New beekeeping with AZDuffman
May 8th, 2015 at 2:43:15 AM permalink | |
AZDuffman Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 135 Posts: 18136 |
The Padre is very close! Obviously not the first, not would we ever be able I think to credit "first" but a clergyman designed the box I am using today. The design is one of those rare things that really can't be improved on. There is a thing called "top-bar" that is more attractive but does not work as well. But this confounds as all the measurements are so what they need to be there is little room for design change. They added "foundation" to frames. Maybe a small nip and tuck. But the rest is like turn signal control on a car, once figured out there is little that can be improved. The President is a fink. |
May 8th, 2015 at 11:26:58 AM permalink | |
Ayecarumba Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 89 Posts: 1744 | Last night's episode of the CBS whodunnit, "Elementary" was centered on bee's and Colony Collapse Disorder. Apparently, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes was an avid apiarist, and is described to have pursued and written about this interest in his retirement. |
May 8th, 2015 at 12:07:44 PM permalink | |
AZDuffman Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 135 Posts: 18136 |
You want to see diverse backgrounds, go to a new beekeeper class. All kinds of backgrounds. The President is a fink. |
May 8th, 2015 at 2:46:11 PM permalink | |
Fleastiff Member since: Oct 27, 2012 Threads: 62 Posts: 7831 | Same thing with new didgeridoo players. Brave man who first ate an oyster? Brave man who first thought of keeping a bee hive. People didn't try to go against nature all that much. In the Middle Ages, France had people who raised ducks, nothing else. |
May 8th, 2015 at 3:03:13 PM permalink | |
rxwine Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 188 Posts: 18632 |
I love oysters in stew or otherwise. I do worry sometimes about being the one who gets some bad ones. Bees don't bother me. Once I figured out I didn't have an extreme allergy to them like you hear about. What's the word on Africanized bees lately? Are they a problem in your area? You believe in an invisible god, and dismiss people who say they are trans? Really? |
May 8th, 2015 at 3:14:16 PM permalink | |
AZDuffman Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 135 Posts: 18136 |
They cannot survive in more temperate areas, they have interbred with the Euros in areas where they can survive. I think beekeepers have adapted. Does make me wonder what would happen if a northern keeper took hives south to rent for pollination. The President is a fink. |
May 8th, 2015 at 3:37:46 PM permalink | |
petroglyph Member since: Aug 3, 2014 Threads: 25 Posts: 6227 | Area of killer bees in NA. The last official act of any government is to loot the treasury. GW |
May 8th, 2015 at 4:19:44 PM permalink | |
odiousgambit Member since: Oct 28, 2012 Threads: 154 Posts: 5055 | I've heard that beekeepers have a role with the killer bees ... got a bad queen like that, you replace the queen. Of course there are always the hicks who don't keep up I guess. I'm Still Standing, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah [it's an old guy chant for me] |
May 12th, 2015 at 6:09:09 PM permalink | |
Fleastiff Member since: Oct 27, 2012 Threads: 62 Posts: 7831 |
I hate the buggers and make do distinctions between those bumble bees which apparently can't fly, honey bees, wasps, hornets or anything else. However, as this is the digital age I suggest you look at some of the electronic hive monitors that check the weight of the honey against the day's temperature and occupancy register. I'm still not going near the silly things. |
May 15th, 2015 at 12:32:13 PM permalink | |
AZDuffman Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 135 Posts: 18136 | TWO WEEK UPDATE Lets say the $10 to mark her was well spent. She was wondering around, hopefully laying eggs like she is supposed to do. So we are now more or less two weeks in. While I will still "hive watch" it is now more for recreation than seeing what on earth is going on during a particular weather event or time of day. I wake up before them and go to bed after them, so at either time there is little in-and-out. Mid-day it has lots to do with the temperature. Here in W-PA we just had a span where many people went from A/C to furnace in a 36 hour span. I had planned to check on wed, but the aforesaid cold could have killed the little ladies. Yesterday I had to work at the courthouse, so today was the day. I was quite a bit less anxious today since I opened the hive once before. A big thing is "time and motion" as they say in industry. Last time I forgot this or that, this time I had it more down. Good news I found the queen! They were over several of the frames, whereas last time it was just 1-2. There was some drawn out comb, capped in white, which indicates nectar storage. Or the sugar-water of which I have now added 12 pounds. 8 had been consumed. The buggers have used several times their own weight by now. It looks as though some egg-laying is happening. Nothing capped, but some of the cells look brownish, so I assume the attendant bees will cap and feed them as time goes on. Meanwhile I am hoping that we get some better nectar-flow up here, which we should as we are hitting bloom season. One other observation is that the smoke makes them really start buzzing. I mean quiet to noisy as if flipping a switch, and it really drives them into the hive. Probably will wait two weeks to check next time. Not sure how much I want to feed as it requires opening the hive, but they are eating it so they must need it. I will let you all know. The President is a fink. |