Hey I'm just having a little fun. Don't we all have a few Homer Simpson "dohs" every once in a while?
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Hey I'm just having a little fun. Don't we all have a few Homer Simpson "dohs" every once in a while?
""'you get up into the Dakotas and the only thing between you and the North Pole is a barbed wire fence'.
And from that, I reckon those Canadians don't even have the barbed wire fence.
YOU GOT HER ALL, the barbed wire, the oil, the water, the canola,....even most of that honey has disappeared
Yes , Jim some fun, but lets ask a better question, What has changed in the recent 15 years. Let us not forget that 20 to 30 years ago the ( for lack of better term ) Homer Simpson beek could do extremly well making money as a beek. Beeks would actauly kill off 50 to 90 % of stock in the fall, go south for the winter, then in spring take 1000 hives & turn into 8000 for summer honey production and make an Incredible honey crop, take the winter off to go hunting.
The reality of beekkeeping has changed and I firmly believe the Pesticide & chemical elements in our agriculture industry has had a drastic effect.
I could go on for pages but hope this helps other beeks to start looking around, find out what has changed in the business environmernt of the farming industry.
It was simply a tongue-in-cheek way of saying it gets stinkin' cold up that way...i.e. there doesn't seem to be anything blocking the flow of arctic air. No offense intended....Quote:
Originally Posted by irwin harlton
If you knew Irwin, his tongue was in his cheek also, LOL
>>Canadians don't even have the barbed wire fence
free grazers, dont need a fence if there is nobody to push you back, lol
None ever taken at this end Dan, enjoy All the post, I don't agree with some, but that's what makes the world go around. Shoot, if we had all good keepers the almond price would be in the tank.Quote:
Originally Posted by beemandan
P.S. almond prices north of $165
Ive never done the 8:1 program, 2 maybe 3 to one is more our style. Getting a little tougher for the Homer Simpsons of the world to make it though. There are a lot of things going on in bee hives pretty difficult to clearly see the delineation between ppb and dpp. I am nor singling anyone out as a poor beekeeper by any means but the fact does remain that some beekeepers seem to fare better than others year in and year out. Perhaps it's the territory and what they are exposed to perhaps its beekeeper manipulations or lack of them. I don't have a clue, I don't even know how I might be described but I will sure admit to a few Homer Simpson moments. http://www.beesource.com/forums/webk...D8183/imagegifQuote:
Originally Posted by LSPender
hey, we are mearly managing bugs in a box,
we cant be that hard on ourselves
Larry, I agree with you Beekeeping has changed, most keepers don't put enough feed, labor, resources into there bees and as a result they use to go from 1:8 now they go 8:1.Quote:
Originally Posted by LSPender
I use to like to fish & hunt as well, even go to a winter bee meeting like the one in San Diego this year, BUT the bees now need my attention 12 months a year. I can say this with out question, the keepers that are really keeping on top of there bees seem to be doing fine over all.
"""It was simply a tongue-in-cheek way of saying it gets stinkin' cold up that way...i.e. there doesn't seem to be anything blocking the flow of arctic air. No offense intended.... """"ya it gets cool up here ,the other day it was minus 45 C with the wind chill......poor bees
No offense taken beemandan.......just keep that ol American economy peddling along,which should keep that good old American dollar high in the sky value.......us Canucks will sell you anything you want including bees for almonds.......not that we would be able to do that legally but where there is a will there is the way.
Yes Kieth we here what you are saying and totally agree.
I mean my family has been more than successful keeping bees as their sol living since 1974.
We do great and have more than enough time off.
My worries are that every year it will get worse. There are so many clues telling us something is wrong.
What larry is saying is that it has obviously gotten more difficult to be consistent at this profession.
I dont know if you understand that you cant feed bees when they dont need it. Also cant supplement pollen when the bees are gathering pollen that is not as good as it used to beeeeeeee.
everyone and everything needs nourishment and a place to forage.
As the years pass there is less and less good forage land.
I am young and want to be able to do this for many years to come.
also got 2 calls in the last week from people looking for bees for almonds.
o yeah and Keith how would you know what we all put into our bees?
Lets talk labor, how many bee yards do you have? how many employees do you have?
not enough labor my a##.
Do you survive financially on only a honey crop and pollination income?
or do you get rich selling NUTRA BEE
To answer LSpender, besides the latest and greatest pathogens, I blame the plants. Something has chnaged in the plants in the last 10-15 years. When you saw fields of flowers, the bees made honey. Now, you never know what will happen. Could it be weather? I doubt it. Side effect of a agriculture chemical? Quite possible. Acid Rain? possible, but not likely, we are on Limestone.
Crazy Roland
Fields of flowers equates to honey here, especially if it rains at the right times
I think we may be over analyzing this a bit too much. In regards to the current bee supply available for Almonds this year the question is really what has changed since last year or the year before, which were both years when there were enough bees to go around. #1 on my list is the most severe drought since 1956 and it cut right through the area where most bees spend the summer. #'s 2 and 3 in no particular order are most likely the unusually early spring which resulted in an unusually long brooding season together with the unavailability of (ahem) product A for mite control. Yes I do think the change in farming practices is a contributing factor as well but it's difficult to make the case that things really changed much in one year.
Excellent summation, Jim.
I concour!
:-)
Climate/environment/plant changes are surely possibilities. But we wouldn't want to overlook the health of our bees. Even the best beekeepers' bees are still, in my opinion, more heavily parasitized than those 10 - 15 years ago. Faced with the same field of flowering plants, again in my opinion, less vigorous bees will produce less honey.Quote:
Originally Posted by Roland
Countless possibilities........
What a posy post that was#32, hope you didn't waste to much time on that.Quote:
Originally Posted by benstung
Ben, I will give you a little run down on what I do as to your question "financially survive"
1) shaking bees this week@ $30.00lb
2) almonds 3000 hives in
3) shaking bees after almonds @ $12lb
4) move some bees like to your state of TX Ben, last year and did well with honey avg
5) Ok, I will stop at (5) it is now the month of June & those bees of last year at this time grossed $480 per hive, you would have to be brainless not to make money in this maket.
bit off topic but love picking beekeepers brains,
Keith, you shake while in the almonds, and then after,
making up packages I presume,
to relieve swarming pressures I presume,
Do I presume correctly ?
I think I should migrate south for the winter and buy some of those shook bees,
Ian, I'm shaking RIGHT NOW, I have the bees in semi load lots, so shaking is easy & fast, will be moving to the almonds after shaking is done. I shake in bulk cages (30-35lb).