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31

THE 2ND AMENDMENT / Re: ATF EXPERT

« Last post by Kathyp on April 15, 2024, 04:31:54 pm »

The legendary stopping power of the .45 is largely a myth.

.45 wins the argument here in PA because it will blow your whole arm off.

There are things that will stop someone better than a .45, but the .45 is multiples better than the 9mm for stopping power. 

And the type of ammo used makes a difference, so there's that calculation. 

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THE 2ND AMENDMENT / Re: ATF EXPERT

« Last post by Terri Yaki on April 15, 2024, 03:38:33 pm »

.45 wins the argument here in PA because it will blow your whole arm off. 

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THE 2ND AMENDMENT / Re: ATF EXPERT

« Last post by animal on April 15, 2024, 03:01:10 pm »

NATO round better than civilian for knockdown is hilarious
Military is limited to FMJ or TMJ for all bullets. Any commercially produced hollow point will out perform the NATO round. That said, it is a heavy loading and hotter than most commercial FMJ loads, but you can also buy commercial ammo in the same loading.
Switching from .45ACP to 9x19 had many advantages. The legendary stopping power of the .45 is largely a myth.

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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Reading list

« Last post by The15thMember on April 15, 2024, 02:07:48 pm »

I just finished my bumble bee guide.  It was exceedingly dry as a cover to cover read, but that's really my fault I guess (although I've read guidebooks before and didn't find them so boring). I learned one interesting fact: Bombus griseocollis (brown-belted bumble bee) males will perch on high structures to get a good view of the surrounding area to search for mates, but they take this to the extreme in urban environments where they will sometimes perch on top of skyscrapers.  Males of this species have been found 102 stories up on the Empire State Building!  I just wish that the Xerces Society would take a page from Audubon and try a little harder to make publications like this accessible to the layman.  I basically consider myself to be an amateur naturalist, so I was able to understand the book and how to use it, but if you were new to bees or entomology, you wouldn't even be able to make heads or tails of the information or use it in any efficient manner.  The lack of knowledge we have about bumble bee life history is partially to blame, but the flip side to that is I know it's possible to make this accessible and engaging because The Bees in Your Backyard did it.  As a guidebook, it's certainly thorough, but the materials I got as a member of my regional bumble bee atlas are far more user friendly, so I will probably continue to use those and only use this as a backup if I'm confused about something.  I gave the book a 3/5.  I'll probably move on to Huber next.   

35

THE 2ND AMENDMENT / Re: ATF EXPERT

« Last post by Kathyp on April 15, 2024, 02:00:31 pm »

I've been told that the 9 has improved to where it's almost as potent as the .40

Nope.  There's a reason the mag holds 17 rounds.  The military changed because NATO used the 9mm and we try to keep compatible weapons for logistical reasons.  NATO used the 9mm because it was less lethal although they will not tell you that.  They also claim that the NATO round is better than the civilian round for knockdown.  Maybe marginally, but nothing compared to the .45.  After all, you don't want to actually kill the people you shoot.

I like the weapon, but it's a field nightmare primarily because of that little spring.  Lose that thing in the dirt and the weapon is done. 

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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Follow the Bloom - 2024

« Last post by Caashenb on April 15, 2024, 01:55:22 pm »

vetch is all starting to bloom today.

37

CRAFTING CORNER / Re: Wax contamination question

« Last post by The15thMember on April 15, 2024, 01:19:20 pm »

I understand what you are saying Phillip but while we are under the bio security order we have no option. If we detect mites in a hive and once they get to the required threshold, we have to treat all hives in the apiary. We don?t have any choice in the matter. From memory, we have about 5 options here in Australia as far as treatments are concerned. We have a lot of beekeepers who are not registered and have very little idea about what is happening. Quite a few won?t do anything and will try to ride it out. They are the people who will eventually have nothing but in the meantime they will be a problem to anyone else in the neighbourhood. OAV is not registered and is illegal to use in Australia at this point. It may be an option down the track but not in the immediate future. Treating with honey supers on or off is another issue that I?m sure you guys all face as well.

I just looked it up and it seems like FormicPro and ApiGuard are both registered for use in Australia.  Both of these are organic, and I know FormicPro is safe with supers, I think ApiGuard is too.  I have used both, and personally prefer not to use either with supers on, just because both are very fragrant and I'm worried about the honey taking on the flavor of the treatment, particularly of the ApiGuard, as thymol has a very strong minty flavor.  FormicPro is a heavier treatment in my experience, whereas ApiGuard is pretty tame, although I have only used it once or twice.  You might want to do some research on those two if you are concerned about residual chemicals from the other treatments.   

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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Swarm Out of Reach

« Last post by The15thMember on April 15, 2024, 01:11:18 pm »

And if is a secondary swarm with multiple virgins, it is like trying to herd a bunch of cats.

That is basically what this has felt like, and there is definitely more than one virgin involved here, since there were two swarms, and the queen mother was split into another hive.  They are still on the tree this morning, but they are discussing the bait hive, so at this point, I think I'll just see if they'll decide for themselves and make it easy for me.  Then maybe we'll cut more of the tree off to try and prevent another swarm from landing at the same spot in the future.  My sister was thinking about removing some more branches anyway because she is going to plant some fruit trees nearby and doesn't want them shaded.   

39

THE 2ND AMENDMENT / Re: ATF EXPERT

« Last post by Michael Bush on April 15, 2024, 12:43:54 pm »

Over the years I've noticed that the majority of police follow the lead of the FBI.  So when the FBI was using a .38 special, that was the police handgun of choice.  When the FBI went to the .357, the 9mm, the .40/10mm and then back to the 9mm, they followed those.

40

GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: What did you do in your Apiary/Bee yard today?

« Last post by Terri Yaki on April 15, 2024, 12:35:37 pm »

Congratulations Terri on your first hive. I hope it fairs well!! Personally I would wait a week before going back in. Did you transfer them over to your 10 frame set up?

Thanks. They were in a medium nuc so I took a ten frame medium with me and put them straight into that there. I figured that they'd prefer that over two moves in a short period of time, plus I didn't have to shell out for their nuc box. I had two ratchet straps to keep things battened down and they worked fine, along with my driving skills.

Orientation is over and they are taking care of business bringing in pollen. It looks like a brown to burnt orange and I don't know where they're getting it from. I gave them a little less than a pint of 1:1 syrup and I'll see if they take it. I don't know if it's true but I heard it's helpful when they're building out comb and I have five empty frames for them to work on. If I don't see it going down, I'll pull it out. The seller reported that they were a healthy and productive hive but I don't know them well enough to rely on their word. Indications are good though. These hives have doors on the sides that come off for viewing but all you can see is the end frame on one side. At least I can open the top up and check the syrup without removing their top.

Oh, and my poor neighbor's been getting nothing but bad breaks lately. His last surviving out of seven hives seems to have gone queenless. Just a couple of weeks ago they inspected it and it had everything going for it. Lots of brood, lots of stored honey. He's going to try and get a queen ASAP to try and rescue them. If I had a full and healthy hive, I could cut him some eggs but I don't so I can't.