Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: max2 on January 11, 2024, 04:31:12 pm
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more bees!
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/PjqCbicdLCk
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What an amazing video! Is this Apis dorsata?
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Reagan,
Yes they are apis Dorsica. Hard to see the bees but the ones that you can see all look like queens and the comb is open air, single thick comb. All indicators of Apis Dorsica.
Jim Altmiller
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Because you liked the bee video I post a longer one.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLOCsjCtyuM&list=PLN2dXF9c_sf_ZAp0uFs81hGLYjNDHGIxG
I will be in Cambodia volunteering again in a few weeks time.This will be trip no 34 to this country.
In the past I have taken protective gear, a beebox, tools but as much as we tried, we have not been successful in making the bees stay in a box.I have never used any protective gear when we checked on the hives, the bees seem to be very calm if you work slowly.
On every trip we have come across a wild hive. The honey is quite nice. It is gold in Cambodia ( and most of Asia) and sells for around $ 30 US/kg!Remember that a rural worker earns about $ 5 to $ 6/day.I always take honey from home for my friends.
Sadly harvesting of the honey is often not done as gently as they show in the video. In many cases they will cut the whole comb down as the larvae is also valued as food - a delicacy.Most bees would be A. dorsata or A. cerana.I did visit a beekeeper ( a Professor at the University ) who kept European bees but the hives and the bees were in poor condition - the dry season is long and tough on bees and the wet season is also long and equally tough on the bees.
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Another one for you
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6uxcqv9GiUQ
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Start dreaming..
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3o_mo0wJNWo
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Best queen
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4_7dPhEHlNw
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https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/199n0fy/harvesting_natural_honey_from_a_cliff_face/
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https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/199n0fy/harvesting_natural_honey_from_a_cliff_face/
I dislike the use of the word "natural" in this title. As if honey from bees kept in hives isn't natural. Still very fascinating to watch though.
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Bees are amazing
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/xS_H__t_ayc
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I dislike the use of the word "natural" in this title. As if honey from bees kept in hives isn't natural. Still very fascinating to watch though.
I agree, it's like it's on the shelf at the grocery store and they're trying to sucker people into buying it or something.
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Bees are amazing
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/xS_H__t_ayc
I have only had comb honey once and I can hardly wait for that. I will definitely develop a method to have that at my disposal.
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https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FAvViiALR3U
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https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FAvViiALR3U
That seems unnecessarily precise. :grin:
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https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FAvViiALR3U
That seems unnecessarily precise. :grin:
LOL
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https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dTNhm-rBlDU
You never know with bees
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Surprise!
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/QJTS1DIRBPE
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That voice sounds artificial.
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https://www.youtube.com/shorts/b3ItlrFP_t0
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https://www.youtube.com/shorts/b3ItlrFP_t0
I get a kick out of the audio. Why is that comb so deep?
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https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ZbwRKcyQVco
Another surprise
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https://www.youtube.com/shorts/P7S5DbSUrMc
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Hi Folks,
Curious to me that there are not battalions of robber bees not taking advantage of the openness of the runny honey and the chaos of that subject hive.
Woe betide the beek who does that in June in my area.
Sal
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Hi Folks,
Curious to me that there are not battalions of robber bees not taking advantage of the openness of the runny honey and the chaos of that subject hive.
Woe betide the beek who does that in June in my area.
Sal
Perhaps there isn't another hive close by.
Most of these videos of the giant honey bee harvest seem to be taking honey that isn't capped. Does anyone know what is up with that? Is it just too humid in these tropical regions for it get capped?
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Hi Folks,
Curious to me that there are not battalions of robber bees not taking advantage of the openness of the runny honey and the chaos of that subject hive.
Woe betide the beek who does that in June in my area.
Sal
These Asian bees are very calm. I have never noticed them robbing.
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Hi Folks,
Curious to me that there are not battalions of robber bees not taking advantage of the openness of the runny honey and the chaos of that subject hive.
Woe betide the beek who does that in June in my area.
Sal
Perhaps there isn't another hive close by.
There could none...or there could be 100.
I was working at a temple in India and around the eaves were well over 100 combs hanging. During the middle of the day I could watch from my window and every few minutes a swarm would take off.
In Cambodia they are generally careful only to take capped honey. Human robbers will take the lot.
In Vietnam i was surprised to observe beekeepers harvesting mostly uncapped honey - possibly a humidity thing?
In Central China they harvested the honey fully capped.
Most of these videos of the giant honey bee harvest seem to be taking honey that isn't capped. Does anyone know what is up with that? Is it just too humid in these tropical regions for it get capped?
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Max2
These Asian bees are very calm. I have never noticed them robbing.
Max aren't these the bees that are varroa resistant?
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Max aren't these the bees that are varroa resistant?
Apis cerana, the Asian honey bee, is the one usually listed as the original host of varroa, but the ranges of A. cerana and A. dorsata, the giant honey bee, overlap. Beeaware.org says that A. dorsata only harbors varroa females, which makes me think that the brood cycle of the giant honey bees doesn't allow the varroa to breed and complete their life cycle. The giant honey bees do harbor tropilaelaps mites however.
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I'm not sure what it means to say that dorsata only harbors females. Pretty much that's true of Mellifera. There are no male Varroa loose in a Mellifera colony. They are only in the cells. None survive to emerge fro the cell. Any phoretic Varroa is mated and able to produce a male from their first egg they lay in a cell.
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https://www.youtube.com/shorts/s927A8lxdWM
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https://www.youtube.com/shorts/OXzh3oZ4u4k
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https://www.youtube.com/shorts/U14_ksqC_4Q
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https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CMDwDZIRuuQ
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https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qcjj9PjhBdU
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https://www.youtube.com/shorts/fSW54CFNsck
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https://www.youtube.com/shorts/lSQxiU9krmM
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https://www.youtube.com/shorts/nMjsgHMQfXY
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Max2
These Asian bees are very calm. I have never noticed them robbing.
Max aren't these the bees that are varroa resistant?
Max aren't these the bees that are varroa resistant?
Apis cerana, the Asian honey bee, is the one usually listed as the original host of varroa, but the ranges of A. cerana and A. dorsata, the giant honey bee, overlap. Beeaware.org says that A. dorsata only harbors varroa females, which makes me think that the brood cycle of the giant honey bees doesn't allow the varroa to breed and complete their life cycle. The giant honey bees do harbor tropilaelaps mites however.
I'm not sure what it means to say that dorsata only harbors females. Pretty much that's true of Mellifera. There are no male Varroa loose in a Mellifera colony. They are only in the cells. None survive to emerge fro the cell. Any phoretic Varroa is mated and able to produce a male from their first egg they lay in a cell.
Very good point Mr Bush.
Which goes back to my question. Are these the Asian bees which are known to be varroa resistant?
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Apis cerana is the species of honey bee that originally harbored varroa. So I guess you could say they are resistant. Varroa interact with them differently than with Apis mellifera though, since varroa only infest drone brood in A. cerana. I'm not sure about Apis dorsata, their brood development times appear similar to A. cerana , so perhaps they also interact with varroa the same way as A. cerana. But if the varroa can't reproduce in their colonies for some reason, I wouldn't call that "resistant", I'd just call it a parasite that cannot infest them.
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Apis Dorsata life cycle is 3days as an egg, 6 days as a larvae and 12 days as a pupa. Pretty much the same as apis melliferaso they are probably just as prone to varroa destructor.
Jim Altmiller.
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I saw 19-20 days for dorsata workers and 19 for cerana.
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And according to the actual scientists who did the scrupulous and seminal research on honey bees before foundation, Huber and Dzierzon, 19 days for Apis mellifera on natural sized comb.
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Wow, that's interesting. I never really put that together between the fact that small cell reduces the brood development time and how that would make it closer to the development time of the Asian bees.
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https://bushfarms.com/beesnaturalcell.htm#hubersobservationsonemergence
"When the young worker-bee has left the cell ? which, reckoning from the egg, will be the case at the end of nineteen days, under favourable circumstances, but generally at the end of twenty to twenty-one days..."
--Jan Dzierzon, Rational Bee-Keeping, 1882 English edition, Pg 20
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I think i have asked this question before. If smaller cells make smaller bees and shortens the incubation time, then what effect does this have on mite infestation?
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https://bushfarms.com/beesnaturalcell.htm#whynaturalcells
Why natural or smaller cells?
Varroa Life Cycle
Foundress enters the brood cell just before capping.
Lays one egg about every 30 hours.
First is male the rest are female.
Females have to reach maturity and mate to be viable and this takes 10.5 days from when the egg is laid.
Typical number of offspring in a worker cell with 21 day cycle (capped on day 9 and emerge 12 days later) is between one and two (1.5 +- 0.5) in a drone cell between three and four (3.5 +- 0.5). On small or natural cell the cycle is 19 days and the offspring are between none and one (0.5 +- 0.5)
During its time in the capped cell all of those Varroa, foundress and offspring, feed on the pupae weakening it and spreading viruses.
After emergence of the bee, the viable mites (the foundress mite and the one or two that made it to maturity and mated) go into their phoretic stage clinging to the bees and sucking their hemolymph like a tick, again spreading viruses and weakening the bees.
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How do smaller cells help?
Male survivorship
Less male mites survive: Reproduction of Varroa destructor in South African honey bees: does cell space influence Varroa male survivorship? Stephen J. MARTIN*, Per KRYGER
Shortened Pupation
A model of the mite parasite, Varroa destructor, on honeybees (Apis mellifera) to investigate parameters important to mite population growth. D Wilkinson, , G.C Smith
More chewing out of varroa
Small cell and natural cell beekeepers have noted more chewing out of Varroa when regressing their bees.
Pre and Post Capping Times and Varroa
8 hours shorter capping time halves the number of Varroa infesting a brood cell.
8 hours shorter post capping time halves the number of offspring of a Varroa in the brood cell.
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Accepted days for capping and Post Capping.(based on observing bees on 5.4 mm comb)
Capped 9 days after egg laid
Emerges 21 days after egg laid
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Hi Folks,
Has this been put on here yet?
David Attenborough on bees and flowers:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1637493816783956
Sal
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The problem Evolution has is explaining why flowers would evolve when there are no bees or bees would evolve when there are no flowers. Flowers serve no purpose for the plants without bees and bees can't live without flowers.
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Now that was interesting
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Which came first, the flower or the bee? :cool:
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I would bee willing to bet that the flowers of some sort, probably without petals like black gum or produced air borne pollen first like pines and oaks, and slowly evolved together.
Jim Altmiller