Author Topic: Stupid me! (Read 12333 times)

Les · « **on:** June 12, 2015, 05:25:29 pm »

I pride myself on not using any harmful pesticides, herbicides etc on our little piece of heaven. However, reality struck yesterday when I went to Home Depot. As I passed through the nursery area, I looked down at a big pot of White Salvia (bee magnet BTW) and I noticed there were several honey bees on the plant doing their thing. Within a 2 second thought

,I went from gee, "I wonder if they are my bees "(we live less than a mile away from HD, to OMG they are feeding on HD nasty chemical treated plants!" Then I thought, "oh crap, you are less than two miles from Lowe's and two other nurseries". Where the heck has my head been? It never dawned on me that my bees were quite probably visiting these places. Just goes to show, no matter how hard you try to do the right thing, blah, blah. :'(

brooksbeefarm · « **Reply #1 on:** June 12, 2015, 05:44:59 pm »

Not much you can do about something like that. Like G3 says, Bees are Bees and will do as they please. Jack

LazyBkpr · « **Reply #2 on:** June 12, 2015, 06:28:37 pm »

Ouch... as stated, not much you can do about it.. rotate out the OLD comb, five ish years old etc so any build up from that stuff doesnt cause brood problems.

Jen · « **Reply #3 on:** June 12, 2015, 07:31:29 pm »

Siiiigh... Wish I had the perfect answer for ya Les... we live in one of the residential area's in town, and I know that there are pesticides and herbicides all around me. But the thing that really got me last year, was when I was doing inspections on my three hives. It had been a couple weeks or so since the last inspection, we were in a terrible drought. I pulled up RED capped honey! I was befuddled and posted pics. It was LzyBkpr that said my bees were getting their nectar from hummingbird feeders with red dye in them. So Now... We can't eat this fake honey, we can't sell this fake honey. I was disgusted!

tbonekel · « **Reply #4 on:** June 12, 2015, 09:58:32 pm »

And just think how much work they have to do to dry that hummingbird stuff. Yes, bees get what they can where they can.

Jen · « **Reply #5 on:** June 12, 2015, 11:03:04 pm »

Yep, and I sympathize with Les

lazy shooter · « **Reply #6 on:** June 13, 2015, 08:48:54 am »

One would have to own many, many acres to keep their bees on their property. All of us, are keeping bees in a universal environment. Using universal in its mathematical sense. Meaning that we keep bees that roam a minimum of a four mile diameter circle and can range up to a six or eight mile diameter circle. That makes the bees universe approximately from 12 to 50 square miles. There are more than 12 square miles in a two mile radius circle. Do you know what is happening and being grown on 12 square miles? No!

My bees are one-half mile from a small town of 2,000 people and surrounded by farmers fields. I try to educate my farmers into only spraying in the afternoon, but in reality, it's their crops, their time and money, and they spray whatever, whenever they wish. I think most of them are willing associates and help with the beekeeping, but Lowes and Walmart type folks just follow the corporate manuals and instructions.

As beekeepers, we need to keep on spreading the word and keep on spreading the word and ..............

Les · « **Reply #7 on:** June 13, 2015, 10:40:54 am »

Lazy Shooter you are so right......we do not live in a vacuum, so we just have to make the best of it. Rotating the comb is a definite or move out to nowhere and that is not going to happen.

Jen I have read articles about the red honey before. I beat up on everyone when I see they are using red nectar. I am even so bold to tell people in stores when I see them buying a feeder with the red crap. The best we can do is educate people. My friends on Facebook are probably so sick of my preaching about Roundup, red hummer food and on and on.

Jen · « **Reply #8 on:** June 13, 2015, 12:58:17 pm »

And so after finding the red dye in my hives.. I happen to be in walmart to buy some bird food.. and what is on the shelf right in front of my face? Gallon jugs of red dyed hummer food for $2.

Needless to say my face was as red as those gallons jugs. I was ready to take on corporate walmart. Still am, just have to plan my fight. Like, maybe I could go into our store, grab a 10 gallon trash can from their shelves, and open all those jugs of red chemical into the trash can, put a lid on it with a note it! Stop Killing Our Birds and Bees!

I would get termed a tree hugger probably, but Frankly Scarlett...

Les · « **Reply #9 on:** June 13, 2015, 03:16:48 pm »

Jen, you would get arrested. I have often thought about subtling putting post it notes on the bottles of Round up, that would work for the red stuff too! Hmmm we have a printer right around the corner, perhaps he could do a stack of post it notes with messages already printed on them, saying don't buy the stuff and why. I see a short trip around the block for me.

Jen · « **Reply #10 on:** June 13, 2015, 03:26:33 pm »

Love that idea!

And ya know what Les? I'm a rule breaker. A night in the Jail House Rock would only add to my very colorful wiser years. And Hey! I wouldn't have to cook that night

So let me know how you are going to phrase your sticky notes..

I think for red hummer food bottles.. hmmm.. maybe something like this:

"This red dye sugar syrup kills hummingbirds, honey bees, and bats. MAKE YOUR OWN! one cup of boiling water, add 1/4 cup sugar, stir for one minute, let cool, feed hummers"

What do ya think? :eusa_think:

Les · « **Reply #11 on:** June 13, 2015, 03:31:37 pm »

Jen......perfect!

Roundup ..... This kills, pollinators and who knows what else. Use this product and you are poisoning Mother Earth. Every little bit of change can turn into an avalanche of change!

efmesch · « **Reply #12 on:** June 13, 2015, 03:35:07 pm »

My home and hives are in an agricultural reqion. Two and three months ago It was Avocado and citrus flowering around me. Presently, I'm surrounded by flowering sunflowers. Next month it will be flowering cotton. And so goes the story, progressing from one season to the next. I wish I could call my honey "organic" honey, but it would simply be untrue. How often I see the spray planes flying their rounds over these fields. Fortunatley, most of the spraying is done before the bees start their day's work, but sill, I can't say my bees stay away from these fields.
There are plenty of trees and weeds that are not sprayed, and I can see and hear the bees working them with great energy (presently it's the Tipuana), but , unfortunately, there's no way in the agricultural area that surrounds me to avoid sprayed fields. It's hopeless and I'm helpless.

Jen · « **Reply #13 on:** June 13, 2015, 04:37:37 pm »

I like it Les

Then you gotta give them an alternative, or they will just buy it cause they don't know what else to do?

What do you about pesky weeds n'such Les?

Slowmodem · « **Reply #14 on:** June 13, 2015, 05:44:27 pm »

Quote from: Jen on June 13, 2015, 12:58:17 pm

And so after finding the red dye in my hives.. I happen to be in walmart to buy some bird food.. and what is on the shelf right in front of my face? Gallon jugs of red dyed hummer food for $2.

Needless to say my face was as red as those gallons jugs. I was ready to take on corporate walmart. Still am, just have to plan my fight. Like, maybe I could go into our store, grab a 10 gallon trash can from their shelves, and open all those jugs of red chemical into the trash can, put a lid on it with a note it! Stop Killing Our Birds and Bees!

I would get termed a tree hugger probably, but Frankly Scarlett...

Just be sure and call the tv news before you do. They'd love it and it would get the word out. And maybe Walmart would quit selling it to appear more "green" on TV.

Perry · « **Reply #15 on:** June 13, 2015, 08:21:19 pm »

I watched a small tractor operator absolutely covered in plastic with what had to be a world war II gas mask driving down the sidewalk along a series of fruit tree fields today. His suit was white with whatever he was spraying and the tractor and the sprayer were completely covered as well. People on the sidewalk had to move out of the way to let him pass. I wonder what the fella driving the tractor was thinking about what they were thinking?

Les · « **Reply #16 on:** June 13, 2015, 10:26:35 pm »

Jen,
I usually just pull them out! I have used the old cider vinegar, salt and dawn soap recipe when desperate but it does not work on all weeds. My property borders right up to the woods. We have a chain link fence and that is the line of demarcation for me. If the weeds creep thru the fence, they get yanked. It is a never ending job, especially with the sumac and Virginia creeper. Usually at least once during the summer I go on the wooded side of the fence and pull all along the fence line. But I would rather have the woods than a neighbor backing up to us.

Jen · « **Reply #17 on:** June 13, 2015, 10:33:06 pm »

Les, I use straight up apple cider vinegar, have seen the other recipe but haven't tried it. I think the other weed killer that I know works is boiling hot water poured onto the weed. But I'm clumsey.... sooo $:-\$

LazyBkpr · « **Reply #18 on:** June 13, 2015, 11:25:36 pm »

Monsanto developed and patented the use of glyphosate to kill weeds in the 1970s, and has marketed it as Roundup since 1973.

Glyphosate has been called by experts in herbicides "virtually ideal" due to its broad spectrum and low toxicity to animal life compared with other herbicides.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glyphosate

Like Neonics, I am quite in favor of Round up, because it is a lesser evil than what we were using. Also like Neonics, I do not claim it is "good" Only, that it is less bad...
I spray my fence lines, around my hives, my driveway etc with Roundup. My fields are sprayed with roundup....
My personal belief, is that because I do not use fluvalinate, coumophos, and other insecticides INSIDE of my hives to try to kill a little insect on a big insect, I have less problems with reactions between chemicals and less dead hives. By rotating out OLD comb, I minimize the risk of toxic combination between roundup and the neonics.. It gives me the ability to save my bees, an ability we did not have 35 years ago.. 35 years ago.. we had dead hives. it was just the way it was.. we split and rebuilt.

I have considered actually spraying the bees themselves with Roundup.. the purpose would be to make them Roundup resistant... but I am afraid Monsanto would then make me pay for my own bees...

Seriously though... if we can build mites that are resistant to our treatments, why cant we make bees that are resistant to the chems that build up in the hives?

Jen · « **Reply #19 on:** June 13, 2015, 11:33:17 pm »

Nice education Scott, Thanks! It does make me stop and think. However, I will leave Round Up in the store..