For those who were wondering: 124 acres =~ 0.5 square km or 50 hectar so pretty big
Bees can forage up to about 5km but generally stay within about 3km, in case that interests anyone. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forage_(honey_bee)
Morgan Freeman Converts His 124-Acre Ranch into a Giant Bee Sanctuary
91–100 of 121 posts
Re: Morgan Freeman Converts His 124-Acre Ranch into a Giant Bee Sanctuary
#92Is this for honeybees?? I hope its for native bees because why would you create a sanctuary for what is basically an agricultural animal like cow or sheep.
You need to look after the honey bee. You’ll go hungry without it.
Re: Morgan Freeman Converts His 124-Acre Ranch into a Giant Bee Sanctuary
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
Fun story. Btw, is that an emoji? Thought they were stripped from input.
I thought so too, but for some reason a few aren’t. I posted about it yesterday. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19482991
Ok, looks like some unicode blocks such as flags are not stripped.
Re: Morgan Freeman Converts His 124-Acre Ranch into a Giant Bee Sanctuary
#94That's nice, but the honeybee population is not declining. https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/88117/err-246.... http://time.com/4885569/honeybee-population-increase/ https://www.agprofessional.com/article/bee-population-rising...
Hive numbers are on a steep increase in New Zealand. In 10 years we have more than doubled the number. Honey prices are falling for beekeepers though, so many are expecting a bit of an industry crash.
Our wild bees are not doing so well. https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/01/31/79714/the-dark-side-of... https://www.airborne.co.nz/statistics/new-zealand.shtml
Re: Morgan Freeman Converts His 124-Acre Ranch into a Giant Bee Sanctuary
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
Conversely, having some consideration for your neighbors is part of existing in civil society. I live in a neighborhood that very closely fits the definition of upper middle class suburbia, and the power balance is most assuredly not in favor of complainers. Quite the opposite in fact. I also think you do a disservice to this discussion by suggesting it is just innocent people going about their lives that are being h…
You haven't lived next to retired people with nothing but free time on their hands. A large part of us moving out of the suburbs and somewhere rural was the adjacent retired neighbors always being in our business. I'm all for being a considerate neighbor but there's little substitute for a lot of space between you and your neighbor.
Good fences make good neighbors.
HOAs make what's on your side of your fence potentially someone else's business again.
(And they frequently ban chain-link fences, even when they are a cheap, effective, and durable way to put up a fence that won't be popping rusty deck screws out of the slats in three years (or less!) and letting the dogs escape.)
Re: Morgan Freeman Converts His 124-Acre Ranch into a Giant Bee Sanctuary
#96Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ha, I could have sworn this was a carefully worded joke -- Paul Stamets is the name of the mycologist on the new Star Trek series. Coincidence?
Calling the Star Trek Stamets a mycologist is almost an understatement.
Astromycologist.
Speaking of which: http://journalofastrobiology.com/Mars5.html?fbclid=IwAR0YOON...
Re: Morgan Freeman Converts His 124-Acre Ranch into a Giant Bee Sanctuary
#97Earlier quoted context omitted.
You haven't lived next to retired people with nothing but free time on their hands. A large part of us moving out of the suburbs and somewhere rural was the adjacent retired neighbors always being in our business. I'm all for being a considerate neighbor but there's little substitute for a lot of space between you and your neighbor.
Good fences make good neighbors. HOAs make what's on your side of your fence potentially someone else's business again. (And they frequently ban chain-link fences, even when they are a cheap, effective, and durable way to put up a fence that won't be popping rusty deck screws out of the slats in three years (or less!) and letting the dogs escape.)
Yeah, except the city defines what's an acceptable fence height(3ft) and how much you spend(~$400) when you want to fix the fence that's falling over(via permit process).
(FWIW I have no issues with paying taxes but annoying to have to pay to fix something existing that's broken).
Re: Morgan Freeman Converts His 124-Acre Ranch into a Giant Bee Sanctuary
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
Conversely, having some consideration for your neighbors is part of existing in civil society. I live in a neighborhood that very closely fits the definition of upper middle class suburbia, and the power balance is most assuredly not in favor of complainers. Quite the opposite in fact. I also think you do a disservice to this discussion by suggesting it is just innocent people going about their lives that are being h…
You haven't lived next to retired people with nothing but free time on their hands. A large part of us moving out of the suburbs and somewhere rural was the adjacent retired neighbors always being in our business. I'm all for being a considerate neighbor but there's little substitute for a lot of space between you and your neighbor.
Well, my next-door neighbors are retired, but they're not jerks.
I agree that more space is better. Once my kids are out of school (which is within walking distance currently) we will move farther out of town. Mostly because I get tired of listening to my neighbors' hobbies ;-)
Re: Morgan Freeman Converts His 124-Acre Ranch into a Giant Bee Sanctuary
#99A number of people have mentioned varroa mites and the problems they cause for domestic and wild bee populations. For those interested mycologist Paul Stamets has been trialing the addition of polypore extract to bee food (water / sugar water) to boost their immune system. Results on smaller sample set (~100 hives) was near total eradication of the mites (I think broken wing disorder was diminished too). Next trial i…
Ha, I could have sworn this was a carefully worded joke -- Paul Stamets is the name of the mycologist on the new Star Trek series. Coincidence?
Not a coincidence, the Star Trek character is named after the real life Paul.
Re: Morgan Freeman Converts His 124-Acre Ranch into a Giant Bee Sanctuary
#100A number of people have mentioned varroa mites and the problems they cause for domestic and wild bee populations. For those interested mycologist Paul Stamets has been trialing the addition of polypore extract to bee food (water / sugar water) to boost their immune system. Results on smaller sample set (~100 hives) was near total eradication of the mites (I think broken wing disorder was diminished too). Next trial i…
The first article I found discussed fungus extracts for virus treatment... I didn't see anything about mite eradication, but that would be a really big deal! https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-32194-8#ref-CR20
This may be a case where the mites are more of a symptom than a cause. Once the hive is healthy they may be able to deal with the mites on their own.