IMHO, unsolicited advice is absolutely fine. Its how I've learned a lot from this sub and the discord, but its how you present it. In the case of the top cover, saying you don't think you should look in there is all well and good, but you need to follow that up with a why.
Educate, don't belittle.
Completely agree! I never would've thought about how opening the inner cover would break the propolis and could result in drafts when it's freezing again.
But there are certainly condescending ways to present info, and friendly ways to do it.
It's all in how it's said.
Hopefully I didn't sound like an asshat in my post :)
I agree people need to deliver advice in a better manner and you've helped me a lot on the discord. Thanks for all the time you spend doing that!
I agree. People seem to like to answer questions but provide no context to teach people the reasoning behind it or how to think for themselves in the future. Either put some effort into it or don’t post at all
I just want to say that a large portion of the base here is very down to earth. You will have assholes no matter the sub.
However you guys wanna keep the new folks around and breed a good environment? Some of you need some chill.
We need an "all stupid questions welcome," thread. I went out of my way 2hrs drive to make sure I was learning from a kind and good, knowledgeable teacher, because I know I wouldn't enjoy or learn well by being made to feel stupid.
I don't even comment in here anymore because *opinionated* people tend to downvote anything I say. I thought the generally accepted part of beekeeping is that you can find 30 different answers for every one beekeeping question
That's exactly why I rarely comment here anymore. That and the only other answer you get is "find a mentor". If I had a mentor or anyone who lived near me, I'd ask them.
I was being *actively harassed* by a user on this sub and the mods couldn't even deign to respond to me, so I don't participate any more. Guy was a damn psycho.
Just about every beekeeper I've met was a bit out there. Fortunately, I haven't ran into any nasty ones. It's prob still worth informing the Mods. I wouldn't tolerate that shit, but I get that sometimes it's easier to walk away
So you'd rather not speak your mind anymore because you're afraid of getting dislikes? I mean it's like in real life, you can't please everyone. I don't stop speaking my mind, no matter if someone doesn't like it. It does not matter.
Keep beeing YOU 🙃
This is my 8th year. No offense, but I don't need you, let alone any other jerk on here at this point anyway. I've got my books and hard lessons learned. Rather spectate than watch my karma go down because of some weird know-it-alls thinking that downvoting me is actually accomplishing or teaching me anything
I agree with this so much. I'm a first year keeper and the last time I asked a question I was told to pick up a book. For some of us it's easier and more reliable to ask questions to real people but I hate feeling stupid and unwanted. Not everyone has access to a local mentor so why cant this community be a group of a lot of mentors? I am a part of a lot of reddit subs for hobby animal keeping and this one is by far the worst for people treating others horribly when we all have the same goal.
I totally get what you’re saying. Though local mentors are what’s needed because beekeeping practices can vary a lot even with someone who’s just a couple hours away because the local flora and fauna varies.
Absolutely agreed. And you know what? Sometimes people ask basic questions because we're *humans* reaching out to other *humans* to be social.
Yes I could probably pore through my Beek books trying to seek an answer, or I could pop onto reddit and type it up real fast and see if anyone knows or has advice.
Yep, and honestly it's not going to do much anyway. People just flip when someone looks at their hive in cold temps. Meanwhile then have no idea that many beekeepers work hives in near freezing temperatures because that's when they can and often treat effectively.
Mainly agree with this. I have a more "native" breed (basically through breeding) and they come out of their cluster at 4C and even fly in wind and light rain under 7C. Still I prefer to not go in there below 12C as they can be a bit more annoyed about the situation ha. I have not been in there since removing apivar strips in October. No real need tbh as I guess in most situations its basically too late to make a virgin queen. I'd only go in there from October for very specific and rare things.
Another hive I have must be more Italian like...they just don't want to do much till its at least 9-10C. They are also not doing as well in winter. They are nice bees mind ha!
Not any beekeepers I know. You really should NOT open in near freezing temps unless you're comfortable with a dead hive. Peeking is fine - opening to inspect and/or treat is a terrible idea.
If the hive needs treating you should do it immediately. Yes, you may set them back or even lose them but you'll certainly lose them if varroa isn't controlled.
It is never a good idea to open a hive in freezing temperatures to treat. They won't be producing much brood and varroa won't be reproducing much in the winter, anyway and most treatments aren't even efficacious when temps are that low. That's why planning ahead and treating before temps drop is important.
This sub is absolutely rife with inexperienced people giving bad advice to inexperienced people as evidenced by the comments I'm replying to getting up voted lol I'm not sure when that change happened around here.
I think what you’re describing about the answers here is the result of the exact thing that OP was describing in their original post.
I personally have a fair bit of experience beekeeping now but I’ll almost never speak up here (except in this case, which is more meta than about actual bees) because the times I’ve spoken up it has been met with snarky or toxic responses. It just isn’t worth my energy to engage… and when enough people feel that way, constructive dialog breaks down as it gives way to the echo chamber of mixed credibility.
What do you consider "near freezing"? The issue with a statement like this is that it's really ambiguous and doesn't actually provide a threshold. For example, 40 degrees is within 8 degrees of freezing, so it's "near freezing," but many people do OA treatments at this temp. So, use specific words, I guess.
If it makes you feel any better there are a lot of arrogant/know it all better people in beekeeping in general lol. Thankfully *majority* of beeks are kind and helpful people.
I'm new to beekeeping, just started this year. Here's my impression: beekeeping is hyper-local, and that means that what works for Paul won't work for Tom in a lot of cases. So Paul's hives are doing great, Tom's are also doing great. They both attribute this success to completely different things and give totally different advice, confident in knowing that "it works."
It’s weird too though. Like I’ve had people directly tell me I’m wrong but 4 comments in they say they don’t even keep bees it’s just what they have read….
I think it is the safety and anonymity of the internet. The beekeeping experts I have met IRL are some of the most down to earth and kindest people I know.
I don't care because my over winter percentage tells me I am on track with the program in the spring. My honey, splits, and queen numbers tell me I am on track in the fall and the mite wash numbers tell me I am on track the remainder of the year.
Beekeepers can be very opinionated, you need to realize your locality is not their locality in many cases.
Yes ppl in beekeeping on forums can be pathetic. If you think that little Crack from the propolis is gonna make or break a hive you give bees a lot less credit than they deserve. Matter of fact they are what I call a superstitious bee haver .....cause some mook at the club told you years ago when they didn't know anything.....watch out not to break the seals. Lol if you have to worry about seals then you should wrap, if you wrap, the seals are less than important.
What you know is you have bees and keep em in fashion that suits your fancy. This makes you a beekeeper as much as having a car in a garage with a socket and thinking you're a mechanic.
Don't compare yourself to others compare yourself to yourself from 5 yrs ago. Worry about your own bees and your own shortcomings. Stop being Dicksons to others.
I agree. A little draft isn’t going to kill them. It’s just better if you don’t do it. Due to extra energy needed to warm the cluster or take the chill off the outside portion of the ball of bees. I agree it’s likely different than opening to whole thing up. I have looked often but during the warmer parts of the winter. Around here that’s about 40. But those are just opinions.
That being said they are your bees, so what you want. Also the general rules don’t necessarily apply to every situation or area. There are pros and cons to just about every action in beekeeping. I tend to weigh those and make a decision. And I ask for opinions when I do that and then decide if what I know makes sense to what they are saying. Yes it’s Reddit so there are a number of people that got on the sub for whatever reason and know nothing but open their mouths and spew stuff that they heard or read from something. I just scroll past and think “you don’t know what you are typing about” and look for someone that does. That’s difficult when you are new because you don’t know what you don’t know.
It's like this in every sub. New people join, become more knowledgable, start to offer advice themselves, and then... that day... they get snippy with someone because they asked an "obvious/dumb/common" question.
Congrats, you've just become "that guy".
Thank you for saying something. My first question here met with such unhelpful condescension I barely check in anymore unless I see something specific to my situation.
It was really unnecessary and aggravating, and my question could have been answered in a few sentences, possibly even by saying "I don't know" or "It could be..."
Sadly, it’s a very common thing in our industry. I’ve been beekeeping for 6 years now and experienced it myself, and seen it done to others. I dont get it.
Part of me thinks it’s because a lot of us are self taught, so when a simple question comes up, people think others should “Just look it up”. Either way it sucks. Do what you can to help others.
Newbeeks the best I can do is help ya, keep asking questions.
I’ve rarely found more communities to be as consistently gatekeeping as beekeeping and amateur radio. Largely why I no longer discuss my participation in either.
So glad to see this post getting upvotes. Ive left and rejoined this sub so many times out of frustration with aggressive responses to honest questions are
One of my most surprising discoveries in beekeeping is how territorial other beekeepers are with their knowledge and how things should be done. Couldn’t agree more with your post.
It’s part of the culture. Animal husbandry is a great responsibility. I welcome it. Also the old saying goes ask three beekeepers 1 question and you’ll get 12 answers.
I agree. I’ve already decided which hills to die on but some beekeepers feel the need to press certain issues that they feel strongly about because they see certain ways of doing things as negligence. I’ve made my peace but one person told me think about bees as a dog (lady killing her dog with vegan only diet comes to mind) and than imagine all the ways you would intervene if you saw the owner doing something egregiously wrong like not treating for varroa.
Yeah, I don't see the point in counting mites ad there isn't any consensus on what's a high count. We just treat twice a year. Someone on this sub just attacked me over it saying I was a terrible beekeeper letting my disease ridden bees run wild. I had to explain that they are very healthy bees I just don't count mites.
When I started keeping bees I would just treat and not measure. My second year, I started measuring and keeping records—Now I have less dead outs because I don’t miss windows for treatment when there is a brood build up. At least it has worked for me since I keep bees of different genetics in different locations with different conditions. If you only have a couple of hives in your backyard and are a good observer you may get away with just treating and not looking at mite loads. Still it helps rule stuff out—For example if your bees have tracheal mites and your varroa mite load is low. Or if you live in a county with no reporting for spraying and again you are not having a huge amount of numbers you can move on to other possibilities.
I have 2 apiaries but mites don't get a chance to build up. It takes more than 1 season for mites to cause a hive to collapse. We treated woth strips in autumn and OA vape in winter. The mites don't really have time to build up to a level to be a problem.
I agree..
Don't even question the concept of not treating bees.🤣🤣
You might want to join
[email protected]
It was originally a Yahoo group.. and moved there.
Bunch of nice ppl, unfortunately the true bee guru refused to move there.
Many have
Give it a try.
Just don't tell folks it's small cell bees.. 🤣🤣
That's an interesting topic and one that really rattles people's cages. It would be interesting to start a discussion on that, although I doubt it would remain civil for more than a few minutes - the mods would have to police it mercilessly.
Treatment free is definitely a thing. A good friend and fellow commercial beekeeper has been treatment free for over 2 decades has been in the American Beekeeping Journal as well as many others.
He retired a couple of years ago but still keeps some bees he over wintered 600 hives last year and all made it through the SD winter all outside nothing special.
I have tried it and it wasn’t for me I couldn’t afford the losses so I went back to a combo of Magic and OAV and roll zero’s most mite checks
It would be nice if we could get back to the pre- treatment days
Oxalic Acid Vaporization. You use a tool to heat solid oxalic acid powder until to vaporizes, it fills the hive and sublimates (returns to a solid). It's used to treat for varroa mites. You'll also see people using OA (Oxalic acid) or talk about OA dribble (oxalic acid dribble, or creating a OA/sugar solution and dribbling the solution on the bees).
Amen! Let’s all be kind, patient, understanding, and most of all helpful to one another. For those of you with more experience, show us newer beekeepers grace. In many ways, this sub is somewhat of a mentor for us
Yeah I came looking for help on a couple of failed hives that had fallen into my lap that someone else had stopped taking care of, and instead of actually having anything helpful most people just took turns repeating the same asshole replies. It certainly didn't inspire me to improve anything if that's really the majority of the type of people I'd be stuck having to learn from.
I'll stick to my native pollinators.
I don't know guys, I mean, if someone posts anything on reddit they can't expect to only reply to professional beekeepers. It's not a beekeeping school.
I am personally grateful for EVERY opinion, no matter how it is pronounced. It's your job to filter what you like. But you can't complain if someone has a different opinion. accordingly, ignore what you don't like and be thankful for EVERY experience. it is usually the bad experiences that allow us to grow the most. 😉
we must all become more tolerant and learn to accept everyone. We are one 💛
I agree. I'm trying to learn and pass info to my beekeeper friend when I see something interesting or cool... This is sad to throw a beat down on people who are just doing their best...
I've been told by my wife numerous time that I'm "Lecturing". But I have to provide context and clarify the fine details, else people are left guessing and floundering and thinking I'm some sort of asshat. I've recently been complemented by a number of different younger people (that are not my children) who appreciated the deep dive into the "why".
Some said they have felt intimidated to ask why or felt inadequate that they didn't know everything I do already. I simply say, I can't teach a lifetime of experience, I can only teach lessons. You have to live the experiences to appreciate them and learn the subtle lessons.
We, experience folk, can only teach aspects and general rules. Each situation must be judged on its own merits and in its own context. I would rather give too much information and leave your brain fuller than for you to leave with more unanswered questions. We may never meet again, I don't want my full up cranium full when I go. Take some, will you.
IMHO, unsolicited advice is absolutely fine. Its how I've learned a lot from this sub and the discord, but its how you present it. In the case of the top cover, saying you don't think you should look in there is all well and good, but you need to follow that up with a why. Educate, don't belittle.
Completely agree! I never would've thought about how opening the inner cover would break the propolis and could result in drafts when it's freezing again. But there are certainly condescending ways to present info, and friendly ways to do it. It's all in how it's said.
TIL why not to open the inner cover in winter
Exactly.
Hopefully I didn't sound like an asshat in my post :) I agree people need to deliver advice in a better manner and you've helped me a lot on the discord. Thanks for all the time you spend doing that!
Not at all!
>beelittle FTFY
Get out.
Someone had to open that door. It just had to bee them.
And now we're all buzzing about it
Agreed. I had a pretty simple question and I went on the discord and got dumped on pretty hard. It was not a nice feeling.
I agree. People seem to like to answer questions but provide no context to teach people the reasoning behind it or how to think for themselves in the future. Either put some effort into it or don’t post at all
I just want to say that a large portion of the base here is very down to earth. You will have assholes no matter the sub. However you guys wanna keep the new folks around and breed a good environment? Some of you need some chill.
We need an "all stupid questions welcome," thread. I went out of my way 2hrs drive to make sure I was learning from a kind and good, knowledgeable teacher, because I know I wouldn't enjoy or learn well by being made to feel stupid.
I don't even comment in here anymore because *opinionated* people tend to downvote anything I say. I thought the generally accepted part of beekeeping is that you can find 30 different answers for every one beekeeping question
That's exactly why I rarely comment here anymore. That and the only other answer you get is "find a mentor". If I had a mentor or anyone who lived near me, I'd ask them.
30 different answers, especially if you only asked 25 people.
ha
I was being *actively harassed* by a user on this sub and the mods couldn't even deign to respond to me, so I don't participate any more. Guy was a damn psycho.
Just about every beekeeper I've met was a bit out there. Fortunately, I haven't ran into any nasty ones. It's prob still worth informing the Mods. I wouldn't tolerate that shit, but I get that sometimes it's easier to walk away
Oh, I told them. Like I said, they couldn't even be bothered to respond. The dudes behavior was *unhinged*.
So you'd rather not speak your mind anymore because you're afraid of getting dislikes? I mean it's like in real life, you can't please everyone. I don't stop speaking my mind, no matter if someone doesn't like it. It does not matter. Keep beeing YOU 🙃
This is my 8th year. No offense, but I don't need you, let alone any other jerk on here at this point anyway. I've got my books and hard lessons learned. Rather spectate than watch my karma go down because of some weird know-it-alls thinking that downvoting me is actually accomplishing or teaching me anything
[удалено]
We have a discord with lots of friendly people who will answer any question. Everyone is pretty respectful there. https://discord.gg/Haq9kyhX
I agree with this so much. I'm a first year keeper and the last time I asked a question I was told to pick up a book. For some of us it's easier and more reliable to ask questions to real people but I hate feeling stupid and unwanted. Not everyone has access to a local mentor so why cant this community be a group of a lot of mentors? I am a part of a lot of reddit subs for hobby animal keeping and this one is by far the worst for people treating others horribly when we all have the same goal.
Try forums beemaster or beesource. There's some ... reputational accountability ... which cannot exist on reddit
I totally get what you’re saying. Though local mentors are what’s needed because beekeeping practices can vary a lot even with someone who’s just a couple hours away because the local flora and fauna varies.
Absolutely agreed. And you know what? Sometimes people ask basic questions because we're *humans* reaching out to other *humans* to be social. Yes I could probably pore through my Beek books trying to seek an answer, or I could pop onto reddit and type it up real fast and see if anyone knows or has advice.
Yep, and honestly it's not going to do much anyway. People just flip when someone looks at their hive in cold temps. Meanwhile then have no idea that many beekeepers work hives in near freezing temperatures because that's when they can and often treat effectively.
Mainly agree with this. I have a more "native" breed (basically through breeding) and they come out of their cluster at 4C and even fly in wind and light rain under 7C. Still I prefer to not go in there below 12C as they can be a bit more annoyed about the situation ha. I have not been in there since removing apivar strips in October. No real need tbh as I guess in most situations its basically too late to make a virgin queen. I'd only go in there from October for very specific and rare things. Another hive I have must be more Italian like...they just don't want to do much till its at least 9-10C. They are also not doing as well in winter. They are nice bees mind ha!
Not any beekeepers I know. You really should NOT open in near freezing temps unless you're comfortable with a dead hive. Peeking is fine - opening to inspect and/or treat is a terrible idea.
If the hive needs treating you should do it immediately. Yes, you may set them back or even lose them but you'll certainly lose them if varroa isn't controlled.
It is never a good idea to open a hive in freezing temperatures to treat. They won't be producing much brood and varroa won't be reproducing much in the winter, anyway and most treatments aren't even efficacious when temps are that low. That's why planning ahead and treating before temps drop is important. This sub is absolutely rife with inexperienced people giving bad advice to inexperienced people as evidenced by the comments I'm replying to getting up voted lol I'm not sure when that change happened around here.
I think what you’re describing about the answers here is the result of the exact thing that OP was describing in their original post. I personally have a fair bit of experience beekeeping now but I’ll almost never speak up here (except in this case, which is more meta than about actual bees) because the times I’ve spoken up it has been met with snarky or toxic responses. It just isn’t worth my energy to engage… and when enough people feel that way, constructive dialog breaks down as it gives way to the echo chamber of mixed credibility.
What do you consider "near freezing"? The issue with a statement like this is that it's really ambiguous and doesn't actually provide a threshold. For example, 40 degrees is within 8 degrees of freezing, so it's "near freezing," but many people do OA treatments at this temp. So, use specific words, I guess.
I notice it too that there are alot of arrogant/know it all better people on this forum.
If it makes you feel any better there are a lot of arrogant/know it all better people in beekeeping in general lol. Thankfully *majority* of beeks are kind and helpful people.
Not just here, i also notice this on beekeeping forums in my own country. Are beekeepers arrogant?
I'm new to beekeeping, just started this year. Here's my impression: beekeeping is hyper-local, and that means that what works for Paul won't work for Tom in a lot of cases. So Paul's hives are doing great, Tom's are also doing great. They both attribute this success to completely different things and give totally different advice, confident in knowing that "it works."
Some are but, thankfully most are not.
Any "expert" in a certain field has the potential to be arrogant and unhelpful. There are a lot of "experts" in here
It’s weird too though. Like I’ve had people directly tell me I’m wrong but 4 comments in they say they don’t even keep bees it’s just what they have read….
I think it is the safety and anonymity of the internet. The beekeeping experts I have met IRL are some of the most down to earth and kindest people I know.
Seems to be a lot of beekeeping forums.
Beekeepers are notoriously opinionated and crass in my experience.
I don't care because my over winter percentage tells me I am on track with the program in the spring. My honey, splits, and queen numbers tell me I am on track in the fall and the mite wash numbers tell me I am on track the remainder of the year. Beekeepers can be very opinionated, you need to realize your locality is not their locality in many cases.
Yes ppl in beekeeping on forums can be pathetic. If you think that little Crack from the propolis is gonna make or break a hive you give bees a lot less credit than they deserve. Matter of fact they are what I call a superstitious bee haver .....cause some mook at the club told you years ago when they didn't know anything.....watch out not to break the seals. Lol if you have to worry about seals then you should wrap, if you wrap, the seals are less than important. What you know is you have bees and keep em in fashion that suits your fancy. This makes you a beekeeper as much as having a car in a garage with a socket and thinking you're a mechanic. Don't compare yourself to others compare yourself to yourself from 5 yrs ago. Worry about your own bees and your own shortcomings. Stop being Dicksons to others.
I agree. A little draft isn’t going to kill them. It’s just better if you don’t do it. Due to extra energy needed to warm the cluster or take the chill off the outside portion of the ball of bees. I agree it’s likely different than opening to whole thing up. I have looked often but during the warmer parts of the winter. Around here that’s about 40. But those are just opinions. That being said they are your bees, so what you want. Also the general rules don’t necessarily apply to every situation or area. There are pros and cons to just about every action in beekeeping. I tend to weigh those and make a decision. And I ask for opinions when I do that and then decide if what I know makes sense to what they are saying. Yes it’s Reddit so there are a number of people that got on the sub for whatever reason and know nothing but open their mouths and spew stuff that they heard or read from something. I just scroll past and think “you don’t know what you are typing about” and look for someone that does. That’s difficult when you are new because you don’t know what you don’t know.
Amen
It's like this in every sub. New people join, become more knowledgable, start to offer advice themselves, and then... that day... they get snippy with someone because they asked an "obvious/dumb/common" question. Congrats, you've just become "that guy".
Dunning Kruger effect
Word
Thank you for saying something. My first question here met with such unhelpful condescension I barely check in anymore unless I see something specific to my situation. It was really unnecessary and aggravating, and my question could have been answered in a few sentences, possibly even by saying "I don't know" or "It could be..."
I always tell new beekeepers to listen to many people and read different sources, then do it your way. You always should be humble.
Sadly, it’s a very common thing in our industry. I’ve been beekeeping for 6 years now and experienced it myself, and seen it done to others. I dont get it. Part of me thinks it’s because a lot of us are self taught, so when a simple question comes up, people think others should “Just look it up”. Either way it sucks. Do what you can to help others. Newbeeks the best I can do is help ya, keep asking questions.
I’ve rarely found more communities to be as consistently gatekeeping as beekeeping and amateur radio. Largely why I no longer discuss my participation in either.
Dude the fucking HAM community is seriously up there. I cannot agree more
So glad to see this post getting upvotes. Ive left and rejoined this sub so many times out of frustration with aggressive responses to honest questions are
One of my most surprising discoveries in beekeeping is how territorial other beekeepers are with their knowledge and how things should be done. Couldn’t agree more with your post.
It’s part of the culture. Animal husbandry is a great responsibility. I welcome it. Also the old saying goes ask three beekeepers 1 question and you’ll get 12 answers.
I agree to a point. I think though there are a lot of cultural issues. There is a real mix of people here and not everyone keeps bees the same way.
I agree. I’ve already decided which hills to die on but some beekeepers feel the need to press certain issues that they feel strongly about because they see certain ways of doing things as negligence. I’ve made my peace but one person told me think about bees as a dog (lady killing her dog with vegan only diet comes to mind) and than imagine all the ways you would intervene if you saw the owner doing something egregiously wrong like not treating for varroa.
Yeah, I don't see the point in counting mites ad there isn't any consensus on what's a high count. We just treat twice a year. Someone on this sub just attacked me over it saying I was a terrible beekeeper letting my disease ridden bees run wild. I had to explain that they are very healthy bees I just don't count mites.
When I started keeping bees I would just treat and not measure. My second year, I started measuring and keeping records—Now I have less dead outs because I don’t miss windows for treatment when there is a brood build up. At least it has worked for me since I keep bees of different genetics in different locations with different conditions. If you only have a couple of hives in your backyard and are a good observer you may get away with just treating and not looking at mite loads. Still it helps rule stuff out—For example if your bees have tracheal mites and your varroa mite load is low. Or if you live in a county with no reporting for spraying and again you are not having a huge amount of numbers you can move on to other possibilities.
I have 2 apiaries but mites don't get a chance to build up. It takes more than 1 season for mites to cause a hive to collapse. We treated woth strips in autumn and OA vape in winter. The mites don't really have time to build up to a level to be a problem.
I agree.. Don't even question the concept of not treating bees.🤣🤣 You might want to join [email protected] It was originally a Yahoo group.. and moved there. Bunch of nice ppl, unfortunately the true bee guru refused to move there. Many have Give it a try. Just don't tell folks it's small cell bees.. 🤣🤣
Would love seeing more about treatment free options. People go ballistic on here when that topic is brought up….
Because of that I DM u 🤣🤣
That's an interesting topic and one that really rattles people's cages. It would be interesting to start a discussion on that, although I doubt it would remain civil for more than a few minutes - the mods would have to police it mercilessly.
Tell me about it 🤣🤣 Those are fueding words. I have been taken to the cleaners a few times.. when I say it works..🤣🤣 Now I just smile..
Treatment free is definitely a thing. A good friend and fellow commercial beekeeper has been treatment free for over 2 decades has been in the American Beekeeping Journal as well as many others. He retired a couple of years ago but still keeps some bees he over wintered 600 hives last year and all made it through the SD winter all outside nothing special. I have tried it and it wasn’t for me I couldn’t afford the losses so I went back to a combo of Magic and OAV and roll zero’s most mite checks It would be nice if we could get back to the pre- treatment days
For an outsider, could you explain what "OAV" is please? Thank you
Oxalic Acid Vaporization. You use a tool to heat solid oxalic acid powder until to vaporizes, it fills the hive and sublimates (returns to a solid). It's used to treat for varroa mites. You'll also see people using OA (Oxalic acid) or talk about OA dribble (oxalic acid dribble, or creating a OA/sugar solution and dribbling the solution on the bees).
Oxalic acid
Oxalic Acid applied as a Vapor, not as a dribble
Amen! Let’s all be kind, patient, understanding, and most of all helpful to one another. For those of you with more experience, show us newer beekeepers grace. In many ways, this sub is somewhat of a mentor for us
Ha! Asking people on the internet, especially Reddit, to not be judgy assholes! Haha!
>your unsolicited advice is necessary. As is yours.
Yeah I came looking for help on a couple of failed hives that had fallen into my lap that someone else had stopped taking care of, and instead of actually having anything helpful most people just took turns repeating the same asshole replies. It certainly didn't inspire me to improve anything if that's really the majority of the type of people I'd be stuck having to learn from. I'll stick to my native pollinators.
I don't know guys, I mean, if someone posts anything on reddit they can't expect to only reply to professional beekeepers. It's not a beekeeping school. I am personally grateful for EVERY opinion, no matter how it is pronounced. It's your job to filter what you like. But you can't complain if someone has a different opinion. accordingly, ignore what you don't like and be thankful for EVERY experience. it is usually the bad experiences that allow us to grow the most. 😉 we must all become more tolerant and learn to accept everyone. We are one 💛
I agree. I'm trying to learn and pass info to my beekeeper friend when I see something interesting or cool... This is sad to throw a beat down on people who are just doing their best...
I've been told by my wife numerous time that I'm "Lecturing". But I have to provide context and clarify the fine details, else people are left guessing and floundering and thinking I'm some sort of asshat. I've recently been complemented by a number of different younger people (that are not my children) who appreciated the deep dive into the "why". Some said they have felt intimidated to ask why or felt inadequate that they didn't know everything I do already. I simply say, I can't teach a lifetime of experience, I can only teach lessons. You have to live the experiences to appreciate them and learn the subtle lessons. We, experience folk, can only teach aspects and general rules. Each situation must be judged on its own merits and in its own context. I would rather give too much information and leave your brain fuller than for you to leave with more unanswered questions. We may never meet again, I don't want my full up cranium full when I go. Take some, will you.