Received: from [169.226.1.21] by relay.internode.net (SMTPD32-3.02) id A7AFD6400CE; Tue, 12 Nov 1996 13:01:51 -0700 Received: from CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU by CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with BSMTP id 1307; Tue, 12 Nov 96 15:02:25 EST Received: from CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU (NJE origin LISTSERV@ALBNYVM1) by CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU (LMail V1.2c/1.8c) with BSMTP id 2361; Tue, 12 Nov 1996 15:02:16 -0500 Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 15:02:11 -0500 From: "L-Soft list server at ALBNYVM1 (1.8b)" Subject: File: "BEE-L LOG9607A" To: "W. Allen Dick" X-UIDL: 382 Status: U ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 14:28:04 +0900 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Kiyoshi Kimura Subject: address of Dr. Milne Dear sir/ma'am, I would like to contact with Dr. C.P. Milne Jr., who used to be an associate professor at Washington State University. I heard that he gave up science and moved to bee buisiness. If you know his address, email, fax number etc, please let me know. Thank you in advance. Kiyoshi Kimura, PhD Lab Apiculture, Department of Animal Genetics, NIAI Tsukuba Japan ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 07:11:05 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Laura Downey Subject: Recent observations Yesterday's observations while inspecting my three hives: I recently united two splits, via the newspaper method. One split was queenless, the other had a good producing queen. The queenless split had some emergency queen cells, which I cut prior to putting the screen board between the two splits. Prior to the newspaper, I left the double screen board between them for about 3 to 4 days. So, there was definitely enough time for them to get used to each others' scent. While inspecting this hive yesterday, I noticed what I think are a number of emergency queen cells in the middle of some of the frames. These cells were of rather "flimsy" construction, as compared to other queen cells I have seen. (They were capped.) They were almost paper-like in construction, not very rigid. At the same time, there is brood in various stages - uncapped, capped, emerging. However, the laying rate of the queen has decreased quite a bit. I did not physically see the queen (she is not marked). How can I tell if the queen was not accepted by the bees in the queenless split? Is it possible that this happened? This hive was very calm, much calmer than I have seen all season. My second hive was very calm as well. They have a good producing queen. No problems there. My third hive, however, is another story. I have never had such an aggressive colony. Any chance they could get, they were coming at me. I did get stung twice, which is no more or less than usual when working my hives. However, these bees would not let up. When smoke didn't seem to deter them enough, I would walk away slowly to give them a "break". I removed the super from this hive, placed it on the ground while inspecting the hive. When I went to pick the super up, the bees were all over the handholds, making it difficult to pick it up. I used smoke and a brush to get them out of the way of my hands. This took quite some time as they were rather persistent in keeping me away. This hive also indicated that the queen's laying rate had decreased. No emergency cells at this time. I did see brood of various stages, uncapped to emerging. They do have a lot of honey stored in the upper brood chamber, much more than the other two hives. What could be causing their aggressiveness? Could there be robbing going on? How can I tell other bees robbing from my own bees entering and exiting the hive? Do I need to watch for aggressive guards attacking "foreign" bees? As for the two hives with "apparent" queen problems, I plan on requeening them. I seem to have had more than my share of queen problems this year, and can think of no other solution. I don't plan on requeening the hive that has a good queen, at least not this year. I don't want to replace her if she is young (this year's) and doing well. Any and all suggestions, comments, etc. will be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Laura Downey Anne Arundel County, Maryland corvi29@smart.net ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 08:10:29 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: David Doyle Subject: WILDLIFE ECOLOGY Digest Greetings, I have recently developed a weekly e-mail digest for conversation, stories, job opportunities, issues, thoughts, and general postings concerning wildlife ecology... To receive this digest, please send e-mail to: kingfshr@northcoast.com with the subject: "Subscribe to WED." Any questions can also be sent to this address... Let's hope this continues to develop into a great resource for all! Thanks, David Doyle (kingfshr@northcoast.com) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 08:28:36 EST Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "Mark D. Egloff" Subject: Re[2]: No Brood = Queenlessness?/Varroa? ==>Swarmed! Kevin and Shawna Roberts, amoung others, returned my post, writing: "What you describe is similar to what I often see in a hive a few weeks after it swarms. The last offspring from the old queen have emerged, but the new queen (assuming one is there) has not yet begun to lay. If the bees are behaving normally, then they likely have a virgin or a newly-mated queen. This period should only last a week or so. If you don't have eggs by then, you probably don't have a queen." Well, the answer to my previous concern about the lack of ANY eggs or brood was nailed by this group. When I reinspected the hive this past weekend, the lower brood chamber was still empty of brood and no sign of any queen. I had made up my mind to use a spare nuc to requeen but decided to inspect the upper brood chamber first. The first frame I pulled was the second frame from the edge and it was FULL, cell to cell, top to bottom, side to side with eggs - one to a cell. (OK, so I exaggerate, but I was so excited to see eggs, it seemed that way. There WAS a lot of eggs and they were solid on both sides of the frame.) Most were still sticking straight up so a queen had to be close. So I started looking for her. She had been marked and clipped when I purchased her this spring so I scanned for the dot. Nothing. Then I saw a queen, not MY queen for this one had two full wings and no marking, but she was big and fat and calmly moving across the frames. It is clear that the hive must have either swarmed or superceded the old (? I purchased her this spring!) queen and the empty frames I saw last weekend was a break in the brood cycle while the colony was adjusting to the change. There were a lot (12+) open and empty queen cups along the bottom of the frames that last week I had attributed to emergency cells. The only thing that still puzzles me somewhat is that I don't notice an appreciable decrease in the number of bees in the hive, but perhaps I wasn't as observant as I should have been before the swarm. Thanks to all for your help. It is nice to know you all are out there. Mark Egloff MEGLOFF@CSC.COM P.S. Ether roll tests of the hives indicate no varroa...yet. But I KNOW they are out there. I can feel them lurking in the shadows watching with their beady little eyes. (Do varroa have eyes?) I wonder if hanging a garland of garlic or a cross on each of the hives will keep them out? It worked with Dracula.;) M. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 08:35:12 EST Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "Mark D. Egloff" Subject: Overwintering Nucs Comments: To: ohbee-l@sun1.oardc.ohio-state.edu Gentle beepeople: I have heard and read of overwintering 5 frame nucs and am interested in trying this this coming winter, but have not been able to figure out how it is done. Temperature regulation is not really an issue I think, for I would overwinter the nucs over existing parent hives. But is there enough room for adequate honey stores in a 5 frame nuc? How would one do this? How HAVE you done it for those who have tried it and succeeded? What kind of success rate have you experienced? Thanks in advance. Mark Egloff MEGLOFF@CSC.COM ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 09:54:17 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Tom Allen Subject: Re: Re[2]: List of Flowers? In a message dated 96-06-21 14:45:19 EDT, you write: >BEE-L@CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU. as stated before there is a list of flowers in Central Massachusetts published by the Worcester County Beekeepers Assoc;there may be one published by the beekeepers association of your area.If you do not know where to find them call Dadant Bros and they will probably be able to steer you. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 09:54:13 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Tom Allen Subject: Re: Filtered, Unprocessed honey don'tyou guys think that if the buying public were to see the mess after extracting the honey and before screening, filtering or what ever, it would turn them away from honey for keeps ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 09:54:28 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Tom Allen Subject: Re: Using old hives from what I canmake out if you were wiped out by varroa mites , the varroa also died for lack of a host .However on reinstalling in old hive use Apistan for sure. If your loss was from foul brrod than you should have your equipment, supers, brood chambers and frames iradiated. call if you need infor on the latter. Tell us where you are so we can figure out how to help. WCBA via Tombeeski ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 09:54:39 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Tom Allen Subject: Re: Q: Survey of tools used when working hives. hives 3 smoker - usually hive tool flat leather gloves sometimes bare hand -mostly veil as part of jacket -always cover all suit of tyvek if bees are unruly no leg straps pencil note pad and computer later EXTRACTOR- ALL PLASTIC ONE FROM CHINA. WITH FEW HIVES THIS IS ADEQUATE HIVEWRAPPING IN WINTER -ALL FOAM 2 INCH THICK R35 INSULATION ON SIDES good ventilation at top ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 09:54:44 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Tom Allen Subject: Re: New Hives with AFB - Can these hives be saved? as suggested to others see if you can find an irradiation chamber in your area. Worcester County Beekeeper Assoc send a couple of truck loads of hives in to be treated this year and reports that they have have excellent results from this process in recent yeasrs.this is for foul brood not mites. in years past burning was the only susccesful treatment, irradiation works here. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 09:54:48 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Tom Allen Subject: Re: How to deal with .... I am puzzled about this phenonmena too.I lost three our of four hives Last winter. The carry over colony is going gangbuster style. Great brood, great brood chamber honey and pollen stores and three honey supers filling up.. lower two are 95%capped. And this despite the fact that two strong wind storms blew the outer cover off with a brick on it in January and on February.I do not know how long it was off becasue I was in hospital both times.oulld be as much as three or four days. Other colonies that died stayed closed up.Perhaps not enough ventilation has some effect on the mites. One of my new colonies is doing well, but the other is dragging and looks queenless. The weak colony started off OK with some brood and suddenly stopped,no eggs, no more larvae but a small number of earlyu capped cells hatched. Then two weeks nothing and I could not find the queen. Put in a new queen about May 20 . Had some progress but now again no new eggs or larvae. I used apistan at both periods There are a good many worker bees there. But without some new eggs a ll will be lost. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 10:21:00 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "Gendreau,Roland" Subject: Bees walking away from the hive Every now and then I have spotted a worker bee on the ground walking away from my hive. The bee's wings appear to be undamaged and operational, yet the bee either is not able to fly or is choosing not to for some reason. I thought at first that maybe the bee was just worn out and is walking away to die somewhere, but maybe that is not the case. I don't see many of these but I hate to loose any of my bees. Roland ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 12:41:46 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Laura Downey Subject: Races of bees Does anyone know where I can get a comprehensive list of the different races of bees and their characteristics? I believe I once saw this list in Bee Culture magazine, but cannot locate the issue. Thanks in advance. Laura Downey Anne Arundel County, Maryland corvi29@smart.net ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 11:22:04 -0600 Reply-To: allend@internode.net Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology Comments: Authenticated sender is From: Allen Dick Organization: The Beekeepers Subject: Re: Queens and the postal dept. > My advice to you in the future is to alert your local post office > prior to arrival This is good advice. Consider also what day of the week they will be sent and if they might wind up spending a weekend in a post office less than an hour's drive away. Monday shipments are good because they might arrive with no weekend waits. It isn't hard to learn the likely routing of the shipment and to intercept it or check on it along the way -- if you are polite and friendly. If we are expecting a large shipment, I have the Cagary post office watch for them and call me and I drive the extra 60 miles, rather than subject them to an additional handling -- and a day's journey up and down the milk run that feeds our local PO. The PO guys and gals here are really interested in helping get them thru alive in great shape. Regards Allen W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper VE6CFK RR#1, Swalwell, Alberta Canada T0M 1Y0 Internet:dicka@cuug.ab.ca & allend@internode.net Honey. Bees, & Art ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 11:08:35 -0600 Reply-To: allend@internode.net Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology Comments: Authenticated sender is From: Allen Dick Organization: The Beekeepers Subject: Re: Replacing Old Brood Comb I do know from personal experience, as well as the reports of other beekkeepers in Alberta and the westen Canadian Provinces that the chances of successfully wintering bees outdoors on light coloured comb are poor. Dark combs are essential. The reasons are not clear to me. Perhaps someone has an explantion. Regards Allen W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper VE6CFK RR#1, Swalwell, Alberta Canada T0M 1Y0 Internet:dicka@cuug.ab.ca & allend@internode.net Honey. Bees, & Art ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 10:47:51 -0600 Reply-To: allend@internode.net Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology Comments: Authenticated sender is From: Allen Dick Organization: The Beekeepers Subject: Re: Queens and the postal dept. > I received three (3) calls from different people at the post office.. > two of which I didn't know personally. > My point is others might try this so that bees are not left in hot > mailboxes. I don't work for the post office, but have had similar excellent, caring service here in Canada. If the info is on the outside of the package, the posties will use it. Live bees usually intrigue the posties on their otherwise sometimes boring job, so they are eager to learn how the bees are doing and if they did the right thing in handling them. Storage recommendation, delivery info and phone numbers are essential if we expect prompt live delivery. And afterwards, a little praise and thanks for the extra service goes a long ways to ensure we continue to enjoy the good will we do. Regards Allen W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper VE6CFK RR#1, Swalwell, Alberta Canada T0M 1Y0 Internet:dicka@cuug.ab.ca & allend@internode.net Honey. Bees, & Art ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 13:37:39 -0500 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: MR MARK G SPAGNOLO Subject: Postal Dept. I would like to add my experience to the general discussion on the postal department. We ship huge numbers of queens through the mail every year. My guess is that we lose less than 2% of everything we mail, and that is being generous. The number is probably less than that. In my experience, the smaller the shipment, the great the chance that it will disappear. Shipment of 1 and 2 are notorious for arriving several weeks after they were mailed. Larger shipments of battery boxes are rarely lost or damaged. The best method of shipment by far is to pay the extra money and ship the queens by Express Mail. The 48 hour guarantee is almost always right on time. Only shipments to South Dakota seem to take more than 48 hours on a regular basis! I think the post office does a great job. Without their efforts queen breeding in Hawaii would be useless! Mark at Kona Queen ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 13:42:07 EDT Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: HOOPER <101535.343@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Use of Test Combs My experience in the UK using test combs for detecting queenlessness is that in most cases if the comb only contains eggs then the bees will clear them out or eat them. We found that to be certain to get results a number of hatched larvae were necessary, and that these should be second instar. Regards Ted Hooper ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 15:49:22 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Diana Sammataro Subject: Re: Races of bees Laura: THe races article was a Jan issue of 1995 or 1994, I forget which. Contact Kim Flottum editor, at bculture@aol.com for more info Diana Diana Sammataro, Ph.D. The Ohio State University, OARDC/ Dept. Entomology Extension Bee Laboratory, 1680 Madison Avenue Wooster, OH 44691 NEW Phone: (330) 263 3912 Fax: (330) 262 2720 Email: Sammataro.1@osu.edu ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 16:10:51 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "Dave Green, Eastern Pollinator Newsletter" Subject: Re: Re[2]: No Brood = Queenlessness?/Varroa? ==>Swarmed! In a message dated 96-07-01 08:36:54 EDT, MEGLOFF@CSC.COM writes: << P.S. Ether roll tests of the hives indicate no varroa...yet. But I KNOW they are out there. I can feel them lurking in the shadows watching with their beady little eyes. (Do varroa have eyes?) I wonder if hanging a garland of garlic or a cross on each of the hives will keep them out? It worked with Dracula.;) >> Sorry. It only works, if you do it on each bee. Pollinator@aol.com Dave Green, PO Box 1200, Hemingway, SC 29554 Practical Pollination Home Page Dave & Janice Green http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 17:02:31 EDT Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Jim Moore DTN276-9448 ogo1/e17 508-496-9448 Subject: Need advice: opossum + bees = cranky hive I keep my bees (3 hives) on my deck. I have one hive that is really cranky. The hives are outside large glass sliding doors of the family room. Lights in that room are on late into the evening. Mornings I have noticed bees on the deck (supified until they warm up). About 10% don't ever wake up. I had assumed that these bees were late getting home and attracted by the lights. One evening I checked at around 10 PM and there was the usual number, less than 30. In the moring there were about 200! I then assumed the hives had been visited and pestered during the night. One night last week while watching TV in the evening my daughter noticed an opossum on the deck by the hives. I chased it off. I'm assuming that it is the reason for the cranky hive. Does anyone have any recommondations for dealing with this little beast! I would rather deter than destroy the little devel. I quess I'm lucky it isn't a skunk! Thanks in advance. Jim Moore moore@aiag.enet.dec.com ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 2 Jul 1996 10:06:39 +1200 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Cliff Van Eaton Subject: AFB Sniffer Dogs Does anyone know if "sniffer dogs" are still being used anywhere in the US to help detect hives with American foulbrood infections? In the late '80's there was considerable publicity in the beekeeping press about these dogs, and how they were likely to save scarce government inspection funds. However, I haven't heard anything about them recently. Did the dogs prove to do a good job, or where there some technical problems (I heard a rumour that the dogs could only pick up "full blown" infections, since they were the only ones that produced enough of a smell)? Or is the reason the dogs aren't being used anymore because government AFB programmes in the US have in most places been wound down? All factual replies most appreciated. Contact details for anyone who has actually used the dogs would be especially helpful. Thanks for your help. Cliff Van Eaton Apicultural Advisory Officer MAF Quality Management Private Bag TAURANGA, NEW ZEALAND E-mail: VANEATONC@tauranga.mqm.govt.nz ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 14:32:00 AST Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Tom Elliott Subject: AFB Look-alikes (Spinoff from Bee Boxes) There is at least one condition that self proclaimed experts have declared to be "the rottenest case of AFB I've ever seen." The samples on this tested negative. The condition was cleared up by requeening. The puzzler on this one was that the queen from the afflicted colony was in two cases put into another hive with different bees and the resulting colony built up normally from that point. There was no more "disease" in either the original sick colony or the old queens new domain. Tom Elliott Eagle River, Alaska ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 17:41:41 PST Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "Gordon N. Stowe" Subject: Apistan Thanks for the many replies to my earlier inquiry regarding Mite Control using the new MITE SOLUTION. Apistan wins hands down. Now one more question please. What are the effects, if any, if the Apistan strip is left in over the winter, say from October 1 to May 1? Make it easy on Bee-L and rsvp direct to gordonstowe@juno.com. Thanks a million-no make that 2 million. 73s. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 17:34:20 -0600 Reply-To: allend@internode.net Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology Comments: Authenticated sender is From: Allen Dick Organization: The Beekeepers Subject: Re: AFB Sniffer Dogs > Or is the reason the dogs aren't being used anymore because > government AFB programmes in the US have in most places been wound > down? That's the case here in ALberta. Although our organisation was very concerned about AFB 15 years ago, we have since decided that it mostly a matter for a beekeeper to deal with privately, since Tetracycline has proven pretty effective for control, and the (scarce) funds are required elsewhere -- to educate and assist in dealing with a new threat -- the mite invasion. We are working on a new draft of our bee act, and although AFB will continue to be mentioned, as I recall, most of the emphasis on dealing with it will be in extension -- teaching new beekeepers and those with problems how to manage it. Regards Allen W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper VE6CFK RR#1, Swalwell, Alberta Canada T0M 1Y0 Internet:dicka@cuug.ab.ca & allend@internode.net Honey. Bees, & Art ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 22:19:26 -0500 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "MR WILLIAM L HUGHES JR." Subject: Re: Tucson Bee Lab Closure Here is my 2 cents on the clouser. I wrote the Tucson Bee Lab on several occations and did not get a reply. Like most governement workers they are lazy and live off us hard working taxpayers. Maybe if they had to work for a living they would be more forthcoming in there dealing with John Q. Citzen. As a matter of fact we need to get rid of 30% of US government workers. During the shut down we found out that we sure did not need them. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 22:48:17 -0500 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "MR WILLIAM L HUGHES JR." Subject: Package order refund I had trouble getting my packages from them also. It got so bad (two and a half months of delays) that I contacted the local police department. The desk sgt gave me the name of a detective in the Greene County sherriffs office to contact. I did not have to call since my packages finally arrived. If you want the detectives name e- mail at NHJV32A@prodigy.com or hughes@gomemphis.com. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 23:27:16 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Jean-Pierre Chapleau Subject: Shipping queens >This whole bussiness of queen rearing is a whole lot tougher >when you get to include the US mails ( I guess in their defence >it would bee even tougher with out them). For the most part >they are on time and caring, but this year they killed 15% of what I >produced. I am also a queen breeder. I have used the regular postal service for many years in Canada. The service has deteriorated somewhat with the years. I now use a private courrier service. The queens travel only 16 hours (within Quebec province). The customers receive them in hand. They seem to appreciate the good service and they do not mind paying a few extra dollars. For interprovincial delivery I use the Priority post service of Canada Post (48 hours anywhere in Canada). It works very well too. If you are loosing 15% of the queens you produce with the postal services, you should consider using a private fast delivery service. Are'nt your queens worth these few extra dollars? Jean-Pierre Chapleau queen breeder 1282 rang 8, Saint-Adrien-de-Ham, Quebec, Canada (819)828-3396 fax: (819) 828-0357 chapleau@login.net ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 2 Jul 1996 00:11:52 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Michael Moroney Subject: Re: Queens and the postal dept. In-Reply-To: <<1375982628-16098949@mailhost.cyberTours.com> > P.S. Queen breeders should send their bees in a crush-proof package - for > example, the Post Office provides free of charge a two-day delivery > envelope. How would this help? I find the standard wood queen cage will easily support my weight standing on it. Or do some breeders use something else? Speaking of bees and the post office, does anyone have any amusing stories of postal workers reactions when they have to deal with a buzzing 5 pound package in their incoming shipment? I ordered 2 3 pound packages once. When I came home late from work (7pm) there was a message on my answering machine. "This is the Post Office. We have a package of BEES here for you. Please come and get them!" The tone of voice (esp. the last sentence which sounded like pleading) had me cracking up. I wish I could reproduce it. Anyway, it was past closing time for the post office so I decided to get them first thing in the morning. Later that night the phone ringing wakes me up. 2:15 AM. I am barely awake from the phone ringing. I decide to let the machine get it but listened. It was a woman whose voice sounds rather frightened. She said she was working at the post office and they had a package of bees and they were loose and flying around, and what should we do? Again, the tone of voice was something to behold... By now I was wide awake. First, the post office was working? My imagination was soon running wild. I was imagining a 3 pound package broken open, bees everywhere and people running screaming into the street. I got up and called them back. The same woman answered and I asked what was going on. She said a few bees were loose and flying mostly at the lights. She asked what to do. I offered to go get them but she said no. I told her to put them in the garage in the back with the jeeps. (it was cool that night, they'd stay in the cluster) Anyway I went to get them the next AM. When I said I was here for the bees the worker told me to go in to the back. The way back by the loading dock. Rather unusual itself. When I went back he was there and pointed to a cart which he wouldn't get closer than 30 feet. I had to climb up the loading dock to get them. I looked over the package carefully expecting damage or a small hole or something. It was perfectly fine, there was no way any bees could get out. The package was quite sturdy. But sure enough there were 4 or 5 bees on the outside of the screen trying to join the cluster. That was 4 or 5 too many for the postal workers, of course. They must have hitched a ride for the last 1000 miles... -Mike ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 2 Jul 1996 03:13:12 +0000 Reply-To: jdalexa@his.com Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology Comments: Authenticated sender is From: John Alexander Subject: Apistan disposal Greetings all, On the apistan package, it says to dispose of properly. What is the proper way to dispose of the used strips? I would rather not just dump them in the garbage. John Alexander mailto:jdalexa@his.com ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 2 Jul 1996 03:47:54 -0500 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: midnitebee Subject: Re: Queens and the postal dept. At 12:11 AM 7/2/96 -0400, you wrote: >> P.S. Queen breeders should send their bees in a crush-proof package - for >> example, the Post Office provides free of charge a two-day delivery >> envelope. > >How would this help? I find the standard wood queen cage will easily support >my weight standing on it. Or do some breeders use something else? > >The priority envelopes are approx 9x12,will not fit in a post office box,slide underneath a door,or in some home mailboxes.I was amused by your little tale,yes it is true,the post office is open 24 hours,365 days a year.We are not all letter carriers,but there are people,who work many varied jobs inside the building.Remember,not everyone,is a beekeeper,some people are "allergic"to them and just plain scared.Did you educate the postal workers in your town? Try it! It worked for me.Yes,there are bad "apples",at every company. We as Postal workers have heard all your snide remarks before,and maybe thats why, a very minute percentage, of us have attitudes.This is an unfortunate situation.I can tell you many stories,about customers,but this happens to be a listserve about beekeeping. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 2 Jul 1996 13:23:51 +0100 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "Jon Moorby (Tel 0970 828255 Ext 2573)" Subject: Filtered, unprocessed honey >don't you guys think that if the buying public were to see the mess after >extracting the honey and before screening, filtering or what ever, it would >turn them away from honey for keeps I work with dairy cows, and I reckon that if the public knew what gets sucked up the milk line twice a day in many milking parlours (apart from milk!), many people would think again before pouring milk on their cornflakes! Wax particles, pollen etc all add to the taste of honey - perhaps we should be thankful for milk filters.... Jon Moorby moorby@bbsrc.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 2 Jul 1996 07:43:00 -0500 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Mike Beluch Subject: Tucson Bee Lab Closure.... Ok, folks, so maybe I haven't been listening... Does anybody know what the current status of the Lab is? Is it shut down permanently? Are there still appeals going on? I haven't been able to access their web page, I'm assuming it's no longer supported ? Thanks Mike ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 2 Jul 1996 08:06:25 +0600 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Bill Painter Subject: stinging Bee's Has anyone noticed that the hive gets cranker for a few days after adding a super or another box to the hive? It seems to me that this is the case. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 2 Jul 1996 07:45:01 PDT Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Adrian Wenner Subject: Re: Tucson Bee Lab Closure.... > Ok, folks, so maybe I haven't been listening... > > Does anybody know what the current status of the Lab is? Is it shut > down permanently? Are there still appeals going on? I haven't been > able to access their web page, I'm assuming it's no longer supported ? > Thanks **** I just heard from a friend there, who said the lab had about a 40% chance of lasting another year. Apparently, that question is part of a rider on a major farm bill of some sort or another (sorry, I don't have the message in front of me). Adrian *************************************************************** * Adrian Wenner E-Mail wenner@lifesci.lscf.ucsb.edu * * Dept.Ecol.,Evol.,& Mar.Biol. Office Phone (805) 893-2838 * * University of California Lab Phone (805) 893-2675 * * Santa Barbara, CA 93106 FAX (805) 893-8062 * * * *************************************************************** ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 2 Jul 1996 09:27:53 -0700 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "Kriston M. Bruland" Subject: Re: How to deal with .... In-Reply-To: Eric Abell "How to deal with ...." (Jun 28, 2:32pm) On Jun 28, 2:32pm, Eric Abell wrote: > Subject: How to deal with .... > First a little background: > I am located in Northern Alberta, Canada and we have had 2 weeks of cold > rainy weather. The hives in question were checked 19 days ago and were > queen rite. 17 days ago they received the last of 3 treatments of Formic > Acid on the bottom board. > > What I have found - in far too many hives: > > The upper brood chamber is almost full of honey. > The population of bees was great. > > The bottom brood chamber has capped brood, no open brood or eggs and so no > queen. I have seen Formic acid kills before but this was always accompanied > by lots of supersedurre cells. No queen cells in any of these colonies. > > This occured in colonies that may have been exposed to Varroa and which were > treated with Apistan. > > An ideas on what is happening or suggestions on how to deal with these colonies? > > My management at this time is: > Introduce a queen into the bottom brood chamber, place an empty brood > chamber as the second box, excluder, the brood chamber full of honey in #3 > position and an empty super on top. > > I have seen similar occurances on the past but only rarely and never thought > too much about it. This time I am finding 2 or 3 in many yards. We had a very cold, wet, spring in Western Washington, solid rain from March through the first part of June. I had a similar problem in five of my hives. Lots of honey, pollen, a strong population, but no brood whatsoever. I even found queens in two of the hives. I requeened last week and haven't opened them yet to see if there are eggs. About 10 people in my bee association reported similar situations. Varroa does not appear to be the cause. Does anyone out there have any good ideas about what could cause this? Kris Bruland Member of Mt. Baker Beekeepers Association Bellingham, WA U.S.A. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 2 Jul 1996 13:58:18 -0300 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "Eunice D. Wonnacott" Subject: Re: WILDLIFE ECOLOGY Digest Have subscribed to this some time ago.......Nothing else has come so far except this apparently repeated message. What is going on? EDW >Greetings, > > I have recently developed a weekly e-mail digest for conversation, >stories, job >opportunities, issues, thoughts, and general postings concerning wildlife >ecology... > > To receive this digest, please send e-mail to: kingfshr@northcoast.com >with the subject: "Subscribe to WED." > Any questions can also be sent to this address... > >Let's hope this continues to develop into a great resource for all! > >Thanks, >David Doyle >(kingfshr@northcoast.com) > > ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 2 Jul 1996 15:01:56 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Bruce Kemp Subject: The wild hive Bee Folk, I asked for you alls advice, carefully proceeded and did the deed. The hive is in a locust stump with multiple entrances thru rotten sections near the ground. We approached the hive with brood chamber, chain saw, honey super, and full coverage. To me this was a real adventure. My goal was to save the queen and have the workers rob the stump. The stump was about 5' tall and oval shaped (4 1/2' by 2 1/2'). I carefully cut with saw in layers of 3-4" per cut down to the honey level. We slowly cut out sections of comb on each layer until we found a larva. This was after about 5 slices through the tree. This is a really sweet hive, because they are working like gangbusters and ignore the saw chewing up their house. They would crawl right over my hands while I was sawing to get into the door and treat me like a peice of tree. I cut a nice, flat platform on the stump top and did not need a board because the tree was so big. I put on a brood chamber with no bottom and a honey super on top of that. The larva we exposed was old and thus near hatching, so she will be laying eggs there very soon and I hope she will move right on up to the box above her. Then I can treat for mites and put an excluder below her. Having created a lot of sawdust, we heaped it over the old entrances and left the brood chamber entrance as the only access. Soon the entrance was covered with bees. This is a really big hive and is mostly below the ground. The morning went smoothly till the sun shone on us. The hive is sitting out in the middle of a pasture about 1/2 mile from the nearest building. I am really excited about getting this queen in a box and working with her. Thank you all for your input that enabled me to do this thing in a reasonable manner. ################## >From the desk of, Bruce Kemp bkemp@swva.net 1-540-626-4677 ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 2 Jul 1996 13:28:54 -0700 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Doug Russell Subject: Re: Apistan disposal At 03:13 AM 7/2/96 +0000, John Alexander wrote: >Greetings all, > >On the apistan package, it says to dispose of properly. What is >the proper way to dispose of the used strips? I would rather not >just dump them in the garbage. > >John Alexander >mailto:jdalexa@his.com In the US, you can legally throw the used strips in the trash if you are a hobby beekeeper. (If you are commercial, you may have to determine if the volume generated in a month requires a different disposal method). If you want to make certain that as much of the pesticide is out of the strip as possible before it is sent to a landfill, you could hang it in the open sun for a week or more. There would probably be next to nothing left in the strip after that. In some communities, local industries or state/city agencies hold one or two chemical pickup/recycling days a year for homeowners to safely dispose of household chemicals, paints and oils. Doug Doug Russell mrussel1@ix.netcom.com ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 2 Jul 1996 16:33:39 EDT Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Surfer <101465.3246@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Multiple eggs per cell Hi Everyone, I have just finished checking my hives (I have 10) to make sure they all have plenty of room, and don't need additional supers. Whilst I was doing this, I noticed something that I have never seen before. I have been keeping bees for about 10 years, but only a few hives, so it may be that this is quite common, but since I have never seen mention of it, thought I would post to the list and see what others think... One of my hives recently became queenless (don't know why - I may have damaged her during manipulation), anyway, I re-queened with a queen cell from another colony, and she eventually started laying fine. However, when I checked the hive today, I noticed that the cells in a large part of one frame all had eggs layed in them - but not just one, many had 3 or 4 eggs in and some even 5. I have seen laying workers' eggs before, but these have always been sparodic - here and there. These were layed over a large area, with no gaps. What is more, the larvae and capped brood elsewhere in the hive looked fine. One additional clue, which may be germain to the situation - I usually use what we in the UK call ' a brood and a half' - ie a deep brood and a shallow (super) for the brood nest and then a Q.E. and then honey supers above this. In this particular case, the brood frames did not seem to be to the bees liking, and they didn't seem to want to use them. This may have been because a family of slugs had moved into the hive, and had left slime trails all over the brood frames. The result of this was that the bees seemed to be using only the shallow super frames and I wonder whether the queen simply does not have enough room to lay all the eggs she is producing ? As remedial action, I cleaned out all the slugs (they were huge!), and swopped the two chambers around - so that the deep was above the shallow that the bees are using, in the hope that they will now start to use the deep frames also. So the questions are these. Could the multiple eggs be 'normal' Queen eggs, or are they more likely to be laying workers' eggs. If so, is it usual for them to lay in a packed form like this? - and what about laying workers when there is a Queen? Grateful for any response from the list. Barry Green 101465.3246@compuserve.com ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 3 Jul 1996 09:03:34 +1200 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Andrew Matheson Subject: CO2 for wax moth control Someone recently posted questions about using carbon dioxide for wax moth control, so I have dug out some old references on the subject. (Well, from something I wrote in 1980; that seems old and makes me feel old). "Cantwell et al. (1972) tested the effectiveness of carbon dioxide as an agent for killing wax moths in comb honey. Laboratory tests showed that exposure for 5 hours to a concentration of 97.2% carbon dioxide at 38C and 39%RH killed all stages of G. mellonella. The lower concentration of 83.9% could be used, but had to be maintained for 28 hours. "The practical applications of this method were tested (Jay et al., 1972) when a fumigation chamber mounted on an articulated truck were used, and an average CO2 concentration of 98.6% was held for 10-12 hours. Caged adult G. mellonella suffered an average 97.8% mortality. The mortality of other developmental stages was not tested in this experiment." I suspect that further application of CO2 fumigation against greater wax moth was limited by the need to use fumigation chambers and the lack of results against juvenile stages. Does anyone know of tests under inexpensive material such as polythene, or trials against larvae, eggs and pupae? Andrew References cited: Cantwell, GE; Jay, ED; Pearman, GC; Thompson, JV (1972) Control of greater wax moth Galleria mellonella (L.) in comb honey with carbon dioxide. Part I. Laboratory studies. American Bee Journal 112(8): 302-303. Jay, EG; Cantwell, GE; Pearman, GC; Thompson, JV (1972) Control of the greater wax moth Galleria mellonella (Linnaeus) in comb honey with carbon dioxide. Pt II. Field studies. American Bee Journal 112(9): 342, 344. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 2 Jul 1996 15:34:10 -0600 Reply-To: allend@internode.net Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology Comments: Authenticated sender is From: Allen Dick Organization: The Beekeepers Subject: Re: CO2 for wax moth control Exposure to ordinary air will control wax moth -- at least some types for sure -- there are several. The larvae require a closed (warm & moist?) environment to develop in any numbers. I do not know, however if eggs are affected, only that an infestation cannot get going successfully if the supers are well ventillated. In some warm areas (Greece -- if memory serves) some beekeepers hang their combs in racks to ensure air circulation to protect them. We disscussed this on this list sometime back in detail. Unfortunately serching for this is difficult. Co2 was not mentioned in that discussion, however. Regards Allen W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper VE6CFK RR#1, Swalwell, Alberta Canada T0M 1Y0 Internet:dicka@cuug.ab.ca & allend@internode.net Honey. Bees, & Art ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 2 Jul 1996 15:53:00 -0600 Reply-To: allend@internode.net Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology Comments: Authenticated sender is From: Allen Dick Organization: The Beekeepers Subject: How do you super your hives? This year we have changed our methods and are -- for the first time in 20 years or more, not using queen excluders. The elevated honey price has to do with this. We figure we'll get enough more honey to justify the added nuisance and expense -- if any. Anyhow, with excluders, we would just go out at the end of June and throw on all the supers we own and go away for few weeks. Then we would go back and re-distribute them to the hives that were doing best. And then we'd start extracting and replacing them from the honey house. This year, though we've felt the need to super one box at a time, paying attention to the stage of completion of the previous box, and the population apparent both at the door and on the top bars. This requires visits with supers at intervals of a week or so, since a flow can hit at any time. I'd be interested to know what other people look for and any tricks they use to decide when to super -- as well as how many they put on at once. Does having foundation in the centre of the thirds and fourths affect that decision? With excluders, we tried to take the standards off when they were at about 50 to 55 pounds total (30 to 35 pounds net). We figure using this system, that we should allow a little more completion before pulling, maybe averaging 60 to 70 pounds total weight. We are also using an uncapper again, and do not mind if some of the honey -- or all of it for that matter -- is capped, whereas in previous years we always tried to get it before it was capped. Our main flow is usually July 20th to August 8th or so and gives 100 to 180 pounds (usually on the lower end of the range). Of course individual hives make 300 pounds plus, but the average is less. At present some hives are in four boxes and a number have filled the thirds, but not to the point where they are fat and capped. After the flow, we go back to four boxes high until the end of August, snice some years provide a flow all august, and then we usually remove the remainder of the supers and start feeding. I'd appreciate any discussion on this and imagine it would be of interest to others as well. Thanks in advance for any ideas and tips. Regards Allen W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper VE6CFK RR#1, Swalwell, Alberta Canada T0M 1Y0 Internet:dicka@cuug.ab.ca & allend@internode.net Honey. Bees, & Art ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 2 Jul 1996 16:28:39 +0000 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: dan mihalyfi Organization: sccoe Subject: Re: Multiple eggs per cell This is a reply to surfer. Are the multiple eggs on the bottom of the cell, or are they stuck to the sides. Queens the are laying heavily will sometimes deposit multiple eggs in cells for lack of available cells. If the multiple eggs are on the sides of the cells, then it is laying workers. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 2 Jul 1996 19:02:39 -0700 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "Atilla T. Hun" Subject: Solvent for wax ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Friends, With apologies for thick-headedness; what works as a solvent for beeswax(especially old dried wax)? boulder Point Roberts, WA. (2 hives---currently a wonderful Himalayan Blackberry flow) "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." --II Chronicles 7:14 ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 3 Jul 1996 15:09:01 +0000 Reply-To: nickw@wave.co.nz Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology Comments: Authenticated sender is From: Nick Wallingford Subject: Re: CO2 for wax moth control > Does anyone know of tests under inexpensive material such as > polythene, or trials against larvae, eggs and pupae? I visited a Californian queen breeder about 15 years ago who had obtained a beat up old transport/shipping container. As I remember, he planned to fill it with his baby nuc equipment which was vulnerable to moth damage. He was then going to cobble together some sort of smouldering-device to produce CO2 and monoxide, figuring either/both should do the trick, and duct it into the container. He figured that he might not get so high a concentration, but could readily afford to increase time. I have no idea of the outcome(s)! ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 2 Jul 1996 20:58:37 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Michael Moroney Subject: Re: Queens and the postal dept. In-Reply-To: <<1375843222-3128283@mailhost.cyberTours.com> In article <<1375843222-3128283@mailhost.cyberTours.com>, MidniteBees wrote: > I was amused by your > little tale,yes it is true,the post office is open 24 hours,365 days a > year.We are not all letter carriers,but there are people,who work many > varied jobs inside the building. I realize that now. I didn't know it then which is why I was so suprised at the late phone call. > Remember,not everyone,is a beekeeper,some > people are "allergic"to them and just plain scared.Did you educate the > postal workers in your town? I did as much as I could at the time (this happened the first year I tried keeping bees and was rather inexperienced myself) I didn't mention another postal worker who, while also scared of the bees (he kept his distance from the package) was also quite interested in the whole process. I talked with him for a while. I also apologized when I saw bees hanging on the outside. > Yes,there are bad "apples",at every company. Huh? None of the postal workers I considered "bad apples". The closest was the worker who made me go back and get them, but if there were bees on the outside I cannot fault him. Once I saw how bee packages were shipped I thought how it must be "interesting" when bee packages show up in an incoming shipment, esp. for a new worker who has never seen them before. I suppose to a few it must be an interesting diversion from a very boring job, although I'm sure others would rather handle a package with a return address of "Ted Kazynski". -Mike ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 3 Jul 1996 03:18:23 -0500 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: midnitebee Subject: Re: Queens and the postal dept. I'm sure others would rather >handle a package with a return address of "Ted Kazynski". > >-Mike > Touhe!,and wouldn't you know it,those postal employees,would have delivered the package,since the sender paid the postage. Shall we continue with this mindless barage? You can always join an alt.binary group and tell post office jokes.Personally,I would rather save the bandwith on this listserve,and continue the discussion about the life and times of the apis mellifera. You know my e-mail address. Use it,because you are wasting other peoples time.My apologies the the group,I will not respond to Mike,unless he uses my e-mail address. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 3 Jul 1996 13:45:36 +0100 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Jean-Marie Van Dyck Subject: Keeping cold grafted larvae ? Hello All ! About grafting larvae for queen rearing ... It's well known that the small grafted larvae are very resistant and can remain even some hours out of the cluster. The conditions : wetting and low temperature. Does anyone know about the limits of these resistance and maybe some *references* concerning this subject. I know about a serial of cells forgotten overnight in the wet grass and giving good results after introducing in the morning in a queenless colony. My questions : Do people know the maximum time to keep cold these larvae and then obtain a correct queen yet ? Do poeple know about the ideal cold temperature to keep them ? TIA Jean-Marie Van_Dyck Lat.Long. : N:50.30' E:04.56' - Alt. : 200 m - North sea : 200 km After a week of correct weather ... a week of winter weather (cold and wet) ... usual here, but depressing ! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jean-Marie Van Dyck Fax +32 81 72 42 72 B.P. 102 email : jmvandyck@quick.cc.fundp.ac.be B-5000 NAMUR(Belgium) Medical school - Biochemistry dept Sorry for my poor english : je parle francais ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 3 Jul 1996 10:29:37 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Vince Coppola Subject: Re: Overwintering Nucs In-Reply-To: <9606018362.AA836235491@cscuuxch.dayton.csc.com> On Mon, 1 Jul 1996, Mark D. Egloff wrote: > Gentle beepeople: > I have heard and read of overwintering 5 frame nucs and am > over existing parent hives. But is there enough room for > adequate honey stores in a 5 frame nuc? > We wintered 6 frame nucs this past winter. If the temp. is right, honey stores are no problem. I think even 4 or 3 frames may be adequate because they had so much honey left. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 3 Jul 1996 10:42:51 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Vince Coppola Subject: Re: AFB Look-alikes (Spinoff from Bee Boxes) In-Reply-To: <9606018362.AA836257306@jhqnov.dot.state.ak.us> There is a type of EFB that likes just like AFB. Most inspectors have seen this on occasion. There is an operation near me that was loaded with this a couple years ago. Lab tests always came back EFB even though I was always sure it was AFB. Good reason for diagnostic labs. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 3 Jul 1996 09:24:00 -0700 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "Paul van Westendorp of AGF 576-5600 Fax: 576-5652" Subject: Re: BEE-L Digest - 1 Jul 1996 to 2 Jul 1996 In-Reply-To: <01I6M0K3M2BM9N4YAT@saturn.gov.bc.ca> Re. Wax Moth Control Andrew Matheson and Allen Dick referred to the use of CO2 in the control wax moth. For many commercial producers this may not be practical because of the need for maintaining high CO2 concentration over a prescribed time period. I remember in the early eighties at the Beaverlodge Research Station in the Peace River disrtyict, we used sulphur in controlling wax moth very effectively; In the storage shed, place each bottom super on a couple of 2x4's, and every super above that at right angles (to ensure maximum exposure). On an old honey barrel lid, place a newspaper and a handful (about 1/2 pound) of sulphur crystals. Light the newspaper, leave the room. All windows and spaces underneath doors, etc. should be closed or covered to minimize loss of sulphur fumes. The sulphur will be ignited by the burning newspaper, but it will not flame but smoulder and produce quite a smoke. You just leave it and mostly within a day, the gases have escaped and you can walk into the storage room with barely noticing a smell of sulphur. By the way, sulphur is very cheap and mostly readily available at agricultural supply outlets as sulphur fertilizer. As far as I recall, tests showed that no residues or resulting agents were identified in the honey subsequently produced in those treated frames. I do know that the moths (as well as any mouse population in the storage shed) were effectively controlled. Also, I do not know whether this practise can be considered environmentally responsible or pose a threat that I have not identified. Perhaps someone else can shed light on that. Also, since this involves the control of a pest, the materials and methods described would technically require registration and approval. As we all know (just think about the difficulty of getting formic acid approved), the approval and registration for the use of any non-proprietary product (= cheap, without the potential of huge profits to the manufacturer) is very slow indeed. Paul van Westendorp pvanwesten@galaxy.gov.bc.ca Provincial Apiarist British Columbia ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 3 Jul 1996 11:28:20 PDT Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Adrian Wenner Subject: Re: Sulpher against wax moths > Re. Wax Moth Control > > Andrew Matheson and Allen Dick referred to the use of CO2 in the >control wax > moth. For many commercial producers this may not be practical because of > the need for maintaining high CO2 concentration over a prescribed time > period. > > I remember in the early eighties at the Beaverlodge Research Station in the > Peace River disrtyict, we used sulphur in controlling wax moth very > effectively. When I was young (a very long time ago, before modern pesticides, and in the Great Depression), we fumigated our house with burning sulpher periodically to eliminate bed bugs (which nearly everyone had in those days and under those circumstances). It can't have been too bad, healthwise --- I am still alive! Adrian *************************************************************** * Adrian Wenner E-Mail wenner@lifesci.lscf.ucsb.edu * * Dept.Ecol.,Evol.,& Mar.Biol. Office Phone (805) 893-2838 * * University of California Lab Phone (805) 893-2675 * * Santa Barbara, CA 93106 FAX (805) 893-8062 * * * *************************************************************** ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 3 Jul 1996 11:49:09 -0700 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Roy Nettlebeck Subject: Re: Stainless Steel In-Reply-To: <960630232203_146370990@emout15.mail.aol.com> On Sun, 30 Jun 1996, Bill Miller wrote: > Is 316 stainless steel food grade? > > 316 stainless is very well suited to food applications. The reason you won't > see it very often in honey equipment is that 316 stainless is more expensive > than 304 stainless (which also works well in most food applications). The > food application where I would specify 316 stainless would be one with a lot > of salt (example: pickling solutions). > > FYI: 316 stainless is now the material of choice for reactor coolant system > piping in nuclear power plants. 304 stainless gave trouble. > Hi All, Being a machinist and working on nuclear power plants for many years for the Navy. I do know the reasons for using 316 L over 303 or 304.It has to do with chloride stress corrosion and hardness.For use in extracters , I would think that salt would not be a problem.I think it would be hard to to check out what stainless sheet they are using without going to the point of calling the factory for the info. I don't think you will find much 316 L in sheets , but I could be wrong there because industry changes all the time. Best Regards Roy ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 3 Jul 1996 16:37:09 -0500 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Joel Govostes Subject: Supering practice & 8-frame spacing I have arrived at the following routine as regards supering, without using excluders. Granted, it's not perfect, but I am pleased with the consistent results I'm getting. Upon reversing the position of the two brood chambers in late April - early May, I add the first 6 5/8" honey super, with 8 combs evenly spaced. I add no more supers until there is a honey barrier across this super. This happens soon enough. In some colonies the queen will go up and lay some eggs in the honey super, but by the time she does it usually contains a fair bit of honey above as she has been kept occupied by the space in the two brood chambers. Once there is a layer of honey in that first super I can add two at a time above it, without worrying about the queen going up there. What becomes of the brood that sometimes occupies part of the first super? Well eventually, certainly by the fall flow, the brood nest is pushed back down by the nectar storage and this super is harvested, free of brood. I like this approach much better than the excluder practice I used for many years. The bees "take" to the first super right away instead sulking under the excluder, clogging the brood chambers and getting so swarmy. On the other hand, if I have hived swarms or new nucs and a good flow on, I keep them on one brood box and use an excluder under the supers. Then they receive a second brood chamber for winter stores later, to be filled (ideally) on the fall nectar sources. BTW, revisiting the 8-frame idea, I don't understand what drawback there could possibly be to increased wax content of the harvest. It's a bonus! Wax is valuable, after all, and the bees of a certain age have a propensity to produce wax anyway, as a response to incoming nectar. (Somewhere I read that the wax scales are just discarded if not used, and that seems a waste.) This comb building could also do much to lessen their desire to swarm. Top supering seems most efficient overall and easiest. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 3 Jul 1996 14:55:59 -0500 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: douglas baty Subject: Re: ANP combs Hello Michael: Just want to share that I have had the same experience with ANP combs, my bees have NEVER laid anything in them, except for some drone brood, and have put in a little bit of honey. They are, in my experience, a complete waste of money. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 3 Jul 1996 14:56:01 -0500 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: douglas baty Subject: Some odd queen questions I have a few questions/comments: First, I wanted to start a hive using ANP comb (supposedly fights Varroa) I followed the directions to transfer the hive to ANP which basically has you put a box of ANP on the bottom board, with bees and the queen, then a queen excluder, then the old combs with the brood. A few weeks later, after the brood emerges, replace the upstairs frames with ANP and remove the queen excluder. This hive was initially in 2 brood boxes and was temporarily in 3 boxes. Anyway, after 2 weeks I had a look. The ANP comb were essentially abandoned, no brood and only a few stray bees. Also no queen. The brood upstairs was sealed brood, and no emergency cells. So I needed a queen since they didn't start one of their own. So I ordered two (I decided to split the hive at the same time) I put the hive back together the way I found it except I didn't replace the queen excluder. Anyway when the queens showed up I opened up the hive and sure enough, lots of young brood. I soon found the old queen! The ANP comb was still ignored. Where was she? What I then did was to take most of the frames and set them up in 2 new hives. with the 2 new queens (so I wound up splitting them 3 ways). Anyway I removed the cork from the candy end, poked a nail through the candy and put the queens with bees in the hives. A week later I opened them up and both queens were still in the cages, and the candy was untouched. Does the candy trick work? I ask this because last year I placed a new hive on a friends yard with a new queen and a home-made package. I was unable to get back there for 3 1/2 weeks. The poor queen was still in the cage! The candy was untouched then as well, and all attendants in the cage were dead. Also one of the hives with the new queens had 2 queen cells started when I opened it up. The larva were rather young. There was no other young brood. How large would a queen larva be assuming the egg was laid just before I opened the hive up exactly a week before? I am wondering about an earlier thread asking whether bees moved eggs and someone commented that a caged queen may have laid eggs through the screen and bees placed them in cells and started queens. -Mike ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 3 Jul 1996 14:29:20 AST Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Tom Elliott Subject: Re: Multiple eggs per cell A new queen will sometimes lay multiple eggs such as you have described. As an earlier post pointed out, laying workers will result in many egg per cell normally on the sides. I have seen 10 to 15 (estimated) eggs in a cell from laying workers. Usually only 3 or 4 from a young "trigger happy" queen. Tom Elliott Eagle River, Alaska ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 3 Jul 1996 13:32:05 -0600 Reply-To: allend@internode.net Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology Comments: Authenticated sender is From: Allen Dick Organization: The Beekeepers Subject: Re: Sulpher > As far as I recall, tests showed that no residues or resulting > agents were identified in the honey subsequently produced in > those treated frames. I do know that the moths (as well as any > mouse population in the storage shed) were effectively > controlled. Moreover, I have heard that sprinkling elemental sulpher (flowers of sulpher -- readily available anywhere) on the floors of storage places will deter rodents. Apparently they don't care to walk on it. Regards Allen W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper VE6CFK RR#1, Swalwell, Alberta Canada T0M 1Y0 Internet:dicka@cuug.ab.ca & allend@internode.net Honey. Bees, & Art ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 4 Jul 1996 17:00:51 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "David. E. Goble" Subject: Re: Batting Zero? Hi Everyone; Mr A. Dick comments are totally inaccurate, and inclined to be irrational, failing to absorb the detail before responding. Firstly we here in Australia have the fear of mites traveling to Australia from a 200 mile offshore country, and need detail description of these mites, your coverage on the internet and e-mail decription are inadequate. Secondly if a bacterium and its spore are in a product, those spores can infect another person or animal, at any time in the future. As can TB spores, tetanus,and many other sporozoa. Thirdly, the internet and the e-mail system is for discussion between people, and slander is uncalled for. Thanks from : goble@eastend.com.au http://www.eastend.com.au/~goble degob1@mugc.cc.monash.ed.au ( David Goble ) American Beach Kangaroo Island South Australia ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 4 Jul 1996 14:22:52 GMT Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Eric Abell Subject: Re: Queens and the postal dept. At 03:18 AM 7/3/96 -0500, you wrote: > I'm sure others would rather >>handle a package with a return address of "Ted Kazynski". >> >>-Mike >> Touhe!,and wouldn't you know it,those postal employees,would have >delivered the package,since the sender paid the postage. Shall we continue >with this mindless barage? You can always join an alt.binary group and tell >post office jokes.Personally,I would rather save the bandwith on this >listserve,and continue the discussion about the life and times of the apis >mellifera. You know my e-mail address. Use it,because you are wasting other >peoples time.My apologies the the group,I will not respond to Mike,unless he >uses my e-mail address. > At one time or another most of us have likely shiipped or received bees through the post office. I have enjoyed reading about these experiences. It is a great use of this list. Eric Abell Gibbons, Alberta Canada (403) 998 3143 eabell@compusmart.ab.ca ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 4 Jul 1996 09:55:00 -0500 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Joel Govostes Subject: keeping caged queens Question for anybody who has ordered queens thru mail: How long is it safe to keep caged queens which have arrived in the mail, prior to introduction to a colony? Are they OK for a few days, generally, with good acceptance afterwards? The weather has been lousy. Thanks ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 4 Jul 1996 16:45:53 +0200 Reply-To: Michael Haberl Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Michael Haberl Subject: bee sight seeing Dear Bee-L readers, I will visit Wisconsin and Michigan in the first half of August. I would like to know if someone knows anything there that might be interesting for a beekeeper (shops for beekeeping equipment, big apiaries, ...). I have been keeping bees since 12 years with about 10 hives, I could bring some slides about bee keeping in my area or some beekeeping equiment you have difficulties to get in the US (it seems to me queen marking sets, e.g.). Michael Haberl Zoologisches Institut der Uni Muenchen Tel: ++49 89 5902-444 Luisenstr. 14 Fax: ++49 89 5902-450 80333 Muenchen, Germany E-mail: haberl@zi.biologie.uni-muenchen.de ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 4 Jul 1996 09:22:20 -0600 Reply-To: allend@internode.net Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology Comments: Authenticated sender is From: Allen Dick Organization: The Beekeepers Subject: Re: keeping caged queens > Question for anybody who has ordered queens thru mail: How long is > it safe to keep caged queens which have arrived in the mail, prior > to introduction to a colony? Are they OK for a few days, generally, > with good acceptance afterwards? The weather has been lousy. Depends on the condition of the queens -- how well they travelled, and how long they were banked before they were shipped. Given a drop of water from time to time and kept at cool room temperatures, they may be fine for a week or more. I'm assuming they are with attendants and have sufficient (soft) candy. They condition of the attendants tells a lot. If all are vigourous, then you have time. If one o5r more are dead, your time is running out fast. To extend the storage time, you can do a number of things... Change the attendants: Take several *young* bees and exchange them for the attendants. Place them in a queen right hive on the top bars: If the weather is bad, then the bees may not appreciate the gesture and tear the feet off the queens, so make sure you feed therm first , and know what you are doing . Make sure the candy is not exposed to the hive bees -- there should be a plug over it. (We've done the latter often with no problem as long as the queens are included in the cluster when temperatures drop at night and the bees withdraw to the brood area. Use a queen bank: This is more elaborate and you might want to consult a book. Make small nucs: A frame of emerging brood with no bees will accept the queen directly. It does not need flight for a week or so, thus can be in a closed nuc box stored inside until needed, then combined into a colony. Regards Allen W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper VE6CFK RR#1, Swalwell, Alberta Canada T0M 1Y0 Internet:dicka@cuug.ab.ca & allend@internode.net Honey. Bees, & Art ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 4 Jul 1996 10:25:18 -0500 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "Victor M. Kroenke" Subject: Re: Queens and the postal dept. midnitebee wrote: > > I'm sure others would rather > >handle a package with a return address of "Ted Kazynski". > > > >-Mike > > Touhe!,and wouldn't you know it,those postal employees,would have > delivered the package,since the sender paid the postage. Shall we continue > with this mindless barage? You can always join an alt.binary group and tell > post office jokes.Personally,I would rather save the bandwith on this > listserve,and continue the discussion about the life and times of the apis > mellifera. You know my e-mail address. Use it,because you are wasting other > peoples time.My apologies the the group,I will not respond to Mike,unless he > uses my e-mail address. I have found the comments about the postal services to be quite interesting. The way my shipments are handled is very important to me. Everytime I expect a shipment I always wonder what to expect. This year someone along the way put my battery box of queens in a postoffice letter box strapped it with a plastic band put a label on it with my address. Needless to say my post office did not call me and when I got them from our carrier the comment was "why this isn't priority mail, it's not insured, in fact there isn't even any postage on this package." We opened the box and there was my battery box. Since they cut off the circulation of air part of my 60 queens were dead with undetermined damage to the rest. This affects me as much as the majority of hive diseases. I have more stories from other years but will not waste bandwidth with them. I just wish UPS or some other service would handle bee shipments. I live too far from the queen producers to make the trip to pick them up. My suggestion when postal problems occur is make your complaints known to your postmaster at least. Most of my problems were created in ignorance by people who probably meant well. Vic Kroenke Walnut,Kansas ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 4 Jul 1996 10:29:11 -0600 Reply-To: allend@internode.net Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology Comments: Authenticated sender is From: Allen Dick Organization: The Beekeepers Subject: Re: Queens and the postal dept. > This year someone along the way put my battery box of queens in a > postoffice letter box strapped it with a plastic band put a label on > it with my address. That's a sad tale, and hopefullys all precautionary measures were taken by the shipper. Maybe not. It is wise to mark the shipment in several places with redundant labelling. The California shippers we used to get bees from had a with a RUSH, LIVE BEES! sticker that explained exactly how to care for them en route, mentioning air circulation, temperature, sunlight, etc. If the post office needed to re-bag them, they used onion bags -- the mesh kind. Repeating the recipients address in several places is always a good idea, too, in case markings are obscured. I wonder if all the shippers use adequate markings, or if sometimes the problem is that instructions are unclear? If so, that might be easy to remedy. I think the bee organisations years ago used to approach the Post Office about care and handling of bees and that it was part of the official training for posties? Anyone recall? Regards Allen W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper VE6CFK RR#1, Swalwell, Alberta Canada T0M 1Y0 Internet:dicka@cuug.ab.ca & allend@internode.net Honey. Bees, & Art ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 4 Jul 1996 10:10:41 -0700 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "Kerry Clark of AGF 784-2225 fax (604) 784 2299" Subject: Re shipping queens/bees A caution for those involved in shipping or receiving bees or queens: When you put on (or ask your supplier to put on) a note intended to avoid overheating the bees in transit, don't indicate KEEP COOL. Perhaps "keep at room temperature" or "not over ___ degrees C (or F)" To shippers of flowers and many other items, COOL means the refrigerator. Queens and even packages don't do well treated that way, and the label wording may negate an insurance claim, even if it is otherwise justified. Kerry Clark, Apiculture Specialist B.C. Ministry of Agriculture 1201 103 Ave Dawson Creek B.C. V1G 4J2 CANADA Tel (604) 784-2225 fax (604) 784-2299 INTERNET KCLARK@GALAXY.GOV.BC.CA ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 4 Jul 1996 12:09:52 -0700 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Roy Nettlebeck Subject: Re: How to deal with .... In-Reply-To: <9607020927.ZM13883@VIOLET.CHEM.WWU.EDU> On Tue, 2 Jul 1996, Kriston M. Bruland wrote: > On Jun 28, 2:32pm, Eric Abell wrote: > > Subject: How to deal with .... > > First a little background: > > I am located in Northern Alberta, Canada and we have had 2 weeks of cold > > rainy weather. The hives in question were checked 19 days ago and were > > queen rite. 17 days ago they received the last of 3 treatments of Formic > > Acid on the bottom board. > > > > What I have found - in far too many hives: > > > > The upper brood chamber is almost full of honey. > > The population of bees was great. > > > > The bottom brood chamber has capped brood, no open brood or eggs and so no > > queen. I have seen Formic acid kills before but this was always accompanied > > by lots of supersedurre cells. No queen cells in any of these colonies. > > > > This occured in colonies that may have been exposed to Varroa and which were > > treated with Apistan. > > > > An ideas on what is happening or suggestions on how to deal with these > colonies? > > > > My management at this time is: > > Introduce a queen into the bottom brood chamber, place an empty brood > > chamber as the second box, excluder, the brood chamber full of honey in #3 > > position and an empty super on top. > > > > I have seen similar occurances on the past but only rarely and never thought > > too much about it. This time I am finding 2 or 3 in many yards. > > We had a very cold, wet, spring in Western Washington, solid rain from March > through the first part of June. > > I had a similar problem in five of my hives. Lots of honey, pollen, a strong > population, but no brood whatsoever. I even found queens in two of the hives. > > I requeened last week and haven't opened them yet to see if there are eggs. > > About 10 people in my bee association reported similar situations. Varroa does > not appear to be the cause. > > Does anyone out there have any good ideas about what could cause th Hi Kris and All, I'm in western washinton also. I did not have the same problem.I was feeding bees a little all the time thru the rainy period.We did have a couple problem. One , the rain was dilluting the nectar when the bees could collect in between rain patches that were going through the area. The bees were having a hard time in driving out the moisture in the honey. The nectar was spread around the brood nest and was stopping the queen from laying her normal pattern. Now with the rain , there were a few days in a row that the bees could not fly and bring any nectar back to the hive. That touches off problem two, no new stores coming in and the queen shuts down. It is a little more complex than just the queen stopping her egg production. The pheromones from the empty cells is part of the trigger that gets the queen going and incoming stores. My opinion , spring build up has more than just one phase to it. The bees start with winter stores in the hive then shift to incoming stores. If they break down on the incoming stores , the queen will stop laying. What I did to get around the problem was feed and supper. I started 40 2 1/2 packages on April 6th.Mostly drawn comb.One deep for two weeks.Then I put on the second deep and kept feed on them.I did not fill the feeder full at any time.( Division board feeder ) Just keep a little feed coming in all the time. When the Queen had the second box about half full full of eggs and brood , I put on a 6 5/8 supper on top. She worked her way up to the supper and and then I would move her down to one of the deeps if I saw her at the time I checked , about May 16th.Then I woul put 2 more 6 5/8 suppers on top. We were getting a few days of sun by then. I had two hives that I had to requeen, they could not keep up with the other queens. I put on 800 pounds of sugar and what I have now is 4 to 5 suppers on most of the hives and very strong populations. Most of the hives are sitting on fireweed that has just started and I'm extracting now so I have room for the fireweed honey. I would like to add a point about queens. They are not the same.Queen behavior and her interactions with the workers , which has a lot to do with pheromones needs more research. I have my own opinion by observing bees for the last 30 years.We learn some by observation , but what we see are symtoms of problems.We need standard measures for quality and need to understand that we will never know everything about the honeybee. Because the Good Lord has made the Honeybee so complex , is the reason that it has been around for so long.We can not make it better. We can select those traits that we want , for our use of the Honeybee.We all need to work together to solve problems.This list is a tool. We need to get subscriptions to the leading beekeeping magazines , so we can stay up with the latest news about the mites. Members of this list did an outstanding job on articles on the mites and if followed will save a lot of bees for the industry. Best Regards Roy ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 4 Jul 1996 16:05:51 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: David Eyre Subject: Re: Request Greetings to all! I recieved this message via the 'Net'. Is there any-one close who would care to pick this up and offer these kids your help. Hello! I am a teacher at Victor Elementary School District. This >year for Science Camp (starting 7-8) a team of us are focusing on >bees. We are looking for any information that could be provided to us >for our students (about 200 1st and 2nd graders). If there is >anything you could send us, even on a loan basis, we would appreciate >it. Children aged 6-8 are especially intrigued with items they can >touch and see: clothing, hives, bees, catalogues with pictures, >etc. Thank you for any help you can give to us. Respectfully, Elizabeth Beyer > 7788 SVL > Victorville CA 92392 > mojavevista_1st@eee.org **************************************************** * David Eyre 9 Progress Drive, Unit 2, * * The Beeworks, Orillia, Ontario, L3V 6H1. * * beeworks@muskoka.net 705-326-7171 * * http://www.muskoka.net/~beeworks * * Agents for: E H Thorne & B J Sherriff UK. * **************************************************** ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 4 Jul 1996 20:09:57 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "my name is Dean M. Breaux" Subject: Re: keeping caged queens It should be ok to keep them for several days. A sure sign that the time is near is the death of the workers in the cage when you start to see the death of many workers you can replace them from another hive. First, remove the dead workers then go to hive and remove bees from the top of a hive above the excluder. doing this should buy you some more time. the longer you keep a queen caged the more time it will take her to lay. I also is not good to hold them more than about ten days. Dean Breaux ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 5 Jul 1996 00:18:49 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Tom Allen Subject: Re: WILDLIFE ECOLOGY Digest pleasebring us u[p to date on this service .Is it for real? ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 5 Jul 1996 03:30:26 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: David Doyle Subject: Re: WILDLIFE ECOLOGY Digest very real...2000 members so far... ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 5 Jul 1996 01:58:35 -0700 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "Atilla T. Hun" Subject: Re: Bumbles & swarm >>I've noticed a lot of bumblebees this season, more than I remember in >>previous years, --------------------------------------------------------------------- On the Pacific Coast at 49 degrees North Latitude, there appear to be more bumblebees than I have ever seen before. Until the connection to the honeybee population crash---I thought little of it. Now, everytime I see them I wonder what the plants would do without 'em. Today was July fourth and I got called by 911 to collect a small swarm. I recognise them as some of the New Zealand bees(a sort of glowing orange tinge)that were brought into the area this April(thats a pretty quick cast eh?). Anyway, I was glad to get 'em having lost most of my Buckfasts in a big swarm myself in early May.. I waited 'til dusk and ran 'em into an empty western with one full of foundation on top. I saw what appeared to be one Queen slither in fairly quickly(it took more than an hour and almost full dark to complete the hiving)---it was a good exercise as I became confident at spotting the drones(besides size, black eyes, generally darker coloring and fur, they seemed stupider often moving against the general flow). Two questions. I placed a couple of 4inch chunks of apistan treated honeycomb on the topboard(under the cap). Beneath that is a western(medium super) with 3 drawn combs and the rest foundation and below that, the empty western. Was giving them that honey a mistake or OK? The books indicate a hived swarm should be fed but I think they're assuming an earlier swarm(we're in the midst of a heavy Himalayan Blackberry honeyflow). I'm pressed for space and so this hive is sharing space on my roof with another hive of Buckfast. The distance between them is close to thirty feet. I could make it another 10; is this necessary or are they likely to not interfere with one another anyway? boulder Point Roberts, WA. A L A N K E Y E S F O R P R E S I D E N T ' 9 6 "We don't have money problems; we have moral problems. And it's time we stood up and faced that truth." http://sandh.com/keyes/index.html ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 5 Jul 1996 05:46:35 -0500 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "Dennis A. Meeks" Subject: Re: Bumbles & swarm At 01:58 AM 7/5/96 -0700, you wrote: >>>I've noticed a lot of bumblebees this season, more than I remember in >>>previous years, >--------------------------------------------------------------------- >On the Pacific Coast at 49 degrees North Latitude, there appear to be more >bumblebees than I have ever seen before. Until the connection to the >honeybee population crash---I thought little of it. Now, everytime I see >them I wonder what the plants would do without 'em. > >Today was July fourth and I got called by 911 to collect a small swarm. I >recognise them as some of the New Zealand bees(a sort of glowing orange >tinge)that were brought into the area this April(thats a pretty quick cast >eh?). Anyway, I was glad to get 'em having lost most of my Buckfasts in a >big swarm myself in early May.. > >I waited 'til dusk and ran 'em into an empty western with one full of >foundation on top. I saw what appeared to be one Queen slither in fairly >quickly(it took more than an hour and almost full dark to complete the >hiving)---it was a good exercise as I became confident at spotting the >drones(besides size, black eyes, generally darker coloring and fur, they >seemed stupider often moving against the general flow). > >Two questions. I placed a couple of 4inch chunks of apistan treated >honeycomb on the topboard(under the cap). Beneath that is a western(medium >super) with 3 drawn combs and the rest foundation and below that, the empty >western. Was giving them that honey a mistake or OK? The books indicate a >hived swarm should be fed but I think they're assuming an earlier >swarm(we're in the midst of a heavy Himalayan Blackberry honeyflow). > >I'm pressed for space and so this hive is sharing space on my roof with >another hive of Buckfast. The distance between them is close to thirty feet. >I could make it another 10; is this necessary or are they likely to not >interfere with one another anyway? > >boulder >Point Roberts, WA. > > > > A L A N K E Y E S F O R P R E S I D E N T ' 9 6 > > "We don't have money problems; we have moral problems. > And it's time we stood up and faced that truth." > > http://sandh.com/keyes/index.html > > >I don't believe the honey will do anyting but help as bees that swarm engorge themselves with honey prior to swarming. The distance between hives should not be a problem, but watch out for robbing, as the swarm isn't big enough to defend against an assult from a full thriving colony. With the honey flow on however, I would think it unlikely. Since you have one other hive, a frame of brood from it to the swarm will hold the swarm. Just the presence of honey will not keep a new swarm from leaving. Good luck and best wishes! DAMeeks DAMeeks@noblecan.org ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 5 Jul 1996 07:55:00 EST Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "Mark D. Egloff" Subject: To many supers :( Comments: To: ohbee-l@sun1.oardc.ohio-state.edu Gentlepeople: In my excitement of having a colony that survived the winter, agreed to become a 2-queen unit just like the books said it could be done, and produced BUNCHES of honeybees, I loaded on to many supers and the bees have spread their honey stores out throughout the hive. Without really filling any super completely, the bees have placed honey in all the supers and I would like them to concentrate the honey into fully capped supers. I know the rest of you experts NEVER do anything like this so if you could give me some of the ideas you might hive on how to get the bees to move honey from six partially filled supers to four completely filled supers, I would appreciate it. Thanks to all. Mark Egloff MEGLOFF@CSC.COM ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 5 Jul 1996 09:35:46 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Craig Abel Subject: Re: Overwintering Nucs At 10:29 AM 7/3/96 -0400, you wrote: >On Mon, 1 Jul 1996, Mark D. Egloff wrote: > >> Gentle beepeople: >> I have heard and read of overwintering 5 frame nucs and am >> over existing parent hives. But is there enough room for >> adequate honey stores in a 5 frame nuc? >> > We wintered 6 frame nucs this past winter. If the temp. is right, >honey stores are no problem. I think even 4 or 3 frames may be adequate >because they had so much honey left. > Bee-L'ers, We winter 6 frame (medium-depth) nucs as well. The temperature in the room is 46 F plus or minus 3 F. On average our nucs consume 6.2 lbs. of corn syrup during the wintering period. Feeding one gallon of corn syrup per nuc gives us sufficient winter stores for all of the nucs. You may want to consider indoor wintering your colonies on corn syrup or granulated sugar syrup instead of honey. I have heard that the amount of ash and other non-digestible substances is greater in honey than in corn or cane sugar syrup. Therefore, with honey (compared to corn syrup), the bees have to hold a greater volume of waste in their bodies during the time they are being wintered indoors. Other beekeepers that winter indoors have told us that they experience a greater amount of dysentery when indoor wintering their bees on honey instead of corn syrup. I've never seen any data to back these claims up but it all sounds logical to me. It might be something worth considering anyway. You'll need to feed at least one gallon of syrup anyway to get some Fumidil-B into the hive. Craig Abel Entomologist North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station (USDA-ARS) Iowa State University Ames, Iowa, 50014 U.S.A. nc7ca@ars-grin.gov ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 5 Jul 1996 17:01:15 +0200 Reply-To: beeman@kuai.se Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: P-O Gustafsson Subject: Re: To many supers :( Hi Mark, > I know the rest of you experts NEVER do anything like this Who made you belive that? ;) > if you could give me some of the ideas you might hive on how to > get the bees to move honey from six partially filled supers to > four completely filled supers, I would appreciate it. Try a division board with a hole of about an inch. The bees will remove the honey above and store it under the board. -- Regards P-O Gustafsson, Sweden beeman@kuai.se http://www.kuai.se/~beeman/ ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 5 Jul 1996 09:32:57 -0600 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Jerry J Bromenshenk Subject: Re: your mail In-Reply-To: <199607010000.RAA02007@primenet.com> from "Richard Spear" at Jun 30, 96 04:52:00 pm Hi: We are writing this up for publication - but in the meantime this might be of interest. We just completed a series of tests concerning the fate of bees that fall off trucks while being transported. The results clearly indicate that: The bees immediately start to search for home These bees located and moved into colonies in a nearby apiary The "lost" bees selected specific colonies in the beeyard The marked and released bees found the beeyard in ten minutes from 250 yards, about 1 1/2 hrs from 750 yards. Bottom line, bees dropped off a truck in an area totally new to them don't just sit around. They go out, find, and move into other colonies. Cheers Jerry Bromenshenk The University of Montana-Missoula Melissa Webber Matt Loeser Quin Carver jjbmail@selway.umt.edu http://grizzly.umt.edu/biology/bees ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 5 Jul 1996 11:19:07 -0600 Reply-To: allend@internode.net Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology Comments: Authenticated sender is From: Allen Dick Organization: The Beekeepers Subject: Re: To many supers :( > > if you could give me some of the ideas you might hive on how > > to get the bees to move honey from six partially filled > > supers to four completely filled supers, I would appreciate > > it. Well, there are a number of ways of doing this, but first check your moisture levels in the honey. If the weather is warm and dry, chances are that the honey is ripe and you can just extract it. Having the bees move it around and cap it will reduce the quantity and perhaps the quality. Regards Allen W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper VE6CFK RR#1, Swalwell, Alberta Canada T0M 1Y0 Internet:dicka@cuug.ab.ca & allend@internode.net Honey. Bees, & Art ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 5 Jul 1996 11:23:15 -0600 Reply-To: allend@internode.net Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology Comments: Authenticated sender is From: Allen Dick Organization: The Beekeepers Subject: Re: Overwintering Nucs > >> I have heard and read of overwintering 5 frame nucs and am > >> over existing parent hives. But is there enough room for > >> adequate honey stores in a 5 frame nuc? > >> > > We wintered 6 frame nucs this past winter. If the temp. is > > right, > >honey stores are no problem. I think even 4 or 3 frames may be > >adequate because they had so much honey left. > > > Bee-L'ers, > > We winter 6 frame (medium-depth) nucs as well. The > temperature in > the room is 46 F plus or minus 3 F. On average our nucs consume 6.2 > lbs. of corn syrup during the wintering period. Feeding one gallon > of corn syrup per nuc gives us sufficient winter stores for all of > the nucs. I'd be curious to knowthe geographical locations where these results were obtained and how long the bees were confined. I would also be curious about how strong they were after being taken outside -- especially compared to larger colonies. We are considering wintering some singles inside. Regards Allen W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper VE6CFK RR#1, Swalwell, Alberta Canada T0M 1Y0 Internet:dicka@cuug.ab.ca & allend@internode.net Honey. Bees, & Art ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 5 Jul 1996 13:50:46 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "my name is Dean M. Breaux" Subject: Re: To many supers :( What diffrence does it make .Just extract it all. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 5 Jul 1996 15:27:19 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "(Kevin & Shawna Roberts)" Subject: Re: keeping caged queens ******** the longer you keep a queen caged the more time it will take her to lay. I also is not good to hold them more than about ten days. Dean Breaux ********** Hi Dean-- If the queens are banked with young bees, and have adequate nutrition available, then I'm assuming that the problem after ten days is the ovaries regressing from disuse. I'm interested in this because Roger Morse asserts that queens can be kept for "many weeks" in a well-maintained bank, and still recover to lay normally. What happens after ten days? Do you find that queens never recover their original laying abilities, or is the problem viability, or something else? Kevin ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 5 Jul 1996 12:34:54 +0000 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Dan Mihalyfi Organization: sccoe Subject: Re: Bumbles & swarm Atilla T. Hun wrote: > western. Was giving them that honey a mistake or OK? The books indicate a > hived swarm should be fed but I think they're assuming an earlier > swarm(we're in the midst of a heavy Himalayan Blackberry honeyflow). Yes, feed that new small swarm, even during a heavy honey flow. Small swarms will not be able to send many foragers to the field and need that feed handy. I once made a split and stopped feeding it to soon, figuring since the flow was on they would be ok. Wrong! They died. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 5 Jul 1996 14:56:56 -0500 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "Michael L. Wallace" Subject: Re: To many supers :( At 07:55 7/5/96 EST, you wrote: >---------------------- Information from the mail header ----------------------- >Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology >Poster: "Mark D. Egloff" >Subject: To many supers :( >------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Gentlepeople: > In my excitement of having a colony that survived the winter, > agreed to become a 2-queen unit just like the books said it > could be done, and produced BUNCHES of honeybees, I loaded on > to many supers and the bees have spread their honey stores out > throughout the hive. Without really filling any super > completely, the bees have placed honey in all the supers and I > would like them to concentrate the honey into fully capped > supers. > > I know the rest of you experts NEVER do anything like this so > if you could give me some of the ideas you might hive on how to > get the bees to move honey from six partially filled supers to > four completely filled supers, I would appreciate it. > > Thanks to all. > > Mark Egloff > MEGLOFF@CSC.COM > Mark, For every question of this sort, your going to get umpteen answers. So, here's mine: I would use some Bee-Go and force the bees down, then remove the top two supers and extract them. TAH-DAH! See how easy that was? I agree with Allen that making them move the honey may do more harm than good. So, just get what you can from the the top two and then they'll be limited to filling up the rest. Regards, Mike Wallace Sar Shalom Apiary McKinney, Texas USA "Out of the heart, the mouth speaks." ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 5 Jul 1996 21:29:51 GMT Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "Franklin D. Humphrey Sr." Subject: Re: keeping caged queens At 02:55 PM 7/4/96 +0000, you wrote: >Question for anybody who has ordered queens thru mail: How long is it >safe to keep caged queens which have arrived in the mail, prior to >introduction to a colony? Are they OK for a few days, generally, with good >acceptance afterwards? The weather has been lousy. Thanks > Frank Humphrey beekeeper@worldmet.att.net ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 5 Jul 1996 18:37:33 -0500 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "Peter T. Kneeland" Subject: Quick Swarm Catchers Greetings all, This morning my brother saw my bees form a cloud outside of their hive. Their swarm shape was that of a pillar two meters at the base and about ten meters in height. He and his 16 year old son have been great helpers to me and managed to capture the swarm just minutes after they landed in the nearby crabapple tree. My brother and nephew dumped the swarm into a large box and set it down. Before they could get the rest of the bees collected the entire lot left the box and returned to their original hive. I've just returned from work to find the hive behaving in a fairly normal fashion. My question ..... is this normal? Has anybody ever had this experience? I have three hives in my bee yard, the center one swarmed and the other two appear fine( working their little wings off right now). Thanks for any help.. Peter ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 5 Jul 1996 22:16:28 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "my name is Dean M. Breaux" Subject: Re: keeping caged queens In a message dated 96-07-05 15:31:34 EDT, you write: << Hi Dean-- If the queens are banked with young bees, and have adequate nutrition available, then I'm assuming that the problem after ten days is the ovaries regressing from disuse. I'm interested in this because Roger Morse asserts that queens can be kept for "many weeks" in a well-maintained bank, and still recover to lay normally. What happens after ten days? Do you find that queens never recover their original laying abilities, or is the problem viability, or something else? >> While I have seen queens that never lay again it was in every case I believe due to the poor condition of the queen bank, old bees, disease or the bees in the bank hurting the queens. I have seen virgin queens banked for 6 months then Inseminated lay. So I have no doubt that you could bank mated queens for that long and still have them lay fine. It has a lot to do with the type of cage you use and the condition of the hive when it comes to banking. All to often when queens are banked some of the queens will be missing body parts. As a rule we donot bank open mated queens. We do however bank alot of virgins and Instrumentally inseminated Queens. I will tell you that 95% of my experince is with I.I. or virgins in banks. I have to check the virgins under a microscope to make sure that they are not missing foot pads, feet, and antennae before I inseminate them.The longer they stay in the bank the more damage. As for mated queens like you have. Queens can become constipated after long periods in cages and can also be malnourished as the nurse bees tend to like some queens more than others. In hives where nosema is a problem the queens can be infected. The main problem with banked queens is that you tend to have more problems introducing them to the new hive. While it is easy to introduce a laying queen to a hive the longer it takes a queen to lay, the greater the chance the bees will kill her or supercede her. You can bank both mated and virgin queens for a very long time if the queen bank is in good shape. I found 13 out of a batch 20 virgins alive this spring above an excluder in a two story hive from last year. They where to be inseminated but got lost? They had been in the hive over six months. I was very surprised to find 5 of them in good shape. I inseminated the five and still have them laying today. My opinion is as follows: I do not like to bank queens. If you have to for I.I. or because you can't get them out into the field ok, it is better than leaving them in their cage with a few attendants. I refuse to bank my open mated queens that I sell as the people who buy them will have high supercedure rates and poor acceptance, and when you pay 11.00 dollars for a queen you deserve to get a fresh queen. While I do not have queens on hand all the time like some, I do not get bad reports about queens not taking to there new hives. As with all things you can manage your introductions of the queens that have been banked to ensure that they will be accepted, but it is time consuming. I also have had people buy queens in the fall and bank them for the spring. They have had mixed results. A five footed queen in febuary for a queenless hive is better than no queen. There is a need and a place for banking I just don't like to do it. I have gotten spoiled raising my own. And when you start you will to. Dean M. Breaux Executive Vice President Hybri- Bees Breeding Better Bees ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 5 Jul 1996 22:26:49 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Bill Miller Subject: Re: Queens and the postal dept. For real fun and excitement, try to get a queen onto an airplane. A few years ago, I had one in my shirt pocket, and between the screen on the queen box and some pocket change I set off the metal dectector. When Security found the queen, a long discussion on what to do with it took place. Invoking some rule intended to keep large drooly dogs out of the cabin, I was told my queen had to go in my checked baggage. She flew up stashed in a shoe packed in my bag In spite of that, she took nicely. ps. I have finally educated my local Post Office that queen bee packages are not live bombs dipped in old crankase oil. They always call me, and hold them for my pickup. W. G. Miller Gaithersburg, MD ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 6 Jul 1996 09:20:59 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "Laura A. Downey" Subject: Quality of queens Last year when I purchased two packages of bees with queens, one of the queens was superceded within a few months. The queen in the second package left the hive _without_ the swarm (I witnessed this happen. The swarm was ready to leave earlier in the day, but the queen wasn't. She then left later in the afternoon on her own.). The queens currently in my hives are the offspring of the two original queens. I have noticed that these queens also seem to be of questionable quality. Do the methods that the queen breeder uses have an affect on the quality of queens? Will these queens pass these traits on to future generations? As a result of what I consider questionable quality of these queens, I have new queens on order and will be requeening. Laura Downey corvi29@msart.net ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 6 Jul 1996 09:21:01 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "Laura A. Downey" Subject: Re: Races of bees Diana, Thank you for the info. I will certainly contact Kim Flottum. Laura corvi29@smart.net At 03:49 PM 7/1/96 -0400, you wrote: >Laura: THe races article was a Jan issue of 1995 or 1994, I forget which. >Contact Kim Flottum editor, at bculture@aol.com for more info > >Diana > >Diana Sammataro, Ph.D. >The Ohio State University, OARDC/ Dept. Entomology >Extension Bee Laboratory, 1680 Madison Avenue >Wooster, OH 44691 >NEW Phone: (330) 263 3912 Fax: (330) 262 2720 >Email: Sammataro.1@osu.edu > ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 6 Jul 1996 07:55:38 -0600 Reply-To: allend@internode.net Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology Comments: Authenticated sender is From: Allen Dick Organization: The Beekeepers Subject: Re: Quality of queens > The queen in the > second package left the hive _without_ the swarm (I witnessed this > happen. The swarm was ready to leave earlier in the day, but the > queen wasn't. She then left later in the afternoon on her own.). I'm curious where she went. The more I learn about bees, the more I realise that what we think we know are vast generalisations about critters that have many variations in individual behaviours. > Do the methods that the queen breeder uses have an affect on the > quality of queens? Various reports over the years have shown pretty conclusively that the conditions under which queens are raised is generally more important than the genetics (assuming reasonably closely related strains). Well-raised queens from average to poor stock outperformed queens from good stock that were poorly raised. > Will these queens pass these traits on to future > generations? Geneticists have argued about this from the days of Darwin. The consensus, I believe, is that they will not. But if you want to start an arguement this is a good topic ;) > As a result of what I consider questionable quality of these queens, > I have new queens on order and will be requeening. Always a good plan. If in doubt, change the queen. Little to lose and lots to gain. Regards Allen W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper VE6CFK RR#1, Swalwell, Alberta Canada T0M 1Y0 Internet:dicka@cuug.ab.ca & allend@internode.net Honey. Bees, & Art ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 6 Jul 1996 15:06:12 GMT Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Eric Abell Subject: Re: Some odd queen questions >Anyway I removed the cork from the candy end, poked a nail through the candy >and put the queens with bees in the hives. A week later I opened them up >and both queens were still in the cages, and the candy was untouched. > >Does the candy trick work? I ask this because last year I placed a new >hive on a friends yard with a new queen and a home-made package. I was >unable to get back there for 3 1/2 weeks. The poor queen was still in the >cage! The candy was untouched then as well, and all attendants in the cage >were dead. Mike, it sounds like you are enjoying your bees in spite of all of these challenges. The candy trick does work. It works better if the attendents are removed first. It works better if there is no other queen in the colony and no queen cells either. I suggest that if the queen has not yet been released then either: 1. There is a queen somewhere in the colony. 2. There are queen cells somewhere in the colony. 3. The candy is too hard for the bees to remove. Sometime you can set the queen cage on the to bars are watch the reaction of the bees to this new queen. If they are particularly aggressive then it is likely they feel no need for a new queen. If, however, they start feeding her you could likely release her immediately. I have had better luck introducing queens to colonies with no eggs or yound larvae than to colonies with these. Good luck. Eric Abell Gibbons, Alberta Canada (403) 998 3143 eabell@compusmart.ab.ca ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 6 Jul 1996 08:10:31 +0100 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "Paul Cronshaw, D.C." Subject: 8 frame spacer and the 6 O'clock news Bee-listers: Is there an 8 frame spacing tool available? I would like to try the suggestion from this list of using 8 frame supers rather than excluders as a honey barrier. ********** Added Note: Today was an interesting day in my life. I was treating a fellow beekeeper in my office (back problem from lifting one too many honey supers) when a call came in from another patient telling me that some city workers were going to hose a swarm with soapy water. :( Grabbing our bee grear and my favorite swarm capture box, a copier box, my patient and I jumped into our trucks and headed downtown. Arrived at scene to find a nice swarm 15 feet up in a magnolia tree. The city workers kindly parked the soap water truck so we could use it as a ladder to stand on top and shake the bees into the box. No sooner than 10 minutes had passed when the local TV station camera crew arrived. End result: Tonight's 6:00 PM news showed a well edited segment entitled "Bee Swarm", beekeeping got some good press and my patient got a nice swarm of bees. :) Paul Cronshaw DC Cyberchiro Hobby Beekeeper Santa Barbara, CA ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 6 Jul 1996 15:52:29 GMT Reply-To: mike@cognant.demon.co.uk Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Mike Rowbottom Organization: Cognant Consultants Limited Subject: Effect of Photinia Davidiana on bees In the garden of the Northern Horticultural Society in Harrogate, North Yorkshire UK there is a large Photinia Davidiana shrub ( about 2m ( 7ft) tall by about the same across). This afternoon it was covered with nectar feeders of all types; honey bees, bumble bees, hover flies, butterflies etc. On the ground under the bush was a significant number of dead bumble bees ( about 24 or more), but none of the other species. Is this plant species a threat to bees, or just to bumble bees? Mike Rowbottom e-mail mike@cognant.demon.co.uk ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 6 Jul 1996 10:15:52 -0600 Reply-To: allend@internode.net Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology Comments: Authenticated sender is From: Allen Dick Organization: The Beekeepers Subject: Re: 8 frame spacer and the 6 O'clock news > Bee-listers: > > Is there an 8 frame spacing tool available? > > I would like to try the suggestion from this list of using 8 frame > supers rather than excluders as a honey barrier. Stoller frame spacers and copies of them are available at most bee supply stores. They are strips of galvanised about an inch wide by 15" or so with notches cut out for each frame and little holes for nails. They are nailed in along the rabbet where the frames rest and forse the frames to sit in the right spots. They cost somewhere in the 25 cent range each in quantity. > End result: Tonight's 6:00 PM news showed a well edited segment > entitled "Bee Swarm", beekeeping got some good press and my patient > got a nice swarm of bees. :) Nice work! Regards Allen W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper VE6CFK RR#1, Swalwell, Alberta Canada T0M 1Y0 Internet:dicka@cuug.ab.ca & allend@internode.net Honey. Bees, & Art ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 6 Jul 1996 10:21:35 -0600 Reply-To: allend@internode.net Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology Comments: Authenticated sender is From: Allen Dick Organization: The Beekeepers Subject: Re: Some odd queen questions > It works better if > the attendents are removed first. It works better if there is no > other queen in the colony and no queen cells either. I suggest that > if the queen has not yet been released then either: > 1. There is a queen somewhere in the colony. > 2. There are queen cells somewhere in the colony. > 3. The candy is too hard for the bees to remove. > > Sometime you can set the queen cage on the to bars are watch the > reaction of the bees to this new queen. If they are particularly > aggressive then it is likely they feel no need for a new queen. If, > however, they start feeding her you could likely release her > immediately. Good points. Whether there is a flow on (or a full feeder on the hive) will have a large bearing too. Bees remove the candy very quickly if they are hungry, more slowly if they are well fed and plugged up with honey and nectar. Queens are much better accepted if the bees are well fed -- but the candy is taken more slowly. Regards Allen W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper VE6CFK RR#1, Swalwell, Alberta Canada T0M 1Y0 Internet:dicka@cuug.ab.ca & allend@internode.net Honey. Bees, & Art ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 6 Jul 1996 14:07:26 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "my name is Dean M. Breaux" Subject: Re: Quality of queens In a message dated 96-07-06 09:24:38 EDT, you write: << Do the methods that the queen breeder uses have an affect on the quality of queens? Will these queens pass these traits on to future generations? As a result of what I consider questionable quality of these queens, I have new queens on order and will be requeening. Laura Downey corvi29@msart.net >> It is a sure bet that the Quality of your queens is tied to how they are raised. I would suggest that if you want the best do it yourself. It is cheaper and you will have the pleasure of being able to claim them as yours. It will without a doubt make a better beekeeper out of you also. If you need some helps on how to, or tipps. Fell free to contact me Direct. One other thing most queen breeders are very proud of the queens they raise and what they do for a living. That in mind it is a good idea to talk to the breeder of the queens as well. If it was one of my queens I would like to know that I had a potental problem. I am quick to tell all of my customers to let me know of problems first then you can tell your friends. One of the problems with queen rearing is that of the queens that you sell, you have spent all of about 2 mins evaluating before they go into a cage. Dean M. Breaux Executive Vice President Hybri-Bees (352) 521-0164 Hybribees@aol.com -- End --