Spring bee report.

[rubato]

By mid-May it became apparent that there had been a population decline. There were fewer bees overall, the brood was widely scattered in the comb, and honey and pollen stores were depleted. The four most likely causes were:

a. disease/parasites
b. bad weather (which it was, a rainy and cool spring which wiped out a lot of pollen and nectar flow).
c. old queen not doing her stuff.
d. return of the skunk.

I don't like to do things by halves so I:

A. treated hive with thymol in the form of fresh thyme torn up and scattered on the top of the queen excluder. But there was no direct evidence of disease/parasites.
B. resumed feeding with syrup and brood-builder patty.
C. re-queened hive (ordered a new one which comes in the mail and installed her and got rid of the old one.)
D. Re-instituted anti-skunk measures. Raised hive, cactus were already there, added barrier on open side.

We should be seeing a population increase starting this week which will be 21 days+ after new queen was hived.

I checked last weekend and there is more brood and new uncapped brood so the new queen is doing her stuff but not as dense as I would like. I'm getting doubtful about much of a honey harvest this year. We took the honey super back off since it wasn't needed.

yrs,
rubato

[tyro]

Maybe the queen is holding out until she gets a nice tiara. Or maybe her suitors are shooting blanks.

Or maybe they are all practicing save sex. It’s important that you have a plan bee.

[loCAtek]

It has been an unusaly cool, wet Spring. Down here in the valley, the effects have had benefits in much a greater waterfowl population, and more abundant wildlife overall. I've enjoyed the extended plant growth season as well as all the humming birds.
This year, there's been a delightful boom in the hummybird population. Maybe, it's because I'm out more on nature trails on my bike, but when before it seemed like you saw or heard one or two a day; you can observe four or five little birdies just going down the block.

Too bad, they don't produce honey. Nature is favoring the birds to the bees this year.

[Gob]

Not knowing much about bee keeping, but wasn't there a problem with bee parasites over there recently?

[SisterMaryFellatio]

You lot obvioulsy don't watch enough Dr Who...he knows where all the bees have gone!

[rubato]

Not knowing much about bee keeping, but wasn't there a problem with bee parasites over there recently?

Bee parasites, like Varroa Destructor, are endemic everywhere in the world. V. Destructor started in China and then spread to most of the world:

Introduction around the world

* Early 1960s Japan, USSR
* 1960s-1970s Eastern Europe
* 1971 Brazil
* Late 1970s South America
* 1982 France
* 1984 Switzerland, Spain, Italy
* 1987 Portugal
* 1987 USA [3]
* 1989 Canada
* 1992 England [4]
* 2000 New Zealand (North Island)
* 2006 New Zealand (South Island) [5]
* 2007 Hawaiian Islands [6][7]


There are also tracheal mites, wax moths, small hive beetles &c.

There are bee diseases like European Foulbrood and American Foulbrood.

A recent addition has been colony collapse disorder which is occurring in the US and Europe and is still not explained although V. Destructor is implicated as a co-factor in some places.

yrs,
rubato

[loCAtek]

It's not easy being beeZ.

[The Hen]

Beekeepers are the only people that are covered by both our national Emergency Plant Pest Response Agreement and our Emergency Animal Disease Response Agreement.

Bees are just so important. It is a shame most people don't appreciate them more.

[Jarlaxle]

I certainly wouldn't appreciate someone of Rube's ilk releasing swarms of them on an unsuspecting neighborhood! The saving grace seems to be his utter incompetence in that regard. Bees are the reason Raid was invented.

[loCAtek]

That was uncalled for.

[tyro]

Shame!

[Jarlaxle]

That was uncalled for.

By his own admission, Rube is keeping bees in violation of the law and has released "swarms" (his word) before & is trying to do so again. I'd rather live next door to a meth lab.

[loCAtek]

I understand your concern since your wife is allergic, maybe I don't mind since I'm not allergic to bees or any other kinds of insects. The other day, I was doing the weeding in the back yard where I have two large fruit trees; an orange and a lemon tree. They are pollinated and cross-pollinated by tons of bees and one or two hummybirds. (Can't have too many hummybirds to a tree; they're very territorial! A male will allow other females into his turf of flowers, but if another male invades then an aerial battle ensues- that's something to watch! That's some of the most tight, masterful dog-fighting in the world!)
AnywayZ, the bees and I couldn't have cared less about each other.
I feel a worse sting every time I donate blood.

Maybe the legal beagles could comment on the laws, best I could find was this;

Bee Law

Liability

Negligence means the failure to exercise the care of an ordinarily prudent person. The liability of beekeepers appears often in the code of law. Since bees sting by nature, it is necessary for any plaintiff to show that the owner of honey bees is negligent in his care of the bees. In any case of injury by honey bees the plaintiff will have to show that the bees were vicious, provide proof they were vicious, and inform the owner of the bees that they were vicious. If the owner of the honey bees failed to correct the problem and the bees continued to be vicious, a basis exist for a claim of negligence.

The beekeeper has control over the following and can be considered negligent if he/she fails to observe the exercise of an ordinary prudent person.

1. The owner of bees has entire control over where bee hives are located. It is negligence to locate hives of bees where they may be expected to injure others. Bees located on a lot line is not a prudent location for bee hives. Or keeping a large number of bees on a small property. It is also negligent to handle bees at a time or in a manner that will cause the bees to injure others.
2. The owner of bees has entire control over bees being moved from one location to another. It is negligence to move bees without some protection to those along the route the bees will take to the next location. Some states require a bee net to cover a load of bees in transit. Bees should be secured to avoid accidental spills. ` Bees should not be moved during heavy traffic hours and in congested living areas. To avoid a charge of negligence, a beekeeper should close the entrances on the bee hives or cover the hives so loose bees would not escape from the hive.
3. The owner of bees has some control over the aggressiveness of his/her bees. It is negligence to know that you have aggressive bees. If it can be proved that you harbor aggressive bees you are failing to exercise the common practice of replacing these aggressive bee with gentle stock. Since the invasion of the Africanized honey bee, most states have enacted laws dealing with them (calling for their destruction).

[tyro]

I have lived along side bees of all types as well as wasps. The only times I ever got stung was when I was inadvertently endangering the hive.

[Beer Sponge]

If you like food, you should love bees. Our buzzing, pollinating friends are an absolute necessity for agriculture.

Good luck with your bees rubato!

[dales]

Jarl posted:

bBy his own admission, Rube is keeping bees in violation of the law and has released "swarms" (his word) before & is trying to do so again. I'd rather live next door to a meth lab.

Sometimes the benifits of bees DO outweigh the consequences......

Man killed by bees in Encinitas is identified
By Karen Kucher, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

Originally published June 17, 2010 at 10:36 a.m., updated June 17, 2010 at 10:51 a.m.


John Gastaldo / Union-Tribune

Dying bees are seen in part of the hive that was inadvertently disturbed in Encinitas, setting off a deadly attack.
Recent and related:
Man dies after being attacked by bees in Calif.
Man dies after being stung over 500 times by bees
Man dies after bees attack in Encinitas
Victim of bee-swarm attack recalls praying
Man swarmed by bees says threat still buzzing
Possibly Africanized bees sting man 70 times
SAN DIEGO — The county Medical Examiner’s Office has identified a 54-year-old man who died Wednesday after he was stung more than 500 times by swarming bees in Encinitas.

Marco Tulio Lazaro, who was an Encinitas resident, was running a backhoe and clearing brush with his nephew on property off Manchester Avenue near Pacific Ranch Road when he hit a nest of honeybees.

Neighbors described the victim as a longtime gardener, landscaper and maintenance man who lived on the property, called Wiegand Ranch.

Lazaro was allergic to bee stings, said David Kellum, county entomologist. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.

“He noticed a couple bees come back and sting him. He stopped, got off the tractor and there was a large swarm of bees all around. He started running and the bees pursued him,” said Encinitas Deputy Fire Chief Scott Henry.

Lazaro ran about 200 yards to an outhouse and went inside to seek shelter from the attack, where he went into full cardiac arrest.

His nephew, who was renting a house on the property, was in a dump truck when the bees attacked. Henry said the younger man was stung a couple of times.

The hive contained between 60,000 and 80,000 bees inside an abandoned vehicle.

“This is one of the larger hybrid hives I’ve run into,” said Bill Tanksley, of Pinpoint Pest Control, who exterminated the bees with pesticides.

Kellum said it was not immediately clear what type of bees were involved. He said about 80 percent of wild bees in San Diego County are Africanized honeybees. Sometimes called killer bees, they attack quickly and sting in larger numbers than their European honeybee cousins.

“When the bees are disturbed, European or African, they will react in a similar manner,” Kellum said.

What a horrible way to die.

[loCAtek]

Well, if you JUMP onto the hive, you're gonna have problems.

[Jarlaxle]

My wife isn't allergic, Loca, but I suspect I am! It runs in my family (a bee sting nearly killed my mother), butI'm not eager to get stung to find out!

From his posts at the CSB (I'm not wading through that 40+ page thread), his area is NOT zoned for beekeeping.

[loCAtek]

I thought he lived in Santa Cruz?

This map relies on submissions from individuals living in the cities where beekeeping is allegedly illegal. If you perceive an error, contact Kim Flottum at Kim@BeeCulture.com. Here's the same list, in alphabetical order by state and city:


Bull Shoals, Ark.
Chico*, Calif.
Costa Mesa, Calif.
Eureka, Calif.
Garden Grove, Calif.
Hanford, Calif.
Lompac, Calif.
Los Angeles, Calif.
Los Gatos, Calif.
Orange, Calif.
Paso Robles, Calif.
San Diego County, Calif.
San Luis Obispo, Calif.
Santa Monica, Calif.
Scotts Valley, Calif.
Vacaville, Calif.
Adams County, Colo.
Arvada, Colo.
Bloomfield, Colo.
Jefferson County, Colo.
Lone Tree, Colo.
Thornton, Colo.
Windsor Estates, Windsor, Colo.
Westminster, Colo.
Florida (except Clay County)
Lake City, Ga.
Savannah, Ga.
Addison, Ill.
Forsyth, Ill.
Lombard, Ill.
Indianola, Iowa
Mount Hope, Ka.
Bossier City, La.
Lafayette, La.
Lewiston, Maine
South Portland, Maine
Bel Air, Md.
Frederick, Md.
Chicopee, Mass.
New Bedford, Mass.
Bay City, Mich.
Caledonia, Mich.
Redford, Mich.
Eden Prairie, Minn.
Eagan, Minn.
Hutchinson City, Minn.
Luverne, Minn.
Red Wing, Minn.
Missoula, Mont.
Helena, Mont.
Chadron, Nebr.
Hastings, Neb.
Omaha*, Neb.
Concord, N.H.
Berlin, N.H.
Geneva, N.Y.
Greenwood Lake, N.Y.
Hempstead, N.Y.
N. Hempstead, N.Y.
Oyster Bay, N.Y.
Round Lake, N.Y.
Cape Carteret, N.C.
Cary, N.C.
Garner, N.C.
Raleigh, N.C.
North Dakota (most towns)
Brook Park, Ohio
Dayton, Ohio
Bellbrook, Ohio
Hilliard, Ohio
Jenks, Ohio
Troy, Ohio
Worthington, Ohio
Broken Arrow, Okla.**
Hillsboro, Ore.
Bethlehem, Penn.
Elizabethtown, Penn.
Silversprings Township*, Penn.
Barrington, R.I.
East Providence, R.I.
Fort Worth, Texas
Friendswood, Texas
Fredericksburg, Va.
Norfolk, Va.
Vienna, Va.
Princeton, W.Va.
Eau Claire, Wis.
Greendale, Wis.
Kenosha, Wis.
Union Grove, Wis.

* While it may not be technically illegal to keep bees in these communities, observers say it's impossible or nearly impossible, given the tight restrictions (such as a rule requiring 75 feet between bees and a lot line, when most lots are 50 feet wide.)
** Since this feature was first published, Broken Arrow has repealed the law that prevented urban beekeeping!



Read more: http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmen ... z0rcdO4sUl

[Scooter]

From his posts at the CSB (I'm not wading through that 40+ page thread), his area is NOT zoned for beekeeping.

If you can't be bothered to read what he actually wrote (vs. the false accusations that were lobbed against him) then you shouldn't be fanning old CSB feuds based on mistaken recollections.

Because at the time I was the one that took the time to look up the relevant ordinances that proved he was operating within the law.