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#21
OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES FORUM / Re: Gold prospecting using a m...
Last post by Terri Yaki - January 22, 2025, 08:10:46 AMI'm jealous of that pile, Les. If I was you, I'd be inclined to hang out at the cruise ship dock, selling them to tourists.
#22
GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: BeeMaster slow and not res...
Last post by Michael Bush - January 22, 2025, 06:12:45 AMThey are probably all robots...
#23
OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES FORUM / Re: Gold prospecting using a m...
Last post by Ben Framed - January 21, 2025, 11:20:06 PMThe pile itself was a good chunk! Thanks Les for keeping this topic moving. I Have really enjoyed reading of your prospecting while viewing your pictures. So interesting and appreciated! PS are you planning another cross country trip? That series was awesome!
Phillip
Phillip
#24
GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Varroa is finally in my ar...
Last post by Ben Framed - January 21, 2025, 11:11:36 PMLes we knew this Inevitable day would be in time a reality. That is why several of us posted of different methods of dealing with this terrible parasite on the topic: Varroa detected in Australia Hopefully our postings, with you all in mind, might have done some good by sharing our experiences. As always wishing you all the very best!
Phillip
Phillip
#25
FARMING & COUNTRY LIFE / Re: Betty had a baby calf, vid...
Last post by Ben Framed - January 21, 2025, 09:37:46 PMQuote from: gww on January 21, 2025, 09:04:07 PM
Yep. Added to that, they changed the law just like on bees and you can no longer go in and get your own antibiotics with out a vet bill attached if you need it.
I don?t know but would suspect lobbyist succeeded for their clients . 🤷🏻♂️
We have always had access to antibiotics for farm animals and pets.
#26
FARMING & COUNTRY LIFE / Re: Betty had a baby calf, vid...
Last post by gww - January 21, 2025, 09:04:07 PMYep. Added to that, they changed the law just like on bees and you can no longer go in and get your own antibiotics with out a vet bill attached if you need it.
#27
GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Varroa is finally in my ar...
Last post by The15thMember - January 21, 2025, 08:56:08 PMI mean, it kind of depends on your goals and how many bees you are willing to lose. A novel pest like this will take out colonies no matter what, so I'd prepare myself for the fact that some losses will be inevitable.
There is an extreme end of the spectrum that says to just live and let die in a situation like this. Let colonies get infected and cull/requeen or simply let varroa take out the weak ones. It's natural selection, the strong survive, and the colonies that are left will be more resilient. The downside, of course, is you could lose everything. The other extreme end of the spectrum is to always treat, on a schedule or whenever colonies hit a predetermined threshold. The downside here is you are breeding bees that will always need to rely on the treatment.
Neither of these options are wrong, but I personally prefer a more middle of the road approach. Basically I'm at the point where I'm willing to have to treat with oxalic acid. It's cheap and easy to apply, so for the moment at least, I'm treating all the colonies with at least 1 round of OAV in the winter, as a little bit of an assist. If I have a colony the needs more help than that, they get requeened. I will treat a crashing colony with something powerful, like FormicPro, to keep a mite bomb from spreading, but that's all.
I'm also kind of off of the idea of treating based on a % infestation alone, because some strains of bees are resilient to mites, as opposed to resistant, meaning they can handle a high mite load without crashing. So I'm more inclined to eliminate a colony from reproduction based on symptoms of PMS or really high mites counts, like double digits. I'm less focused on keeping numbers down, and more on finding out which colonies are able to handle themselves on their own, because my goal is to use as little treatments as possible and someday, hopefully none.
There is an extreme end of the spectrum that says to just live and let die in a situation like this. Let colonies get infected and cull/requeen or simply let varroa take out the weak ones. It's natural selection, the strong survive, and the colonies that are left will be more resilient. The downside, of course, is you could lose everything. The other extreme end of the spectrum is to always treat, on a schedule or whenever colonies hit a predetermined threshold. The downside here is you are breeding bees that will always need to rely on the treatment.
Neither of these options are wrong, but I personally prefer a more middle of the road approach. Basically I'm at the point where I'm willing to have to treat with oxalic acid. It's cheap and easy to apply, so for the moment at least, I'm treating all the colonies with at least 1 round of OAV in the winter, as a little bit of an assist. If I have a colony the needs more help than that, they get requeened. I will treat a crashing colony with something powerful, like FormicPro, to keep a mite bomb from spreading, but that's all.
I'm also kind of off of the idea of treating based on a % infestation alone, because some strains of bees are resilient to mites, as opposed to resistant, meaning they can handle a high mite load without crashing. So I'm more inclined to eliminate a colony from reproduction based on symptoms of PMS or really high mites counts, like double digits. I'm less focused on keeping numbers down, and more on finding out which colonies are able to handle themselves on their own, because my goal is to use as little treatments as possible and someday, hopefully none.
#28
GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: BeeMaster slow and not res...
Last post by gww - January 21, 2025, 08:53:03 PMGood luck man.
#29
OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES FORUM / Re: Gold prospecting using a m...
Last post by Lesgold - January 21, 2025, 08:19:45 PMHaven?t had a chance to get out prospecting over the past few months so I decided to photograph 2024?s finds and lock it away. There were a couple of nice little chunks in the pile.
#30
EQUIPMENT USAGE, EXPERIMENTATION, HIVE PLANS, CONSTRUCTION TIPS AND TOOLS / Re: Today I Made
Last post by Lesgold - January 21, 2025, 08:02:30 PMMade a bunch of sticky board mats to put into the screened bottom boards. With varroa in the area, I want to see what?s going on in the hives.