On 2018-07-21 6:31 AM, Terry Coombs wrote:
> On 7/19/2018 2:14 PM, Gary wrote:
>> notbob wrote:
>>> On 7/19/2018 8:28 AM, wrote:
>>>
>>>> There has been an illness that affected bees for a couple of years
>>>> now, serious and of much concern.
>>> Yet there has also been an increase in honey.Â* Something does not
>>> compute.
>> Perhaps we are harvesting too much honey??? They do make it for
>> their own food to sustain them over the winter.
>
> Â* A responsible beekeeper won't do that ... I have met guys that will
> take just about all the honey , then feed sugar syrup thru the winter to
> sustain the bees until the spring flow starts . Their logic is that
> honey goes for 8 bucks/pound , sugar is around fifty cents . My logic is
> that my bees do better on honey than sugar , and I'm not in it to drain
> every dollar I can out of my hives . The thing about Chinese honey is
> true , they cut it with corn syrup , then vend it thru the surrounding
> countries . Next time you go to KFC read the label on that honey product
> packet ... it ain't honey . As far as diseases , I was not aware that
> there are any new ones . The old ones are bad enough ... and one of the
> reasons I'm happy to be living in a very remote (relatively) part of
> Arkansas . There is no monocrop (as in soybeans on the same plot every
> year) farming within 50 miles or more with all the chemical support that
> makes that possible . This also means that there are no "migrant hives"
> coming through the area leaving their diseases and problems . Almond
> pollinators come to mind , hives from all over the USA coming together
> in one place to mingle and share then go home . We do have one guy that
> does almonds , but none of his hives is within 20 miles of our place ,
> minimizing the possibility of sharing . Those people also medicate their
> bees because of the exposure . Mine are a locally developed strain that
> is resistant to mites , one of the biggest problems in beekeeping now .
> I do not treat , no chemicals in my hives except a spritz of Bacillus
> thurigensis Aizawai to prevent wax moth damage to the empty combs after
> I pull the honey . Totally harmless to everything but moth larvae ...
>
We had to get ours inspected every year for AFB. It's been over 30 years
now but ISTR we treated them with a sulpha drug in the spring to prevent
this.