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.
 

Mummzie

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Rhodos, according to wiki

Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan region, but smaller numbers occur elsewhere in Asia, and in North America, Europe and Australia.
 
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Well, there yah go… made it over to the most eastern town in the US. …Eastport, Maine.
After weeks of camping I celebrated with a mosquito free motel room overlooking the Atlantic, and a six pack of cheap beer. Perfect!
The other day I caught up with the man who inspired my trip…. A beekeeper in Vermont who raises Russian bees and is treatement free.
We sat in his kitchen and talked bees and life and more bees … it was humbling to spend time with a master, a man who had never married, built his home right next to his. Cell raisers…. And was philosophical about the fact that out of 700 hives, this spring only 175 were alive… but that my friends seems to be story all over N America thus spring.
The bees have taken a bad hit… no one knows why for sure… varroa, neonics…it’s hard to point a finger.
So … I will leave you with that …. Make no mistake, New Zealand has it’s problems , but compared to this neck of the woods..
‘We don’t know how lucky we are.’

PS… I picked up a new Bee hat on Independance Day!
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For those that are intrested in an Armchair adventure…. The story rolls on on instagram….gghoneyhunters… no one interested in leasing some bees this year🙃?
 
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Ok…. So we are rolling hard and fast now…. Headed north to the arctic circle while the weather favours the brave. Prairie riding is sweet. The canola isin fullbloom andthe air is sweet with the smell of nectar. Old mate in Saskatchewan is busy pulling honey with a smile on his face…. Mean while Jesse James is happy as a sandboy after a day of R&R in Fort StJohn sorting front fork seals and a new back tyre for the long haul up the gravel to the Arctic.
Wagons roll eh…ED9915BD-7A48-411A-83A8-C9DD2947C82B.jpeg816756BB-B1E4-49DA-A76A-D971998842BF.jpegD53A9595-2020-4D74-B6D7-88B82CCE9F89.jpeg
 
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Did you look up Ernie Fuhr. I worked for him in '97 along with loads of other Kiwi's. He is right on the Alaskan Highway. The Apiary is called North peace Apiaries
 


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