sun. At the same time it gives the bees around it a sample of what it has collected. The bees then take notice and fly out and fill their honey stomach and return and do the same dance which stimulates other bees to follow. Then we have what is called a, 'Honey flow'. This is what the bee keepers want as the bees will collect about 6 to 7lb of nectar a day and in a week will fill the combs and start sealing the cells.. The hive must be well Queened and full of brood and eggs in the brood combs and plenty of free space in the honey boxes above.

The bees are sensitive to temperature and will rarely venture far if the temps. are low in the 10's or 12's but quite happy if its above 15 C.. When working they will make a happy buzz and completely ignore my presence in the apiary. If there is a dearth of nectar they get a bit crochety and will resent my presence. In the winter months they will on a nice sunny day go on cleansing flights as they store waste and woe betide a washing line full of washing as they will settle and leave brown marks on it. In the large heated greenhouses, they use Bluebottles to fertilize Tomatoes, Bumble bees for Strawberries and other soft fruit.

Clive

[Raymond Sanderson 2Participant @raymondsanderson2]

Neil & Kate many thanks for the replacement copy of my rain soaked MEW No 232 it arrived yesterday.

At last I found a supplier of oil for the Myford ML7 here in Australia Penrite Oils http://www.penriteoil.com.au/products.php?id_categ=5&=&id_products=573

Between wood turning, machining and video editing of some antique machine shows we have been to as well as dodging flying wood blanks coming off lathes life is just a whole bunch of fun.

[Speedy Builder5Participant @speedybuilder5]

Oh Clive! You have put me off tomatoes !! BobH

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Thanks Ray,

I've passed your thanks on to Kate.

Neil

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

Hi BobH, as they grow tomatoes during winter with heat and light Bluebottles are the only insect that will do the job, as soon as it is warmer outside in come the Bumble bees as it is very difficult to change the bees life cycle.

Clive

[Four stroke FredParticipant @fourstrokefred]

Today I spent part of the morning casting the three aluminium pistons for the Triple Atkinson engine. "She who must be obeyed" was watering the bushhouse but retreated very rapidly when a 900 mm snake made an appearance ! We treat all snakes as being potentially a source of danger as most of them have enough venom to make you very sick or kill you.

George.

[Nick HughesParticipant @nickhughes97026]

After fitting a Newall DRO to my Myford Power Cross Feed Super 7 earlier this year, I needed to re locate the Saddle Lock (as the mounting brackets for the DRO covered the original position). So made this last week and fitted this morning:-

 

Just a longer stud and spacer for the Thread Indicator to make and then all set to go.

 

 

Edited By Nick Hughes on 10/10/2015 11:21:23

[Bob RodgersonParticipant @bobrodgerson97362]

Not actually today but several days ago I finally got round to finishing a new test stand and a starter for my 200 cc flat twin.

NaturallyI had to give it a spin, prop size is 36'X 10" but actually prefers a coarser pitch but I couldn't find one and couldn't be bothered to make one. I made this engine about 12 years ago and it featured in a programme called Model Mania on the discovery Home & leisure Channel aloneg with a couple of others I have made.

anyway I couldn't resist posting it for you to see. (It works well when the battery is connected)

Edited By JasonB on 10/10/2015 16:53:20

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

No apologies for posting this picture!

Final tour of northern Britain of XH558, Spirit of Great Britain, today. More pictures in the Aviation discussion thread.

Neil

[ChrisHParticipant @chrish]

Clive – don't wish to disagree with you but I worked for a large horticultural company growing tomatoes for 11 months of each year, from 1990 to 1999, and the company used bees not bluebottles (BobH will be pleased!) to pollinate the tomatoes. The bees came in little boxes from Holland (where-else?) and were placed in the glasshouses and left for a while to settle down before the box was opened. They were given a feed of course. I am uncertain how long each box of bees lasted but they were very successful, the company grew masses of tomatoes. The growers could check on the tomatoe flowers and tell if the bees had visited or not. We obviously had a safety policy for bee stings and staff becoming allergic.

Chris

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

The X3 mill has been sounding a bit different lately, almost smoother. Maybe that was due to the smooth teeth on the drive belt which let go tonight. Not bad for 6yrs hard use, lucky I have a couple of spares.

Do you think ARC will give me a couple of quid off if I say it was not fit for purpose

 

Edited By JasonB on 10/10/2015 20:09:28

[Boiler BriParticipant @boilerbri]

Mmn Jason that's why I am thinking of sticking with my Harrison milling machine instead of this that I have just bought.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I'm more than happy that its only cost me a £5.52 belt in the last six years. I'm sure a second hand machine would have needed more than that spending on it.

[Mick HenshallParticipant @mickhenshall99321]

6 years- thats good isn't it, and what is the problem with the warco my W

14 is going fine and well pleased with it although it would be nice to have a bigger machine, I just milled a 1/2slot 5" long thru a 5/8 piece of BMS took a while but whose in a hurry

Mick

[Boiler BriParticipant @boilerbri]

 

Hello Bob. You must be well chuffed with the engines performance it is very impressive.

Would it pull a light aircraft? I had a flight in a small fixed wing aeroplane bought for my 50th and that had a small engine, trouble was I spent most of my time throwing up!!! And missed the enjoyment!

What does it run on? My friends aeroplanes run on methanol and caster oil.

Bri

Edited By Boiler Bri on 10/10/2015 20:35:39

[Boiler BriParticipant @boilerbri]

Any taker for my machine then?

[Mick HenshallParticipant @mickhenshall99321]

Give it a chance Boiler you may be pleasantly surprised, I also have an ancient Adcock & Shipley horizontal which is also used as a big lathe and a horizontal end miller, gotta make the most of what we have

Mick

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

Hi ChrisH, yes, I know of the Bumble bee's being imported but they have never been checked for parasites and Virus and they have slipped through the net for a long time and now they have to be verified bug and virus free! How long they last is about 5 months and they of course are being replenished before they fail. I am sure now that they have been experimenting with different pollinators for some time as they write up in the Bee magazines now and again as there is a great interest about it. Incidently I have a yellow sticky White Fly catcher and I often get Bluebottles on it in my greenhouse. My present plague for some reason is woodlice in and on my Savoy cabbages.

Clive

[Richard MarksParticipant @richardmarks80868]

With regard to all the Kerfuffle about what you did today and all the changes that should be made to keep it an engineering thread, WHY are there still engineering subjects on the what you did today thread and woodworking subjects on the new engineering thread, why cant you just leave it as it was!

Dick

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Richard Marks on 10/10/2015 21:33:27:

With regard to all the Kerfuffle about what you did today and all the changes that should be made to keep it an engineering thread, WHY are there still engineering subjects on the what you did today thread and woodworking subjects on the new engineering thread, why cant you just leave it as it was!

Dick

.

**LINK**

[forgive my brief lapse into French philosophy]

MichaelG.

[Bob RodgersonParticipant @bobrodgerson97362]

Hi Brian,

I had intended using it in a large scale model but kind of got interested in motorcycles just after I had built it so I never really tried it. The model in question was 13 ft wingspan monoplane model based upon the Eindecker aircraft of WW! The wings were 3ft chord so there was plenty of wing area to give the model a light wing loading. Unfortunately I haven't got any pictures of the model.

[Bob RodgersonParticipant @bobrodgerson97362]

Brian,

if you are interested tip my name into YouTube search and it will come up with my channel there is some of my bike stuff and workshop activities there.

[Boiler BriParticipant @boilerbri]

Had a quick look but my server here in Wales is a bit slow. I will have a look tomorrow when I am back in Yorkshire.

Cheers. Bri

[David Clark 13Participant @davidclark13]

Should we start a new thread about kerfuffle?

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