Subject: Re: Winter loss experienc

From: [email-masked] (Andy Nachbaur)
Date: Sat, 6 May 1995 02:18:00 GMT

R<>From: [email-masked] (Rick Spada)
 <>[email-masked] (Robert  Inget) wrote:

R<>> Bumble bees and the like will save the planet. Mites are killing our honey
 <>> bees.  Libby, did you feed your hives in the winter? Did you use strips?

R<>From your comment, I can only infer that the Varoa and Tracheal (sp?)
 <>mites are specific to honeybees.  Is this indeed the case?  If so, why do
 <>they not bother other bees or wasps?

Hello Rick,

"Have no fear!" the other species of bee's all have their own diseases,
pest's and pathogens and they will not be replacing Honey Bee's in our
lifetime as the principal managed pollinator's or producer's of honey
and beeswax. They all are interesting and worthy of study and protection
but NONE should fall for the BS line that they are Honey Bee
replacement's just waiting for someone to throw money at them for
research or you will be like some of my farm neighbor's who are farming
over their expensive alkali bee beds and still looking for the last guy
who said leaf cutting bee's were a dependable alfalfa seed pollinator
and could be supplied and managed at less cost then renting Honey Bee's.

Most of these so called alternative pollinating bee's or insects have
been around as long as Honey Bee's and have not attracted more then
minimal interest as they have so far proven to be impracticable for all
but minor uses in very small acreage's and green houses. The problem is
that the few who do champion these bee's at time's make wild and out of
context claims for their own particular friend, bee it the Blue Orchard
Bee, or Bumble Bee or you name it, that can not be substantiated by
other's who would like to use these bee's in practical farm
situations. Granted there are areas that these bee's for one reason or
another may be better suited for pollination and they should be
encouraged and protected for those areas, but sadly when these bee's are
moved one way or another to other areas they are seldom successful and
are soon abandoned by agriculturists.

   All bee's have one thing in common when large unnatural population's
are needed for agriculture, "they all go to hell very fast with or
without experienced keeper's".

   I still have my own Leaf Cutter Board of healthy happy leaf cutter
bee's who have survived when other's have fallen to a leaf cutter chalk
brood or a nasty little parasite. Of course my bee's are a little
different from these other one's, they are survivor's, and aggressive in
their nesting habits, so I was informed in a article that appeared in
the press several year's ago that described them as the "killer alfalfa
leaf cutter bee's", because their bio type (long native to this
area) could be identified and would replace the bee's being brought into
the area for pollination.(more BS, but all done friendly and in fun!)

   I guess what I am saying is that we all should cooperate with other's
who are interested in bee's of any type, but not to the point that we
roll over so they can try their best to replace us, if only because a
1000+ years of study and untold man years of practical experience we
have on Honey Bee's and we don't know it all, and NO other bee can match
that..at least we know we don't have all the answers.

                                  ttul Andy-

(c)Permission to reproduce, granted.
Opinions should not be considered facts.
Wild Bee's BBS (tm)

---

From: [email-masked] (Robert Inget)
Date: Thu, 4 May 1995 21:30:58

In article <[email-masked]> Libby Goldstein <[email-masked]> writes:
>From: Libby Goldstein <[email-masked]>
>Subject: Re: Winter loss experiences
>Date: Sat, 29 Apr 1995 18:09:34 -0700 (PDT)

>We lost both of hives here in a South Philadelphia community
>garden. There was a mouse in one...also dead, and the bees in the
>other seem to have starved. No sign of mites or wax moths.

>We're expecting two nucs this week-end, but it's a bit too late
>for our fruit trees, and wild bees were not much in evidence
>during prime flowering weeks.  We do have lots of bumble bees
>around now, tho.

>Libby
Bumble bees and the like will save the planet. Mites are killing our honey 
bees.  Libby, did you feed your hives in the winter? Did you use strips?
BerryBob