Podcast

Bee Breeding Season Starts in NZed- KM112

Posted on by Gary Fawcett

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This week we are talking about Springing into Bee Season 2017, Evolving Bees, a great herb has been discovered and Are you Getting Enough? This is Episode One Hundred and Twelve of our beekeeping podcast here in lil ol’ New Zealand.

 

Welcome To the kiwimana buzz..

Hi, it’s Gary and Margaret here, We are beekeepers from the hills of the Waitakere Ranges in West Auckland, New Zealand. Our podcast is about beekeeping, Gardening and bit of politics about environmental issues. We also have been known to go off on tangents about other issues.

This week we would like to thank Christopher and Laura Brown

They have been supporting the kiwimana buzz since October 2016, if you want to learn about Chris, check out Episode 111

We hope all is well in Britmana for Laura, Jasper and of course Maggie :-).

Thanks for your support!!!

 

If you also value what we do, please consider supporting us on http://kiwi.bz/banana

We would love it if you shared the show with your Bee friends and gardeners.

It’s Spring in New Zealand!!

Today is 6 September 2017 and its “Fight Procrastination Day” day

[clickToTweet tweet=”I never put off till tomorrow what I can possibly do — the day after…Oscar Wilde http://kiwi.bz/112″ quote=”I never put off till tomorrow what I can possibly do — the day after…Oscar Wilde”]

We’re ready for Spring, are you? … the bee swarms will not wait for you to build boxes and frames.

Thank you for listening to our show, we know life is busy for you and appreciate you have taken the time to join us today

What’s Happening at kiwimana

Gary

  • Podcast Application Update ‘It’s alive on Apple/IOS and Android/Google’, article coming soon.
  • Huge thanks to these amazing people that used our Hive Tracks Affiliate Link
    Dave Hocutt, Corey Matheson, Kristin Witham, Kevin Smith, Mark Kirkwood, and Cherry McClarron. Want to Give Hive Tracks a go, click HERE
  • Shoutout to Carl, Steve and Dave who we met at the Auckland Beekeepers Club, Carl recognized us by our voices 🙂
  • Feedback on Bonus Show, no feedback but it was downloaded by most patrons.

Margaret

  • First Spring Preparation Course -- very low numbers but I was able to give lots of attention to the students so they were happy -- it’s a new short course and we are running one for each season -- the main question on the course was how do I split
  • Kumeu Beekeepers day, the police, scientists and the Berry Brothers and an ant guy with a chemical twist
  • Another shout-out to Aaron because all the new styleez gear we have been working on over Winter for the Education Apiary, is finally all on its way AND the girls are in an absolute buzz about it !!! Thanks, Aaron you made it possible.
  • What am I going on about? Well…Stylish new ‘A’ frame roof and hive-stand for Langstroth set to 30cms high -- well be releasing a video on it later on.
  • The girls at the education apiary are doing well, They got through sac-brood and Deformed Wing Virus with OAV and the population is strong and healthy…they are collecting heaps of pollen and there is nectar in the cells and I even saw three drones! Capped brood will be checked shortly to make sure emerging bees are in good shape.
  • Workshop is full of sawdust, nails and sweat…
Margaret and Dr Mark Goodwin in Kumeu

Blog Recap

Top three Blog Posts Last Month

 

  1. The Hibernation is Over
  2. The Greatest Beekeeper in Sheffield -- We talk to Chris Brown
  3. What are the 3 basics to start beekeeping? Part 3 – 6 Essential Pieces of Info About Beekeeping

Beekeeping News

Bees Are Starting To Evolve To Survive Destructive Varroa Mite, Researcher Says

An article about bees that are starting to evolve resistance to varroa mites, it also touches on the biosecurity risk of mites getting into Australia.

Bees in the United States and Europe are starting to evolve through natural selection to survive a mite that has been decimating their populations.

Professor Stephen Martin, chair of animal ecology at Salford University in the United Kingdom, said in some instances bees were living with varroa mites and an associated virus, without any other treatment.

Read the Full story here:- Bees Are Starting To Evolve To Survive Destructive Varroa Mite, Researcher Says

Your Feedback

Yappy Travis Ulbrich -- I would love to see the research on this. I haven’t seen anything suggesting that this is true. Especially in my apiary.
Sam Gray -- I know they are cross breeding to get more Varroa tolerant queens, which will obviously pass on to the colony. That’s not evolving though.
Matthew Brown -- Interesting that the so called killer bees in South America and now Mexico are resistant to varroa… Don’t fancy working with those though! 🙂
Stephen Maunsell -- Hrmf
Matt Ward -- I hope so!!

Interesting, here in NZed scientists explained that apistan and Bayvarol have caused resistance in the varroa destructor mite, plus the viruses being transmitted by the VDM are stronger and therefore it takes fewer varroa to cause a colony to fail, makes things tough for kiwi beekeepers , beeing vigilant is absolutely essential.

Margaret

He thought his beehive was helping the environment, then someone complained

Another Bee Poo incident in Murrays Bay, a complaint has been made to Auckland Council. These are managed hives from an unknown beekeeper from BeezThings.

The council is working with the Beekeeper’s to manage the issue under the sensible Bylaw.

Michael Harris just wants to help the environment, but complaints of a bee poo epidemic has put him in a sticky situation.

The Auckland man has a beehive on his Murrays Bay property and has had for about two and a half years.

He thought his beehive was helping the environment, then someone complained

Your Feedback

Shane Reid -- As a hobby bee keeper. I believe that is absolutely rubbish.
Sad some people are so dumb. Plain dumb.
Gina Hartley -- Unbelievable. The same thing happens with fern spores. They go all over parked cars too. Honestly, live with a bit of bee poo or cover your car if it’s that precious.
Robert McInnes -- That’s rubbish. I’m gonna get 500 wild cats instead!!!
Barry Oliver -- Bee poo a problem? Sounds like bullshit to me.

This common herb will keep bee pollinators buzzing in your garden

A study in England by the University of Sussex that including 32 plants to see what was most attractive to bees and pollinators. This was Origanum Vulgare known as Oregano.

This is a good article that discussed several great plants for bees and how they performed.

I agree with the tip check out your garden center on a sunny day and buy what is covered in Bees.

It is a common feature of Italian cooking and a native around Europe and in the UK. More importantly, though, it is one of the best of all plants for attracting bees, butterflies and other pollinators to your garden.

This common herb will keep bee pollinators buzzing in your garden

Your Feedback

Robert McInnes -- What a great article.
FishermanAllen Sentance -- Excellent information…cheers. 🙂

Great video about the study here:-

Quantifying variation among garden plants in attractiveness to bees and other insects

Also:-

VIDEO: Researchers study benefits of oregano for bees

A great video about a new study that researchers in New Mexico are doing into Oregano.

New Mexico State University researcher and a New Mexico beekeeper are studying the impact of bee feeding on Monarda fistulosa, a member of the mint plant family commonly called wild bergamot or bee balm, known as Oregano de las Sierra for its oregano flavor.

Oregano medicinal benefits for bees

Your Feedback

Malcolm Megibben -- Interesting going to share
Mathew Jordan -- Nice

Honey, Are You Giving It Away?

A great post by the great Ron Miksha that ponders the questions are beekeepers not charging enough for their honey, he does a price comparison at the local supermarket. An exercise we could all do in our local area.

A few days ago, I was shopping at our local co-op grocery store. As usual, I checked the price of honey. I like to use their prices as a minimum guide for honey produced by hobby beekeepers.

Honey, Are You Giving It Away?

Your Feedback

Christi An -- the honey prices in New Zeland are actually very nice!
In Germany, you can buy (imported) honey for like 3$ per 500g
honey from a local beekeeper will cost you about 8$ per 500g…

Destructive small hive beetle found for the 1st time in New Brunswick beehives

Small hive beetles have reached New Brunswick probably from neighborly hives, a quarantine has been setup to slow down their spread.

The small hive beetle, whose larvae can destroy beehives, has been confirmed for the first time in New Brunswick beehives, the Department of Agriculture said Friday.

Destructive small hive beetle found for the 1st time in New Brunswick beehives

Your Feedback

Kathy Brokaw -- They sure grow them big there!!!!
Hilton N Melva Ward -- So, why would a person import a bee hive that could have the small hive beetle in it. It seems humans are way too stupid.
Lyle Cairns There is no way it will survive the winter.

Questions from you

Clinton called and asked if Gamma Irradiation was safe for the bees.

We talked about this with Victor Croker when we interview him, please give that interview a listen.

  • Gamma rays Penetrate all parts of Beekeeping Equipment
  • A Minimum dose of 15 Kilogray (kGy) is used
  • Gamma irradiation treatment is a chemical free process, meaning there are no residues in the bee equipment
  • Irradiated food does not become radioactive

Great read HERE from steritech *who do Irradiation in Australia*

Good article here about Misconceptions of Irradiation Here

If you have a question, email us at [email protected] and will answer it on the next show. Or visit our speakpipe page HERE and leave a question

 

If you have a Urgent Question, please check out our Bee Knees Facebook group here:-

Random Review

We Love Cake!!!

As a small thank you to our customers we ask for a ‘product review’ and from there, we randomly select one product review each month so they can go in to a draw for a $30 kiwimana gift certificate -- a prize you can use!

But the draw winner must -- Get in touch within 2 weeks -- of the podcast release date to claim your prize.

 

Feedback from you guys!!!

Facebook

Roger Day from Kentucky has joined the Bee Knees Group

Thanks for the add, I love the podcast. You guys make me laugh while I learn new things.

The Twiters

Adopt a Bee Welcomes us back!!!

The Bonus Show

In this week’s Bonus show we talk about Queenless HIve and Australian honey Challenge. The bonus show is for our Patrons and Podcast application users.
The Bonus show can be found HERE

The Next Show

Bad Beekeeping with Ron Miksha

Ron Miksha is a Writer and Beekeeper from Calgary in Canada. Ron has been involved in Beekeeping for many years as a Commercial Beekeeping and educator. He is the author of the Bad Beekeeping book and blog.

This will be out on 13 September for the patrons and a week later for non-supporters.

Show Ending

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Show Times

  • Fight Procrastination Day 02:53
  • What’s Happening at kiwimana 04:06
  • Blog Recap 19:37
  • Beekeeping News 23:07
  • Bees Are Starting To Evolve To Survive Destructive Varroa Mite, Researcher Says 23:27
  • He thought his beehive was helping the environment, then someone complained 32:18
  • This common herb will keep bee pollinators buzzing in your garden 37:11
  • Honey, Are You Giving It Away? 41:26
  • Hive beetle found for the 1st time in New Brunswick beehives 45:27
  • Questions from you 49:50
  • Random Review 55:21
  • Feedback from you guys 57:14
  • The Next Show 58:38

Media Credits

Gary Fawcett

Gary is the web designer and chief Propeller-head at kiwimana. He enjoys designing products which solve problems and is passionate about saving the Bees and encouraging urban beekeeping. Gary loves to write about issues that affect the Bees and our environment. He is one of the hosts of the kiwimana buzz Beekeeping podcast.

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