natural hive protection

[For want of a better word]

If you were to make a National and roof from solar cells, then your poor bees wouldn't have4 to live in the dark any more. TV next!

and if they could miniaturise mobile phones for them they would not have to do silly dances.... just phone in... "Hey girls just found the most marvellous hive all covered in the sweetest cowpoo and studded with the most glitzy crystalline you have ever seen and all with easy reach of the best oil seed rape ... sweeties you just must fly over !"

Drones would just text..........

 

[drstitson]

"it has been proven to be non toxic if used correctly in fact insects and plants love it."

you sure? - not the case in recent years with aminopyralid residues in manure wreaking havoc with fertilised crops.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Seems like the usual gravitation of a thread on this forum - everyone talking sh!t

 

[Madge]

20 kg plastic bag of grass based, natural hive protection as seen on tv (countryfile) ready mixed and easy to apply. £20 each . plenty available.

I'm lost. What is this thread about?
... or was - originally.
Kitta

 

[For want of a better word]

aminopyralid residues in manure.....
was that the stuff still used by golfclubs as they are exempt as not aggoculture.... that got into the compost and killed off tomatoes and potatoes a few years back?
Probably caused me shingles!

 

[oliver90owner]

aminopyralid residues in manure.....

Just like neonics? Must be OK (it's been 'tested' for 5 minutes), just get on and use it .... Oh dear, someone seems to have rumbled us - there is a tiny problem of killing non-target crops a couple or three or more years down the line, inability to utilise the land for at least another year and unknown whether the crops are safe or not for human consumption. If not then the resistant crops (that show little or no effects) may still contain these poisons but are not be identifiable from those that do not.

... Another ten years and these ingested foods may have produced problems in children born around this time, but they will have forgotten all this by then (or neatly swept it under the carpet).

Of course pesticides are safe. They have been tested by the manufacturers haven't they?

Still trust them?

I remember some problems with straw shorteners which also shortened the following year's crops in horticulture. Was that tomatoes that would not grow moe than about two feet tall? And not at all if planted in composted straw bales.

But never mind neonics, they are safe for everyone. Yeah right.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Of course pesticides are safe. They have been tested by the manufacturers haven't they?
Still trust them?

No...nor diesel, supplied by "big oilco", these substances should be banned immediately on the precautionary principle, until proven entirely 100% safe.

New research: are global honey bee declines caused by diesel pollution?

Ref: 11/97

07 October 2011

Scientists are investigating a possible link between tiny particles of pollution found in diesel fumes and the global collapse of honey bee colonies.

Professor Guy Poppy, an ecologist, Dr Tracey Newman, a neuroscientist, and their team from the University of Southampton, believe that minuscule particles, or ‘nanoparticles’, emitted from diesel engines could be affecting bees’ brains and damaging their inbuilt ‘sat-navs’. They believe this may stop worker bees finding their way back to the hive.

The team is also investigating the possibility that nanoparticles are one of a number of stress factors that could lead to a tipping point in bee health, which in turn could contribute to bee colony collapse.

“Diesel road-traffic is increasing in the UK and research from the US has shown that nanoparticles found in its fumes can be detrimental to the brains of animals when they are exposed to large doses. We want to find out if bees are affected in the same way – and answer the question of why bees aren’t finding their way back to the hive when they leave to find food,” explains Professor Poppy.

Bees are estimated to contribute billions to the world’s economy - £430 million a year to the UK alone - by pollinating crops, producing honey and supporting employment. Yet winter losses have led to the loss of tens of thousands of beehives year on year since 2007. The US has seen a 35 per cent unexplained drop in the number of hives in 2007, 2008 and 2009*. Extensive research, including a recent United Nations Report, has so far not identified the cause of bee declines.

The team from the University of Southampton, including biologists, nanotechnology researchers and ecologists will test the behavioural and neurological changes in honey bees, after exposure to diesel nanoparticles.

Chemical ecologist Dr Robbie Girling, adds: “The diesel fumes may have a dual affect in that they may be mopping up flower smells in the air, making it harder for the bees to find their food sources.”

Recent research which has revealed more about the effects of nanoparticles has enabled scientists to investigate this possible link to bee colony collapse.



And affecting humans.

Diesel exhaust fumes are 'major cancer risk' and as deadly as asbestos and mustard gas, says World Health Organisation

Diesel exhaust found to cause lung cancer and associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer
WHO says the fumes belong in same category as mustard gas and asbestos
Risks are on a level with passive smoking

Should also apply to plastics as well.

http://www.ecologycenter.org/factsheets/plastichealtheffects.html

 

[alanf]

aminopyralid residues in manure.....
was that the stuff still used by golfclubs as they are exempt as not aggoculture.... that got into the compost and killed off tomatoes and potatoes a few years back?

Sort of. Aminopyralid was used on lots of pasture as a selective weedkiller for broadleaf weeds. There are variants in the 'weed and feed' products sold for home and sports ground use which also cripples your compost.

Most gardening problems came from horses fed the hay or grazed on pasture over summer, the aminopyralid comes through in the manure. Stable manure on the veg patch and allotments distorted the growth of bean, pea, tomato, potato and other veg destroying any crop. After a precautionary suspension, aminopyralid was put back on sale last year with updated usage guidelines. Net result is gardeners lost a valuable fertiliser because they can't trust it's not poisoned and many suburban stables have ever growing piles of the stuff because they can't guarantee the source of bought in hay.

If you have a few weeks, a simple test is to grow a few broad beans in pots that include the suspect manure. If it's already on the ground it's too late; you're limited to growing sweet corn for a couple of years. Then maybe squashes which have some tolerance until the levels fall as the soil is worked. It doesn't break down well in stored manure so just waiting is not a solution.

 

[Fraise]

This thread started on lighthearted vein about cowshit and now seems to have gone serious and over to the male variety.

 

[For want of a better word]

This thread started on lighthearted vein about cowshit and now seems to have gone serious and over to the male variety.

NOT AT ALL... this is how the more academic and serious beekeepers on this forum get to discuss all things that can seriously affect our bees... as it is coming up to winter and we can not go play with them ( except for one cold day when we get to try and zap the varroa with oxallic!)

 

[bee ginnner]

"it has been proven to be non toxic if used correctly in fact insects and plants love it."

you sure? - not the case in recent years with aminopyralid residues in manure wreaking havoc with fertilised crops.

I sell the straw as well so i don't use products with known problems.

 

[bee ginnner]

and if they could miniaturise mobile phones for them they would not have to do silly dances.... just phone in... "Hey girls just found the most marvellous hive all covered in the sweetest cowpoo and studded with the most glitzy crystalline you have ever seen and all with easy reach of the best oil seed rape ... sweeties you just must fly over !"

Drones would just text..........

ARNIA they may not have minituarised it but its totally handsfree.

 

[bee ginnner]

I'm lost. What is this thread about?
... or was - originally.
Kitta

origanally it was a mickey take of a beekeeping article on countryfile with skep hives protected by a mix incorporating cow muck......... although i do actually have a few tonnes of muck available...

 

[Madge]

Oh! Thanks bg - now I finally understand.
Kitta