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Chronological Thread  
  • From: David Fruch <dcfruch AT frontier.com>
  • To: Caleb Haynes <calebthaynes AT gmail.com>
  • Cc: Orange County Beekeepers Association <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] Man with a hive beetle plan
  • Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2017 12:28:57 -0400

Yes, that’s it. It seemed very sensible if you were setting out a lot of nucs in summer. I checked further. He is in So. Indiana and on his web site mentions “I have took Fat Bee Mans commercial bee coarse.” English aint him and computers aint me but I’ll trust him on bees. And he clearly did his own web site which would challenge me.
dcf
On Apr 26, 2017, at 10:47 AM, Caleb Haynes <calebthaynes AT gmail.com> wrote:

Slack cut Mr. Austin. I'm sorry I mistook what you were saying. Your suggestion for a side by side comparison is a great one. Hopefully Mr. Willard will make a video of that, could save me a lot of time if there is no difference. 

Hey David I think I found the video you were referring to. Is this it? https://youtu.be/p3szYVtdVH4


On Apr 26, 2017 10:14 AM, "Randall Austin" <ra41717 AT gmail.com> wrote:

Caleb,

I wasn't making fun of you at all, just pointing out to all the OCBA readers that there are many factors at play. You intimated the same thing in your post; I was just emphasizing that observation.

I once had somebody ask me if I used Honey Bee Healthy. I said, no, I don't, I've never seen the need for it and I've never read any academic articles proving its merits. The person said, "okay, I'll dump mine out then." I was horrified, especially since that stuff is so expensive! I was offering an opinion, not pronouncing a judgement on that person's intelligence or product choice. There are folks who love HBH -- it does stimulate syrup up-take due to its nice stinkiness. But I'm not a booster for it; I don't need it. And I will say that when asked, and not apologize for doing so.

Along the same lines, I often make points that people take the wrong way because of their perspective. I really do try to anticipate that sort of thing and adjust what I say accordingly -- believe it or not I reread my posts many times before hitting "send" (the typos must get in there after they are sent!). My goal is to guide and encourage. Please cut me, and others, some slack when something doesn't come out exactly that way. The alternative is that I don't post at all, which works for me but doesn't further OCBA's goal of fact-based education, outreach and encouragement of beekeepers. Rest assured that if I ever deliberately intent to insult someone, I will do it to them directly off-list and there will be no misunderstanding whatsoever. From that you can reliably assume that any insults on-list are very much unintentional on my part.

Randall



On 4/26/2017 9:27 AM, Caleb Haynes wrote:
If you had looked at more than an excerpt of my email you would have seen that I only wondered if there was a connection between my never wet use and my lack of beetles. I had assumed other factors were at play, which very well could be the case. There is no need to make fun of me for pointing out a new thing. I am merely advocating additional testing to see if this man is correct or not and though I will be doing that myself this year in some of my hives I know that repeated tests in many other bee yards are needed to decide if this is actually effective. 
Mr. Willard does claim to have done more extensive testing using different substances  with different results in another video here: https://youtu.be/FfnefkJSfBs 
But like you I also have to see it in action for myself.
Thank you for the tips. I'm glad you have methods of prevention that work for you and that you have no need for new ideas. I'll try them when I get the chance and see if they work as well for me. I will also post what you suggested below to Mr. Willard's channel, he is very responsive and may be willing to do a side by side comparison.

On Apr 26, 2017 8:54 AM, "Randall Austin" <ra41717 AT gmail.com> wrote:

Re: "I actually painted my two hives with never wet when I was in NC and never had more than a handful of beetles at a time": I never have more than a handful of beetles at a time either and don't use special paint or traps. But I do curse at the beetles I see... could that be it? Maybe they get all depressed and leave. Or maybe correlation isn't causation. Or maybe the tips <here> help.

The You-Tube demonstration would have been a worthwhile exercise if the guy had used a side-by-side control. As it is, all we have to go on is his personal assurance that the beetles would have climbed onto the top black surface if given a chance. Really? That's easy enough to demonstrate if true... why not show us the difference?  Just do the same test with a separate box, exactly the same as the first one but without the metal strips. I'm not convinced those beetles were interested in going anywhere, and that feeling was reinforced by the guy having to poke them repeatedly to get them to move at all.

FYI, the metal strips, cut to purpose with wooden rims, are available for sale as a commercial product at bee supply stores. The ones I'm familiar with don't have the stay-wet paint on them. But the directions on those say the rims are the magic factor, no need for paint. So don't the rims work without paint? Or do we need rims and paint? Or do we need rims, paint and the next magical add-on? It makes me wonder.

Great ideas are only that without confirmation. And even when great ideas actually work, that doesn't mean they'll work at my house!

Randall


On 4/25/2017 9:08 PM, Caleb Haynes wrote:
Possibly. Worth a test, which wouldn't cost more than 20 bucks. However even if his specific method isn't the best he has discovered a weakness we may be able to exploit. A substance that the SHB cannot cross. I actually painted my two hives with never wet when I was in NC and never had more than a handful of beetles at a time. I thought it was a fluke or that my landlord had put some sort of pesticide in the surrounding ground before I moved in. Now I'm wondering if it was because I painted the entrance and the beetles had a difficult time accessing the hive. Couldn't get a grip lol.

On Apr 25, 2017 9:00 PM, "Brad Kosiba" <bradkosiba AT gmail.com> wrote:
Very entertaining, but I expect in a real hive they would eventually just fly up to the comb, they are very good flyers, even if they would rather walk.

Brad Kosiba

On Mon, Apr 24, 2017 at 3:58 PM, Caleb Haynes <calebthaynes AT gmail.com> wrote:
Have y'all seen this? 


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--
Bradley E Kosiba, PhD
Biochemist-Beekeeper-Gardener-Scouter
 


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