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Subject:
From:
Eric Abell <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Discussion of Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 6 Jan 1997 21:52:47 -0700
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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]

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