# Any thoughts from any of the conventions last week?



## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

From the APHA convention: 
#1 Most good beekeepers are busy with their bees right now and dont take the time to attend.
#2 There is a greater chance of a bee shortage in the coming weeks than a surplus
#3 There are a lot of nice folks in this industry but don't ever fully disable your BS radar
#4 Hummerbee has made some nice improvements (at least visually) with the XRT
#5 San Diego isnt always as warm as you might think but a great place to visit for sure


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

jim lyon said:


> #3 There are a lot of nice folks in this industry but don't ever fully disable your BS radar


This one has applications far beyond beekeeping!


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## LSPender (Nov 16, 2004)

Jim, It was nice to meet and visit with you at AHPA in San Diego. 5 good points.

I would encourage everyone to get involved with some organization that supports our beekeeping industry.

One is the National Pollinator Defense Fund, they are working directly with EPA to get a better handle on the use of pesticides that can effect our bees. I will be posting more info later.

Have a great day.


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## westernbeekeeper (May 2, 2012)

jim lyon said:


> #3 There are a lot of nice folks in this industry but don't ever fully disable your BS radar


Well said. Learned that lesson the hard way and never had to learn it again!


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## pahvantpiper (Apr 25, 2006)

Great AHPA convention, even though it was rainy and windy. Thought it was a little sparse in numbers though. Wish the "Federation" and the "Association" would re-unite.


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## apism (Jul 4, 2010)

from the east (Hershey)
first time going....worth the 8 hr drive
loads of great speakers......learned what I all ready knew mite treatment timing and mite load go hand in hand
( a question? why do queen breeders put 500 plus nucs out in one yard and wonder why mated queens suck? )
Will I go again? Yes
steveb
from north of the border


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## Honey-4-All (Dec 19, 2008)

apism said:


> from the east (Hershey)
> first time going....worth the 8 hr drive
> loads of great speakers......learned what I all ready knew mite treatment timing and mite load go hand in hand
> ( a question? why do queen breeders put 500 plus nucs out in one yard and wonder why mated queens suck? )
> ...



500? That's like a drop of water in the ocean. Try 5000 or more. The real issues do not really revolve around the number in the yards unless you are talking about drone mother colonies. We like to keep it at about 1 hive for every 10 nucs mating that wee'k. In most cases its more like 250 hives for 2000 sides.


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

LSPender said:


> Jim, It was nice to meet and visit with you at AHPA in San Diego. 5 good points.
> 
> I would encourage everyone to get involved with some organization that supports our beekeeping industry.
> 
> ...


Nice meeting you as well Larry and yes it is important to be involved with the industry in some capacity. It was also nice meeting Adam and Kelly of VP Queens (adamf here on Beesource if you didnt already know). If anyone is looking for good breeder queens I doubt that you will find anyone as meticulous about what they do as those two. They take breeding better queens very seriously.


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

apism said:


> ( a question? why do queen breeders put 500 plus nucs out in one yard and wonder why mated queens suck? )


Speak for your own supplier. I have 500+ in my mating yard, and I've been told my bees definitely don't suck.


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

jim lyon said:


> #1 Most _good beekeepers_ are busy with their bees right now and dont take the time to attend.


Spoken like a man with a guilty conscience.


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## lake thompson honey (Feb 11, 2007)

Amitraz kills sperm in queens. So take from that what you will. Prob some poor times of the year to use it.


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## soupcan (Jan 2, 2005)

Intresting! 
Who did the studies that have arived at these results?


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

lake thompson honey said:


> Amitraz kills sperm in queens. So take from that what you will. Prob some poor times of the year to use it.


first time I head that also,


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## lake thompson honey (Feb 11, 2007)

amitraz study and presentation was done by jeff pettis from the beltsville lab


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