How about a little consideration. You can see that you quoted screens and screens of the old message to add one line at the bottom. Eric At 05:54 PM 04/01/97 -0800, you wrote: >Dave Green, Eastern Pollinator Newsletter wrote: >> >> In a message dated 97-01-04 09:19:01 EST, [log in to unmask] (Donald V >> Israel) writes: >> >> <<The honey bees are bringing in nectur and pollan from somewhere. It is >> unseasonably warm for this time of year. What does this do to the biological >> clock there has been so much talk about lately?>> >> >> I've found that (in South Carolina) November and December are pretty slow >> months, and you can't stimulate the queen if you try. By early January she >> is already going, but you can't stimulate her much. By late in the month and >> into February, she'll get turned on. A natural flow (maple, canola, willow, >> etc.) will get them brooded up. I think the stimulation is caused by pollen >> as well as nectar. If the pollen is absent, they won't get stimulated much. >> >> From late January onward, we have to be cautious about management when >> there are warm spells. One thing that I've seen is bees brooded up too >> early, and a sharp temperature drop makes them contract the cluster and outer >> brood is chilled. It really sets a hive back, and can even kill them, in >> trying to deal with all the dead corpses. >> >> The other effect is increase in food consumption. Bees don't eat much >> where there is little brood, and death up to mid-January is usually not >> starvation, but other factors causing weak hives (stored poisoned pollen, >> poor queen, mites, etc.) >> >> Once they have a lot of brood they get real hungry. The maple flow here >> usually hits around the turn between Jan & Feb. Then it is quite barren >> until the end of March. If the maple flow is good, I plan on a lot more >> feeding, because the brooded-up bees will eat more. The most powerful hives >> are apt to starve in mid-March, when they outrun the meagre nectar supplies >> they can find. >> >> This is one reason I like canola, which will yield for the entire late >> winter, and freezes will not stop the flow. Most other plants will stop >> yielding if there is a freeze, at least until new buds open. >> >> << No one answered my request for info on how to round up honey bees from >> 80 feet in a pine tree.(round up as in cattle not poison them). It >> haooened to me two times last year and I lost them. >> >> >> The problem is not unsolveable, but saving high swarms is not cost >> effective. I've decided that any swarm over 8 feet is not worth chasing. >> Falling off a ladder is not my cup-of-tea. Being out of commission in the >> spring would sink my business, as I've GOT to have the bees on the crops when >> they bloom. Funerals, including my own, are still not an acceptable excuse. >> >> Last spring an employee was determined to get a swarm in a sapling, about >> 15 feet up. He's an agile, vigorous, young Mexican, and I could have stopped >> him only by threatening to fire him. So I held my breath as he climbed the >> sapling. Slowly it bowed over until the swarm was down to ground level, and >> he was back with his feet on the ground. We put a hive down and they were >> starting to run in, but he couldn't hold the tree indefinitely. When he let >> go, the tree whipped back up, the surprised bees were mostly dropped on the >> ground. After a moments thought, they took off, en masse, and went up one of >> those "80 foot" pines. So much for that. >> >> Its a good idea to hive swarms at dusk, but we can't always come back >> the necessary miles to catch one swarm, which may-or-may-not be still there. >> >> Swarm catchers can be purchased or made, using shop vacs. But it is an >> extra piece of equipment to haul around. -Not to speak of carrying the length >> of pipe needed. >> >> Bait boxes, are another solution, but it's iffy. The higher the boxes, >> the better the catch rate. You can also purchase pheromones to attract them, >> but I've not tried this. >> >> The best bet is to not let the bees swarm. Wild swarms are now quite >> rare, and if I manage my own bees as they should be, these swarms should also >> be rare. >> >> So I just wave goodbye to high swarms. It's sad. I wish I could tell >> them that they are carrying the vampires that will build up and kill them. >> Without my care, they are doomed ---Dead bees that just don't know it yet. >> >> But they ignore what I tell them. There's a sermon in there somewhere. >> >> [log in to unmask] Dave Green, PO Box 1200, Hemingway, SC >> 29554 (Dave & Jan's Pollination Service, Pot o'Gold Honey Co.) >> >> Practical Pollination Home Page Dave & Janice Green >> http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html >> >> Jan's Sweetness and Light Varietal Honeys and Gift Sets >> http://users.aol.com/SweetnessL/sweetlit.htm >Where do I purchase pheromones, and how do I use >them? > >Harry Cronk >[log in to unmask] > > Eric Abell Gibbons, Alberta Canada (403) 998 3143 [log in to unmask]