Mating flight

[ShinySideUp]

Thank you Heegee for acknowleging that there was a pertinent question at the beginning of this forum before people went off at a tangent and started commenting on the fact that I got my bee suit on before investigating the phenomenon. I received a lot of replies but very few to that original question and it goes to show that most of the people here are at pains to get over their opinions whether or not they have relevance to the point in hand. Whilst I appreciate, and am thankful for, the advice of a very few folk here, the vast majority of posters seem to have some sort of beekeeping evangelism they feel they have to get across; 'My bees are great, your bees are *****' is not really very helpful.

Again, thank you to those beekeepers who have helped me in my first couple of years as without you that time would have been much more difficult but my participation here is largely at an end as I think there is nothing more to be gained from further involvment as a regular visitor.

 

[ShinySideUp]

I reckon some here reckon that should they recount
what was thought to be seen, and saturate reality
with such contradiction, the mirage will become a meme.
Kinda the backbone of what supports social media - get
such whimsys to "Trend".
/wry smile/

Bill

Can you actually speak English?!

 

[eltalia]

Can you actually speak English?!

Now you are simply playing that VT card - be the victim, bees
could care less as they ferret a path into that hood.

You have been handed great advice.
Ignoring such, along with biting the hand that feeds.
is *your* choice. Deny yourself the largesse of Grief
when that reactive does not work out so well.
The Beginners forum is over there ---'>

Cya 'round.

Bill

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Can you actually speak English?!

Ignore - like a bad smell it will eventually go away

 

[Eyeman]

Thank you Heegee for acknowleging that there was a pertinent question at the beginning of this forum before people went off at a tangent and started commenting on the fact that I got my bee suit on before investigating the phenomenon. I received a lot of replies but very few to that original question and it goes to show that most of the people here are at pains to get over their opinions whether or not they have relevance to the point in hand. Whilst I appreciate, and am thankful for, the advice of a very few folk here, the vast majority of posters seem to have some sort of beekeeping evangelism they feel they have to get across; 'My bees are great, your bees are *****' is not really very helpful.

Again, thank you to those beekeepers who have helped me in my first couple of years as without you that time would have been much more difficult but my participation here is largely at an end as I think there is nothing more to be gained from further involvment as a regular visitor.

Members: 17,404

 

[Fritillary]

Have seen a mating swarm (or whatever you want to call it) twice now.

(Some posts I just ignore.)

 

[GuyNir]

(Some posts I just ignore.)

+1

Many provide excellent advice and help others. Some you simply need to ignore. Some are like white noise, always there in the background...

 

[Murox]

ShinySideUp, please stay. As others have said there is a huge amount of "white noise", sadly sometimes its overwhelming and the 'mine is bigger/better than yours' brigade are omnipresent. You are not responsible for "bonkers" answers and folks banging their drum.
I for one have never witnessed the events you described at the start of this post and personally I have always found your questions interesting.

 

[eltalia]

ShinySideUp, please stay. As others have said there is a huge amount of "white noise"....
(edit)

There is always a faction within forums whose solid belief
is "post count" counts in veracity scale... an erroneous
misguided presumption.

Not a moderator of this forum I can however put a moderator's
slant - as review - in saying it is not possible for someone owning
just a few hundred hours around bee husbandry to accurately
contradict advice, from anyone.
The reactive behaviour to good advice here is classic, easily
recognised, and so rightly should not be taken as reflective
wholly of a personality but accepted as "par for the course".
In kind Shiny would be well advised to accept the lesson
and move forward adhering only to discourse which is directly
bee focused.

/folds hands/

Bill

 

[Show me the honey]

There is always a faction within forums whose solid belief
is "post count" counts in veracity scale... an erroneous
misguided presumption.

Not a moderator of this forum I can however put a moderator's
slant - as review - in saying it is not possible for someone owning
just a few hundred hours around bee husbandry to accurately
contradict advice, from anyone.
The reactive behaviour to good advice here is classic, easily
recognised, and so rightly should not be taken as reflective
wholly of a personality but accepted as "par for the course".
In kind Shiny would be well advised to accept the lesson
and move forward adhering only to discourse which is directly
bee focused.

/folds hands/

Bill

Have you thought of cutting out all the tripe it would save you a lot of time and people may learn something from you? So far all I’ve read from you is all jibber jabber and only a phrase or 2 is worth reading. We all want to learn from others but your not making it easy

 

[ShinySideUp]

+1

Many provide excellent advice and help others. Some you simply need to ignore. Some are like white noise, always there in the background...

Ignore - like a bad smell it will eventually go away

ShinySideUp, please stay. As others have said there is a huge amount of "white noise", sadly sometimes its overwhelming and the 'mine is bigger/better than yours' brigade are omnipresent. You are not responsible for "bonkers" answers and folks banging their drum.
I for one have never witnessed the events you described at the start of this post and personally I have always found your questions interesting.

I got a bit sulky after a few wines. I believe there is an 'ignore' system somewhere, I'll try to find that and get on with it.

While I am on the subject of swarms (or not), I went out with the dogs today and was informed by my good lady that I missed a swarm going over our garden. That was quite annoying as I have seen swarms leave, I have seen them arrive but never seen one on their way somewhere else. I am told it was quite spectacular.

 

[ShinySideUp]

I believe there is an 'ignore' system somewhere, I'll try to find that and get on with it.

Found it and it works.

 

[Murox]

:cool
:

 

[beeno]

I went out with the dogs today and was informed by my good lady that I missed a swarm going over our garden. That was quite annoying as I have seen swarms leave, I have seen them arrive but never seen one on their way somewhere else. I am told it was quite spectacular.

That could have been your aborted swarm attempt from the other day.

 

[pargyle]

Found it and it works.

Only trouble with the ignore button is that it sometimes makes a thread a bit disjointed and then people go and quote the people you would like to ignore ! But perhaps you can't see this so I might be wasting my time !!

 

[pargyle]

Considering the Virgin Queens fly a considerable distance from the hive to get mated i would think it is unlikely.. unless a virgin from a distant unknown colony has spotted a drone congregation from another distant colony..

Bit late to reply but just read your post ... Drone congregations are not from a particular colony - they are places above certain (and consistent) well documented pieces of landscape where drones from many colonies congregate.

They have not been thoroughly investigated - some have been in the same place for as long as beekeepers have known about them.. there's one near Gilbert White's house in Selborne which Gilbert White himself documented in 1792 - he noted down the sound from the ground but didn't know what it was - this DCA is still in the same place now.

We don't know what it is that attracts the drones to them and we know even less about how a virgin manages to find her way to them, never having been out of the hive previously .. but they do !

I've got no doubt one of the resident experts will be along to enlighten us shortly ..

 

[Repwoc]

We don't know what it is that attracts the drones to them and we know even less about how a virgin manages to find her way to them, never having been out of the hive previously .. but they do !

Even more perplexing - I have read that virgin queens visit more distant DCAs, ignoring the closest one(s) to her hive, to avoid in-breeding.

Are there any known cases of DCAs disappearing?

 

[beeno]

They go on orientation flights day 3-5 establishing various flight paths navigating by landmarks. Still difficult for us mere humans to fathom.

 

[ShinySideUp]

Only trouble with the ignore button is that it sometimes makes a thread a bit disjointed and then people go and quote the people you would like to ignore ! But perhaps you can't see this so I might be wasting my time !!

I can see this and you are not

 

[ShinySideUp]

That could have been your aborted swarm attempt from the other day.

Definitely from another place.