May 7th, 2010
We are at a turning point. It is time for us to raise bees for the sake of the bees.
But, in order to do this, we need to take a different approach. We need to raise our bees as close to the methods used by the ferral bees – using top bar designs, less intrusion in the hive, less use of pesticides and herbicides in the fields where we place our bees, and no use of GMO crops.
We need to grow bee-friendly trees, flowers and plants – not for our benefit, but for theirs. In the end, it will pay off – we can get our honey, pollinate our crops and save the bees.
I think that the quote below (from the article listed in the link) says it all:
“We have been losing bees and beekeepers in this country for 60 years and now we are at the point where almost half the colonies in the country are needed to pollinate almonds in California,” van Engelsdorp said. “We are close to the margin” of a viable ratio of pollinators to crops, he said. “It’s amazing to see how close we are to that line.”
via gulfnews : Buzz of a problem.
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May 5th, 2010
U.S. Farmers Cope With Roundup-Resistant Weeds – NYTimes.com.
Monsanto’s touting of “no till” to reduce erosion and the GMO crops that would reduce the amount of herbicides has now been proven to be a lie.
High-production farmers are now having to till the fields in preparation of soy bean, corn and cotton crops, use different, more potent weed killers and pull weeds by hand once again, because the weeds are now resistant to the Glyphosate in Roundup.
These high-production farmers are finally learning what some of us have known for a long time – that the almighty dollar is the only “agricultural concern” for Monsanto.
Tags: chemicals in our food, farmers, glyphosate, Monsanto, super-weeds
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April 29th, 2010
AFP: No single cause for mass die off of honey bees: OIE.
According to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), there is no single factor causing CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder), or the massive sudden die offs of honey bees worldwide.
They [finally] agree that it is man’s mis-management of the honey bees, and nature in general.
Now, I’m not a member of greenpeace, or wanting to reduce the human population to save the planet and I don’t really believe in climate change [global warming]. (I do believe that Al Gore is a pollutant, though).
I do believe, however, that where money is to be made, and where fear and comfort take precedence over cognitive reason, there will be those that turn a blind eye to the devastation that their greed, control and exploitation can do.
And I truly think that this is at the root of the honey bee die-offs.
Check the city ordinance where you live – are you allowed to keep bees in the city limits? What is the procedure followed when a swarm is found and called into the authorities?
What types of plants are you allowed to grow in your neighborhood?
In many communities, it is illegal to raise honey bees. IN most parks, mall parking lots and neighborhoods, there are no bee-friendly plants. No bee-friendly plants, no food for bees.
The OIE is blaming climate change, pesticides, viral and bacterial infections, parasites and the impact of “human activities” [translated to: migratory | pollinator beekeeper "practices" | pollution | building shopping centers |industry and suburbs where bee fodder once was] on the environment.
For once, I’m afraid I agree with most of what they are saying…
–Pat
Tags: beekeeping, CCD, honey bee deaths, honey bees, Paris, World organization for Animal Health
Posted in It's my Beeswax... | 1 Comment »
April 28th, 2010
U. S. Honey Bee Deaths Increase Again
via Earthfiles.com Environment | U. S. Honey Bee Deaths Increase Again.
“The reports that I have gotten from beekeepers is that
about 30% of the healthy colonies that have gone to California -
for this 2010 almond pollination to fulfill pollination contracts -
have died in two or three weeks” - Jerry Hayes, Asst. Chief,
Apiary Inspection, Florida Dept. of Agriculture
Another recent article points to the chemical sprays used to kill a new disease that is crippling the orange trees in the orange groves of Florida.
Interesting that the above article states that the newly-arrived bee hives from Florida are dead within 2 – 3 weeks of arrival.
Tags: almond groves, florida, honey bee deaths, migratory beekeeping, pollination
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April 27th, 2010
Nathan turned 13 on April 18th. He is a hard working, conscientious young man who loves animals of all types.
Do, for his “big 13″ birthday, we got him a horse.
Sapphire is a “Racking horse” and is “gaited”, so she has a smooooth ride. The intent is that one could ride for hours without getting beat to death in the saddle.
She is a gorgeous horse, and not easily spooked. Here are some pictures of Sam, Nathan, and even Marilyn with Sapphire.
Tags: gaited, happy 13th birthday, nathan, Racking horse
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April 27th, 2010
We spent over 4 years building up our soil, only to have Johnson grass start taking it over. This last year, we had a lot of Johnson grass, so we decided to do raised beds and smother out the Johnson grass.
If any of you know wabout Johnson grass, you know that it is pervasive and nearly impossible to get rid of.
You can’t burn it out (it seems to like that and causes it to propagate), dig it out (it spreads by seed and by roots – so, if you dig it and break off the tiniest piece, it spreads), pull it out, and as far as we know there isn’t a weed killer that will destroy it – and we REFUSE to use any weed killer.
So our only recourse was to build raised beds on top of it, using weed barrier underneath to smother it.
Starting in February, I built bed frames from 2×6 wood and made the frames 4ft wide x 12ft long. I also put in a 48ft long x 1ft wide x 1ft tall bed for the potatoes,and two more 1ft wide x 1ft tall beds – one 24 ft long and one 10ft long.
By the end of April, I had 15 beds finished and Marilyn had them all pretty much planted. Below are the beds before planting/mulching and what it looks like now, at the end of April. I still have 15 beds to put in over the next 2 weeks, so you can imagine how much we can grow!
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Here’s how it looked when we fist started in February.
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Tags: raised beds, square foot gardening
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April 23rd, 2010
Today, federal district Judge Jeffrey White of the Northern District of California denied a request by a coalition of organic seed growers, and conservation and food safety groups seeking a temporary ban on genetically engineered GE sugar beets and sugar beet seeds. While Judge White denied the preliminary injunction, he indicated that permanent relief is likely forthcoming: “The parties should not assume that the Court’s decision to deny a preliminary injunction is indicative of its views on a permanent injunction pending the full environmental review that APHIS [Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service] is required to do.” The court further explained: “While the environmental review is pending, the Court is inclined to order the Intervenor-Defendants to take all efforts … to use conventional [non-GE] seed.”Add to FacebookAdd to DiggAdd to Del.icio.usAdd to StumbleuponAdd to RedditAdd to BlinklistAdd to TwitterAdd to TechnoratiAdd to Yahoo BuzzAdd to NewsvineThe coalition’s motion for preliminary injunction, brought by Center for Food Safety and Earthjustice attorneys, called for a moratorium on all planting, production and use of the genetically modified seeds and beets until the court could consider a permanent remedy to the government’s unlawful deregulation of the crop. The coalition will argue for a permanent injunction at a hearing in July.
via Court Rules in GMO Sugar Beet Case « The True Food Network.
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April 13th, 2010
Well,
I had fully intended to get my Warre Top Bar hives built before the bee season this year. Maybe next year – or, maybe I can get 1 or 2 built and by nucs in May…
I installed 6 packages of bees Sunday afternoon.
I’m getting pretty fast at it -It took all of about 5 minutes for the first one, and around 2 – 3 minutes for the other 5.
I fed them pollen patties yesterday. I have 2 1-gallon “community” feeders set up with sugar-water, to help them pull wax, and to stimulate laying in the queen. They were installed in hives that had pulled comb on the foundation for all or, at least for 7 of the 10 frames, so they have a head start there.
I intend to pull honey off of these hives, so I will be installing individual feeders on each hive this week, along with queen excluders and supers with empty frames (foundation only – no “pulled comb) so the bees can pull comb. If they can get that done by May 1st – 10th, I should be in business, and will pull the feeders off and add additional supers that have pulled comb. That way, then will have plenty of room for putting up honey. This helps me in 2 ways:
1. The bees will be less likely to swarm, since they have the entire brood box for brood, and 2 supers for storing honey.
2. They will have supers with comb – so all they have to do is put the nectar in the cells and start making honey out of it.
We are planting lots and lots of Anise Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum). It is said that 1 acre of anise hyssop can supply 100 beehives with enough nectar to put up 100 pounds of surplus honey per hive. With my 7 bee hives, we should do well.
We are also planting a bee-friendly flower garden, and have some clover in. All of these plants should boost the “nectar economy” and, hopefully will provide enough stores for my bees to overwinter well. Since most of the farms are no longer here, it has been a struggle to support more than 4 hives here with the amount of bloom that has been available.
Add to that the 125 blueberry plants we have, (which will bloom in July) the several hundred strawberries, 40 plus fruit trees, and we could have a good year.
And if the black locust blooms this May, we’ll have a bumper crop of honey!!!
Here’s to a successful beekeeping year!
–Pat
Tags: anise hyssop, bee hives, beekeeping, blooms, clover, fruit trees, honey, honey bees
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March 31st, 2010
I have made 14 of the 28 raised beds frames and put them in the garden area.
Some of those are already populated with leeks, broccoli, pea seeds, lettuce seeds and other seeds.
We intend to put out potatoes this weekend (Easter weekend).
Garlic is in, strawberries are peeking out from under the winter straw/hay mulch covering.
I still have to mulch and fertilize the fruit trees, and blueberries, and fertilize the asparagus and strawberries.
Tomatoes, peppers and other plants are started in the basement to be transplanted into the garden beds after the dangers of the last frost have past.
Things are progressing slowly, but with the last frost around April 15th, we are ahead of the game.
Tags: planting progress
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March 31st, 2010
An article in The Seattle Times (link below ) indicates that there is a lot of food “tainting” and blatant lying going on.
In the article, the writer eludes to the fact that honey may be diluted with sugar beet or corn syrup, or that the “Sheep’s milk cheese” is actually made from cow’s milk.
The FDA is trying to figure out how to crack down on this.
I would say (and have often said in this blog and in newsletters):
Get to know a local farmer. Buy from a local farmer, or farmers that you have come to know and trust. Ask them how they grow their crops.
Nation & World | At U.S. dinner tables, the food may be a fraud | Seattle Times Newspaper.
Tags: food fraud
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