BEE-L Archives

Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

BEE-L@COMMUNITY.LSOFT.COM

Options: Use Monospaced Font
Show Text Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Subject:
From:
"J. Waggle" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 1 Sep 2005 14:52:25 -0700
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (128 lines)
--- Eric Brown <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

...are willing to
> do costly and labor-intensive things for their bees
> are quite successful
> beekeepers (in terms of varroa), regardless of
> whether they use small
> cell.

I agree the upfront regressing and costs and losses
were expensive.  But I am seeing savings in all these
areas now.

Joe speculated that small cell failures might
> be beekeeper failures,
> but I would counter that "small cell successes"
> might be "beekeeper
> successes" having little or nothing to do with cell
> size.

LOL, you are right!  BUT, before regressing, no mater
what I did, I was experiencing 50% losses on average,
and some years much higher than that.  This past
record would indicate that I am a piss poor beekeeper.
 I don't see that I am doing any thing different than
I have back then, I am still a piss poor beekeeper,
just having a little more success. ;>)

>
> In response to Joe's claims as to what he gained by
> using small cell, I
> think those are very nice things, but the connection
> to cell size is
> speculative.

Speculation is good!  Many things in beekeeping are
speculative.  You can't make a decision in beekeeping
without speculating what the outcome might be.  I've
decided to go with what is working for me.  And you
can't go with what is working unless you can speculate
that there will be a positive outcome, or that it was
due to something you are doing. Yes, I am speculating
that small cell and collecting ferals is the reason
for this success, therefore I must continue.  I have
not the time for scientific proof,  so for now, I am
succeeding on speculation. ;>)


...My point is that the reason small
> cell stories are falling
> on deaf ears is that they're not conveying much
> information that's useful
> to the rest of us.

You're right!  I used to do a ton of posting helping
others regress.  But, I have found that it is
difficult to do successfully without being there to
see what's going on inside the hives.  I do admit to
keeping quiet now and then because I fear that the
information I give will be implemented differently
than I intended, therefore I may do more harm than
good.  We have allot of stuff compiled in
Organicbeekeepers but I can see that it can be easy to
get overload with all the information.  You really
need to have a mentor that is in small cell that can
assist on site because IMO it does require a certain
amount of experience and attention to complete
successfully.


We can congratulate you all on
> your successes, but what
> will do the rest of good in our circumstances that
> isn't highly speculative?

I don;t read that right,,, but Sometimes I don;t
understand beeks at the drop of a hat will try grease,
oils, acids based on speculation.  But then small cell
they want proof.  You need to have a certain amount of
faith in your fellow beekeepers.

>
> And then small cell advocates say or imply that to
> really experience the
> benefits of small cell one must not feed bees
> anything but honey,

Well, if you are feeding sugar or honey as a crutch,
you are in fact propping up bad genetics.  I see
nothing wrong with feeding sugar or honey in an
emergency,,, just not as a dependency.

must not
> so much as use powdered sugar on his bees,

The bees treat that as a contaminate, and are forced
to clean up the mess.

must
> manufacture his own
> foundation,

This is due to the contamination from pesticides foudn
in foundation today.  But I have no choice,,,
I by from dadant.

>
> And finally small cell advocates try to hijack the
> words organic and
> natural, as if the definition of natural were 4.9
> mm, or puffing smoke in a
> hive were an abomination of organics.

What does it matter, how does this affect your bees?
I have found that the big egos generally fail in small
cell because they are too worried about stuff like
this, instead of their bees.  ;>)

Best Wishes,
JOe

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l for rules, FAQ and  other info ---

ATOM RSS1 RSS2