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Key:
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Joined: Jul 2020
Posts: 9,818 Likes: 91
14 point
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14 point
Joined: Jul 2020
Posts: 9,818 Likes: 91 |
https://libertyunyielding.com/2024/04/09/america-has-a-record-number-of-beApparently most industrial type Bee keepers haul all their hives to California for the Almond bloom. I know a guy who has been involved in this for years and has some good stories. Bees doing well is good for all of us.
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Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 39,598
Freak of Nature
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Freak of Nature
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 39,598 |
I'm not trying to be "that guy" but I have a different perspective on that, because I WAS a beekeeper.
An increase in bee hive/colony numbers IMO, doesn't mean that bees are doing well. The colony collapse disorder mentioned in that article might be better, but it also was never identified as a disease. It just happened with little or no idea why. IMO it had more to do with the Varroa Mite and academia want to agree with.
Varroa Mites are the main reason that feral bees all but disappeared. VM are still the main killer of Honeybees and to keep VM's to a manageable level takes a dedicated regimen of miticides. "Almond bees" are sick bees. Commercial producers use antibiotics on those bees as a treatment, for living. Bees that have been exposed to the almond crops are usually trucked all over the US following other crops. The honey they produce isn't fit for human consumption because the bees were fed antibiotics while they were making the honey.
The bee problem won't be over until the Varroa Mite is eradicated. IMO that will never happen. There are those that market their bees as "treatment free" and don't use chemical miticides to keep them alive. I bought into that theory when I first started beekeeping but learned that's impossible before I got out of the business. It's completely possible to be treatment free, as long as you're dedicated to raising new bee hives on a constant basis to replace your dead hives. When I had 7-8 hives I could be treatment free. I just had to raise 5-6 a year to replace the dead ones. Once I started treating for mites, I jumped from 7-8 hives to 20 in one year. I also increased from 10 "nucs" (nucleus hives) to 25. When I started using chemical miticides, the mortality rate of my hives dropped by 90%. Nothing else changed, other than my stance on treating for mites. It also cut my work by about 80%.
Again, not trying to throw water on the fire, but when local beeks start having bees not die without treatment for Varroa Mites, then the bee problem will be over.
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14
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Joined: Jul 2020
Posts: 10,379 Likes: 72
Booner
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Booner
Joined: Jul 2020
Posts: 10,379 Likes: 72 |
All I ever see now is black bumble bees on flowers. Maybe I need to plant some buckwheat at the hunting club to give the bees something to do?
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Joined: Jul 2020
Posts: 9,818 Likes: 91
14 point
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14 point
Joined: Jul 2020
Posts: 9,818 Likes: 91 |
Honey farmers lease out space on nearby Osceola WMA every year. They put up solar electric fences.
They like it (I'm told) because it is very unlikely that their bees will stumble into a recently sprayed field.
This is mainly Gallberry honey.
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Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 3,989 Likes: 21
10 point
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10 point
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 3,989 Likes: 21 |
My satsuma tree is covered up in honey bees this year. First time they have been on it since I planted it 15 years ago.
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Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 7,104 Likes: 17
The Flippin’ Idiot That Could Care Less
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The Flippin’ Idiot That Could Care Less
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 7,104 Likes: 17 |
I haven't seen one bee this year. I have a 5 acre pasture around me that usually brings in bees. Last year my garden only had 20% pollination I'd say.
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,580
10 point
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10 point
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,580 |
Bigger problem for me was the dang hive beetles.
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Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 363 Likes: 4
4 point
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4 point
Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 363 Likes: 4 |
I'm not trying to be "that guy" but I have a different perspective on that, because I WAS a beekeeper.
An increase in bee hive/colony numbers IMO, doesn't mean that bees are doing well. The colony collapse disorder mentioned in that article might be better, but it also was never identified as a disease. It just happened with little or no idea why. IMO it had more to do with the Varroa Mite and academia want to agree with.
Varroa Mites are the main reason that feral bees all but disappeared. VM are still the main killer of Honeybees and to keep VM's to a manageable level takes a dedicated regimen of miticides. "Almond bees" are sick bees. Commercial producers use antibiotics on those bees as a treatment, for living. Bees that have been exposed to the almond crops are usually trucked all over the US following other crops. The honey they produce isn't fit for human consumption because the bees were fed antibiotics while they were making the honey.
The bee problem won't be over until the Varroa Mite is eradicated. IMO that will never happen. There are those that market their bees as "treatment free" and don't use chemical miticides to keep them alive. I bought into that theory when I first started beekeeping but learned that's impossible before I got out of the business. It's completely possible to be treatment free, as long as you're dedicated to raising new bee hives on a constant basis to replace your dead hives. When I had 7-8 hives I could be treatment free. I just had to raise 5-6 a year to replace the dead ones. Once I started treating for mites, I jumped from 7-8 hives to 20 in one year. I also increased from 10 "nucs" (nucleus hives) to 25. When I started using chemical miticides, the mortality rate of my hives dropped by 90%. Nothing else changed, other than my stance on treating for mites. It also cut my work by about 80%.
Again, not trying to throw water on the fire, but when local beeks start having bees not die without treatment for Varroa Mites, then the bee problem will be over. You sir are 100% correct all Bee Keepers struggle to keep pest out of our hives .No one that keeps Bees would believe that things are better
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 5,244
12 point
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12 point
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 5,244 |
I've had a ton of honey bees on blueberry bushes this year.
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Joined: Jul 2020
Posts: 9,818 Likes: 91
14 point
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14 point
Joined: Jul 2020
Posts: 9,818 Likes: 91 |
I can remember years where I definitely saw greater numbers. I believe the Bumble and Carpenter bees help pollinate my Orange trees. I see "some" honeybees here.
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 19,233 Likes: 27
Old Mossy Horns
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Old Mossy Horns
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 19,233 Likes: 27 |
I know the big oak beside the house was sounding like a saw few weeks back . I made a post on here about it . Was more in it than there has been in awhile .
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Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 39,598
Freak of Nature
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Freak of Nature
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 39,598 |
I'm not trying to be "that guy" but I have a different perspective on that, because I WAS a beekeeper.
An increase in bee hive/colony numbers IMO, doesn't mean that bees are doing well. The colony collapse disorder mentioned in that article might be better, but it also was never identified as a disease. It just happened with little or no idea why. IMO it had more to do with the Varroa Mite and academia want to agree with.
Varroa Mites are the main reason that feral bees all but disappeared. VM are still the main killer of Honeybees and to keep VM's to a manageable level takes a dedicated regimen of miticides. "Almond bees" are sick bees. Commercial producers use antibiotics on those bees as a treatment, for living. Bees that have been exposed to the almond crops are usually trucked all over the US following other crops. The honey they produce isn't fit for human consumption because the bees were fed antibiotics while they were making the honey.
The bee problem won't be over until the Varroa Mite is eradicated. IMO that will never happen. There are those that market their bees as "treatment free" and don't use chemical miticides to keep them alive. I bought into that theory when I first started beekeeping but learned that's impossible before I got out of the business. It's completely possible to be treatment free, as long as you're dedicated to raising new bee hives on a constant basis to replace your dead hives. When I had 7-8 hives I could be treatment free. I just had to raise 5-6 a year to replace the dead ones. Once I started treating for mites, I jumped from 7-8 hives to 20 in one year. I also increased from 10 "nucs" (nucleus hives) to 25. When I started using chemical miticides, the mortality rate of my hives dropped by 90%. Nothing else changed, other than my stance on treating for mites. It also cut my work by about 80%.
Again, not trying to throw water on the fire, but when local beeks start having bees not die without treatment for Varroa Mites, then the bee problem will be over. You sir are 100% correct all Bee Keepers struggle to keep pest out of our hives .No one that keeps Bees would believe that things are better Truthfully I was hoping that some miraculous thing had happened that I was unaware of. joe sickpack, I had very little problems with hive beetles. I got lucky when I set up my first hives. They were all sitting on top of pure clay, on an old barn pad, and the ground was hard as a brick. They were in full sun too. I saw some hive beetles but never more than a few per hive.
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 5,661
12 point
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12 point
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 5,661 |
I have bees and it’s a full-time job inspecting, treating, feeding, etc.
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Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 39,598
Freak of Nature
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Freak of Nature
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 39,598 |
I have bees and it’s a full-time job inspecting, treating, feeding, etc. Exactly the reason that I'm glad that I don't have them anymore. Having fowl brood one year, then having a tornado scatter my hives the next, was all I could take. I honestly have days where I wish I had two hives. Then I remember my history with them and that goes away.
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14
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