Hi Andy
If you update you profile we could maybe offer better (targeted) advice?
Hi Andy
If you update you profile we could maybe offer better (targeted) advice?
[QUOTE=The Drone Ranger;16541]E P Jeffree studied colony size in Winter 1958.............................................. ..............
What they found was there could be brood in the hive at any time during the Winter............................................ .........
I can recall reading this or similar research which had the same findings - cannot recall where. But about fifteen years ago, I encountered a herd of bullocks who had in the interests of science, carried out their own research in an apiary. They were very thorough and investigated every hive, there were about fourteen in the apiary. Undaunted by it being Christmas week and the four inches of snow on the ground, all frames were laid out for inspection and definitely several contained brood. For the record about one third of the hives survived - AMM is tough
The curious bullock - an occupational hazard.
These ones covered my mate's car in slaver while we were unloading hives at the apiary.
unloading-hives2.jpg
You need to be careful even setting a hive down for a minute while you are getting another out of the car as they will knock it over out of sheer curiosity or perhaps sheer stupidity.
Bullocks are strange creatures and can appear to be running at you and running away from you simultaneously in a kind of two steps forward one step back kind of gait.
They associate humans with food in a similar way to dogs and tag along hoping for a tasty morsel of some sort.
When I was demonstrating stuff in the group over the summer the front two rows would be composed of beekeepers and the next row just the other side of the fence was bullocks lined up to pick up tips about queen rearing while slavering over the back of the beekeepers.
One day I tied the dog to a gate on a short lead about 100 yards from the apiary and while I was working with the bees about a dozen bullocks went over and stared at the hapless animal from about a foot away like they had never seen a dog before and completely freaked her out.
Bullocks ... bollocks. They're a nightmare when you're fly fishing. They sneak up en masse and then you inadvertently hook one in the flank on a backcast. Tricky. Or they crowd you, stamping and drooling (them, not me), almost always next to a "just too deep to cross in these waders" pool.
The first situation is laughable, the second can be worrying ... and wet.
If you use a bullock as bait you must be expecting a hell of a catch.They're a nightmare when you're fly fishing. They sneak up en masse and then you inadvertently hook one in the flank on a backcast.
Looks like the forum is crying out for a sub category for bullock anecdotes or maybe there is a bullock forum we can sign up to as a sideline.
Foul hooking a bullock - waste of time. You would never get away with taking it home, you are bound to be seen. A stroke haul in the back fin of a salmon is quite another matter, ask our Scottish brethern.
Well, since we're into fishing with cows for company, I could mention the time I was fishing a loch - in waders rather than in a boat - and a handful of highland cattle came down to the beach to investigate my fishing bag ... and my picnic lunch!
Or the time on the same loch - in a boat this time - during the rut. We were fishing late for sea trout and this stag decided to challenge us. My friend assured me the stag was unlikely to swim out to the boat ... was more worrying in the dusk as we couldn't see the beast, just hear it nearby ..
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