I've inadvertantly hit some key combo and killed the ability of the arrow keys to scroll/move thru text...all they will do is move the window up/down left/right.
Forte Agent 1.93/32.576 English (American)
Yeah, yeah....I'm still being cheap and *thought* I knew the proggie well.
You have the solution?
Thanks Charlie
Yeah Charlie, you hit the scroll lock key by accident. Look in the lower right hand corner of Agent,
If SCRL is visible, hit the Scroll Lock key on your keyboard to turn it off. To then turn off the LED on your keyboard, click on the desktop and hit the key again. Us old time users have to stick together... ;-)
Oh? Hmmm. I see! Well now.....hmmm. How about that!
Huh! hmmm.......Back to normal now, my friend! THANKS!
Indeed we do, indeed we do.
Please, charge the first couple pounds of morels you find to my account in order to adequately convey my gratitude. ;-)
Thanks and thanks again Charlie
Charlie expounded:
I would have, but while I was sleeping Steve came to your rescue :o)
I was up late last night on a Bee forum chat with two great organic beekeepers. Very interesting stuff - there is hope!
Hey Ann. Thanks anyway. :-)
I'm curious. Hope for the bees in what way?
All I know about bees is that we really, really need 'em, and they seem to be in increasingly short supply.
Last week we had two days of 60ish weather, before a return to the freezer, and I saw a couple of the little fellers buzzing in and out of the garage.
Care Charlie
Charlie expounded:
If we really, really try to let the bees breed a resistance to the mites (they will, but we don't let it happen right now with our chemical management of the mite problem) then we can stop beeks from using the hard chemicals in their hives - that's one problem dealt with. The biggest problem, as far as I'm concerned, is something many of us are up in arms about - heavy agricultural use of chemicals and the GM pollen. Those last two are huge! But I really do think the honeybee is the 'canary in a coal mine'. Everyone in agriculture knows we need them for pollination. Maybe now, that they're so threatened, they'll start to listen and do something to clean up their act. Maybe. I hope.
But it may just be the hobbyist beek who ends up saving and conserving our beloved honeybee.
Fellows? The fellows are useless for anything but mating. Those were ladies in your garage! :o)
So far all six of our hives have made it this far. March can be cruel, but we've got fondant on them, I'm making pollen patties (out of real pollen) to put on to keep them going through til they can reliably forage. They have been out, I've been sitting in my chair down back watching them bringing in bright yellow pollen, probably from the witch hazels and skunk cabbages that are blooming right now. Here's a shot of what I call the harbingers of spring around here, I prowl through the woods every February watching for the first of the blooms - they're late this year, this was taken March 3rd.
Ok. Got the development of resistance to mites, but the GM thing scares hell out of a lot of us. Sometime and somewhere this winter I read an article about some insect, I'm wanting to remember mayflies, that depended upon part of it's development in crop residue and that this development was stopped by the frankenresidue. This in turn was having a negative inpact on some other critter up the food chain that depended upon this insect. I cna't for the life of me remember the specifics.
And I thank you for this, Ann and all your fellow beeks.
Ladies? Heh heh.....Old Charlie can still attract 'em. Hey, and don't you go making any comparisons about Charlie and the guy bees!
Thanks for the pics...I nosed about a bit in the pictures....you've had some serious snow.
My wife's Grandad kept bees his whole life. I wish I had paid attention more and actually helped him work the bees, but when one is in their early twenties, sometimes you don't know what is important.
Keep up the good work.
Care Charlie
Charlie expounded:
That snow is actually at our house up in Maine. It's amazing what a difference 97 miles makes!
You could try a hive yourself, it isn't that hard, especially if you go with the 8 frame mediums. It's interesting, entertaining, even calming, believe it or not (I know, I know, how can working with stinging insects be calming - they can be amazingly docile, especially from a good breeder). If you ever get interested find a local bee club and attend a few meetings - the people are great and there will surely be someone there to help you.
And I know you're no drone!
Ann, I would like to know if I have a half acre with plenty of forage all year long would bees stay here to feed or do they still move out of the area to forage? Second, how many hives should one start with and how much are we talking to get started. Include the honey extractor (of can these be rigged) and how much for the bees? I am so seriously thinking of doing this.
Thanks, Victoria
All Right !!!
I was going to ask some of these same questions. I have more to ask.... like I live in town with lots of open land around, but it is on a city street that is fairly busy early morning and late afternoon.....30 mph traffic. The property sits about ten feet higher than the street. How big a problem is this?
As far as an extractor, I always liked comb honey from wife's Granddad. Still do.
Thanks. Looks like it's time for Bee 101 with Professor Ann at the lectern? I'm really interested in the basic requirements as far as location and environmental hazards to the bees.
Sure would help with my zuchinni pollination. :-)
Care Charlie
Though I sometimes do drone a bit in my posts. ;-)
Jangchub expounded:
They'd still go out and about, generally within a two mile radius if the forage is good, but they'll go farther if they have to. We're on .6 of an acre in a semi-suburban area. We are in an agricultural town, so the zoning isn't a problem, that's something you need to check on locally.
If there are neighbors nearby, just put a fence about four or five feet from the hive entrance - they'll go up and over. Pools can be a problem, they like chlorine (go figure!!) so you need to make sure you provide them with a reliable water source nearby. All of our equipment is painted Rhubarb Green to help it blend in with the foliage in the backyard, I love the color. Down where you are, however, you need to stick to lighter colors to reflect the sun.
Most everyone would advise you to start with two, just for comparison sake and if something happens to the one you've still got the other. That's what we did. And last year when we bought two hives to replace the first two (they died over the winter - it's something you just have to accept, sometimes your bees will die) one of the packages died within a week due to the horrid weather we had when we did the install. So it goes. The other package is the one that's still out there, two more at Mom's have done well. We've purchased four more for this season in MA.
Hubby had to do an equipment program for bee school so I've got some figures available. You can get this stuff at many suppliers, we just like Brushy Mountain, so those are the prices I'm showing you. Things vary from supplier to supplier. They aren't the cheapest, but their stuff is very good quality. Shipping charges can be a bear, so if there's a supplier nearer you, it's probably better to deal with them.
The hive setup will be ~$166.20 per hive (priced from Brushy Mountain, others will be comparable), that's for each hive:
Medium Frames (50) 34.00 Medium Supers (5) 47.50 Screen Bottom Board 13.75 Telescoping Cover 17.45 Inner Cover 8.15 Foundation (50 sheets) 30.50 Entrance Reducer 0.80 Mouseguard 2.10 Plastic Hivetop Feeder 11.95
For you, V, I would seriously consider eight frame mediums. They're far ligher than the standard deeps (a full deep can weigh 90 lbs!) and easier for us members of the fairer sex to hoist. The prices above will change with that selection. We use all 10 frame mediums, a more standard size. That's a good choice for you, too, but the eight frames are just that much lighter.
The other equipment you'll need (just one of each):
Smoker 29.95 Hive Tool 5.85 Veil 16.95 Gloves 19.95 Imarie Shim 2.75 Fume Board 7.25 Uncapping Scratcher 5.95 Fisher Bee Quick or Honeyrobber 12.95 Plastic Bottling Tank & Honey Filter 29.95
That totals about $132.00.
You can usually get involved with a local beekeeping organization where they'll share an extractor, or you can buy one, depending on motors, hand cranks, whatever, anywhere from $100 up to $1,000. We bought one from Mann Lake for $799, and the shipping was $216. Nothing in beekeeping is cheap!
Our club buys packages every year, this year they're $66 apiece. Some are higher. You can also start out with what's known as a nuc, or a nuclear hive, that's a small, established hive usually consisting of five frames of bees, brood, pollen and honey. The advantage to a nuc is the queen is laying. Packages are usually installed on new foundation, the bees have to draw the comb before the queen can begin to lay eggs or the workers can store nectar or pollen. Nucs give them a head start, but you pay for the convenience. They're about $90 around here.
It's really a neat adventure, I highly suggest it.
Find a local beekeeping club to get more info. All beekeeping is local, advice for up here is far different than for you in Texas. Check here for more info:
Charlie expounded:
It's not a problem at all, they're too busy in the flowers of everything to be bothered with traffic!
Comb honey is fun, I've heard, but we have a hard time producing it up here. If you're in a longer season than us you'll do fine with it. They need a long, strong flow to make comb honey.
You need comb honey frames, they're different from what I listed above. Ross Rounds are the standard, I think.
I'm going to post something from Bee Culture on those hazards.
It coitenly will!
I hope both of you venture into beekeeping, it's very interesting and so far while the learning curve is there, it's been fun. Hopefully this post will give you the start of the info you need.
Ann, thanks for the info.....great. I'm giving serious consideration to this. Besides the benefit and the fun, it is a way to give back to the planet in a small way and maybe help the neighborhood gardeners. I haven't talked to Lovey about this and I can just imagine her thoughts when I approach the subject...."Oh gawd, here we go yet again". I get that alot. ;-)
I'm located in the northwest corner of Missouri, 'bout a hunnert miles north of KC.
My concern about the traffic was the bees getting smooshed by cars. No problem? Do bees Stop, Look and Listen?
Thanks for your time and direction Charlie
Ann expounded:
nucleus. Forgive me, I'm tired and should be in bed. Good night!
Charlie expounded:
Well, then, here's a link to your state beekeepers' assocation
Nah, they're too busy flying from flower to flower - then tend to go up between.
There are two key forums for all things beek:
Sci.agriculture.beekeeping is very seldom visited, unfortunately, most of the beekeeping community has moved to forums.
Oh my....this should keep me busy as a bee for a while. THank you.
Nice forums, lots and lots and lots of info
So much to learn about so many things.....
CHarlie
Top posting because I didn't want to post so far down and didn't want to clip this info should someone's newserver doesn't pick up the OP.
Thank you, Ann. My purpose is both for honey and wax. Is it cruel to remove their combs for the wax? I don't want to cause any undue suffering. These poor creatures have enough of their share of problems. The wax would be used to make puja candles and candles for light offerings during Buddhist holy days.
I'll let you know what I do.
v
Jangchub expounded:
No, it's not cruel at all, they just build more. Many do what's called crush and strain on their honey supers, you'd have plenty of wax that way, although it does take hive resources to build comb - if you've got a strong hive it shouldn't be a problem.
Or you could just count on the cappings wax, that's what you remove from the top surface of the honeycomb when you're going to extract. That way they keep their honeycomb (they rebuild it amazingly fast) and you get beautiful, fresh, light comb to make into candles or anything else you might be inclined to make, like lip balm, lotion, etc. If you have any questions feel free to ask away, you know my e-mail address!
I'll keep you in the loopy. I just had physical therapy from hell! I am in such pain right now I want to take a bottle of pills. I'm definitely taking some...nighty night!
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.