Hi everyone,
if you have a Warre hive now is the time to harvest honey. First though -
check they will have about a box of honey left after your plundering; and
when taking a box of what you think is honey, remember - if the bees refuse
to shift when you smoke it, there are still brood in there.
*Some odd things I've come across recently:*
I have seen a few claims that bees occasionally collect fungal spores. It's
not clear if this is to self-medicate, or a coping mechanism when there's
no pollen (protein). The claims seem to originate from Paul Stamet, a
fungus enthusiast who has a commercial interest in selling fungus extract
as a miracle cure for bee health. (Admittedly his work does show it helps
versus viruses.)
I decided on a quick check and put 5 random fungi from nearby woods near my
hives, clearly visible on a white plate. After a few days I had seen zero
interest from bees. It also occurred to me that if they really do
systematically collect spores, these would show up in honey and people
sometimes use pollen analysis on honey. I've started a few inquiries along
those lines but so far no one has said they've seen spores. I was already
sceptical, and now I'm more so.
Unrelated to the above, I listened to a Zoom lecture by Roger Patterson,
who has 57 years' beekeeping experience. The theme was "things that are not
so":
He said bananas are often said to trigger defensive behaviour because they
smell like alarm pheromone. I've told many people this myself. Well, no. He
got suspicious and tested it, even laying peeled bananas on top of hives.
His bees don't react.
He also discussed "reading comb" and how many conventional beekeepers are
too ready to replace a queen because they see a comb with a spotty brood
pattern. I myself have seen an OBKA trainer point at such a pattern and say
"this queen is running out of sperm, I'll replace her". At the time I
thought "she's probably just reduced laying because there's a forage
dearth" so I know what he means about jumping to conclusions. Well, there
are lots and lots of reasons for spotty brood patterns - for example, what
if that colony is a really hygienic one who are pulling out infested
brood?! He showed us photos of examples. Then he showed us a photo of a
frame full of "perfect" wall to wall brood. "Same hive, different frame.
Obviously nothing wrong with this queen, but some people would kill her
because there is something going on on one frame." He then zoomed in on the
spotty frame and showed how the brood there were different ages, he
reckoned 12 days age difference as "pearly curlies" were next to capped
brood, i.e. some of the holes were where bees had hatched and left. The
fundamental problem in that hive was, not enough room for the queen to lay
so she was wandering around looking for spare cells rather than laying in
patches.
He stressed wild colonies and their swarms are NOT a reservoir for disease.
He has removed several hundred and "overall they are far healthier than
managed bees which are mollycoddled and probs are masked". He has NEVER
seen foul brood in a wild colony; occasionally mild cases of chalk or sac
brood. Winter will kill weak colonies, only health ones survive.
And he also talked about the "fact" that eggs are laid upright, then
gradually bend over, over 3 days. They don't. He's checked this by, for
example, removing a queen for 3 days and the eggs are still upright.
Hope that's of interest,
Paul
