Beekeeping

lol....this is as off topic as you can get. I'm not a beekeeper but took two years of entomology/vector control in college. What's up?
 
I'm not a beekeeper either but I did help my grandfather when I was a teenager many, many, many, years ago. Also, I stayed at a Holiday Inn express last night! I never thought I'd see this as a topic here!
 
I am a former beekeeper - and some people thought my children had taken up the hobby when they wore fencing masks.

Do you want to start or is there an issue with y our bees?
 
I just thought it would be a break from VMI vs The Citadel and a subject I may know a little about ;) Been a bee haver for 11 years. The last couple years have been tough. So many pest that affect the bees now days and a lot of the pest are a gift from NAFTA .
 
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More people should keep the little ladies.

This "colony collapse disorder" is quite serious and disturbing.
(My dogs would not like them around though.).
 
Mmmm... we always had a couple kinds if honey in the house... comb and jar... fresh from the hive. I loved just chewing away on the comb honey. Like a piece of candy. Missed it after gramps passed on.
 
In some states, bee-keeping counts as an agricultural activity and can get you some tax breaks on your property. I have friends who deliberately chose their retirement state and county property so they could raise bees and get a significant property tax exemption. They loan their bees out to pollinate. They
ensure no onion grass flowers around their hives. This is my entire store of bee commentary. Concur bees need support! ;)
 
Issues for what is termed CCD is conflicting. There is no one CCD component and definitely no silver bullet. Definitely not cell phone towers :) Pesticides, new pest, new viruses, antibiotic treated bees, less hardy queens, GMO crops, etc. When a company test pesticides they test that one pesticide and not on a total brood cycle etc. What about the build up of more than one pesticide since a bee has a 3 mile radius. And the thought that pesticide company's control labs where testing is performed, usually from donations etc?
Small hive beetle from Africa.... varroa mites from Asia who knows what is next. Add to that black market honey sales and imports, honey cut with corn syrup and basic consumer ignorance of what they are buying...
 
Poor little bees are having it rough these days. I just watched a program the other day about how the bee population is dwindling in that is not a good thing
 
You find conflicting information on the dwindling of bees and colony count. Actually my understanding is colony count is on the way up for the last couple years. I think mostly due to hobby keepers which a lot jumped on during the CCD info time frame. A big hurt is in the number of true beekeepers that pollinate. A lot of beekeepers were/are old timers and the avg age is usually in the upper age limit. Pollination is a lot of work and faces serious issues like other farming practices. Not a big draw for the younger generation as a living. Cost also vs the same old I can import honey @ a cheaper price. Problem is if you don't know the beekeeper you do not know what you are buying or from where.
 
Problem is if you don't know the beekeeper you do not know what you are buying or from where

I have read that it is better to buy local honey. Is it possible to buy "bad" local honey? And why would it not be good? I do know that the honey sold at the local health food store sure looks different than what I can buy at the supermarket.
 
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