Steve, it appears that liquid paraffin is "mineral oil" in the USA, and
indeed it is used for "intestinal irregularities".  We haven't given it
to our cat, but we have used a dollop of margarine or butter
occasionally.
 
Hope you're having a good year in Scotland.  We've enjoyed a couple of
holidays there...stayed in B&B's...rode the train
exclusively...Pitlochary, Fort William, Arrochar..lots of
hiking...Beautiful!
We still maintain contact with a friend in Crief.
 
Do you have bees and get heather honey?  I've read of the
"destructive extraction" of heather
honey...seems quite different from other honeys.
 
Catch you later.
 
 Hi Jim, I thought I would share our communication with the others,
it also carries on with another pet-bee connection!
 
 
Yes, we do get Heather honey,in Kilspindie, Perthshire, which is 5 miles
from Perth (about 15 miles from Crieff), and my out Apiary which is in
the hills to the North.
 
The problem with Heather honey, is it sets like jelly, and traditionally
they have pressed it out, which destroys the combs. The other way is to
use a gadget which is like a paint roller with fine spikes on it, which
loosens up the  honey enough to be spun out. I was going to get one of
these, as I thought it was a great idea, until my local supplier told me
it was about #75, which must be about $90.
 
I have found that a dog hair brush (new one!) with metal spines #2.50,
works fine, but I only had 3 supers to do, and I was getting tired
(going nuts) at the end of the session. The heather honey is really
good, I would trade, all my honey for the rest of the year, for just a
few jars of this stuff.
 
My questions are:-
are these rollers as expensive everywhere else in the world? or are we
Scottish beekeepers being ripped off?.
Also has anyone any other (cheap) ways of loosening Heather honey from
the combs.
 
 
Steve Pearce
 
Kilspindie
Perthshire
Scotland