"Alan" wrote in message
...
In message , Alan
wrote


http://www.hedging.co.uk/acatalog/Index_Pollination_Bees_27.html

Followup.

The Oxford Bee Company is no longer trading (hence the discontinued note
on their tubes/nesting boxes in the above link) . However, the products
are still available from
http://www.birdfood.co.uk/search.php?srch=bee

I purchased some replacement tubes from CJ Wildlife earlier in the year. I
have no connection with this company other than as a customer.

Youcan use cut up bamboo canes and tie them together or just get a chunk of
wood - about 6" deep minimum - and drill holes in it with long 3/8" bit.
It's not critical. Hang the result from a branch.

Mary
--
Alan
news2006 {at} amac {dot} f2s {dot} com

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
. net...

"Graham" wrote in message
news:P6Qdk.92331$gc5.33388@pd7urf2no...




The trouble with bee sting allergies is that they develop and get worse
with repeated contact.

not necessarily. In fact some people think that the reaction lessens by
repeatd stings. I don't think that's necessarily true either.

Some keepers have had to give up because a family member had the allergy
and it got worse due to him taking his venom-laden bee suit into the
house.

That's probably more to do with the propolis on the suit rather than
venom.

Apparently not. It has been studied here where bee-keeping is a big
business. Propolis is just a mix of resins.
Graham

"Graham" wrote in message
news:TG2ek.64487$kx.5465@pd7urf3no...

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
. net...

"Graham" wrote in message
news:P6Qdk.92331$gc5.33388@pd7urf2no...




The trouble with bee sting allergies is that they develop and get worse
with repeated contact.

not necessarily. In fact some people think that the reaction lessens by
repeatd stings. I don't think that's necessarily true either.

Some keepers have had to give up because a family member had the allergy
and it got worse due to him taking his venom-laden bee suit into the
house.

That's probably more to do with the propolis on the suit rather than
venom.

Apparently not. It has been studied here where bee-keeping is a big
business. Propolis is just a mix of resins.

Yes but it causes allergies and skin reactions. My husband's hands used to
suffer badly when he was cleaning hive parts of propolis and there have been
authenticated reports of death caused by reactions when propolis has been
taken orally 'for health reasons'.

Mary

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
t...

"Graham" wrote in message
news:TG2ek.64487$kx.5465@pd7urf3no...

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
. net...

"Graham" wrote in message
news:P6Qdk.92331$gc5.33388@pd7urf2no...




The trouble with bee sting allergies is that they develop and get worse
with repeated contact.

not necessarily. In fact some people think that the reaction lessens by
repeatd stings. I don't think that's necessarily true either.

Some keepers have had to give up because a family member had the
allergy and it got worse due to him taking his venom-laden bee suit
into the house.

That's probably more to do with the propolis on the suit rather than
venom.

Apparently not. It has been studied here where bee-keeping is a big
business. Propolis is just a mix of resins.

Yes but it causes allergies and skin reactions. My husband's hands used to
suffer badly when he was cleaning hive parts of propolis and there have
been authenticated reports of death caused by reactions when propolis has
been taken orally 'for health reasons'.

I suppose it depends on the source. I would imagine that most of the
propolis on our hives (when we kept bees) had a pine and spruce origin, with
minor amounts from poplars early in the season.
Graham

"Graham" wrote in message
news:PD3ek.64652$kx.39452@pd7urf3no...

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
t...

"Graham" wrote in message
news:TG2ek.64487$kx.5465@pd7urf3no...

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
. net...

"Graham" wrote in message
news:P6Qdk.92331$gc5.33388@pd7urf2no...




The trouble with bee sting allergies is that they develop and get
worse with repeated contact.

not necessarily. In fact some people think that the reaction lessens by
repeatd stings. I don't think that's necessarily true either.

Some keepers have had to give up because a family member had the
allergy and it got worse due to him taking his venom-laden bee suit
into the house.

That's probably more to do with the propolis on the suit rather than
venom.

Apparently not. It has been studied here where bee-keeping is a big
business. Propolis is just a mix of resins.

Yes but it causes allergies and skin reactions. My husband's hands used
to suffer badly when he was cleaning hive parts of propolis and there
have been authenticated reports of death caused by reactions when
propolis has been taken orally 'for health reasons'.

I suppose it depends on the source. I would imagine that most of the
propolis on our hives (when we kept bees) had a pine and spruce origin,
with minor amounts from poplars early in the season.
Graham

I've been thinking the same. But it's a widespread phenomenon. Our propolois
must have been from a wide variety of deciduous trees.

Mary

"Mary Fisher"wrote after

"Bob Hobden" asked
Mary, before I went to this allotment site one of the gardeners did keep
bees there and I'm told the crops of things that depend on pollination,
like Runner Beans, increased enormously. This site does not appear to
suffer from vandalism and there is only crops to steal, nobody keeps
tools on their plots much. So what other reasons are there for not having
bees on the site.
Being the Rep for the site I need to be able to form a considered
opinion.

Runner beans usually develop even without insect pollination but honey
bees aren't heavy enough to get into runner bean flowers anyway, they're
exploited by bumble beas.

But you don't need a close source of pollinating insects, honey bees will
fly (it's said) up to three miles radius from their hive or wild nest,
that's a very large area. I wouldn't rely on three miles though :-) Other
insects, especially the ubiquitous wild bumble bees, are also pollinaters.
The crops might increase because of a nearby hive but it's not guaranteed.

You're lucky that you don't have vandalism!

The only reason I can think of for not having a hive on the site is that
the beekeeper will have to visit it to take swarm prevention action, to
manage diseases, to add space for honey and to remove the honey. S/he
might also have to feed if it's been a poor season or if too much honey is
removed. In the season - which is also the growing season - say from April
to September - this (approximate) weekly disruption to the hive will cause
a lot of bee activity in the air. The beekeeper will be protected by veil
and gloves, as a rule, the gardeners won't be. If the beekeeper is clumsy
and makes the bees defensive someone might suffer.

There's also the potential problem of vibration caused by machinery. That
too can cause bees to become defensive. There might be no machinery used
near the hive so it might be irrelevant but it's something to consider.


On this site I haven't yet seen or heard of any vandalism, unlike our
previous site where every time we went there we wondered what we would find,
not a pleasant experience.
This site has open land on two sides.
The beekeeper lives very locally so could visit as often as needed.
The bit about vibration may be relevant as we have a sewage pumping station
next to the site and the tanker lorries that sometimes visit it have to
drive through the site. They do that very seldom though.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden

"Mary Fisher" wrote
Youcan use cut up bamboo canes and tie them together or just get a chunk
of wood - about 6" deep minimum - and drill holes in it with long 3/8"
bit. It's not critical. Hang the result from a branch.


Excellent suggestion.
That would screw nicely onto the top of the rabbit fencing posts we all have
around out plots.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden

An eminent apiarist told me that honey bees especially, can't stand the
colour blue. Whilst out walking in the country, I was stung by bees quite
badly. All down to me wearing a blue shirt and sun hat that apparently made
the bees very angry indeed. The beekeeper said that no sensible apiarist
would dream of wearing any blue clothing near their hives. The stings could
have been a lot worse as luckily I wasn't wearing denims. You have been
warned!

Mike Derby

"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...


....

The beekeeper lives very locally so could visit as often as needed.

I should have said that when s/he visits might well be the times other
allotment workers are there.

Mary

"Mike Derby" wrote in message
...
An eminent apiarist told me that honey bees especially, can't stand the
colour blue. Whilst out walking in the country, I was stung by bees quite
badly. All down to me wearing a blue shirt and sun hat that apparently
made the bees very angry indeed. The beekeeper said that no sensible
apiarist would dream of wearing any blue clothing near their hives. The
stings could have been a lot worse as luckily I wasn't wearing denims. You
have been warned!

Mike Derby

I'm not saying you weren't stung but the colour blue is irrelevant.

Blue denim, however, can be a problem, apparently. Bees communicate by
chemical odors and genuine indigo dye is thought to be 'offensive' to them.

I think that very little denim is now dyed with indigo, I've never had a
problem wearing my jeans in an apiary. Or anything blue, come to that. It's
the colour I wear most often.

I've heard beekeepers say that red makes them angry ... :-)

Mary

In article ,
"Mary Fisher" writes:
|
| I'm not saying you weren't stung but the colour blue is irrelevant.
|
| I've heard beekeepers say that red makes them angry ... :-)

My understanding is that they are colour-blind, though sensitive to
a different range of the spectrum to us.

And any beekeepers whose clothes get a lot of venom on them needs
to learn how to handle bees. Bees die when they sting, and that
means a lot of dead bees and a disturbed hive.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

In article ,
"Mary Fisher" writes:
|
| I'm not saying you weren't stung but the colour blue is irrelevant.
|
| I've heard beekeepers say that red makes them angry ... :-)

My understanding is that they are colour-blind, though sensitive to
a different range of the spectrum to us.

Colour blind in our terms. They don't see the red end of the spectrum but
they do see the uv end.

And any beekeepers whose clothes get a lot of venom on them needs
to learn how to handle bees. Bees die when they sting, and that
means a lot of dead bees and a disturbed hive.

I couldn't agree more.

Make the most of it :-)

Mary

In article ,
"Mary Fisher" writes:
|
|
| My understanding is that they are colour-blind, though sensitive to
| a different range of the spectrum to us.
|
| Colour blind in our terms. They don't see the red end of the spectrum but
| they do see the uv end.

I should have said monochrome vision :-)


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

In article ,
"Mary Fisher" writes:
|
| I'm not saying you weren't stung but the colour blue is irrelevant.
|
| I've heard beekeepers say that red makes them angry ... :-)

My understanding is that they are colour-blind, though sensitive to
a different range of the spectrum to us.

And any beekeepers whose clothes get a lot of venom on them needs
to learn how to handle bees. Bees die when they sting, and that
means a lot of dead bees and a disturbed hive.

That's true if you have a couple of hives. However, my neighbour has about
500 and there are several 1000+ operations going strong!
A couple of guard bees per hive attacking won't affect the hives but the
suit sure will be contaminated.
Graham

In message , Mary
Fisher writes

I'm not saying you weren't stung but the colour blue is irrelevant.

Blue denim, however, can be a problem, apparently. Bees communicate by
chemical odors and genuine indigo dye is thought to be 'offensive' to them.

[....]

Harrummph! This is political correctness gone mad!
;-)
--
Gordon H