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  • From: Marty Hanks <marty AT justbeenc.com>
  • To: "friedjf AT verizon.net" <friedjf AT verizon.net>
  • Cc: "ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org" <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>, "calebhaynes AT gmail.com" <calebhaynes AT gmail.com>
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] Hmmm -Hmmmm
  • Date: Thu, 11 Jun 2015 00:50:10 -0400

John

just to be clear on my losses. I take in all  swarms anytime of the year and perform cut outs. So I do get small-  high risk colonies. Half of those didn't make it...but I like to focus on the half who did!

I had one late season cut out over winter on just 8 deep frames. Bees are amazing and resilient. They are now 4 boxes high and we will split them at the end of June.

Going into the last (3rd) big ice-freeze this winter we were only at 17% (winter) losses. It got warm before the 3rd big freeze....then it hit. Our numbers spiked after that long 3 day cold spell to 30%. 

So there is a great need to share info openly, befriend mentors, look globally to enhance locally and always keep an open mind and try to save as many colonies as you can. 

Marty


Sent from my iPhone

On Jun 10, 2015, at 8:31 PM, friedjf AT verizon.net wrote:

Caleb Haynes asked if I was proposing something with my bee-centric post. I wasn't then, but now I am. Here are several proposals that seem closer to what is natural than present practices:
 
1. Instead of feeding bees sucrose (which some beekeepers describe as nutrition-less candy), use honey instead.
2. Instead of opening hives often, learn about the goings-on of bee hives mainly through videos, simulations, demonstrations, etc. Develop or use less intrusive, fiber-optic options for viewing hives unless it is necessary to enter a hive.
3. Reject serving clients whose pollination needs are mono-cultural. Encourage them to grow companion crops and to set aside diverse pollinator-friendly spaces that are proportional to their main crop.
 4. If helping bees to survive is important, start with your own hive. Don't heavily harvest honey and then hope that the bees will replenish their stores before winter. Make sure the hive is fully stocked several months before winter and then only remove the excess.
5. That Italian method of getting honey (taking one frame and breaking off pieces at a dinner) seemed less stressful than removing many frames, extracting those frames and returning empty frames. Reminds me of when my teenaged sons would vacuum the contents of my refrigerator between dinner and breakfast and then complain that there was nothing to eat.
 
I don't have a good suggestion for long-distance moves by trailer loads of hives, but it seems harmful and highly unnatural. Maybe since people are becoming loca-vores, they also could endorse and consume products that are "loca-hive".
 
John Friedrick 
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