Recent Posts

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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Bee Behaviors

« Last post by BeeMaster2 on Today at 07:35:30 am »

Terri,
They bring back what they were looking for, do the dance and give the bees watching them a taste of what they found. This is why bee like water that has a smell of some sort over pure water. It makes it easier for the other bees to find what the scout found.
Jim Altmiller

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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Bee Behaviors

« Last post by Terri Yaki on Today at 07:27:42 am »

Do the scouts come back loaded or empty? What do they do, just fly around looking for stuff like food, water and potential new homes? It does look like a good number of bees 🐝 come home empty handed but I suppose that they could have a pouch full of water or nectar.

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DOWN UNDER BEEKEEPING / Re: Varroa in the subtropics

« Last post by max2 on Today at 05:14:10 am »

Thanks for this information.
One treatment a year would be great!
How many hives do you have?
Does the product come as a bulk pack ( looking for savings )

Much appreacited!

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OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES FORUM / Re: Gold prospecting using a metal detector

« Last post by Lesgold on Today at 12:37:52 am »

Took my daughter out to a new spot yesterday. We ended up with four pieces with this one being the largest. Just under 3 grams all up. It was a faint signal in a rock bar. The crack was only about 6mm wide. We had to break the rock to get the nugget out. We were pleasantly surprised at the size of it. The only down side was that I dropped my phone somewhere. Will have to make another quick trip back tomorrow to pick it up. Hopefully it was not lost in water.

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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Bee Behaviors

« Last post by BeeMaster2 on Today at 12:19:56 am »

Nurse bees are the ones that decide what is needed and how much they need. They decide that they need pollen, nectar, water or propolis. The scouts job is to find the needed supplies and tell the other bees where it is.
Jim Altmiller e

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DOWN UNDER BEEKEEPING / Re: Varroa in the subtropics

« Last post by The15thMember on April 26, 2024, 09:03:38 pm »

I use FormicPro sometimes, and it is very easy to use and organic.  The biggest benefit is that it is the only treatment (that I am aware of anyway) that kills mites under the brood cappings.  It also will kill sick bees, so I always use it if a have a hive that is acting sick along with having a high mite count.  Plus, it's safe for supers (although I personally still don't treat with supers on, since I'm worried about the smell of it being transferred to the honey).  The downside is it's very temperature sensitive and will release too quickly if the temps are too hot, potentially leading to queen supersedure, excessive brood mortality, and absconding.  I only use it at the lower end of the recommended temperature range, and I've never had any of these problems.  That price is about the same as over here, actually it's a little bit cheaper for you guys (and yes, I did remember to convert AUD to USD ).  It's a very efficacious product, so I've never treated a hive more than once a year with it.       

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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Bees in CH

« Last post by max2 on April 26, 2024, 08:04:28 pm »

https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/alpine-environment/number-of-swiss-bee-colonies-increases-but-fewer-beekeepers/76401853

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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Canadian beekeeper

« Last post by max2 on April 26, 2024, 07:09:41 pm »

Anybody watching his videos?
I find it interesting how somebody in a very different climate to mine and at a very different scale to mine keeps bees.It is nearly May and he is still feeding gallons of sugar water and masses of patties.
All the gear and sheds he owns, the queens he buys ...amazing.I wonder how he can make a profit?I wonder what the honey is like?The switch from feeding to harvesting honey seems so very short and before he can blink there is more snow.

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DOWN UNDER BEEKEEPING / Re: Varroa in the subtropics

« Last post by max2 on April 26, 2024, 07:07:47 pm »

This came into my inbox today:
https://www.ecrotek.com.au/products/formic-pro-2-pkt

$ 20 per hive!!!

I wonder how many are willing to spend this much a couple of times a year?

The use seems easy enough. It is "organic".

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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Bee Behaviors

« Last post by Terri Yaki on April 26, 2024, 03:29:01 pm »

I've never heard of this.  Could you describe it a little more?

The hive was open and on top of one of the frames there was one bee going around nudging on other bees. According to him, that was a 'get to work' nudge. It was kind of a push from the side and maybe a little wing action but not much. Logically, it coincides with the scouts that I've observed going out early to see if conditions were good enough for work.