========================================================================= Date: Sat, 7 Mar 1998 22:06:55 -0600 Reply-To: allend@internode.net Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Allen Dick Subject: Re: Homemade Science MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT > > The results, and an opportunity to comment, are available on > > http://allen/honeybee/BeeScience/Nosema.htm > Netscape could not find your the URL. Drat! and double Drat!! I did it again. Sorry, folks I used the URL for the mirror on my own (local) server. Try the public version: http://www.internode.net/honeybee/BeeScience/Nosema.htm Allen ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 7 Mar 1998 21:59:49 -0800 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Andy Nachbaur Subject: Re: Eucalyptus Information In-Reply-To: <199803080453.SAA12369@lehua.ilhawaii.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 06:51 PM 3/7/98 -1000, you wrote: >Given the large number of eucalyptus varieties, can any one point me >towards information regarding the nectar quality of the different kinds of >Eucalyptus Hi Walter, In California the BLUE GUM is the only one of about 100 different euc's grown here that produces large crops of honey. All of them bloom at different times, some in the winter when bees can't fly far from home and have been blamed for loss of many chilled bees in the winter. I suspect more are killed crossing the freeways to reach the trees planted the full length of California from boarder to boarder, NSEW..by the Department of Transportation. Bees wintered in the valley gum groves seem to have bad problems with EFB in the spring. Pollen production is poor here from the euc's, but they do provide red bee glue on the coast. The honey can be water white but most of the time it is extra light amber. Crops of 60-100 lbs were considered normal from Blue Gums blooming from December to July along the central cost from B. Monterey to San Francisco Counties in the old days. Much of the old growth gum trees have been logged off for paper pulp or just cleared for other land uses in the central coastal area. Thousands of new acres have been planted in the central valley to rid the soil of water carried natural chemicals that is leached from the soil by farm irrigation and these trees will be used for pulp or fire wood at some later date. (Moving the chemicals to the air? Some of these chemicals are so bad that they are sold as feed and food additives so those who don't have them can enjoy.) A little eucalyptus honey can add flavor to any crop that comes in at the same time. Because the flavor is not unlike that of cough syrup it is not considered a bonus to Orange or Sage Honey Crops. The seeds are easy to grow and can be started with ease by most anyone who is interested. I started some when I was a child in a big indoor planter in my folks bathroom much to my embracement... Several varieties that are not frost tolerant bare bookays of large red flowers that can contain table spoons of nectar in each flower and are a beautiful sight when in bloom in Southern California and in special indoor/outdoor environments in other areas. ttul, the OLd Drone for the USDA Honey Market reports: http://209.76.50.54/ (c)Permission is given to copy this document in any form, or to print for any use. (w)OPINIONS are not necessarily facts. USE AT OWN RISK! ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 7 Mar 1998 21:20:19 -0900 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Lawrence Cooke Organization: Dolores Door&Trim Subject: Alaska MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I have been on this list before but I was keeping bees in Colorado. I have moved to Alaska and had to leave my bees behind. What I need to know is where I can get bees from. I know there are some restrictions on bringing bees into this state and Canada. If there are any Alaskans subscribers out there please reply. Much Thanks, Lawrence Cooke ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 7 Mar 1998 22:35:51 -0800 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Patrick & Mary Caldwell Subject: Excluders, foundation, and comb honey... MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: MULTIPART/ALTERNATIVE; BOUNDARY="Boundary_(ID_VLLS20yWcmp7A208lcjolA)" This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --Boundary_(ID_VLLS20yWcmp7A208lcjolA) Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable Hello all... I am a new beekeeper who will be starting with two hives this spring: = one will be a full-blown hive that I am getting from another beekeeper = here in town; the other is a Buckfast package. I will be requeening the = established hive with a Buckfast queen. To those who were kind enough = to help me on previous posts, thanks so much! Anyway, I am confused about the recent discussions here on the list = concerning queen excluders and foundation use. Let me tell you all what = I was thinking of doing, and get some advice... It was recommended to me, since I will be using all medium supers, that = I use 3 mediums for the brood chambers for my hives. This is what is = being done by most of the people in the beekeeping association I have = joined in the eastern San Francisco Bay area. I was also counseled to start with cut comb honey to begin with, and so = that is what I was planning to do. What has me confused is some of the = messages that have stated that bees often won't go up through an = excluder to draw foundation. Since I am planning to produce cut comb = honey and would rather not have brood in my honey, would it be safe to = let the bees begin to draw the foundation in the first honey super = first, then add the excluder (as I think was mentioned in one of the = posts)? Would it make sense to take a frame of drawn foundation from the = established hive to "bait" the bees into the foundation-filled super = first? Would the use of three brood chambers provide enough of a "honey = barrier" to prevent the queen from going up into the honey supers so = that an excluder would not be necessary? I realize that some of this information may have been covered in the = posts, but I guess I didn't get it! I am also confused on the supering process (top supering vs. bottom = supering), but I guess I have a lot to learn this year! Thanks in advance for your helping a newbee! Mary Caldwell Benicia, CA MPCEnterprises@mci2000.com --Boundary_(ID_VLLS20yWcmp7A208lcjolA) Content-type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable
Hello all...
 
I am a new beekeeper who will be starting with two = hives this=20 spring:  one will be a full-blown hive that I am getting from = another=20 beekeeper here in town; the other is a Buckfast package.  I will be = requeening the established hive with a Buckfast queen.  To those = who were=20 kind enough to help me on previous posts, thanks so much!
 
Anyway, I am confused about the recent discussions = here on the=20 list concerning queen excluders and foundation use.  Let me tell = you all=20 what I was thinking of doing, and get some advice...
 
It was recommended to me, since I will be using all = medium=20 supers, that I use 3 mediums for the brood chambers for my hives.  = This is=20 what is being done by most of the people in the beekeeping association I = have=20 joined in the eastern San Francisco Bay area.
 
I was also counseled to start with cut comb honey to = begin=20 with, and so that is what I was planning to do.  What has me = confused is=20 some of the messages that have stated that bees often won't go up = through an=20 excluder to draw foundation.  Since I am planning to produce cut = comb honey=20 and would rather not have brood in my honey, would it be safe to let the = bees=20 begin to draw the foundation in the first honey super first, then add = the=20 excluder (as I think was mentioned in one of the posts)?
 
Would it make sense to take a frame of drawn = foundation from=20 the established hive to "bait" the bees into the = foundation-filled=20 super first?
 
Would the use of three brood chambers provide enough = of a=20 "honey barrier" to prevent the queen from going up into the = honey=20 supers so that an excluder would not be necessary?
 
I realize that some of this = information may have=20 been covered in the posts, but I guess I didn't get it!
 
I am also confused on the supering process (top = supering vs.=20 bottom supering), but I guess I have a lot to learn this = year!
 
Thanks in advance for your helping a = newbee!
 
Mary Caldwell
Benicia, CA 
MPCEnterprises@mci2000.com=
--Boundary_(ID_VLLS20yWcmp7A208lcjolA)-- ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 03:00:16 EST Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Bobstjohn Subject: Re: Eucalyptus Information Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Walter; The state has a list of eucalyptus and their honey producing abilities. I have a copy somewhere and will give it to you if I ever find it. I think I got mine from the forest association. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 12:04:39 +0200 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Rimantas Zujus Subject: SIGN OFF Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Dear Bee-L members I have to sign off the Bee List for a few month. Those who want contact me, please send message directly to my e-mail box. Best wishes to You Sincerely Rimantas Zujus Kaunas LITHUANIA e-mail : zujus@isag.lei.lt http://www.online.lt/indexs.htm 55 Deg North, 24 Deg East ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 20:41:14 PST Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: T & M Weatherhead Subject: Re: Eucalypt information MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"; X-MAPIextension=".TXT" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Walter Patton asks about Eucalypt information. Australia has several books on this subject. The two following are very = good. The Honey Flora of Queensland by S.T. Blake and C. Roff Honey and Pollen Flora by Alan Clemson. This covers mainly New South Wal= es. Queensland and New South Wales are the two biggest honey producing States= in Australia. However, the Eucalypts you have may occur in another Stat= e. Walter, if you want to send me a list (botanical names) of what you = want information on, I can let you know if these are covered by the above= books. Also, if you want information on price and availability of the books, I = will find out for you. Trevor Weatherhead AUSTRALIA ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 09:43:13 +0300 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Carlos Aparicio Subject: Re: Eucalyptus Information Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Walter: There is more than 500 varieties of eucalyptus, most of them are able for the honey production. In my farm the honey is mainly of the source of the eucalyptus tree, that it is of very good quality. The main flowering, it is during the summer of the eucalyptus saligna "Sydney Blue Gum", it is one of the improvements of a color brilliant amber and very aromatic. There are also a few Grandis "Flooded gum", almost identical to Saligna, but blossom in spring. In winter autumn we have the eucalyptus gl=F3bulus "Tasmanian blue gum",= not so good quality as the previous, but equally comparable with the better. This last has the particularity that the nectar is so abundant in their/its large color flowers cream, that it can be drunk of the flower something like a nectar spoonful by each flower. Not all bee races are able to work this eucalyptus, having advantages in this "apis mellifera mellifera", above all the other sub - especies. The Eucaliptus Melliodora, an average size tree, it is especially indicated for the honey production, but it is a tree that I know by books alone since is not planted mostly in Uruguay. Blossom in spring and= summer. Eucalyptus usually will blossom after 4 or 5 years from plantation, but there are=20 important diferences between them according species and plantation style. I have in the sight : El Eucaliptus en la Repoblaci=F3n Forestal FAO Roma. 1981. =20 In pages 318 - 319 brings a list of near 50 varieties of eucaliptus with times of blossom, and qualities of honey. The book is in spanish, but surely are English Editions. Is a superb work. From the bibliography of this book you can see: Loock, E.E.M. Eucalyptus species suitable for the production of honey. Journal of South African Forestry Association N=BA 16. 1948. =20 CARLOS APARICIO (54) 20 HIVES Playa Santa Ana Canelones Uruguay =09 At 06:51 PM 07/03/1998 -1000, Walter Patton wrote: >Given the large number of eucalyptus varieties, can any one point me >towards > information regarding the nectar quality of the different kinds of >Eucalyptus >Thanks in advance >Walter > > ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 07:49:08 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Joel Govostes Subject: Re: Excluders, foundation, and comb honey... Comments: To: mpcenterprises@MCI2000.COM Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hi -- Sorry to add to the confusion. See, foundation is not particularly attractive to the bees, at least not like drawn comb. So *sometimes* they can be slow to go up through and excluder to get to work in a new super. The usual recommendation, if you are going for comb-honey, is to add the super first without the excluder. Then go back in a few days, and put the excluder underneath it, once the bees have begun drawing the combs up there. The only hitch is that you DON'T want to trap the queen in the honey super, above the excluder. She *might* be up there. So you open the hive, remove the honey-super and put the excluder on the hive, above your three brood-chambers. Then just remove each frame from the honey-super and give it a good look, making sure your queen is not to be seen. If you do find her, you can gently brush her off the comb back beneath the excluder. Then replace the honey-super, and, if the bees have been working in it (not just loitering, but actually have begun drawing the combs) they will continue to do so, despite the excluder. Then all you have to do is keep an eye on that honey super, checking beneath the lid about once a week or so. Once the super is 1/2-2/3 full, lift it off and put a second honey-super of foundation onto the excluder, and replace the first honey-super *on top*. By now the bees will be working full blast through the excluder, so they won't be dissuaded by it at all. For comb-honey, you should use an excluder, by all means. If even a few eggs are laid in your honey-combs, they will end up darkened somewhat, and you don't want comb honey that has had brood in it before. By using the excluder you keep everything pure and clean, and the comb honey will be exquisite. The honey-barrier idea is often used when going for extracted-honey. The principle is, that if there is a layer of honey stored at the upper edge of the brood-combs, the queen will not venture across it to lay eggs in the stories above. In that case you don't need an excluder beneath the honey-supers (which some say unduly impedes the bees). Some comb-honey producers put a super of drawn (extracting) combs on as the first super, over an excluder. The colonies start storing in the combs early on in the season. Then the subsequent supers added are all comb-honey foundation, and each new one added gets set right above the excluder, the previous supers getting raised up. You probably won't have to worry about a 1st-year colony, as they are in "growth mode" with a new queen, and not apt to become congested to the point of swarming like an overwintered colony might. Hope this helps -- Regards, JG ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 13:09:58 +0000 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Murray McGregor Subject: Re: Apistan and Organic Gardening In-Reply-To: <199803071334.IAA01923@garlic.negia.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 In article <199803071334.IAA01923@garlic.negia.net>, petty writes >I have not yet heard anyone mention that the Apistan strips should be >removed BEFORE the time that a typical vegetable garden is in bloom. >if you leave Apistan in all year YOU will be partially responsible for >helping to develope RESISTANT mites!! the whole point is that the Apistan >knock the mite level down to a level below the damage threshold. removal >of the pesticide is crucial to prevent the genetic selection of resistant >mites. there has been a lot of good research on this latey. unfortunately >most of the findings are published in journals that are not popular amongst >most beekeepers. >leaving Apistan in all year is lazy and irresponsible! >anyone remember Integrated Pest Management??? As one of the posters previously making a small contribution to this rather odd thread, and possibly having been misunderstood, I should like to point out that the original question only indicated concern that untreated colonies might not survive in the area and that treated colonies might compromise the organic status of the garden. At no time, even tacitly, did I suggest leaving Apistan in continuously, which would, as the above respondent indicates, be bad practice. The thread concerned the principle of Apistan treated colonies and any (I believe none) effect they would have on organic gardening, rather than methods and timing of Apistan application which are made perfectly clear by the manufacturers and a whole host of other respondents in the past. The whole concept that a plant in an otherwise organic regime is rendered non organic through having been pollinated by a bee coming form an Apistan treated colony is, to me, bizarre. Much seems to center on the old potato about fluvalinate being persistent and tiny residues of it getting spread everywhere by the bees. It is NOT persistent and has a very short life outside oil based environments, as is the case with most (all?) pyrethroids, synthetic or natural. I know that we are dealing with a concept here, and that the organic people are seeking a style of life and production method based on certain principles. I had a long and involved argument with Allen and others centered on, but not restricted to, this very issue fairly recently. Ideals in this case must be tempered with some idea of reality. If a bee emanating from a hive which has been treated with fluvalinate some time in the preceding two years enters a garden or farm being run organically and pollinates a plant there the garden is rendered non organic? Or, as one suggested, if you place the hive OUTSIDE the perimeter of the organic area by one yard it does not damage the status, and two yards away on the INSIDE of the fence it does? All because of a non persistent chemical in part designed to help ensure the plants get pollinated at all, which may have been used in the preceding two years and with which the bee in question may even have had no contact? If these are sufficient causes to prevent organic status (and I am quite sure that they are not), then the air the plants respire and the rain from heaven above will (and do) add many times more residues to the system. Thus, truly organic production is virtually impossible, even without the more spectacular examples such as 'blue ice' raised by others. On the other hand, and so far as I understand it from a UK perspective, the main thrust of the issue is, that if you adopt a set of principles preset by, or on behalf of, this particular interest/consumer group, and adhere to it rigidly throughout a transition period, you can attain organic status in agriculture and horticulture. It is a set of principles and methods and NOT a guarantee of absence of residues. The individual/customer is buying into a lifestyle and thus they set their own agenda. (So, in that respect at least, Harry's point, which he admits is illogical, about which side of the fence you place the hive on making a difference, could just be technically valid. Your neighbour could spray his non organic crop with some awful pesticide which drifts in the wind in substantial amounts onto your crop and you remain organic, but spot treat a problem yourself, with nominal amounts of even fairly benign products and you lose your status.) As I have said before, I am not an organic fan and do not buy organic goods. I think that there are far too many uncertainties to ponder, and every issue in this context seems to give rise to even more questions and fewer sensible answers. From where I stand, there are many far more important things in life than whether the zucchini I will be eating in my lunch was pollinated by an Apistan treated bee. Murray -- Murray McGregor murray@denrosa.demon.co.uk ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 09:02:28 EST Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: BeemanNick Subject: Re: Excluders, foundation, and comb honey... Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit In a message dated 98-03-08 07:48:19 EST, you write: << Sorry to add to the confusion. See, foundation is not particularly attractive to the bees, at least not like drawn comb. So *sometimes* they can be slow to go up through and excluder to get to work in a new super. >> To make the confusion worse, Bees will they not go into a comb supper if they are in the height of the flow and 1,2,3,4,5or 6 is almost full? these Is what happened to me.! ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 09:31:34 EST Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Beekeeperc Subject: Re: Apistan and Organic Gardening Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Apistan, should be left in for about 42- 45 days. They should be removed about two weeks prior to any nectar flow. If you have to remove the Apistan before the 42 days (21 days from, egg to bee, twice). I would add the Apistan after I remove the surplus honey from the hive. Also, its a help to use grease patties. Two pounds of powdered sugar to one pound of Crisco (like a lard). Norm beekeeperc@aol.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 22:08:14 -0500 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Jerry J Bromenshenk Subject: Bee Jokes Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" I started this last year and promise a follow up. We are busy revamping our kids section: Got some good jokes that can't go on a kids page, got some originals, and lots of repeats on ones that have been around for some time: Jokes: From Tom Elliot's brother, U.S.A. 1) What singing group was famous throughout the hives during the 60s? Peter, Pollen, and Mary 2) Sign found inside a beehive: "The surgeon general warns that smoking is hazarous to your honey" From Al Needham's wife (Al, does she have a name?), U.S.A. 3) How does the Queen Bee communicate with her hive? She uses her cell phone! From Trevor Weatherhead, Australia 4) Where do the baby bees sleep? In an apiary-cot (apricot). From dvisrael@earthlink.net (no signature) 5) Don: I went out to my beeyard this morning and could not find my bees. I wonder why? Jerry: Maybe they were playing hive and seek with you. From Alyn Ashworth, Lancashire, UK 6) The oldest of them all: What goes ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZUB, ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZUB? A bee flying backwards! Some of oft repeated jokes that I have heard over the years. The first two may be as old as Alyn's joke: 7) Why do bees hum? Because they don't know the words. 8) Where did Noah keep his bees? In the Ark Hive! 9) What does the queen use to fix her hair? A honeycomb. 10) Why did the bees fly around with all six legs crossed? They couldn't find a rest room. This one came in several versions, depending on the country of origin: find a bathroom, find a gas station, find an BP station. From Janice D. Green, (http://users.aol.com/queenbjanbeefun.htm) who sent these on and posts them on her copyrighted web page. I assume that the story by David is original. Some of the jokes are repeats of those listed above. These may be original: 11) What did the queen bee and the drone do before they flew away from the hive? They hired a bee bee sitter. 12) What grade did the students get on their pollination experiment? They all got B's. Nick Wallingford, New Zealand contributed a Canadian version of a little ditty that I learned as a kid (which probably dates both of us). His version was slightly different, and he the found a citation for the original, which is the one I learned from my dad: I eat my peas with honey, I've done it all my life. It makes the peas taste funny, but it keeps them on the knife! - Bennett But neither Nick nor I know who Bennett was. Nick also offered: There was a man who loved bees. He always was their friend. He used to site upon their hive. But they stung him, in the end. Normally I don't like anything that draws attention to stinging, but this one is cute. Nick also provided the most politically correct version of the following: What was the last thing to pass through the bee's mind when it hit the car's windscreen? (windowshield in the U.S.) Her bum. (the New Zealand phrasing works better than some of the U.S. versions) ANNNNND, then there were the jokes that just don't belong on a kids page, but pretty funny. If you sent a "clean" joke and it is not on this list, send again. We can all use a laugh, and these will go onto our revised kid's page. Jerry J. Bromenshenk, Ph.D. Director, DOE/EPSCoR & Montana Organization for Research in Energy The University of Montana-Missoula Missoula, MT 59812-1002 E-Mail: jjbmail@selway.umt.edu Tel: 406-243-5648 Fax: 406-243-4184 http://www.umt.edu/biology/more http://www.umt.edu/biology/bees ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 22:08:36 -0500 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Jerry J Bromenshenk Subject: Famous Beekeepers Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" I lost my original, but here is what I remember: Famous detective. Sherlock Holmes Famous explorer: Sir Edmund Hillary And some wag asked why Sir Edmund climbed all of those mountains? He was looking from new places to put his bees. Famous movie star: Henry Fonda (who wrote letters to the American Bee Journal) Peter Fonda, who portrayed a beekeeper in this year's critically acclaimed movie, Ulyee's Gold. Famous Ship Captain: (One of the big passenger ships that sank - can't remember how to spell it, starts with L) I remember joking that he obviously didn't go down with the ship and got a spam that ship's captains are the last to depart, nothing says they have to go down with the ship. Oldest record of a beekeeper (appears to be a young woman): Cave painting in La Arana Spain, believed to be 8000 yrs old. Ancient Greek and Roman beekeepers (writers, philosophers). Greek: Aristotle (writes about bees, but didn't know some basics of biology, suggesting he did not directly observer bees) Roman: The following wrote about the "commercial side of the business" Cato, Varro, Columella, and Palladius. Inventors: This could go on for pages, but some of the equipment that we currently use is of relatively recent origin: Revd Dr. H.C.J. Dzierzon, Silesia, father of modern central European beekeeping, 91811-1906) Lorenzo Lorrain Langstroth, USA, modern beekeeping practices, 1852, Langstroth Hive Johannes Mehring, Germany, 1857, comb foundation Major Hruschka, Austria, 1865, extractor Moses Quinby, USA, 1866, large frame leading to Dadant frame 1875, modern smoker Abbe Collin, France, 1865, queen excluder E.C. Porter, USA, 1891, bee escape Charles Dadant family (Charles (1817-1902) moved to the USA from France). The family holds numerous patents, including crimp wired foundation. Elton J. Dyce, USA, 1935, Dyce process to produce granulated honey. Jerry J. Bromenshenk, Ph.D. Director, DOE/EPSCoR & Montana Organization for Research in Energy The University of Montana-Missoula Missoula, MT 59812-1002 E-Mail: jjbmail@selway.umt.edu Tel: 406-243-5648 Fax: 406-243-4184 http://www.umt.edu/biology/more http://www.umt.edu/biology/bees ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 13:49:22 -0600 Reply-To: neonmarv@iso.net Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Marvin Walker Subject: Evodia Trees MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable I am interested in some Evoida trees. Has anyone on the list has any experiences with this tree, as to necter and pollen production? What time of year does it bloom and how long do flowers last? Marvin Walker Springdale, Arkansas NW Arkansas --=20 MZ=90 ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 15:09:40 EST Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Pollinator Subject: Re: Excluders, foundation, and comb honey... Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit In a message dated 98-03-08 01:24:57 EST, Mary Caldwell writes: << It was recommended to me, since I will be using all medium supers, that I use 3 mediums for the brood chambers for my hives. This is what is being done by most of the people in the beekeeping association I have joined in the eastern San Francisco Bay area.>> If you are planning to make cut comb, you'd go a long way toward getting the bees up through the excluder by limiting the brood chamber to two medium boxes. With three, you may have real difficulty getting them up and working above the excluder. <> The queen is apt to jump up and lay in these frames as soon as they draw it. To make comb honey, or to draw foundation for any supers, you need a real good flow, not just a spotty, or sporadic flow. The bees should be in tiptop shape and starting to cut back on brood production, just as the flow starts. So plant your production to coincide with the normal flow in your area. Usually early flows make the best comb honey, at least here in the east. << Would it make sense to take a frame of drawn foundation from the established hive to "bait" the bees into the foundation-filled super first?>> It works. You won't be able to use this frame for comb honey, but perhaps after the super is started, you can move it back to the brood area, and replace it with foundation. <> Only if there is a good flow, and even then not with every queen. The honey barrier concept is a rough rule of thumb, but is not 100% reliable. I have had many a frustrating experience with bees and brood in the upper supers and very little of anything below. It really slows you down a lot, when you are harvesting. And it is really frustrating if you (or more likely, your help) don't notice brood above, and you wind up with boxes of brood in the honey house, wondering where the queen is. Once they move up, they are loathe to put nectar below the brood. Only if there is a strong enough flow to push the queen back down, will you get the bees back into the proper position. I am very convinced that I could not work the bees here in this area without excluders. Lack of them would at least double the time I have to invest in the bees' care. << I am also confused on the supering process (top supering vs. bottom supering), but I guess I have a lot to learn this year!>> Put all your supers on just before the flow starts. Open them only enough to make sure they have started into the supers. Then let them bee! Repeated openings, and switching around will cut your production. They know what they want to do; you've made it possible for them to do it; so get out of their way. Your young queens are not apt to swarm, so they should be fine. Next year your queens will be in their second year, and they are programed to swarm. So your management will have to be a bit different, unless you requeen again. Pollinator@aol.com Dave Green Hemingway, SC USA The Pollination Scene: http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html Jan's Sweetness and Light Shop (Varietal Honeys and Beeswax Candles) http://users.aol.com/SweetnessL/sweetlit.htm ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 21:47:00 PST Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Graham Read EOS Subject: Re: Do Bees heat their Home? I've kept one of those electronic car thermometers you can buy with a temperature sensor on the end of a wire in one hive for the past year (hardly scientific I know, but its interesting to take a peek at the temperature in the hive every now & then). During breeding (last year & now) the temperature remained remarkedly constant at 34 - 35 degrees Celcius, even while, as now, the air temperature is only 5 C. During the (mild) winter the hive was usually at 8 - 15 C.Amazing. Graham > When time for the active season arrives, the observant beekeeper will try to > match the hive size and ventillation to the bees needs and the season. She > will be rewarded by healthier, more productive bees. This is a very good explanation as to the control of the hive environment. It seems to me that bees do the best job in controlling the interior climate if the beekeeper is not to generous with ventilation, confinement and space. Often thought about some sort of baffle arrangement to place on top of hive where a lot of air could be passed through by bees but appear as nearly as possible to a passive blockage. What would be the response if there were a spring loaded flap under a raised outer cover? Which way should it be vented, in or out? Perhaps the easiest solution is a larger entrance with a couple or more levels of staggered slats? Like the second thought better. Alden Marshall B-Line Apiaries Hudson, NH 03051 ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 20:00:50 +0300 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Carlos Aparicio Subject: Re: Eucalyptus Information Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 09:59 PM 07/03/1998 -0800, Andy Nachbaur wrote: >At 06:51 PM 3/7/98 -1000, you wrote: >Pollen production is poor here from the euc's, but they do >provide red bee glue on the coast. The honey can be water white but most of >the time it is extra light amber. When you say eucalyptus provide red bee glue on the coast, are you talking about propolis? Please explain your idea. Carlos Aparicio Uruguay ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 21:11:42 -0500 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Midnitebee Subject: supering/addition MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Greetings! I have added a new article by George Imire..entitled "Supering". I will add more articles in a very short while..in the meantime, enjoy George's article and others to follow. You just might want to "register" for my web site.this will allow you to be notified of further updates. George is recovering from surgery and I hope he will be at the EAS'98 meeting..stop by and say hello.. Herb(Midnitebee) Holly-B Apiary P.O.Box 26 Wells,Maine 04090-0026 www.cybertours.com/~midnitebee ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 02:41:28 -0500 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Midnitebee Subject: EAS 1998 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Greetings! ok..here it is.."Why Mark Queens" and EAS 1998 meeting schedule.. There is a 800 number for Seven Springs,Pa. off to bed..enjoy the reading! Herb(Midnitebee) BTW-I have been noticing local bee groups are coping George's Pink pages without DUE credit..please do so in the future..,since he is so willing to share his vast knowledge and "secrets"...I am sure he would appreciate the thought. Holly-B Apiary P.O.Box 26 Wells,Maine 04090-0026 www.cybertours.com/~midnitebee ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 19:46:26 +0900 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: j h & e mcadam Subject: Re: Do Bees heat their Home? MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Alden Marshall and Jim Jensen have contributed information on baffle arrangements to assist bees in ventilating their hives. Under South Australian conditions where the hives yield a harvest 10 months of the year and we visit the hives at monthly intervals, our usual practice is to have one full depth super and one smaller size (we call this a Manley and it is probably three-quarters full depth). In this size hive, and in our smaller mating nucleus hives of 5 frames, bees are capable of very sophisticated heating and cooling arrangements provided they have access to water. They can manage the heating/cooling even better with one entrance and no ventilation holes. The mating nucleus hives with an entrance space of about one inch over-winter very well and are bursting with strength for our early spring queen replacements. The hive organises a double shift around the entrance, with bees on one side drawing air in and on the other side expelling air from the hive. Ventilation holes interfere with the controlled air flow. The difference in air flow can be felt with a bare hand on one side or the other of the entrance. Provided the entrance does not become clogged with dead bees or rubbish, I recommend a single entrance. Ventilation holes will be necessary if you are moving the hives in hot weather. Betty McAdam HOG BAY APIARY Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island j.h. & e. mcadam Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: j h & e mcadam Subject: Using feathers as bee brushes MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Garth wrote: Tell me what happens if you use an ostrich feather as a bee brush?? No ostriches around here but we have a surfeit of turkeys that are rounded up once a year. A local beekeeper (now deceased) of 80+ years declared to me that a turkey feather was an ideal bee brush - "the bees don't mind at all". However I prefer my bee brush - I carry a plastic tool carry case filled with water and dip the brush between each frame - the carry case is more visible and I can leave it on top of the hive instead of hunting for the bee brush. Betty McAdam HOG BAY APIARY Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island j.h. & e. mcadam Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: j h & e mcadam Subject: Re: Eucalyptus Information MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Walter asked for information on eucalyptus varieties. Trevor Weatherhead has listed some excellent reference sources. Eucalyptus species have been planted extensively world wide and must be valuable nectar sources even though they are not planted for that purpose. The eucalyptus species existing in the natural bush state have evolved to fit niche conditions. For 20 miles around my home 80% of the eucalypts are a mallee species unique to this area of Kangaroo Island. As they only flower every 7 years this means I must look further afield for reliable nectar sources. The premium honey of Kangaroo Island is produced from Eucalyptus Cladocalyx. (Sugar Gum) The tree is so named because the young leaves are sweet tasting and attractive to cattle. Unfortunately the sweet taste is not sugar but prussic acid so stock must be watched to ensure they do not over-indulge. Sugar Gum have evolved on Kangaroo Island and the adjacent Flinders Ranges and are magnificent tall trees flowering in mid-summer and producing an excellent honey flow for approximately 8 weeks. The flowering cycle produces an extremely strong honey flow approximately every 3 years with an average flow in intervening years but Sugar Gum has failed to produce this year to the consternation of those beekeepers who rely on harvesting Sugar Gum rather than working all year managing smaller honey flows. The tree does have one disconcerting habit which should be borne in mind. As all the vegetation is borne at the end of the branch the high branches have a habit of breaking in high wind, crashing down on passing motorists or an adjacent fence. The resulting tree hollows provide excellent nesting space for cockatoos and possums. Sugar Gum has, I believe, been planted extensively in South Africa. Other eucalypt species producing honey on Kangaroo Island are White Mallee (E. diversivolia), Brown Stringybark (E. baxterii) and Cup Gum (E. Cosmophylla). Every 7 years or so I do get a good harvest from Kangaroo Island Narrow-Leaf Mallee (E. cneorifolia). Betty McAdam HOG BAY APIARY Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island j.h. & e. mcadam From: Andy Sutherland Organization: Manchester University and UMIST Subject: Re: Varroa mesh Comments: To: hogbay@kin.on.net Hi everyone, >I am the Secretary of the Oldham & district beekeepers association. >We have made quite a number of Varroa floors and are looking for a cheap supplier of wire mesh, >and were wondering if anyone could help. >Thanks > >Andy Sutherland ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 12:55:20 GMT+0200 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Garth Organization: Rhodes University South Africa Subject: Re: laying workers and swarms > From: Jerry J Bromenshenk > Subject: Re: egg laying after swarming > > Jerry wrote: > > This may not be a laying worker. Contrary to popular notion, we find > that queens in small colonies often lay 2 or more eggs in a cell. > Not quite as scattered as a laying worker, but otherwise much the > same. After the new brood emerges, this stops. I base this > observation on several hundred units closely monitored for our > research over a 20 year period. This is an extremely interesting piece of information. Some recent research has shown that the laying worker activity seen in cape bees, where workers lay eggs that develop innto workers is not restricted to capensis, but can be founnd in other bees such as scutellata as well. (apparently in mozambique or tanzania or some such place it was found that laying workers with a frequency of 1 in a 1000 could lay worker eggs) In the case of our bees, when one gets laying workers in a swarm it is usually from a hive which has requeened. Here, once a queen has died and workers have commenced queen rearinng they begin to lay eggss as well. (hence one can have a strong hive without a queen but with queen cells being produced right up until when a queen hatches. What I have noticed however is that this laying worker activity (detected by badly placed eggs in largenumbers) decreases rapidly after the queen beings laying. Up until this point it continues. (one can tell laying cape workers by looking in worker combs - if it is a laying worker laying the eggs they lie flat and at all angles often up to ten in a cell - if it is a queen all eggs face the same way and point out of the cell at a slight angle) Apparently in EHB's however worker policing stops all (supposedly) diploid eggs. > Question: Does the queen finally figure it out? or Does the queen Or does something in queen pheremone make the bees more deceitful? > continue to put too many eggs in some of the cells, and the workers > remove the extras? As the colony grows in size, it has more > workers, and more "hands" to do miscellaneous chores. > Another case of my favorite notion: The bees didn't read the books. But I certainly wish I could read the way they do!! Then would not have to worry about AATGGC ETC!! Keep well Garth Garth Cambray Camdini Apiaries Grahamstown Apis mellifera capensis Eastern Cape Prov. South Africa Time = Honey Standard Disclaimer applies to this post. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 13:17:53 GMT+0200 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Garth Organization: Rhodes University South Africa Subject: Stale comb Hi All I recently got given a present from an old lady who once kept bees. She gave me thirty sheets of wax foundation. On closer inspection I saw that the cells were 5.0mm accross. The wax had gone white and was very brittle. I attached it to frames, and then placed it into a single that I made into a double just by moving five frames up into the second brood box and leaving five down, then placing foundation between and feedinng sugar. Within a week (and 6kg's of sugar later) the combs were drawn. Naughty bees: they drew old comb (25 years old) that was the wrong size (our bees only draw 4.8 -4.9 comb reportedly). And what is more there are now 10 frames of big bees that will be hatching around about now and in the nnext few weeks!! Keep well Garth Garth Cambray Camdini Apiaries Grahamstown Apis mellifera capensis Eastern Cape Prov. South Africa Time = Honey Standard Disclaimer applies to this post. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 10:16:27 +0200 Reply-To: jtemp@xs4all.nl Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Jan Tempelman Organization: Home Subject: Re: Do Bees heat their Home? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable sensor on the underside of the crown board and remarkable to see how quick the temp is 34-35=B0C after you open/close a hive (and a inspection of all the frames) within 2 min. the 34-35=B0C is already been established again greeting, jan Graham Read EOS wrote: >=20 > I've kept one of those electronic car thermometers you can buy with a > temperature sensor > on the end of a wire in one hive for the past year (hardly scientific I > know, but its interesting to take a peek at > the temperature in the hive every now & then). > During breeding (last year & now) the temperature remained remarkedly > constant at 34 - 35 degrees Celcius, > even while, as now, the air temperature is only 5 C. During the (mild) > winter the hive was usually at 8 - 15 C.Amazing. > Graham >=20 =B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0= =B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0= =B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0 Jan Tempelman / Ineke Drabbe | mailto:jtemp@xs4all.nl Sterremos 16 3069 AS Rotterdam, The Netherlands Tel/Fax (SOMETIMES) XX 31 (0)10-4569412 http://www.xs4all.nl/~jtemp/index3.html =B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0= =B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0= =B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0 ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 15:12:55 +0100 Reply-To: drs@kulmbach.baynet.de Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "Dr. Reimund Schuberth" Subject: Re: Famous Beekeepers MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Dear Jerry, it is a very interesting thing, you tell us about "famous beekeepers" and what persons have been involved with beekeeping. Are there some anectodes about those more or less famous beekeeping people. You wrote, you lost your original. What do you mean by that? Did you have an article or a book about this theme? If anybody can tell me some intersting stories about those people please do that by a personal email. I would also welcome the title of a book about that. Thanks a lot! Sincerely Reimund _______________________________ Beekeeper in Germany (Bavaria) Queen Rearing of Carniolan Bees Insemination Station _______________________________ Jerry J Bromenshenk schrieb: > I lost my original, but here is what I remember: > > Famous detective. Sherlock Holmes > > Famous explorer: Sir Edmund Hillary > > And some wag asked why Sir Edmund climbed all of those mountains? He was > looking from new places to put his bees. > > Famous movie star: > > Henry Fonda (who wrote letters to the American Bee Journal) > > Peter Fonda, who portrayed a beekeeper in this year's critically acclaimed > movie, Ulyee's Gold. > > Famous Ship Captain: (One of the big passenger ships that sank - can't > remember how to spell it, starts with L) I remember joking that he > obviously didn't go down with the ship and got a spam that ship's captains > are the last to depart, nothing says they have to go down with the ship. > > Oldest record of a beekeeper (appears to be a young woman): > > Cave painting in La Arana Spain, believed to be 8000 yrs old. > > Ancient Greek and Roman beekeepers (writers, philosophers). > > Greek: Aristotle (writes about bees, but didn't know some basics of > biology, suggesting he did not directly observer bees) > > Roman: The following wrote about the "commercial side of the business" > > Cato, Varro, Columella, and Palladius. > > Inventors: > > This could go on for pages, but some of the equipment that we currently use > is of relatively recent origin: > > Revd Dr. H.C.J. Dzierzon, Silesia, father of modern central European > beekeeping, > 91811-1906) > > Lorenzo Lorrain Langstroth, USA, modern beekeeping practices, 1852, > Langstroth Hive > > Johannes Mehring, Germany, 1857, comb foundation > > Major Hruschka, Austria, 1865, extractor > > Moses Quinby, USA, 1866, large frame leading to Dadant frame > 1875, modern smoker > > Abbe Collin, France, 1865, queen excluder > > E.C. Porter, USA, 1891, bee escape > > Charles Dadant family (Charles (1817-1902) moved to the USA from France). > The family holds numerous patents, including crimp wired foundation. > > Elton J. Dyce, USA, 1935, Dyce process to produce granulated honey. > > Jerry J. Bromenshenk, Ph.D. > Director, DOE/EPSCoR & Montana Organization for Research in Energy > The University of Montana-Missoula > Missoula, MT 59812-1002 > E-Mail: jjbmail@selway.umt.edu > Tel: 406-243-5648 > Fax: 406-243-4184 > http://www.umt.edu/biology/more > http://www.umt.edu/biology/bees ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 09:49:48 -0500 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Joel Govostes Subject: Re: Famous Beekeepers? In-Reply-To: <3.0.3.16.19980308113708.3d57bc9a@selway.umt.edu> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Dr. Bromenshenk wrote ("famous beekeepers"): >... >Famous Ship Captain: (One of the big passenger ships that sank - can't >remember how to spell it, starts with L) ... Lucitania? (sp?), maybe? ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 10:11:22 -0500 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Jerry J Bromenshenk Subject: Re: Do Bees heat their Home? In-Reply-To: <350383A8@EOSPOST.eos.co.uk> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 09:47 PM 3/8/98 PST, you wrote: >I've kept one of those electronic car thermometers you can buy with a >temperature sensor >on the end of a wire in one hive for the past year (hardly scientific I >know, but its interesting to take a peek at >the temperature in the hive every now & then). You can examine two weeks of temperature data for severn beehives in MT in August on our Web Page - either download the text files and import into your spreadsheets or click on the JAVA files and the graphs will appear on your screen (no need to import into a spreadsheet). The core temperatures appear under the Alpha Interface Files. http://www.umt.edu/biology/bees Cheers Jerry Jerry J. Bromenshenk jjbmail@selway.umt.edu http://www.umt.edu/biology/bees ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 22:10:57 -0700 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Robert E Butcher Subject: Re: Famous Beekeepers? It's spelled Lusitania; A British liner On Mon, 9 Mar 1998 09:49:48 -0500 Joel Govostes writes: >Dr. Bromenshenk wrote ("famous beekeepers"): >>... >>Famous Ship Captain: (One of the big passenger ships that sank - >can't >>remember how to spell it, starts with L) ... > >Lucitania? (sp?), maybe? > _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 14:20:19 -0500 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Midnitebee Subject: EAS 1998/updates MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Greetings! I apologize for any confusion for my web site location: www.cybertours.com/~midnitebee My web site has been redesigned to allow the viewer to read the latest updates from the "front" page of my web site...no need to find hidden files under the beelinks page. Herb(Midnitebee) Holly-B Apiary P.O.Box 26 Wells,Maine 04090-0026 www.cybertours.com/~midnitebee ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 12:01:05 -0800 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "Rich, Charles" Subject: Six-dimensional honeybee dances MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain I heard an intriguing interview with mathematician, Barbara Shipman, on National Public Radio last November about her discovery that the shapes of honeybees' foraging recruitment dances map directly to the "shadows" of six-dimensional shapes projected down to two-dimensions (flat surface). Here are two references to the story. No heavy math in these, but just one more thing to love about Bees. (Discovery Magazine, article) http://www.discover.com/netahtml/index.html (NPR Interview with Dr. Shipman) http://www.npr.org/plweb-cgi/fastweb?getdoc+npr+npr+5684+8+wAAA+honeybee Charles Rich (Seattle, USA) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 13:27:50 -0600 Reply-To: allend@internode.net Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Allen Dick Subject: Re: Homemade Science MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Just to keep you posted, we have got an interesting discussion of practical nosema diagnosis going at: http://www.internode.net/honeybee/BeeScience/Nosema.htm If you have problems with this site, I apologize. Sometimes the ISP goes down, anfd ocasionally I am working on it. So -- as always -- if you cannot get the site to respond the first time you try, please try again a time or two later before giving up. Allen ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 19:46:48 EST Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: GImasterBK Subject: Re: Using feathers as bee brushes Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit The type of BRUSH depends upon what you are using it for! As a group, bees don't like a brush for two different reasons: Bees get entangled in the bristles, just like being caught in your hair, and this arouses them. Often, probably most of the time, the brush is being used ROUGHLY and RAPIDLY, something easily seen by the bee and they are aroused. If you are using a brush to gently move bees around on a frame as you inspect it for brood age, disease, or whatever, that is akin to using a shovel to put icing on cookies! Why not just use your bare fingers, and gently push the bees aside! You will rarely be stung; but DON'T DO IT WITH GLOVES!. But if you really want to use some type of brush, goose feathers are wonderful, and you just keep one or two stuck in your hat. In my 65 years of beekeeping, I try to teach beginners you can always do the best work bare-handed; and throw bee brushes away because their use makes bees upset. Look around your area, find some geese, and collect some goose feathers. They are next best to bare hands. Someone might ask about capped honey frame removal. I use preferably BENZALDEHYDE or "stinky" BeeGo and a fume board. Many beekeepers use a bee brush and worry about being stung. I have removed 30-40 supers of honey in a 2 hour period dressed in shorts and veil; but I would have to put on my bee suit to remove just 1-2 supers of honey if I brushed the bees. George Imirie - Wow, my bees are chafing at the bit to nectar collect! ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 19:26:42 -0600 Reply-To: allend@internode.net Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Allen Dick Subject: Re: Homemade Science MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Just to keep you posted, we have got an interesting discussion of practical nosema diagnosis and some surprising results at: http://www.internode.net/honeybee/BeeScience/Nosema.htm If you have problems with this site, I apologize. Sometimes the ISP goes down, and ocasionally I am working on it. So -- as always -- if you cannot get the site to respond the first time you try, please try again a time or two a bit later before giving up. Allen ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 22:45:05 -0700 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Donald Aitken Subject: Re: Using feathers as bee brushes In-Reply-To: <30bfb55b.35048d7a@aol.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Bees certainly don't enjoy being brushed with anything, but they really hate our natural (horsehair?) brush. They get tangled up in it and try to sting the bristles. We have a synthetic fibre brush with very smooth bristles; they don't like it but they are much less aggressive toward it than they are towards the natural one. Donald Aitken 11710-129 Street Edmonton Alberta Canada T5M 0Y7 ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 10 Mar 1998 01:54:23 -0600 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Teresa Garcma Subject: Taktik and mangoes MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable I keep my hives in a prairie that will receive Taktik to control cattle=20 ticks. Will this affect my bees? The grass has no flowers. I read Mango trees don=B4t produce nectar, but I=B4m not sure. Do Mango=20 trees produce nectar or not? I will aprreciate very much your comments Tere Tropical subhumid Mexico ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 10 Mar 1998 09:07:21 GMT+0200 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Garth Organization: Rhodes University South Africa Subject: Re: using feathers as a bee brush Hi George and All Thanks for the reply about using a goose brush. I will try that at some point - although I suspect here it will be a bad move with our bees as they definitely hate water fowl. On the topic of pulling honey, I have found when pulling from my hives by fart the easiest way of getting the bees out is just to take the whole super, hold it in front of the hive and drop one side sharply (not so that it breaks the combs) against the ground - soon the bees are scenting the entrance of the hive and then if the super is placed about an arms length from the hive they will just all walk out of the super into the hive iin about five minutes. This does not work so well during a dearth or on hot days. It also only works onb supers that are fully capped. Interestingly I have also found that making bees scent their hive entrance, by dumping some bees of a frame or super in front of the hive is one of the easiest ways of quietening a beehive. (I do all my hive manipulations withoug any protective gear whatsoever and will now usually average only about five or so stings for working through 20 hives) Also, in africa, anybody who is rough with bees soon has no bees - one tap too many and you will kill a large proportion of a beehive - beacuse it will sting things. (Learning to work with bees has cost me a good couple of nucs worth of bees lost to stinging - one can seriously weaken a big hive by aggravating them and causing them to rampage) Has anybody noticed a strange reaction in bees due to diethyltoluamide? (in bug repellant?) I have noticed it drives them to een sting each other to death. Keep well Garth Garth Cambray Camdini Apiaries Grahamstown Apis mellifera capensis Eastern Cape Prov. South Africa Time = Honey Standard Disclaimer applies to this post. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 10 Mar 1998 00:09:39 -0600 Reply-To: allend@internode.net Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Allen Dick Subject: Re: Do Bees heat their Home? Comments: To: Jerry J Bromenshenk In-Reply-To: <3.0.3.16.19980309080637.52a7d196@selway.umt.edu> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT > You can examine two weeks of temperature data for severn beehives in MT > in August on our Web Page - either download the text files and import > into your spreadsheets or click on the JAVA files and the graphs > will appear on your screen (no need to import into a spreadsheet). The > core temperatures appear under the Alpha Interface Files. > > http://www.umt.edu/biology/bees > Hi Jerry & al. I'm spending a bit of time there just now, and also spent some time a while back. It's pretty exciting to be able to get all this data and mull it over. I tried both the methods of viewing you suggested and find that I am guessing in both cases what exactly I am looking at. I don't think I can't reach any conclusions without more information. I imagine you will be adding descriptions as you find time (and grad students) to do the work, but in the meantime, I am curious: In the text files, is the second column the ambient temperature? What are things like bbee-tempA2? Where exactly are the sensors in the 'upper' and 'lower' parts? How much ventillation do they have? How large are the populations? Are these hives productive? I figured out to find the ambient info in some dfferent files on the same page, and it is possible to run several windows at once to compare the rain, wind, temperature on August 1st, for example, but I'm still guessing about some important factors. Maybe there are explanations somewhere and I just missed them or maybe not. Maybe you could help us out with this? BTW, I see the picture of the hive, but cannot puzzle out the details. Are the frames nuc frames? Allen ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 10 Mar 1998 14:36:24 -0400 Reply-To: eunice.wonnacott@pei.sympatico.ca Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Eunice Wonnacott Subject: Bee Diseases MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Anyone: I am aware of the prohibition by the US Government against US trade with Cuba. Hopefully information is permitted?? Does anyone know what bee inspection programs are in place in Cuba? Does Cuba have the same diseases as North America? What about Acarine and Varroa mites? If this poses a problem for our USA members, I apologize, and will understand if replies come only from other countries. Any information would be very much appreciated. Here in PEI we are still "mite free" and are doing our best to remain that way. Eunice Wonnacott PEI Beekeepers Co-Operative Association Limited ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 09:21:34 GMT+0200 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Garth Organization: Rhodes University South Africa Subject: Re: BEE-L Digest - 9 Mar 1998 to 10 Mar 1998 In-Reply-To: > From: Garth > Subject: Re: using feathers as a bee brush > > hives by fart the easiest way of getting the bees out is just to take Hello All I hope my 'rude' typo did not offend anybody - blame it on a microsoft keyboard and bad proof reading!! (I am sure the typo is not cleared as a 'Bee Go' substance!! Keep well Garth Garth Cambray Camdini Apiaries Grahamstown Apis mellifera capensis Eastern Cape Prov. South Africa Time = Honey Standard Disclaimer applies to this post. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 09:21:52 -0600 Reply-To: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: Elroy Rogers Subject: Re: Excluders, foundation, and comb honey... MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi everyone, I would like to mention that a lot of beekeepers have successfully had bees make comb honey in the past without using queen excluders (honey excluders). I really enjoy working on my bees in the summer, not using a excluder,though I must put supers on more often. I see it as a real challenge to keep the queen out of the honey supers, and makes beekeeping alot more interesting. Most new beekeepers are always opening the hive more often anyway why not learn the right way to make honey. I had 30 colonies last year which out produced everyone else in the area except one colony, it also no honey excluder in it. The bees are less likely to swarm when not using the excluder because they can move freely throughout the colony. I tried an excluder once and thought it was the worst piece of bee equipment made, but then I did learn from an old timer which was so against the excluders that he asked for the package bees back when I asked him about excluders. I am getting ready for expanding to 120 colonies this spring and no excluders used except to get 2 queen colonies started. To all newbees that would like the option not to use an excluder just switch the brood chambers every 2 to 3 weeks, and don't put supers on to quick. Swithing the brood chambers when the queen moves up into the second story is a very easy task you can also check on the health of the bees at that time. This also keeps the honey out of the brood chamber area which prevents pluging. I place the second super on when the first gets half way full, the third super is put on when the first is almost full. the second is the rotated with the first putting it on top of the brood chamber. By switch the two brood chambers the queen has plenty of room and feels less crowded, which is the reason see moves up into the supers. The queen does prefer the dark brood comb over the new white comb. Beekeeping is alot more fun without the honey excluders but that is my own perspective on beekeeping. have lots of fun this summer. Elroy ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 11:53:07 -0500 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Lloyd Spear Subject: Comb Honey Elroy Roger's note on keeping queens out of comb honey supers without using excluders was excellent and will work fine. I exclusively raise comb honey and will share another method that I learned from Killion. Have the first super, on top of the brood nest, be a Ross Rounds super. Above that put a cut comb super. For some reason queens do not like that complicated space in a Ross Round super, and in over 20 years I've never had a queen lay in a Ross Rounds super and Killion's experience was similar. The bees will not draw out the comb in the cut comb super until the Ross Round super is well filled. When the Ross Round super is about 75% full, move the cut comb super down on top of the brood nest and put the Ross Round super above. By this time, the bees will have established a 2" (or so) honey barrier on the top of the brood nest, which the queen will not cross to get to the cut comb super. If another cut comb super is desired, it can then be added directly to the top of the brood nest and the partially finished first cut comb super moved up. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 11:32:40 +0100 Reply-To: Barry@Birkey.com Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Barry Birkey Organization: BIRKEY.COM Subject: Re: Excluders, foundation, and comb honey... MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Elroy - > To all newbees that would like the option not to use an excluder just switch the > brood chambers every 2 to 3 weeks, and don't put supers on to quick. Swithing the > brood chambers when the queen moves up into the second story is a very easy task Your method sounds like a good way to be looking in the hive on a regular basis but how does your back hold up to all the lifting? Doing this with 10 hives would be hard enough for me and I can't imagine working 30. More power to you! :>) -Barry -- Barry Birkey West Chicago, Illinois USA Barry@Birkey.com http://www.birkey.com ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 13:40:47 -0500 Reply-To: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: Marc Sevigny Subject: Bees and water in winter MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I was wondering when I put an extender patty on this weekend what the bees do for water in the winter. Clearly, water is consumed (and can be visible as condensation in the hive). When the bees are clustered, and extender patties or dry sugar is placed on the top bars, do they have difficulty obtaining enough moisture to consume it? ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 12:43:30 -0600 Reply-To: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: "Jim G. Shoemaker" Subject: Re: Excluders, foundation, and comb honey... In-Reply-To: <3506AC0D.DADC16AD@starpoint.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Hello Elroy: I generally don't switch brood chambers and I don't use excluders and I seldom have any brook in my comb honey supers. I use, and have for years, Walter Kelley's 7/11 foundation. The imprint is said to be larger than worker brood and smaller than drone. I can't say if this method equals the honey production of other management styles but it works for me. Jim Shoemaker Brookline, MO USA (near Springfield and Bass Pro Shop) ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 13:53:11 +0000 Reply-To: sysam@cnsibm.albany.edu Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: Aaron Morris Organization: University at Albany Subject: Re: Bees and water in winter In-Reply-To: <01BD4CF3.505B8160@EVEREST> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT > From: Marc Sevigny > When the bees are clustered, and extender patties or dry > sugar is placed on the top bars, do they have difficulty > obtaining enough moisture to consume it? There is sufficient water vapor condensing as a result of bees metabolizing honey to give them all the water they need and more. Lack of water isn't the problem, too much water is! At least in these parts (upstate New York). Aaron Morris - I think, therefore I bee! ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 12:53:07 -1000 Reply-To: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: "Thomas W. Culliney" Subject: Re: Bees as weapons In-Reply-To: <199803040333.WAA27989@pen2.pen.k12.va.us> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII On Tue, 3 Mar 1998, Frederick L. Hollen wrote: > The Romans used to load hives of bees on their catapults and > throw them at their enemies. This was so effective that they > depleted central Italy of bee colonies for their ammunition. > > Considering the leather skirts, tunics, etc. worn by ancient > soldiers, a hive crashing down in the middle of a cohort of > advancing soldiers, or over the wall of a fortress, would > likely have been quite effective. . . > > In the Middle Ages, defenders of castles would sometimes drop > hives over the walls into the beseiging armies. It seems more likely the "bee hives" were aerial hornet (yellowjacket) nests. These insects are mean to begin with and can sting repeatedly, whereas, as we all know, a honey bee worker can sting but once. ************************************************************************* Tom Culliney Hawaii Dept. of Agriculture, Division of Plant Industry, 1428 South King St., Honolulu, HI 96814, U.S.A. E-mail: culliney@elele.peacesat.hawaii.edu Telephone: 808-973-9528 FAX: 808-973-9533 "To a rough approximation and setting aside vertebrate chauvinism, it can be said that essentially all organisms are insects."--R.M. May (1988) "Bugs are not going to inherit the earth. They own it now. So we might as well make peace with the landlord."--T. Eisner (1989) ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 17:50:58 -0500 Reply-To: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: Lloyd Spear Subject: Marc Sevigny re. bees and water Marc, honey that the bees consume over winter contains some 10% + or - water. The bees generate heat to keep themselves and larvae warm, and that heat causes moisture to condense in the hive. If sufficient condensation is present it can kill your bees...which is why ventilation is so important in the winter. The bees do need water to use the dry sugar. Moreover, as they begin to raise larvae in ernest they need more water than they can get from the honey. In mid-summer they get lot's of water from nectar, which can be as much as 99% water. In the very early spring when nectar sources are poor (maples, for example, have lot's of pollen but little nectar) bees will congregate at any "puddle" or water source then can find so they can get water to dilute the honey to make larvae food. The bees will not do much at all with either the patty or dry sugar (other than throw it out of the hive) until they can get some water. However, they are truly ingenious at finding it so they will as soon as they can fly. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 23:01:13 -0500 Reply-To: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: Ben Hanson Subject: digest form of list? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hello all, Two questions: First, is there a digest form of this list available so I don't receive 12-20 daily messages? A compiled form of all would be much easier to browse. Second, I have an old hive from a friend whose bees died over a decade ago from mites. Before reusing this hive, is there any special 'sanitizing' that I need to do? Or is the time frame sufficient enough by itself to let it be safe? Thanks Ben Hanson bhanson@vaix2.net ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 23:03:50 +0100 Reply-To: Barry@Birkey.com Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: Barry Birkey Organization: BIRKEY.COM Subject: Re: Bees as weapons MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I recall a year or so ago a very interesting story Dave Green had about shooting frozen bees at the enemy. A great piece of history if you can find it in the archives. :>) -Barry -- Barry Birkey West Chicago, Illinois USA Barry@Birkey.com http://www.birkey.com ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 08:59:10 GMT+0200 Reply-To: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: Garth Organization: Rhodes University South Africa Subject: Re: honey excluders Hi All On the topic of the excluders, Elroy I aggree fully. A few more observationsI have made: After your bees have finished their rapid comb building state, they are less likely to fill the bee space between a super and the body frames with burr comb - if their is a space, the queen will very infrequenlty cross. Another thing is that if the queen is crossinnng into a super, something is wrong - I always welcome more bees, so if a queen wants more space, give it to her and split. It may also be to do with the genetics of the bees. I have seen bees in some areas that seem to actually welcom honney withing the brood rearinng area - I think for cooling purposes - honey acts as a heat sink. So maybe shopping around for queens is the best way to avoid excluders - I am sure it's cheaper than a hundred excluders. I was talking to a guy who was considering putting excluders on his hives. Here in south africa the cheapest excluder one can get costs just over R30. For his 1000 hives therefore he would be spending R30 000, 1 tenth of his toatl earnings for that year on excluders. He tested a batch on an apiary with five on, and five off and found that the difference in honey production with excluders and without would lob of more than twice the cost of putting super on. (In other words the supers would in total cost him R90 000 a year, which is the cost a new truck!!) Keep well Garth Garth Cambray Camdini Apiaries Grahamstown Apis mellifera capensis Eastern Cape Prov. South Africa Time = Honey Standard Disclaimer applies to this post. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 10:34:34 +0000 Reply-To: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: John Goodman Subject: ANTI-INFLAMMATORY DRUGS & BEE STINGS Comments: To: APINET-L Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" KEEP TAKING THE TABLETS! ============ From: Claire Waring Subject: Re: ANTI-INFLAMATORY DRUGS & BEE STINGS X-Mailer: Turnpike Version 3.01 In message <3.0.5.32.19980305132911.007d3850@150.150.100.13>, John Goodman writes >Claire, >Do you have the reference/details of the article in question? Many thanks >in anticipation. > >(Harry Riches FRCP has investigated this thoroughly and written articles in >Bee Craft. The editor, Claire Waring at will probably be able to tell you >more. My memory say the message is "don't worry". Chris Slade) > Dear John Thanks for your message. The latest item by Harry Riches on NSAIDs was in February 1997, page 59. He refers to an article in June 1986 (page 184). His lecture in 1998 was published in Bee World, (1989), Vol 70, No 1, pp 12-18. 'Recent problems in th treatment of bee venom allergy' was published by the Central Association of Beekeepers in 1990 and was included in their composite publication 'Keeping Bees'. His article 'Keep taking the tablets' was published in Bee Craft, October 1990, pp 301-302. ============= It now seems that the NSAIDs scare was a typical cyberspace hype, unless you know better! ... the letter of Dave Black (Bee Craft Nov 1996) perpetuates the unsubstantiated contention that ibuprofen, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), can alter the immune response to stings ... internet ... 'rubbish in, rubbish out'. [Bee Craft (Feb 1997) H.R.C. Riches, MD, FRCP] Refs: Bee Craft (Feb 1997) H.R.C. Riches, MD, FRCP Bee Craft (Nov 1996) Dave Black Bee Craft (Oct 1990) H.R.C. Riches, MD, FRCP Sealle-Hayne '88 H.R.C. Riches, MD, FRCP Bee Craft (Jun 1986) Post Bag etc etc You'll need to read the references to get the full story - in the mean time ... Happy Beekeeping! JOHN GOODMAN Regional Bee Inspector, NE England CSL National Bee Unit, UK # http://www.csl.gov.uk/navf.htm) # Tel/Message:+44 (0)1833 690561 Fax(at York):+44 (0)1904 462240 j.m.goodman@csl.gov.uk International Coordinator for the "Apinet" APINET BEE (Bee Educ & Ext) NEWS # ( http://www.inter.nl.net/hcc/beenet/ ) # ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 07:57:03 EST Reply-To: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: Pollinator Subject: Re: ANTI-INFLAMMATORY DRUGS & BEE STINGS Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit In a message dated 98-03-12 05:36:02 EST, you write: << It now seems that the NSAIDs scare was a typical cyberspace hype, unless you know better! >> You won't convince me. I have been stung many thousands of times, as a commercial beekeeper. The only time I have ever had a serious, systemic reaction to a sting, was after surgery, when I was taking an ibuprofen-family pain killer. At the time, I was unaware of the connection, so there is NO chance of it being anything "all in my head." It scared the daylights out of me, because bees are my livelihood. I kept away from the bees for another week, then cautiously made one sting me, right at home, where help would be available. There was no abnormal reaction. The drug was cleared from my body. Some guys can get dead drunk with very little alcohol, others can drink amazing amounts with little apparent effect. Everybody's chemistry is different. The effect may be great with some people, but less with others. I believe it is only responsible to make sure people are aware of the possibility. Pollinator@aol.com Dave Green Hemingway, SC USA The Pollination Scene: http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html Jan's Sweetness and Light Shop (Varietal Honeys and Beeswax Candles) http://users.aol.com/SweetnessL/sweetlit.htm ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 08:39:32 -0400 Reply-To: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: Joel Govostes Subject: Re: Marc Sevigny re. bees and water In-Reply-To: <0a0d20212230b38UPIMSSMTPUSR01@email.msn.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" It's sometimes been said that the bees will discard dry sugar, so it is not a useful method of winter or early spring feeding. If you put sugar on you might see some white crumbs being discarded at the entrance. Looks like the bees are tossing the sugar you gave them. But chances are, if you taste the crumbs, they will not be sweet, and it is actually the leftovers of starch that was mixed in with the sugar. There is plenty of moisture within the hive being given off by the bees respiration, to get into the dry sugar (enough to make it edible), if it is at the top of the hive. This puts the moisture given off by the cluster to good use, while keeping them alive til they can access stored or new honey. An easy way to feed the sugar is in a rim, about 1-2" deep, set on the hive beneath the inner cover or lid. A piece of newspaper goes over the top of the brood chamber, under the rim. Then a hole is ripped out of the paper, 2-3 inches in diameter, centered on the cluster. Dry granulated (table) sugar then gets dumped in all around the hole, atop the newspaper. You can get three to five lbs. sugar in there. Cover them up, and that's about it. Gradually the sugar becomes moistened on the surface and the bees will feed on it well. A few pounds will last them 3-4 weeks. Eventually the sugar clumps together; the newspaper is there initially to keep the granules from falling down between the combs, and the bees will chew away the newspaper as they feed. You can also drill a couple of 5/8"-or-so holes in the front edge of the rim, and this acts as an effective upper entrance and vent. These rims can even go on at the beginning of cold weather, to supply a good upper entrance, whether or not you need to put sugar in them later. I have had great success with this plan, and it can reliably save colonies that would otherwise starve out. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 10:08:44 EST Reply-To: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: Aaron Morris MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT SEARCH BEE-L Weapon ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 10:11:35 EST Reply-To: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: Aaron Morris Subject: SEARCH BEE-L WEAPON MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Oops, did it again, sorry! I will write a thousand times, "Service requests go to the server, posts go to the list". Sorry, Aaron ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 10:21:11 EST Reply-To: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: Aaron Morris Subject: Ibuprofen - internet hype or medical fact? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Ibuprofen exacerbates bee sting reactions - internet hype or medical fact? I don't claim any medical expertise or familiarity with the book, but the original posting to BEE-L regarding the issue cited the source as: "... taken from the book "Understanding Prescription Drugs", by Dorthy L. Smith, Pharm D., pp. 270 and 271; Reference: British Medical Journal 292:378, 1986." The internet gave the article world wide exposure but the reference was "old tech". So, who to believe? Don't know. Aspirin works fine for me, no controversy there. Aaron Morris - thinking, now do I send this to the list or the server? ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 10:34:44 EST Reply-To: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: Aaron Morris Subject: Bees as weapons MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT "... a very interesting story Dave Green had about shooting frozen bees at the enemy...." Send a single line of mail to the server: LISTSERV@cnsibm.albany.edy that reads: GETPOST BEE-L 10002 Warning!: Readers will end up walking with a limp! Aaron Morris - thinking someone's pulling my leg! ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 10:18:16 -0600 Reply-To: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: "Thomas D. Harker" Subject: Re: Bees as weapons In-Reply-To: <980312.103512.EST.SYSAM@cnsibm.albany.edu> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 10:34 AM 3/12/98 EST, you wrote: >"... a very interesting story Dave Green had about shooting frozen bees >at the enemy...." > >Send a single line of mail to the server: > LISTSERV@cnsibm.albany.edy >that reads: > GETPOST BEE-L 10002 > >Warning!: Readers will end up walking with a limp! > >Aaron Morris - thinking someone's pulling my leg! > And .edu works better than .edy for those who cut and paste without spell checking. :-) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 17:39:14 GMT Reply-To: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: Computer Software Solutions Ltd Subject: Clearing bees from Brood Chamber Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hi All I am studying how to find the queen if the usual procedure fails. One of the ideas I have come across, involves shaking or brushing the bees from the combs, and subsequently placing these combs above a queen excluder. The bees will move up to the brood on the combs, but the queen will be unable to do so because of the excluder. I am wondering if using BENZALDEHYDE would work as it does with clearing supers, or would it be too severe on the nurse bees and the queen. If it works, it may save a lot of hassle with the bees. If it does not work, is there any other system of clearing the bees except shaking or brushing?. Whilst on the subject of finding the queen, I came across an idea which I put out for comment. It is as follows: 'When you kill a queen, stick a pin through the body, and store under refrigeration. Then when you wish to find the queen, stick the body on to a frame in the hive, and shortly afterwards you will find the queen stinging what she believes to be a rival.' Is this a leg pull or is there something to it? Thanks for input as always. Sincerely Tom Barrett 49 South Park Foxrock Dublin 18 Ireland e mail cssl@iol.ie Tel + 353 1 289 5269 Fax + 353 1 289 9940 Latitude 53 Deg 16' 12.8" North Longitude 06 Deg 9' 44.9" West 3 miles - 5 km from the Irish Sea Mild winters - cool to moderately warm summers. Being Ireland, it rains a lot! ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 10:26:35 -0800 Reply-To: robert.kearney@pwgsc.gc.ca Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: "robert.kearney" Organization: Public Works and Government Services Canada Subject: Jenter Queen Rearing Kit MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit A few years ago I bought a Jenter Queen Rearing Kit. I have used it a few times but I have not had much sucess with it. The main problem is the workers keep eating the eggs the queen has laid in the plastic cells. Has any body used the kit? If you would care to contact me my email address is robert.kearney@pwgsc.gc.ca ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 15:57:48 EST Reply-To: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: GImasterBK Subject: Re: digest form of list? Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Ben Hanson; Of all the many bee diseases, the only one that stays "alive" after the death of the bees is American Foul Brood. The Beltsville Research Lab carefully stored a bunch of equipment that was contaminated with AFB in 1922, 76 years ago. Each year, a tiny piece of that equipment is cultured by the LAB, and those AFB spores are "alive and well" after 76 years. If you are ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE that the equipment never had bees contaminated with AFB housed in it, AND IF THE BEES OWNER DID NOT TREAT HIS BEES WITH TERRAMYCIN (which does NOT KILL AFB spores), then the equipment is probably 100% disease free. Just give it a good scrubbing and use it. Unless you are absolutely sure that the bees never had AFB, I would never use the equipment myself, unless you could have treated with Ethylene Oxide or gamma radiation. You are just begging for trouble otherwise. It is so very unfortunate that so many beekeepers have been led to believe that Terramycin KILLS AFB, and it does not! Just as human diabetics can stay alive by continual use of insulin, likewise with Terramycin and AFB. Once the AFB spores get in the wood, bees can be kept alive in that equipment ONLY IF TERRAMYCIN is used EVERY YEAR from now on. Good Luck! George Imirie ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 18:31:30 +0200 Reply-To: jtemp@xs4all.nl Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: Jan Tempelman Organization: Home Subject: Re: SEARCH BEE-L WEAPON MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 Y29weS9wYXN0ZT8/IDstKA0Kb3Igd3JpdGU/PyA7LSkNCg0KQWFyb24gTW9ycmlzIHdyb3Rl Og0KPiANCj4gT29wcywgZGlkIGl0IGFnYWluLCBzb3JyeSEgIEkgd2lsbCB3cml0ZSBhIHRo b3VzYW5kIHRpbWVzLCAiU2VydmljZQ0KPiByZXF1ZXN0cyBnbyB0byB0aGUgc2VydmVyLCBw b3N0cyBnbyB0byB0aGUgbGlzdCIuDQo+IA0KPiBTb3JyeSwgQWFyb24NCrCwsLCwsLCwsLCw sLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsA0KSmFuIFRl bXBlbG1hbiAvIEluZWtlIERyYWJiZSAgICAgfCAgICAgbWFpbHRvOmp0ZW1wQHhzNGFsbC5u bA0KU3RlcnJlbW9zIDE2ICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgMzA2OSBBUyBSb3R0ZXJkYW0sIFRoZSBO ZXRoZXJsYW5kcw0KVGVsL0ZheCAoU09NRVRJTUVTKSBYWCAzMSAoMCkxMC00NTY5NDEyDQpo dHRwOi8vd3d3LnhzNGFsbC5ubC9+anRlbXAvaW5kZXgzLmh0bWwNCrCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCw sLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsA0KDQo= ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 00:13:30 +0200 Reply-To: jtemp@xs4all.nl Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: Jan Tempelman Organization: Home Subject: Re: Clearing bees from Brood Chamber MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Computer Software Solutions Ltd wrote: > 'When you kill a queen, stick a pin through the body, and store under > refrigeration. Then when you wish to find the queen, stick the body on = to a > frame in the hive, and shortly afterwards you will find the queen sting= ing > what she believes to be a rival.' > Being Ireland, it rains a lot! (The Netherlands to, and cold) change two broodframes between two hives, will be the same ?? Brasil method ?? or what about synthetic queen feromone (sqf)????? and the dream about a little trap with the sqf??? little plastic container with a lure>>5 min. in a hive and the queen will= be in and thousand other nice dreams unfortunately, but only dreams!!! keep om dreaming!!!! greeting, jan =B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0= =B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0= =B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0 Jan Tempelman / Ineke Drabbe | mailto:jtemp@xs4all.nl Sterremos 16 3069 AS Rotterdam, The Netherlands Tel/Fax (SOMETIMES) XX 31 (0)10-4569412 http://www.xs4all.nl/~jtemp/index3.html =B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0= =B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0= =B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0=B0 ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 00:17:03 +0200 Reply-To: jtemp@xs4all.nl Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: Jan Tempelman Organization: Home Subject: IOWA MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 YW55IGJlZWtlZXBlciBvcmdhbmlzYXRpb24gb3IgYXNzb2NpYXRpb24gaW4gSU9XQT8/Pw0K cGxlYXNlIGVtYWlsIG1lIGRpcmVjdGx5DQqwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCw sLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLANCkphbiBUZW1wZWxtYW4gLyBJbmVrZSBE cmFiYmUgICAgIHwgICAgIG1haWx0bzpqdGVtcEB4czRhbGwubmwNClN0ZXJyZW1vcyAxNiAg ICAgICAgICAgICAgIDMwNjkgQVMgUm90dGVyZGFtLCBUaGUgTmV0aGVybGFuZHMNClRlbC9G YXggKFNPTUVUSU1FUykgWFggMzEgKDApMTAtNDU2OTQxMg0KaHR0cDovL3d3dy54czRhbGwu bmwvfmp0ZW1wL2luZGV4My5odG1sDQqwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCw sLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLANCg0K ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 18:01:43 -0600 Reply-To: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: Elroy Rogers Subject: Re: Jenter Queen Rearing Kit MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit robert.kearney wrote: > A few years ago I bought a Jenter Queen Rearing Kit. I have used it a > few > times but I have not had much sucess with it. The main problem is the > workers keep eating the eggs the queen has laid in the plastic cells. > Has any body used the kit? If you would care to contact me my email > address is robert.kearney@pwgsc.gc.ca I hope this is not common because I had just purchased the Jenter box and plan to order possibly two more. Maybe the bees think it is foreign to their hive, the directions say to pour honey over it before giving it to the bees and let them become familiar with it a day or two in advance before placing the queen in it. If you get an answer to the problem I would appreciate hearing about it, no sense repeating some one elses mistake. John Calderia has a web site that talks about it a little, if you go there send him a email maybe he can give some pointers. His web site is below. http://home.earthlink.net/~jcaldeira/beekeeping/ Good luck Elroy ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 19:12:50 EST Reply-To: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: CSlade777 Subject: Re: honey excluders Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Most hives in the UK are the "National" type. 18 1/8 inches square. If each super is put so that the frames run at right angles to the one below it instead of in parallel the tendency for the bees to link adjacent frames with burr comb which forms a bridge for the queen is much reduced. If your hives are square it may be worth trying this instead of a queen excluder. Chris Slade ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 19:12:52 EST Reply-To: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: CSlade777 Subject: Re: Marc Sevigny re. bees and water Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit I think it helps if you make the dry sugar wet, at least until the bees get the idea that this lumpy stuff is food and not debris to be removed. I cut a large X in the side of a kilo bag of sugar, fold the corners back, and gently pour in water until common sense says "stop". The bag is then inverted over the feed hole in the crown board. If at a later visit I squeeze the bag and find an area of hardened sugar it is a simple matter to make another X and pour in water from the top without disturbing the bees. Chris Slade ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 20:14:09 -0500 Reply-To: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: "Vincent J. Coppola Jr." Subject: Tymol MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Does any one know a supplier of Tymol crystals? ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 07:05:34 -0800 Reply-To: richard@centex.net Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: Richard Harkey Organization: Harkey's Honey Subject: Re: Jenter Queen Rearing Kit MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit To: robert.kearney@pwgsc.gc.ca "Mail Returned" Last year I bought a kit from Mann Lake similar to the Jenter system. I plan on trying it out this year. So I would be interested in any info you might recieve. Also, I posted the question as to the success of it and got some response. Will forward to you some of the answers I received. - - - Richard What are the reasons? The only advantage of doing so is that you can also inseminate the eggs with selected semen. So it can be more easy and faster to get bees of a special breed. Sincerely Reimund Beekeeper of Germany (Bavaria) Queen Rearing of Carniolan Bees Insemination Station > Is this "insiminating the egg" as opposed to "inseminating the queen"? > If so what is the process? Sorry I may have expressed it in the wrong way. Let me tell it more detailled. You can also use the uninseminated eggs of drone-cells or of a queen that lays eggs not being inseminated. You then use semen of a fertile drone-breed which is of special interest for you and put the semen on the eggs being layed shortly before. After doing this you can handle the eggs or larva as common. The queens can be forced laying uninseminated eggs by inhalation of carbondioxyd gas. This method is sometimes used in Germany to get better control of the genetic evolution of a breed and to change a breed faster in a certain way. For example it isn't allowed to import queens to New Zealand. So you have to import semen. If you use the common way of changing a breed you need up to 7 generations. But if you inseminate not only the queens but also the eggs you change the breed must faster. This will be too lenghthy to include more. - - - Richard ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 19:12:55 EST Reply-To: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: CSlade777 Subject: Re: Clearing bees from Brood Chamber Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Tom, I forgot to answer your first question. How to find an elusive queen. If you want to find her badly enough, that is for a particular purpose such as replacing her rather than just to admire her, a method I have found successful (with stroppy, suicidal, kamikazi bees) is to take the supers off and place them just in front of the hive. Pick up the brood box and carry it some yards away. Remove the queen excluder and any cover cloth to expose the bees to the light. Place a replacement brood box and floor on the old stand. Have a few frames of foundation handy if the comb is past its prime. Take out a few frames from the outside of the brood box which are mainly stores. Either shake the bees back in the box or lean the frames with bees against the outside of the box. Using the space created arrange the remaining frames in the brood box in pairs with gaps between them. Go away and smoke a pipe of tobacco or make a pot of tea: take your time. When you return spend some time watching the bees. You will find one pair of frames (or a frame leaning against the hive) with the bees behaving differently to the rest. They will have bees with their heads down, abdomens up with the last segment turned down to expose the Nasenov gland (a white transverse streak and the source of the "homing signal" pheromone). By fanning their wings they will be sending a scent signal to their sisters "we're all right,we're with mummy". Try that pair of frames first. Gently take them from the box as a pair and open them like a book. The queen, having hidden from the light, will be between them. Using your third hand you can remove and cage or kill her. What! Are you one of those strange creatures with only two hands? You'll never make a beekeeper. If you want to keep the queen or simply to give yourself thinking time put the pair of frames with the queen into a nucleus box. What you do then depends on what your purpose was in looking for the queen in the first place. Can you help me please? I wanted to contact Michael Mac Giolla Coda about his Galtee bees but his web site/ address is not functioning or, more likely my amateurish attempts to reach it failed. Do you have his address? Chris Slade ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 20:42:31 -0500 Reply-To: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: Bill Bartlett Subject: Worried MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I am worrried tonight in Southern Maryland, USA. We expect a hard freeze tonight. I know the bees themselves can take -80F and still be OK, but I worry because of all the warm weather we have had and the bees have been bringing in lots of pollen and nector AND raising a lot of brood. I am wondering if they will be able to cover all the brood. I have seen this before where the Queen really gets going good in the Spring and then a cold snap comes and they cover what they can and the rest freeze. I don't know what to do about it, so I guess I shouldn't worry too much. Keep warms girls and I'll check on you as soon as I can. billy b ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 21:14:08 -0500 Reply-To: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: Midnitebee Subject: Re: Worried MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > I am worrried tonight in Southern Maryland, USA. >We expect a hard freeze tonight. I know the bees >brood. I have seen this before where the Queen >really gets going good in the Spring and then a >cold snap comes and they cover what they can and >the rest freeze. > I don't know what to do about it, so I guess I >shouldn't worry too much. > >Keep warms girls and I'll check on you as soon as Yes,they will keep warm..and there will be some lose..so goes the continuing saga of the wonderful world of beekeeping...but "by-golly"..nature has it's glorious way of recovering. Maine has gone through quite a bit of "topsy-turvy" changes in weather..now we are in a very cold snap..temps in the low teens and the wind sheild must be in the minus numbers. Bees were just enjoying themselves a few days ago..flying to their hearts content. I too have this "problem" about worrying about the "ladies". Hang in there Billy-B, may your bees (soon)fly with joy and your honey crop overflow Herb > >billy b > ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 19:12:53 EST Reply-To: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: CSlade777 Subject: Re: Clearing bees from Brood Chamber Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Tom, Greetings from England. Bees are always reluctant to leave brood as I found to my cost last year. I cleared bees from supers in 2 or 3 hives with benzaldehyde. There are always a few left which I shake off on the way home. This time I found a sizeable knot of bees in one of the supers when I shook them. When I came to extract I found the reason why - brood. I assumed the queen was also anong the bees I shook off at the side of the road - but that's another story. Chris Slade ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 22:09:01 -0600 Reply-To: lkrengel@mc.net Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: Larry Krengel Subject: Re: Feeding Dry Sugar MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I have fed dry sugar in a pinch. But there is a lack of interest in it among the bees... even though ants will come to collect it.. I often dump what is left when nectar becomes available. I have found more interest in a slurry of granulated sugar and water. With the consistency of paste, I place it on top of the inner cover around the vent hole. In a recent try, I put both dry sugar and this slurry on a number of hives. They consumed the slurry and left the dry sugar. Perhaps the water content makes it more usable. Any thoughts? Larry Krengel Marengo, IL USA Home of Dr. C. C. Miller - a historically important beekeeper - > Marc, honey that the bees consume over winter contains some 10% + or - > > water. The bees generate heat to keep themselves and larvae warm, and > that > heat causes moisture to condense in the hive. If sufficient > condensation is > present it can kill your bees...which is why ventilation is so > important in > the winter. > > The bees do need water to use the dry sugar. Moreover, as they begin > to > raise larvae in ernest they need more water than they can get from the > > honey. In mid-summer they get lot's of water from nectar, which can > be as > much as 99% water. In the very early spring when nectar sources are > poor > (maples, for example, have lot's of pollen but little nectar) bees > will > congregate at any "puddle" or water source then can find so they can > get > water to dilute the honey to make larvae food. > > The bees will not do much at all with either the patty or dry sugar > (other > than throw it out of the hive) until they can get some water. > However, they > are truly ingenious at finding it so they will as soon as they can > fly. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 00:12:56 -0600 Reply-To: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: Teresa Garcma Subject: Re: Clearing bees from Brood Chamber MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable > 'When you kill a queen, stick a pin through the body, and store under > refrigeration. Then when you wish to find the queen, stick the body on = to a > frame in the hive, and shortly afterwards you will find the queen sting= ing > what she believes to be a rival.' Worth trying, but I think the pheromones will fade after the queen dies,=20 even though she=B4s kept refrigerated. Tom S. once told me about this (I=B4ve found it very useful): To find a=20 queen, move the hive about three to five meters away and place another=20 brood chamber with one or two frames. The old bees will enter this brood=20 chamber, while the queen and young bees stay in the hive. The queen will=20 be much easier to find because of less bees, and bees that are gentler=20 too. Then you can put the hive in place again. Tere ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 23:25:38 -0500 Reply-To: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: "Alden P. Marshall" Subject: A screw up What a way to get a lot of personal mail. SORRY - will try to be more alert. I did it right (I think) the second time. Alden Marshall B-Line Apiaries Hudson, NH 03051 Busybee9@Juno.com tel. 603-883-6764 _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 23:00:09 -0500 Reply-To: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: "Alden P. Marshall" Subject: Re: Swarm Control, Will it Work? Have enjoyed all this discussion on swarm reduction methods. I now have some other views to meld into mine. I liked the idea of fooling the bees with a transplanted swarm cell or two. Seems though this would work very well with a frame bought down to the bottom isolated super with the old queen or no queen? Old queen could stay topside without field bees, and just for good measure transfer a couple cells up here also. Would make a great 2 Queen system. Two new swarm queens and perhaps an old one all laying. Sounds to fantastic to be true. Let me say something about swarming. I had a few go last year and you know something those colonies produced just as much as the ones that didn't. I think there is a corollary between the number of bees that leave and the amount of open brood space left. It seems that fewer bees go if there is a lot of open (added) brood space, anyone notice this. Alden Marshall B-Line Apiaries Hudson, NH 03051 Busybee9@Juno.com tel. 603-883-6764 On Fri, 6 Mar 1998 07:19:08 -0600 "Excerpts from BEE-L" writes: >From: gpape >Organization: Sonneheerdt-Ermelo > >The system described looks a lot like the system that is widely used >in >Germany. I tried the method first last spring. > >Yes it works, at least with my hive under test. Doesn't every brutal >disturbance reduce swarming? > >The method I used differs a little; >1 Remove all boxes from bottomboard. >2 Place broodbox with open brood, food and foundation. >3 Place an open separator-device (Snelgrove) with flight-entrance >open. >4 Dont look for the Queen. Let her lay eggs. >5/6/7 Place all the original hive bodies on top of the separator. >8 After 9 days; bottom box has Q-cells and honey > top boxes dont like swarming, no flight-bees. >9 Both sections have still the same smell in there little noses! >Rearrange all boxes in original order. The temporarily bottom box can >be >used as honey super. >10 Feel free to replace the Queen or not. > >--- >Disclaimer: The articles on Best of Bee are often opinion >rather than fact, and are not necessarily completely researched. >Use with caution -- and at your own risk. > _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 02:02:41 PST Reply-To: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: Yasin Yilmaz Subject: Re: Tanging, Banging, or communicate with a swarm Comments: To: richard@centex.net Content-Type: text/plain I am a new beekeeper... (in Turkey) And i use spraying water when ever i saw a swarm and it nearly all the times worked... I just trow up on the swarm some cup of water :)Yes it said that sand can be used instead of water when water is not available, but i did not experienced with that ( i do it once but it did not stop the swarm ) >----Original Message Follows---- >Date: Tue, 3 Mar 1998 05:31:34 -0800 >Reply-To: richard@centex.net >From: Richard Harkey >subject: Tanging, Banging, or communicate with a swarm >To: BEE-L@CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU >HOWDY, I have read, where I don't remember, about this, which also >included spraying water into a swarm - which might indicate to the >swarm >an impending rain storm so should light till weather improved. No water >close to swarm throw sand or dust into the midst to fool them of a dust >storm. Or use a mirror to reflect the sun from a low angle - fool the >swarm of the sun going down, cluster till morning. Communicate??? >I don't chase swarms, if one is close enough to the ground, where I am I >will try to put it into a box. We have close to 1500 colonies and >devides are too easy, also it is an effective remedy to swarming. >Splits plus some other timely manipulations will greatly reduce >swarming. I said "reduce", not eliminate. >Richard - - - Deep in the heart of TEXAS. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 05:52:00 -0500 Reply-To: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: Curtis Seyfried Subject: Re: Tymol Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 08:14 PM 3/12/98 -0500, you wrote: >Does any one know a supplier of Tymol crystals? Not offhand, but I can find out, I have connections to essential oil and flavoring companies who would sell this. Peace and Good Health, (;->) Curtis Seyfried cseyfrie@mail.interport.net POB. 110675 Brooklyn, NY. 11211 (718) 599-2458 ======================== A quote from John Warren - "You never know when, where, how, or under what circumstances, you will see something, hear something, read something, experience something, or meet someone who will change your life forever. Look for those experiences in 1998!" "Technology is of no use to us if it is used without respect for the earth and its processes." -- Aldo Leopold ======================= ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 07:21:05 EST Reply-To: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: tomas mozer Subject: Re: Bee Diseases Comments: To: eunice.wonnacott@pei.sympatico.ca greetings! i too am curious about your query, so checked the apiservices site (http://www.apiservices.com/countries/cuba.html) and found minimal info/stats, but there was a contact listed alejandro alberto leon diaz (e-mail:A.A.leondiaz@biol.ruu.nl) seems worth a try, if you want to pursue it...let me/us know what you find out...wonder if they have any afro-cuban bees? good luck! _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 07:21:05 EST Reply-To: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: tomas mozer Subject: Re: Taktik and mangoes Comments: To: logar@acnet.net saludos! i believe taktic is a formulation of amitraz, the same active ingredient found in the miticur strips that were once registered/available for varroa/tracheal mite control for honeybees in the usa... i think there has been previous discussion on the bee-l about this, some concerns about suspected brood toxicity and possible human carcinogenicity, maybe some calls for its return as an alternative treatment in light of apistan-resistant varroa... you might want to do some further searches on it. as far as mango nectar, i can quote from s.e.mcgregor's "insect pollination of cultivated crop plants": ...the flower opens early in the morning...they secrete nectar in considerable quantity, which attracts a large number of insects...however, relatively little pollen is produced... do not appear to be overly attractive to honey bees, and they tend to open in large numbers at a time of year when many other flowers are also available... buena suerte! _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 14:43:09 +0200 Reply-To: jtemp@xs4all.nl Sender: "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues (Was Bee Biology)" From: Jan Tempelman Organization: Home Subject: France beekeepers (or Berlin) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 aXMgdGhlcmUgYW55IGZyYW5jZSBiZWVrZWVwZXIgd2hvIGNhbi93aWxsIG1ha2UgbXkgYSBo YXJkIGNvcHkgb2YNCg0KRFJPUlksIEVEV0FSRCAoMTg3NCkJUnVjaGUgc2ltcGxlIGQnZXhw bG9pdGF0aW9uIGEgY2FkcmVzDQoJCQkJCWluOiBMZSBSdWNoZXMgZHUgU3VkLVF1ZXN0IDIs IDM4LTQxDQoNCg0Kb3IgcGVyaGFwcyBzb21lb25lIGZyb20gQmVybGluDQp0aGUgYm9vayB3 aWxsIGJlIGluIHRoZSBOYXR1dXJNdXNldW0gaW4gQmVybGluDQoNCmdyZWV0aW5nLCBqYW4N CrCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCw sLCwsA0KSmFuIFRlbXBlbG1hbiAvIEluZWtlIERyYWJiZSAgICAgfCAgICAgbWFpbHRvOmp0 ZW1wQHhzNGFsbC5ubA0KU3RlcnJlbW9zIDE2ICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgMzA2OSBBUyBSb3R0 ZXJkYW0sIFRoZSBOZXRoZXJsYW5kcw0KVGVsL0ZheCAoU09NRVRJTUVTKSBYWCAzMSAoMCkx MC00NTY5NDEyDQpodHRwOi8vd3d3LnhzNGFsbC5ubC9+anRlbXAvaW5kZXgzLmh0bWwNCrCw sLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCw sA0KDQo= ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 11:45:23 -0500 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Greg Zujus Subject: Foundation Passageways I am new to beekeeping and am in the process of organizing my gear for my first two hives. A friend of mine was recently attended a lecture put on by a local beekeeper. The beekeeper brought with him a quantity of frames filled with foundation. The foundation had two holes through it which were described as "passageways" for the bees. In all the research I have done I have never heard mention of these "passageways", in fact the foundation I purchased ( Rite cell) has no such passageways. Are these passageways needed in any way by the bees ? Should I incorporate them into my frames/ foundation ? ____________________________________________ GJZ@MSN.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 10:51:59 -0700 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Rett Thorpe Subject: Spring feeding MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain I have a question that I hope someone can help me with. I went to check on my bees to see if I should start spring feeding them. When I took off the lids I found both clusters (two hives) at the top of the second brood chamber, but there is plenty of honey left in the frames on the sides of the cluster. I moved full frames to the edge of the cluster, but I am wondering if the bees will move horizontally to get to it. Should I start feeding now? Is there any problem with starting to feed too early? Thanks for any responses Rett Thorpe ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 12:57:51 -0500 Reply-To: beeworks@muskoka.net Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Comments: Authenticated sender is From: David Eyre Organization: The Bee Works Subject: Re: Jenter Queen Rearing Kit In-Reply-To: <35087764.84A1E16A@starpoint.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT On 12 Mar 98 at 18:01, Elroy Rogers wrote: > > A few years ago I bought a Jenter Queen Rearing Kit. I have used > > it a few times but I have not had much sucess with it. The main > > problem is the workers keep eating the eggs the queen has laid in > > the plastic cells. > I hope this is not common because I had just purchased the Jenter > box and plan to order possibly two more. Maybe the bees think it is > foreign to their hive, the directions say to pour honey over it > before giving it to the bees and let them become familiar with it a Regretfully it is common. We used one for a couple of seasons and ended up throwing it at the wall. Totally unpredictable. If you put it in during a honey flow, expect it to be filled with honey! Another favourite trick of the bees. On removing the queen excluder part,(after the queen lays it up) the bees remove the eggs before hatching. Sometimes the queen would not lay, even after a few days. Why? Don't know, but we wasted a lot of time trying to find out. ******************************************* The Bee Works, 9 Progress Dr, Unit 2, Orillia, Ontario, L3V 6H1 Phone/fax 705-326-7171 David Eyre, Owner. http://www.muskoka.net/~beeworks e-mail ******************************************** ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 12:57:51 -0500 Reply-To: beeworks@muskoka.net Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Comments: Authenticated sender is From: David Eyre Organization: The Bee Works Subject: Re: Tymol In-Reply-To: <35088860.E5B402D0@froggernet.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT On 12 Mar 98 at 20:14, Vincent J. Coppola Jr. wrote: > Does any one know a supplier of Tymol crystals? We can supply Thymol crystals and a special frame for use in the hive. Should you need further answers, then to me privately, please. ******************************************* The Bee Works, 9 Progress Dr, Unit 2, Orillia, Ontario, L3V 6H1 Phone/fax 705-326-7171 David Eyre, Owner. http://www.muskoka.net/~beeworks e-mail ******************************************** ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 13:09:03 -0500 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Lloyd Spear Subject: Feeding Rett Thorne asked about feeding. Rett, there is no problem at all associated with "feeding too early". Go for it. You will have stronger hives if you do. On the other hand, it sounds as if your bees have lots of honey, so you don't really need to feed. While feeding will give you stronger hives, which will result in more brood and more honey collection, it will also mean that your hives will be more likely to swarm if not managed correctly. If you don't feel up to making splits or otherwise managing to control swarming, I'd say don't feed. LloydSpear@email.msn.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 14:12:52 -0800 Reply-To: mister-t@clinic.net Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Bill Truesdell Subject: Re: Feeding Dry Sugar MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Larry, I go to the next step which is to feed "candy" which is 5 lbs granulated sugar boiled with one pint of water to a little over 240F. I pour it into greased cookie pans, break it into chunks and put it on the inner cover. Any left over I freeze. Bees take it down fine. It also has "water" but a little less accessable than your slurry, but for Maine it is great because it does not seem to promote brood rearing too early- which can cause problems. Since I started using candy, I have not lost a hive that made it to March. Bill Truesdell Bath, ME Larry Krengel wrote: > I have fed dry sugar in a pinch. But there is a lack of interest in it > among the bees... even though ants will come to collect it.. I often > dump what is left when nectar becomes available. I have found more > interest in a slurry of granulated sugar and water. With the > consistency of paste, I place it on top of the inner cover around the > vent hole. In a recent try, I put both dry sugar and this slurry on a > number of hives. They consumed the slurry and left the dry sugar. > Perhaps the water content makes it more usable. > > Any thoughts? > > Larry Krengel > Marengo, IL USA > Home of Dr. C. C. Miller ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 13:16:07 EST Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Beekeeperc Subject: Re: Spring feeding Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit You can start feeding now. One pint of water to one pound of sugar. Don't add any medication unless you know they will have at least three days of flying so they can get it out of their system. One teaspoon Fumidil-B & One Teaspoon of Terramycin to one gallon of sugar water. Feed two gallons of this mixture per hive. If you moved the honey towards the cluster the bees will probably find it. At least your giving them a better chance then if you left it on the ends. Norm beekeeperc@aol.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 14:22:30 +0100 Reply-To: drs@kulmbach.baynet.de Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: "Dr. Reimund Schuberth" Subject: Re: Tymol MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit You can buy it at any chemical store. This will probably cheaper than in a drugstore. I don't know the prices in other countries, but here in Germany it's about 30 DM/ 100 g . Sincerely Reimund Schuberth ___________________________ Beekeeper in Germany (Bavaria) Queen Rearing of Carniolan Bees Insemination Station ___________________________ Vincent J. Coppola Jr. schrieb: > Does any one know a supplier of Tymol crystals? ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 14:11:03 EST Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Aaron Morris Subject: Communication Holes MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Old topic! Announcing the next entry in BEE-L FAQ! For the entire discussion of communication holes in foundation, send a single line of mail to: LISTSERV@cnsibm.albany.edu that reads: GET B-L-FAQ COMHOLES Aaron Morris - I think, therefore I bee! ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 20:20:32 +0100 Reply-To: drs@kulmbach.baynet.de Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: "Dr. Reimund Schuberth" Subject: Re: Jenter Queen Rearing Kit MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Dear Robert, I never used the Jenter system but only the Nicot system, which is quite similar. I don't know the reasons for your bad acceptance of the queen larvas, because I don't know enough about your method of queen rearing. Probably your starter hive wasn't correctly stimulated for queen rearing. How did you prepare it before you gave the larvas into that hive? Did you get no queens at all or only a small number of queens? Some reasons for your bad luck could have bee: 1. Your starter hive wasn't queenless or didn't feel queenless? - Then you will get no queen at all! 2. There wasn't enough feeding? 3. The hive wasn't filled enough with bees? 4. There weren't enough young nurse bees? .......etc. - Then you will get only a few queens! Sincerely Reimund Schuberth ___________________________ Beekeeper in Germany (Bavaria) Queen Rearing of Carniolan Bees Insemination Station ___________________________ robert.kearney schrieb: > A few years ago I bought a Jenter Queen Rearing Kit. I have used it a > few > times but I have not had much sucess with it. The main problem is the > workers keep eating the eggs the queen has laid in the plastic cells. > Has any body used the kit? If you would care to contact me my email > address is robert.kearney@pwgsc.gc.ca ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 18:18:13 EST Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Bee1Bob1 Subject: Re: Jenter Queen Rearing Kit Comments: To: robert.kearney@pwgsc.gc.ca Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit I have used the Jenter kit for several seasons now and have had good results. The tip is to remove the cups and transfer them to your cell raiser colony a soon as the queens has laid in them - I examine the cage ever day and move them once there are enough eggs for my needs. My cell raiser and finisher is a double broad national hive with two supers between the broad boxes, excluder top and bottom. The queens is in the bottom one and I move the unsealed and sealed broad up to the top to make a `queenless colony` with loads of young nurse bees ( they all rush up to care for the broad and some will emerge there). Do not move eggs up or they will raise other queen cell! I place about 18 Jenter queen cups with eggs in this box and leave them for 10 days before tranfering them to nucs;either five frame or apidea mini nucs. The main problem in England is the weather which halts manipulations and the bees tear the cells down. Also sometimes the queen will not lay inb the Jenter frame and goes off lay which has lead to a queenless colony - again a weather affect I feel. Another problem is with the apidea mininucs which will push a queen out to mate quickly but if its very cold and wet the queen may not mate or survive. Also some evidence suggest she mates with fewer drones and so becomes a drone layer ealier. But keep at it the system does work most of the time if you take care and get the time right. Yours Bob Staffordshire England ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 14 Mar 1998 20:38:24 +0900 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: j h & e mcadam Subject: Re: Jenter Queen Rearing Kit MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Elroy wrote re problems encountered with the Jenter kit: > >I hope this is not common because I had just purchased the Jenter box >and plan to order possibly two more. We have been using the Jenter kit for several years and find it very satisfactory. I have emailed my suggestions as to the reason for the bees eating the eggs direct to Robert Kearney but as others on the list are new users of the Jenter kit, post our normal practice here for others to compare with their own technique. I seriously doubt whether even a queen breeder needs more than 1 since if managed correctly you can take off 99 potential queen cells every 4 days. The Jenter kit was discussed recently on the web and there was a very informative posting as to how the kit was made up for those who are not aware of the advanced techniques now available to avoid direct grafting. Our procedure is: Every monday afternoon after 4:00 p.m. - find queen and lock in restraint cage. Place cell bars in cell starter hive for warming. Tuesday morning - release queen, removing entire front of restraint cage. Leave in breeder hive. Friday morning - graft cells into queen cell cups and place in cell starter hive. Replace restraint cage complete with central locking plate in breeder hive. After cycle is under way, the queen cells started the previous Friday are removed from the cell starter hive to a cell finisher hive (a double hive above a queen excluder), so that the next batch can be started. Our cell starter hive can be any strong queenless hive. We are working this year with a "coffin box" which is 3 brood chambers wide with a laying queen in each outside chamber, queen excluder strip across internal entrance to central chamber and closable entrances to all 3 boxes. The hives can be allowed to fly from their own entrances when not required for queen breeding when the outside entrances are closed and all bees enter through the central chamber which is stocked with brood and bees from either side and the cell bar inserted. Monday morning is distribution to mating nucleus hive of the cells started 14 days beforehand. When not using the Jenter kit it can remain in the breeder hive with the restraint cage in place - the bees will store and seal honey in it but this can be spun out before commencing the cycle again. Betty McAdam HOG BAY APIARY Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island j.h. & e. mcadam Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: j h & e mcadam Subject: Re: Tanging, Banging, or communicate with a swarm MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >I am a new beekeeper... (in Turkey) >And i use spraying water when ever i saw a swarm and it nearly all the >times worked... I just trow up on the swarm some cup of water :) I believe this works because bees cannot fly with wet wings and will cling firmly to the cluster. They can then be brushed or a branch detached from the tree without the bees taking flight, particularly if they have already selected an appropriate destination but not yet taken off. An all-over spray with a garden sprayer loaded with rain water had this result in a demonstration I saw and made lifting the swarm down from overhead appear very easy. Betty McAdam HOG BAY APIARY Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island j.h. & e. mcadam Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Midnitebee Subject: nutmeg essential oils MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Greetings! I received this message ..I do not use essential oils..maybe someone would like to communicate with Jorge. Herb(Midnite Bee) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------ Jorge Murillo-Yepes Sat Mar 14 11:00:02 1998 Location: Grenada, West Indies E-mail: murillos@caribsurf.com Comments:We are trying local nutmeg essential oil for varroa control and would like communications on the issue of natural methods of contrl Holly-B Apiary P.O.Box 26 Wells,Maine 04090-0026 www.cybertours.com/~midnitebee ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 14 Mar 1998 15:17:36 -0500 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: John Spaulding Subject: Worcester, Ma. USA Beginner beekeeping school In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Bee people- The WCBA is conducting their 56th annual Bee School starting March 19th. If you are interested in more info either check the web Page http://www.nesc.org/~juggler/beekeepers.html or Email me privately. Thanks John Spaulding juggler@nesc.org ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 14 Mar 1998 16:34:22 -0500 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Ian Watson Subject: Re: Feeding Dry Sugar MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >I go to the next step which is to feed "candy" which is 5 lbs granulated >sugar boiled with one pint of water to a little over 240F. I pour it >into greased cookie pans, break it into chunks and put it on the inner cover. Doesn't boiling sugar syrup result in Carmelization, and isn't that linked to Dysentery? I can't find the source, but I'm sure I read that in one of my beekeeping books... Comments? Ian Watson realtor@niagara.com real estate agent gardener baritone beekeeper---->6 colonies and counting ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 14 Mar 1998 16:52:09 -0500 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Midnitebee Subject: Re: Feeding Dry Sugar MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit check the "spring feeding of winterd hives": at this location:www.cybertours.com/~midnitebee Herb Holly-B Apiary P.O.Box 26 Wells,Maine 04090-0026 www.cybertours.com/~midnitebee -----Original Message----- From: Ian Watson To: BEE-L@CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU Date: Saturday, March 14, 1998 4:36 PM Subject: Re: Feeding Dry Sugar >>I go to the next step which is to feed "candy" which is 5 lbs granulated >>sugar boiled with one pint of water to a little over 240F. I pour it >>into greased cookie pans, break it into chunks and put it on the inner cover. > > >Doesn't boiling sugar syrup result in Carmelization, and isn't that linked to Dysentery? >I can't find the source, but I'm sure I read that in one of my beekeeping books... > >Comments? > >Ian Watson realtor@niagara.com >real estate agent gardener baritone >beekeeper---->6 colonies and counting > ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 14 Mar 1998 16:59:17 -0500 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Ian Watson Subject: Re: My subscription options MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Just curious... After I sent my previous message to the list, I got a copy of my own message, which is strange because up until now, I have had my subscription options set as: NOREPro: I don't receive a copy of my own postings, and ACK or MSGack: I receive an acknowledgement of my posts Now, I sent a QUERY BEE-L command to the listserve to check things, and the two options are reversed. Weird, because I haven't changed anything. Just thought I'd send this to the list incase others were wondering also... I like the list name-change though...;) Ian Watson realtor@niagara.com real estate agent gardener baritone beekeeper---> 6 colonies and counting ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 14 Mar 1998 17:21:04 EST Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Herizo Subject: Beekeeping in China Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit I am doing research on beekeeping with special regard to beekeeping in the People's Republic of China. I would appreciate any comments and possible links on the subject. Thank you. Joe ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 14 Mar 1998 18:18:07 -0500 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Midnitebee Subject: Wellmark urges proper use MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Wellmark urges proper use of apistan:www.cybertours.com/~midnitebee Holly-B Apiary P.O.Box 26 Wells,Maine 04090-0026 www.cybertours.com/~midnitebee ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 14 Mar 1998 18:55:48 EST Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: CSlade777 Subject: Re: Spring feeding Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Depending on your local weather/climate it is probably best not to disturb your bees unnecessarily at this time of year. If you feel you must do something (and this is more for your peace of mind than the bees') you could on a warm day break the cappings on the stores next to the brood. Chris Slade ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 14 Mar 1998 18:55:47 EST Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: CSlade777 Subject: Re: Foundation Passageways Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit If your bees feel they need passageways through your foundation they will make their own in the places THEY want them. Chris Slade ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 14 Mar 1998 18:18:33 -0600 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: "Thomas D. Harker" Subject: Re: Foundation Passageways In-Reply-To: <3b3e070.350b1907@aol.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 06:55 PM 3/14/98 EST, you wrote: >If your bees feel they need passageways through your foundation they will make >their own in the places THEY want them. >Chris Slade > Are bees capable of chewing through plastic foundation? I have only seen the holes in Perma-dent (plastic). Tom - Rockford, IL ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 14 Mar 1998 19:53:40 -0400 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Joel Govostes Subject: Re: Foundation Passageways In-Reply-To: <3.0.3.32.19980314181833.03157a68@mail.icd.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >>If your bees feel they need passageways through your foundation they will >make >>their own in the places THEY want them. >>Chris Slade >> > >Are bees capable of chewing through plastic foundation? > >I have only seen the holes in Perma-dent (plastic). Well, they have been offered for some time on the Duragilt/Duracomb thin plastic core foundations. (Not sure about the aluminum-core foundations before that.) The bees won't chew through the plastic. (If you find some that do, maybe they could probably do a real number on the varroa, too...) The "communication holes" are at the bottom corners of the foundation sheet -- pretty close to the edge of the frame. Seems the bees could just go around the frame there just as easily. Sometimes the bees will chew the wax away from the plastic base of Duragilt around the holes, which is annoying and cuts down on the useable comb area. With further regard to the comb-holes idea, Steve Taber has written of some work he did with the USDA, using large hives, containing brood combs much wider and deeper than the Langstroth. In those, the researchers provided a more centrally-situated communication-hole in each comb, to maintain connectedness of the cluster between the large surfaces. This allowed sufficient lateral movement as well, such as during wintering. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 14 Mar 1998 18:42:08 -0800 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: "Paul Cronshaw, D.C." Subject: Bee Memory Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" I noted an interesting thing this weekend...... I split a hive three weeks ago, old queen went into the new split and a queen cell was left below. I used a double screen division board and faced the new entrance to the side. I left the split on for about a week... noting some good activity. I then moved the split to another apiary over 2 miles away and left it there for two weeks. Today I moved it back to another spot in the original apiary. Right away I noted lots of bees buzzing around the side of the original site. What a memory these bees have. I thought that 2 weeks would erase their little computer minds. :) Not so!! Anyone else have a comment on bee memory to locations? Paul Cronshaw, D.C. Cyberchiro/High School Teacher and Hobbyist Beekeeper Santa Barbara, CA USA ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 14 Mar 1998 22:08:46 -0500 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: "Dr. Gerald L Barbor" Subject: Re: Bee Memory Dear Paul, My understanding and experience is that the bees remember forever. In the summertime I don't move anything back to the old location until about six weeks have elapsed so that all of the adult that were there are gone. Jerry _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 14 Mar 1998 22:49:46 -0600 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Teresa Garcma Subject: bee wax cream MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hello, Anybody knows how to make beauty cream using beeswax? Preferably an easy, fool proof method? Thank you!! Tere ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 15 Mar 1998 16:57:51 +1200 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Frank Bates Subject: Re: Bees as weapons In-Reply-To: <17592855104363@systronix.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" I came across an intriguing reference to bees as weapons in a book the other day. It was a picture of a stained glass window from a church in Ireland depicting "Saint Gobnet, the patron saint of bees, loosing her bees to repel invaders. Anyone have any more info on St Gobnet & this incident? At 10:57 5/03/98 -0600, you wrote: >Reply-to: Discussion of Bee Biology >From: "Frederick L. Hollen" > >> Anyone know if bees were ever used as a weapon of war ? > >The Romans used to load hives of bees on their catapults and .... snip Frank Bates