Why don't you....

Just shut up! At least that's my thoughts this morning. I must admit that I too have been guilty of this problem, trying to stop. Sometimes we all ask questions. Can I do; whatever. But instead of a simple answer, we either give or receive all sorts of advice on how to do it differently. That wasn't the question. I get suggestions on my gadgets all the time. Why don't you silk screen, why don't you have a stamp made, why don't you..... any number of things. Simple answer, I don't want to. If I wanted to change the way I make things, I might ask. And if I ask for advice, that's one thing. If I ask a single question, something that might have a simple yes or now answer, then just give the answer. Next time you feel like saying something like, Why don't you, or you should, or have you thought of, stop and consider how you might feel if people do the same to you. And yes I did just give some unsolicited advice, you're welcome.

I'm sorry but your mistakes do define you

OK the title is meant to pique your interest and I'll explain my point in a bit. Over the past week or so I've noticed some yard signs. Plain white coroplast with black letters. They have writing on both sides, on each sign that I saw, one side says Don't give up!, the back side says one of the following; You matter, You are enough, and Your mistakes do not define you. I'm not sure where they came from, my thoughts are probably a local church, trying to be encouraging. I get the sentiment. Over the past couple of days I found that I was actually irritated by one of the signs, and with a little more thought realized how wrong some of them are. You are not enough, sorry to say but none of us are enough. We all need others, we need stuff. But the sad reality is that when the need is greatest, or when it really hurts, we're alone. Hopefully we are enough for that time and place. I like the "Don't give up " attitude, very few people succeed on the first try. Or the second or third for that matter, keep on trying. But the thing which really sets me off is that our mistakes do not define us. The reality is that we are a combination of successes and failures. Most of us learn from our mistakes, sometimes we repeat them. In fact all of us have those things which no matter how hard we try, no matter how bad it may get, we still do it over and over again. Addictions fall into this category and as so many successful programs show us, such as alcoholics anonymous, to overcome these destructive habits one MUST have support. So no you are not enough, at least not for that. Back to mistakes defining us. Still don't agree, let me make an example, Richard Nixon. You just thought of one word right? Nixon was actually a pretty good president. He established trade with China, got the U.S. out of Viet Nam, and established title IX collegiate sports. There are other things he did but what do we remember? Watergate. Yes our failures and mistakes mark us, while it's easier to overcome some foolishness we do at 15 than it is at 35, the things we did at 15 will affect us when we're 60. That's what's been bugging me lately. Like everyone I've done some dumb things in my past, most have helped forge me into what I am today. But the worst mistake I ever made was about 20 years ago, and I am painfully reminded of it every single day. The platitude to put the past behind me just isn't possible. I can't fix it and I can't escape from the reminders. The bottom line is that we will all fail, we all have some things that we need help with and we'll all make mistakes. Very few of us will ever find that special friend with whom we can share anything and who will smack us when we're being stupid. If you have that you are so specially blessed. But one of the signs is so very right, You matter. Even with your flaws, the dumb mistakes, the addictions and every other problem, YOU MATTER. Every day you touch the life of someone else, it can be for good or for bad. Some people will remember you and others will forget you, but in the day to day activities, we all have impact on others. Live life with care, try not to make to many mistakes, lean on someone when you can't walk alone, and let someone else lean on you. Make a difference every day because You Matter!

Just add a frame of eggs and larvae

How many times have you heard this, or even said it?  I've said it myself so many times, and in the past few days I've seen it posted on a number of Facebook pages. It seems like this is the go-to solution to so many problems. It's the most common solution to having no queen, or suspected of having no queen. The problem though is it doesn't take into account the reason for the problem. In my first year keeping bees I lost a queen, actually lost more than one and I still lose queens. In this particular case it had been a little over two weeks since I'd been in the box. Went in and there were capped brood, no signs of eggs or any larvae. I was advised, and having read as much as possible, I added a brood frame with eggs and larvae. Checked it in four days also as advised to see if they were making queens. They weren't making queens so it was assumed that there was already a queen in the box. Probably an unmated virgin or recently mated but just not laying yet. Waited another week, no sign of eggs and again I was advised to add a brood frame. So I did. Again no queens. I ended up putting in three frames of brood, they never made a queen and I wound up with laying workers. Maybe the laying workers were there before the first or second brood frame, I don't know but I don't think so. There were no capped cells of any kind, no brood and no drones. I spent a month trying to fix a problem that could not be fixed. Since this I've done more research and spoken with a lot of people. There are times when a colony of bees can get queen-less and simply not make a new queen. Like they just don't care or something. I don't know any way to determine this but I've seen it happen more than once. It's like they get past some arbitrary day, maybe it's 22 or 26 or 30. Maybe it's weather and some other factors but it happens. When I look back on the colony I tried to save, with all of the resources I put into it, I could have made a new split. I think it's important to consider that just putting in a frame of brood may not fix the problems. Are there other options? Actually there are. Factors need to be weighed. How big is the sick colony? Can it simply be merged with another? Do I have enough resources to invest a single frame of brood? Is it worth more than one frame? I've had more laying worker boxes since that one. We, as a club, have tried pretty much every published method to fix laying workers. What we learned is that you can't fix laying workers. My philosophy is to simply shake the bees out in the yard. Any food in frames are added to a strong colony. I just had to do this last week. My current plan on a relatively strong queen-less colony is a single frame of brood for just a few days. I'll add the frame, check it in four days and if there are no queen cells, it's going back where it came from. My other thoughts are to put in a frame of grafts. Or if not grafts, cut a strip of eggs and larvae, press it into a frame vertically oriented and see if they make queens. I don't believe that a box of bees that won't make a queen are worth keeping. Sometimes we just need to accept there will be some losses.

Practical beekeeping, and queen rearing

I've had an interesting week, a bit of a roller coaster actually. Some things went as planned and some didn't. One of my cell builders failed miserably and at the same time I cut some capped queen cells from two beehives. One that I intentionally made queen-less and one that I didn't. So in all I actually ended up with more than the cell builder would have yielded. Early in the week I was faced with a dilemma, putting together mating nucs for all of the unexpected queens. It was looking like I might get 20 when I was just expecting 10 or 12. I have the boxes, the problem has been having a frame or two of bees for a mating nuc. I was kicking the idea around Wednesday and Thursday, of what to do. The whole thing is a bit ironic as I've been advocating having a plan for everything. I actually have a long term plan for making queens, I just lost sight of the obvious. My long term plan is to have 30-40 mating nucs and swapping 12-18 mated queens each week. My original plan was to start out with 10-12 mating nucs, and as the queens mate, and brood grows in the nucs, I could split the nucs to make more. That was the plan. It's actually worked somewhat but a bit slow. The problem is, or at least was, that my focus has been on that plan and I sort of missed the obvious, more on that later. My long term plan is to have three breeder queens, each one perhaps a different breed. I'd like to get a Carpenter Martha, maybe a Saskatraz, and an Italian hybrid. The queens would all be open mated so the end results might be interesting. To make cell builders, which I currently like using a 5 frame nuc box for this, I need four or five strong colonies. The idea is to start with 1 builder and add one each week. Then break down and rebuild the oldest builder every three weeks. That's the plan now, it might turn into just two builders, it depends on how well I get at grafting. So this means I need 8 strong colonies to do what I plan. Thursday night I woke up and had an epiphany, I currently have, or at least on Thursday had 16 beehives, here is the obvious, I have twice the number of colonies than I need.  Sort of lost track of this in everything else that I'm doing. Ten of those are what I'd consider to be strong colonies.  So Friday I just broke down two weaker colonies and used those bees to make mating nucs. I had enough boxes, made up another triple 3 frame queen castle. One of the colonies I broke down was a queen-less hive from a recent cut out, didn't get the queen but I had 6 frames of bees and 5 brood frames. There were the beginnings of some queen cells on the comb, with some regrets I cut them off. In the end I pulled five mated queens and put 18 in mating nucs. There are 6 cells in the current builder which I expect to come out next Friday, the plan is to make one more triple 3 frame castle and another twin 2 frame mating nuc. This will put me at 28 mating nucs. I'm also thinking of parting with a couple of beehives since I have more than I need or want. I guess I got lost in the excitement of getting more colonies of bees.

Another patent infringement

I received two messages today, someone has copied my Beehive Frame Fingers design and they're selling them. There are two small differences. My holders are designed for a single frame, and they're made of aircraft aluminum. The copy holds two frames and are 3D plastic printed. Interesting the price is the same, don't know what the copier is charging for shipping. Yes I'm irritated, and a little angry. My options are somewhat limited. The market for these items isn't huge, it may change in the future but it's an item limited to the beekeeping community so there is a limited audience. I can ask that they stop production. If I want to enforce my patent I need to hire an attorney, might go to court and seek a federal cease and desist order. That's expensive. For a small business, as in 1 person, it's a pretty big expense and quite frankly not something I can afford or justify. I'll probably just keep making my product which I feel is of better quality and guaranteed for life. Don't know if the copy is. 

Something Good About Love Bugs

I live in Eastern Central Florida so that means that we get two hatches of love bugs each year.  When I first moved here I was told the old tale of how love bugs were a genetic engineering mistake, how they were designed to mate with mosquitoes to make them sterile. It's not true though. Funny that today as I was out removing a feral beehive, a young girl, perhaps 9-11 years old restated that same old tale. Love bugs are a species of march fly. The first documented discoveries in the US date to 1911.  Today they are mostly in states bordering on the Gulf of Mexico.  As we travel so much more, the localities will expand. When I used to drive back and forth to camp in Lake Wales, I remember seeing clouds of  love bugs on the highway. A lot ended up on my truck. They annoy us, their bodies are acidic and will play hell with a paint job, They get into EVERYTHING. If you leave your car door or window open for just a little while, the odds are they'll get inside. Fortunately they don't last too long, less than a week. So for this annoyance do they do any good? Actually they do. As beekeepers we really don't like the fact that they eat the same nectar that our bees want. But their appearance indicates the presence of a nectar flow. The one thing they do that is beneficial is in the larvae stage. They eat decaying vegetation. So yes there is something good about love bugs.

Taking honey in the first year

There are a lot of tales that deal with just about any subject in life. In beekeeping I frequently hear people tell others that they can't take honey off the hives in the first year. When I hear such nonsense I ask why?  Who made this rule and did anyone ask the bees?  The reality is that as long as the colony has sufficient to make it through the winter, go ahead and take off the surplus. Talk to local experienced beekeepers, and not just one or two but find a group. Learn how much honey you need in your area and add another 10-15 percent. Take everything else. Odds are that if you start in the late spring or mid summer they will probably just make enough to make it through. But if you start in early spring and you hit the primary flows then things look much better.  Bottom line is, make sure your bees have enough plus a buffer and go ahead and take the rest. Ignore the people who simply perpetuate foolishness.