How are your honey bees?

troutsqueezer · May 19, 2015

CobyRupert said:
And during that fifty million years was there ever been a time in history when man covered the earth with death chemicals (pesticides)?

"Don't worry about that canary, he's just sleeping."

The pollinators dying out ain't the only problem. New milestone reached: Carbon dioxide levels reach global milestone

Think about that question for a minute..... What do you think happens when super volcanos decide to erupt?

mark02tj · May 20, 2015

troutsqueezer said:
As for the Varroa mite, it is not a problem in hives that use small cell or natural foundation. There is no room in cells for mites in those circumstances. With the advent of the Langstroth hive came foundation with slightly larger cells than what occurs in nature. Get rid of those and the varroa mite will go away.

That's INTERESTING!! Can you point me to anything that supports that theory? What's the size difference between a "natural cell" and a "foundation cell"?

I've been thinking about doing a couple of top-bar hives. This might push me a little quicker in that direction (because I don't have enough projects already! LOL!)

forgeblast · May 20, 2015

Mark check out beesource.com there were a lot of discussions about going with the natural cell, biobees.com is also a good site has a lot more on topbar. you may want to check out warre hives.

troutsqueezer · May 20, 2015

mark02tj said:
That's INTERESTING!! Can you point me to anything that supports that theory? What's the size difference between a "natural cell" and a "foundation cell"?

I've been thinking about doing a couple of top-bar hives. This might push me a little quicker in that direction (because I don't have enough projects already! LOL!)

No sweat. Google Michael Bush and beekeeping. You'll find a lot of info there.

mark02tj · May 21, 2015

THANKS forgeblast and troutsqueezer!!

CobyRupert · May 21, 2015

troutsqueezer said:
Think about that question for a minute..... What do you think happens when super volcanos decide to erupt?

Which produces more CO2, volcanic or human activity?

"..studies show that globally, volcanoes on land and under the sea release a total of about 200 million tonnes of CO2 annually.

This seems like a huge amount of CO2, but a visit to the U.S. Department of Energy's Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC) website (Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC)) helps anyone armed with a handheld calculator and a high school chemistry text put the volcanic CO2 tally into perspective. Because while 200 million tonnes of CO2 is large, the global fossil fuel CO2 emissions for 2003 tipped the scales at 26.8 billion tonnes. Thus, not only does volcanic CO2 not dwarf that of human activity, it actually comprises less than 1 percent of that value. "

forgeblast · May 22, 2015

Michael Bush he has a lot of great articles I enjoy reading what he writes.

NorTracNY · May 22, 2015

Interesting articles. There are lots of people doing lots of experimenting, but controlled studies are not the norm. The smaller sizes are not because the mites won't fit. The thought is that the larva are capped a day earlier. The bees will be smaller. Bush just refers to beekeepers having made the cells larger over time which has created larger bees.

bcjmmac · May 22, 2015

Another site with great info - Scientific Beekeeping
Mr Oliver is a biologist & does controlled experiments to see what does or doesn't work in the field. He did a controlled experiment to see if small cell size reduced mite populations versus "normal" cell size - results indeterminate due death of all colonies (CCD). You can read the article on the site & also other articles on mite control.
We use green/drone boards throughout the season and haven't had any problems with mites (for explanation - mites prefer drone cells due size and longer gestation so by trapping them on green boards they are easier to kill/control). Not necessarily practical for commercial growers but not too much work with a small setup.