2nd set of Readings

A Guide to Queen Rearing

This video shows how to do a method of Queen Rearing that is apparently cheap, easy and effective

This video was very clear on what to do when using this method, and how to do it. However I'm not entirely sure why this method works. Why does doing this cause the bees to make queens? Also why does he crush the cells every inch? 

Splitting a Hive

A split is usually done for one of two reasons. One is that you have an overcrowded hive and are trying to prevent a swarm from happening. Splitting a hive doesn't always stop a hive from swarming, but it greatly decreases the chances. The other reason is that you wan't to have more hives in your apiary.

The old hive is left without a queen but has the capability to make a new one. If you were to put a new queen in you should wait a few days to do it, otherwise the other bees might smell the new queen's hormones and kill her.

How to Perform an Artificial Swarm

The idea behind this is to make the bees think they have already swarmed by separating the queen from the brood

It always amazes me how smart bees are and how they work as a team. It is almost like a hive is an organism itself and each bee is a cell

1st Set of Readings

#3

This article is about how hospitals in York, Ontario are trying to improve the food they serve and how this is greatly improving the patient's stay

I found it very cool that 80% of the food comes from Canada, of that 62% comes from Ontario. I wonder what percentage of my diet comes from BC and Canada as a whole

#37
This article/report from the UN blames various factors for messing up local food habits and for causing a public health disaster. These factors include urbanization, the spread of Western Lifestyle through out the world, and the rise of supermarkets.

I found it very interesting that in Hungary and in some US states there is a tax put on junk food (pop chips etc.). Also in Hungary the money collected from the junk food taxes is being put into the healthcare system

Identifying and Treating Varroa

1. Varroa mites are the biggest parasites in the world, relative to their host. The size ratio of honey bee to varroa mite is equivalent to that of a human to a basketball.


2. Varroa mites are the number one killer of honey bees globally.

3. A simple, effective and accurate method for treating varroa is the alcohol wash method.
   "The test is carried out as follows:

• Use a wide-mouth glass jar and scoop about 300 bees (~1 cup) from the brood area. Make sure that the queen is NOT included!
• Add 50 ml (~ 2 oz) of windshield wiper fluid (or diluted methyl hydrate, or rubbing alcohol) to the jar and shake for several minutes.
• Remove lid and pour contents into a container covered with light metal wire-mesh screen (8 mesh/in) or a coarse sieve. Repeat.
• Pour alcohol solution into a second container covered with cheesecloth or fine sieve. Count number of mites." - Agricultural Factsheet #222

Do varroa mites only prey on bees? Or do they also go for other insects? Possibly ants?

Identifying Nosema

1. Nosema belongs to a group of highly specialized fungi. It only effects adult bees, the most susceptible being the worker bees. The infection begins when bees ingest Nosema spores. Once ingested the spores uncurl  a long straw-like polar filament which penetrates and infects outer gut cells

2. To diagnose Noseama, collect 10-25 bees, that are older than 8 days old, from the hive entrance of a number of colonies. Total sample size should be about 100 bees. You can then either send them away to be examined or examine them yourself through a microscope.

3. Once Nosema has been diagnosed, you can treat it by disinfecting the comb, or through the use of medication. Comb can be disinfected by electron-beam irradiation. The only medication registered for the control of Nosema is Fumagillin.

Fumagillin is the only registered medication to treat Nosema. Are there any other unregistered home remedies that people claim to help Nosema?

Common Bee Diseases

1. Not only do diseases and viruses harm bees, but also pesticides, insecticides, and various animals including bears, cattle, birds, ants, frogs, toads, and many more.

2. Bee's can be effected by many different viruses and diseases. Reading about these, the one that interested me the most was bee paralysis. This virus only affects adult bees. A bee keeper will notice hairless glossy bees, bees crawling on the ground around the hive, or bees trembling on the landing board unable to fly.

3. The most serious disease a hive can get is American foulbrood. This disease is caused by Bacillus larvae and can be identified from a shot gun appearance of the capped broad. The capping will also be sunken and have some holes in it. If you open the cells they will contain a gooey tobacco spit coulered substance.

Have the bees at the school ever had a disease/virus or been attacked by pests?

A Compost Success Story

1. I found it really cool that Windermere Secondary School's program provides food and herbs to the school cafeteria. I would way rather eat food fresh from the garden than the burgers and pizza they have at West Van.

2. Kids in Windermere's agriculture program bike around to the high school's different feeder schools and load up bike trailers, donated to them by Cargo Bike Co-op, and PEDAL, with materials to use in there compost. Not only does this benefit the agriculture program but it also is incorporated in to the kids P.E. classes.

3. Earth Tubs are industrial sized composters that are ideal for restaurants, schools, supermarkets etc. Reading about Earth Tubs, along with all the other Urban Agriculture readings, has got me thinking about how cool it would be to have a completely self sufficient restaurant/garden/farm. The crops from the garden would supply the restaurant with food, the restaurant's scraps could be put into an Earth Cup, making nutrient-rich soil for the plants. Animals, such as chickens and cows, could also be kept and fed vegetables/grain from the garden. Although the restaurant might not have a huge selection of dishes and wouldn't have a consistent menu, the novelty of the restaurant might attract enough customers if it was located in a tourist hot spot.

Windermere just planted a mini orchard with 3 fruit trees. Is there much maintenance involved with having fruit trees?

Worm Composting

1. I had no idea worms would turn kitchen scraps into "a rich, dark, earth-smelling soil conditioner". That's so cool.

2. You can compost with worms indoors. This is a huge advantage for people living in climates unsuitable for regular outdoor composting, and for people who live in an apartment, or just don't have a yard.

3. All you need to compost with worms is a container, bedding (shredded newspaper, shredded leaves, chopped up straw etc.), and of course worms.


It says you should only use the red worms: Eisenia foetida, and Lumbricus rubellus, and not dew worms because dew worms are not likely to survive. Why is it that red worms can survive, but not dew worms.