Author Topic: Stupid me!  (Read 9320 times)

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Offline lazy shooter

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Re: Stupid me!
« Reply #20 on: June 14, 2015, 12:24:14 am »
My son  has a master's degree in entomology, and he hangs out with a bunch of agriculture folks.  It is his opinion, that today's world cannot be fed using organic methods.  He thinks the modern day chemicals are necessary.  I don't know enough about life science to agree or disagree.  He is just one opinion, but I do know that he tells me the truth as he understands it.

Offline Les

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Re: Stupid me!
« Reply #21 on: June 14, 2015, 06:41:54 pm »
I guess I am with Jen, the Roundup will stay on the shelf in the store.  My contribution to help the critters in this chemical ridden world,is a small oasis called my lawn and garden.   When Mother Earth gets so sick and tired, I think she will vomit all of us humans into extinction by some type of catastrophic event.  We have been here such a short period of time in comparison to the age of this planet and in that short time we have been successful in destroying the natural rhythm of nature. We spray to kill one insect or weed and then the insect that survives on that insect or weed dies off because it has nothing to eat.  A perfect example is the Monarch butterfly.  We take out all the hedgerows with Roundup so there is no milkweed.  No milkweed, no Monarch.  One by one, the pollinaters will disappear.  So are we going to do what the Chinese do, hand pollinate?  Do you think that tactic will feed the world?  I highly doubt it! Okay, I'll get off my soap box now :bee:

Offline LazyBkpr

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Re: Stupid me!
« Reply #22 on: June 14, 2015, 08:05:38 pm »
I have not seen a hedge row, Fence row, valley or bottom sprayed with round up in better than ten years.
   I would be happy to give up round up completely if someone would volunteer to clear/weed/cut about seventeen miles of fence row, 7 outyards, and two driveways over 100 yards long each, 12 outbuildings including the grain bins.....  As well as nearly 400 acres of fields..  Perhaps we should quit planting cover crops and let the fields erode instead? or is it better to plant the cover crops and then burn them down with round up when its time to plant? Erosion used to be the biggest concern, thats not the problem now, but it could be again...
   I see the fish coming back, the eagles are back, the hawks etc, we can eat the rabbits, squirrels and deer again, in fact the critters are so plentiful they have become a danger and a nuisance.  Is that how we tell how awful roundup is?
  Thirty years ago there were no rabbits, few squirrels, no dear, no eagles or hawks. Occasionally we saw buzzards, now we cant look out the window without seeing one of those species..   GEESE!  There were no geese here when I grew up... now there are tens of thousands. EVERY day I run them off my pond.. HUNDREDS of them...   
   AGAIN, I state, that I do not claim Roundup is good, but I also do not see the ill effects of 43 years of using Roundup. Instead, I see native grasses and flowers returned. I see the local wildlife returned, I see FISH in the creeks, ponds and rivers again, and we can eat those too..
 

   Hummingbird food? As far as I know its not poisonous to the bees, it is only objectionable to us, and its not the hummingbird food thats the problem, its PEOPLE who put it out in feeders that leak, or are not designed to keep bees out and let hummingbirds in.
   I am not beyond making those feeders vanish and leaving a brand new one in its place. 


  I wont argue any more, or revisit, I just ask that everyone looks at both sides of the coin before declaring it real, or counterfeit. Help find the solution, and getting rid of neonics, round up etc will be a piece of cake.
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Offline Jen

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Re: Stupid me!
« Reply #23 on: June 14, 2015, 11:40:05 pm »
Scott, i think you are a perfectionist, one who wants his lands to look perfect and groomed. I've seen pictures. I can dig that  :) And I will be the first to admit that I know nothing about how to make acres of land beautiful and managable. My little paradise in 1/4 of an acre. I can manage my weeds with cider vinegar.

I want you to know that I'm not challenging you on your uses of chemicals, just the simple air we breath has man made chemicals in it now. In my world of healing, people come to me asking for alternative ways to help them feel better. This would be the fight against pharmaceuticals... or shall I say the medical misuse of pharmaceuticals.

A cut from Wiki- Round Up-Glyphosate

Glyphosate was quickly adopted by farmers, even more so when Monsanto introduced glyphosate-resistant crops, enabling farmers to kill weeds without killing their crops. In 2007, glyphosate was the most used herbicide in the United States agricultural sector, with 180 to 185 million pounds (82,000 to 84,000 tonnes) applied, and the second-most used in home and garden market where users applied 5 to 8 million pounds (2,300 to 3,600 tonnes); in addition, industry, commerce, and government applied 13 to 15 million pounds (5,900 to 6,800 tonnes).[4] With its heavy use in agriculture, weed resistance to glyphosate is a growing problem. While glyphosate and formulations such as Roundup have been approved by regulatory bodies worldwide and are widely used, concerns about their effects on humans and the environment persist.[5]

It is just alarming to me the volume of Round Up that is used in the world.

With Great Respect, Jen  ;)
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Offline riverbee

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Re: Stupid me!
« Reply #24 on: June 15, 2015, 01:41:32 am »
hummingbird food?..............

so you can tell the difference in your supers (or brood boxes) from the red stuff, because it's red, and blame all who carry it, and blame all who use it? but can you see the hummingbird food collected in your supers made from a sugar solution that was used (like we feed our bees with) or maybe a nearby beekeeper that is open feeding their bees with sugar syrup???
my point is, it is not the hummingbird food made and sold by walmart or other stores, or the self made with sugar that many of us mix up, (clear)(including me), it's the LACK OF NATURAL FORAGE for our bees and that our bees are bringing ALL hummingbird 'food'  back in areas of dearth. not just the red stuff we can identify by its color. lack of forage, this is why they are bringing it back! there is little to nothing else for them or more prevalent for them to forage on!

we can harp all we want about the red hummingbird food, and we can harp on our neighbors,  but the fact is, it is not the red hummingbird food, and it's not what our neighbors feed the hummers......... it's lack of natural forage for our bees!!! 

pesticides, herbicides.......roundup?

roundup, imho, is really not something we need to get all wound up about as much as we do. compared to other things i have seen used. it can be safely used with common sense, but then some folks have no common sense. 
neonics?
i think we all ought to consider what was being used, and is being used in states like north dakota for the air spraying of crops and the pesticides used.........not saying it's right, just saying some chemicals are worse than others and we need to be cognizant of it.  it's not going to stop.
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Offline Les

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Re: Stupid me!
« Reply #25 on: June 15, 2015, 10:26:19 am »

Offline iddee

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Re: Stupid me!
« Reply #26 on: June 15, 2015, 04:04:23 pm »
Man made chemicals?? Let's see...... Penicillin, salk vaccine, smallpox vaccine, aspirin?? We're painting with a mighty wide brush when we downgrade man made chemicals, aren't we?
“Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”
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Offline Jen

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Re: Stupid me!
« Reply #27 on: June 16, 2015, 01:28:52 am »
Iddee... You know I'm not talking about penicilin and aspirin and vaccines!
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Offline riverbee

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Re: Stupid me!
« Reply #28 on: June 16, 2015, 03:00:19 am »
an excellent and thought provoking video les.  thank you.  i have seen this video before.

in the context of the topic of this thread.........
i would like to think that we as beekeepers are more aware of our environments than most folks are, and environmental impacts. maybe some are, maybe some are not. maybe some care, maybe some don't. as beekeepers i think over time we pick and choose our battles, because there are great ones out there and i think most of us do our best.  pests, mites, diseases, lack of forage, lack of pollen, herbicides and pesticides, neonics.   a great demand for honey bees (nucs and packages) and a great demand for queens.

can we fix it?  not sure.
bees are, and all things that live and breathe on this planet:
to the video:
alive, home, complex, beautiful, finite.
are they hurting?
of course they are.

if we as good stewards of our land and our bees; look after what we have and appreciate, teach others and educate, be diligent about our management practices, educate ourselves, be cognizant of mites, diseases, pests, and chemicals and the combs in our boxes, and the homes we provide them with and they live in,  and the surrounding environment our bees live in ....... perhaps we can contribute in a small way to our bees better health and well being in the future.  yes?
what affects one affects all, from the smallest insect to all of the birds, the deer, bear and moose and other wild animals, and the crustaceans, insects and fish in our rivers, lakes and streams.
we can't fix everything.
i am a great lover of the outdoors as many of us are. i am a fisher, i am a beekeeper, a gardener. i am observant of many insects, butterflies, bird, fowl and raptor species and all wild animals in the waters and on the land in my local area. i know what affects them and what doesn't. i am familiar with the trees, plants, berry bushes and obnoxious/noxious weeds that grow wild on my land, native and non native.  i know what my farmers are growing and what they are growing and treating their crops with. 

we work hard on our land, the forest, the wet land and the river that was mined and stripped in years past to bring back what was and might be. it's never ending. maybe someday. i wish it was pristine, restoration is in progress and on it's way, but it will never be the same. we can only do so much. 

what am i saying? pick and choose your battles. 
the township pres really gets annoyed and irritated with me when i harp on him and the rest of the country wannabe politicians about mowing the dang ditches down full of wildflowers that benefit my bees, not to mention some of their livestock.......... :D

i keep wild things in a box..........™
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Offline iddee

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Re: Stupid me!
« Reply #29 on: June 16, 2015, 06:58:08 am »
Jen, I'm just saying people should pick their wording a bit more carefully. Man made chemicals are put down on many forums and in many circles, but it is doubtful that there would be any humans or modern day machinery if not for man made chemicals. We would be extinct or still living like the cave man in remote areas to keep the diseases at bay. Even apple cider vinegar is a man made chemical.

My position is, natural is sometimes good, but if nature gave humans the ability to do better, we should use it. Yes, some are going to abuse it, so we have to restrain ourselves on both sides. We need to look for a middle road when possible, never going to the extreme either way.
There is also importance to wording and grammar.

It's time to eat, Grandma.
It's time to eat grandma.
“Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”
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Offline efmesch

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Re: Stupid me!
« Reply #30 on: June 16, 2015, 10:09:55 am »
Either way you put, Iddee---hearty apetite.  ;D :laugh: