Perth live internet event!

[gavin]

Hi Folks

Tomorrow night I'm talking to the Perth and District Beekeepers Association (the Scottish one) on beekeeping and the internet. Rather than give a presentation of static slides, I thought that I'd open it up for anyone on here to chip in. I'll take my new little box marked 'The Internet' *

Anything you'd like to say to them?

- a favourite web site?
- most useful YouTube video?
- best LA web site?
- just want to ask them something?
- say Hi from far away?
- funniest post/thread on SBAi?

If I was really smart I'd organise a live video link somehow, but I'm neither that smart nor do I have enough free time to organise it ......

Add your comments below, but I'm about to lock this so that you can't add anything until tomorrow night :p

* actually

http://brain.pan.e-merchant.com/9/7/21479079/l_21479079.jpg
rather than ..... (isn't miniaturisation wonderful)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDbyYGrswtg

[gavin]

Part 2.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTBsm0LzSP0

[gavin]

Catch us in about 2 hours or so. We'll look in then. 8pm.

[gavin]

Anyone there? There's a roomfulwaiting to hear from you.

http://www.sbai.org.uk/images/perth.JPG

[Pete L]

Hi from far away down in the south west.

[gavin]

Nice to hear from you Pete. Where are you originally from?

[Pete L]

My family originated in Scotland.

There are some good you tube videos on the national honey show web site, some good speakers, including Mike Palmer from the USA on sustainable beekeeping, something i believe we should doing and working together to achieve this.

[fatshark]

Warwick and Leamington training session now on. Hello Perth!

Don't believe a word Gavin tells you!!

[gavin]

Rascal! They know me better than that!

Thanks Pete. Plenty of Perthshire beekeepers here, listening to tales of very high quality timber hives made in the SW.

[Pete L]

All made from locally sourced cedar, here on Exmoor.

Hope the rest of the winter is kind to all the Scottish beekeepers, and their bees come through winter strong and healthy.

[gavin]

Thanks everyone, those who posted privately earlier and on here. We did indeed start off with the YouTube video of Michael Palmer at the National Honey Show (http://www.youtube.com/user/nationalhoneyshow). Incidently, anyone wanting to buy the best quality Western Red Cedar hives in the UK should get in touch with Pete:

http://www.exmoorbeesandbeehives.co.uk/index.htm

So, some internet resources for beekeepers:

YouTube. For example ...

Michael Palmer at the National Honey Show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nznzpiWEI8A
Tom Seeley speaking to his peers at Cornell: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnnjY823e-w

Clubs and associations

http://www.bbka.org.uk/
http://www.scottishbeekeepers.org.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Glasgow-Beekeepers/146942185359843
http://www.eastofscotlandbeekeepers.org.uk/
http://www.perthanddistrictbeekeepers.co.uk/
http://www.bristolbeekeepers.org.uk/ (try the pollen guide)
http://www.imker-kreisverband-aschaffenburg.imker-bayern.de/

Mapping, forage areas, selecting apiary sites

http://obeattie.github.io/gmaps-radius/
https://maps.google.co.uk/

Encyclopaedic sites and high quality information

http://www.dave-cushman.net/
https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/index.cfm
www.biosecurity.govt.nz/files/pests/varroa/control-of-varroa-guide.pdf‎ (http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/files/pests/varroa/control-of-varroa-guide.pdf‎)

Beekeeping science

http://scientificbeekeeping.com/
http://scholar.google.co.uk/

Libraries

http://bees.library.cornell.edu/
http://books.google.com/

Beekeeping discussion

http://community.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-LSOFTDONATIONS.exe?A0=BEE-L
http://www.beesource.com/
http://www.bbka.org.uk/members/forum.php
http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/
http://www.biobees.com/forum/
http://www.sbai.org.uk/‎

Also try the suggestions of SBAi members (some of which are incorporated above):

http://www.sbai.org.uk/sbai_forum/forumdisplay.php?30-Your-Favourite-Links

[fatshark]

Apologies for the short posting yesterday … I'd tried to upload an image from my phone of our training session but Tapatalk wasn't playing nice.

While we're on the subject of YouTube videos … here's a classic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVY9H5zkRf8&sns=em

Queen marking (how not to guide).

[gavin]

Apologies for the short posting yesterday … I'd tried to upload an image from my phone of our training session but Tapatalk wasn't playing nice.

While we're on the subject of YouTube videos … here's a classic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVY9H5zkRf8&sns=em

Queen marking (how not to guide).

LOL! They will not need to clip that one's wings. Not that they'd be able to anyway with that level of dexterity.

We'll have to try a Warwick/Leamington-Perth (or Dundee) twinning event another time. I couldn't have coped with any more SBAi activity last night. It aint easy holding forth, showing slides and web pages, uploading pictures and keeping an eye on the forum all at the same time, even when you do have 2 laptops on the go. Next time I'll need to drag a lovely assistant out from the audience to help. Did that at the honey tasting in Dundee last week, lovely Colin.

[The Drone Ranger]

That chap should be reported to the RSPCA
If you want a crown of thorns the plastic ones are useless
Do you sometimes think some people are not cut out for beekeeping ??

[drumgerry]

The very thought has crossed my mind on occasion DR! And yep if you want a C of T you need the ones with the vicious metal spikes!

[wee willy]

I agree, no give in the hard plastic mesh !


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[fatshark]

And have you noticed that the Thorne's 'plunger' type queen marking cages they sell in the sales all have the same type of rigid mesh on them. Utterly useless.

[Neils]

That chap should be reported to the RSPCA
If you want a crown of thorns the plastic ones are useless
Do you sometimes think some people are not cut out for beekeeping ??

I'm going to stick up for them, from their comments and shiny new kit they're obviously new and haven't done it before. Yes it's a great "how not to..." guide and I will be tucking it away for a session somewhere; but they got the general gist of what they needed to do and for the sake of a minute with someone who'd done it before they'd have been fine.

[The Drone Ranger]

Beside painting the whole queen white they were probably crushing her as well
Big fat gloves pressing the cage
Trying to hit a moving target
Using a marker pen on the cage
Sorry Neil
They are Morons

[mbc]

Beside painting the whole queen white they were probably crushing her as well
Big fat gloves pressing the cage
Trying to hit a moving target
Using a marker pen on the cage
Sorry Neil
They are Morons

I'm with Neil on this, calling them morons is a tad harsh. These push in queen marking cages are tricky to use properly and dont come with instructions, I find picking her up easier than using them.
The head and thorax needs to be trapped firmly without squishing the abdomen, try doing this when you're nervous and wearing thick gloves ! a total liability for beginners IMO.
If beekeepers havent got the confidence or dexterity to pick a queen up but they want to mark her, I advise one of the plunger marking cages as they are much gentler on the queens abdomen, but they do require a bit more potentially dangerous farting around with the queen to get her in there.

[wee willy]

This is a kinder marking device

http://youtu.be/CiWxx_3gUbc
WW


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[wee willy]

This of course is the best way well presented with no silly chit

http://youtu.be/R4Sb6J_uY3E

WW


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[fatshark]

That's a great video wee willy.
I reckon manually marking a queen is one of those landmark events for beekeepers … in no particular order of merit (though this is often the order they happen in)

Your first honey
Your first swarm
Your first grafted queen
Your first queen picked up, marked and safely returned

I still remember the first one I marked like that … I was really chuffed. Of the next two, one flew off never to be seen again and the other was balled :(

[Neils]

Beside painting the whole queen white they were probably crushing her as well
Big fat gloves pressing the cage
Trying to hit a moving target
Using a marker pen on the cage
Sorry Neil
They are Morons

The fact she's still running around under the cage suggests they're not crushing her ;) You'd hope they'd learn from the experience. There is a reason I tend to buy up thick leather gloves at associate auctions, take them home and burn them and that video is one of them.

If they do it again like that, I'd agree they're morons, especially if they either get helpful comments or some experienced one to one help as a result. Everything in that video suggests they're new beekeepers trying their best to follow reasonable advice and making a complete hash of it; I've been there, done that more than once, I just didn't post a vid of me doing it on you tube.

[nemphlar]

WW nice video. After years of pinching her by the wings I bought that plunger and catcher set last year, it works a treat very tidy little white spot, no stress. Almost always had couple of workers in with her. Very handy as the faculties deteriorate

[fatshark]

The other dependable way to catch queens if you don't want to use your mitts directly is one of those glass or plastic "crack" pipes sold by Thorne's (and no doubt others):
1947
These are easy to use. Take out the foam bung from the 'bowl' end. Put it the bowl over the queen against the comb. Be patient. She'll eventually walk up the pipe. Lift it off the comb, putting your thumb over the end. She will by now be backing back down the pipe. Pop the foam bung back in place. If you want to mark her in one of those plunger-type cages (or put her in a queen cage) remove the small plug from the thin end of the pipe … aim it correctly and either wait for her to make her own way down or (much, much faster) give a quick puff through the foam bung in the bowl end and she'll be jet propelled into the cage :D

[snimmo243]

Would this pipe work? http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/01/21/uqe9yreh.jpg

Sent from my C5303 using Tapatalk

[mbc]

Would this pipe work? http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/01/21/uqe9yreh.jpg

Sent from my C5303 using Tapatalk

Depends what you put in it.
A quote from a purvayor of fine herbs and prescribed chemicals;
"I don't advise a haircut, man. All hairdressers are in the employment of the government. Hair are your aerials. They pick up signals from the cosmos and transmit them directly into the brain. This may be the reason bald-headed men are uptight.
Relax, man, find your neutral space. You got a rush. It will pass. Be seated."

A natural beekeeper me'thinks !

[fatshark]

Would this pipe work? http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/01/21/uqe9yreh.jpg

I believe that the main problem with using that type of queen catcher is the difficulty you have in seeing the queen.

Or, for that matter, the hive :cool:

[gavin]

And here I am in Haddington to blether about bees and the internet. Anyone out there in cyberland want to say anything to the beekeepers of East Lothian? We'll stop by here again later on in the talk .....

If you want to see what East Lothian beekeepers look like, try the 'Communications' thread where I put a picture of them when I was last here.

Bee flowers out on the way here - willows, still some hazel, blackthorn is out, rape is extending but is still a couple of weeks away.

G.

[Neils]

Might be too late to partake and I'm not sure I have anything other than "hello" to say , but with a bit of notice id like to join these.

I've just left work so not in mission control for another 20 minutes or so.

[Neils]

On the off chance I'm not too late, I am signed into Skype

[gavin]

On the off chance I'm not too late, I am signed into Skype

Many thanks Neil, it was great to chat and introduce the East Lothian beekeepers to you. That's me just back.

[Neils]

Good fun and nice to see everyone. I think you should make this regular and have a few standard items in future that you could ask/talk about with the next willing victim.

[gavin]

Good fun and nice to see everyone. I think you should make this regular and have a few standard items in future that you could ask/talk about with the next willing victim.

Great suggestion. I'll do that next time - if there is one. One more talk in May before I hang up the digital projector until the autumn, but that one's on bee communication I think.

I'd be cautious about assuming a signal for internet access unless I've tried it in the hall, or remember the spot well enough to rely on the 3mobile signal predictions from their maps. Some halls are in basements and some are in spots where the signal strength is low already, but with these mobile WiFi gizmos you can take them off the leash and sometimes find a spot in the room that catches a signal, running them off their battery for the talk.

PS And I should ditch that &%!$£ Windows 8 Skype and get back to a version with proper controls!

[Neils]

Well, I'll be happy to go again. Appreciate tech shenanigans given similar situation here.

Windows 8? I thought you were a Linux man

[gavin]

Windows 8? I thought you were a Linux man

The new laptop last summer came with Windows which is useful for compatibility with work files and programs that don't run on Linux. Still have that Linux-based cast-off, rescued from its broken MS operating system, which comes in handy for some things.

Just checked: Skype is still available for Linux despite its new owners. In Perth I ran two laptops so that I should show the audience Michael Palmer on YouTube while I trimmed then uploaded pictures of them onto the forum. Could do the same next time, but run Skype on the second laptop while having the talk including live internet links off the Windows machine. Must check that the Huawei MiFi thingie works with Linux.

Doh! I had it working in Perth.