Fruitless Fall.

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In the precious dawn of an Anzac morn I sit out on the verandah with black coffee and savour the sight and smell of yellowing leaves and cool damp air.

The season is run, we are done.
The crop drummed and stacked and a warm feeling in the belly that soon it will be gone.
Tis the season for relaxation.

I've picked up a few books lately that should have been read years ago, but somehow got stashed in the book shelf and forgotten about.

'Fruitless Fall ' by Rowan Jacobsen is one of them.
It documents the disasters of CCD and Neonic attacks that struck the US beekeepers and the world back in 2007/2008.
It talks of almond pollination and pesticide loading and bees struggling with Varroa and virus's in a polluted world.
It talks of 80% winter losses and low honey prices and Beekeepers at their wits end.
It's an interestng read .

Of particular interest is of the dude in Vermont who embraced the genetics of the Russian bee, and combined with organics, runs a healthy apiary.
His name is Karl Webster ... I found him on google, still beekeeping some 14 years after his wobbly start with the Russians and a no treatement varroa policy.
I found another guy in Wyoming who runs Top Bar hives and small cell foundation ..... who also seems to live with The Mite in some sort of happy relationship.

And it got me thinking..... Tis the season of relaxation with three and a half months 'til we crack the lids again.

I need to widen my social circle and up my skill level ..... I should go do a bit of visiting.
 

southbee

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318
265
Southland
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Commercial
Looks awesome @James, would be such grand motorbike riding, have fun! If you're heading south, are you going to Montana? Will be interested to hear about the small cell foundation!!
 
5,764
6,323
canterbury
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It is swesome southbee….. there’s a sophistication and a peasantness in the the US…. Been riding gravel roads all day… nearly 350 klicks…. And when asking fir directions…. Many locals dont know what happrns 100 ks away.
 
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I gotta admit, I beenpretty slack on the bee stuff at the moment…. To be honest, i’ve hatdly seen abee hive in several thousand k’s of riding southfrom Montana into the San Juan mtns of Colorado.
It did occur to me to send Girl a txt to take a spin around our wintering bees and check wieghts….. but no news is good news…. Right?
It’s pretty easy to get sidetracked riding some of those mountain highways with the tunes tinging awayin the sena helmet and the twistgrip in the right hand sliding open onthe curves.
Tonight I am camped up in Wild Bills place, Oklahoma, phsyching up for the 1200 km toddle accross nothing.
Here’s some trivia for u…..
The US consumes 20,000,000 barrels of oil a year just to make those Plastic Pump water bottles….. which I guess is why I saving the planet by rehydrating on the brown stuff in an aluminum can 🤣😘
 
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Been cruisin cross country through Oklahoma, then into Arkansas, and up into Tennesse.
This is Black American country, where the food of choice is Chicken Fry, where the small towns are falling apart as The Corporates consolidate their holdings and the people have been left dazed and un able to answer my question of… ‘what the heck happened in this town’
The simple answer is that the economy of scale has been ruthlessly efficient.
In the meantime, the backroads are sweet with the perfume of Mimosa blossom….. and not a bee to be seen!ECE31B26-255A-45BC-A637-1515F4E62DA9.jpeg721FD148-1CBF-4AAD-8F4D-5C26687600AC.jpeg
 

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Well ther ya go…. The road rolls on Eastward…. Day after day of riding winding roads through tree clad hills.
I’ve hardly seen a beehive, but met a beekeeper the other night while socialising…. He’d scaled back from 100 hives to ten as be got sick of fighting varroa and small hive beetle.
The honey of choice around here in the woods is Sourwood, but its sweet and caramelly…
It’s got me bluffed where all the large commercials are …. Maine perhaps doing blueberries??94944D91-86E6-49A2-8693-031522BFB0A6.jpeg867EA449-4BF8-4217-9784-B1757E5767E6.jpegCEAB6377-38F7-4A23-9D1D-4EF1BA8917D9.jpeg
 

kaihoka

Gold
328
270
whanganui inlet
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Hobbyist
Well ther ya go…. The road rolls on Eastward…. Day after day of riding winding roads through tree clad hills.
I’ve hardly seen a beehive, but met a beekeeper the other night while socialising…. He’d scaled back from 100 hives to ten as be got sick of fighting varroa and small hive beetle.
The honey of choice around here in the woods is Sourwood, but its sweet and caramelly…
It’s got me bluffed where all the large commercials are …. Maine perhaps doing blueberries??View attachment 1476View attachment 1477View attachment 1478
Are the flowers on deciduous azaleas ?
 


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