Brown text indicates personal ramblings that have little to do with bees and beekeeping.

Saturday July 10th 2010
July past: 2009, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999

We awoke to general rain.  Looking around, we see grey clouds in all directions, but a glance at the weather radar shows we can expect clearing soon.  Weather is of interest since I am now down to the last two days to get work done before I leave. The comfortable daytime temperatures will help.

My main task is to get seconds and thirds in some cases onto the hives before I go.  I ordered 1,000 frames of foundation yesterday and they should be here when I get back from my trip.

I was worried that too many bees might have abandoned the splits at Elliotts' and returned here to their parent hives, so this morning, early, I drove out and looked into all sixteen.  The rain had stopped, but the clouds remaine and the air is a little cool.

I am pleased to report that they all have adequate populations.  I measured the temperatures on the top bars and got numbers in the mid-eighties.  That is a little low, but I assumed that the brood itself was warmer.

I also checked the hives where the cells had failed to emerge and found that they all have nice-looking emergency cells, so they should be fine.  They will be behind the others about two weeks, since the cells will not mature for another twelve days.

All the cells I inserted should have emerged by now.  Some were slower than others, but that seems to be normal.  Why did I not measure the surface temperature of the brood when I had it out?  Dunno.  Still sleepy, I guess.

I'm running out of Global Patties and won't have time to get more before I leave.  I suppose the bees will be okay with natural forage since the season is looking good, but I like to have patties on the splits, since until they get going, they may have population age imbalances and be short of foragers.  Fast build-up requires a lot of protein and if we get a week of rain, they may run short.

Day 16 Wed 7 Queens emerge

Day 17 Thurs 8

Day 18 Fri 9

Day 19 Sat 10

Day 20 Sun 11  Mating Flights

Day 21 Mon 12  Mating Flights

Day 22 Tues 13  Mating Flights

Day 23 Wed 14  Mating Flights

Day 24 Thurs 15  Laying begins

Mating flights can start any time, now, so I had better make sure that the yards are orderly and that I am not going to be moving things around when the queens are orienting.  Drifting queens can be a problem, resulting in hopelessly queenless hives.

I had a half-hour nap, and decide to take a Benadryl.  That seems to be working and I am waking up.  Allergies were it, I guess.  Allergies can have many strange effects besides the obvious ones.

I don't like to take Benadryl when I plan to be working because, as it says on the bottle, it can cause drowsiness.  Now, we think of drowsiness as being sleepiness, but, in fact, for me the drowsiness that Benadryl causes is more like an inability to multi-task and thus a subtle tendency to be distracted without being aware of it.  I may actually become more wide awake as I did this morning.  That, IMO, is what makes operating machinery while using Benadryl dangerous, not the risk of falling asleep!  Moreover, the effects can endure longer than the four-hour duration of its benefits.  Benadryl also has some interactions with cheddar cheese and red wine, which can amplify the side-effects quite unpredictably.

10:30 AM:  It's raining again, lightly.  I've been down to look at the Kettle Valley queen hives.  I was surprised to see two queens dead in their cages on the top bars.  There were lots of bees showing interest in them, so I don't know what happened.

That is what I hate about buying mated queens.  It is a great way to get new stock, but I always lose at least 10% and often more at some stage of the game.  I did everything right here.  I introduced them into nucs with no old bees during a flow.  At $20+ per queen, a 20% loss raises the cost of the survivors considerably.

I am realizing that I should have started some cells myself on an ongoing basis from the time I came home to split.  Simply starting a swarm box and placing a frame of eggs and young larvae into it or simply de-queening a good hive would have been fine.  There is no need to graft if the cells will be used locally.  I could really use some cells now.  The hives where the cells failed are making their own, but I could have saved them two weeks.

Speaking of the nucs, this takes me back to what I said about thinking we are doing one thing while actually doing another.  Although all the nucs were adequate, they were not equal in size or amount of brood.  I suppose the best way to do splits is to pull all the surplus brood into collector boxes, then make up the nucs all at once from that supply.  Relying on finding the right amount and right stages of brood as I go is not reliable, since one hive may never have been split and have lots of brood in all stages, and the next may be just starting a new queen with only a few frames of young brood.

I also should make sure to reduce the entrances and I should really move them the two miles, just to be sure unless I do the side-by-side thing.  I do have a yard two miles away.  I was just not too eager to drive the forklift that far.

By around lunchtime, I realized that I am not well today. I simply have no energy to do anything much.  I had another half-hour nap and still am feeling foggy.  I have a woman coming this afternoon at 4 to buy a nuc and that may be the limit of my accomplishments.  We'll see.

4 PM: Well, it was allergies.  I went to bed for another half-hour around 1 and slept well, but still felt dull.  I took two Benadryl and now I am fine.  I've been out tidying the quonset in fact.

Of interest is the fact that I was able to make three decent hives out of each of the two package hives I bought this spring.   That reduces the cost per colony from $110 to $37, if they survive the winter and if my time is worth nothing.  Interesting also was the fact that they were very blonde and I see blonde bees in many of the hives all over the apiary.  Their temper has improved and that is a good thing.  The Australian queen was on my hit list, but now has a reprieve for good behaviour.

It comes to mind that I still hear very little about the Alberta Green Certificate in Beekeeping.  I keep writing Gertie to suggest that the Alberta beekeepers get the Green Certificate people to give a talk at Convention and have a booth, but I never hear back.  Since I wrote the Green certificate Manual in 2005, I have never seen even the finished copy of the manual!

My customer showed up with her husband and son and we made up a nuc for them in the light rain.  The hive I had saved to split for them turned out to have queen cells and no brood under four days.  Had I already messed with it?  Quite probably.  Some of the hives continued to balloon even after splitting and maybe this was one of those.  Anyhow, I opened another hive and found four good frames with brood in all stages and a queen which was laying up a storm.  I added bees shaken from four other brood frames and charged $135.  Everyone was happy.

I went out after supper, made up some more brood chambers, and put them on hives.  The skunks were there, Mom and baby, cleaning up scraps of honey dropped from my frame scraping.  They are quite tame, but the little one whimpered in fear when it saw me and ran, looking for a pallet to hide under.  I had moved pallets around, and picked up around the shop, so they were disoriented.  I suppose they will become a problem.  I worry they may scratch the EPS (BeeMax) hives, but so far that has not been a problem.

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Sunday July 11th 2010
July past: 2009, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999

Today: Sunny. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud this afternoon. Fog patches dissipating early this morning. High 26. UV index 7 or high. Tonight: A few clouds. Low 15. Monday: Increasing cloudiness. Showers at times heavy beginning near noon. Risk of a thunderstorm in the afternoon. Amount 20 to 30 mm. Wind becoming northwest 30 km/h gusting to 60 early in the evening. High 24 with temperature falling to 12 in the afternoon. Tuesday: Cloudy with 70 percent chance of showers. Windy. Low 7. High 13.

I slept well and am raring to go this morning.  What a difference a day makes.

I don't like what I see in the forecast.  High winds and low temperatures are hard on splits, the smaller of which could have trouble covering their brood in cooler conditions.  The forecast changes constantly, let's hope it changes for the better.  Maybe I worry too much.  the daytime prediction is no colder than many nights.

I leave early tomorrow, so I have a lot to do today.  I have brood chambers to make up and put on and packing to do.  I guess I had best stop this and get going.

First up is brood chambers.  I have a stack ready to go on, so that will be first. 

So far, the forklift keeps working, although shifting into gear sometimes takes a minute or so.  I wonder if changing the fluid would help?  I have a replacement transmission sitting waiting, but am reluctant to start that job.  It could be simple, but I could hit a snag and find myself hung up in the middle of the job.

I went about making up and adding brood chambers this morning and checking the hives as I went.  I try to make sure they are okay for the next month.

I noticed that the hives where the queen cells I added failed to emerge have their own cells coming along nicely.  They should be fine.  I think that, other than for purposes of acquiring new stock, that cells raised at home, either by the Hopkins/Case method, or simply by splitting and leaving the hives is superior to buying mated queens.

I see scratching in front of a hive this morning, so I think the skunk truce is over and I will have to do something about the skunks.   They can do a lot of damage to strong hives.  Of course, I should keep the hives supered so that they do not beard, but that is not always possible.  I wonder what the best way is to get rid of them?

I set four hives on the scale again  There is an assortment: two good ones, one making some cells (upper right) and on which has a new virgin from the batch of cells I used back on the 5th.  My shot is fuzzy, but the reading looks like 46-1/2 lbs.

Who says you can't fix a Pierco frame with broken tab?  This works, but I bet there are lots of other ways, one of which would simply to cut some tabs off other badly damaged frames and glue them on with the appropriate glue.  Some glues will melt the material together in a weld which should be a good as new.  If tabs are not available, I am sure some other little item and maybe another piece of a frame would serve.

1:46 PM: I've done 36 out of 96.  They are marked ready for the next three weeks or month until I get around to them again.

I had to make two more splits as I went.  One was the hive the skunk was bothering.  They had some nice cells started.  Bonus!  I did a side-by-side split. 

Side-by-side walk-away splits are simply the easiest splits one can possibly make.  I made splits on top of excluders this year and the difference in ease and convenience of these splits I made just now is amazing compared to the ones where I counted frames and stored them above the parent hive.  I can actually adjust the bee distribution better with this quick-and-dirty method.

Basically, all there is to it is

• Tilt the upper box and look below to be sure there are lots of bees and brood in the bottom box.  If the hives have been reversed in the past week or two, that is a virtual certainty.

• Better still, tip the whole hive forward enough that you can glance at the bottom bars and make sure there are bees on most of the frame bottoms.

• Looking down into the bottom box should reveal some brood, but it is sure to be there if there are lots of bees down there and the top box is at all heavy.

• Then pull a frame from the top box, carefully, in case there are some cells started. 

• The idea is to be sure that there are young larvae in both boxes so that the queenless half -- which ever it is, we don't check -- can make a queen. 

• Lift the top box onto a floor, add a lid, put the lid on the parent hive and that is it. 

• Add more boxes to either or both if they are full of bees.

• If the weather is iffy, like May, add any additional boxes underneath, not on top.

After making the side-by side splits, the splits or the parent colony can be supered or checked without much moving of boxes.  If the bees are not dividing evenly, just put a lid in front of the one attracting too many bees for a while to hide it from them, as I did at right.  (You can't see it, but although both have many bees around the hole, more of the returning bees were choosing the middle (parent) hive).

When there is a rainy spell and the bees have not been flying much for a few days, the hives can be distributed around the yard without risk of drifting.  Or else, they can be moved out with a little smoking any early morning or evening after they are all home.

4:00 PM:  Time for a break.  I just finished the home yard and there are now 59 hives here,  I found a few more I had to split.  I also discovered a big stack of new boxes of foundation and decided that was an easy out.  I stacked it onto any hives I wondered about.   One box of foundation is like two or three boxes of drawn comb for adding space.

6:13 PM:  I don 't know if I am done or not.  I can't guess how big these hives will get in three weeks.  I've run models and have experience, but it is hard to say if they will be fine in two boxes or need three.  Some I have given three, but others not yet.  Anyhow, I'm running out of time.  I don't want to overdo things, but I don't want to return home to swarms, either.

8:52 PM: I'm in the house and everything I planned to do is done.  Wow, who would have imagined?  It has been a hectic sixteen days since I flew back to split the hives.   When I arrived, I had, what?, 40 hives?  I can hardly remember.  I guess that is why I write a diary.  Now I have 104 and they are all fed, medicated, supered and ready for the next act.  I think we can relay on a good July after all the heat and rain, but what will August bring?  Stay tuned...

We are in the middle of a thunderstorm and the sky is golden to the west.  There should be a rainbow and !!! BANG!  Flash!

Zero seconds!  No time to count.  That was right here!  But we still have power and lights, and I don't smell smoke.  The dog is unhappy.

OK.  It didn't get us, but Airenet must have gotten a headache. Suddenly we have no Internet!  Switch to Plan B.  Rogers works.  OK.  Where did my router go?  It is no longer showing up in the list of wifi options.  Ah Ha!  It is dead.  Nope.  Its wall wart (power supply) is dead according to my trusty multimeter.

Thank goodness I never throw anything away.  What voltage?  12.  Check! What polarity? Centre positive.  Check! What amperage?  0.5.  OK. Whatever.  Here is one in the junk box with that many milliamps and a little more.  Hope that Linksys thingamajig is well fused.  Bingo!  Airenet is on again.  Ellen should be happy for the next week.

I haven't had as much fun with my bees since 1972.

I think that if I had gotten a forklift early on, it would have changed what I eventually did.  I doubt I would have expanded as much or hired as many people.  I could have done far more myself. 

There is nothing wrong with hiring people.  It is actually one of the most socially conscious things one can do.  I realized a while back that a lot of people need someone to give them a job.  I was never really one of them, but I did appreciate the jobs I had.  Someday I'll write about all the jobs I had back when I was a kid.  I haven't been gainfully employed since I turned 22, if you don't count fun jobs like part-time bee inspecting.  I've done some IT work, too, but strictly free-lance.

I was an entrepreneur from the time I could talk, but I understand how socially important it is to hire others, personal burden though it may be.  The masses, without someone to tell them what to do and feed them regularly, are at best unhappy, and at worst a starving menace.

Nothing recedes like success. Profitability in beekeeping usually comes with numbers.  With numbers comes reduced returns per unit -- The Law of Diminishing Returns.

Commercial beekeeping is all about chasing that sweet spot where the next hive or the next employee still adds profit. The uncertainty of that equation is what keeps many of us enchanted.

I know many of the iconic US commercial beekeepers personally. We always have a great time when we get together, whether in a luxury resort, some sleazy truck stop or a bee yard.

Any beekeeper is a member of the brotherhood or sisterhood, if you wish, and every beekeeper (even those on the lunatic fringe) is warmly accepted in beekeeping circles, but only those who have bet it all on the bugs are in that select circle of commercial beekeepers.

Oh, well.  It is now 10:06 and I have to get ready for the flight tomorrow.  I meet Mike at 5:45 to get to YYC by 6 and fly at 7 to YYZ, then YSB. Those airports are getting to be like home.

That reminds me, I must still check in!  And, of course,  I'm not even packed.  I usually get up at 3 and pack. That gives me time to wake up before the drive.  Also, it is a huge shift mentally from here to there and I have trouble being in two places at once.

OK?  I'm checked in.  Good night.  See you tomorrow -- from a different, non-beekeeping world.

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Monday July 12th 2010
July past: 2009, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999

Today was a travel day.  I was up at 3, packed and on the highway at 5, and on the plane headed for Toronto at 7.  When I left home, my gas gauge read low and I could not recall if I had filled up or not.  On a new tank, the gauge does not show full for a while, and so I ducked into the quonset to grab a can of gas in case I hadn't.  I almost stepped on Momma skunk.  Thank goodness she knows me and just ambled off.

I had a hasty lunch at the Exchange Cafe at YYC and was on the plane to YSB shortly later.  We touched down at 3:05 and the airport shuttle dropped me at 1207 at 4.  Jean & Chris had planned to pick me up at the airport, but were running late.

I gathered a few things, put the rear seat into the van, dropped in at Harri's to get the starter for the boat and pointed the van south to Port Carling.  We needed a new battery for the boat, so I stopped in Parry Sound at Canadian Tire and picked one up, arriving at Pine Hill around 8.

I spoke to Ellen along the way.  She said it is windy and cold and that the mower won't start.

I had no time for the diary.

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Tuesday July 13th 2010
July past: 2009, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999

I slept 'til 8:30.  It is foggy and damp here at Pine Hill this morning, but everyone is up and Mom and Doreen are off to town to look at fridges and stoves.  Chris went for a jog, and Jean & Mckenzie are canoeing.

When they returned, we had a swim. My Big Job for the day was to install the new starter and run the engine.  Changing Chev starters of that vintage is a difficult job.  The bolts are always hard to access, and in this case, I had to lie on my stomach on the engine and\grope around in the bilge turning, or trying to turn the bolts. 

I got it done and the boat started, so we went for a spin. 

I have to admit that this is a fast boat.  At 4200 RPM, it must be doing 30 MPH.  I should take my GPS next time to see.

We went out to see how fast it goes.  At 4,200, it is doing 39 MPH.  That is too  fast for comfortable skiing and deadly for tubing <Grin>.

(Note: That turns out to be 39 KNOTS, not MPH.  I had my GPS set up for sailing.  39 KPH is 45 MPH).

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Wednesday July 14th 2010
July past: 2009, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999

Mom and I went to town this morning and she ordered a new fridge and stove for the cottage.  the old fridge runs all the time and the old stove is getting unreliable.  For one thing, the oven is off-temperature and uneven.  Yesterday a burner quit.

Jean, Chris and Mckenzie and I were in and out of the River all day.  It was a hot one.  I cleaned up my boat and it is ready to sail, but there was little wind, so we went to town and bought a huge tube to pull behind the boat.  We spent the rest of the afternoon pulling it around the Lake behind Cloud 9.

Ellen reports that the foundation was delivered today and that the forklift would not work, so the cargo -- three pallets -- was unloaded by hand.  The lawn mower will not start.

---

Bill Ruzicka sent out an email today, titled, "CANADA Beekeepers With no purchases Yes you can eliminate MITES from your hives". 

It starts off with, "You Enquired about MITEGONE in past if you used it you wood have same results.

I waited until I have consecutive Two years of virtually zero results before releasing this report.

Abstract: Series of attached tests and treatments proved that two treatments with 65% FORMIC ACID and MITEGONE METHOD can virtually eliminate VAROA mite

From 500 hives Pollination and bee breeding operation, without any bad effects but many side benefits. (Link). With demise of MIEAWAY II, and Hawaii beekeepers reporting QUIK STRIP to be harsh on bees, queen loses, Supersede, and yes it kills Varroa in cells together with brood. It is time to use method wit none of those problems, contamination ,or signs of CCD and lot of good side benefits.

MITEGONE method was greatly simplified and reuse of pads bring yearly cost down: (Link)

New safe ready to fill kits (to be filled by trained person locally) were developed and are now available For HOBY or sideliners: (Link)

For commercial operators FAST CUTING and SOAKING of 10 “pads; and large ready to fill and use kits are available; (link)

I hope you understand that BEEKEEPERS can use formic acid in their own hives and choose their own method of application regardless: If PMRA cancels C-94.

The acid will become unregulated substance and none of their business. Tel PMRA that only solution to save their face is FREE REGISTRATION OR EXEMPTION FOR LIQUID FORMIC ACID and LEAVING CHOICE OF APPLICATION METHOD TO the BEEKEEPER.

Before you call with all your Questions: have your computer on and Set to our website: www.mitegone.com

(etc.)

Bill is an interesting and hard-working guy.  I quote the above FWIW.

Thursday July 15th 2010
July past: 2009, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999

Looks like good honey weather in Alberta.  It's hot and muggy down here, too.

I hope to do some sailing today.

We're planning to sail over to Windermere and do some swimming and then sail back.  Orams are going out for supper.

---

As we sailed across the Lake we saw a storm approaching, but there was no sign of lightning, so we proceeded and anchored off Windermere Beach.  Jean and Mckenzie dinghied in and swam a bit off the shore.  Chris and I swam in.

We finished our swim and started back about the time the rain began and we sailed back in a steady rain.  The wind and rain were warm, so Jean, Chris and I sat out in the  cockpit enjoying the sail, but Mckenzie decided she would prefer to stay below in the V-berth.

Our arrival back at Pine Hill was just as planned and the Orams headed off for their dinner engagement.

There is some discussion on BeeSource about the Hopkins method.  Apparently several people tried it during a flow without making the cell builder hopelessly queenless and without eliminating the excess foragers by moving the hive to a new stand.  They also did not knock down the unwanted cells.  As a result, the bees plugged the cells with honey and built burr comb under the frame where the cells were supposed to be.

There are certain basics to queen rearing: proper nutrition, many young bees, little or no competition from other brood, no other queen cells in the hive, and bees that need to raise a queen.  Some crowding can help, but any significant incoming nectar can cause problems, so more than enough foragers to maintain water and adequate nutrition can be a problem. 

If there is no open brood other than the queen cells, the needs will be low.  Nectar and pollen will accumulate.  Young bees do consume pollen, though, so pollen is less of a worry, but an excess of incoming nectar can inhibit and interfere with cell building and also get the queen cells webbed with comb.

Depending how long the cells will be in the builder, and how many young bees are emerging, it may be advisable to move the hive several times to lose excess bees once the cells are built and being capped if a heavy flow develops.  Any bees lost this way drift to nearby hives.

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Friday July 16th 2010
July past: 2009, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999

In the morning, we all ran up to Rosseau in Cloud 9 to attend the Market.  Jean and Chris and Mckenzie took turns on the tube for the whole 10 mile ride.  Mom was spotter.  We had sausages and crepes at the market, then headed back to Pine Hill.  That was about all the excitement for the day.

We swam and had supper, then swam again.

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Saturday July 17th 2010
July past: 2009, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999

Back on July 2nd, I presented this table to describe the development of the new splits.  We are now off the end, so I'm adding a row.

Day 4  Friday 25   Graft date	Day 5 Saturday 26	Day 6 Sunday 27	Day 7  Monday 28	Day  8 Tuesday 29    queen cells    capped	Day 9 Wednesday 30 (Today)	Day 10 Thursday 1
Day 11 Friday 2   Make up nucs	Day 12 Saturday 3   Make up nucs	Day 13  Sunday 4   Make up nucs	Day 14 Monday 5   Install queen cells	Day 15 Tuesday 6   queens begin   to emerge	Day 16 Wednesday 7	Day 17 Thursday 8
Day 18 Friday 9	Day 19 Saturday 10	Day 20 Sunday 11  Mating Flights	Day 21 Monday 12  Mating Flights	Day 22 Tuesday 13  Mating Flights	Day 23 Wednesday14  Mating Flights	Day 24 Thursday 15  Laying begins
Day 25 Friday 16	Day 26 Saturday 17	Day 27 Sunday 18	Day 28 Monday 19	Day 30 Tuesday 20	Day 31 Wednesday 21	Day 32 Thursday 22

I also showed this population projection.  The chart assumes that the new queens lay 1,500 eggs a day, with 80% hatch, and they begin egg laying on the 15th of July, and also that a bee's life expectancy is six weeks (click to enlarge).   See also the June 30th diary entries.  Here is the spreadsheet I used.

According to my plans, the hives with the original queens have had enough sealed brood removed that they should not increase in size more quickly than the splits.  The splits have more maturing brood, and that should compensate for the break in brood rearing while the queens get laying.

They idea is that all the hives should develop at the same rate and be at the same state when I get back, occupy two boxes fully and be ready for thirds if they do not yet have them.  Of course there will be some ahead and some behind.  Due to the unevenness of the hives going in, I was somewhat uneven in my splitting.  Moreover, some were split earlier and some later, and some drifting occurred, leaving some hives stronger and some weaker.  Some cells failed to emerge, too, and therefore these hives will be about two weeks behind the others.

This illustrates beautifully why large-scale prairie commercial beekeepers try to keep all hives at the same state.  Once some hives get ahead and some behind, managing becomes more and more complex.

For efficient commercial beekeeping, yard visits must be scheduled, limited in number, and focused in purpose.  The labour hired is typically good at repetitive, simple tasks, but any exceptions require the attention of the owners or the few specialized beekeepers in the outfit.  As a result, most commercial beekeepers simply shake out the slow hives and split the excessively strong  ones and try to keep the exceptions to a minimum.

20% of the hives are responsible for 80% of the work and
20% of the hives produce 80% of the profit.
They are not the same 20%

Most of the real beekeeping is done in the spring.  After a certain date, usually in late June or early July, beekeeping ends and honey work begins.  This continues until the honey work is done and there is time to do a little beekeeping again in the fall in preparation for winter.  Fall work is mostly feeding, picking up dead-outs, monitoring and treating if necessary, and wrapping.

By early August, there will be little time left for the bees to develop further if the season is short and all efforts must be directed towards being ready for the coming winter.  If I have calculated correctly and had average luck, then 90% or more of the hives will look fit.  We have had a tremendous early summer with heat and rain; so far everything is on track.

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Sunday July 18th 2010
July past: 2009, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999

Looks to me like a bumper July honey crop coming up in Southern and Central Alberta.  The weather is ideal with alternating hot and cooler days and lots of rain.

How far can bees fly to forage and still make honey?  The chart at right is from How Far Do Bees Fly? One Mile, Two, Seven? And Why?  Details are in the article.

The populations and condition of the hive after the flow are not discussed, but reason would suggest that flying longer distances would tax the bees more and consume resources from the bees bodies as well as expose them to more hazards.  Bee colonies can gain weight while depleting the body reserves of the bees, resulting in poor wintering.

Today's reading assignment is here.  This paper is quite useful for understanding nutrition and bee social differentiation.

Sarah came today and we all went over to Spences for lunch on the deck.  We then returned to Pine Hill, got out the tube and took a spin out into the Lake.  After an hour or so, we were about out of gas and I went to town to get a few Jerry cans filled.  On the way back, I looked at kayaks.  Deciding about kayaks turns out to be more technical than one might think.  We thought we'd just get two cheapies.  Maybe they won't support a person of any size and they won't be very stable.

We had a big home-made pizza supper.

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Monday July 19th 2010
July past: 2009, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999

 

In the morning, I drove to Penetang and looked at a boat for sale.  It turned out to be pretty beat up.  Then I drove to Barrie where I got Smart Tabs for Cloud 9 and a $299 kayak and on to YYZ to pick up Ellen.  We returned to Pine Hill in time for supper.  The kayak was a hit.  It should be a good starter unit.  If it gets a lot of use, we may get a fancier model as well.