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Best bit of kit under £x for Christmas?

PostPosted:04 Dec 2018, 20:53
by Patrick
It being that time of year, anyone with a hobby gets given stuff which although bought with kind intentions, often misses the mark horribly. Books on fishing verse, for example - give me a break!

Catalogues are full of stuff you could buy but what bits of kit would you be pleased to recommend that you actually use?

My vote is a stainless steel double strainer for under £20, can use to filter honey from extractor to bucket and drain cappings. Blooming brilliant, does the job well, easy to clean and useful for other things as well. Love it.

What would you pick?

Re: Best bit of kit under £x for Christmas?

PostPosted:04 Dec 2018, 21:34
by Chrisbarlow
I got 2 more hive tools last year for Christmas. You just can never have to many hive tools. Far better than socks

Re: Best bit of kit under £x for Christmas?

PostPosted:05 Dec 2018, 10:02
by Steve (The Drone)
Plastic entrance gates to fit over the entrance block. The ones that can be slid shut to form a mouse guard, or the slides reversed to lock the bees in when moving hives.

Re: Best bit of kit under £x for Christmas?

PostPosted:05 Dec 2018, 18:30
by DianeBees
Chrisbarlow wrote:
04 Dec 2018, 21:34
I got 2 more hive tools last year for Christmas. You just can never have to many hive tools. Far better than socks
I would go with hive tool too.

I got gifted a lovely small one last year that I love using. (And a wallpaper scraper too which is also very useful!)

Re: Best bit of kit under £x for Christmas?

PostPosted:05 Dec 2018, 20:16
by NigelP
I was impressed by the Thornes twist and mark/clip cage that someone showed me last season.
Unlike other foam plungers types it's a set depth and locks into place without the possibility of squishing the queen. Can imagine it should make marking and clipping queens a bit easier....at £3 you can't go wrong....about same price as a stainless steel J tool from that well know auction site.

Image

Re: Best bit of kit under £x for Christmas?

PostPosted:06 Dec 2018, 18:24
by DianeBees
Hivelifter2 wrote:
05 Dec 2018, 21:29
Recommended Nigel. Had one of these about three years now. Guide the Queen in with a finger, and gently push the plunger in behind her. A slow twist of the plunger and she is lined up for marking. Then a further turn will bring a wing through the end grid ready for clipping, dead simple, even for a tenderfoot like me. ;)

Sounds like it needs to be on my Christmas list!