Bees, so many bees!

[aart]

Quote:

Right now is usually when California beeks who do custom pollination start feeding syrup and putting pollen patties in their hives.

The reason is because almond and other farmers refuse to shell out the green to rent bee hives with only a hand full of field bees in them. You folks can't sell a dozen eggs with only 3 or 4 eggs in the carton can you? Well farmers don't pay for pollination services if there is no pollinating going on.

Since bees sit on the nest sort of like a hen does and like a baby chicken it requires 21 days from the day that the egg is laid until a new bee emerges from its brood cell, it requires lead time for a hive to build up or produce a high enough population to gather enough nectar, pollen, water, and propolis to feed themselves and also to raise enough new nurse and field bees to keep the brood combs at 93 degrees while also pollinating crops.

Of course with the President threating to veto the latest attempt to aid the farmers in the Western part of California's Central Valley by allotting them more irrigation water, farmers have already bulldozed up a lot of almond trees and even more crop and orchard land has reverted to desert. This depresses the demand for bee hives to pollinate certain nut and fruit crops. Since the thread starter is smack dab in the middle of the Central Valley I expect him and several other people in this area will have problems coping with starving and desperate bees because there is just not enough work anymore for bees in your neck of the woods to keep a hive well fed.

So if there's not enough 'work' for a keepers bees, they just let's them go run rampant to forage wherever instead of providing for them?

Maybe the reduction in numbers the OP is seeing presently is because the keeper HAS started feeding/watering after hearing of the problem?

 

[rebrascora]

Quote: That is about as factually correct as saying an egg is hen poop..... just because it comes out of the same orifice. Surely on BYC we try to encourage an enlightened approach to animal husbandry, whatever the creature.

I agree that it is the management of these bees that is causing the problem. It is very unnatural for bees to rear young in any significant quantity at this time of year in the northern hemisphere and that is the only reason they need protein and are raiding your feeders.... water is another matter. Not enough flowers producing pollen at this time of year, so they seek a substitute in your hen feed. As a natural beekeeper I consider it a very sad state of affairs to see bees reduced to desperation like this because of modern agricultural practices. Almond orchards need pollinating in Jan/Feb time so strong hives are needed which means they have to be pushed into producing brood when they should be having a brood break. It's just like battery hens being artificially stimulated to keep laying and then culled and replaced. Just because the bees are out in the open working their wings to death doesn't mean it is any different. Those bees will have a much shorter life because they are being pushed to the limit and the colony will suffer stress and ill health as a result..... all part of the significant problems bees are facing these days.

This post acts as a stark reminder to me to buy organic and not to be tempted to buy out of season fruit and veg and become part of the market that drives these practices.

Sadly you and the bees are both the victims in this situation. Lets hope the previous poster is right and your visit has prompted your neighbour to start feeding or feed more pollen patties, even if he wasn't helpful to speak to. At least the problem will be transient as the bees will be getting shipped out again in a few weeks time no doubt!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Forgive me, I can't help myself.

That is about as factually correct as saying an egg is hen poop..... just because it comes out of the same orifice. Surely on BYC we try to encourage an enlightened approach to animal husbandry, whatever the creature.

I agree wholeheartedly with you. So what the poster you were addressing is saying is that eggs from chickens that lay dark shelled eggs like Easter Eggers are made of chicken poo-poo, while the white shelled eggs are composed entirely of poultry pee-pee.

Have a good day now, you hear?

 

[chickengeorgeto]

So if there's not enough 'work' for a keepers bees, they just let's them go run rampant to forage wherever instead of providing for them?

Maybe the reduction in numbers the OP is seeing presently is because the keeper HAS started feeding/watering after hearing of the problem?

I also understand that the dry areas of California got some rain recently.

 

[Michael Apple]

When the honey flow comes to an end, worker bees remove the drones from the hive. Bees will also swarm if a queen is killed, or another queen hatches, or overpopulation of the hive. Supplement feeding corn syrup instead of sugar also sends bees astray. With the amount of pesticide and herbicide use by certain counties and cities, it should be no surprise to see such a decline in population. Bees have it tough in California, and many other states too.

 

[21hens-incharge]

That is about as factually correct as saying an egg is hen poop..... just because it comes out of the same orifice. Surely on BYC we try to encourage an enlightened approach to animal husbandry, whatever the creature.
To this I will apologize. I was trying to make a small funny out of what I am sure is a frustrating situation for the OP. I rather like bees visiting my place as I have already stated. I did not mean to offend anyone.

I do also believe that I indicated I thought perhaps the owner of the bees is not as educated in their needs as they should be.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I was trying to make a funny along with you.

 

[Kadjain]

With respect to damage silicon you will not have a strong footing. I routinely use what you have in an aquaculture setting. Bees will not be able to get down to areas where silicon actually forms seal; even when using their extended proboscis as shown in second to last image.

Doesn't this look sealed?


As for the rest of your comments, thanks for the support although it is a lot to take in for someone who cares little about the keeping of bees. I do not think he has taken any action to my concerns as when the rain is not pouring they return in high numbers. I am going to write a letter to him with a lot of the information I am learning from your responses.

Thank you .. .

 

[centrarchid]

Use of silicone in applications similar to yours are intended to be temporary and under very consistent conditions. Temperature and sunlight can promote leaks that bees take advantage of.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

So if there's not enough 'work' for a keepers bees, they just let's them go run rampant to forage wherever instead of providing for them?

Maybe the reduction in numbers the OP is seeing presently is because the keeper HAS started feeding/watering after hearing of the problem?

I don't intend to make to much of an a-do about it, but bees pretty much run rampant whether they live in a man made hive or in a hollow tree in Poo Bear's 100 Acre Wood. There are no domesticated honey bees anywhere in nature.

There could 'bee' anywhere from a few dozen to a 1,000 or more hives in a commercial beek's bee-yard at this time of year. At 20,000 bees per hive BEFORE the build up even begins that equals a bunch of working women to feed.

The climate in the Central Valley is out of sync with the rest of the Northern Hemisphere so the trigger of daylight hours that signals the bees when to start brood rearing in earnest is out of sync with the temperature and vegetation.