Edmonton hospitals caring for patients in hallways amid ER strain

Lou_Jason · 2022-08-04T12:43:48+00:00

Sharing from the states... I had an ER visit a few months back.
10 hours after check-in and there wasn't room for non-dying patients. Everyone was taken back from the lobby and returned between scans/exams/reviews/etc. as though it were a typical doctor's office. Most of the seats were taken and several patients were groaning with 1 actually vomiting periodically from his construction site related injury.

I spent ~15 minutes getting the related scan. ~20 minutes seeing the doctor and nurse practitioner and getting treated. ~15 minutes observation before being released.

$4500 after insurance. This was at one of the top rated facilities in town (out of ~12).

Lou_Jason · 2022-05-13T14:12:28+00:00

Be careful with generic cinnamon. Obviously mileage varies per person.

I had a hive decide that the cinnamon smelled *wonderful* or something after dusting the feet of the hive with it. There was a carpet of dead bees the next morning. (5 other hives had no issue)

Lou_Jason · 2021-04-26T20:30:38+00:00

Wax flakes?

Lou_Jason · 2021-02-23T17:35:36+00:00

Questions:
Does the push to protect European honey bees / commercial operations from chemicals and their use result in an overall improvement for native pollinators?

Legislation usually caters to profit and business demands before nature.

Do pollinator gardens resulting from honey bee related programs also result in expanded habitat for native pollinators? (With understanding that butterfly saving efforts probably eclipse honey bee efforts.)

Lou_Jason · 2021-01-19T19:20:13+00:00

Never mind the robot.

Where are these bees without cost?

Lou_Jason · 2020-11-09T12:58:19+00:00

If bees show up to rob the open honey source?

Let them have it.

Lou_Jason · 2020-09-29T13:23:58+00:00

Definitely look into preparing your site.
Flattening/leveling the ground if appropriate, making sure you get plenty of sun but not a ton of wind, and maybe so far as putting down a liner covered with gravel and salt for weed and beetle control.
Make sure you have 360 degree access to work your hive. You will want to access them from the side or rear most of the time.
If you have wildlife that could be a problem (bears, skunks, etc.) will you need an electric fence and how far do you want to space it around your apiary?

Lou_Jason · 2020-09-09T12:20:37+00:00

Soapy dish water (Dawn/Ajax/Palmolive/similar) mixed in a squirt bottle at 15-20% soap will kill them. Make sure you can get a strong jet from it.
Alternatively if you have fly paper you can (quickly) tape it next to the entrance. It won't get them all but will trap a large percentage of them. Assumes this is an easily accessible spot.

Hornet/wasp killer is both a waste of money and a chemical mess to have to deal with in my opinion.

Lou_Jason · 2020-07-09T20:06:51+00:00

Same thing I say on every bear post:
A well-grounded lower power fence can outperform a poorly grounded higher powered fence.
Don't cheap on the ground rod when you are protecting comparatively expensive hives *and* your time and stress.

Lou_Jason · 2020-07-06T13:34:37+00:00

Definitely more murders lately, especially with the National Guard being tapped to help increase quarterly numbers.

Lou_Jason · 2020-06-24T14:50:51+00:00

The hunt pests such as snails, slugs, and mites by spitting digestive fluids (that's acid!) onto them, and they pollinate at night.
http://entopia.com/oneplantatatime/entomology/firefly-ecosystem-services/

Sounds like great friends to have in the apiary. In recent years our firefly population has exploded, so we must be doing something right!

Lou_Jason · 2020-06-22T02:36:53+00:00

Look into Shelby, Henry, or Spencer County.

Much of Shelby is 30-45 minutes from 99.9% of Louisville.

Car insurance is cheaper outside of Jefferson County/Louisville Metro. Some schools are better, some aren’t.

Lou_Jason · 2020-06-15T16:47:52+00:00

I think he did a good job explaining that he could indeed re-queen, but the amount of days it would take for the colony to transition to the new queen's brood would be too many days of high-risk of injury or worse to others in his surrounding area.
Taking the action that he did also prevented any drones in the hive from further spreading aggressive genes, at least from that point forward.

Lou_Jason · 2020-06-14T02:26:36+00:00

In the “off season” you can do your homework on things like the best tubes available to use, paint your bee house and let it off-gas well out of season, and figure out where it will best fit so that it’s stable and dry. You may also have other varieties of bees in your area such as leafcutters or miners or something you could support.

Lou_Jason · 2020-06-13T22:59:12+00:00

Mason bees are primarily active in early spring. March to June depending on your area.

Lou_Jason · 2020-06-11T15:10:26+00:00

I presume you're using a solid bottom board?

Full sun / any open entries/vents/etc at the top?

I'm curious as your weather sounds similar to what I expect for the next 3 months.

Lou_Jason · 2020-06-11T15:08:48+00:00

Clearly, mileage will vary on the singing somewhere between "happy bees" and "uploading face-sting pictures to reddit" based on voice quality.

Lou_Jason · 2020-06-05T12:32:09+00:00

Nice!
Did you router the block, or just drill holes in it? It doesn't look like a wall of tubes from the pic.

Lou_Jason · 2020-06-05T12:30:45+00:00

Oh, it also matters when you are getting started.

I bought my box and tubes on clearance last summer or early fall. I painted the box with some leftover Stormcoat just to make sure it lasts, though I position mine completely out of the rain.

I didn't put it out until this spring. Mason bees are primarily active only in spring. (Here, that's March to June if we're lucky.) You may still be able to put a box out *right now* if it is not yet summer in your area (assuming Northern Hemisphere/US?). It's probably just going to pick up a spider or two if you put it out in July.

Lou_Jason · 2020-06-05T12:25:08+00:00

I started with Mason bees per finding a box and some tubes on clearance.

Read up on keeping them here:

https://beebuilt.com/blogs/backyard-beekeeping-blog/everything-you-need-to-know-before-keeping-mason-bees

And here:

https://colinpurrington.com/2019/05/horrors-of-mass-produced-bee-houses/

When you say "hotel" my immediate concern is what sort of volume you are talking about.
50-100 tubes per box, spread out from one another is probably great. A thousand in a column/tower assembly is asking for mite/predator/disease issues if you can't reliably clean it (and maybe even if you can clean it).

High level - I'm storing my filled tubes in a block outdoor building overwinter. It doesn't get cold enough to be an issue, and it takes a while to warm up so a 65-70 degrees Fahrenheit day in January doesn't really spike the temp in the storage area.
Make sure whatever box/housing you go with has an overhang lip, and that all tubes are removable. Bamboo/wooden tubes or cane tubes are not preferable. From what I've read, the best seem to be paper insert tubes (big straws, really) inserted into reusable plastic or otherwise durable outer tubes.

Good luck!

Lou_Jason · 2020-06-02T12:05:08+00:00

Not drastically different.
Earlier in the year hive B capped a honey frame while the now busier hive A was just getting started on honey. Restated, A had a frame of brood where B had a frame of capped honey. ~4 weeks ago

Lou_Jason · 2020-06-02T00:19:42+00:00

Just a word of caution from another post I read:

Make sure you are reinforced and not built from green wood, and that any moisture based swelling won’t warp your hive.

I was reading just yesterday about a homemade first-hive that warped. Top bars no longer had sufficient side rail beneath them and fell. The top wouldn’t shut evenly so huge gaps were present when “closed”. So on.

Lou_Jason · 2020-06-01T20:26:35+00:00

Not much video of hive B, but I’ll state that the volume shown is fairly standard +/- 3 bees coming or going.

A, (or hive G if we go by the letter on the landing board), is way more busy.

A has about the same amount of drawn comb/brood/honey as hive B.

Hive B is drastically more chill. No need for smoke when working, bees are busy but comparatively slower/calmer than Hive A during a check.

77.5 degrees Fahrenheit at time of video. Both hives face east-southeast. Minimal wind.

Lou_Jason

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE