========================================================================= Date: Sun, 1 Nov 1998 04:50:52 GMT Reply-To: mejensen@att.net Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Mark Jensen Organization: No Junk Mail Subject: Re: candle molds In-Reply-To: <19981030125504.YVJA5170@CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable On Fri, 30 Oct 1998 07:04:27 -0800, Andrew & Tiffany Dubas wrote: >Does anyone on B-L make their own molds ? the poly ones ? Is it possible= for >the layman to make their own ? I buy from the bigger companies and also = a >company called the candle wic company who actually will make custom = molds. >can it be that hard ? any ones thoughts ? You can make your own molds out of silicon rubber. The best stuff I have used is Dow Corning HS II RTV, a white fairly soft but durable material. It probably is not made by Dow Corning anymore, since I think they went bust. But other similar products are surely available. It is very high priced and therefore very expensive to make the inevitable mistakes in learning to use it. Go for it. --=20 Mark Jensen Double J Apiaries mejensen@att.net Los Altos Hills California fax 650 941-3488 ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 1 Nov 1998 13:17:35 -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: Price for 5 frame nucs Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" The Blue Gum Eucs are in their early stages of blooming. Lots of buds on the trees thanks to previous season of El Nino's abundant rains. Since it should be a great early build up. I am thinking of making up a number of 5 frame nucs using MBA splitters to keep my bee population at a manageable level. Question: What is price of a 5 frame nuc predicted to be in the 1999 season? Do I include price of box (wooden vs corrugated plastic boxes) or just sell the bees and 5 frames and let buyer front cost of box? Paul Cronshaw DC Hobby beekeeper in Santa Barbara ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 1 Nov 1998 11:08:08 -0600 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Ben Pollard Subject: Bee Mite Story on GLRC MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Found the following story while looking for a story on cider. Basically covers mites and their treatment, geared towards the general public, but I found it interesting. http://www.glrc.org/archive/1998/october98/oct26_f1.html Looks like there will be another story available on Monday @ http://www.glrc.org/archive/1998/november98/nov2.html Still haven't had a freeze here yet, but the cold rainy weather has slowed down all activity. We have had more rain in the last week, then we had all summer, 5+ inches. Ben Pollard Classic Fermentations, Amarillo, TX classsicferm@fiaa.net ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 1 Nov 1998 08:56:57 -0800 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: "John M. Thorp" Subject: Just good information Subject: Wellpet Why Honey Heals Dear Listers ~ Composition of Honey from the ABC and XYZ of Bee Culture A.I. Root. Honey is not only composed of sugars but also chemical (P. 352) properties dependant on the nectar source (almost like Natures own Bach Remedies if you will :) it is also composed of proteins, minerals ~ Page 257 ~ 27 mineral elements found using sensitive spectrographic methods, sugars (15 identifiable sugars) amino acids: 11 to 21 different free amino acids dependant again on the floral source of the nectar... Enzymes which is one of the characteristics (P. 358) which sets honey apart from all other sweetening agents is the presence of enzymes. Honey Colloids! In all types of honey are to be found very minute particles of suspended matter called colloidal particles. These minute particles are kept in suspension by virtue of positive electrical charges carried by them. This causes them to repel each other and keep themselves in suspension. P. 366 Hygroscopicity ~ an interesting property of honey is it's ability to absorb moisture from the air under certain conditions, this accounts for it's "drawing" ability. P. 359 15000 BC (no typo there:) is the first record we have of Bee keeping. It is a painting of the Madalenian period (Paleolithic Era) found on a rock of the " Cuevas de La Arana" in Valencia, Spain. 3000 BC~ written records of bee keeping found in Ancient Egypt show that it was a common practice. Pages 17 - 23 The entire time line of bee keeping is here.. also... Dr Peter Molan MBE, Associate Professor in Biochemistry at The University of Waikato New Zealand, has since 1981 researched into the ancient healing properties of honey. He has shown scientifically that most honeys have varying degrees of healing properties due to a naturally occurring hydrogen peroxide agent. He found that when honey comes into contact with body moisture the glucose oxidase enzyme introduced to the honey by the bee, slowly releases the antiseptic hydrogen peroxide. This is released at sufficient levels to be effective against bacteria but not tissue damaging. More recently Dr Molan and his research team found in some (but not all) manuka honeys a second natural, anti-bacterial component. This non-peroxide or UMF component in Active Manuka Honey is effective against notoriously more resistant bacteria such as super bug staphylococcus aureus and helicobacter pylori. It is resistant to heat and more resistant to being broken down by the catalase effect of body fluids than the hydrogen peroxide activity. http://www.wave.co.nz/pages/honey/index.html - -- Cheers! Marnie:) John in Homestead- -Jesus Christ is the only answer- -"Truth stands the test of time; lies are soon exposed." - Prov. 12:19 ___________________________________________________________________ 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/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 1 Nov 1998 09:13:30 -0800 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: "John M. Thorp" Subject: Re: Fireweed Fireweed makes a delightfull creamed honey. I have enjoyed it for 50 years. John in Homestead- -Jesus Christ is the only answer- -"Truth stands the test of time; lies are soon exposed." - Prov. 12:19 ___________________________________________________________________ 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/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 1 Nov 1998 11:36:53 -0700 Reply-To: fltdeck1@ix.netcom.com Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Matthew Subject: Re: feral bee removal from trees - advice Comments: To: dublgully@worldnet.att.net MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Judy, David & all, I'm not sure how the professor planned on retrieving a chance at a mite-resistant strain without removing the queen nor brood (extremely unlikely the queen would leave her brood). I've 'attempted' the cone-method you describe twice without the slightest success. I've removed over 20 feral hives this summer, some at great jeopardy to my health, in hopes of keeping alive mite-resistant strains from surviving feral hives in my area (Colorado) so I understand the professor's intention. However, if the tree was 3/4 dead, and only 25' tall, I would have stripped open 1/3 of the bark and used a bee vacuum to trap most of the bees. Following which, I would have carefully removed each & every comb and cut these to fit frames (same direction up of course) for their new Langstroth home. With a bee-vacuum, you can easily vacuum up all bees running the comb as you remove them one by one. I use rubber bands to hold the comb to the frames which are easily moved around the comb & bees chew through them after they fasten the comb to the frame later. In the farthest, most hidden portion of the tree, you'll find a ball of bees where you've scared away the queen & all her 'protectors'. This makes it very easy to vacuum up the queen (always with a bunch of workers surrounding her) and you've just removed the entire hive. My worst encounter this summer took me 3 days and probably 20-30 stings, though my best was 2 hours and stingless. The one point I'd drive home to people hoping to retrieve feral hives is to keep your equipment clean of honey. I use a bucket of water and neoprene gloves which I constantly wash the gloves & vacuum attachment to keep the bees from sticking. If you see pure-white comb, remove that last as it'll be the softest & likely to crumble before you can place it in the frames. As far as cutting open the tree, there's always an element of danger in climbing and removing bees from dead trees. Sometimes the feral bees simply aren't worth the risk. I'd say a 25' tree probably wouldn't have the weight to hurt you if the tree broke free after you sawed open a third of it, though you're the one to FULLY evaluate the situation (on your next opportunity). I've found that Cottonwood trees are EXTREMELY dangerous in cutting open hollows as you'll find them to be simply soaked with water on the inside - mostly mush. They hold together by the outside bark and if you remove 1/3 of the bark to remove the bees, it'll likely break at the point you're working, and worse, fall to the position of least resistance (i.e., to the part you just cut open). It's important to save feral bees if we can and it's easy to get caught up in the excitement, but don't be too brave in your efforts. Some hives just can't be saved. If you do have to leave the tree to the professionals, ask them if they'd like to borrow your bee-suit and perhaps they'll cut down the tree with the bees inside. Matthew Westall in Castle Rock, CO David Gaida wrote: > How NOT to retrieve a colony of feral bees from an almost dead tree. > > More than 3/4ths of > the tree was dead. > > So could > we at least save the bees. Dave said we would try. > > I called our state university. The professor there is attempting to > breed > from feral bee colonies that have survived the mite problem. The > professor > > We found the correct mesh size wire to form a cone. Made the cone > diameter > at the base large enough to cover the opening. Brought the opening in > the > cone down to about 1/4 to 1/2". Stapled the cone to the tree. > Mounted an empty bee box, with drawn foundation and one frame of > capped > honey, in front of the cone opening. (The professor did not want any > brood > placed in the box, he did not want to chance crossing with any of our > bees > before he could send someone to pick up the bees.) PS. - I'm not sure how brood from other hives would 'cross' your population unless you transfer a bunch of drone-brood (bubble topped brood). Worker (brood) bees will simply work, and laze about - nothing to do with insemination. > Six weeks later, the lady called and wanted us to come and get this > junk > out of her front yard. If she had wanted to exterminate the bees she > would > have called the exterminator. > > Judy in Kentucky, USA ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 1 Nov 1998 18:13:24 -0500 Reply-To: dublgully@worldnet.att.net Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: David Gaida Subject: Bee Eaters MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Jassim, All: Garth wrote: >rapidly learn that humans are bad and to stay 100m >away from any that happen to be nearby. They also learn very fast >what a gun is - and stay far away from anybody who happens to have >one on them. We know nothing about Dronga or bee eaters. But we know about birds that eat things. We have tried the tried and true scarecrows; we have tried the bird tape that you string between two posts and the wind causes a weird noise. Keep away the little birds that don't do a whole lot of damage. Realized the wild turkeys that were eating all of our blackberries also recognized a human with a gun. Got the old T post for a body, one of Dave's flannel shirts and a pair of Dave's old jeans (neither having been laundered, don't know if this is important) and a full head Halloween mask. Stuffed everything with straw til it was solid and big, including the head. Put a hat on him. AND gave him a child's toy rifle (about 3 feet long). Last year the turkeys ate every berry as soon as it was ripe, this year we have a freezer full of blackberries. We also moved the guy to the 1/2 acre sunflower patch we planted for the bees. Kept the crows away. Moved him to the corn when it was ripe and gave him a radio - kept the raccoons away. (Still haven't heard how the old guy is that was driving by when Dave had the scarecrow in the bed of the truck and was moving him to the berries) Might this help for Dronga? Judy in Kentucky, USA ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 31 Oct 1998 17:29:23 -0500 Reply-To: dublgully@worldnet.att.net Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: David Gaida Subject: Italian Cookie Recipe MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Here's a recipe that has been handed down for generations. TORDILLA 1 cup vegetable oil 1 cup cheap red wine 1 teaspoon salt 5 cups flour 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar 5 eggs Bring oil and wine to boiling point, then cool. Beat eggs, add flour, salt and sugar. Add wine and oil mixture. Knead til well blended. (There is a special shape for these cookies. But a 3/4" diameter glop that you pinch off with your fingers will do. If you want the special shape: Cut pieces 3/4" size. Roll like breadstick and cut into 1" size pieces. With piece on index finger, roll on vegetable grater so there are indentations on part rolled on grater, and a valley next to your finger.) Drop into hot vegetable oil. Fry til brown. (Make sure your pan is at least 3 inches higher than the oil as the oil will foam.) Drain tordilla on paper towels. Place in flat baking pan and cover with honey. The longer setting in the honey, the better. Will keep for up to six weeks in covered container. Makes about 6 - 8 dozen cookies. I also have a cinnamon batter bread recipe that is out of this world. Makes stupendous toast. Of course, uses honey. And is simple. Judy in Kentucky, USA ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 13:23:11 -0500 Reply-To: meinerms@email.uc.edu Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Michael Scott Meiners Subject: Honey Jar Labels MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hello all. I just ran out of my last honey jar labels that my dad bought in bulk back in the 80's. I need to get some more but I am having trouble finding a place that sells them. Any suggestions on where to look? Thanks, -Mike ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 19:23:34 EST Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: "Ralph W. Harrison" Subject: Re: cone method bee removal Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit I have sucessfully used the cone method many times. In using it some of the tips I have are these: Narrow end of cone should be 3/8 inch (bee space). Use a 3/8" bolt as a guide. If you use hardware cloth cover it with window screen material. If you have some really smart bees you might have to use a cone inside a cone. Larger one over a shorter smaller one ( I have only had to do this once in 10 years) Hive on outside should be no more that 2 feet from cone. Leave the cone on for at least six weeks. I hope this helps anyone trying the cone trap out method. Regards, Ralph Harrison Western Connecticut Beekeepers Association Milford, CT USA ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 3 Nov 1998 15:04:47 GMT+0200 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Garth Organization: Rhodes University South Africa Subject: Re: Cone method for removal Hi All/Judy/Matthew/Ralph With regards bee removals and cones: I have done a lot of bee removals in the last two years (140+) and have had reasonable success with the cone method in selected places. The method works well in air brick hives - just pop a cone over the entrance of the hive, put a nice sized hive body with a transplanted nuc in it next to the cone - place the hive entrance so that bees coming into the old hive entrance hit the cone and bounce onto the wrong hive entrance and walk through. One days chaos and thereafter it is plain sailing. Natural environments dont work so well as it is difficult to block up al the holes. Trees that have hives are often wrotten and you block up some holes and the bees just chew some more. As regards bee vacuums - bees have their own vacuum - if one gets them scenting you can get 99% of the bees into a box really easilly. I think the vacuum is brutal and problematic. Just wait till the next day - all the bees come back anc cluster where the centre of the old brood nest was - bruch as many of these into a receptacle and dump them in a box - place the box next to the majority of the bees and it set them doing a 'lost queen' scent. She will go to the area with the most bees scenting and then everyone else follows. I have watched this happen often. It is very easy. As regards protective gear - I have a belief that the best way of taking out bees is with none - just dress sensibly with white cloths and short pants - don't tuck anything in so any bees that get in can get out etc. If one wears no gear it becomes infinitely more sensible to treat the bees nicely - resulting in very easy handling. I find I usually remove combs from the outside of the brood nest and work inwards - working very gently. Inspect each comb for the queen and shake the bees into a big box. If one doesnot get the queen this way then come back the next day as mentioned earlier. Keep well Garth Garth Cambray Camdini Apiaries 15 Park Road Grahamstown Apis mellifera capensis 6139 South Africa Time = Honey If you are not living on the edge you are taking up too much space!! ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 3 Nov 1998 09:38:49 -0600 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Musashi Subject: Re: cone method bee removal Ralph Harrison writes: "I have sucessfully used the cone method many times. In using it some of the tips I have are these: Narrow end of cone should be 3/8 inch (bee space). Use a 3/8" bolt as a guide..." I thought I'd add just a couple of comments from my experience. I trapped out two colonies using the cone method this year, just finished one. They both worked well. As suggested, I left the cone on for 6 weeks. My narrow end was a little "tighter" than the above suggested 3/8 inch--maybe closer to 1/4 inch--just enough to let one bee out at a time. I also had the open tip of the cone curve upwards so that returning bees looking for the colony entrance would come in lower and not find the open tip to try and reenter. I just used regular metal window screen material and needle and thread to sew it together up along the side of the cone so bees would not find a way in or out on the side. I stapled the bottom edge of the cone onto the tree (or wall of the house) with a staple gun and then used expandable foam sealant under the edges to block any other cracks that a bee might be able to squeeze through. The next trick is to wait about a week and go back and carefully observe to see if the bees have either found or made another entrance. In both cases, I found that they had, and were still going in and out, although I had a substantial number of bees join my hive. Some of them will be very persistent because they have hungry mouths to feed inside the tree or wall. You then need to block the "extra entrance/secret escape route" with screen and foam or you can't finish the job. Finally, you need to have the good will of the person who owns the property and have let them know what you are doing and how long you expect it to take. I was fortunate that the people I worked with cared about saving the bees, so although they were somewhat disappointed when I told them it would take a month and a half before I could move the hive, they accepted that and were happy just to have it taken care of. If they "can't wait" and "have to have it done immediately" then my response would probably be "I'm sorry I cannot help you," sorry for the bees but glad I did not have to deal with the unreasonable people. They always have the alternative of "paying the big bucks" and having a licensed professional take care of their problem for them. The final step of the procedure should probably be to then remove the cone and block the hole with additional foam sealand so other bees do not find the entrance and start another colony in the same place. The odors are very attractive to scouts from a swarm out looking for a new home. Layne Westover College Station, Texas, USA ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 3 Nov 1998 13:10:47 EST Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Dar Heinze Subject: Re: cone method bee removal Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Hello everyone: I know of two hives that are in tight holes in trees about 20 miles from my house. The entrances are small, and would be very easy to block. I would like someone to tell just how exactly you use the cone removal method. My E- mail is HeinzeDJAK@aol.com, in case that sort of message doesn't go in keeping with bee biology. Thanks SO much! Dar ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 3 Nov 1998 20:45:57 -0500 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: ron taylor Subject: Beginning Beekeeping Course MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Join us at Bee City on Saturday, November 14. There is a great need for new beekeepers. Mites have virtually destroyed the wild honey bee population. A new pest the Small Hive Beetle is taking over coastal counties of South Carolina and destroying hives. Honeybees are needed to pollinate gardens and farm fields in order to produce the fruit and vegetables we enjoy. The only source of pollination is a hive sitting in a persons back yard or at the edge of a farmers field. With more research and the development of controls, we will be able to win over the mites. The Lowcountry and Colleton County Beekeepers will be conducting a one day Introduction to Beekeeping Course as part of a Limestone College Enrichment Course. This course will be scheduled on Saturday, November 14 from 9:00 to 5:00 P M at "Bee City" in Cottageville, South Carolina. Bee City is located off highway 61 near the Givens Sate Park. Signs will be provided. This workshop will include an Introduction to Beekeeping and Bee Biology, Equipment Needed, Installing Package Bees and Collecting Swarms, Detection and Control of Diseases and Extracting and Processing Honey. The exam for the "Certified Beekeeper" level of the South Carolina State Beekeepers Master Beekeeper program will be available. A field day will held in the Spring of 99 to complete the practical portion of the "Certified Beekeepers" level for the hands on experience of opening hives, locating queens and observing bee behavior. The cost for this course is $25.00 per person and $30.00 per family. The fee for taking the "Certified Beekeepers" exam is $5.00. Participants are asked to bring a brown bag lunch. Drinks will be provided. This course will be taught by Archie Biering, a Certified Beekeeper, President of the Lowcountry Beekeepers and Ron Taylor, a Certified Beekeeper and President of the Colleton and South Carolina Beekeepers. To register for this course call Archie Biering at 843-835-5912 or Ron Taylor at 843-835-2482 or email: rtaylor421@lowcountry.com Ron Taylor ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 3 Nov 1998 21:23:33 EST Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: David Adams Subject: Api-tol Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Does anyone have any information about the use of this product for varroa control in countries that it is in use at present time? I would like to how well it works and if it has any draw backs. Thanks David Adams USA ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1998 10:24:23 +0100 Reply-To: drs@kulmbach.baynet.de Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: "Dr. Reimund Schuberth" Subject: Re: Candle moulds MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I'm writing to you from Germany, so there is probably some difference in the situation of the different countries. There are a lot of moulds on the market. I counted about 350 different articles in a common catalogue. All are made of silicone-latex. In Denmark I saw also aluminia moulds, which are easily to be used if one has flat-surface figures. I've found several instructions for making one's own moulds in beekeeping journals. Even foundations can be made by oneself using these silicone moulds. They are made as a casting of a normal wax foundation or figure. It is a common method of restoration-technique. Perhaps this hint can bring you some help. Unfortunately all instructions I know are written in German, so they can be hardly understood by most international beekeepers despite the drawings. Best regards Reimund ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Beekeeper in Germany (Bavaria) Rearing of Carniolan Queens Insemination Station ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1998 06:17:21 PST Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Kerri Bevan Subject: Apistan MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Could someone who has some Apistan look on the box and let me know what company manufactures it. Thanks ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1998 08:15:51 -0800 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: "Brian V. Brown" Subject: collaborators wanted Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Dear colleagues: I am beginning a study on the parasitic fly genus Melaloncha that attacks stingless bees in the New World tropics. I am looking for collaborators in the Neotropical Region who would be willing to help me. I need people who can direct me to nests of as many stingless bee species as possible. Once I know where the nests are located, I can search for the parasitic flies, which often are found around the nest entrance. By the way, the flies also attack honey bees and can be a major source of mortality for these insects. If anyone has an interest in this project, please contact me . Thanks, Brian ________________________________________ Brian V. Brown Entomology Section Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, 90007, U.S.A. tel: (213) 763-3363 fax: (213) 746-2999 email: bbrown@nhm.org http://www.lam.mus.ca.us/lacmnh/departments/research/entomology ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1998 11:18:04 EST Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Aaron Morris Subject: Makers of Apistan MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Zoścon Professional Products Wellmark International 1000 Tower Lane, Suite 245 Bensenville, Illinois 60106 see: http://apiculturene.cas.psu.edu/apistanletter.html Aaron Morris - I think, therefore I bee! ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1998 11:25:03 -0500 Reply-To: dublgully@worldnet.att.net Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: David Gaida Subject: Re: Extender Patties Comments: To: vcoppola@froggernet.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Vince; All: Thanks for your help in these matters. I really appreciate the time. I have been doing an informal study here in Kentucky. Talking to every beekeeper I can find. (State bee meeting, telephone, in person) And I am finding something disturbing. All of the beekeepers that have more than one colony, many with up to 40 years experience, have suffered a loss of bee colonies. Similar to our loss. Strong, healthy bees one day with no evidence of heavy varroa advancing to weak colonies to death or absconding within a week or two at the most. All beekeepers did their spring treatments as recommended, some used grease patties, FGMO, essential oils. No common thread here, other than that all treated. No beekeeper reported finding any AFB or EFB. Most of these beekeepers stated a smaller honey harvest this year. All assumed it was a result of our drought. We have two weak colonies left that we placed on top of strong colonies. The only two weak ones that have not died. We will be shipping some of these ladies to Beltsville for study. Dave and I are leaning toward tracheal mite problems, in spite of the grease patties. The question arises about the concentration of this kill off. Or maybe it is not concentrated and I have just not asked everyone. Personally, I really wish Kentucky had an apiary inspection program. Someone who could do this right. I do not take feeling like dumber than dirt lightly, maybe there is something here. Will keep you informed. Judy in Kentucky, USA ---------- ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1998 13:08:39 -0700 Reply-To: allend@internode.net Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Allen Dick Organization: The Beekeepers Subject: Re: Archive search, key word search In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT > Hello Allen, > I have tried to search the Archives on several occasions, and don't get > through. I tried from your web site at the bee links. What am I doing > wrong? How do I do a search of key words,on the Bee-l? I get enquiries like this from time to time and figure that I should explain here, since the archives are so important to BEE-L, and the ability to search them is essential for intelligent participation in this group. I gather that the writer had come across my old web page at http://www.internode.net/HoneyBee/logs.htm where I used to have the BEE-L logs when we first decided to try to make them more accessible. You see, the LISTSERV at CNSIBM.ALBANY. EDU only maintains logs back for several years and then they are removed to make space. Some of the older logs had been displaced by that time from the list server and as I recall, the only remaining copies were those that some members found maintained in personal archives, so put them on my web server http://www.internode.net/HoneyBee/logs.htm I suspect that this page is now confusing people. Read on... Some time later, I sent all the logs to Adam when they got too big for me to store, and I think the entire history -- up to this year -- is now in the archive at Sunsite http://sunsite.unc.edu/bees/ The balance *is* on the LISTSERV at CNSIBM.ALBANY. EDU, but it only maintains logs back for several years. So, you can see there is some overlap between the LISTSERV and Sunsite. I would suggest you use http://www.beekeeping.co.nz/beel.htm for most of your searches. This will access all the info on the LISTSERV. If you wish to read back further, then go to http://sunsite.unc.edu/bees/ At that site, you can load individual logs into your browser and search them locally. http://www.beekeeping.co.nz/beel.htm should be self explanatory. If not, or if you have had trouble with it, please bring the problems up for discussion. Searching the list archives is a very important ability for anyone who wishes to participate in BEE-L, since it is only polite to see what has been said on a topic before bringing it up. The logs are our FAQ. Hope this helps. Allen ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1998 16:52:46 -0500 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Lloyd Spear Subject: Ross Rounds MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Andre asked and said "How many Ross Rounds can you put on one hive ? what is the best method ? one deep ? then the R/R ? I have a few R/R supers around but never had any luck getting them to fill them out." I deliberately did not reply immediately as I wanted to see the responses of others. There was a time in past years when this inquiry produced a couple of dozen responses, and considerable detail. I know some say "use the archives, dummy", but I am reasonably computer literate and still find the archives difficult and very time consuming to use. To the questions and observation: - I am in upstate NY, and usually have a few hives that will fill five Ross Round supers. I will always get two filled, and average three per hive. I know a commercial beekeeper in upstate NY who concentrates on producing as many as possible per hive and he always plans on averaging eight, and in a normal year achieves that! How many you will get depends on how well you manage your bees and your flow. If you manage your bees well, the weight of the sections will come to about 60% of what you would produce if the bees were storing nectar in drawn comb. Each full Ross Round super has about 18 pounds of sections. By averaging three, I am getting about 54 pounds of sections, which is roughly the equivalent of 90 pounds of honey for extraction when produced on drawn comb. - I keep my hives year round in a deep and a medium (6 5/8th), with the deep on top. See the May 98' issue of Bee Culture for more detail. This is the easiest method. If you try to produce section comb on top of two deeps you will almost certainly fail. You can reduce the two deeps to one and be very successful, but it is a lot of work, partly because of additional swarm control procedures that become necessary. I do not recommend the use of queen excluders, especially for someone just learning. - One must be an excellent beekeeper to consistently produce good comb honey. On the other hand, there is no better way to really become a beekeeper (compared to a beehaver) than to learn how to raise good comb honey. Once a beekeeper gets the timing worked out (which is unique to geographic areas), learns to recognize strong hives, and learns the basics of queen management, producing comb honey becomes easy. The best book on the subject is Richard Taylor's The Comb Honey book. (Which supercedes The New Comb Honey Book.) I will be glad to address any additional specific questions you think of. Lloyd LloydSpear@email.msn.com Owner, Ross Rounds(tm) the finest in comb honey production. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1998 11:22:47 -0500 Reply-To: BobCan@TDPI.Com Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Bob Subject: Korean Bees MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I caught the last part of a special on tv the other day that had these bees from Korea that would shake tremendously which would make the other bees check it over for mites! Anyone know anything about this that could expand on the info? ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1998 17:38:59 -0800 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Andrew & Tiffany Dubas Subject: Learning Channel. Comments: To: Beekeeper MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Did anyone catch the LEARNING CHANNEL last night ? they had a good program on the African bees, actually had the man who started it all talking on the show and that it was a stand in beekeeper that actually released the excluders on the entrance. and the colonies swarmed and off into the wild. It showed how they tried to stop the migration by flooding the area with European drones, with no success....very interesting show, the only bad thing is they highlighted some of the worst attacks that happened. Over all it was a good show. Ps. Lloyd thank you for your reply. Im going to give them a try. Andrew & Tiffany Dubas E-Mail : dubees@enter.net home page : http://www.enter.net/~dubees ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1998 19:54:17 -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: Storing empty supers at end of season Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" A fellow beekeeper asks: "I have gone thru the supers/hive bodies which are now stored on a separate plank under the oaks near the apiary. There were a few wax moths inside. Given that anything stored in the open will of necessity have to have a top on it and therefore will be dark inside, I don't see how we are going to prevent the storage of these supers/hives from being an open invitation to the wax moths. How are you storing your supers? Any suggestions from your web associates?" I store supers at the end of the season stacked on top of each other 10 high, covered with a top. Once in a while I will go thru them to look for wax moths and if found, I cut them out. Are there any other methods to store used supers in a moderate climate such as we have in sunny Santa Barbara? Paul Cronshaw DC Hobby beekeeper in Santa Barbara ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 11:15:55 GMT+0200 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Garth Organization: Rhodes University South Africa Subject: Re: Korean Bees Comments: To: BobCan@TDPI.COM Hi Bob/All Bob - you mentioned seeing something on TV about a Korean bee that alerts other bees to the presence of mites on it and gets them cleaned of. Apparently, the asian honeybee, A.cerana has a natural way of cleaning iteself of varroa - if it feels a mite on it, it presents the mites to other bees which pick it of and drop it to the ground. There is a little dance the bee does. I have seen similar behaviour here with the cape honey bee when it has bee lice on it - but only when the hive is illuminatd. I ran an observation hive for quite a while, and noticed that when the queen was placed in she was full of lice, but as time went on the bees got rid of them. The same goes for hive beetles - the cape honeybee chaces the beetles if there is bright light, if there is dim light it often ignores the beetle. Keep well Garth Garth Cambray Camdini Apiaries 15 Park Road Grahamstown Apis mellifera capensis 6139 South Africa Time = Honey If you are not living on the edge you are taking up too much space!! ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 07:57:06 EST Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: "Norman CotĘ" Subject: Re: Storing empty supers at end of season Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit If possible freeze the frames for 48 hours or more, this will kill any wax moths that you have. Also, I take a propane torch and heat the corners and the metal frame rest on each shallow box to kill any larva that may be hiding. Hope this is of some help. You don't have to char the wood with the burner, just get it to where you think all the larva can't survive. Norm ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 14:35:23 +0100 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Rimantas Zujus Subject: Re: Korean Bees Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-4" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi, Garth & all Beefriends >I have seen similar behaviour here with the cape honey bee when it >has bee lice on it - but only when the hive is illuminatd. Maybe, we should illumimate our hives and give a chance to our bees to get rid of Varroa mites? >If you are not living on the edge you are taking up too much space!! But You have no space for manouver :) Sincerely Yours Rimantas Zujus Kaunas LITHUANIA e-mail : zujus@isag.lei.lt http://www.online.lt/indexs.htm http://www.lei.lt 55 North, 24 East ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 08:58:17 -0500 Reply-To: tvf@umich.edu Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Ted Fischer Subject: Re: Storing empty supers at end of season MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-mac-type="54455854"; x-mac-creator="4D4F5353" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I have noted previously the best way to store supers, but since the topic is current again, let me emphasize a key principle: Wax moths will not enter clean dry supers, since in them there is nothing for the larvae to eat. Therefore, 1) Avoid storing wet supers. Have the bees clean them out before storage. 2) Avoid storing supers with pollen and larval cocoons. The best way to do this is to always use a queen excluder to keep the queen completely out of the supers, never letting her lay in them at all. The supers should be for surplus honey storage only, the brood nest for brood rearing. If the queen gets through an excluder (which happens), throw it away: it is no good. I have stored supers for 20 years, covered always, both out of doors and in a closed shed. I never have stored them over PDB crystals. In all this time, I have never had wax moth destruction of this comb, despite having had stored brood combs totally devastated by moths. Now, occasionally a few moth larvae will find isolated pollen cells and get into them, but this is always very limited and easy to fix. Ted Fischer Dexter, Michigan USA ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 09:37:54 -0500 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Nick Shilliff MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1998 11:25:03 -0500 From: David Gaida Subject: Re: Extender Patties "Most of these beekeepers stated a smaller honey harvest this year. All assumed it was a result of our drought." Judy, Back in the fall/winter of 1995, we had large losses of our bees due to what seemed to be large mite populations .There were lots of mites in July/August which was 1-2 months earlier than normal. This was a year of a bad drought . Could there be a correlation between drought and mite populations? Could the drought affect the bees such that they are more susceptible to both or either type of mite? Does anyone on the list have any ideas on this? Nick -fingerlakes NY ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 13:26:36 -0500 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Lloyd Spear Subject: Mite losses in July/August MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Nick, in the Fingerlakes, says "There were lots of mites in July/August which was 1-2 months earlier than normal." He goes on to ask "Does anyone on the list have any ideas on this?" I have never heard of any correlation between bees under stress (drought conditions) and large numbers of mites. In fact, such is not logical as mites require large amounts of larvae to increase their population. However, large numbers of mites in July/August is a common condition and many hives are lost to this every year. I first noticed this around 5-6 years ago. Often my best hive or hives would collapse in August, no bees, and loaded with honey and pollen. While now I know how to look for signs this might happen, and take action, I still lost one hive to this in 1998 and a commercial beekeeper nearby had severe August losses. Nick Calderone, from Cornell, opened my eyes to what is going on. Nick pointed out that mites need a lot of larvae to multiply, and that the best hives always have a lot of larvae (which is why they are the best hives). Nick said "your strongest hives will always have the largest populations of varroa". Make sense, so far. However, as the strongest hives have more bees to carry the varroa, why should they necessarily collapse? This has to do with their biology, as well as the natural cycle of the hive. Varroa, as everyone knows, prefer drone larvae. However, in July/August the bees are raising relatively few drones so as the mite population increases and the drone larvae decrease, the mites start to attack worker larvae. Once they infect a large percent of worker larvae, the hive is doomed. The control, as pointed out by Nick, starts with inspection of worker larvae in strong hives. Uncap and pull out of cells, just as one does for drone larvae. If mites are present in reasonably large numbers on worker larvae (personally, if I see mites on 25% of worker larvae I consider it "large numbers"), take the supers off the hive, and put in strips for one week. Then pull strips and put supers back on. In that week, perhaps 50% of the mites will have been killed...enough to reduce the mite population to below lethal levels. While a prime week's collection of nectar will have been lost, it is better than losing the entire hive. Hope this helps, Lloyd LloydSpear@email.msn.com Owner, Ross Rounds(tm) the finest in comb honey production. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 17:50:30 +0100 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: "Kai-M. Engfer" Subject: queen bee breeders' list MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8BIT Hi all, in order to renew my queen breeders' list on my web pages I am looking for queen breeders of the following races: Italian bee Caucasian bee Cape Honey bee Scutellata bee Monticola bee Dark Europ. Honey bee If You are or know a bee breeder of one of these races, please let me know. Thank You. Kai Kai-M. Engfer, Tel. 04347-8861 \| Ostlandstr. 1, http://insel.heim.at/mainau/330017 -|||8< D-24247 Mielkendorf /| ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 19:29:53 -0500 Reply-To: Tomara Fleury Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Tomara Fleury MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi! I'm new, my name is Tomara. I'm a beekeeper "wannabe." I am a Horticulture student at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN, USA. About drought and mites, I know that mites that feed on plants have higher populations when the weather is dry--I don't know if these bee mites are the same or not. Tomara -----Original Message----- From: Nick Shilliff To: BEE-L@CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU Date: Thursday, November 05, 1998 9:44 AM >Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1998 11:25:03 -0500 >From: David Gaida >Subject: Re: Extender Patties > > >"Most of these beekeepers stated a smaller honey harvest this year. All >assumed it was a result of our drought." > >Judy, >Back in the fall/winter of 1995, we had large losses of our bees due to >what seemed to be large mite populations .There were lots of mites in >July/August which was 1-2 months earlier than normal. This was a year of >a bad drought . >Could there be a correlation between drought and mite populations? >Could the drought affect the bees such that they are more susceptible to >both or either type of mite? >Does anyone on the list have any ideas on this? > >Nick -fingerlakes NY ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 19:59:53 -0500 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Steve Davis Subject: Re: Mite losses in July/August MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lloyd, Your comments make me wonder if the appartent natural resistance of some hives may be due to a queen which continues to lay drone eggs up till the end of the laying cylce for the year. I only have 20 hives but I've noticed this in at least one of the hives. when the mites first arrived here they wiped out everyones apairies, 100%! Two years later while driving along a rural road, I stumbled onto ten hives, seven of which were alive. The owner kept them in gums with no frame never treating with any medication. To my surprise, he wanted to sell because the State bee inspector was after him to transfer them into modern equipment. After buying them I did the tranferring and treated with strips but have always wondered if they could have resistance. Steve Davis >However, in July/August the >bees are raising relatively few drones so as the mite population increases >and the drone larvae decrease, the mites start to attack worker larvae. >Once they infect a large percent of worker larvae, the hive is doomed. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 23:14:56 -0600 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Musashi Subject: Re: Mite losses in July/August Steve Davis mentions that bees kept in gums with no frames and had never been treated for mites were still alive, then he transferred them to regular hives and treated them, wondering if they might have resistance. Two thoughts come to my mind as I read his message. One is that yes, it is possible that they could have some resistance. The other is that since they were not raised on foundation or frames and just in the natural comb, they would most likely have had a lot more drones raised than an ordinary hive. In that case, since mites reproduce predominantly on drone brood when it is available, then the drones would have been more affected by the mites than the workers and the overall hive would have been healthier. I would think, though that after the mite population got up to a certain point in density that the whole hive would be affected. But the fact that they had never been treated suggests the possibility of resistance. The thought that the reason they were "alive" was that they had a higher population of drones than a normal hive is intriguing, though. On the other hand, feral bees would also have a higher population of drones than a normal hive and they for the most part have been wiped out by the mites anyway. The conclusion I must therefore ultimately come to is that if these hives in the gums had been exposed to Varroa for several years and survived that it would most likely have to have been because of a resistance factor of some kind. That's just where my logic leads me, unless there are other things of which I am not aware that might have affected their survival. I also have a friend that has kept one or two hives year in a year out and has never treated them and one or the other has survived, just requeening themselves when they need to. Are they just escapees that have not yet been infected with the mites, or do they have resistance? I guess the only way to tell is to deliberately infect them and see what happens to them after that. Layne Westover College Station, Texas, USA ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 19:49:04 -0800 Reply-To: GSTYER@postoffice.worldnet.att.net Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: George Styer Subject: Re: Mite losses in July/August MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > From: Lloyd Spear > To: BEE-L@CNSIBM.ALBANY.EDU > Subject: Mite losses in July/August > Date: Thursday, November 05, 1998 10:26 AM > >I have never heard of any correlation between bees under stress (drought > conditions) and large numbers of mites. In fact, such is not logical as > mites require large amounts of larvae to increase their population. > I find the implied connection between drought and honeybee stress interesting. I recall reading somewhere that some species of plants actually produce more nectar during a drought than during a wet year. This is apparently a well evolved strategy for propagating the next generation. Any botanists out there? ---------- ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1998 11:35:09 +0000 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Dr Max Watkins Subject: Re: Apistan In-Reply-To: <910193922.116886.0@uacsc2.albany.edu> MIME-Version: 1.0 For the USA and Canada, Apistan is owned and made by Wellmark International 1000 Tower Lane Suite 245 Bensenville Illinois 60106 USA For the rest of the world the product is owned by Vita (Europe) Limited, UK and it is manufactured at Wellmark International, Dallas, Texas on our behalf. Regards, Max In message <910193922.116886.0@uacsc2.albany.edu>, Kerri Bevan writes >Could someone who has some Apistan look on the box and let me know what >company manufactures it. > >Thanks > > > >______________________________________________________ >Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com -- Dr Max Watkins Director, Vita (Europe) Limited Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 7RD, UK Tel 44 (0) 1256 473 177 Fax 44 (0) 1256 473 179 ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1998 12:34:26 +0000 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Dr Max Watkins Subject: Re: Api-tol In-Reply-To: <910181241.112809.0@uacsc2.albany.edu> MIME-Version: 1.0 APITOL is produced by Vita (Europe) Limited, UK. It's a systemic varroacide which is either diluted in water and sprinkled over the bees or else can be mixed in with the sugar syrup winter feed. Efficacy is generally in the 90's but rarely as consistant as APISTAN at 97-98%. It's a good product for rotation with Apistan as it has a completely different mode of action to pyrethroids. We have registrations in several countries and the product is being used as one of the products in our IPM strategies to slow down the evolution of varroa resistance to pesticides. If you want more information please feel free to drop me a line. Max In message <910181241.112809.0@uacsc2.albany.edu>, David Adams writes >Does anyone have any information about the use of this product for varroa >control > >in countries that it is in use at present time? >I would like to how well it works and if it has any draw backs. > >Thanks >David Adams >USA -- Dr Max Watkins Director, Vita (Europe) Limited Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 7RD, UK Tel 44 (0) 1256 473 177 Fax 44 (0) 1256 473 179 ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1998 07:41:04 -0800 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Andrew & Tiffany Dubas Subject: Bleeching wax MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I hear of people bleaching wax, wondering if anyone has the formula, because trying to mix in colors when the wax is yellow is quite frustrating. Im wondering though if the wax is bleached if it would be easier to color. Also wondering if anyone paints candles, we have some great candles that would look good painted where do I get wax paint ? Andrew & Tiffany Dubas E-Mail : dubees@enter.net home page : http://www.enter.net/~dubees ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 22:05:38 -0800 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Paul Nicholson Subject: Re: Mite losses in July/August Comments: To: GSTYER@postoffice.worldnet.att.net In-Reply-To: <199811060601.WAA16714@alto1.altonet.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 7:49 PM -0800 11/5/98, George Styer wrote: >I find the implied connection between drought and honeybee stress >interesting. I recall reading somewhere that some species of plants >actually produce more nectar during a drought than during a wet year. This >is apparently a well evolved strategy for propagating the next generation. Rain will wash the nectar out of flowers and limit bee's flying. Paul ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1998 08:33:03 -0500 Reply-To: tvf@umich.edu Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Ted Fischer Subject: Re: Bleeching wax MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-mac-type="54455854"; x-mac-creator="4D4F5353" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Actually, it is quite unnecessary to bleach beeswax before coloring it. The important thing is to use liquid or powder wax dyes, not pieces of colored wax. I never could get my candles colored properly until I discovered the powder dyes, which will give intense colors even with quite dark wax. They are available from most beekeeping supply outlets - here in Michigan from Groeb Farms, Onsted, Michigan, for example. Ted Fischer Dexter, Michigan USA ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1998 08:50:31 EST Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: "(Thomas) (Cornick)" Subject: Re: Apistan Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit In a message dated 11/6/98 8:15:08 AM Eastern Standard Time, max.watkins@VITA.DEMON.CO.UK writes: > > Wellmark International > 1000 Tower Lane > Suite 245 > Bensenville > Illinois 60106 > USA > Check out the cartoon in the latest issue of Bee Culture OR check out the big Wellmark ad on the back cover I have to get me some of them "magic" gloves and frames. Makes you wonder if they ever saw a hive ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1998 09:23:52 -0500 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Eugene Wyatt Organization: Catskill Merino Subject: 0 to 60 in Beekeeping MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hello all My name is Eugene Wyatt. I am a farmer and I run 500 Merino sheep in upstate New York. I want to make commercial mead (licenses applied for) from honey I produce. I have no experience with bees or beekeeping and I would like to learn as much as I can, as fast as I can about commercial honey production. Some recommendations please: 1) How would you best approach this project 2) Books and other educational materials 3) Suppliers of bees and equipment 4) Advice, *do's and don't's* a. types of bees for my local b. cheaper to buy or to make honey c. where can one buy honey, prices d. Dangers/mistakes to be wary of e. ?... Thanks for your input. Eugene Australian Superfine Merino Sheep Swan Lake, New York USA http://www.zelacom.com/~wyatt/ ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1998 09:41:38 EST Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Aaron Morris Subject: It's BEESWAX! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT At EAS this past summer I attended a session on making beeswax candles where the presenter asserted that if you are making beeswax candles you should relish in the beauty of your medium, BEESWAX! His assertion was that any adulteration of the beeswax (painting, dying, scenting) is an abomination! If you're going to paint, dye or scent, use paraffin! Having said that, there is plenty of discussion of bleaching beeswax in the archives. Harshest method uses hydrogen peroxide, most benign method user the sun (although at this time of year in the Northern hemisphere the sun is of little use). Send a single line of mail to: LISTSERV@cnsibm.albany.edu that reads: SEARCH BEE-L "bleaching wax" Aaron Morris - thinking there's gold in them thar archives! ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1998 09:56:10 -0600 Reply-To: lithar@midwest.net Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: AL Subject: Re: Mite losses in July/August MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Musashi wrote: > > Steve Davis mentions that bees kept in gums with no frames and had never been > treated for mites were still alive, then he transferred them to regular hives > and treated them, wondering if they might have resistance. > > Two thoughts come to my mind as I read his message. One is that yes, it is > possible that they could have some resistance. The other is that since they > were not raised on foundation or frames and just in the natural comb, they > would most likely have had a lot more drones raised than an ordinary hive. > In that case, since mites reproduce predominantly on drone brood when it is > available, then the drones would have been more affected by the mites than > the workers and the overall hive would have been healthier. This is an angle I don't fully understand. It runs contrary to a notion of mite control in which the *absence* of drones leads to a reduced mite population. Absence of drones means absence of mite incubators - or at least the mite's preferred incubator. The drone cell size and the drone development time frame is more conducive to mite development. Once the mites have developed into adults they don't have a preference of adult bee types they infect - do they?. This thinking has even lead to mite control efforts involving foundation with smaller cell impressions, encouraging the building of smaller cells, discouraging the laying of drone eggs - I think the jury is still out on that experiment. Do I know any of this from experience? No. But there has been extensive writing on the subject and now I find myself following a thread that runs contrary to that info. From what I've read, a lot of people keep bees successfully without treating but I wouldn't take that to be conclusive one way or another - just lucky. A lot of people seem to be losing their bees and they do treat - just unlucky. As for me I'm sticking with the theory that the best drone population is no drone population - except for that one necessary and short lived function. And I'm talking bees only:) AL ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1998 18:29:01 PST Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: dave general Subject: Re: Korean bees MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Hello List, This behavior of recruiting sisters to take a bee mite is charactersitc of the Asian honeybee, Apis cerana. This bee has many behavioral similarities with the A. mellifera. The varroa mite was originally a parasite of cerana, until the mite latched on to a bee with no behavioral defense. And has since spread worldwide. The problem with cerana in this country is its propensity to abscond, even with apparently optimum conditions. This survivalist behavior is very strong and has discouraged many researchers who would try to breed it out. Each island in our archipelago appears to have its own inbred strain. This presents the opportunity to outcross lines from different islands to see if the absconding behavior can be reduced, or if the honey production can be increased. I'm going to try a bit of outcrossing on a small island off Mindanao with strains from other islands. Dave General Cagayan de Oro City Philippines ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 7 Nov 1998 08:21:54 +0000 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Paul Walton Subject: UK: Bee Venon article in The Sunday Times MIME-Version: 1.0 FYI: There was an article on Bee Venom Therapy in the "Innovation" section of The Sunday Times on 1/11/98 (Page 5-12). -- Paul Walton Bedfordshire, England Paul@adrem.demon.co.uk ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 7 Nov 1998 21:08:28 -0600 Reply-To: cspacek@flash.net Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Curtis Spacek Subject: Re: Rough Handling MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit The problem may be that during rough handling the queen is injured or killed and the pheromones from the replacement queen are the cause of the ill temper.Its easy to roll the queen between frames if care is not taken during inspections.The supercedure queens from hybred mothers are often more agressive than the original. On a side note the method for making wax moth traps in the bee-l archives really works although it takes about a week for the banana to pickle and begin attracting moths.Mine have been up for a month now and have a 3/4 inch layer of dead moths floating in each one. Curtis Spacek Harris County Beekeepers Association http://www.harrisbee.org