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Date: | Sun, 13 Aug 2006 13:19:50 +0100 |
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Hi Eric
A few more playful thoughts...
>>if, by their diligence, they achieve 4X amount of honey, then they can
>>still survive if 3X is taken away.
>
> But why 4X? Why not 10X or 100X? It seems to me that enough and a
> little extra just in case is all that bees have an incentive to
> naturally produce.
It may not be apparent to US beekeepers who have the benefit of a
considerable and reasonably steady honey flow, but Bees did not
originate in the Americas, they were endemic in the area that I live in,
which has a nectar production that is low and switches on and off many
times per day. Under these conditions it is possible for a normal
healthy colony that has not swarmed to make a net loss on honey in a
season, but these conditions only occur about every five or so years,
rarely would they occur two years in succession.
> I'm inclined to
> think that a lot of my manipulations as a beekeeper should be aimed at
> redirecting the bees from swarming to extravagant honey production.
Unfortunately the present day has been preceded by a long era of skep
beekeeping that has selected for the excessive swarminess of the bees we
have today.
Regards & Best 73s, Dave Cushman, G8MZY
http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushman or http://www.dave-cushman.net
Short FallBack M/c, Build 6.02/3.1 (stable)
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l for rules, FAQ and other info ---
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