Recent Posts

51

FARMING & COUNTRY LIFE / Re: Not all pollen is the same

« Last post by animal on May 14, 2024, 01:25:02 pm »

I'm going with the "dirt is good for you" idea. ... exposure to stuff builds up resistance, kinda thing.
Also, can't help but think being inside and breathing filtered AC air might have something to do with being more sensitive to pollen.

plus ... that means... when I was a kid and made my little sister take a bite of a mud pie .. I was just helping her build her immune system

52

GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: A General Hive Question

« Last post by FatherMichael on May 14, 2024, 01:05:04 pm »

Some successful and profitable apiaries use the single hive body management strategy.

Dr. Thomas Seely recommends it but he also promotes swarming to control mites and taking not more than 20% for a harvest.  That would be one deep for the brood and a shallow for the super.

53

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

« Last post by Terri Yaki on May 14, 2024, 12:23:11 pm »

I don't know what produces what for pollen just yet but the stuff this girl is carrying must be low density stuff, given how full her pollen baskets are. It's hard for me to get pictures because they move a bit faster than I do and I hope you can even see it. Some of them are coming it more loaded down than that and they're not having any trouble landing right at the door. With some pollens, they miss the porch and have to rest up on the grass or on the concrete for a while before they finish the trip.

54

FARMING & COUNTRY LIFE / Re: Not all pollen is the same

« Last post by Terri Yaki on May 14, 2024, 12:16:30 pm »

As a kid, I used to think my mother was just a cheapskate because we hardly had any junk food to eat whilst all of my friends had all kinds of good stuff. That might be the case but later in life, she told me that she did that so we wouldn't eat it all and get fat. I get a kick out of watching the bands from my yute and the '70s. They're all way skinny for their height with the exception of Meatloaf. Any picture you see of today's Americans is full of overfed people, including me. Thank God for today's technology because I don't think we could win a ground war today.

55

FARMING & COUNTRY LIFE / Re: Not all pollen is the same

« Last post by Michael Bush on May 14, 2024, 12:07:47 pm »

I think obesity is more a matter of the food processors and the USDA recommendations.

56

GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: A General Hive Question

« Last post by The15thMember on May 14, 2024, 12:07:14 pm »

The brood nest can absolutely get larger than that, but in my experience in my climate, most of my hives have 3 mediums of brood, plus whatever supers are needed for the current flow.  The thing that limits their growth is just the yearly cycle.  In climates with a winter at least, colonies will increase in population until the summer solstice, at which point they will start to contract and prep for winter.   

57

GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: A General Hive Question

« Last post by Michael Bush on May 14, 2024, 12:06:05 pm »

Sometimes in a bumper crop flow the number of supers can grow out of control, but as soon as the flow is over the population tends to drop back quickly.  There does seem to be an upward limit as to how many bees they will raise.

58

FARMING & COUNTRY LIFE / Re: Not all pollen is the same

« Last post by Kathyp on May 14, 2024, 11:35:40 am »

We have a lot of things we didn't used to have.  Everything from allergies to obesity.

The reasons are probably multiple and complicated. 

People used to eat what they grew and what was local.  Now we eat too much and stuff from all over the world.  That means exposure is up and the chance for a reaction increases. 

Back in the day, if someone was severely allergic to something, they died.  Since many things, including a tendency toward allergies, can run in families, if you don't live long enough to breed, you don't pass on those tendencies.  In fact, I think this one thing accounts for a lot of what we see now.  Many mental illnesses run in families.  Many health problems like certain cancers run in families. 

I'm not advocating for letting people die of treatable things, but we can track back increases in a lot of things to our ability to treat those things.
People worry about population increases, but population absent medical intervention, is self-limiting. 

59

GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: A General Hive Question

« Last post by Kathyp on May 14, 2024, 11:23:41 am »

it is, but where you live may limit their growth.  It's probably not desirable.  It makes inspections really hard when you start stacking up the deeps.  When you get to that point, splitting is usually the way to go.  Increase your hives and decrease your lifting!   

60

GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / A General Hive Question

« Last post by Terri Yaki on May 14, 2024, 10:52:48 am »

I'm going with two deeps for my brood boxes but I have a question about their population. Why does it stop at two deeps or three mediums? Does the population reach a dynamic equilibrium with that space or what? Is it possible to have more than those normal number of boxes?