2010 ANARCHY APIARIES ALMANAC

A life-long work in process. Really needs another edit, some second opinions and fact-checking, but Enjoy. If anyone wants to publish it, or send me $5 donation, go ahead. Continued apologies for lack of pictures, drawings, grammar, decency, just hope it helps you out.
Buzz. I'm off to Arizona.

2010 is the YEAR OF THE BEE

2010 ANARCHY APIARIES ALMANAC

Buzz, that's right! Days getting longer.. the sun will shine! Getting done 2010's version of the Anarchy Apiaries Almanac. It's not all that differnt from the 2009 Anarchy Apiaries Almanac, but there is a great new bear story.

It's FREE and will always bee free.

I've promised this to a lot of folks- the link will be here soon. (I don't know how to do it yet.)

UPCOMING GIGS:
March 5-7+, Oracle, AZ
The Southwest Treatment Free Beekeeping Conference. Yes, we are building an army.

March 14, Coral Springs, FL, 4 PM
The Broward County Beekeepers Association: Top Bar Beekeeping in Florida.

March 30, Fairfield, CT
The Backyard Beekeepers Association. Anarchy Beekeeping with the Top Bar Hive.

April 1, Keene, NH - Monadnock Beekeepers Association. wow, Spring is coming.

April 6, Bard Prison Initiative, Bard College,
Annandale, NY

April 24-25 - Outlaw Beekeeping in the Fine State of Mississippi

bee beautiful
sam

how bout this one?

bee it
beecause
you beelieve it.

Orders full!

I am for the moment sold out of beehives for 2010. Contact me to bee put on the waiting list, as I may release a few more hives in June.
thanks.
sam
anarchyapiaries@hotmail.com

LIVE BEE OR DIE!!!

Lots going on. Always. Upcoming gigs:

January 12-16, Orlando, FL
The American Beekeeping Federation mega-meeting. Catch me raising hell for 1.5 hours Saturday morning. You can also catch me sleeping in my bee truck.

January 30-31, Ashville, NC
The WNC Bee School. this will surely bee amazing. I'm around for the first weekend only.

February 6-7, West Palm Beach, FL
The Southeast Organic Beekeeping Conference. Buzz on!

March 5-7+, Oracle, AZ
The Southwest Treatment Free Beekeeping Conference. Yes, we are building an army.

March 30, Fairfield, CT
The Backyard Beekeepers Association. Anarchy Beekeeping with the Top Bar Hive.

April 1, Bard Prison Initiative, Bard College,
Annandale, NY

that's it for now. but is it enough? help me spread the love, honey.

Gleanings from 2009 – Bee brave. Bee a leader.

About as bad as it can get

For a year without tomatoes, I’ve had some of the best tomatoes of my life (from out of state). Some great seeds were saved in a tough year. Who says you have to do better each year, all the time? That doesn’t sound sustainable.

Reports coming in show that this year has had the worst honey production in US history. No one can remember a leaner time. The Hudson Valley led the way with record breaking rainfall. I think there were four dry days in June. July was hardly any better. With so much surface water, plants did not have the need to send roots very deep. Even when the sun came out, the nectar just wasn’t there.

I am thankful for the rain. Yes, that’s right. The terrible stress and depression of watching so many bees go hungry has abated as the season nears its end. The communities I live in have helped me through it. I harvested no honey and did feed 1200 pounds of sugar, just taking the edge of hunger off of the 300-some top bar hives. I do not like to feed bees - consider how the ph balance is alterered to favor disease (the real killer of hives, not the varroa mite). Feeding bees as a general practive lets them grow to depend on it. This year, however, feeding was necessary to keep a core population alive. Several still will not make it, some will go south, but the remaining core population will be robust and stronger for surviving a tough season. The bees will be OK, and next years queens will carry on these tested genetics. The more bees die, the more they live. We are always safe.

The more I see the less I know... (continued)

Taking Orders!

I'm selling hives for May 2010 on a sliding scale: each hive includes the full size box, all the top bars, extra dividers to make a split, cover, and the 2010 Anarchy Apiaries Almanac/Top Bar Beekeeping Handbook. that's everything needed (minus the ATTITUDE). you provide cinder blocks or some sort of stand.

$150 - 3-4 combs of brood, bees, and a queen
$200 - 4-5 combs
$250 - 5-6 combs

I'm taking 25% down to reserve hives. let me know how many of what you want.

bees will (likely) be available first or second weekend in May for pickup in Germantown, NY. our meetings will recommence in the spring too!

best in bugs,
sam
406-396-8357
anarchyapiaries@hotmail.com

DIMENSION X

Guess what? I measured one of my top bar hives. Eveything is made from rough cut 1 by 10s. Remember that bees just need a hollow space and dimensions are not important, though this size has proven versatile. To generally keep combs straight on the top bars, they are cut at 1.25” width. This is just the general trend, and NOTHING IS ABSOLUTE WITH BEES.

INTERNAL DIMENSIONS (approximate with rough cut lumber)
Width of top (accommodates a langstroth top bar): 18.25”
Width of bottom: 8.25”
Angle of sides: 120 degrees, gap left at bottom of board makes the side 10.5"
Height: 9”

Top bars: 1.25” by 20” (accommodates 4 popsicle sticks)

A .25” by 20” strip separates the divider boards from the first and last top bars and maintain bee space.
I sit the side boards angled onto the bottom to create bottom entrances. See some pictures. Get creative.

The box is 3 feet long, for convenience. 4 feet would give them even more room.

Born to bee bad,
sam

A Famous Beehive

Bayer CropScience holding hands with US Government

A LETTER FROM DEAN STIGLITZ.

RE: Asian Longhorn Beetle Eradication Effort

I’m sending this email out to individuals and organizations who might have interest in the fall application of imidacloprid by APHIS in Worcester County.

Today’s Boston Globe article on the subject can be found here:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/09/16/beeke...

My wife and I are beekeepers in Worcester County. Our colonies are outside of the current treatment zone, but not far away. I wouldn’t be surprised if the zone extended to some of our hives either in New Braintree or in Leominster.

I should also add the disclaimer that I am not a beekeeper who believes that imidacloprid is the cause of recent well publicized honeybee die offs. Imidacloprid does kill bees in isolated incidents, some of these are well documented, and there is no question that it is extremely toxic to bees if they encounter it. The issue with the ALB treatment is unique.

My wife and I attended the initial public meeting in Worcester when the ALB was first spotted. I participated in the forum, and made important contacts at APHIS, notably, Bob Baca, whose job is environmental compliance.

I made the first suggestions, and did extensive follow up to have APHIS fund a monitoring program for bees in and outside of the treated area. I put Bob Baca in touch with Ken Warchol, our county bee inspector who is working with Jeff Pettis (of the USDA Beltsville Bee lab), a graduate student, and our state apiarist, Al Carl, on this study (I believe they have setup 25 hives within the treatment zone, and 25 outside). I maintain that if APHIS does what they plan to do, that this study is imperative.

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