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Here are two photos of almond trees taken yesterday. The trees blooming are early nectarines.

There is more to pollinate out here than almonds. Japanese plums, cherries, blueberries and avocados all bloom during the same time and need bees.

C.F. Koehnen and sons have the two pallet set up on all their machines.

Larry I had to remove 99% of the ones I put in, and they get propilized down and break apart.

The hydraulic accumulator (load shock dampener) is most certainly available on the Swinger 1K. In fact it is a simple device and can be retro fitted on any existing machine. You could install one...

The directions I got at the time said that it was safe to use as long as daytime highs were below 92f. Temps were about 10o lower than that. Perhaps that is why it was so hard on the bees. But the...

Wow that is a heck of a machine! Hypnotizing.

It is more expensive.

Ian temps when I treated were right in the middle of desired range, daytime highs in the low to mid eighties.
Killed most of the brood.

Really tough on the queens and brood. Something like 40% queen loss.
After 60 days I was getting mites in the double digits in an alcohol wash.
The used pads are not removed by the bees, must be...

I treated about 550 last year.

Bees are starting to be set out.

There are many small growers too, especially Japanese plums. Advertise for small growers. They have trouble hooking up too for the same reasons as small beekeepers.

Distilling? Wish I could attend!

Colonies that have been requeened in the Autumn will very rarely if ever swarm the following Spring.

As a pollinator I must say; pollination Blows for the bees, everywhere except perhaps almonds. Other than that, you gain short term & lose long term.

Fresno Dadants branch has a list of over 10,000 colonies looking for pollination placement. Too many bees come out here without a contract, drop price to get placed.

I built an oven for rendering cappings. It holds four barrels. They stand on a rack over a stainless tank. The tank has a "basket" that slips on top. (Between the tank & the barrel rack). The basket...

Stanislaus county, February 17, 2011: Sonora almonds at 29% bloom. If you go to the Blue Diamond web site you can view their field reports from past years.

Bloom dates don't really change much. Sometimes an older orchard will be early but over all, first blooms show 7-10th of February. Moving in does start hot&heavy last week of January. I did see some...

Next will be a Zombie Fly that parasitizes beekeepers. I think they got me a couple years ago.

A myth.

Another fairy tale, nothing more.

Roland is correct; as slum sits, it dries out and loses wax content. The cakes that are left after pressing out slum are great for the garden or flower bed. A burlap bag filled and tied off,...

Because feral bees survive without treatment.

This is baloney.