51–60 of 81 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What about carpenter bees? I've seen a lot of those around lately and have been thinking about checking the roof. Do they have the same value as honey bees?
Carpenter bees are awesome, they pollinate flowers (so we can have fruits in our backyard) and have an awesome short life of minding their own business.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What about carpenter bees? I've seen a lot of those around lately and have been thinking about checking the roof. Do they have the same value as honey bees?
Carpenter bees are awesome, they pollinate flowers (so we can have fruits in our backyard) and have an awesome short life of minding their own business.
Im not really too worried about being stung by them, and I agree they generally dont want to mess with you unless you are actively messing with their burrow. I have taken to putting out sacrificial 2x4s each season that I pre-drill(3/4" holes seem to do the trick) to attract the bees to easier pickings. This helps quite a bit, but I still have to end up spraying a few holes in our siding and deck each year as it will soon be swiss cheese if I do not...
Cue the typical "Nature is Healing" especially because pollinators are under massive pressure due to pesticides and herbicides. Having said that, I'm glad they called a good beekeper who was able to rescue the hive. Also, I've heard that if you have a bee infestation in your attic for example, not to call an exterminator, but to call a beekeeper. Often these new hives are valuable to hobbyists and they are happy to c…
A few observations - I’m a beekeeper. The brood pattern on that comb is horrible - I suspect a lot of varroa, but there are other potential causes. Varroa can be tidied up if the colony isn’t too far gone. Once it’s removed it needs to be kept under observation for a bit, and kept away from clean hives. If it’s carrying something like American Foul Brood, it shouldn’t be spread. Here in NZ the ‘treatment’ for AFB is…
A few observations - I’m a beekeeper. The brood pattern on that comb is horrible - I suspect a lot of varroa, but there are other potential causes. Varroa can be tidied up if the colony isn’t too far gone. Once it’s removed it needs to be kept under observation for a bit, and kept away from clean hives. If it’s carrying something like American Foul Brood, it shouldn’t be spread. Here in NZ the ‘treatment’ for AFB is…
You have to burn the colony and hive? Wow thats disturbing
Edit: Some info. You are required to register any apiary (group of hives) and it’s location after a short duration. You are required to inspect it at least once per year and report the results to the agency.
If anyone gets AFB you are required to notify the agency and destroy the hive. A notification is the. sent to beekeepers in the area to warm them to be on alert.
We aim to eradicate AFB, and given that it’s mainly caused by beekeepers putting infected comb and equipment into hives and letting dead hives be robbed, this seems achievable.
Unfortunately we are doing much worse with this plan than we have do to date with covid eradication. It’s lucky all New Zealanders aren’t beekeepers.
Having removed ~10,000 bees from my attic, I was surprised to learn, that they fit in a 2 gallon container. 20,000 seems like “a lot” but mass and volume, it’s really not much.
Cue the typical "Nature is Healing" especially because pollinators are under massive pressure due to pesticides and herbicides. Having said that, I'm glad they called a good beekeper who was able to rescue the hive. Also, I've heard that if you have a bee infestation in your attic for example, not to call an exterminator, but to call a beekeeper. Often these new hives are valuable to hobbyists and they are happy to c…
Reminds me of when a honeybee swarm occupied the parking lot behind our building and eventually mostly settled on a bike rack (this also happens to be the building of the downtown Palo Alto Philz). As a beekeeper, I was so excited that I emailed our head of ops and physical security in all caps asking if I could have them. After he called me to confirm that I wasn't trolling, he graciously offered to stand guard to k…