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Thursday, January 1st, 2009
High -5°C  Low -27°C
Normals: Max: -5°C Min: 16°C
Sunrise 0840  Sunset 1634
Januarys past: 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999
Honey Bee World Forum |  HoneyBeeWorld List | Diary Home

We spent the morning with the Orams, then went grocery shopping.  I bought a terabyte USB disk on the way home, figuring I'm going to need some backup space.  Ellen's computer has gremlins, and so do the others.

Before we left, Mckenzie tried to get me interested in the Wii.  Frankly, the thing leaves me cold. If I am going to have an "Outdoor Adventure", I am going to go outdoors, not jump around on a mat in the house in front of a flat screen, and if I am going to snowboard, I expect to see snow and some steeps, and feel the bite of the air going by.  If I am going to play guitar, I am going to expect to have to finger some chords and do some picking. I must be old school.

More on drone removal on BEE-L today.  Apparently some study Seeley did somehow showed that the drone removal colonies out-produced the controls.  Of course, one study, and everyone is on board.  We'll see.  So far, I am not all that impressed with what I have seen from that direction, but I also have not done my homework.  I love being proven wrong, but does one study prove anything?

Dave had a good post about putting holes in foundation to get it drawn.  There used to be a plastic foundation with a couple of holes near the top bar, so I guess this is not news.

Friday, January 2nd, 2009
High -18°C  Low -24°C
Normals: Max: -5°C Min: 16°C
Sunrise 0840  Sunset 1635
Januarys past: 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999
Honey Bee World Forum |  HoneyBeeWorld List | Diary Home

Looks like a cold one today.  We've invited the usual suspects for supper tonight.  If the weather turns as cold as predicted travel may not be wise.  We'll see.

I spent the morning blowing out the driveway and looking at Ellen's computer.  It freezes when sitting unattended, and Google Earth barely ran.  I reinstalled GE, then DirectX.  Then Windows OneCare.  Still no solution, but the machine runs better.  I may wind up reinstalling Windows XP SP3 over itself to try to find a solution.  That means slipstreaming a disk, since my copy is SP2.  I did some more SharePoint work, in the VM I got from Jon, but am stuck with an error I cannot trace. Oh, Microsoft!.

The P-Ss, Ruth, and Flo showed up for supper and we had a good time.  Ellen had cooked a huge ham. 

Ruth brought over her laptop, which has been going dark suddenly after waking up from sleep and I played around with it.  It worked fine for me, but another one of those Windows glitches that are common. Not having been used for a few weeks, it needed tons of updating.  Seems to me there has to be something better than this.

I recall, in the early days when Apple and Commodore were emerging microcomputers.  Commodore had its O/S on a read-only chip (ROM) and Apple had a disk that had to be loaded into RAM at each start-up.  The former approach made for an instant start and an incorruptible O/S, but need for opening the machine and replacing a chip when changes were indicated (which was almost never).  The latter allowed for customization and easy upgrading, but that approach is vulnerable to corruption and unauthorized changing by various means. 

These days almost all computers have O/Ss which are loaded into RAM, and which are constantly being changed and patched by the suppliers, while at the same time being altered subtly and invisibly by installation of user software and libraries, and also being attacked by nefarious exploits on web sites and email attachments. 

The ROMs may have been less flexible, but they worked as well -- or as badly -- ten years later than they did out of the box.  For business, that is a good feature, and most users would love it, but computer are designed, built and sold by geeks who love customization.  Imagine if cars were built in a way that expected that they would be jacked up, hopped up and customized instead of used and driven the way they are delivered from the factory.  Drivers would start them up one day and find the steering wheel in the back seat and the hood on the roof or be driving down the road and find that an invisible someone was spray-painting the windshield. Ridiculous? 

When you consider how much effort is spent trying to get computers back to original state after being customized by third-party software and usage  and vandalized or sapped by viruses, worms and exploits...

Saturday, January 3rd, 2009
High -21°C  Low -27°C
Normals: Max: -5°C Min: 16°C
Sunrise 0840  Sunset 1636
Januarys past: 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999
Honey Bee World Forum |  HoneyBeeWorld List | Diary Home

It's minus 33 this morning.  Don't know how the minimum (above) could be predicted as -27.

Today -28° | -19°

Sun -11° | -10°

Mon -8° | -3°

Tue -19° | -7°

Sunday, January 4th, 2009
High -13°C  Low -17°C
Normals: Max: -5°C Min: 17°C
Sunrise 0839  Sunset 1637
Januarys past: 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999
Honey Bee World Forum |  HoneyBeeWorld List | Diary Home

Today -11° | -10°

Mon -8° | -3°

Tue -19° | -7°

Wed -15° | -14°

I spent an hour out blowing snow off the driveways in the afternoon.  The weather has moderated a bit.  It appears we will be right in the normal range for the next few days.

Monday, January 5th, 2009
High -6°C  Low -17°C
Normals: Max: -5°C Min: 17°C
Sunrise 0839  Sunset 1638
Januarys past: 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999
Honey Bee World Forum |  HoneyBeeWorld List | Diary Home

The Chinook blew in last night after midnight and temperatures have risen.  I was afraid that my snow blowing efforts might drift in, but it appears there was little drifting in spite of strong winds.

I took a look at BEE-L.  Seems the boys (where are the girls?) are playing nice over there.  Nothing earth-shattering, but decent, informed discussion.  I suppose, if history can be a guide, someone will decide to start an uproar and it will get through moderation.  That is the reason for my one-month rule.  Every so often things get civilized and the level of discussion goes up, and people get their hopes up, but then someone has to bring it down. The list never makes it through an entire month without some sort of debacle.  I'd love to be proven wrong, but this is the cycle, and moderation never sees it happening -- or enjoys the mess.

This is not a problem for some, but each go-round, the more sensitive and mannerly people (and the women?) tend to leave the room or simply shut up, so this process continually selects the list participants and determines the evolution and direction of the list.  We all know that there are many knowledgeable people who could and would contribute a lot to BEE-L and some have made an effort in the past, but we have seen them driven out by ignorant and insensitive comments or by the low level of some discussion.

I understand that the list tries to be all things to all people, but as such it fails all but the most persistent adherents.  Some cite the ideal of "Free Speech", but fail to understand that on a narrow channel, this is an impossibility.  The flow must be managed.  A list is a narrow channel.  Some have tried to get around this limitation by establishing forums, which allow parallel access, rather than serial like a list, but, of course, what happens is the participants splinter off into small interest groups and seldom meet.  A well-run  and well-weeded list can offer a spectrum of ideas, but the narrowness of the channel must be understood, and chatter and posts falling below a threshold must be suppressed to make it useable and high-grade.  Slashdot and some other forums have an interesting way of including all input, but not displaying the least useful or popular.  Unfortunately this impossible on a list, unless the sub-list feature or a nested list feature is invoked.

El and I are both feeling a bit under the weather today: aches and pains and tired. The temperature did get up above freezing in the afternoon, so I went out and started the forklift and tried to move the car, which was blocking the doors.  It would not start and I found the new battery was completely flat.  The key had been left slightly on.  I boosted it, moved it and left the charger on it.  I hope the battery was not damaged by freezing.  It was not bulged, so maybe we'll be lucky. 

All this was in order to get at the snowmobile.  I got it out, gave it a shot of ether and it fired right up.  I took a quick run and noticed it was a bit sluggish and smelled of gas.  On examination, I found that one of the fuel hoses had cracked at the nipple and gas was pouring out.   That was quickly fixed and I took another short run.  I'll have to do something about the missing windshield, I suppose -- the wind is cold and snow comes up over the cowling when hitting drifts -- and dress up a bit, then take a run around the country.  We are expecting some warmer weather for the next few days.

Tuesday, January 6th, 2009
High -7°C  Low -15°C
Normals: Max: -5°C Min: 17°C
Sunrise 0839  Sunset 1640
Januarys past: 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999
Honey Bee World Forum |  HoneyBeeWorld List | Diary Home

I  was planning to go to Calgary today, since I have things to do and my sailing club meets tonight, but we'll see.  I still have aches and pains.

I notice that, immediately after my comment yesterday, a woman posted to BEE-L.  It was only one line or so, but...

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I went to Calgary and did some shopping before attending the Bluewater Cruising Association meeting.  This is a group of hardcore sailors, usually couples who sail small boats across oceans.  Two thirds of them are currently offshore somewhere in the world.  One couple sitting across from me are currently tied up in London, England and just flew home for a few days.  They spend much of their time in the Mediterranean, but plan to take their boat up to Sweden this summer.

The shopping?  I bought more memory for both laptops: 1GB for the Gateway MX6424 XP Pro machine to take it to 1.5GB, and 2GB for the Acer Aspire 5630 (Vista Home) to take it to 3 GB.  The Gateway memory was much more expensive at $79, the 2GB stick was only $40.  I may buy another later for a total of 4GB.  Although Vista can normally only use three, it can be configured to use 4. (Refs: 1. 2.  3  4)  I also bought some yeast, acid and nutrients for mead making, and some groceries on the way home.

When I pulled into the SuperStore gas bar to fill up, my card was refused.  That particular card, and only that card, gets me a 10c/litre coupon with purchase, and it is fully paid up, so I was surprised and annoyed.  I went into the store, and phoned.  After the usual bevy of annoying canned messages and a short wait, I was told that there was suspected fraud on the account and that the card would be replaced in 7 to 10 days.  All I can say is that it is a good thing I carry more than one card -- and cash.  There is a lesson in there somewhere.  these days with banks under the gun, they are not to be trusted.

I have told my beekeeping friends to be sure they do not need their operating loans, but to take term loans where they can, and raise cash because the banks, when they get into a crunch, cut loans, and will even cut off the best of customers first, because they are the easiest to collect from!  That money in your account today is not yours if the bank yanks your loans.  Your cheques will bounce.  It is also wise to keep a week or two's supply of cash on hand in case there is a bank holiday or credit card crisis. (Coming soon to your neighbourhood?)

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009
High -9°C  Low -17°C
Normals: Max: -5°C Min: 17°C
Sunrise 0838  Sunset 1641
Januarys past: 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999
Honey Bee World Forum |  HoneyBeeWorld List | Diary Home

Another dull, cold day.  I have some new toys to play with, though: memory to install.  Hopefully the extra 512K will help the Gateway run virtual machines better.  My Linux distros need more memory for video to give better smoothing of fonts and images.

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I spent some time reading BEE-L this morning.  I have to say that the information flow is excellent, with a variety of participants.  In fact, the flow is getting a bit too heavy, with a chat component creeping in.  This gets to be the problem.  Ideally, people should contribute well-considered, well-researched and well-written articles.  Whenever that happens, though, there are inevitably questions, and, while that leads to clarifications and insights it can also break down into chatter.  Some contributors are more prone to that than others.

I received Malcolm's newsletter by email, too.  (Subscribe here).  I don't really know what to think about it anymore.  It used to be a very useful newsletter, but lately has just become a tout for Bee Culture magazine (BC). Frankly, writing for a commercial enterprise saps creativity.  That is why I quit writing for BC myself.  I enjoyed writing what I knew and was inspired about, but when writing what was requested, I started feeling like a whore, and just could not do it with a feeling of integrity.

Malcolm has one of the most incisive minds and can be a very good writer when it come to beekeeping, but I'm afraid he has lost interest, or been used up by reading and distilling BC, and the newsletter shows it.  Oh, well.  Every dog has his day, and everything passes.  IMO, he should let someone else synopsise Bee Culture and put his efforts into writing something more useful to readers.  The BC stuff can still tag along at the end for anyone who does not get BC.  For most of us who are expecting to get Malcolm's insights, that whole section is a huge annoyance.  I'd unsubscribe, but keep hoping...

While shopping last night, picking up the memory, I stood near a large screen TV and felt heat radiating out of it.  Wow! I thought.  What does this thing draw?  I asked, and the clerk looked it up.  "800 Watts", was the answer.  Wow!  That is equivalent o a small space heater.  I had read that power consumption varies a lot between models, so this is definitely something to think about when purchasing.

   *    *    *    *    *    *    *   

Those who read these pages regularly know that I have reservations about the modern hive.  In looking through Malcolm's newsletter, I noticed a link to a site that has this book available.  Here (at right) is an excerpt.

I haven't read the whole thing and I'm not too sure about Warre hive, especially with its many top bars.  I'm more inclined to think that bottom supering with empty boxes that have crossbars to attach the comb, like a migratory skep and that the supers should be removed by pulling through a wire when the time comes for that job.  On the other hand, one of the characteristics of skep beekeeping is that hives that get strong should swarm, and that is how increase is obtained.

   *    *    *    *    *    *    *   

Have mentioned Maxthon lately?  Maxthon2 is simply the best browser.  Check it out.

That having been said, I just downloaded Safari for Windows to check it out.  I have quite a few browsers (Firefox, Maxthon, Micro$oft Internet Exploder 8 (beta), Opera 10 (beta), Konquerer, Lynx, and some I forget) and run some or all of them on at least seven different operating systems (Ubuntu, Fedora, Windows XP and Vista, Windows server 2003, DSL, Knoppix) , but I have to say that at first blush, Safari looks FAST!

   *    *    *    *    *    *    *   

Making Sense out of Chaos Dept. (Not).  One of the things I have learned in this long life is to never take a lesson where there is none.  People really want to see patterns where there are none, or the Rorschach test would never have caught on.

I notice that pretty well everyone now actually believes that global warming is mostly a man-made phenomenon.  To me, this is amazing, but what can we expect?  As history has been recorded, the world has been dominated by people with contradictory and preposterous ideas that were believed at the time but now look silly.

Personally, I do believe that the world is warming in recent years, but I am also aware that the world has been warming at the current pace, with some fluctuation, for thousands of years.  This process began long before humans became a significant environmental influence -- if you don't count hunting quite a few large mammals to extinction -- and in fact, it is that very warming that has made possible the current human population explosion!

Peter D. sent me this URL  It is interesting, but not too meaningful to me. Climate fluctuates.  Greenland had farmland not too long ago.  The Northwest Passage was open early in the last century. How soon we forget.

This Anthropogenic Global Warming argument (AGW) is almost totally bogus IMO, but it is a great profit centre and nobody finds it practical to point out that the Emperor has no clothes.  It is so convenient; everyone gets something out of this new religion. Some get authority, some get money, some get something to believe in or fear -- and we all get a much needed excuse to cut back on real forms of pollution and excess consumption as we embark on this quixotic venture.

AGW is sorta like the CCD in the States.  Nobody can really nail it down, even after all this time, and maybe it does not really exist, bujt what does that matter?  Almost nobody cares or dares cry "fake", since everybody is making tons of money off it and people won't bite the hand that feeds them.  It is perfect.  Beekeepers get compensation or a cover for carelessness and/or bad luck, researchers get tons of money and everyone gets sympathy.  Bonus!

Thursday, January 8th, 2009
High -11°C  Low -26°C
Normals: Max: -5°C Min: 17°C
Sunrise 0838  Sunset 1642
Januarys past: 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999
Honey Bee World Forum |  HoneyBeeWorld List | Diary Home

Time flies.  It's Thursday already.

I took a look at BEE-L and see that BEE-L moderation is permitting personal slams against researchers -- still!  I have ranted and raved about this to no avail.  Such traffic has cost BEE-L is reputation.  Researchers shun the list due to the bad manners and bashing going on periodically and enabled by permissive moderation.   I really don't know why bother with moderation at all if this type of content is permitted.  What is the point? 

You have to ask yourself this: if this is publically funded list run on a university server, howcum almost no university and exactly zero government (USDA/URS) people post there anymore?   Sure, the writer has a point, and maybe he is even right, but the same thing could have been said politely and without an personal attack.  Sad.  Frankly, I think it is time the U at A shut the list down.

I give up.  I can see now that I'll never return to BEE-L.  This is trash.  I was right to leave the previous time and any thought of returning is proving unrealistic.  I think I'll check out BeeSource again, although I doubt it is any better.  I do have my list, but after a bit of a start, it has little traffic.  I could promote it and feed material into it, but I am really not motivated.

   *    *    *    *    *    *    *   

Looking back over the past few days, my writing could be construed as being a bit negative.  Actually, I feel quite positive about these various things in the sense that to me identifying and discussing something is the beginning of changing it.  Usually, at least, but I can see I will never change BEE-L, so I have to move on -- again.  As for the AGW crowd, well, it gives me something to laugh at and a perfect proof that people can believe anything, when I am doubting my own sanity.  I really should appreciate Malcolm's epistles more, or unsubscribe, and I should run some skeps.  After all I have a hundred or so standard hives, and no skeps!

   *    *    *    *    *    *    *   

OK.  I went to BeeSource and was impressed right off, having hit the commercial/pollination section.  I prefer email lists, since they are easier to navigate -- things either come or they don't, but this may just be fine.  We'll see.  Last time I spent any time there, I was not too impressed, but seem there are some real beekeepers there now.  I get tired of posers.

   *    *    *    *    *    *    *   

My computer adventures are proceeding.  I'm running a variety of operating systems and finding they all need constant updating -- even the Linux distros.

What does this mean? Is it possible that:

• things are improving so fast that we can't be without enhancements?

• the original version was so badly flawed that we can't go one more day without it falling apart?

• the software is so complex that nobody knows how it really works until it breaks?

• bandits out there are so smart that they are breaking in all over the place?

• progress is accelerating to the point where we will have updates twice a day and a whole new O/S every week as a result?

If these O/Ss were automobiles, they would have to be rebuilt or patched every time we pulled in for gas.

Anyhow, the added memory did help the XP machine run the VM, but 1.5 GB is still not a lot and having 2 GB, like the other machine has, makes a big difference.  The XP machine has been running slow and stalling (I really give my machines a workout), so I uninstalled IE8 beta from both machines.  I think I see a difference.  I thought the browsers were faster when I installed IE8, now I think the machines are faster with it gone.  Hmmm.

Having felt a desperate need for a 1 terabyte external drive, I find that one week after buying it I have not stored one byte on it, although I did partition it into two, with FAT 32 and a NTFS partitions.  The reason for that is that FAT won't manage files over 4 GB and I have several VMs that are over 20.

Friday, January 9th, 2009
High -8°C  Low -9°C
Normals: Max: -5°C Min: 17°C
Sunrise 0837  Sunset 1644
Januarys past: 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999
Honey Bee World Forum |  HoneyBeeWorld List | Diary Home

Seeing as it is currently minus nineteen, I don't see how the low for the day will be minus nine (above).

I installed the 2GB stick into the Acer and was surprised to open System Information and see:

Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 3.00 GB
Total Physical Memory 3.00 GB
Available Physical Memory 1.458 GB

Where did it all go?  Is the new stick being used?  What is "Available Physical Memory"?  Is it static or dynamic?

I started a VM, refreshed the System Info, and saw Available Physical Memory drop to "Available Physical Memory 0.98 GB".  That is good.  If I still had two GB on board, I'd have run out, or the system would be swapping more pages out.  At $40 a 2GB stick, I may just go for one more.  The memory for the Gateway is much more expensive, and although I'd love top take it up to 2GB, I wonder if it is worth it.  It is an older machine now, with broken hinges, so is only used at home.  Another $79 is 10% of the way up to a new machine with 3 or 4 GB, a larger drive and a new O/S, besides, I am really tempted by that Acer One for $399.

   *    *    *    *    *    *    *   

My bees are still unwrapped and it is getting to be the time when they benefit from wrapping.  In early winter, the bees don't need wraps, but as the bees age and the cluster gets smaller and brooding approaches, wraps make a huge difference.  Maybe today.  I had hoped that Jean and Mckenzie would be going skiing today, but I guess not, so I have an excuse to do the wrapping.  It will take an hour, max, and I have everything ready. 

It looks like a good day for a snowmobile ride as well.

   *    *    *    *    *    *    *   

For anyone who wants to try Ubuntu without fuss or muss, here is a solution.

Wubi installs Ubuntu 8.10 on your Windows machine without any hassle.  I think that, from my experience, though, that a machine with at least a GB or two and a sizeable HD is advisable.  The download is almost a gig, and the install needs five GB minimum.  Ubuntu is really fun and has plenty of free software.  I haven't tried wubi, since I have the .iso already, and several Ubuntu installs running already, and when I tried the wubi downloader, the process said it would take twelve hours.  Apparently it is not supposed to take more than a few minutes, so I blame my Internet connection or bad timing.  Maybe the servers were bogged with requests, since Wubi was recently publicised.

Actually, if you have the Ubuntu ISO (get it here) burned to a disk, it turns out that the download is unnecessary!  See http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=1570 for details!

OK.  Here goes.  I'm rebooting the XP machine with the Ubuntu 8.10 CD, burned from the downloaded ISO.  Should I do a side-by-side install, or use wubi?  The wubi install can be moved to a USB stick and carried around.  I have a 8GB stick handy. Hang on...

Reboot..

It's up. 

I'm now checking the CD (DVD actually) for defects.  Always a good idea to be sure it does not have a fatal defect that could cause a crash in mid-install. 

Result = No errors found

Reboot..

Next: A memory check from the CD menu again.  Good idea with new memory installed.

(While it is running, and this takes a long while, I'm reading BeeSource.  Check this out.

I'm also looking this site over.  Some interesting CCD comments.  I decided to join.

OK.  Memory is OK.  I decided to install.  After a bunch of CD activity, the Welcome screen is up. (I worry about blowing away my XP installation, but am assured by my reading that I won't).

I'm answering questions.  The release notes did not come up. Now the partitioner has started.  It thinks a bit and now shows me the disk and suggests Ubuntu would like 28% or 18.9 GB.  I can't recall how much that leaves for Windows beyond what is in current use.  I look at the alternatives and say, "OK", then, "Continue".

Well, the partitioner sat a long time, then threw an error.  I went to the next step and it showed the whole disk being committed to Ubuntu if I proceeded.  I exited and prayed that Windows had not been wiped out.  Thankfully. I saw Windows start to boot, but then stop at a disk check recommendation.  I chose to check, and checkdisk is running...

Well, thankfully XP is coming up.  I'll be interested to see what the HD allocation looks like.  Hmmm.  80 GB total.  I thought there was more than that.  Oh, well.  I'll try wubi now.

Minutes later, I am done installing and am now rebooting and find I am at  boot menu.  I choose Ubuntu, and here it comes, booting from the HD...  The Ubuntu Emblem with a moving line and .... Nothing.  Black screen. No disk action.  Nothing.  I wait.

Five minutes should be long enough.  I try again.  This time the X server starts and the installation begins.

A few reboots later, we are running Ubuntu.  The screen resolution does not look quite right and the network does not seem to be connected.  Hmmmm.  Work to do.

Rebooting hangs again.  Again Hmmmm.

OK.  It's up again.  Still no wireless Internet recognised.  I hook up a cable.  That works, and start updating... 219 updates are waiting for this new installation.  The marquee  says 12 hours, then 2 hours, then 14 hours...

   *    *    *    *    *    *    *   

The weather has proven to be cool and breezy.  Hardly a great outdoors day.  We went to Drum to shop and have supper with the Meijers.  Sam showed up, too.

On returning home I finished the updates on Ubuntu and a few small problems cleared up.  I also discovered the Wubi wiki, with lots of info.  For some reason, I did not see it on the main page.  It would have come in handy.  I still don't know if I have some free space on my HD. 

Saturday, January 10th, 2009
High 1°C  Low -10°C
Normals: Max: -5°C Min: 17°C
Sunrise 0837  Sunset 1645
Januarys past: 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999
Honey Bee World Forum |  HoneyBeeWorld List | Diary Home

Looks like a nice few days coming up. 

I got some feedback in my AWG comments several days back and a ref to this site.  I don't really want to get into this debate, since arguing with the converted is a waste of time.  I should refer those who can read charts, though to the chart which was behind Al Gore in "An inconvenient Truth".  (BTW, for PDFs, uninstall Adobe Reader and install Foxit -- much faster/better).

A close examination shows that although there is a correlation between CO₂ levels, sea levels, and temperature, no definite cause and effect can be proven between CO₂ and temperature, using this data because sometimes the temperature rises before the CO₂ and sometimes the reverse.  In fact in the current warming, the CO₂ obviously follows the temperature rise.  There are plenty of reasons for this, since the topic is complex.  Suffice it to say that the proof is just not there, in this chart at least, and we must remember that this chart is quite contrived by superimposing data that is deduced on other data which is only deduced, using arbitrary scales.  If you are a thinking person, you might also wonder how and where they measured sea level, since the continents rise and fall and drift over periods of time.  Seems somewhat subjective to me, but interesting.

I imagine everyone is familiar with the news that Y2K Caused the Global Warning Panic?  More  More

So much for that (I hope).

   *    *    *    *    *    *    *   

In the afternoon, it warmed up enough that I was out blowing snow in my shirtsleeves for a half-hour or so.

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   *    *    *    *    *    *    *   

Speaking of hot rooms, my wife and I decided around four this afternoon that we need a sauna (she is a Finn).  Actually, it was my idea.  I've been planning to build one for a long time, but we are not beside a lake and don't need a family-size sauna and the energy needs that big sauna has.  I has seen one of those tiny, dry saunas on sale at Canadian Tire for an affordable price, and it is cool here on the prairie in winter, even in  a large, well-heated building like this.  The debate: whether a hot box with no running water or drain is really a sauna.  I think we agreed that it is not, but sauna is just a word.  A hot closet with a shower nearby can serve.  We read the reviews online and decided that the six out of seven buyers giving high ratings outvoted the only complainer.

So, we phoned the stores and finally found a store with one left, and got into the van.  It is a 65 mile drive one way.  I left at 5 and was back by 8.  By 8:15 we had it unpacked and by 8:30, we had agreed where to put it.

By 9, it was plugged in and running.  At 10, Ellen went to have a sauna and found it had quit (it apparently takes about an hour to get good and hot).  I looked at it and played with the controls -- digital, of course -- and found that it worked fine until I activated the elements -- or even turned on the light.  I worried that the controls were bad and the warranty says to send it to the factory in Quebec and they will decide whether to be helpful or not.  It weighs 300lbs, ...some warranty!.  I was starting to side with the complainer.

Then a flashbulb went off and I looked up and realized that the power connection must be poor.  Whenever any load was applied to the circuit, the voltage must be dropping below the level required to run the controls. I plugged it in an extension and now expect to be soaking up some heat shortly   Here I go...

Sunday, January 11th, 2009
High 4°C  Low -12°C
Normals: Max: -5°C Min: 17°C
Sunrise 0836  Sunset 1646
Januarys past: 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999
Honey Bee World Forum |  HoneyBeeWorld List | Diary Home

How was the sauna, you ask? (I'm used to saying, 'steam bath', but this unit has no steam). It was OK.  Not great, but OK.  When I got in the temp was 122 F, since it was midnight and I was not willing to wait another half-hour to see if it would make it to 166 as advertised.  The temperature did climb 10 degrees while I was in there.  We'll see.  It is definitely better than nothing and will be a boon for times when we are feeling a bit chilled.  I think adding a steam kettle might be a good idea, as well.

I've been reading BeeSource and the discussions look good.  The advantage is that everyone is not forced to share one channel and not subjected to abuse when one member goes rogue.  I see that BEE-L is in one of its regular spirals with everyone speculating in response to a simple question which has been answered.  I'm more and more convinced that people participating in BEE-L are there for the abuse as much or more than the discussion.  Dysfunctional family?  I think so, and have been saying so in so many words for some time. The only reason I have stuck it out so long is my long-time association with BEE-L from its better days and my friendship with Aaron.

Speaking of BeeSource, I am particularly interested in the patty feeding discussion.  It looks as if many of the participants in the discussion are hobbyists or part-timers, and more interested in playing with their bees than actually getting the job done right.  Some either cannot find the instructions or cannot read them.  Some are trying to reinvent the wheel and adding 'secret ingredients'.  One fellow is up to 10% lipids, if I read his posts correctly.  This should be interesting.

   *    *    *    *    *    *    *   

I have been interested in protein feeds for quite a long time and experimented and written quite a bit, but the fact remains that I know very little.  At any rate, I should accumulate everything I know somewhere accessible.

I think that I can claim to have planted the seed that grew into at least three of the supplements on the market.  Years back, we discussed the question on BEE-L and I became a strong advocate of feeding after I saw what good feed had done for our own hives.  With my neighbours, and the input from some large beekeepers in California who have fed yeast for many years, , I came up with a basic, inexpensive formula that worked and initially made it at home, then had a Hutterite Colony make it, followed by some fellows in Airdrie.  The Airdrie outfit grew into Global. Global uses that same formula -- among others -- to the present, and it has stood up against many other formulas in tests.  As far as bang for the buck is concerned, it is hard to beat.

Seeing as we were always looking to improve, I decided we needed to run trials and we (an informal consortium of commercial beekeepers) went looking for a student to hire.  We had hired Adony some time before and that had worked out well.  I approached several universities in the east and considered one particular student.  The supervisor wanted to make big bucks on the bee feed idea, though, and since we felt that this project was financed by beekeepers, then the formula should be open to all, declined. Moreover, we felt that no beekeeper should put anything into the hive that is unknown or proprietary due to contamination concerns.  That group went on the develop FeedBee -- a proprietary product.

Medhat wanted to to do the study, so he did one.  It proved we are on the right track.  His work proved out the yeast/soy/sugar/pollen formulas and also showed that FeedBee did not seem to measure up, at least in that test.  He also proved that old ingredients result in patties that do not work at all.

Even before that, I recall sitting in a bar in Phoenix with a large group of USDA scientists out on the town during convention.  I somehow wound up sitting beside a fellow I did not know and who was not exactly on the USDA payroll, but rather a researcher with a small Tucson company looking for a meaningful project.  He asked my opinion and I listed my top three at the time.  Nutrition was number one, resistant (non-susceptible) genetics was number two, and I forget number three.  At any rate, I gave him a huge sales pitch for the need for work on nutritional supplements and the need for a real pollen substitute, seeing as I really am lazy and have tried to inspire others to do the grunt work. The rest, as they say, is history.  There is a sequel to this, but that is for another time.

I guess I can claim one more credit -- indirectly .  Up until the new products came onto the market, Mann Lake offered a BeePro patty, but it was gooey, awkward, expensive and badly packaged.  After Global showed them how to do it, and how big the market actually was, they copied the Global format with their own secret concoction and dropped their prices drastically.

To this date work still remains to be done.  I have not tackled it, since it needs money, and quite a bit.  We need to refine the timing and amount of feed, the question of feeding during pollination, and what improvements can be made in the formulas.  I would take it on, but it is a huge, multi-year project, and perhaps should be international in scope.

   *    *    *    *    *    *    *   

The sauna:  My wife used it this afternoon and rated it 5 out of 10.  That's pretty good, after all, she is a Finn  For me, my reference point is the saunas we used as kids.  They would hit 160 degrees, no problem, and if it was too hot on the top bench, you'd go down a bit.  In winter you'd roll in the snow, or occasionally chop/saw a hole in the ice and alternate soaking for five minutes in the ice water with ice slivers tinkling around you and sitting in the hot sauna.  Breathing was something to do carefully and blowing on your own skin, painful.  This sauna barely hit 137 after an hour or more and is cool on the floor.  It's OK, but definitely only a five.  That said, any sauna is better than none.  I'll likely add an auxiliary heater and a weatherstrip on the door.

I discovered why the unit was problematic last night.  That circuit had blown, but there is some sort of ground fault that keeps the circuit semi-alive when the breaker is off.  There was enough to run the electronics and fool me, but not enough for even the light.  That is something to think about if you turn off power and trust the fixtures are not live anymore.  Always short to neutral and ground before  playing with a 'dead' wire.

Monday, January 12th, 2009
High 2°C  Low -2°C
Normals: Max: -5°C Min: 17°C
Sunrise 0834  Sunset 1648
Januarys past: 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999
Honey Bee World Forum |  HoneyBeeWorld List | Diary Home

More mild weather.  I see we have hoar frost this morning  

The HoneyBeeWorld List seems to be taking off lately.  There is some interesting discussion taking place there now.

I started the forklift and took out some ashes today.  (We burn coal).  I had intended to wrap the hives, but the time ran out, and tomorrow looks to be warmer yet.  I prefer not to disturb the bees any more than necessary late in the day when it is cold out.

Ellen went to Drum and took her work out of the gallery there, having grown tired of the politics.  Her work can be seen on her website.

I spent quite a bit of time on the list and reading, plus did some cleanup.  I have a lot of that to do.

It is looking as if I am going to have to start spending more time on bee nutrition.  In recent years, interest has grown and people are getting quite inventive.  Is there anything to these ideas?  See my comments further down.

There is talk of rain today.  It is currently plus 6 and, although we are expecting temps to drop, I see my snowmobile snow fading away.

It took me an hour or so to pull the blower back straight, change the shear pin and oil and get outside.  It is warm and pleasant today.  I got the whole drive blown out and got a good workout in the process.  Although the machine is self-driven, it takes effort to guide it and turn it around.

Strange.  There is no traffic on either BEE-L or HoneyBeeWorld this morning.  Or this afternoon, with one or two exceptions.

BTW, if you write me and I don't respond, please write again.  My email is all screwed up and messages pile up or go over the dam.  I'm not stuck up or ignoring you.

The usual gang came for supper and we had a good evening.

Our warm spell continues.  We're going to lose a lot of snow in the next few days, by the look of things.

I cleaned up the shop and did a few other tasks.  The sauna now works fairly well.  I added an electric frying pan on the floor and can splash some water on it to make steam.  We're finally achieving 144 degrees F, and that makes for a decent sauna.

Our warm spell continues.  Days are getting longer fast, and then sun has some warmth now.  That does not mean we are out of the woods.  We've had a week of minus forty in February before.

Here is a some talk about honey prices.

We continue to talk about bee nutrition on The HoneyBeeWorld List.  I started compiling a list of resources.

I blew some more snow today and cleared off the walks.  We are now into more pleasant weather and I took the snowmobile out for a spin.  It is still acting up.  I'm afraid I'm going to have to strip it down and do some serious fixing.

I wrapped most of the hives today.  I probably should have done it sooner.  The job took fifteen minutes at most.  They are all up top.  In spite of being in three boxes, one looked a little short of honey.

The Internet here was down most of the day.

I've buried myself in too much reading lately.  I'm looking at bee nutrition and trying to figure if there are any easy, cheap answers.  So far, it looks as if we are pretty much on the money with the formula we chose years ago.  There are plenty of ideas out there, and some formulas can beat the yeast/soy/sugar/pollen rations, BUT, they either cost a lot more and give less bang for the buck, or use ingredients that spoil.

I'm off to Three Hills this afternoon.  I have several computer problems.  My Gateway has a broken hinge and chassis from being dropped once too often, and my Acer has an annoyingly bad touchpad that suddenly goes crazy and takes over the cursor, bouncing it up and down.

Last summer, a cousin was out and I found her optical drive and networking was acting up.  I asked around and found that there is a kid in Three Hills who collects old laptops and has used parts for just about everything.  He works in the local hardware store and they allow him to do a little fixing on the side. He dealt with the problem at that time very nicely, and I contacted him about my current problems, so now I'm off to see him and look into fixing these annoyances.

I went to town and saw the guy.  I had assumed he would be ready for me.  He wasn't.  Looks like I'll have to disassemble the machines and take the parts to him unless I want to be without the computers for some time.

Ellen & I drove to Calgary and took our passports in for renewal.  The process took four hours by the time we got our pictures taken at the AMA, went downtown, filled in the forms, got El's picture retaken and delivered back to the passport people.  Nonetheless, that is better than taking chances on applying by mail.  That can take well over a month, especially if the pictures are not accepted the first time around.

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