Brown text
indicates personal ramblings that have little to do with
bees and beekeeping.
Sunday August 1st 2010
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Civic Holiday Weekend
It's
August. How time flies! I
didn't get around to checking weather or
making entries this morning. We packed, left Sault Ste.
Marie around 10 and spent the day wandering along the North
Shore towards Sudbury.
We stopped
in Desbarats, Bruce Mines, Blind River and Spanish to check out
marinas and activity. The day was dull and although this
is the August long weekend things were petty quiet.
We arrived
at 1207 at five, showered and had supper, then spent a quiet
evening at home.
The last few days, I have
spent some time at BeeSource trying to deal with some comments
posted by a member who uses BeeSource to promote his pollen
supplement business by frequent mentions and by repeatedly
implying that other products are inferior.
I normally avoid
BeeSource, since there are some snakes there and because the
'moderation' distorts discussions by editing it after
the fact, making the flow seem to be something it was not.
Although there are some smart, honest people there, the
board is slanted against direct and open full-disclosure
discussion when the chips are down.
Sometimes truth is
not "nice" and trying to make it so is simply
dishonest. Sometimes the cards need to be laid in the
table and a mother hen moderator just facilitates deliberate
misdirection. Truth is not decided by a vote or by
niceness. It is decided by fact. Sometimes
disingenuous comments need to be confronted.
At any rate, I really do
not know how good or bad this fellow's product is or how much he
sells. I do know that he has put a lot of thought into it
and got as much info from others as he can without giving any in
return. At any rate, he uses quite a few ingredients and
does not reveal what they are, and I gather that "Open Source"
products using inexpensive and effective ingredients which are
clearly stated by the manufacturer are affecting his ability to
charge the prices he would like to. I would think that if
the product was head and shoulders above others, that beekeepers
would notice and be willing to pay his price. Apparently
not, and he has to rely on negative digs and fearmongering.
The supplement
business has gotten to be a gold mine for some entrepreneurs
and a target for snake oil tactics. A supplement
can only do so much. It can bring nourishment up to
the highest possible standard, but there has to be a
natural limit beyond which nutrition cannot be improved and
any extra expense is wasted.
If a hive of bees is
optimally nourished, then feeding a supplement cannot
further improve the state of the hive. The provision
of protein in-hive could alter the foraging behaviour a bit,
but otherwise to increase bee performance beyond that of
a well-nourished bee, a feed would have to be classed as a
stimulant!
After years of
thinking that we could come up with an ideal bee diet, I now
suspect that for free-flying bees, supplements approached
the the limits of efficacy some decades back. There is
such a thing as the law of diminishing returns. Since
then, the real challenges have been to improve price,
design, manufacture, warehousing and delivery. Some
small improvements in content have been attempted using
various refined products and sometimes they seem to be
superior, however the payback for added cost in real-world
situations has been hard to prove.
Pragmatic beekeepers
stick to the tried and true while others are seduced into
paying higher prices by clever marketing and
FUD campaigns.
FUD campaigns are amazingly
effective and can convince people to abandon sensible and
economical products in favour of costlier ones without any
proof.
After all, any
nutrients beyond the bees' actual requirements are simply
wasted, no matter how wonderful or expensive they may be.
Unless the bees are really on bad pasture or weak in
population, the amount of supplementation needed could
sometimes be minimal.
Beyond what good
nutrition can do, we are talking stimulants, and that
is a whole different topic, both practically and
philosophically.
Outfits like
Global Patties
which provide a good product for low price really annoy the
snake-oil guys promoting imaginary improvements. I
personally like the people at Global and their philosophy of
being the low-price supplier and I help them when I can.
They are not slick marketers, but rather plain, honest
people who want to do the best for their customers.
Global drove down
the price of supplement when they entered the market, and
some suppliers hate them for that. Up until then,
supplement was very a profitable specialty product.
I'd like to help them drive the prices down lower.
Since I began
the push for using supplements and better supplements
almost a decade ago now, the price, quality, packaging
and delivery of supplements has improved greatly, but we
have seen little real increase in efficacy. At
least three major competing feed products and
perhaps more are a direct result of my early efforts and
enquiries, including possibly the one I mention above
one, since I recall stimulating interest on BEE-L early
on and supplying him with info on several occasions.
Initially, I
approached a number of scientists and institutions in an
attempt to have them work on an open-source, improved
product, however each was seduced by the idea of making
big bucks and made up secret formulas. It seems to
me that when it turned out that all their efforts
produced only marginal results, the response was employ
marketing tricks to suggest superiority where science
had failed to generate a real economic benefit.
My message is that
all the products I know about at present are effective and
that the question for buyers is freshness, delivery and
price. There may be some differences, and possibly
some poorer ones, but there is no clear-cut winner, and the
results of comparisons depends on the test method and
environment chosen.
May be this will
change. We'll see.
Anyhow, I just burned some
bridges at BeeSource, I expect. Oh, well. It really
is a waste of time when anything the moderator does not like is
cut out, not because it is wrong or even irrelevant, but because
it is "confrontational".
They have a lot of happy
people there. They are happy because everybody has
to be happy. Anyone who protests or upsets momma gets
their message altered. What can be wrong with that?
What worries me is that
some of the BeeSource forums demonstrate the worst of what
was predicted for the Internet, namely misinformation,
speculation and
FUD achieving equal credibility with fact
and reason -- and no way to address it because
everyone's expressed opinion is of equal weight, no matter
how disingenuous or uninformed.
Many parts of BeeSource are
excellent, but some moderators value peace and tranquility over
allowing members to hash things out. Other moderators seem
to understand that friction and confrontation within bounds
result in understanding and bring out facts which would
otherwise be concealed.
Oftentimes, a little heat
between well-mannered, well-matched opponents can be a good
thing. The most recent debate was civil and germane, with
-- AFAIK -- no cries of "foul" from the participants.
Everyone involved was cool, and good information and ideas were
being exposed, so why interfere?
I have the entire
unexpurgated text of the exchange, so maybe I should post it
here? I have so many better things to do, though.
I probably should post
Barry's rather personal and intemperate letter to me about
my objections to having my comments altered and the
suggestion we take the discussion to BEE-L where it could
proceed without censorship. His email demonstrates how
he does not practice what he enforces on others when it
comes to confrontation
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Monday August 2nd 2010
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Civic Holiday Weekend
Ellen & I
thought we'd go shopping, but virtually all the stores were
closed, including Wal-Mart, so we gave up.
When
we got back, I sent some pictures
to Wal-Mart via the
web for printing and a few hours later I got an email saying
they are ready for pickup tomorrow early in Parry Sound.
Cool! This is the first time I've tried this. The
price is very reasonable, amounting to somewhere around 20c
each.
Mom took us
out for supper at the Fish Bowl. We drove around and
looked at the neighbourhood, then we returned to pack for an
early departure tomorrow.
I sent an
additional, smaller last-minute photo order in a few minutes
ago, before I wrote the last two paragraphs, hoping that it
might be ready tomorrow, too. An email came in just now
saying the second batch is ready for pickup, too!
I asked for
them all to be done in Parry sound, since we stop there anyhow.
I guess that store is open today. We expect to be there
around 8, and they open at 7.
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Tuesday August
3rd 2010
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We left at
6 and we're now on the road south. The Rocket Hub works
well and provides good Internet on the move. Mom is behind
us and our first destination is Pine Hill. From
there we drive to YYZ to put Ellen onto the plane for home.
We stopped
in Parry Sound for a break. The pictures were there and
ready and I am quite pleased with the quality.
* *
* * * *
OK.
Ellen is on the plane and I am back at Pine Hill, living on my
boat. It was a long day. The drive was hot and
muggy. Air conditioning helps, but only so much. We
were concerned about traffic and the delays at security, so
Ellen arrived two hours early for here flight. She has
some good books.
Wednesday August
4th 2010
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Ellen
sent me some pictures. The
scale hives have put on a bit of weight. (63.5-31-5)/4=8 lbs per
hive since last measure on July 18th. That is roughly a
two-week period. The skunks continue to be a
problem. Maybe supering will help, but I am starting to
wonder.
Speaking
of skunks, I dropped by BeeSource to see if the thread had
continued, but it seems to have died. It also looks as if
I am effectively banned from posting on BeeSource since anything
I post is subject to alteration before publication and we know
how that works. They do not ask my permission first or
respond to objections that I have been distorted. If I
post, I get to have my words massaged into someone else's point
of view.
I asked Barry to remove my
account at one time in the past and to delete all the posts
attributed to me and he has not done so, yet at least. I
have not asked again, since some of the material IS my
opinion or contribution and I don't want to be silly and petty,
but I concerns me that I my context has been distorted in some
cases. How does one find balance? Escalating
conflicts is not very mature and I try to avoid that.
Personally, I think
that by editing all the posts and deleting context that
Barry leaves himself wide open. If he did not, he
could claim, like BEE-L, that the posts are the opinions of
the person posting and not the board.
BEE-L does not edit
and either rejects or accepts posts on the basis of format
or for for what amounts to irrelevance according to
published explicit guidelines. In the case of
BeeSource, the opinions on the boards are actually those of
the moderators. Otherwise one can assume they
would be deleted.
|
"Hi Allen, I
thought it was rather funny that you referred to (the
moderator) as a "Mother Hen", since one of the
commercial beekeepers from here went out to CA and
worked for them during the last Almond season and also
referred to her as a "Mother Hen". So I suppose you got
it right. But I would like to see the entire nutrition
discussion as I was reading it with some interest before
it began to get dismembered. I would not mind seeing
Barry's comment to either. Thanks |
I really do not have the
time to find, assemble and format this now, but someday...
I have started to organise it.
And I don't want to be too
picky, but for the definition of "commercial", I suppose
BeeSource and I will have to differ. I know a lot of
big-time commercial people and they are not so sensitive or
petty. They can't be or they would not be big-time.
They'd still be small-time. The successful operators have their
eye on the larger picture and are used to conflict, and
comfortable with confrontation when it is called for.
Everyone has to
start somewhere, though, so who am I to judge? I've
had 100 and I've had 4,500.
In the meantime, does
anyone know of a legitimate forum where the moderators routinely
alter the posts of members and routinely delete posts for "off
topic" even when they are part of the flow of discussion?
Today,
we had a memorial for my Aunt who passed away in February at
the age of 96. We had about twenty family members over
on the veranda and had a pleasant gathering. We
followed that up with some tubing on the Lake, then I sailed
around Tobin's Island alone. Tomorrow, the other side
of the family is coming to visit.
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Thursday August
5th 2010
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This was a
busy day, with Neal, Jack, and Gordon and their families
up for the day. We visited, did some tubing, then had
supper on Ron's veranda.
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Friday August
6th 2010
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I slept in
until almost 9. The day turned out to be sunny, breezy,
and cool. After the events of the past two days, this was
a quieter day except that my sister had breathing difficulty and
had to go to a clinic. The doctor diagnosed a chest
infection and the prescription seemed to have things back closer
to normal by mid-afternoon. I sailed up the Lake to see if
using the foresail from Chris' boat would be practical, since it
is smaller and more suited to the high, gusty winds of the day.
I worked, but I need to figure out how to rig it better.
Lindsey and Andy rented a car and left for Ottawa to attend a
wedding. Sid went to Sudbury, leaving just me and the
three ladies. Since it turned cool, we lit a fire in
the evening. I turned in early, down in the cozy V-berth
on my boat..
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Saturday August
7th 2010
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Some time back, I fixed up
the
Honey Bee World Forum. It used to be quite
active, but I had some technical problems and let it die when I
took a year or two off from the diary and actually deleted the
diary entirely.
Due to public demand, I
brought the diary back and then began writing again. For a
while, the forum, unknown to me was locked and no one could
post. I thought I fixed that, but no one posts there.
People write me from the link next to the forum link, but I am
wondering if the forum works. If anyone is reading this, please
try posting at the
Honey Bee World Forum and
write me if you cannot register
or post. Thanks.
As I
write this morning, I am sitting on the veranda, looking
down on the Indian River upriver from Port Carling.
Today is the antique boat show. The event attracts to
many old wooden boats from around the lakes and they are
funneled down the River past our dock, coming and going.
The boats vary from small economical runabouts to long,
sleek racers from a century back and elegant, sedate touring
boats. All ar4e shined up and the pride of their
owners. We are treated to quite a parade.
| I have edited the following
to remove personal identifying details, but offer it
here because the question is one which always comes up,
but cannot be answered simply. I also prefer to
write for an audience greater than one if the topic
takes time and effort.
(Note: If it seems that I am
sucking and blowing at the same time by altering a
message sent to me, my defense is that this message is
not attributed to anyone, and the writer actually does
not want to be identified or take credit for his
writing, so these are actually my words, using his as a
framework).
> Hello Allen, I have been
helping a commercial beekeeper this year. He sets
the flails on his uncapper as close as he can,
perhaps a half inch gap. He runs 8 frames in his
honey supers, and he says that by running 8 frames
and using the uncapper to hog away so much comb, he
is able to get 2 pounds of wax per every 100 pounds
of honey produced. He says that it is normal to get
1 pound of wax for every 100 pounds. After
uncapping, his old combs are thin in the center,
almost down to the foundation. The cells will be a
little deeper near the top and bottom bars, because
the bars prevent the flails from removing more wax.
It is my understanding that
the amount of nectar to produce one pound of wax is
comparable to somewhere between 7 and 11 pounds of
honey, and 8 pounds of honey is the number commonly
thrown around. This is the reason drawn comb is so
important, because drawing comb reduces honey yield.
The commercial beekeeper normally produces 3 tons of
wax a year. He sells the wax for $4-$5 a
pound. It doesn't make sense to me. What am I
missing?
You are not missing
anything, but the question and the answers are
complex, depending much on the time of year, rate of
flow, size of colony, etc.. I was given the
same advice by a commercial beekeeper many years
ago. He ran a large operation and founded a
beekeeping dynasty, so he was not stupid and I can
assure you that he pinched every penny twice.
What he told me is that
in a good flow, bees are making wax anyhow, and if
they have no place to put it, it winds up making
burr comb, ladder comb, fat combs or in scales on
the floor. That results in waste and added work for
the beekeeper and a plugged-up hive.
At the time, the
ratio of wax price to honey price favoured wax more
than it does today. He felt it did not affect
honey production, but added steady and immediate
profit, especially when the honey market dried up
temporarily as it does periodically. So, what
I am saying is that this approach is not atypical.
There are other advantages to uncapping deep, too,
especially if the honey is thick or partially
granulated.
> If he uncapped like most
folks, he would get less wax, but he should also get
much increased honey production. It looks to
me like he is losing a minimum of $29,400 if one
pound of wax is equivalent to 8 pounds of honey.
There is the weak point
in the reasoning. There is no equivalence.
The number widely bandied about is merely a guess.
It may actually be approximately correct when bees
are fed to produce comb, however we have no real way
to know what the cost is, if any, during a strong
flow.
I suspect that it may be
zero. The need to draw some comb may be
stimulative and cause more bees to do more work than
they would otherwise, especially if there is a
surplus of bees of the correct age for wax making
and they are already secreting wax. It has
been shown that bees typically spend a lot of time
resting and doing --apparently -- nothing. If
they are inspired to a building project, perhaps
more of them get involved.
Moreover, the thinner
combs occupy less space, so the empty supers provide
more room for the bees. Additionally, bees do
not regard thinned combs the same way they do
foundation, and re-draw it very readily, and the
amount of wax required to finish the tops of cells
is less than that required for midrib and bottoms.
> When I ask him why he does
it like this, he says this is always the way they
have done it. I brought up his comb honey
production. His bees can fill a medium super of
drawn comb in an extraction hive in one week, but it
takes almost 2 weeks for his comb honey hives to
draw out and fill a shallow box of comb honey.
That is interesting.
I found that my yields in comb honey were not much
different from the yields on extracted hives.
It is hard to compare, though. It seems, too
that my experience differs from that of other
reporters.
Consider, too, that in
the comb hive, they may be plugging the broods
before filling the comb boxes unless he uses single
broods for the comb. This can fool
people into thinking that the amount brought in is
different. It may not be. With no ready comb
above, bees do tend to store in the brood box before
they work the comb boxes. Besides, they do not
like comb boxes and, especially for the first comb
boxes, before they get used to them, bees delay
working in them.
In the case of the
thinned down extracting combs, though, they are
familiar and even though the cells are shallow, they
can store thin nectar there immediately,. As a
result, the broods are are not plugged.
Incoming thin nectar is normally spread out over an
area of comb to dry. With foundation, they
cannot spread out nectar or store there at first.
If there is no place for nectar, they must stop
foraging or fill the brood cells, or both.
With even thinned down drawn super combs, they can
temporarily store and dry nectar above, especially
if they are supplied several supers at a time.
> You mentioned that you
used to be a big Ross Rounds producer. Did you ever
figure up how much honey production is reduced by
wax production? Is the 8 pound number realistic? (I
seem to remember you saying something once that bees
could handle drawing 10%-20% new wax a year with no
noticeable honey loss, but over 30% impacted honey
production.)
I think I answered that
above, but as for the amount of brood comb I can
draw and replace in an extracting hive, that is a
very different question from what happens in a comb
hive. Also there is a huge difference between
what bees can do in a good year and what a beekeeper
should consider a safe expectation. A smart
beekeeper is quite conservative because losses can
cost far more than what can sometimes be gained by
luck or by gambling.
Our limitation for brood
comb replacement here in the north is that bees do
not winter reliably or well if they are given too
much new brood comb to winter on. I do not
know the reason.
As for the impact on
production, that depends very much on the year.
Some years, bees willingly draw lots of super comb
from foundation with apparently little cost, but
other years, they may not draw it at all well,
and become plugged below. (This is with multiple
brood chambers, not single broods, which function
more like comb honey hives and can draw more comb).
The techniques and hive
configuration for comb production are often much
different from those chosen for honey production.
Reliable maximum comb honey production requires
single brood chambers, whereas extracted producers
typically run multiple broods. That is
changing, though, and some extracted honey people
are adopting comb techniques to maximize their
crops.
The downside is that comb
colonies winter much more poorly than hives which
have been run for extracted honey, due to having
been crowded and plugged at times. They are
often unable to raise the same numbers of young bees
and achieve maximal populations.
Spring and fall
management, also, becomes more tricky and timing
becomes very important since singles swarm or starve
in a short time frame compared to doubles, and
singles are harder to winter. I always add
another brood under singles as soon as supers are
pulled and feed like crazy. Then they winter
like doubles.
>What am I missing, or have
I simply picked up on a management method that has
room for improvement?
What I always say is
never be too critical of a successful system or an
operator who has survived in beekeeping over time.
Theory is just theory, and although it makes a good
guide, nothing succeeds like success.
Too many young guys take
over farms which have provided a good livelihood for
generations and immediately apply all the ideas they
learned in school and in books. Within a few
years, those operations -- far more often than not
-- are up for sale, busted.
My advice to aspiring
beekeepers is this: Find a business which has been
running for years and has an honest owner with
honest tax returns showing steady profitability.
Arrange to buy it out over a few years from the
profits and insist the owner continues to advise,
and DON'T CHANGE A THING.
We often don't understand
why things work and all too often, people buy a
goose that lays a golden egg and then try to improve
it. They seldom do.
> side note> I am trying
another batch of queens using the Hopkins method - I
made the hive hopelessly queenless first, and moved
the hive in the yard this time to get rid of
foragers to prevent them from plugging everything up
with honey like they did last time. Thanks for your
tips. I'm trying to make a YouTube video too - so if
it works out I can teach others how I did it.
Good. I'm looking
forward to seeing it.
|
This was a
good day. I bought some groceries and then went for a
sail. I picked Mom's cousin along the way and we had a
good time although it was very gusty and we were overpowered at
times. I turned back early though, since we had company
for dinner. John and Jane came to visit Linda and Sid.
We had a pleasant evening.
The day is
over and I am in the cabin of my little boat listening to a
party across the River at Sunset, the cottage with a US flag
flying below the Maple Leaf. It is not the usual sort
obnoxious party with loud music and drunken laughter. This
one has some fairly loud music, but much of it is the singing
and chanting of the young girls having the party. Seems
about a dozen teen-age girls are up for a weekend at the River.
So far, it is charming. I hope that they have a curfew,
though.
Yes, I
guess they did. Just before eleven, the music was turned
off and voices reduced to a murmur, then silence returned to the
River.
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Sunday August
8th 2010
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We have
rain this morning. Wind is from the east and the weather
guessers are saying there is more rain to come.
A reader tried the
Honey Bee World Forum and was able to post without a
problem. On completion, he received the message, "This
message has been submitted successfully, but it will need to be
approved by a moderator before it is publicly viewable. You will
be notified when your post has been approved."
I immediately thought that
maybe there was a pile of messages awaiting approval, but I
checked and there were not. I guess that there are plenty
of beekeeping forums these days and that this one is just one
too many. At any rate, I'd be pleased that if anyone has a
question or message that is of interest to others, or which
could start some worthwhile discussion, that they would use
the forum. I'll try to check more often.
A few more things from
the same writer as yesterday...
> Hello Allen, Thanks for
your thoughts. The commercial beekeeper runs all his
hives in single deeps with an excluder. For his comb
honey, he places a super with old dark combs over
the excluder. When the bees begin to cap the honey
in that box, he adds comb honey supers. The super
with the old dark combs stays in place all season.
You don't mention what
kind of comb he is making. If he is making cut
comb or chunk honey from full frames of thin
foundation, then perhaps this makes sense to me,
however if he is making Ross Rounds or section comb
honey, I would think that the method is far from
optimal.
- Comb honey
production is best done in a crowded hive where
all the combs are either brood combs, with brood and
a little pollen and feed, or the comb honey
being worked on. Any other combs,
including an extra box of full combs above the
brood box AND and excluder is a honey barrier
and an impediment and will slow the production.
The only reason I can see for that box is to
make a food chamber to ensure that the bees do
not eat the comb honey between flows if the flows
are sporadic and the beekeeper is not around.
I never had that problem, but I always visited
the hives weekly, removed finished sections, and
put the new foundation or unfinished comb down
next to the brood
Perhaps there is a good reason in his system,
but I wonder...
In my experience, colonies which are given two standard boxes of
brood combs and then something they don't
particularly like above that like an excluder or
sections, bees often decide they have enough
room in the two boxes, plug them and stop
working and/or swarm. Given a single box
of brood comb and then sections or supers,
though, they are inclined to work in supers..
- I never used
excluders for comb honey. They are
unnecessary for section production, but can be
required for chunk or cut comb to keep it free
of brood.
The commercial
beekeeper told me that in a weak flow, bees build
lots of burr comb. In a heavy flow, they just build
nice fat combs. I would think that in a heavy flow,
bees could produce more wax and burr things up, but
who knows.
I'm not sure where he is
seeing the burr comb, in the broods, the super, or
the comb boxes (whatever type they are) so cannot
comment.
|
After my most recent
experience with trying to confront BS on BeeSource, and comment
about finding an honest mentor, I received a detailed a account
of an aspiring beekeeper's experience with working with a
"commercial" beekeeper who is well-known and seems genuine
on BeeSource. I cannot reproduce the note here,
unfortunately, since it is a real eye-opener, but it confirms
what I already knew and try to warn people about.
Thanks for the
details. What can I say? This is not the kind of person you
want to be anywhere near. Your story is shocking, but
not surprising to me after I spent some time on BeeSource.
That is the sad
thing about BeeSource. They do not permit anyone to confront
the bullshitters, so they all congregate there and tell
their lies, sucking in the unwary newcomers. BeeSource has a
large fantasy component.
All I can say is try to save up and attend ABF or AHPA and
meet some real commercial beekeepers. They are not at all
like this guy. Also talk to your state apiarist and
those in nearby states for references. You deserve
better.
I should add that there are
many honest, helpful people on BeeSource, too. I can tell
the difference, but less experienced beekeepers and newbees
cannot. Even then, I have to confess that I was influenced
by some of the BS there myself, gave some of the ideas the
benefit of the doubt and and it took a good dose of AFB to bring
me to my senses.
The problem is that people
want to generalize and universalize the results of a limited
experience which is in fact special. The fact that some
can do some things some places and for a period of time, even
decades, does not mean that everyone can do them everywhere and
for more than a short time. Nor does it necessarily make
them able to plausibly explain their success.
It seems that many people
do not understand that and say, "So and so does this or says
that he/she does this, so it works and everyone can/should do it".
As someone who has kept a
public diary for almost a decade, let me tell you that it is
very difficult to report everything material in regard to
anything we do. Here are a few reasons why:
-
We take some things for
granted and think them unworthy of mention
-
We don't know what the
reader does or does not know
-
Some things are hard or
impossible to explain
-
Some things we overlook
or forget to mention
-
Some things we don't
know
-
Some things we think we
see we actually have misinterpreted
-
Some things are
embarrassing or illegal or libelous so we gloss over them .
-
We get busy and things
get omitted
-
We confuse coincidence
with cause and effect
-
We don't understand how
chance works
-
We draw conclusions
from unrepresentative samples
-
We ignore evidence
which might bring our beliefs into question
-
We invest money and our
egos in a process or result and refuse to see contradictory
evidence
-
We hate to admit we
were wrong, especially where we took a strong or
controversial stand
-
Etc.
All the above assumes the
intent is to be honest and forthright. In this world there
are people who lie for profit and people who lie for fun and
people who just have problems distinguishing truth from fantasy.
Maybe you remember the kids
back in grade school who had a limited grip on reality and told
you things that were just unbelievable. They are still out
there, grown-up, still pretty weird, but looking like everyone
else. The much more polished in their delivery and
normal-looking, but just as delusional or psychotic. For
some reason, it seems that more than one would expect are
small-time beekeepers.
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Monday August 9th 2010
August past:
2009,
2005,
2004,
2003,
2002,
2001,
2000,
1999
Another day
with cloud and rain is forecast. Yesterday, we had a heavy
downpour which lasted for hours. My boat is pretty dry,
but I had left the sail cover off and water ran inside the sail,
under the boom tent which I had rigged, and onto the pop-top.
The pop-top is not quite watertight and drips; some of my things
got a bit damp. Otherwise, no problem.
John Pat
and his girlfriend came over mid-day as did Ron and family.
John and Diane came by open boat, and when they left, it was in
the middle of the heaviest downpour. John is a water
person and does not mind getting wet. I guess she is too.
Ron and family are flying back to the Left Coast and were here
to say their good-byes. They came over by car, so the rain
was no problem for them.
This is my
last day in Muskoka for now. I head home at 8:30 tomorrow
night. Mom drives north first thing tomorrow and I have
not decided when to make the drive. Linda is better and we
arranged to have Mark come down to back Kyla up for a few days,
so Mom is free to get back to her garden.
As for me,
I have a week at home and then it is off to Laguna Beach for me,
to see Jon and the kids. I had a cap come off a molar some
time back, so I plan to hit Tijuana for a trip or two to the
dentist. The savings in dental costs more than pay for the
trip plus car rental, and there is no waiting.
*
* * *
* *
Graham came
over late in the afternoon and we put some fascia onto the
boathouse. Later, after supper, Graham, Andy and I went
tubing. We gave Graham quite a ride.
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A Beekeeper's Diary
