Many of the rules of thumb come from experience, "less than three feet
or more than three miles" is a good rule if you want to keep all your
bees.

Except that I deliberately moved a pile of boxes with a cast I didn't want
and can't deal with six feet away from the original site.

They were confused for a few hours then homed into the new site.

I hate to say this but I'm hoping that they'll die ...

Beekeeping is moving on all the time. Open mesh floors are almost
standard in our area now, throughout the winter, though I'm hedging my
bets by keeping a colony on each....

I used them for the last ten years of my time to the scorn of my fellow
Yorkshire beekeepers. I never lost a colony. It's a good system.

Mary

The message
from John Rouse contains these words:

Beekeeping is moving on all the time. Open mesh floors are almost
standard in our area now, throughout the winter, though I'm hedging my
bets by keeping a colony on each....

Is there an effective treatment for the veroa (Sp?) mite yet?

--
Rusty Hinge http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm

Dark thoughts about the Wumpus concerto played with piano,
iron bar and two sledge hammers. (Wumpus, 15/11/03)

John Rouse4/12/03 7:50

In article , Sacha
writes
Will it help if I say that I know somebody who met Brother Adam? Only one
remove. ;-)

Our local Bee Inspector worked for Brother Adam for many years. He also
did the Radio 4 programme about the work of the bee inspector. He is
very helpful to our local beekeeping association. However even some of
his ideas are the subject of much debate at beekeeping meetings.

I'm sure all of us who have kept bees have read/heard the many particulars
of bees, their hives, moving them etc. etc. It's not exactly a secret
society though I suppose some would like to make it so.

Many of the rules of thumb come from experience, "less than three feet
or more than three miles" is a good rule if you want to keep all your
bees. Its also useful if you want to put a new hive on the site of the
existing one for swarm control, a frame of brood in the old hive will
keep the bees in there, and the flying bees will return to the new hive
and stay with the queen.

Beekeeping is moving on all the time. Open mesh floors are almost
standard in our area now, throughout the winter, though I'm hedging my
bets by keeping a colony on each....

John

I'm sure it is moving on. I hated giving up but my allergy was just too
dangerous to risk it and then, when I moved from Jersey to the UK, it became
a moot point anyway. I'd had one colony for 22 years and they'd performed
absolutely brilliantly. I tried to persuade a bee-keeping friend who was
one of my 'gurus' that it would be a good idea to take a nucleus but because
they had always been so well behaved and never even swarmed, he was most
reluctant to interfere with their balance, their self-regulation, in any
way. The very next year, the entire colony was wiped out with varroa and
the tracheal mite. It was horrible and although there was nothing I could
have done to prevent it, it made me feel as if I'd let them down, somehow.
Did Brother Adam write about bee-keeping - pressed or un-pressed? ;-)
He was The Great Man and Buckfast Abbey, where he lived and worked is very
close to us. I seem to remember some real nastiness from a new Abbot who
removed him from his work with the bees and put a new and younger monk in
his place.
How many years was he a bee-keeper? It seems like many decades.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the 'x' to email me)

The message
from "Mary Fisher" contains these words:

Yes. I never did that in all my 25 years, despite being pressed ...

As all the best flowers are.....

--
Rusty Hinge http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm

Dark thoughts about the Wumpus concerto played with piano,
iron bar and two sledge hammers. (Wumpus, 15/11/03)

The message
from "Mary Fisher" contains these words:

Except that I deliberately moved a pile of boxes with a cast I didn't want
and can't deal with six feet away from the original site.

Acting up?

--
Rusty Hinge http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm

Dark thoughts about the Wumpus concerto played with piano,
iron bar and two sledge hammers. (Wumpus, 15/11/03)

Is there an effective treatment for the veroa (Sp?) mite yet?

Varroa.

Yes, but you have to buy and use it.

Keep up with the news through Beekeepers Quarterly or the FREE on-line
newsletter at http://www.beedata.com

Mary

Did Brother Adam write about bee-keeping - pressed or un-pressed? ;-)

He wrote books about beekeeping. I never rated them as bee management
treatises althoug Beekeeping at Buckfast Abbey was interesting as part of
the story of the Abbey. What's more he was a very difficult author for his
publishers.

His service to beekeeping was to raise the profile of the craft among
non-beekeepers. His German origin, his coming here as a boy, his being a
monk, his association with Buckfast Abbey (already famous for the so-called
Tonic Wine) and his great age all endeared him and made him well kown to non
beekeepers - largely because he was the one featured in the media.

He was The Great Man and Buckfast Abbey, where he lived and worked is very
close to us. I seem to remember some real nastiness from a new Abbot who
removed him from his work with the bees and put a new and younger monk in
his place.

It wasn't nastiness, Bro. Adam was old, set in his ways, recalcitrant and
wouldn't listen to anyone else's ideas.

How many years was he a bee-keeper? It seems like many decades.

It was. But he had an army of assistants, especially in the last few
decades.

I first met him in the 1980s, already by then he was losing his magic among
those who were trying to keep beekeeping up to date. He refused to lose his
German accent, even though he'd been here for about seventy years. Sometimes
he refused to understand English. He'd sit in a chair and wait for people to
sit at his feet, he wouldn't answer questions, he was like a withered old
stick with a very frail and thin voice and his words were hardly audible
never mind understandable. He had a one track mind when it came to
beekeeping, he didn't make small talk.

So saying, I repeat that he did a great service to the image of beekeeping
in UK and it was a sad day when he died because there was no-one else to do
what he did. Who, outside beekeepers, can name another beekeeper? No-one,
unless they know one. In fact they still talk about 'that monk'.

But there have been and still are many other better beekeepers who have done
more for the craft than Brother Adam yet won't have their full recognition.
We're swimming in a small pond, Brother Adam made it bigger.

Mary

The message
from "Mary Fisher" contains these words:

Is there an effective treatment for the veroa (Sp?) mite yet?

Varroa.

Yes, but you have to buy and use it.

Keep up with the news through Beekeepers Quarterly or the FREE on-line
newsletter at http://www.beedata.com

Ah, I was just making a general inquiry, as it had a pretty worrying
spread, and I saw very few honey bees this year.

Thanks for the info though.

--
Rusty Hinge http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm

Dark thoughts about the Wumpus concerto played with piano,
iron bar and two sledge hammers. (Wumpus, 15/11/03)

Keep up with the news through Beekeepers Quarterly or the FREE on-line
newsletter at http://www.beedata.com

Ah, I was just making a general inquiry, as it had a pretty worrying
spread, and I saw very few honey bees this year.

You don't have to be a beekeeper to use the service, you'll learn quite a
lot, probably.

There have been plenty bees around this year and for most beekeepers I've
spoken to it's been the best honey year since the 1970s.

Mary

Mary Fisher5/12/03 8:43


Did Brother Adam write about bee-keeping - pressed or un-pressed? ;-)

He wrote books about beekeeping. I never rated them as bee management
treatises althoug Beekeeping at Buckfast Abbey was interesting as part of
the story of the Abbey. What's more he was a very difficult author for his
publishers.
snip

I think that I have seldom read a nastier post about someone to whom an
entire hobby and industry owed so much. "Old, withered old stick, accented
speech, hardly audible, set in his ways"
Mary, you define the word 'ego'. Let me just say that I have heard many bee
keepers speak with respect of Brother Adam. I've never heard one mention
you. Why, I wonder, would that be.

--

Sacha
(remove the 'x' to email me)

The message
from Sacha contains these words:
Mary Fisher5/12/03 8:43



Did Brother Adam write about bee-keeping - pressed or un-pressed? ;-)

He wrote books about beekeeping. I never rated them as bee management
treatises althoug Beekeeping at Buckfast Abbey was interesting as part of
the story of the Abbey. What's more he was a very difficult author for his
publishers.
snip

I think that I have seldom read a nastier post about someone to whom an
entire hobby and industry owed so much. "Old, withered old stick, accented
speech, hardly audible, set in his ways"
Mary, you define the word 'ego'. Let me just say that I have heard many bee
keepers speak with respect of Brother Adam. I've never heard one mention
you. Why, I wonder, would that be.

Well now, I've heard very a similar tale from quite another source, and
whom Mary is unlikely to know.

--
Rusty Hinge http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm

Dark thoughts about the Wumpus concerto played with piano,
iron bar and two sledge hammers. (Wumpus, 15/11/03)

"Sacha" wrote in message
.. .
Mary Fisher5/12/03 8:43


Did Brother Adam write about bee-keeping - pressed or un-pressed? ;-)

He wrote books about beekeeping. I never rated them as bee management
treatises althoug Beekeeping at Buckfast Abbey was interesting as part
of
the story of the Abbey. What's more he was a very difficult author for
his
publishers.
snip

I think that I have seldom read a nastier post about someone to whom an
entire hobby and industry owed so much. "Old, withered old stick, accented
speech, hardly audible, set in his ways"
Mary, you define the word 'ego'. Let me just say that I have heard many
bee
keepers speak with respect of Brother Adam. I've never heard one mention
you. Why, I wonder, would that be.

Your letter is a marvel of what can be done with selective snipping.

Franz

"Sacha" wrote in message
.. .
Mary Fisher5/12/03 8:43


Did Brother Adam write about bee-keeping - pressed or un-pressed? ;-)

He wrote books about beekeeping. I never rated them as bee management
treatises althoug Beekeeping at Buckfast Abbey was interesting as part
of
the story of the Abbey. What's more he was a very difficult author for
his
publishers.
snip

I think that I have seldom read a nastier post about someone to whom an
entire hobby and industry owed so much. "Old, withered old stick, accented
speech, hardly audible, set in his ways"
Mary, you define the word 'ego'. Let me just say that I have heard many
bee
keepers speak with respect of Brother Adam. I've never heard one mention
you. Why, I wonder, would that be.

Your letter is a marvel of what can be done with selective snipping.

Franz

"Sacha" wrote in message
.. .
Mary Fisher5/12/03 8:43


Did Brother Adam write about bee-keeping - pressed or un-pressed? ;-)

He wrote books about beekeeping. I never rated them as bee management
treatises althoug Beekeeping at Buckfast Abbey was interesting as part
of
the story of the Abbey. What's more he was a very difficult author for
his
publishers.
snip

I think that I have seldom read a nastier post about someone to whom an
entire hobby and industry owed so much. "Old, withered old stick, accented
speech, hardly audible, set in his ways"

No, it wasn't a nasty post at all. It was honest and there aren't many
people aho are prepared to be honest. I originally typed some things which
had been said by other notable people in the bee world but that would have
been hearsay so I stuck to my own experiences. I don't believe that the
hobby and industry don't owe a lot to him except in publicity terms - and
those agents who sold 'Buckfast' queens.

Also, you snipped the good things I said about him!

Mary, you define the word 'ego'. Let me just say that I have heard many
bee
keepers speak with respect of Brother Adam. I've never heard one mention
you. Why, I wonder, would that be.

Several reasons. Among them are that you don't move in the right circles
(except that there are two who you knew who knew me. I don't have the same
charisma as Bro Adam did - and still has. I don't need to make money for my
abbey. There are more.

Mary

"Franz Heymann" wrote in message
...

"Sacha" wrote in message
.. .
Mary Fisher5/12/03 8:43


Did Brother Adam write about bee-keeping - pressed or un-pressed?
;-)

He wrote books about beekeeping. I never rated them as bee management
treatises althoug Beekeeping at Buckfast Abbey was interesting as part
of
the story of the Abbey. What's more he was a very difficult author for
his
publishers.
snip

I think that I have seldom read a nastier post about someone to whom an
entire hobby and industry owed so much. "Old, withered old stick,
accented
speech, hardly audible, set in his ways"
Mary, you define the word 'ego'. Let me just say that I have heard many
bee
keepers speak with respect of Brother Adam. I've never heard one
mention
you. Why, I wonder, would that be.

Your letter is a marvel of what can be done with selective snipping.

My apologies for inadvertent double posting

Franz