FYGI, saw a skunk out about a week ago, bees flew for the first time in god knows how long three days ago, at least one hive is (was) still alive.  The day the bees first flew was the first time it felt like spring out, we have about a foot of ice, not snow, and it isn't going any where fast in the uplands of Warren County, NY.  That's US of A as opposed to U of SA. 

Now on to the red queen thread;

(1) Having been a bee inspector, for far too long, I always tried to get the "un-willing experts", who knew (sic) more than I did about the subject, to hive swarms on foundation primarily for AFB interdiction.  If I had a dollar for every time I had to "sit" through the "big swarm that when to town" lecture I could afford to be living in "redwood country" instead of this "icebox".  Whenever they "ran down" and you finally got to debrief them, invariably they had been "forced" to use foundation since they had run out of the drawn "dead-out frames" their grandfather had put in moth balls back before "the ___ war".  (Please feel free to choose your own war)  They also are often quick to add, "think what they would have done had I had drawn comb".  These same "self-anointed experts" were quick to tell you that it was the "swarming impulse" that made the bees more productive, choosing to ignore or being ignorant of, the positive effects that accrue from escaping the "burden" of assorted environmental toxins.  Anyone who doesn't believe this, should talk to, or read up on the published papers of, Jerry B.  A major portion of his career has utilized that fact.  Twenty five+ years ago Bob Stevens was quoting a study in his Better Bee catalog, that compared brood comb to the hepatic caecum , i.e. "liver", in non-arthropod species. Sorry but I've lost track of the citation.  Basically both serve as a "sink" for "harmful" items that can not be secreted.  

Also, only rarely, noted in this regard is the amount of un useable comb most established hives contain, un removable stale pollen, excessive propolis buildup and misplaced drone comb are just some of the factors in this category.  If the comb is un-useable it still must be contained within the brood nest, kept warm, etc. while contributing nothing to the buildup.

(2) Blue dye in syrup.  Why must it be blue?  In South Jersey The Wright Clan, Bob Harvey and any number of other beekeepers have all had episodes of strange honey flows.  New Jersey has a large pharmaceutical industry, which produces, among other things, lots of cough syrup in several vivid colors.  New Jersey also has a large pig industry that feeds in exposed toughs. when available, waste dyed sugar solutions to supplement the regular feed.  The state has also had beekeepers extract bumper crops of "Honey" only to have it start running red, orange, blue, green or some combination of those colors.

(3) It's a little off topic, but I have never understood why, particular stationary beekeepers, draw comb on a nectar flow.  It is a rare stationary site that doesn't have long predicable gaps between flows.  Sugar syrup can be had cheaper than honey any day, even if you factor in labor, why make wax out of it?  Everyone makes a big issue of needing a "strong flow" to draw good comb.  How much stronger than a pail over the inner cover does a "flow" get?

Bottom line?  This "discovery" has been around, under the radar, for a long time.

To quote another "old gizzer";  "Thinking there isn't much new under the sun, and that includes re-discovering the wheel".

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