Are our bees 'enslaved'

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The only time bees are enslaved by humans is, in my view, when they are used excessively by being moved from orchard to orchard en masse, over extended miles and seasons, to pollinate beyond their normal range of activity. I do not believe that can be a good thing; I think it tires the bees and makes them vulnerable to disease.
 
The only time bees are enslaved by humans is, in my view, when they are used excessively by being moved from orchard to orchard en masse, over extended miles and seasons, to pollinate beyond their normal range of activity. I do not believe that can be a good thing; I think it tires the bees and makes them vulnerable to disease.

:iagree::iagree:

In my view one of the factors contributing to CCD: monoculture crops, no proper 'overwintering' and brood breaks - constantly fed syrup because there is no nectar to forage.
I think I'd bu**er of if SWMBO served me jam sandwiches every meal (only joking love!)
 
I dont get the whole vegetarian thing to be honest, why aren't they up in arms about carnivores such as lions , wolves, foxes, hawks and anything else that preys on other animals etc that live on meat? Are they all evil and should change diets?

What's the problem?

It's perfecty natural and we have just put ourselves on the top of the food chain.

Granted if it's that you just plain don't like the taste of meat, but the idea that it is wrong is just a load of old crock.
 
DanBee

I was surprised to see no geothermal - or is that peculiar to Iceland?

ditto but I'm also surprised to see how much is hydro - probably because I had a vague idea that all fresh water was frozen for half the year!
 
DanBee

I was surprised to see no geothermal - or is that peculiar to Iceland?

ditto but I'm also surprised to see how much is hydro - probably because I had a vague idea that all fresh water was frozen for half the year!

Here is worth a trip if you find yourself in Oban with a few hours to kill:



I popped in last year. Very impressive :)
 
DanB

What's a southerner like you doing that far North? SBA lecture tour?
 
ADMIN EDIT:

Due to naughty boy words...
 
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Sir Q - I'd hate to see you get really annoyed about something or other :D

But, actually, I'm inclined to agree with you. I've never really understood why veggies expect to be offered a special meal, but don't return the courtesy.
 
Jeez, I would have laughed in her face, stamped on a spider and munched into a big fat cheese burger with a side of chicken nuggets.....

People like her make my blood boil tbh. So you have beliefs...good for you. By all means crack on with them. They are neither right nor wrong. Thats the thing with opinions....they are just that....opinions, not facts.

Do I care about your beliefs.....? NO
Do I want you ranting on about your beliefs.....? NO
Do I give a **** about your opinions regarding MY beliefs....? NO

Will I f#*€|>g slap you silly if you get up in my face.....? YES....

SO F@#k of...

Call me psychic if you will, but I think you're going to just love the Environmental and Pesticides section... :cool:
 
Next time. Tell her to stand in front of a mirror , open her mouth and look at her teeth. Out teeth have evolved to eat a mixed diet including meat. By not eating meat and she is interfering with the natural balance of her body. Then tell her to **** off and stab her in the eye with a biro.
 
No no no

You have it all wrong.

Real vegans are against drinking milk.

So they cannot breastfeed their children nor indeed drink milk substitutes.

Encourage them in their beliefs and they will die out.
 
Jeez, I would have laughed in her face, stamped on a spider and munched into a big fat cheese burger with a side of chicken nuggets.....

People like her make my blood boil tbh. So you have beliefs...good for you. By all means crack on with them. They are neither right nor wrong. Thats the thing with opinions....they are just that....opinions, not facts.

Do I care about your beliefs.....? NO
Do I want you ranting on about your beliefs.....? NO
Do I give a **** about your opinions regarding MY beliefs....? NO

Will I f#*€|>g slap you silly if you get up in my face.....? YES....

SO F@#k of...

I find your aggressive confrontational disrespectful attitude more than a tad disturbing. You don't want someone explaining about veganism or vegetarianism because it's in your face, but you will kill an animal or eat an animal in order to distress someone who holds certain beliefs? Why?

You seem to have some kind of inferiority complex and aggression issues.
I'm neither vegan nor vegetarian. I am an atheist who thinks that religion has caused much misery and war in the world throughout the ages. However, in order to have a strong opinion I feel I should inform myself about the things I disagree with in order to be able to debate about them in an educated and rational way. To kill an animal in front of an animal lover, to burn a poppy in front of old soldiers, to damage the symbol of religion in front of a person who happens to believe in that religion is childish, aggressive and spiteful.
What if someone didn't believe in keeping bees and came and overturned your hives? Or an environmentalist burned your car? Would that be fine?
Wind your neck in love. Learn to respect the beliefs of others even if you think those beliefs are rubbish. Learn to debate with those you disagree with, calmly and with facts to back up your debate, and you'll find life a lot easier and people a lot more respectful (even if they don't agree with you and dislike you).
 
I find your aggressive confrontational disrespectful attitude more than a tad disturbing. You don't want someone explaining about veganism or vegetarianism because it's in your face, but you will kill an animal or eat an animal in order to distress someone who holds certain beliefs? Why?

You seem to have some kind of inferiority complex and aggression issues.
I'm neither vegan nor vegetarian. I am an atheist who thinks that religion has caused much misery and war in the world throughout the ages. However, in order to have a strong opinion I feel I should inform myself about the things I disagree with in order to be able to debate about them in an educated and rational way. To kill an animal in front of an animal lover, to burn a poppy in front of old soldiers, to damage the symbol of religion in front of a person who happens to believe in that religion is childish, aggressive and spiteful.
What if someone didn't believe in keeping bees and came and overturned your hives? Or an environmentalist burned your car? Would that be fine?
Wind your neck in love. Learn to respect the beliefs of others even if you think those beliefs are rubbish. Learn to debate with those you disagree with, calmly and with facts to back up your debate, and you'll find life a lot easier and people a lot more respectful (even if they don't agree with you and dislike you).

I totally agree. Other people's sincerely held beliefs should be respected even if wholly disagreed with. It's only if they try to impose their views on you that you should push back.
 
I must say that Sir Quej's post was ahem, shall we say a bit on the 'hysterical' side. a tad too much Pinot last night maybe? or perhaps his mother was frightened by a vegetarian when she was carrying him? :D
 
I must say that Sir Quej's post was ahem, shall we say a bit on the 'hysterical' side. a tad too much Pinot last night maybe? or perhaps his mother was frightened by a vegetarian when she was carrying him? :D

lol :yeahthat:
which reminds me................:offtopic: when I was heavily pregnant with my son (now 39 years old), my husband (yes, women who were pregnant in the olden days, actually had husbands lol) and I, decided to have a picnic. He was a soldier (I was a soldier's daughter) and we were in Northern Germany at the time. So we put picnic stuff in the car and set off. It was Springtime and it was our last outing before he did a tour of duty for 4 months, in Northern Ireland. We'd had our picnic in the countryside and were on our way home when I needed a wee. So hubby stops at a suitably remote area. I stepped towards some trees, looked around and saw nobody, so pulled down my knickers, and squatted. I'd just started to pee when...................from underneath me, a flipping great hare shot out and galloped, slightly damp, across the field. I screamed with shock, peed down my legs and into my shoes, ran back to the car and of course, blamed my husband all the way home for stopping where a hare lay still in the hope that I'd go away, instead, the poor beast got a 'golden shower'. Now in the very very olden days, that alone would have had me convinced that my child was about to be born with a hare lip. Instead he was born very handsome but with a huge head of hair!...geddit? hair=hare....... geddit?:icon_204-2: It was so long that the nurses had to give him a hair cut when he was one day old, took a couple of inches off and it was still long. He now has it almost waist length in a thick plait down his back, which comes from being reared by a hippy mother I suspect :). Icidentally, all the mothers with baldy babies, told me he'd lose it all within a month. He never did and looked gorgeous instead of looking like a melon head bwaaaahahahaha
 
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I found the reasoning in the link from the original post a little concerning

http://www.vegetus.org/honey/honey.htm

It admitted to being biased ( which is something I supose) but I was a bit surprised to discover that I overuse smoke and treat my bees badly and am amazed that I should have realised by identifying the type of hive I use.

Itwould probably be good for the environment andfor me if I ate less meat but I do think I am doing my bit; I am keeping bees largely for recreation and because I consider it the right thing to do. Thankfully I am not doing it for honey (I haven't got much in what was my second year).

I also think that we are where we are with varroa etc and that with hindsight we may not have imported in the way we did (do?). In most parts of the world, where we are now needs us beekeepers if honey bees are going to be around. I wonder if she really would prefer the alternative to us.
 
I found the reasoning in the link from the original post a little concerning

http://www.vegetus.org/honey/honey.htm

It admitted to being biased ( which is something I supose) but I was a bit surprised to discover that I overuse smoke and treat my bees badly and am amazed that I should have realised by identifying the type of hive I use.

Itwould probably be good for the environment andfor me if I ate less meat but I do think I am doing my bit; I am keeping bees largely for recreation and because I consider it the right thing to do. Thankfully I am not doing it for honey (I haven't got much in what was my second year).

I also think that we are where we are with varroa etc and that with hindsight we may not have imported in the way we did (do?). In most parts of the world, where we are now needs us beekeepers if honey bees are going to be around. I wonder if she really would prefer the alternative to us.
She probably hasn't considered the alternatives. The trouble with a lot of vegetarians and vegans that they don't see the bigger picture. I have debated the issue with plenty of them. I ask if they hate animals because if the world became veggie/vegan overnight there would be no livestock type animals and probably no pets, certainly no pet cats. Dogs could at a push, survive on a vegetarian diet but cats are obligate carnivores. Nobody would keep pet cows and sheep and pigs so they would all die out. Nature is about balance. We need some of everything for the world to survive. Remove several species and you end up with a world which I for one would not like to live in.A human only society is stuff of nightmares. It'd the same with animal rescue zealots. They repeat the mantra "Don't breed or buy while shelter dogs die" and smugly tell everyone that they'd never buy a puppy from a breeder as they don't believe in it. They will only 'rescue' an animal and think that all dogs and cats should be neutered. I then ask if they hate cats and dogs then? They always look surprised and say "no, of course not". I then point out that if everyone neutered all the cats and dogs in the country, within 15 years, there would be no pet cats and dogs. They just don't see the bigger picture.
 
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