In a message dated 12/7/03 9:47:54 PM GMT Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
>
> We are talking about *entirely* different ways of operating, on vastly
> different scales, in very different regions. What may be a primary concern
> to some, such as raising one's own stock, may not be of any interest or
> value to others.
I can assure you Allen, that even on my comparatively tiny scale, if a
supplier could offer me queens effective in my area they would get a big order every
spring. We even had a couple of abortive efforts at sending our own best
queens to a breeder.
As may have been clear from my full posting, I do not happen to believe a lot
of the stuff about bought in queens being naturally inferior to what you
breed and know that requeening with a fresh and vigorous young queen of good
quality eliminates a whole heap of the work in more labour intensive systems.
Real producers want good queens and good service from good breeders. If a
supplier does not meet these criteria they slip down order of preference the guys
who really mean business. Where they place their orders is highly
significant, as the plum orders follow the plum suppliers. Bad suppliers, or suppliers of
sub standard queens are left till last to be booked up, and tend not to be
around for as long as the good ones.
Tried getting on the Kona supply list for May? I've been wanting to get on it
for years without success. The big boys, many of them in Canada, have had
them fully booked so far ahead that I may never get on that list.
>
> Some, or even many, of the beekeepers who replace all their queens every
> year may, or may not, raise their own -- or even get them from a supplier
> within 1,000 miles of their operation. Moreover, their operation may move
> thousands of miles over a year, and the owner and his crews may be a
> thousand mles from some of the hives at any given time. There are no 'local
> conditions' in such an operation. Not for long, anyhow.
These guys are a special case. However, even then, as you go on to state
later, they
> require a bee suited to the task in hand. Some bees just do not like being
> migrated and others are quite unfazed by it, so there is again a type of
> selection pressure at play, and they will only buy queens which are OK for their
> operation.
>
> Those who replace all queens every year are not breeding, they are producing
> honey and pollinating.
All those participating in this thread and think they have somehow found an
enlightened point of view would be best to read that sentence. It is absolutely
the key. Making value judgements on the way the real professionals operate
from any perspective outwith that is unlikely to give you the correct
conclusion. Bees are not just a cosy eco friendly thing to do, they are serious
business. If the vast majority of the population are to have honey available to them
at an affordable price it needs the big guys with their often denigrated
methods. If pollinators get scarce my beloved smoked almonds might get expensive,
and that would never do. (G)
>
> 1.) Many of these beekeepers are in the South, where one non-stop year in
> the life of a queen is like three years in the life of a queen in more
> northern areas.
This is a point missed frequently by many northern beekeepers, especially
over here. They make a false assumption about inferior queens because of their
shorter life, but our queens only have to lay flat out for two or three months
and just do not burn out the same as ones with a longer season to contend with.
My friend in California requeens far more frequently than is done over here,
and during a talk to an association they were horrified and wondered why he
had such poor queens. Just didn't understand how many eggs such a queen has to
lay in 6 months or so, compared to the relatively easy time our queens get.
Riding on trucks tends to make queens disappear.
Snap. Black bees are especially susceptible to this due to being more highly
strung.
> Horace
> Bell does that, from what I hear, and, last I heard he has about 35,000
> hives, scattered around the country. Therfore, it must work. Buddy Ashurst
> does something like that too. These guys are pros.
Just where do they go about sourcing 35000 queens? Not doubting it, just
curious.
>
> After all, to much of this planet's population, beekeeping is bizarre.
>
Murray
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