This is Episode One hundred and thirty of our beekeeping show.
Thanks Greg for the T-Shirt
We are Gary and Margaret, we love Honey bees, we are kiwimana and we are Beekeepers who live in the Waitakere Ranges, on the Wild West coast of Auckland, in New Zealand.
kiwimana is a place where the beekeeping community can share a conversation and connect and in this episode we are talking about Does Roundup harm Bees?, Trapped Beetle helps us out, A Bee Swarm took over a car in Auckland and Roving Reports from around the world
..we also -- as if that wasn’t enough -- build and sell beekeeping supplies, we teach beginner Beekeepers and provide beekeeper services and advice. And we are the o“beesknees” Club, Facebook group
Great to have you joining us, we know life is busy for you so we appreciate that you have taken the time to join us today -- thanks so much for being part of the kiwimana buzz,
We also have been known to go off on tangents about other issues.
What’s been happening at kiwimana?
Gary
Busy preparing guest blog posts for you guys, if you want to write a post for the community check our http://kiwi.bz/write
Gary’s crazy idea -- Interview Beekeepers without computers, do you know anyone?
Margaret
Still waiting for the splits
A few more DECA checks being requested as we reach the deadline for getting annual certificate of inspections completed and in to AFB.org.nz
Some folks ordered DECA checks but had swarms which had no brood in, these cannot be signed-off as AFB checks require the presence of capped brood because if AFB is present it will only show in the brood frames.
Our breeder confirms the nucleus colonies are progressing and a couple of weeks away…yeehaaa….
Our beginners breeding colonies for sale, these colonies are doing well and these Beehives are selling fast -- these are fully working colonies so a fantastic start for other beginners and so proud of you guys -- well done
Students who took our courses are really being proactive on their varroa monitoring and treatments so very impressed with their efforts and the most important thing is that they will benefit from their proactive work and results are that they will have healthy productive Honey Bees…awesomeness banaNas !!
Biggest work ahead for us kiwi beekeepers is managing space as we move from Spring -- the breeding season -- to Summer flow. Interestingly where we are, we are having good nectar collection by our girls
kiwimana Global Roving Reporters
Avari from Rascals Apiary – North Carolina
Avari is 16 years old and keeps bees with her parents and older brother.
In New Zealand
Splitting hives and picking up swarms, completing AFB checks. Managing space and checking nectar production
In Australia
We have heard that there is drought in the west of New South Wales in Aussie and the Bees are struggling -- Check out our bonus buzz for more on this article
In UK
Email from Allan 19th October
Hi both, Enjoying your newsletters.
Many thanks from Cambridgeshire UK. Just going into autumn season for me now, but preparations for spring have already started for me and hope to be completed by Christmas.
What products have we have been using in our work?
Gary -- We have a new recorder that we are using in this weeks show, does it sound any different?
Margaret -- I have been using my frame holder alot because it makes it easier for me to inspect my frames and keeps them off the ground so no bacteria goes into the hive. Been using my bleach and water fine mist sprayer to Keep on top of my beekeeper hygiene -- spraying tools, suit and gloves -- handy to keep a roll of paper towels in my beekeeping basket.
Beekeeping News
This podcast was made possible thanks to our Patrons, especially this month we would like to thank Gilbert Ko
Gilbert has been supporting the kiwimana buzz since February 2018
Thanks for your support Gilbert!!!
Monsanto’s Global Weedkiller Harms Honeybees, Research Finds
Wow 3000 clicks on this story!!! Beneficial bacteria in the bees gut is killed by Glyphosate a new study from the university of Texas revealed. Which makes bees more susceptible to diseases.
Glyphosate – the most used pesticide ever – damages the good bacteria in honeybee guts, making them more prone to deadly infections
Talking points
Two other studies one from China revealed bee larva took longer to hatch and more likely to die and another study from the University of Buenos Aires (Sep 2015) study that proved it affects the bee navigation.
It now seems that we have to add glyphosate to the list of problems that bees face. This study is also further evidence that the landscape-scale application of large quantities of pesticides has negative consequences that are often hard to predict.
Prof Dave Goulson, at the University of Sussex
Monsanto are the manufacturers of Roundup which contains Glyphosate
Claims that glyphosate has a negative impact on honey bees are simply not true. No large-scale study has found any link between glyphosate and the decline of the honeybee population. More than 40 years of robust, independent scientific evidence shows that it poses no unreasonable risk for humans, animal, and the environment generally.
A spokesman for Monsanto
As a counterpoint:-
To my mind the doses of glyphosate used were rather high. The paper shows only that glyphosate can potentially interfere with the bacteria in the bee gut, not that it actually does so in the environment
Oliver Jones, a chemist at RMIT University in Melbourne
Anyway we don’t spray it around our bees…
Your Feedback
Gary Fawcett Wow what a shock, I thought it was safe to spray everywhere #sarcasm, it amazes me to hear people spray this around they beehives. Trish Stretton Makes me wonder if the problems People have with gluten intolerance is also due to the fact that wheat is sprayed with this stuff to make sure it is all dried to the same point prior to harvesting. Maybe Dennis Murrells experiment with Kombucha misted on the bees to aid their immune system is something to try. I think I’ll give it a go this year. Bryan Mitchel Not a surprising scientific revelation. Glyphosate is simply overused. And GMOs over promoted Both are detrimental to this world. Margaret Groot Yeah I feel it’s all connected -- to the declining insect populations -- decline of some Bee species -- to sickness in children -- loss of fertility in men as what is happening in UK -- to soil degeneration -- loss of forests -- water quality poisoning aquatic life…..what the heck !!
Oh and I forgot to mention …plastics !!!
interestingly the contractors for Auckland Council who apply Roundup should be registered as users, therefore they should know that Roundup is not to be sprayed in ditches or drains as it is harmful to aquatic life and all drains lead to waterways but what I see them do is spray heavily. On the sides or verges of highway 18 to North Shore the Phormium flaxes look very sick and as there are Pukekos around there I reckon roundup is a no no.
"MONSANTO GO AWAY" Anthem - Performed by HUMAN - Occupy Maui
A Hull shopping centre has 200,000 bees in it -- and shoppers have no idea they’re there
Rising above, there is a quiet buzz with rooftop beekeeping in the UK. Some great photos with this article. Also interesting info about foraging results and resurgence in beekeeping in Hull.
Few people will be aware that for the past couple of years the roof of the Prospect Centre has been home to the hard-working insects.
Three or four hives – each containing up to 50,000 bees – have been placed on the roof.
Swarm of 30,000 bees takes over the side of a car in central Auckland
This happened in early October.
The homeless in Auckland are moving into cars….bee wary if you leave your car parked up for awhile….but this is not humans but Bees you need to watch out for.
This article shares about Spring swarming and the interest and fascination,swarms create with not beekeepers.
He (the owner ) initially thought someone had broken into his car as a lot of people were standing around it, he said.
He went on to say…“It’s insane,” Martin said.
“It’s huge, there’s thousands of bees -- I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Fiona Small My hobby hive swarmed yesterday (was a little late with giving them more space… they’re pumping!) and luckily they didn’t go far so I nabbed it before they decided to up sticks somewhere else. Phew! That evening my sister in law said she drove through a swarm in Torbay too! Barry Oliver That’s a big swarm
What’s your Number One Beekeeping Problem?
When people join our newsletter we ask them what their number one Beekeeping problem is, we try and help them with problem.
Here is this month’s one:-
My inexperience! I have been recently challenged by the varroa mites and small hive beetles. I have done an initial hive treatment with oxalic acid for varroa mites and traps for beetles. I have also been treating around the hives with diatomaceous earth. Any other suggestion?
Folks who are on the same page thanks for joining the kiwimana buzz -- we love aiming to do things as naturally as possible welcome Daniel and Christie
Facebook
John Paff drives his Mom nuts
Driving several hours today with my mom. (She got me into beekeeping when I was just a young shaver.) Across Ohio today, it will be Kiwimana all the way!
We got an Update:-
She liked the show very much so! She said she learned a lot and really enjoyed your delightful banter.
The Bonus Show
This week we are talking about Droughts for the Australian Beekeepers and why you need to tell your bees. The bonus show is for our amazing supporters.
Do you love what we do? did find something useful for your beekeeping? Do you want to help us to continue to produce more content?
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Thanked personally on the Podcasts
Warm Heart - You will have a great sleep knowing you are helping the world-wide bee community, by helping Gary and Margaret produce podcast shows, Videos and Blog posts to bee shared in the beekeeping community.
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Big Blues Bed by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license
No Copyright Music] Wonderland (instrumental) -- Scandinavianz
MONSANTO GO AWAY Anthem -- Performed by HUMAN -- Occupy Maui -- Used with permission
Other Posts You might Enjoy
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.
So did you enjoy that show ?...did you find something useful you can use in your beekeeping work or help keep you company as you work your bees??? Yes?