[primer1]

Originally Posted by Vikingdad

What I do with the carpenter bees is squarsh 'em when they are boring their holes in my house and then fill the hole up with caulking. Those holes are made into brood chambers, they lay eggs on top of one another in a stack, or sometimes in galleries, sealing each one in before laying another. I think with carpenters they will lay a dozen or more eggs in a chamber (compared to a honeybee queen which will lay up to 2000 eggs in a single day during her top production). Because of this you want to seal up their holes so that the young bees are not able to emerge when they hatch out. Their holes can be a foot or two long into the wood, but parallel to the grain.

With most carpenters I will just let them bee, as they are beneficial insects and excellent pollinators.

I don't like killing them with the current bee crisis and all, but they get into my kids wood play set and I don't want any trouble there. You would think with treated wood that is stained that they would find another place to hang out and chew.

I spray the brakleen up into the holes, I didn't know they went in that deep.

[Cinderocka1989]

Originally Posted by primer1

I don't like killing them with the current bee crisis and all, but they get into my kids wood play set and I don't want any trouble there. You would think with treated wood that is stained that they would find another place to hang out and chew.

I spray the brakleen up into the holes, I didn't know they went in that deep.

Bee crisis? Who knew there was such a thing? I know they're good for plants and stuff... All we have around here are wasps and we have plenty...

[primer1]

Originally Posted by Cinderocka1989

Bee crisis? Who knew there was such a thing? I know they're good for plants and stuff... All we have around here are wasps and we have plenty...

Hives are collapsing, colony disorder thing. Lots of bees ate dying, pesticides ate catching some blame, along with toxic molds. Maybe I'm getting these facts mixed up with the bats. If too many bees die, lots of plants could potentially not produce and reproduce- not good on the food supply.

[Vikingdad]

Originally Posted by primer1

Hives are collapsing, colony disorder thing. Lots of bees ate dying, pesticides ate catching some blame, along with toxic molds. Maybe I'm getting these facts mixed up with the bats. If too many bees die, lots of plants could potentially not produce and reproduce- not good on the food supply.

More or less.

Also, professional beekeepers are seeing massive losses in their colonies. Some have lost over 90% of their hives. Personally I think it is due to overstressing them combined with their diet. Honeybees rely on a varied diet, just like humans. When you put your hives on a single crop (such as the almond crop coming up here in a few weeks here in CA) the bees are eating one single food item over the course of the entire bloom. Combine that with the fact that the average worker bees live for only a couple of weeks or less as an adult, and the almond bloom can cover two generations of the worker bees in that colony. That is like a person eating nothing but, say, ground beef for their entire adult life. No variety in diet will kill you deader than dirt.

Now, add to this the fact that for most of these millions and millions of honeybee colonies the almond bloom is all they do. Many of them are fed for the rest of the year if they are not put on different crops. What do they feed them? I'll let you guess........







CORN SYRUP!!!!

Yup. That tasty stuff that permeates virtually everything that you find in your grocery store. And the honeybees have just as much difficulty metabolizing corn syrup as we do.

This sh!t is killing everything!

[eatmydust]

Hey CapnJack, I find both of those random facts quite disturbing! Although, my eyes still hurt too!!

[Cattledog]

I just had a thought on the bee thing.... I'm going to have to adjust my apocalypse list to include ecological disaster from food chain collapse. I think I'll wedge it in-between climate change and the super virus.

my current list:

AI combat drone war
Climate Change
Food chain collapse
Super Virus
Nuclear war
Zombies

Oh yeah random fact....I think too much about the end of the world.

[Vikingdad]

Originally Posted by Cattledog

I just had a thought on the bee thing.... I'm going to have to adjust my apocalypse list to include ecological disaster from food chain collapse. I think I'll wedge it in-between climate change and the super virus.

my current list:

AI combat drone war
Climate Change
Food chain collapse
Super Virus
Nuclear war
Zombies

Oh yeah random fact....I think too much about the end of the world.

So wholesale gun confiscation doesn't make the list?

[primer1]

Originally Posted by Vikingdad

More or less.

Also, professional beekeepers are seeing massive losses in their colonies. Some have lost over 90% of their hives. Personally I think it is due to overstressing them combined with their diet. Honeybees rely on a varied diet, just like humans. When you put your hives on a single crop (such as the almond crop coming up here in a few weeks here in CA) the bees are eating one single food item over the course of the entire bloom. Combine that with the fact that the average worker bees live for only a couple of weeks or less as an adult, and the almond bloom can cover two generations of the worker bees in that colony. That is like a person eating nothing but, say, ground beef for their entire adult life. No variety in diet will kill you deader than dirt.

Now, add to this the fact that for most of these millions and millions of honeybee colonies the almond bloom is all they do. Many of them are fed for the rest of the year if they are not put on different crops. What do they feed them? I'll let you guess........

CORN SYRUP!!!!

Yup. That tasty stuff that permeates virtually everything that you find in your grocery store. And the honeybees have just as much difficulty metabolizing corn syrup as we do.

This sh!t is killing everything!

Interesting. Thanks for the info.

[winds-of-change]

Originally Posted by sirhc

I was the one that invented the question mark.

Alright, then, Dr. Please don't get as far as ".......it's breathtaking. I suggest you try it."

[Gonzilla]

The bee issue is disturbing and it's truly amazing how much of a benefit they are to us. We literally can not survive w/o them.

Media likes to panic but this IS something to worry about. Ha ent heard anything about it recently but bee keepers were recording massive & unexplained losses a year ago.