I have noticed that the occasional honeybee I see hanging around my garden is much smaller that they used to be. I wondered about that.
Sounds like you need to change the size of the supers as well. Hope it works. Mason bees are an alternative, but it sounds like they are not a full season pollinator.
There’s some real pip Lefties having coronaries in the comments section for this article. Don’t miss the spectacle, FReepers.
Very interesting article.
I live on 33 acres with a small orchard surrounded by redwood forests. Twice this spring we have seen huge swarms of bees, many thousands, hovering in the orchard, and then they veer off into the forest. I’m wondering if those are “wild” bees who have a hive nearby.
Welcome to FreeRepublic, by the way.
Heard about this honeybee industrialization from Richard C. Hoagland a couple weeks ago. That’s right, the Face on Mars guy. He mentioned the exact same cell dimensions as this article.
So Richard Hoagland was right about the cell size? http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/243421/to_bee_or_not_to_bee_that_is_the_question.html
A lot of interesting back and forth on the supposed/proposed solution to the problem in the comments section at the link. IMHO enough insight/information to be worth reading.
Somebody explain to me please why I suddenly have fat, slow, two-inch-long monster wasps or bees or whatever in my house. The Maryland cooperative extension service, which is supposed to know about hymenoptera, denies that this is possible.
My suburban home is semi rural and we have lots of natural bees around no shortage for our gardens at all
Hmmmmm...
How can anyone have “organic” bees? Do they control where the bees get pollen and nectar? Unless you have the hives on a very large property which you control, I don’t think so. The bees could easily go to neighboring properties where non-organic practices are used.
Thanks, this led me to some very fascinating reading.
Bee Feed Tested for Pet Food Taints - (Colony Collapse Disorder)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1836058/posts
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