Flow almost all done...new hives

[CapnChkn]

I don't think anyone is trying to offend, Joe.  At the risk of opening old wounds, you could try getting on the wrong side of Finski.  I made a comment in the fall of last year that the bees heated the cluster, not the inside of the hive.  That dude haunted me for around 2 months.  It ended with a 5 page thread, Finski putting me, Americans, and British bee people down for not knowing (Explitive) about how cold it gets, reciting the weather report for my area, and me defending myself to any post he made mention of me in.

He now does not answer any of my posts, and I try not to read his.  Brian has his head on his shoulders, and I meet very few young beekeepers.  I myself need progressive lenses, and can't find a workaround.

My question to you is:  What is SE?  Do you mean Southeast Tennessee?  We've a dry spell here, in Central TN, finally got some rain yesterday, about 30 minutes worth.  Just enough to get things wet.

[joebrown]

There is constructive criticism and destructive criticism. The message could be summed up as

"Anyone who recommends feeding without specifics is creating a disaster in their/your hive."

I agree with that 100% and I should have done a better job at listing specifics. The rest of the post was just flat out rude and full of assumptions. It was so dry last summer that most of my bees ate a super of honey in less than two months, the leaves fell off my fig trees, and most everything I have planted almost died.

[Brian D. Bray]

There is constructive criticism and destructive criticism. The message could be summed up as

"Anyone who recommends feeding without specifics is creating a disaster in their/your hive."

I agree with that 100% and I should have done a better job at listing specifics. The rest of the post was just flat out rude and full of assumptions. It was so dry last summer that most of my bees ate a super of honey in less than two months, the leaves fell off my fig trees, and most everything I have planted almost died.

Joe,

You need to develop a thicker skin.  My post was meant to be constructive, I'm not sorry about what I posted, but I am sorry that you took it as such a personal threat or putdown.  When I post I direct my comments not just to the person who originated the question thread, but to every beekeeper on the forum.  Anyone who has been on this forum for any length of time knows that.  

I do not project myself on an expert on bees, an expert is someone who thinks he knows all he needs to know about a subject.
After 50+ years in beekeeping I'm still learning.  But so you might understand, I'm at least a 6th generation beekeeper (my greatgreatgreatgrandfather brought bees with him from Germany when he immigrated to the USA in the mid-1800's).  My mentor (1875-1965) began his beekeeping in 1898 or 1899 and had over 60 years of beekeeping experience under his belt when he took me under his wing.  That was in 1959, I was 10 years old, he mentored me for 7 years (until his death).  I've had bees ever since.  I've learned a lot my mentor didn't teach me as that was well before the avalanche of mites, chemicals, and other parasites we have today.

Over the years I've mentored a good number of beekeepers and I'm currently mentoring 5, face to face, with offers to help anyone who is willing to listen and learn.  I can answer a novice beekeeper and explain to him exactly what he saw the last time he was in his hive and what he will see the next time he opens his hive, just by asking him the age of his hive and what he's done since he got his bees.  Assumptions, yes, to a degree, but actions have consequences so given actions have only so many options in consequence.  

Explaining or questioning in hopes of increasing the knowledge of oursleves other beekeepers is why we are all on this forum.

There are others on this forum that can do the same thing, Michael Bush, Bjornbee,  and Finski come quickly to mind (apologies to those I didn't name).  You can chose to heed the advice posted or react negatively, that's up to you.  But since I'm still learning about bees, I assume everyone else is too, but that doesn't mean my knowledge won't help someone else.  The length of experience is not important as the depth of observation a beekeeper makes, meaning I've learned from some relatively inexperienced beekeepers.  Sometimes the questions they ask make things click and I learn something new because strands of observations are suddenly connected.