Well Sunday morning I delivered a powerpoint presentation in Kamloops entitled 'Winter and Spring Management'. I was happy with how it went. There was good questions from the floor and I think it well received. There was around 65-75 people in attendance. The powerpoint  (also turned it into a pdf) I put onto a memory stick off our Mac,. It wouldn't work through their PC. Luckily before I left my wife encouraged me to mail it to myself through my gmail account! I could easily open the pdf with gmail. So when we discovered it wouldn't open in Kamloops we just opened up my gmail and voila! My wife is so smart.

I have my facebook page kinda working. I tried today to embed it into our site the same way we did our youtube but it wouldn't work. I suppose tomorrow evening I may try to just put a facebook icon onto it. Tomorrow I am out to the bees! 

Another exciting day of industry politics!

Actually the meeting I thought went quite well. I always enjoy numbers and thought I'd share some.

BC Producers make up for close to      40 000 colonies of honeybees.
                                        almost     20 000 nucleus colonies were produced in 2011
                                        almost     30 000 queens                "           "       "      "
                                        bees in the province earned upward of $6 000 000 of pollination income.

One thing I have known to be true is the fact that BC could produce 5 times the amount of stock mentioned above and still sell it without much effort. The demand within our country is huge and I'd love to see our industry grow in this area. It has had the opportunity for this growth for the last 25 years and to date not much has happened. The Q was raised how do we change that knowing the last 25 years hasn't made much difference in our production figures. How do we grow in the next 25? I am not sure if the Q was really answered.

I think a lot of it falls into education. Beekeepers need to be given the management skills to increase their outfits and step up to the plate and work together to meet the demand for stock in our country. Maybe this is oversimplified. I have dealt with some large losses over the last 10 years and my heart aches for those going through dead hive after dead hive in the spring. The losses this past winter have been the lowest in several years. Could it possibly be that the beekeepers are doing a better job? Or will next year will we again lose 30%? I know dead bees don't make the beekeeper any money.

Tomorrow I have a presentation on 'Winter and Spring Management' at the education day. I will be following Geoff Wilson, Saskatchewan's Provincial Apiculturalist. It'll be fun. I always get very nervous speaking in front of that many people. I do actually very much enjoy it and tell myself that being nervous is par for the course!
                                                   

Well I have made it around to all my yards and I really do like what I have seen. 2 of my yards losses where  high bringing down my percentage. But taking those 2 yards into account I had over 80% success, ignoring those 2 it was over 90%. Around here I think it was as good of a winter as we could get in the Shuswap. It was nice and mild and we really didn't get a real cold snap until January which was lows of -20 C for 7-10 days. Another bonus regarding this winter is that I believe that at least 1 day every month there was a good opportunity for a cleansing flight.

I think  the 2 things that I need to learn regarding this winter is a. take your losses in the fall, b.know the numbers game. Both of these I already know in my head, but they have to be reflected more in my practice.

The 2 yards that I had my biggest losses I had concerns about last fall. There was a poor honeyflow for the bees to work and I the hive hives where lacking vigor. It's hard to explain that in detail, but when I was looking at them last fall I didn't walk away feeling good about them. Also the population of some of the hives where full but not bursting. I believe what I should have done with them was simply amalgamate  anything that was not bursting and let the Q's figure it out. Also I could have fed 3 or 4 pollen patties to them after the honey was pulled just to keep the Q's laying hard for a few more weeks giving the winter bees lot's of protein and helping their numbers.

The numbers game is fun! Let's say I want 150 healthy colonies for next spring. I have to consider winter loss and also fall issues like the paragraph above, or hives swarming, or Q's failing (heaven forbid they get rolled, or blown out by the bee blower!). So if I want 150 colonies in the spring let's work backwards through my season. 20% winter loss, so I need 180 into the winter. 10% flunkies, swarms, various Q issues that will be dealt with before you go into winter. So if I want to have 150 healthy strong colonies in 2013 I need to reach 180+10%=198 colonies for the summer of 2012.

That is one reason why I always encourage beginners to start with at least a couple hives and always make a few nuc's for themselves to have handy. I think we need to remember that in a feral environment bees are forever swarming, superceding mating, swarming, swarming, mating. I used to know the average life of a feral colony, I can't remember now but it's measured in months

Finally, my first sting of the year! I wonder if it a chemical addiction of sorts or just an official mental beginning to the season. I know by the time February hits I look forward and desire that first sting. Maybe that's why they call beekeeping a disease. It always hurts and I have heard many experienced beekeepers use some interesting vernacular to describe it, but boy do I need it!

I've been to half of my yards feeding patties and am happy with what I see. 2 yards last fall had some issues and those yards had my biggest losses. So I hope that the second half that I will see in the next couple days will be as good as the first half....hang on, I hope they are better! Maybe I'll remove the 'sold out' sign and sell an extra 20 nuc's.

For the last 4 years we have slowly been increasing our colony numbers. And every year we don't meet demand. It is a tricky balance trying to grow at a manageable rate. Strictly on paper it would make sense to grow faster, but I have witnessed and experienced growing too fast in this industry. Nature can be a cruel teacher. Beekeeping is a forum of husbandry and bees are considered livestock. Absolute care must be taken to ensure your bees stay healthy. Dead bees don't make much money!

Having said that we have sold out of our nucs for this season. I have made certain that I will have some available for those who take our Beeginners Bee Course in April. We will still have a few hundred mated Queens from the end of May onward.

I want to thank everybody who ordered nucs this year and I will be my best to ensure you get a top quality product. We are a couple days from launching our Youtube site, please keep an eye out for that. The fun for this year is just beginning!

I believe that we just went through our last cold spell, it was -15 C the other day and things look like they are warming up. My bee-pro arrives tomorrow and I should have patties on everything in a week, providing we don't get buried in snow.

People are starting to show interest in the beeginners bee course this April and I have received a lot of excitement in the fact that I am having Eliese Watson from backyardbees.ca talking about TBH's as part of the course. A lot of experienced beekeepers not wanting to take strictly a beginners are interested as well. So I have touched base with her and would like to offer a 2 hour presentation Sat evening (April 21st) and open that up for people with previous beekeeping experience. People that are interested in trying it or that have Q's that they'd like to ask this will be a valuable event.

We'll ask for $20 per person and require early registration. I must cap the event at 20 people, or my honey house will become too crowded and it would be tougher to have all your Q's answered with any more than that. Both of the last 2 issues of BeesCene (our provincial magazine) have had articles pertaining to TBH's. The tentative time will be 7-9 pm. When I have a bit more details figured out I'll put a page for it under our courses page! 

Well, well, well. I have yet to look at most of my girls. The other day I looked at about 1/2 dozen. They all looked very good. I really don't like to say too much until I have been in every yard. I realize that spring is creeping up, but right now winter has again reared it's head and it will be another week before things get checked. My Bee-Pro is on it's way, so when I do looking I'll have patties ready to go.

Last night it was calling for 5- 10cm of snow, we got 10. This morning it is still snowing hard and calling for 5-10 cm! So I'll probably end up shoveling 20 cm off the driveway. Shoveling snow is always fun into January, when this time of year hit's... not so much!

They call this area the Columbia-Shuswap. They don't call it the Okanagan-Shuswap, or the Thompson-Shuswap. We share a lot more of the Columbia's weather systems than a lot of people think. This area is amazing. If I drive one hour south I can be surrounded by orchards and vineyards. One hour west I'll be around desert and sagebrush. If I head north east I'll be around  Skunk Cabbage and giant Red Cedars. We live in an amazing part of the province.

"Hey Bil nice website, where's your Twiiter Icon?, you should have a Youtube Account. What do you mean your not on Facebook...really, 1 billion other people are doing it why aren't you! If you are wanting people on your site you really should have a blog!!!!!" Ahhhhh.

So what do I do. Do I scream Uncle and submit, or do I disconnect my phone line and pound a stake at the end of my driveway saying 'honey for sale, except for sunday!'..................Shhhh, I'm thinking.

Alright, alright. In the next few weeks I will have my Facebook page up and running (business not personal, sorry not interested) I plan on doing a series of youtube vid's about my season and highlight events on this blog. Trying not to get personal on this blog will be a bit of a challenge. You see beekeeping is my life and my passion. Agriculture is in my blood and being involved in it for as many years as I have (I still am young, although maybe a wee bit of a pessimist!) it is difficult not becoming politically charged!

I think there was a time where people used to talk and look into each other eyes and spend time together. Maybe that never really happened and that is a fairy tale that gives me warm and fuzzy feelings. Then came the radio, my mother said when she was young they used to sit together as a family and listen to programs (all 10 of them). My grandfather made sure they all knew the platforms of the major parties. Then came the t.v., still one per household, family time and interaction. Then t.v.'s went into bedrooms, pc's, cell phone's, ipad's. I can't wait to hear about status parties where people get together to stare down at their mobile devices and update profiles and tweet! Maybe this is already happening. Having said that, I love technology and wouldn't want to go backwards but we need to realize life is about relationship with people and maybe keep a wide and long vision of our life and not get caught up the present. So to open things up I wanted to share a poem that a friend of mine wrote several years ago. Although his experience is far different than mine, it touches something within my spirit.

"Why" by Mike Carr

As I harnessed my hitch for the plowing
A young man came into view
and he said "Old man do tell me,
Why do you do what you do?
Why do you farm with horses?
Why do you bear the strain?
Why do you sweat and toil?
Why do you suffer the pain?
Don't you know there's a world awaiting out there
of power and knowledge and speed?
Why would you stay a prisoner of work refusing at all to be freed?"

So I said to the young man in waiting,
"Sit and I'll speak for a spell.
I'll tell you a thing or maybe two
and why I get on so well.
Now, about this farming with horses.
Well, you see it's like climbing a tree,
but with only one arm to use,
and only one arm to see.
For part of you tends the horses,
and part of you tends the ground.
Part of you watches heaven above,
and part of you just looks around."

"Now all these parts to me add up,
to more than just the sum.
Of all the power, knowledge and speed,
that's gathered under the sun.
And about me being a 'prisoner of work',
well, mercy me there must be a mistake.
The prison you see, must be your own
for I'm in heaven for goodness sake!"