Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Please Stand By
Should have a new post by Friday. The husband and I will be delving into the hive tomorrow. Who knows what excitment will be waiting for us!
Monday, June 28, 2010
What I've Been Up To
A brief recap in case you missed bits: I keep bees. Just one hive. I used to have two, but one died over the winter. As part of my responsibilities to the bees, I have to open the hive and check out the comb for this, that, and the other disease or what have you. The problem is: I get scared. I break comb and expose larvae. I’m really not sure what I’m supposed to be looking for. It’s complicated. So I don’t go into the hive as much as I should. Enter the Connecticut Beekeepers Association. They have bee school and even a pretty awesome annual picnic where you get to go into their hives and practice.
Knowing my bizarre fear of the unknown, I collared my son into going to the annual picnic with me recently. The main topic was varroa mites and other fabulous pests that could wipe out my poor, unkempt bees. I actually learned a lot. We even had a surprise guest show up: congresswoman Rosa DeLauro. She is quite the personality. She showed up around lunchtime, right when we were getting done with our preliminary hands on experience with the hives. Dressed in a pastel, multicolor suit (looked really comfortable), she was surrounded by beekeepers by the time I arrived at the impromptu meeting. And she was tremendously informative. And not just about agricultural stuff, about the healthcare bill and general info.
I was impressed by how committed she is to making our food safe. She cited a recent shipment of Chinese honey to Philadelphia. Now, this is my own opinion: Chinese honey is bad. Really bad. Their beekeepers use heavy duty antibiotics that crosses into the honey. Yes, I’m aware that US beekeepers use antibiotics. But they are supposed to only use it either before the honey supers go on in the spring, or after they come off in the fall. The state beekeeper inspects hives in Connecticut. I’m sure other states are regulated as well. But I digress. What I really want to say is that it’s amazing all the stuff that goes on in DC and the majority of us are clueless. For instance, someone asked the question about small businesses providing healthcare for their workers. I was interested in this – I had a discussion with a friend in Florida about this very issue. Congresswoman DeLauro pointed out that if the business had less than 50 employees, it was exempt. If insurance was offered, the government would pick up 1/3 of the bill now and in 2014, that would increase to 50% of the cost. Now why was this left out of all the info we get haphazardly?
What does that have to do with my hives? Not a whole lot. But I did learn about drone foundation as a means to control mites and so ordered some as well as a queen cage when I got home. My next step is to grab the husband and open the hives and do a real inspection. Am I still scared? Not as much as I was. I’m kind of shocked that just opening hives with people who know what they’re doing changed my attitude so much. That’s why it’s so important to go to these things. Even if you have to bring someone along for moral support.
Knowing my bizarre fear of the unknown, I collared my son into going to the annual picnic with me recently. The main topic was varroa mites and other fabulous pests that could wipe out my poor, unkempt bees. I actually learned a lot. We even had a surprise guest show up: congresswoman Rosa DeLauro. She is quite the personality. She showed up around lunchtime, right when we were getting done with our preliminary hands on experience with the hives. Dressed in a pastel, multicolor suit (looked really comfortable), she was surrounded by beekeepers by the time I arrived at the impromptu meeting. And she was tremendously informative. And not just about agricultural stuff, about the healthcare bill and general info.
I was impressed by how committed she is to making our food safe. She cited a recent shipment of Chinese honey to Philadelphia. Now, this is my own opinion: Chinese honey is bad. Really bad. Their beekeepers use heavy duty antibiotics that crosses into the honey. Yes, I’m aware that US beekeepers use antibiotics. But they are supposed to only use it either before the honey supers go on in the spring, or after they come off in the fall. The state beekeeper inspects hives in Connecticut. I’m sure other states are regulated as well. But I digress. What I really want to say is that it’s amazing all the stuff that goes on in DC and the majority of us are clueless. For instance, someone asked the question about small businesses providing healthcare for their workers. I was interested in this – I had a discussion with a friend in Florida about this very issue. Congresswoman DeLauro pointed out that if the business had less than 50 employees, it was exempt. If insurance was offered, the government would pick up 1/3 of the bill now and in 2014, that would increase to 50% of the cost. Now why was this left out of all the info we get haphazardly?
What does that have to do with my hives? Not a whole lot. But I did learn about drone foundation as a means to control mites and so ordered some as well as a queen cage when I got home. My next step is to grab the husband and open the hives and do a real inspection. Am I still scared? Not as much as I was. I’m kind of shocked that just opening hives with people who know what they’re doing changed my attitude so much. That’s why it’s so important to go to these things. Even if you have to bring someone along for moral support.
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