I wish to thank all those who wished me well during my absence.
It’s been hectic since my departure with lots of people chasing colonies etc. I haven’t stopped learning, primarily learning by mistakes. At some point I’ll be able to talk about those lessons learnt, when the occasion arises.
Cheers to all.
Lovely to see you back @JeffH. Diplomacy courses from Wilma are an excellent idea…
Hi & many thanks Dawn. I really should get Wilma to check my posts before I send them. She’s not here to check this one.
What’s been the highlight of my beekeeping day? I caught 4 cane toads hanging around my bee hives at my main site. I’ll go back after dark to see if there’s more. They mainly come out at night, seldom during the day. If there’s 4 during the day, there should be a lot more tonight or in the coming nights when it’s going to get hotter.
Great to see you back Jeff - I missed you, but until now I didn’t realize I missed the cane toads too 
…the highlight of my beekeeping day was listening to the air locks bubble on my mead carboys while working at my desk 
Cheers to you and Wilma!
Hi Eva, many thanks. I’ll have to google “mead carboys”.
I didn’t make it to check the cane toads last night 
I probably should let the bloke who lives nearby know what I’m going to be doing, otherwise he’ll think someone is stealing my bees. Because I’ll be pottering around with a red torch that Peter gave me & he wont recognize my truck with such a dull light.
A couple of years ago a few built up at my house. Just after dark, you could see them hopping towards my beehives, then they would wait under them for the dead ones to get kicked out. Anyway I started catching them, which totaled about 40.
Wilma said to say hi, cheers for now.
PS Wilma & I are non-drinkers, however it would be interesting to have a go at making mead.
Big glass containers, usually a gallon or more, used for brewing. 
Welcome back Jeff. 
Both party’s have shown great character.
Well done to you both.
Thank you Skeggley, it’s great to be back. cheers
Welcome back @JeffH. You were missed. Now to convince Pete to rejoin…
Hi Eva, I decided to have an early dinner & go down for some toad hunting. I was away for 2 hours. This is my results.
The ones I missed will be back next time. I’ll edit this post with the final tally after I put them in the freezer.
If ‘you are what you eat’, these toads are bees.
cheers
PS, the tally was 48.
Toads for dinner??? I want the recipe!!!
Sounds delicious, doesn’t it?
Ouch! Was it from a bee or a toad 
?
Actually there is a recipe for British comfort food. It is called Toad in the Hole!
Jeff is that the one where you get them out of the freezer, dig a hole and throw them in?
Hi & thank you Fred.
Hi Eva, I’ll be dig’n a big hole for this lot 
Wilma & I visited the butterfly farm on Vancouver Island. We got talking to a bloke, apparently they were paying around $50.00 each to acquire cane toads. I forget why they needed them They could have been for pest management, or something like that.
Wow that’s crazy! I though they were bad down here
Hi Free, when I caught 4 during daylight hours, I figured that there must be a lot more after dark. It wouldn’t be too bad if they were only eating dead bees. However I think they are successful at snaring live ones as well, using their super fast elastic tongues. I saw them in action once.
@JeffH it is great to see you back on the forum.
I thought I had time warped 99 years and your suspension had expired.
Missed your great knowledge and experience as well as the off beat gardening and cane toad exploits.
We had a good storm yesterday arvo which brought out the toads. Only a half dozen dispatched but everything helps.
Again, welcome back.
