From MAILER-DAEMON Sat Jun 17 06:53:33 2000 Received: from listserv.albany.edu (listserv.albany.edu [169.226.1.24]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id GAA29437 for ; Sat, 17 Jun 2000 06:53:33 -0400 (EDT) Received: from listserv.albany.edu (listserv.albany.edu [169.226.1.24]) by listserv.albany.edu (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id GAA10497 for ; Sat, 17 Jun 2000 06:53:16 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <200006171053.GAA10497@listserv.albany.edu> Date: Sat, 17 Jun 2000 06:53:16 -0400 From: "L-Soft list server at University at Albany (1.8d)" Subject: File: "BEE-L LOG0006C" To: adamf@METALAB.UNC.EDU Content-Length: 13458 Lines: 301 ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2000 20:43:10 -0600 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Jerry J Bromenshenk Subject: Re: entrance for greenhouse In-Reply-To: <200006150205.WAA18850@listserv.albany.edu> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 04:15 PM 6/14/00 -0700, you wrote: Greenhouses usually employ bumblebees for pollination - they seem to adjust to glass or clear polyethylene better than honey bees. Many of the large greenhouses in Europe and the US that raise tomatoes, strawberries, etc. buy or raise bumblebees. The British use honey bees for strawberries. We fly honey bees in our greenhouses for our experiments. We found that Dr. Srinivasan's technique (he studies bee flight, vision, and guidance systems down in Australia) with a couple of tricks that we learned work with colonies placed inside a greenhouse. Note however, that they eventually will dwindle. Srini puts the colony inside the greenhouse, and ports it to the outside of the greenhouse with a short piece of pipe (e.g., PVC). The bees can fly in and out of the greenhouse from the hives "normal" front entrance. The bees can also fly to the outside. In the spring and fall, the outside entrance gets a lot of use, and this arrangement seems to keep the colonies brood right and active for a longer period than if the colony can only fly inside. Here in Montana, the colonies don't fly outside much during the summer, if they are fed inside the greenhouse. Some things to keep in mind when placing colonies in greenhouses: 1. Use a small colony 2. Pick the hive up and move it a couple of times during the day when bees are actively foraging, before moving it into the greenhouse. The objective is to rid the colony of its older forager bees. Assuming that you have more than one colony of bees in your beeyard, these foragers will join up with the colonies remaining outside in the beeyard. The older foragers just don't seem to manage to adjust to flying under glass. 3. Be sure the colny has a laying queen and brood. 4. Remove the bees that get trapped against the roof and in the corners. A vacuum works well. It seems to be a false hope that any of these bees will return to the hive. If they are out for 24 hrs or more, they are trapped and will just die anyway. 5. If bee activity in the greenhouse is low, condition them to fly in the greenhouse. To keep the bees actively flying in the greenhouse, place feeder jars around the greenhouse with a sucrose syrup (1:1 is fine). A bit of scent such as anise will help. You may have to condition the bees to the feeder jar at the hive entrance. Otherwise, it may just sit and ferment in the greenhouse. Equally important, provide pollen or pollen sub in the greenhouse. The bees usually go for it more aggressively than the syrup. Now for the twist - don't put the pollen or pollen sub in the hive and don't put it neatly in a dish. Rather, spread a line of it across the entrance of the hive to get the bees started. Once they start collecting it, place it further out into the greenhouse, but not in dishes or neat piles. Spread it out on a tray or board. I haven't any idea why bees like it spread out in a sheet or line, but ours sure do. You can even throw it on the ground and they will go for it. They mostly ignore it in the hive or in a dish. It may be possible to get bees to fly in and out of a greenhouse from outside - although we haven't managed that one yet. I do have an observation hive in my office that is ported out any upper window. I have a feeder box that is ported through a lower window. The bees fly out, throw a U Turn, and come back in to the feeder. They drain a quart jar of heavy syrup in two hours. We are currently marking these bees. It looks to us like we have some interlopers from other hives that are outside the building. Hope this helps. Jerry >How can I allow my bees entrance to the greenhouse but exclude grasshoppers? >We have so darn many grasshoppers in my area that the only way to grow >anything is in a greenhouse or screen box. But I still want my bees to >have access for pollination. Any ideas on how to build an entrance for >bees that won't also allow the grasshoppers? The young grasshoppers are >quite small so making a small hole for the bees still lets them in. > >Interesting observation - lately, I've seen grasshoppers (which obviously >usually stick to plants) eating dead bees in front of my hives. > >Jonathan Ruel >Flagstaff, AZ, USA >7,000 ft. a.s.l. > > ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 02:16:52 -0400 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Vivian Donahue Subject: entrance for greenhouse Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" This is just an idea, but have you thought about putting your beehive into the greenhouse with an exit to the outside from the hive and an entrance to the greenhouse? You could use a tube just like they do for an observation hive to the outside, and leave the full entrance open to the greenhouse. Perhaps not even a full hive, but just a nuc? No other insects would dare get to your tender plants thru the hive! ;-) Vivian Jonathan Ruel wrote: >How can I allow my bees entrance to the greenhouse but exclude grasshoppers? >We have so darn many grasshoppers in my area that the only way to grow >anything is in a greenhouse or screen box. But I still want my bees to >have access for pollination. Any ideas on how to build an entrance for >bees that won't also allow the grasshoppers? The young grasshoppers are >quite small so making a small hole for the bees still lets them in. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 14:25:53 +0000 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Carol Malcolm Subject: Re: Weather Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" You asked: >How do bees manage in areas where warm winters are the norm? There must be >a region where they will repeatedly cluster, break cluster and fly, and >recluster during the winter, so does this harm them? > Here in Austin Texas, feeders are the norm. One of our beemasters states that more bees in central Texas die at Easter due to our climate patterns. I can put a hive to bed in November with 60 lbs of honey then have warm days in December with no bloom and there goes the honey. With the drought conditions of the last two years, fall feeding and Jan-Feb feeding is a must. Carol Carol K. Malcolm dewsnap@worldnet.att.net ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 20:11:47 +0200 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: crpost Subject: Re: Dead Brood MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Computer Software Solutions Ltd wrote: I can hardly expect the bees to clean it out - will it start decomposing Hmm, bit of a smelly problem. We have a small group of chickens at our home base. Any dead brood, cut outs of varroa sampling, drone brood removal, goes home where they feast on it. These foul are not kept for any other reason. I suppose any birds will do. I believe they are a favourite of fish as well. Waste not want not. Robert Post ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 15:02:34 -0400 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: tomas mozer Subject: "the good, the bad, and the ugly" Comments: cc: phoenix@aug.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit 3 stories in the mainstream usa media of late, posted (with editorial comment) for information/discussion purposes only... the good: "Bitten but Not Stung By Beekeeping's Lure" http://washingtonpost.com:80/wp-dyn/articles/A61657-2000Jun15.html the bad: "Mite problem affects beekeepers unevenly" http://web.philly.com:80/content/inquirer/2000/06/12/city/EBEEZ12.htm the ugly: "No Killer Bees in All-Out Attack at Fullerton Duplex" http://www.latimes.com:80/editions/orange/ocnews/20000616/t000057109.html ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 21:35:31 +0200 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: crpost Subject: Re: entrance for greenhouse MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Jonathan Ruel wrote: > How can I allow my bees entrance to the greenhouse but exclude grasshoppers? Good day We do quite a bit of greenhouse pollination, mainly on melons and other cucurbits. There are two tricks, employing the same principle. The first method requires a special piece of equipment: a two-way floor. One entrance front and one at the back. One entrance inside and the other outside. The object is to have more than one hive placed inside cut-outs in the greenhouse wall (easy if made from plastic materials). Tape the edges of the greenhouse material to the outside of the hive to stop anything else from entering, retaining sterility or other environmental factors. Then alternate the entrances by closing and opening each entrance on each hive alternatively: one hive inside for a week, the other outside for that week, then reverse the entrances for another week and back again. This mainly to ensure that sufficient food is collected (from outside) to retain a growth phase within the hive for efficient pollination inside the dome. Second option is just to have both entrances at the front. In other words a spacer block in the centre of the entrance divides the opening into inside and outside access. The hive is then placed side-on in the cut-out in the material wall. Greetings Robert Post ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 16:58:01 EDT Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: John Mitchell Subject: Re: "the good, the bad, and the ugly" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit >From the LA Times story: The attack happened at a duplex on June 7 when an exterminator climbed a ladder to the second floor and sprayed something into an exposed pipe, neighbors said. The man wore protective bee clothing, including a helmet and mask, said Terry Prado, who owns a garage directly behind the building. Suddenly the air was filled with what Prado thought were flies. "They just poured out of that house like a tornado," she said. "They just started swirling around, and this swarm just got bigger and bigger." And then: What the tenants later learned was that an enormous colony of bees had taken up residence under the floorboards of the second floor right below the family's bathtub. Bryant's team of exterminators made the discovery when they removed a 2-by-3-foot section of bathroom flooring to expose a vast honeycomb. "They filled six trash bags full," Pena said Judging from the death of an animal (a dog) and the stings to multiple people in the area, the first exterminator (not Bryant) did something wrong. I would value the contributions of anyone who could advise on a more skillful, less dangerous way to resolve the situation as presented in the LA Times in the timeframe of one afternoon. Here goes my observations: 1) He/she apparently did not take the time to diagnose what kind of insect he was dealing with. If he had, he would have blocked all exits to prevent exactly what happened. 2) He/she sprayed pesticide during the day, which meant that many bees would be out in the field unaffected by the spray. A hazardous situation would be created for at least the next few days.