Too late to put a nuc into a hive?

[Murox]

Here we go.....The Rockingod's recipe.....
Fat free soya flour 30%
Brewers yeast 10%
Natural pollen 16%
Syrup (by weight) 44%
I mix it all in a bucket to a fairly stiff paste. If it's a little too stiff for your liking simply add small amounts of plain water a little bit at a time until the desired consistency is achieved. Not too sloppy (and sticky) but stiff enough for easy rolling out and handling.

Many thanks for sharing.

 

[gmonag]

wooden hives have a far larger CO2 foot print than a polystyrene hive... all the CO2 the bees give off burning sugars keeping the temperature up means a life time difference measured in tonnes of CO2.(some where between 100 to 500kg of CO2 per year.)

I can't let that statement go unchallenged.

A CO2 footprint only applies to burning fossil fuels. The CO2 that bees and every other oxygen-breathing organism expire, is part of the natural cycle and has no impact at all on the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere.

 

[Hebeegeebee]

In reality - for the WBC hive to have any superior insulation properties to a bog standard hive, you have to go down the lines of Broughton Carr's method of stuffing straw between the lifts and the hive proper and putting a thick wad of insulation above the crownboard

Agreed, you can use leaves for this too, otherwise a WBC is not much better - although the box inside is dry at least compared to a single walled hive that could insulate less well if wet. A colony in a full 5 frame nuc could draw a couple of frames quite possibly over the next couple of weeks if it were moved into a bigger box giving a decent amount of food compared to a 5 framer which would almost definitely need feeding.

 

[user 6228]

I can't let that statement go unchallenged.

A CO2 footprint only applies to burning fossil fuels. The CO2 that bees and every other oxygen-breathing organism expire, is part of the natural cycle and has no impact at all on the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere.

you are incorrect.
CO2 has the same effect on climate warming regardless of weather it comes out of a cars exhaust or a Bees spiracles. Equally a Cows Fart expells the same methane that comes from an oil well and has exactly the same effect. That a gas molecule from a "natural cycle" is some how blessed and will not behave like all the other molecules of that gas, while quaint, is not reality.
There are no "natural" isomers of CO2 or methane just CO2 and methane.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Better abolish running then

 

[fiat500bee]

Better abolish running then

...and beans...obvs...

 

[Speybee]

you are incorrect.
CO2 has the same effect on climate warming regardless of weather it comes out of a cars exhaust or a Bees spiracles. Equally a Cows Fart expells the same methane that comes from an oil well and has exactly the same effect. That a gas molecule from a "natural cycle" is some how blessed and will not behave like all the other molecules of that gas, while quaint, is not reality.
There are no "natural" isomers of CO2 or methane just CO2 and methane.

I think the CO2 from the Natural cycle......is just that....A cycle.
It is exhaled, it is locked in by plants, it is eaten or it decays, more CO2 released and then captured again.
Why is there all this mad rush to plant more trees then?

I don’t see what having wooden hives has to do with climate change....or have I missed something?

 

[user 6228]

I think the CO2 from the Natural cycle......is just that....A cycle.
It is exhaled, it is locked in by plants, it is eaten or it decays, more CO2 released and then captured again.
Why is there all this mad rush to plant more trees then?

Carbon dioxide from cars originated from trees and then is just as easily absorbed by trees.... The same carbon cycle. The Co2 produced making a poly hive came from trees , just trees alive along time ago. Sticking bees in one tree product (poly hive) compared to another tree product (Cedar hive) causes a difference in CO2 emissions, a very big difference per colony. The problem is we are converting too many trees (alot of them alive long ago and their carbon locked in the ground)to Co2 and not enough Co2 to trees and then allowing them to be buried.

 

[fiat500bee]

CO2 has the same effect on climate warming regardless of weather it comes out of a cars exhaust or a Bees spiracles. .

Yes, I looked at the benefits wrapping of my hives in PIR insulation in the same way that we paid extra for a SIPS house which is basically made from the same compound.
The result is significantly reduced heating needed in comparison with standard house = reduced CO2 emissions.
The same applies to the bees' house.
All of that is an incidental and very welcome additional benefit to the main event....we are warmer and don't die in the winter...same as the bees (I hope )

 

[Speybee]

Carbon dioxide from cars originated from trees and then is just as easily absorbed by trees.... The same carbon cycle. The Co2 produced making a poly hive came from trees , just trees alive along time ago. Sticking bees in one tree product (poly hive) compared to another tree product (Cedar hive) causes a difference in CO2 emissions, a very big difference per colony. The problem is we are converting too many trees (alot of them alive long ago and their carbon locked in the ground)to Co2 and not enough Co2 to trees and then allowing them to be buried.

I really don’t get what your point is?
I hope I have misunderstood you, as it appears that you are anti- cedar hives in favour of a poly hive.
I don’t have a poly hive, mine are cedar and one is Pawlonia wood.
How long does it take for a poly hive to decompose?
How long does it take for a cedar hive to decompose?

 

[fiat500bee]

I really don’t get what your point is?
I hope I have misunderstood you, as it appears that you are anti- cedar hives in favour of a poly hive.
How long does it take for a poly hive to decompose?
How long does it take for a cedar hive to decompose?

It's very useful to consider the lifetime Co2 emission of a hive.
You would have to know the complete carbon footprint of the production of the raw materials used and the processing and distribution of the finished product. The wood will have a nett credit in this regard before we get started,
But because the R-value of a polyhive is so substantially better than a bare wooden hive, even in one winter season it will have saved the bees from "burning" a significant quantity of sugars. But any sugars processed into Co2, water and energy in any hive have already come from a renewable source.
I don't know which hive would last the longest but I hear that cedar goes on forever.
When both types are ultimately scrapped, whether burned or rotted away, Co2 will be released from them.
The polyhive wins when being used because it is so energy eficient for the bees. Never mind the reduced emissions...the bees will be in a better "place" in their better place.

 

[Speybee]

It's very useful to consider the lifetime Co2 emission of a hive.
You would have to know the complete carbon footprint of the production of the raw materials used and the processing and distribution of the finished product. The wood will have a nett credit in this regard before we get started,
But because the R-value of a polyhive is so substantially better than a bare wooden hive, even in one winter season it will have saved the bees from "burning" a significant quantity of sugars. But any sugars processed into Co2, water and energy in any hive have already come from a renewable source.
I don't know which hive would last the longest but I hear that cedar goes on forever.
When both types are ultimately scrapped, whether burned or rotted away, Co2 will be released from them.
The polyhive wins when being used because it is so energy eficient for the bees. Never mind the reduced emissions...the bees will be in a better "place" in their better place.

I have had my cedar hives for a long time and they ain’t going anywhere else!
I will feed them rolled out fondant as I have always done and look forward seeing them after the winter into Spring.
I fear isolation starvation more than the cold for my bees

 

[Antipodes]

Plastic is a problem. Polystyrene is a plastic. Whilst we are alive, we of course have good intentions as to how the plastic beehives will be recycled, re-used, upcycled, downcycled or whatever, but how many of us know when we are going to die and thus could really make sure that the plastic hives, that outlast us, are not eventually smashed up and end in the tip or ocean or inside animals when we are gone?

 

[gmonag]

you are incorrect.
CO2 has the same effect on climate warming regardless of weather it comes out of a cars exhaust or a Bees spiracles. Equally a Cows Fart expells the same methane that comes from an oil well and has exactly the same effect. That a gas molecule from a "natural cycle" is some how blessed and will not behave like all the other molecules of that gas, while quaint, is not reality.
There are no "natural" isomers of CO2 or methane just CO2 and methane.

Utter b*****ks.
I bet you believe in a flat earth too.

 

[Speybee]

Utter b*****ks.
I bet you believe in a flat earth too.

Sorry but it’s a bit late....I should have thought your comment was not funny.....but it hit my funny bone and made me
It was the ******, I could imagine the steam coming off the keyboard

 

[user 6228]

Utter b*****ks.
I bet you believe in a flat earth too.

So apart from being trained in degree level in Chemistry, Math Physics, I have also qualifications in Celestial Navigation including spherical Trigonometry so on both counts I'm afraid you are incorrect. Believing that CO2 released into atmosphere from biological sources has any different effect on global warming is very mistaken. The only known difference between recent biological sources and fossil fuel sources is the different balance of C12,C13 and C14 isotopes of carbon. but these differences are insignificant in the context of global warming. The issue is the rates of release of the gas into atmosphere from all source and the rates of fixing in either water by solution or conversion by photosynthesis.
Keeping honey bees in poorly insulated box means in order to survive and produce each Kg of Honey they need to produce more energy and convert more sugars to CO2 and water. One might argue that those sugars from nectars would be converted anyway, however that argument fails completely when use of said box requires the addition of deliberalty cultivated sugars.

 

[user 6228]

Plastic is a problem. Polystyrene is a plastic. Whilst we are alive, we of course have good intentions as to how the plastic beehives will be recycled, re-used, upcycled, downcycled or whatever, but how many of us know when we are going to die and thus could really make sure that the plastic hives, that outlast us, are not eventually smashed up and end in the tip or ocean or inside animals when we are gone?

High density expanded Polystyrene hives have the longest useful lives of any plastic product i.e. 30+ years making the best use of properties of its durability. If any plastic product had justification to exist it is Poly hives. Waste broken down expanded polystryene can be used as an insulating filler in building mortar, cement and concrete so extending its useful life by another 100 years or more and further delying release into the environment.

 

[Antipodes]

Hi Derek,
My point was how do you (you can't) make sure that your plastic hives that outlast you will not end up smashed up at the tip... in the ocean or perhaps inside animals?

 

[user 6228]

I can't let that statement go unchallenged.

A CO2 footprint only applies to burning fossil fuels. The CO2 that bees and every other oxygen-breathing organism expire, is part of the natural cycle and has no impact at all on the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere.

Hi Derek,
My point was how do you (you can't) make sure that your plastic hives that outlast you will not end up smashed up at the tip... in the ocean or perhaps inside animals?

Ok that is a problem but there is solution - leave your poly hives to a BKA in your will.

 

[Antipodes]

Ok that is a problem but there is solution - leave your poly hives to a BKA in your will.

Unfortunately not a solution, as you still don't know what will happen to them.

Also, my BKA has no place to keep hives so they would sell them if I left them to them, and then we are back to square one.

Furthermore, polystyrene is one plastic that is not recyclable here in Tasmania and is put in general waste at the tip. Used polystyrene hives (or any used beekeeping equipment), are are not allowed to go to the mainland of Australia, which is where any recycling might take place. There are no irradiation facilities here either (in the case of AFB), and they can not be sent to the mainland for treatment.