From MAILER-DAEMON Sun Jan 14 07:40:02 2001 Received: from listserv.albany.edu (listserv.albany.edu [169.226.1.24]) by luna.oit.unc.edu (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id HAA04994 for ; Sun, 14 Jan 2001 07:40:01 -0500 (EST) Received: from listserv.albany.edu (listserv.albany.edu [169.226.1.24]) by listserv.albany.edu (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id HAA00123 for ; Sun, 14 Jan 2001 07:42:58 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <200101141242.HAA00123@listserv.albany.edu> Date: Sun, 14 Jan 2001 07:42:58 -0500 From: "L-Soft list server at University at Albany (1.8d)" Subject: File: "BEE-L LOG0006E" To: adamf@METALAB.UNC.EDU Content-Length: 16522 Lines: 357 ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 28 Jun 2000 21:33:33 -0600 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Joe Edwards Subject: Producing Propolis MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Can anyone give me some information on producing propolis. Where do I buy the equipment? And is there any effect on the hive, will I have to manage them differently. Any help would be appreciated ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 28 Jun 2000 23:49:45 +0100 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: James Kilty Subject: Re: bumblebees In-Reply-To: <200006261229.IAA00250@listserv.albany.edu> MIME-Version: 1.0 In message <200006261229.IAA00250@listserv.albany.edu>, James Ralston writes >> Does anyone know whether the venom of the yellow and black bumblebee >> has an acidic or alkaline based sting so I know what to treat the >> sting with next time. > >No idea, sorry... In a recent talk by one of our members who has looked into stinging in the case of the honeybee (and the wasp) they mix an acid and an alkali. It is irrelevant what the pH of the final mix is, since it is neither the acid nor the alkali the body reacts to. It is the many different other substances in the poison. In any case, you cannot deliver a neutralising liquid into the bloodstream at the site of the sting. So, use a proprietary or folk remedy. Unless there is a particularly painful reaction or an allergic reaction, why not let your own body handle the issue? Even children have to learn. It is IMHO a bit too easy to aim to take the pain away, but if it is imperative then I have available a simple and mild anaesthetic called "Waspeze" or a soothing balm. -- James Kilty ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 29 Jun 2000 08:50:34 EDT Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Maysoon Shukur Subject: Re: Producing Propolis MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I know you have to get a trap, mine is plastic and I put it in the top of my strongest hive. But, they ignored it and I guess that's because they were a very strong 2 deep hive but have had to draw out all the supers. I'm a new bee keeper and all my boxes are new. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 29 Jun 2000 06:30:05 -0400 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: ron taylor Organization: Limestone College Subject: Re: Producing Propolis MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Hey: Most bee supply companies sell a propolis trap. It is a black plastic grid panel. It is placed under the top cover and the toip is proped open to let in light. They bees fill the grid slots with propolis to close the light. Place the trap in the freezer for several days. Take it out an bang it on a table. The propolis will fall off. Ron Tyalor, South carolina Beekeepers. Joe Edwards wrote: > Can anyone give me some information on producing propolis. Where do I > buy the equipment? And is there any effect on the hive, will I have to > manage them differently. > Any help would be appreciated ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 29 Jun 2000 10:07:36 EDT Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Maysoon Shukur Subject: Re: Producing Propolis MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I gotta. I never opened the top of the hive. It's been raining so much in Maryland that I'm a bit afraid to actually. I've got a strong hive that last I check 3 weeks ago this weekend had drawn out and almost filled 1 super with some nice tasty honey. They hadn't really drawn much out of the next super I had placed on it. We've had so much rain that I wonder what to do. I've been warned not to remove honey with so much rain because the bees don't have enough time to draw off the water. Any ideas from some of the Southern maryland bee keeps on what to do? ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 29 Jun 2000 12:25:03 -0400 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: William Morong Subject: Producing propolis MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"; X-MAPIextension=".TXT" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit One might best use propolis traps to gather propolis, to keep it clean. However, the bees will only plug the slots in a propolis trap when they want them plugged. I was told that light above the trap would induce them to propolize, but my outer covers are very translucent and no propolis has been deposited. This year I'm using propolis traps as inner covers to make it easier for the bees to evaporate their nectar, and they deposit not a milligram of propolis in the trap slots, but only around the edges where it sits on the box. I expect that when it turns cooler, the bees will adjust their ventilation by plugging slots with propolis. Later, I'll use a propolis trap under a comb honey super as a shavings box for winter. The bees are not apt to comply with the insertion of a propolis trap by producing propolis unless they want it plugged. Two colonies that sit side by side and have always produced equally are now producing unequally. The one with a propolis trap for an inner cover is making more honey than the one with a regular inner cover. Less bees are hanging out in hot weather with the greater ventilation, and the bees seem very content. Not a large test yet, but indicative. Bill Morong ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 29 Jun 2000 12:27:47 -0400 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: William Morong Subject: Breath and smoke MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"; X-MAPIextension=".TXT" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Real life seems to make blanket statements about bees risky. All my colonies but one are responding beautifully to the use of breath instead of smoke, except that one colony, one of my gentlest, gets upset if they don't get a puff of smoke to announce my ministrations. One puff for an announcement and they're OK. All the others even let me shake bees off frames and harvest without smoke. That's one colony in 18 that demands smoke. Ten feet away is a colony that was so rowdy I almost requeened them, until I stopped using smoke on them. Now they're totally gentle with breath. That's 1 in 18 that detests smoke. I find insignificant differences relating to breeding so far. Bill Morong ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 29 Jun 2000 15:54:26 +0100 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Dave Cushman Subject: relief from bee stings MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi all A good many beekeepers that I know use an "old fashioned" or "folk" remedy... Aloe Vera is a plant with fleshy leaves...just snap off a piece of leaf and apply the sappy end to the sting...relief is very quick. I have no information on its effictiveness with bumble bee or wasp stings. perhaps someone can enlighten us? Best Regards Dave Cushman G8MZY Email: dave.cushman@lineone.net Web: http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushman ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 30 Jun 2000 09:54:06 +1200 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Robert Mann Subject: Re: producing propolis Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" The principle of the plastic proprietary propolis trap just described can be extended in home-made methods. I discovered one by accident with some strongly warping boards in a top storey. Gaps opened at the corners of the box slowly and the bees manfully struggled to fill them with propolis which I could scrape off directly from the outside. At $100/kg from the wholesaler it's a high rate of pay. I would like to point out that propolis is not a standard chemical mixture. Its composition will depend on where the bees are gathering gums, tars etc that they can make into propolis. The top biochemist of our bee world, my friend Assoc Prof Peter Molan MBE (U of Waikato), has begun to investigate it. R - Robt Mann consultant ecologist P O Box 28878 Remuera, Auckland 1005, New Zealand (9) 524 2949 ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 29 Jun 2000 23:20:03 +0100 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: James Kilty Subject: Re: Pollen selection In-Reply-To: <200006271128.HAA27105@listserv.albany.edu> MIME-Version: 1.0 In message <200006271128.HAA27105@listserv.albany.edu>, T & M Weatherhead writes >If we assume that the colour indicates a different >type of pollen, then most hives seemed to be going for the same type of >pollen in the same proportions but some were different. Why? I wonder if it is just the chance factor. Scouts from different hives may hit on different sources and are able to recruit other workers to go to their finds. Professor Ratnieks and his students found a proportion of bees went 11km (from memory) for the heather, much further than expected, but not all. I presume it is the competition from other scouts or dancing collectors is what determines the variation. A random or pseudo random selection of pollens would presumably also give the variety which adds up to a good balanced diet. -- James Kilty ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 29 Jun 2000 23:30:09 +0100 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: James Kilty Subject: Re: Bumblebees In-Reply-To: <200006281246.IAA00545@listserv.albany.edu> MIME-Version: 1.0 In message <200006281246.IAA00545@listserv.albany.edu>, Robert Brenchley writes A friend of mine digs them out carefully, keeping the nest intact and moves it several miles away to a safe location. I have never tried it and will ask her for details if requested. -- James Kilty ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 30 Jun 2000 07:48:51 +0100 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Alan Riach Subject: Bee Stings, Pain & Folk Remedies MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Although there are lots of different chemicals in bee venom (I'm told about 80 have been identified) the most startling one is the ultra high pain one which is active for about a minute after the sting takes place. This short duration ingredient is obviously a "get the intruder away from the colony" device. I've timed it many times and after about a minute it's effect dies away very suddenly to leave the dull "bearable" pain which continues for some time. During that minute it is strong enough to prevent your mind from focussing on any other subject. Now it takes about a minute to pick up a dock leaf or any other "effective" vegetation and rub it on the stung area and lo and behold see how effective that leaf was - when I rubbed it on the sting the bad pain dulled down. Alan Riach Glad to be a Scottish Protestant and enjoy the pain! ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 30 Jun 2000 20:39:39 EDT Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: CSlade777@AOL.COM Subject: Re: Producing Propolis MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit There seems to be a genetic component in the propensity to collect propolis. I have one hive in an apiary of 5 that is collecting far more than all the rest put together with no apparent reason. Chris Slade ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 30 Jun 2000 21:02:18 -0400 Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology Sender: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology From: Vivian Donahue Subject: Bumblebees Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" I got the following from the website: http://www.mearns.org.uk/mrssmith/bees/body.htm#sting "The sting Bumblebees can sting, at least the queens and workers can, and their sting is not barbed like that of the honeybee, so they can sting more than once. snip Bumblebees seem reluctant to sting, and appear to do so only if they feel really threatened. However I have heard recently that some species of bumblebees found in America (north and south) are more aggressive than European species. So I feel that it is best to treat bumblebees with respect as there are some people who have an allergy to bee venom that can lead to death even after just a single sting if not treated promptly.." Vivian At 8:52 AM +0100 6/28/00, andy sutherland wrote: >The hives are only between 40 - 150 in size and never once have I >ever been attacked by them when removing a hive. >As for Bumble bees stinging many times, I have never heard of this as >Vivian Donahue suggested, and any more information on this would be >appreciated.