Pogust

When this happens I ask Wife to phone Flash and ask where it is. They usually deliver the next day. I think tracking number change when parcel arrive in Thailand, not same as Aliexpress number.

Some years ago I planted a number of cocoa trees. Most for fun, why not when I'm in a tropical climate suitable for cocoa. They grow were well and are now producing fruits. So next step was to read up on chocolate production. And buying necessary equipment to make chocolate myself. I have now made 40 batches of around 2 kg each and starting to get the feeling for it. Fermenting and drying the beans was the challenge in the beginning when I didn't have so large batches of beans. It was a test for fun, but as the production now exceeds my consumption by far there might be an opportunity for Wife to start a small business. We have given away most to friends, but increasing prices of cocoa butter make it difficult to continue without some money back. Cocoa butter was 400 bht per kg a year ago, now it's almost 2000. We could supply chocolate of various cocoa and sugar content to interested persons in small amounts. For batches of 2 + kg we can do them to order regarding % of cocoa and sugar or other ingredients. Not much profit in it mostly for fun. It takes around 5 hours work to produce a batch from beans to bar. Let me know if someone is interested. Cocoa fruits

Phosphoric acid is commonly used to dissolve lime scale. Available on Lazada. Dilute to 10-20%. Good in bathroom if you have that problem.

A bit late reply I'm afraid but didn't look in here earlier. I installed 12 kw of panels and a SRNE hybrid 3 phase inverter 3 months ago. Together with 42 kwh of batteries. I have all 3 phase in 3 houses. Tried different setups. First with totally off grid and a ATS to connect to grid if needed. That wasn't so good as it is a manual switch and generate a short cut off that cause problems to some electronics like routers. So set it up with inverter direct connecting to grid instead and switch when over the 4 kw each phase allows. Now I don't see the switch over any more. When I have 2 kw storage water heaters it seldom triggers the switch. Happened at Christmas when plenty of cooking, and sometimes when using welders but that's only short time. For the last months the PEA bill was about 90 bht. So I don't really see a need for 3 inverters unless heavy long time use. A few hours of connecting to PEA for backup gets a lot cheaper than 2 extra inverters. And the less complexity in the system, the safer it is.... Just my thoughts about it...

Fruit fly problem. I have it too. You can try traps but need the proper pheromone to lure the flies in them. I catch lots of mango flies with them. https://www.lazada.co.th/products/fly-reusable-traps-fruit-fly-traps-fly-catcher-outdoor-i4800957482-s19843284860.html https://www.lazada.co.th/products/codin-stock10-orchard-drosophila-i5013035860-s21186981524.html

Those are melipona stingless bees. You can't put them in a hive for european bees. They need small hives that you easily can make yourself. Look here for info: https://www.landuum.com/en/the-lab/the-melipona-bees/ https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Meliponiculture%3A-Stingless-Bee-Beekeeping-In-Chuttong-Chanbang/ed20a04e65532b5c61afd69e55f88facfffe699a Could be a good way to get pollination here. Not so much honey from them though. You can divide them similar to other bees and get more colonies once you have one strong to start from, if you want honey from them. It also depends on local flora. They need flowers producing nectar, otherwise you have to feed them some sugar so they don't starve during dry season. I will try a couple of colonies myself, thank you for pointing to the seller! You can find hives here too https://shopee.co.th/กล่องชันโรง-ขนาด-A4-กล่องผึ้งชันโรง-ชันโรง-ผึ้งจิ๋ว-ชันโรง-ผึ้งชันโรง-กล่อง-กล่องชันโรง-ผึ้งจิ๋ว-i.41337900.14496362178?sp_atk=f5ada149-e63e-49ca-8da7-a3b6d72d6f90&xptdk=f5ada149-e63e-49ca-8da7-a3b6d72d6f90

Well, if you are going keep bees you have some learning to do. I'm an ex commercial beekeeper and can probably give some advise. Firstly what bees do you plan to have? The asian bee apis serana or european bees apis mellifera? Big difference in how you treat them. Asian bees are more difficult but will survive better. Do you want to keep them for honey or pollination? The flow hive is not a magic solution to beekeeping. It will gum up fairly quick due to propolis bees use seal all cracks in their hive. It probably works for a short time only. If you use apis mellifera you will have to treat regularly with chemicals to keep them alive. The varroa mite will kill them off otherwise. Can you post a link to the site where bees are for sale? I'm thinking myself of getting a couple of hives for pollination purpose. But use normal hives that I can manage without problems. Will build the hives myself from available wood. Happy to help you get started, bit be prepared to read up on beekeeping....

Ants farm the mealybugs. They suck up the sweet excrement they produce. So keeping ants away helps. Soapy water is another tried method.

Try detergent, it will block the breathing tubes and suffocate them. I use 1 dl of liquid dish wash detergent for 20 liter water. It takes away the surface tension in water and allow the water to penetrate the tracheae. I also use wood vinegar, charcoal distillate mixed in.

Just make sure you buy 15 or 20 cell battery packs! And buy 2 of them as the trimmer with cord will need plenty of power. Like this one, not saying it's good just to show what batteries you need. https://h5.lazada.co.th/products/tanzu-tz-lm-2000-8-bl-i5021553315-s21229442921.html? I found the makita battery fitting best as there are plenty of tools and batteries available. De Walt might have their own system where cheap batteries don't fit and you must buy the more expensive original.

I did find them on a mango tree daytime. A whole bunch of them on a new shoot. About 8 mm long bright shining blue with club antennas. Didn't get any useful picture as it was windy that day. I'm practising permaculture and use only manure, compost and plenty of mulch. The reason for sad looking trees is that those bugs eat away every new shoot so trees have only old leafs. The few mangos they haven't found (yet) are looking healthy. If I see them again and get a good picture I will post it.

Calopogonium mucunoides

Sure, I can send you some cuttings later. Yes I chop it up and spread around other plants and trees. Contact me with your address.

Got seeds here: https://www.lazada.co.th/products/100-i3843288296-s14659381109.html I bought cuttings about a year ago from Lazada. Have just cut them back before rainy season, otherwise I could send you some. They grow very fast just about everywhere you put a stick in the ground. 🙂 Can develop to a potent weed if not looked after.

OK thanks then I understand. I have used industrial 3 phase motors that I fitted with capacitor myself in another life. Problem was the start torque, when running it worked fine. Problem solved anyway! Halfway down I found a glueing broken on the cheap blue pipes the well driller used 4 years ago. It broke when I got pressure in the system. I would use hdpe instead, but can't find the proper metal fittings here. Only plastic fittings and I have bad experience with them. Would to import from Europe.