Monitoring Hives

[Newbeeneil]

Do I detect a little wickedness ?

A little?

 

[pargyle]

Interesting, 42C in winter sounds very high. They must have thought you were a bear

When I vaped last winter the bees never moved and I did wonder if they were still alive.

I've done that ... for some years when I first started keeping bees ... 42 degrees is high ... I found that my bees were mostly around 32 - 34 degrees with a relative humidity % in the high 80's. This was in highly insulated hives ... my measurements were fairly primitive and sat alongside counting varroa drop on the inspection board. I stopped doing it after Derek Mitchell demonstrated that what I believed was factual - that highly insulated boxes are better for bees in terms of over winter survival, spring build up, lack of disease, low varroa loads and less stores consumption. I still do sugar rolls to measure varroa levels but I'm happy to accept Derek's findings, obtained using far more sophisticated kit than I had .... I put my efforts, these days, into trying to become a proper beekeeper. ....

 

[Repwoc]

Derek Mitchell

Sadly another ex-member hounded out.

 

[pargyle]

Sadly another ex-member hounded out.

Yes ... he's well wrapped up in the science of what he's been doing but I've seen him talk on a number of occasions and had some interesting chats with him ... he was very much on the ball with the effects of keeping bees in insulated hives and even ten years ago the sophistication of the monitors he had placed inside hives was impressive. I was (and remain) convinced that high temp/high humidity environments are what bees seek to achieve and this, I believe, is a contributory factor in keeping varroa levels low. (Not, I would add, a panacea - but a component of a low varroa regime).

 

[user 20297]

You cannot stop me

I have speaking diarrhea. I got it from covid vaccination.

Yes, you're full of it. '

 

[Finman]

Yes, you're full of it. '

Diarrhea is such that a human is empty of it.

You do not consider at all what you say.

 

[Ian123]

Diarrhea is such that a human is empty of it.

That reminds me of a trip in Thailand ……Not a pleasant experience

 

[Ian123]

Sadly another ex-member hounded out.

No he wasn’t hounded out he left after spitting the dummy when I pointed out a few glaring misconceptions he had about bees in 1 thread, nothing more. I didn’t question any of his findings but got the impression he was rather short on practical experience. But then that’s just my opinion. Ian

 

[user 20297]

Diarrhea is such that a human is empty of it.

You do not consider at all what you say.

 

[user 20297]

Diarrhea is such that a human is empty of it.

You do not consider at all what you say.

But I thought you were a Finman.

 

[pargyle]

No he wasn’t hounded out he left after spitting the dummy when I pointed out a few glaring misconceptions he had about bees in 1 thread, nothing more. I didn’t question any of his findings but got the impression he was rather short on practical experience. But then that’s just my opinion. Ian

It was his wife that was the beekeeper ... Derek never professed to be an expert at keeping bees - it was, initially, the concept of keeping bees in an insulated environment and the desire to create a hive that met the insulation properties that could be made from readily available materials without the need for a great deal of skill ... that's how he started out making hives out of PIR and then he found the measuring of how well they performed interesting. I don't think it was ever about the bees ... more about the science of the conditions in which they live. His only flaw, at times, was thinking that everyone was on the same academic plane as he was - he used to lose me with some of the physics ! I think he got fed up of having the science challenged .... not specifically your posts.

 

[Ian123]

On the subject of varroa and humidity have any considered that in the area varroa is naturally found external humidity is often around 80%. In a small cavity on its natural host Cerana I’d imagine it’s well in excess. This is varroa’s natural environment and it thrives in it.

 

[pargyle]

On the subject of varroa and humidity have any considered that in the area varroa is naturally found external humidity is often around 80%. In a small cavity on its natural host Cerana I’d imagine it’s well in excess. This is varroa’s natural environment and it thrives in it.

There have been studies that indicate that high humidity does restrict the ability of varroa to reproduce in temperate climates - not everything transfers when an organism moves from one location to another ...

In one study (Kraus and Velthuis, 1997) at 59-68% relative humidity, 53% of mites produced offspring, whereas at 79-85% relative humidity only 2% of the mites produced offspring.

 

[Swarm]

Sadly another ex-member hounded out.

Nobody has been hounded out.

 

[user 20297]

Nobody has been hounded out.

I think "Nobody' would disagree with that.

 

[pargyle]

Nobody has been hounded out.

Depends on your view of 'hounded out' ... We've lost at least two valuable and knowledgeable contributors to the forum, (possibly more - some people just slip away quietly) ... both of them felt that they were being singled out and challenged unnceccesarily by a small group of members with vested interests or opposing ideas.

Not everyone has the skin of a rhino and we should be conscious (all of us) when discussion becomes nit picking. It is not your perception that you have to consider - it's the perception of the other person. We are all guilty, at times, of taking a discussion beyond the point where it becomes argument for the sake of it ... it's impossible over the internet to read the body language of the other person and moderate your behaviour and words accordingly ... I'm sure we would all get on very well down the pub and face to face ....

This is not a bad forum, there are disagreements at times but it's far less agressive than a lot of on line forums and if you are going to participate then you do have to live with opposing views ... but I recognise, occasionally, that some members are reluctant to give way to another point of view and perhaps, just perhaps, we should all be prepared to give way a little. Was it Confucius or Tao Te Ching - can't remember - who wrote ?- 'Be like the bamboo - sway in the breeze'.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Yes Phillip I do miss a few good people here.

 

[victor meldrew]

Yes Phillip I do miss a few good people here.

It’s about being selective, I choose not to join in discussions that become about discussing rather than the topic which quickly gets lost amongst the point scoring .I’ve only resorted to blocking one member which speaks volumes. On the whole the forum is a happy place to be .

 

[Boston Bees]

His only flaw, at times, was thinking that everyone was on the same academic plane as he was

Hmmm

I think that another issue was that he wasn't on the same academic plane that he thought he was.

 

[pargyle]

Hmmm

I think that another issue was that he wasn't on the same academic plane that he thought he was.

Perhaps - Regardless of how you perceive their perception of themselves - it's important to accept that the other person has a point of view ... by all means argue the science but avoid criticising the other person's positioning.

Derek was 'criticised' for the way he presented himself - which I have a problem with - as much as for the scientifically gathered information he presented.

Like I said .. we should all be prepared to give a little. It's all water under the bridge as we have lost Derek and others ... it would be a pity to lose other members of value. There are a lot of members on here who offer extremely good advice and perspectives/solutions to problems which are often not encountered in the books ... they sometimes come with baggage attached and all I'm saying is we should try and be prepared to ignore the bits of baggage that irritate in favour of accepting the contribution they make to our general knowledge ....