u/Kernowder

Hi all. I've been researching for the past few months and due to go on a course in January before starting out with my first give next year.

my concern is that I have a dog and use a monthly spot on flea treatment for him. I've read this is not good for the environment and actively harmful for bees so need to look at alternatives. are there any dog owners that have a hive in their garden l? What do you do for flea prevention?

I plan to prevent the dog having access to the hive with some fencing fyi.

thanks in advance 🐝🙂

Cheese

“The United States offers over 1,000+ cheese varieties and styles,” the Cheese from the USA website claims, to which I would counter: “But do any of them taste of anything?” I doubt a single Freedom Cheese can clear a train carriage like a ripe époisses.

Bikes

Apparently, Americans buy 130m bicycles a year, but I suspect that’s thanks to a handful of legmaxxing California billionaires. Anyway, 130m also feels like the number of bikes parked outside Amsterdam Centraal station on any given day (in 2019, 41% of Netherlanders said the bike was their main mode of transport).

Saints

The US has 11 saints – pathetic. I’ve seen the remains of more than 11 saints in a single European mini-break; Ireland alone has an estimated 1,000.

Wholesome food

Let’s take stock of this summer’s US food safety scares. Lettuce, blueberries, jalapenos, fruit bars, granola, eggs, alfalfa sprouts, mangoes, sourdough, tofu … basically anything healthier than Flamin’ Hot Cheetos is a gamble; Gwyneth Paltrow is probably claiming asylum in Puglia as I write.

Weird rulers

Sure, they have their stable genius, but nothing can match absolute monarchy and centuries of inbreeding for floridly unhinged leadership. Charles VI of France thought he was made of glass; the future Peter III of Russia court-martialled a rat for eating one of his toy soldiers.

Characterful teeth

The US has, I read, “entered the age of veneer regret”, with people rueing their decision to drop big money on massive, gleaming, Hollywood teeth. Not over here! We’ve still got teeth Breugel the Elder would recognise (in the UK it’s partly because we can’t access affordable dentistry, but sssh).

Disturbing folklore

Scratch the surface of any European country and some weird, sinister custom emerges. At Belgium’s Matî l’Ohê festival they mourn a bone by waving celery; Austria’s demon-chasing Perchten festival involves dressing like a horned haystack; in Wales’s Mari Lwyd, people take a horse skull on a pole from door to door singing for midwinter. In the name of carnival, we throw herring in northern France, execute a pretend mare in Czechia and hunt people dressed as bears all over the place. And really, what’s better – purchasing power or an annual opportunity to wave celery at a bone? I know my answer.