Pretentious Snobby Bastard Fly Fishing!

Fly Fishing BS => The Gravel Bar => Topic started by: Woolly Bugger on April 11, 2019, 10:54:21 AM

Title: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Woolly Bugger on April 11, 2019, 10:54:21 AM
Forsyth County beekeepers keep the tradition alive, one hive at a time

QuoteIt's not as loud as you would think.

David Link walks around his hives, carefully pumping out smoke from a small canister in his left hand, aimed towards the thousands of bustling bees flying in and out of the boxes. He's covered head to toe and wears a tan safari-looking hat with a net to protect his face. Bright blue latex gloves cover his hands.

"I had a slight hesitation of being around a stinging insect in the beginning," Link admits. "But once you get one that works easily... it's a real pleasure being with them."

https://triad-city-beat.com/forsyth-county-beekeepers-keep-the-tradition-alive-one-hive-at-a-time/?fbclid=IwAR3vPrjLg3sOlEuXDaZ7x1H5rdnFFRf11jAE2iGbNjkRrBv-T5RUTpg1f0c
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Onslow on April 11, 2019, 11:28:19 AM
I'm quite content with the my bee situation this year.  Although the maples came out too early, the cold returned in March slowing the emergence of flowers.

Although some losses occurred, the current situation is nothing like last years awful early Winter, hot February and April.  The poplar bloom last year was both light, and short in duraton. All the plants and trees thus far are blooming very heavy this year.
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Onslow on April 14, 2019, 20:01:56 PM
So I have one hive that exploded this year very early.  I split the hive, but the hive had already kicked into swarm mode and had made a decent crop of queen cells.  Most normal hives will swarm once the queen cells near being ripe, some some breeds such as Russians will swarm up to 10 or more times during a swarm cycle.  My wife had captured a swarm from said hive yesterday.  Sometimes if a hive is strong, virgin queen mating flights can be mistaken for swarming. This morning in the rain, there was a decent bee vortex in my front yard...expletive deleted.

As the day wore on, it became clear this group of bees were not a stranded posse accompanying a queen to the mating spot, but a small swarm.  These poor bees endured the torrential rains this afternoon.  I gave them something sweet, and got them in a hive box.

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Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Mudwall Gatewood 3.0 on April 15, 2019, 04:21:05 AM
Quote from: Onslow on April 14, 2019, 20:01:56 PMSo I have one hive that exploded this year very early.  I split the hive, but the hive had already kicked into swarm mode and had made a decent crop of queen cells.  Most normal hives will swarm once the queen cells near being ripe, some some breeds such as Russians will swarm up to 10 or more times during a swarm cycle.  My wife had captured a swarm from said hive yesterday.  Sometimes if a hive is strong, virgin queen mating flights can be mistaken for swarming. This morning in the rain, there was a decent bee vortex in my front yard...expletive deleted.

As the day wore on, it became clear this group of bees were not a stranded posse accompanying a queen to the mating spot, but a small swarm.  These poor bees endured the torrential rains this afternoon.  I gave them something sweet, and got them in a hive box.


Very cool.  This is how you treat immigrants, particularly ones that work their asses off.
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Woolly Bugger on April 15, 2019, 11:16:07 AM
Interesting work being done at UNCG

Watch the video

UNCG professors, students working to save honey bees
http://via.wghp.com/5RWw2
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Onslow on April 15, 2019, 11:29:54 AM
The web of life can only be snipped so much without the whole web unraveling.  Damn thing is about to come appart.
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Woolly Bugger on April 15, 2019, 14:25:40 PM
Saw that someone has put some hives out in the corner of Reynolds Gardens native plant fields 37614EA8-7921-4482-A8C8-CCFC9BA31ABE.jpeg

169E43E1-C2D6-44A9-8640-C343BA36B8FD.jpeg
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Onslow on April 16, 2019, 14:45:12 PM
Quote from: Woolly Bugger on April 15, 2019, 14:25:40 PMSaw that someone has put some hives out in the corner of Reynolds Gardens native plant fields 37614EA8-7921-4482-A8C8-CCFC9BA31ABE.jpeg

169E43E1-C2D6-44A9-8640-C343BA36B8FD.jpeg

Time for an instagram selfie...dufus gets stung by bees, runs into tree head first while looking at phone and becomes paralyzed from neck down.
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Woolly Bugger on April 18, 2019, 10:26:39 AM
Wild bee species critical to pollination on the decline

QuoteMore than a dozen wild bee species critical to pollinizing everything from blueberries to apples in New England are on the decline, according to a new study.

Researchers from the University of New Hampshire wanted to understand if the documented declines hitting honeybees and bumblebees were also taking a toll on the lesser studied bee species in New Hampshire.

So, they examined 119 species in the state from a museum collection at the college dating back 125 years. Writing in the peer-reviewed journal Insect and Conservation Diversity this month, Sandra Rehan and Minna Mathiasson concluded 14 species found across New England were on the decline by as much as 90 percent. Several of them are leafcutter and mining bees, which unlike honeybees, nest in the ground.


https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/wild-bee-species-critical-pollination-decline-62477694
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Woolly Bugger on May 01, 2019, 18:44:45 PM
EC92357C-89D2-4EF0-BEAA-1845B08AD719.png

http://bit.ly/2DFrPIM
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Woolly Bugger on July 16, 2019, 10:27:17 AM
https://www.roanoke.com/gallery/photos-honeybee-removal-causes-buzz-in-downtown-roanoke/collection_50d642f1-5976-5409-b8ee-8dfa5e3bb19f.html#1

4EBDDFC2-3B0D-4E80-BA43-901C5DE99432.png
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Onslow on July 16, 2019, 17:03:48 PM
Nothing is prettier in the hive than freshly pulled white wax.

I extracted about 170 pounds of honey this past Saturday.  This year's crop was unique due to the somewhat excellent nectar production in June.  Moist soil, and many cool and dry nights really turned on the nectar machines.  The honey is very light in color, and has the highest concentration of sourwood seen in my honey since2003.
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Yallerhammer on July 16, 2019, 17:17:14 PM
Quote from: Onslow on July 16, 2019, 17:03:48 PMNothing is prettier in the hive than freshly pulled white wax.

I extracted about 170 pounds of honey this past Saturday.  This year's crop was unique due to the somewhat excellent nectar production in June.  Moist soil, and many cool and dry nights really turned on the nectar machines.  The honey is very light in color, and has the highest concentration of sourwood seen in my honey since2003.
Do you have any black locust down there? I think it makes even better honey than sourwood.
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Onslow on July 16, 2019, 19:52:49 PM
No black locust has ever been within striking distance of any of my bee yards. 

Black Locust are plentiful near the Blue Ridge, and some of the more remote Piedmont woodlands, but not my house in Elkin, or the farm in Dobson.  Surry county is experiencing incremental, but persistent permanent deforestation at the hands of those in the ag sector.  The 100 year old woodlands in town are mainly poplar.  The 15-30 year old forests have more holly and sourwood.

Blackberry/poplar mix is a good honey imo.  Blackberry honey is tonsil burning sweet.  These varieties were common at my old place in Franklin County.
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Woolly Bugger on December 11, 2019, 13:26:59 PM
https://www.thinkinghumanity.com/2019/09/bears-kept-stealing-honey-from-a-mans-bee-farm-so-he-turned-them-into-honey-tasters.html?m=1


3AB2918E-ACF4-4B2E-952D-340861FB0075.jpeg

Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Woolly Bugger on January 09, 2020, 19:58:34 PM
Vegans almond milk bad for bees!

https://www.thecut.com/2020/01/almond-milk-honeybee-deaths.html?utm_source=fb&utm_campaign=thecut&utm_medium=s1&fbclid=IwAR0HRvbw16Hl4LZexEXrxgt5Sw48sBEo74hyJBiw88CAMXlnAak1jj54jvM
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Onslow on January 10, 2020, 05:46:31 AM
Most industrial scale ag activities adversely affect soil, water, and insects.

I've toured apple tree operations in Ohio that applied pesticide to apple trees when in full bloom.  This shit should be illegal. 

There is a reason why 40% of the food I consume is grown in my back yard.
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Mudwall Gatewood 3.0 on January 10, 2020, 09:08:50 AM
Quote from: Onslow on January 10, 2020, 05:46:31 AMMost industrial scale ag activities adversely affect soil, water, and insects.

I've toured apple tree operations in Ohio that applied pesticide to apple trees when in full bloom.  This shit should be illegal. 

There is a reason why 40% of the food I consume is grown in my back yard.

Yes!!!!

"Almond Milk Is Even More Evil Than You Thought"

And the headline and bossman's preface ("Vegans almond milk bad for bees!") are so disingenuous.  Who out there, ever alleged almond milk was evil, and more than they thought?  It ain't the almond milk that is evil or bad for bees; the pesticides, the dormancy shortening, the H2O consumption, and associated sapiens are the wicked.
 
This sort of news jolts the hell out of me.  We best get our heads out of our asses.
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: driver on January 10, 2020, 21:14:28 PM
Quote from: Mudwall Gatewood 3.0 on January 10, 2020, 09:08:50 AMassociated sapiens are the wicked.

I think this is the cause of 99% of all of it.
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: troutrus on January 11, 2020, 10:52:46 AM
"Give me spots on my apples but leave me the birds and the bees". J. Mitchell 1970

 Silent Spring - R Carson 1962

"Not enough people give a shit in a nation that measures greatness in terms of stock quotes."
troutrus - 2020
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Dee-Vo on January 11, 2020, 11:13:35 AM
Quote from: driver on January 10, 2020, 21:14:28 PM
Quote from: Mudwall Gatewood 3.0 on January 10, 2020, 09:08:50 AMassociated sapiens are the wicked.

I think this is the cause of 99% of all of it.

You beat me to it.


Quote from: troutrus on January 11, 2020, 10:52:46 AM"Give me spots on my apples but leave me the birds and the bees". J. Mitchell 1970

 Silent Spring - R Carson 1962

"Not enough people give a shit in a nation that measures greatness in terms of stock quotes."
troutrus - 2020


I've got that on my to-read list.
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Onslow on January 13, 2020, 21:32:05 PM
This year is effed up.  Red maples are blooming, and my bees are working like it's March.  Once the brood rearing starts in earnest, workers will do everything to keep the brood warm when it is cold.  However, if it turns cold for a long time, they will simply starve.  My bees were rearing brood in high numbers in Feb of 2018.  Winter returned in March, and casualties ensued.  I fear what is to come in February.

I've resided in the SE for 40 years, and never have seen red maples bloom this early....not even close.
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Woolly Bugger on January 14, 2020, 14:26:53 PM
That is troubling news, Ken.

I heard this story on WFDD yesterday
https://www.wfdd.org/story/carolina-curious-are-bugs-disappearing-north-carolina
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Woolly Bugger on January 20, 2020, 09:55:39 AM
https://facebook.com/events/s/february-2020-fcba-meeting-geo/1863365287141759/?ti=icl

73E7CCD9-40BD-442E-B05A-60CC5CE6F305.png
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Onslow on March 12, 2021, 19:38:27 PM
I'm pleased to have observed one of the most proper maple bloom honey flow in years thanks to a very normal and stable Winter. .  No rain on the flowering party, and what a climax.  No premature ejaculation here! 

I hope to crack open the hives for the first time this year over the weekend. Hoping to see the brood nest wrapped around with fresh nectar.
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Onslow on March 14, 2021, 19:06:31 PM

This season has started off with a bang.  The stronger hives have accrued a surplus of about 15 pounds of nectar/finished honey from the last two weeks of maple blooming. This is great since the hives typically have fairly low worker numbers this time of year.

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This is mostly straight nectar drying, and some old honey located on this frame.

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The gold colored cappings are capped brood.  The surrounding areas that look lighter are open larvae, and the bulging cells are old drown cells.  This particular frame is kinda ragged.

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One of the hives in Dobson already has a super full of honey.  I'm loading up the hives with supers already with much anticipation.


[center

Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Woolly Bugger on April 23, 2021, 09:05:50 AM
Study Shows American Honey Has Traces of Radioactivity From Nuclear Bomb Testing

>>>According to a study (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-22081-8?utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=commission_junction&utm_campaign=3_nsn6445_deeplink_PID100029727&utm_content=deeplink#auth-J__M_-Kaste) conducted by Nature Communications, traces of radioactive chemicals from nuclear tests in the 1950s and 1960s can be found in American honey. The samples collected came from over 100 hives and soil samples all across the Eastern United States. The radioactive isotope identified in the honey, cesium-137, is considered to be at unharmful levels and was found in 68 of the 122 samples used.

https://www.complex.com/life/american-honey-traces-radioactivity-nuclear-bomb-testing
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Woolly Bugger on August 27, 2021, 09:54:18 AM

Current Chernobyl-Level Radiation Harmful to Bees: Study

>>>Bumblebees exposed to levels of radiation found within the Chernobyl exclusion zone suffered a "significant" drop in reproduction, in new research published Wednesday that scientists say should prompt a rethink of international calculations of nuclear environmental risk.

The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, set out to discover how ionizing radiation affects insects, which are often thought to be more resilient than other species.

Researchers in Scotland and Germany exposed bee colonies in a laboratory setting to a range of radiation levels found in areas of the exclusion zone around the ruined Chernobyl site, where a reactor exploded in 1986 in the world's worst nuclear disaster.

They found that colony reproduction reduced by 30–45% at doses previously considered too low to impact insects.



https://www.courthousenews.com/current-chernobyl-level-radiation-harmful-to-bees-study/
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Mudwall Gatewood 3.0 on June 27, 2022, 15:33:41 PM
Not good news if data accurate.


https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/pesticides-implicated-in-deaths-of-bees-and-birds/ar-AAYTo0T?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=728e05a6a07946359fdca51b81473197
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Onslow on June 27, 2022, 17:34:39 PM
I'm a third generation beekeeper, and I started in 2002. My wife had relatives that were large scale beekeepers in the 60s-90s.  I experienced colony collapse first hand.  I've divorced myself from the beekeeping scene, and currently do no know if CCD is a thing.  It isn't for me, and hasn't been since maybe 2006. I quit all treatments cold turkey.  If mites could adapt in 2 years, the bees could adapt quickly as well.

The initial wave of CCD occurred in September-October. Peak varroa mite loads peak in most areas around August if one is running Italian bees, and of course this depends on where one lives. This points to mites, disease, and yes, poison.  Beekeepers of that era were putting all kinds of things in their hives to try to kill the varroa, but this mite would adapt in a matter of a couple years to most treatments, and keep trucking. Some of the poisons used were not authorized for use on bees.  While CCD was incredibly freakish, I believe it was self inflicted by the industry due to poor management, and the lack of understanding of the mites, and how problematic they were.  During 2005, beekeepers were breeding virulent mites, and crappy bees designed for industry, and not nature.

If neonicotinoids are the primary driver of declines, why then is CCD no longer an issue?  Yes, beekeepers have bad years, but this is mostly due to bad bee breeding, starvation, and weather.  Weather is a HUGE deal, especially in the Winter. Wacky Winter weather kills bees.

I have multiple bee yards, and the most productive, and the one with the highest rate of survival is located in heavy ag country. There is a mix of pasture, ~30 percent/forest ~15 percent/~55 percent no till round up ready fields.  The bees where no farming takes place has the worst survival record.  These facts speak for themselves.

Some key relevant factors

1. The non farming bee yard location has limited Dutch clover, and very little area for Winter weeds to grow.  This means there is near zero pollen available in the Winter for late Winter buildup.  This also means the nectar flow is fragmented after the Poplar bloom. There is also stiff competition for forage from native bumble bees.

2. As for bee yard in ag country, the no till fields become populated with chickweed, dead nettle, and gill flower, some of which blooms most of the Winter on south slopes.  The bees located at the farming area can be seen carrying pollen every day it is warm enough to fly. The pastures are full of Dutch Clover.  This provides a very reliable source of nectar all Summer except for periods of exceptional drought.

3. Forage and weather are everything. Overarching poor forage will result in starved out colonies. Wacky Winter weather can trigger activities that compromise honey stores, and cause starvation.

4. Some of the brutally cold Winters experienced around 2016-2017 caused massive bee mortality. Lost many hives due to them no able to break cluster to eat.  They starved with honey an inch away from the cluster.

The observations above are Surry County specific. When travelling in the mid west, one will encounter expansive fields with little forage for bees, e.g., rice fields in Missouri. There is no way any insect or bird can survive in the mid west farm country, or where mega orchard operations spray trees when in full bloom. Yes, neonicotinoids are used in ag heavy areas, but the loss of bees and birds I believe this is correlation, not causation.

Farmers in America are a sacred cow because they are important. It is easier to boogey man the pesticide, but the party of fault is mostly the American public.

Solutions?  Perhaps the American public should start growing more of what they eat, and a yard be damned. The reliance on industry to provide us with every food item places unsustainable demands on the environment.  Flora diversity is a huge deal.  Every yard should have a bed of either Milkweed, or butterfly weed. Dutch clover in lieu of grass helps bees. Every yard in the SE should have Echinacea, Sunflower, zinnias, and other flowers that make seeds for birds to eat. Bumble bees adore blueberries.  Where azaleas grow, so will blueberries.  Yank those worthless azaleas out, and plant blueberries, and plant enough to share with the birds.

Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Woolly Bugger on December 18, 2022, 09:31:40 AM
It has been about a decade since Troy Olson started Heaven Scent Honey.

The company uses bees to pollinate and produce honey throughout the area.


However, in a matter of a month Olson said a bear attacked 38 beehives along with the frames inside them, destroying the honey and the bees.

"The bear got all the beehives. Once all the frames got wet, it just molds them," Olson said as he picked up one of his hives."


https://myfox8.com/news/north-carolina/north-carolina-honey-business-facing-loss-of-about-10k-after-bear-damages-beehives
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: streamereater_101691 on December 18, 2022, 17:15:39 PM
Ken, I met some guys on a local trip who are full time keepers with 40 years experience each, both 65 year old brothers. They tend over 4000 hives in Colorado. No typo.
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Onslow on December 18, 2022, 17:26:55 PM
A 4k hive operation would take some serious business management expertise simply to manage, but to turn a profit would take some wits.

Not sure what part of Colorado these men are operating, but if they are in the eastern half of the state, it would be safe to guess they are heavy in honey production.  The honey production from alfalfa in Colorado is epic.

I'm not in it for the money, but my family does consume 150 pounds of honey a year. I'm not into sugar being the production has a huge carbon footprint.
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Woolly Bugger on January 06, 2023, 08:57:43 AM
A biotech firm says the U.S. has approved its vaccine for honeybees


The federal government has granted a conditional license for a honeybee vaccine, the developer of the drug announced Wednesday.

The vaccine will be used to help fight American Foulbrood disease in the insects and was approved by the Department of Agriculture, Dalan Animal Health, the biotech company behind the vaccine, said

https://www.npr.org/2023/01/06/1147342961/honeybee-population-vaccine
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Onslow on March 26, 2023, 14:40:46 PM
PXL_20230326_193343048.MP.jpg

Rough day in the beeyard,lol.
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Woolly Bugger on March 26, 2023, 14:59:50 PM
 :o damn Ken, you need to talk nicely to those bees
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: streamereater_101691 on March 26, 2023, 20:34:06 PM
Quote from: Onslow on March 26, 2023, 14:40:46 PMPXL_20230326_193343048.MP.jpg

Rough day in the beeyard,lol.

Damn kenneth, I had a rough one with a brush fire today but not like yours
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Woolly Bugger on April 19, 2023, 09:54:56 AM
https://www.instagram.com/p/CrOMEETsFPc/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Onslow on May 01, 2023, 11:26:09 AM
Peak honey flow, and the weather will blow for 3 days.  Damn, it ain't March!.

Poor bees are trying to fly.....
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Woolly Bugger on May 18, 2023, 20:13:53 PM
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CsU_4wcgtDK/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: trout-r-us on May 20, 2023, 06:45:01 AM
"Honey bees are not in peril. These bees are.
Want to save the bees? First, throw out most of what you know about them."

"But all of that attention on honey bees has, some ecologists argue, overshadowed their native counterparts: the wild bees. They're an incredible bunch, found in all sorts of colors and sizes, and they're important pollinators, too — better, by some measures, than honey bees. On the whole, native bees are also at a much greater risk of extinction, in part, because of the proliferation of European honey bees."


"There are likely more honey bees on the planet now than there ever have been in history," said Scott Black, executive director of the Xerces Society, a nonprofit that advocates for pollinator conservation. "There's not a conservation concern."

https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/2023/1/19/23552518/honey-bees-native-bees-decline
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Onslow on May 21, 2023, 09:26:37 AM
Good article.  I wish more time was spent discussing more subtle threats to all living things, and that is land management.  Manicured fescue yards and farms that void of sumac, milkweed, and other vital flora are very problematic.

I challenge anyone to find a honeybee pollinating a strawberry or a cherry blossom.....
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Woolly Bugger on July 02, 2023, 11:49:33 AM
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CuE_zzmrdL-/
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Onslow on July 03, 2023, 06:56:20 AM
Yep, feral bees live in hollow trees, and contrary to the prevailing narrative 20 years ago, they are not going extinct. 

July and August are the worst months for messing with bees.  They are not rearing brood, hive population is high, and foraging is winding down to near zero by the end of July.  Bored bees are protecting their hard earned stash, and they are all home and pissy. Not fun.
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Woolly Bugger on July 29, 2023, 08:17:01 AM


https://youtu.be/zAH2YtY2p4o
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: Woolly Bugger on August 28, 2023, 11:45:25 AM
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwVmoNVKNlr/
Title: Re: Bees (for Ken)
Post by: troutboy_II on August 28, 2023, 12:36:58 PM
Ouch!  That was hard to watch!

TB