" I think then people will feel safe to post things that may be crazy or completely wrong. It is all about
the approach :)"
What you think VHB, Sir, is important in then evolving what you do personally believe...
... and that is the end of it. Any new player is entitled, welcomed even, to express their
thoughts, anywhere... in a perfect World.
However it aint (perfect) and so some do develop a 'hardness' for new players who
then choose to challenge what they are advised, moreso when quoting some bespoke '
'guru' as verified reference.
I'd be the last to back Acebird on anything - pretty much - as g00gle.com is not
beekeeping per se, however reacting to his posts is silly when you do not know the topic.
Resorting to quoting others gets you nowhere and gives folks like myself the grits as that
default reflects a "beekeeping by numbers" approach, devoid of independant thinking
around understanding the topic.
In this case ants - another social communal organism.
So the solution is very simple, kill the queen or queens and ants are gone, period.
Think on how to do that - for example.
Now...
... you are buying wildflower packs, something some entrepreneur clicked onto in that
"Save the Bees" crowd persuasion. In short, sucker bait.
There are stats published on what backyard bees benefit from as forage and it is not a
patch of a few acres of wildflowers, regardless of what it says on the packet.
And...
... you are feeding bees lollywater, and again following what you read not what you see.
Most here do know doing so (lollywater) is a pet peeve of mine. I do what I can to
discourage the practice for backyard bees but it is true one may as well take a leak from
the top of the beetruck heading into a gale!
You run backyard colonys.
Yes there are times to feed bees. No, not lollywater.
Your 'job' is to manage your colonys around what they can do.. *in your yard*.
You are not the frenchie goose farmer making commercial pate, okay?
Metaphorical but exactly what significant numbers believe tbey can do in their backyard in
emulating commercial enterprises in any of the Apis disciplines for profit.
Patience is indeed required in beekeeping successes, that and knowing what your bees
_are_ doing is at the core of starting out. Way way too many are on the More-Is-Best Train,
and thus cannot drag themselves off the lollywater tit.
You feed your bees what stores you can gather. Growing colonys you cannot support in
that way (lollywater) is folly, whether new to it or as insistent in repeating a mistake as to
gather years "at it".
It is likely pointless in mentioning but you have a think about why selfpromoting 'gurus' do
run against what ecology and bee biology dictate... start with knowing some are earning
well over $4000 USD a weekend (holidays) during the tour season in filling the heads of
absorbant new players as yourself. Others produce hoardes of nucs @$250 USD each, to
again sell off to new players as yourself. Yet others are flogging DisneyLand queens at $80
a pop.... and let's not go down the "natural raw honey" path, hey!
Then there is EweTube, the shearing crate of the Internet!!!
It _is_ an industry.... and buggerall to do with Bee Husbandry.
... go well, stay safe, and Lucks to your bees.
Bill
