Beekeeping/Pollination Services - Looking for land

[DaleK]

My guy uses 4-5 car batteries with a small solar panel. He just hooks his truck to the batteries every time he checks the hives.

[Oddmott]

I believe Boards Honey Farm uses/sells "Red Snapp'r" energizers.

Yeah that's the system i've seen on the majority of beeyards i've checked out. And yet it's manufacturer, Zareba, strongly urges consumers to not rely on ANY of their units for bear.

[Angus]

Things you learn every day ! I have a Gallagher M1800 ( 18 joules ) and I have seen cattle walk through it when their calves got on the wrong side of the wire. ( They bellered all the time and you could hear the snaps from 200 yards away ).

There was an older Red Snapper here when we moved to this farm and I could hold the wire and shock anyone silly enough to trust me when I grabbed them ! lol I tested the Red Snapper and it was around 2000 volts, u/k joules.
The M1800 is 10000 volts and usually 2.5 amp unless there is a fault. It is a life changing event to accidently bump into it, you see stars !
Personally I would go with as much energizer as you can afford if you expect bear problems. Make sure whatever you get is grounded really well.

[Oddmott]

Worst shock i ever took was as a teen at my grandparent's farm. They'd boosted their electrical fence in the early 90s to keep a couple moose from entering their cattle feed yard.

They had a chunk of garden hose covering the fence at the spot they usually crossed. It had been there for a good 8 years or so, which meant little indents had formed on both sides from all the foot traffic. Those indents formed good little pools of water after rain or heavy dew.

One day when i crossed, i misjudged how much of that garden hose was in front of me vs how much was under me, one foot firmly planted in a small puddle... and my inner thigh (almost the junk) contacted that moose-proof fence.

The blast dropped me... right back onto the fence. Took another good wallop before i was able to throw myself clear.

[dutchhunter]

lol you will not forget that one ,,I have been dinged a few times over the years as well ,,Dutch

[Angus]

The blast dropped me... right back onto the fence. Took another good wallop before i was able to throw myself clear.

Cool story and clear illustration why to never put electric near barbed. Funny it even has to be said.

My most memorable was using a brush cutter and leaning the shaft against my leg then inadvertently the shaft into the wire. Dropped me to a knee, and it took several seconds to realize what had happened.

[Plog]

Oddmott, beekeepers may find this article interesting, especially for those searching for new bee yards in areas that have large AG farms.


http://www.ottawasun.com/2015/06/04/...ntario-farmers

[Oddmott]

Yeah, plenty of pissed off big agriculture guys out there.

I can't bring myself to call them 'farmers' any more. I have a really hard time reconciling the term "farmer" with anyone who puts the almighty dollar above all other considerations, anyone who actively pushes for use of every chemical marketed to them to use in the growing of our crops or raising of our livestock.

I get it - it's a tough gig with ridiculous hours, a lower $/hr than pretty much any other job in a G8 country, with little thanks and you don't get rich until you give it all up and sell off your million$ worth of equipment and land and buildings.

However, the reliance North American growers have developed on chemically manufactured pesticides, fungicides, fertilizers, etc is just sickening.

For once this gov't of Ontario got something right - they went about it all wrong, but the end decision is the correct one. It's time we stop accepting the USA's bullcrap reports about safety and suitability of ag products & practices at face value. They've been proved wanting time and time again since the 1940s, with devastating results.

Gov't, Ag professionals (of which beekeepers are a part) and the ag supply industry all need to do a lot more testing before they can determine what exactly is the lethal mix of pesticides/fungicides/parasites/etc that are destroying pollinator species. Until that time... there's really very little harm in banning the use of products we don't have a full understanding of.

Farmers survived without neonics for eons. Surely with all the other advantages modern farmers have today, they can make due without.

[Oddmott]

Got a bunch of hives completely built and 4 nucs installed so far.

May buy a few more if suppliers have buyers back out, but most likely will just take splits and swarms from my mentor and another hobbiest whose beeyards are as big as they can get. Both their bees are pretty docile with strong queens who are surprisingly productive into their 4th yrs.

Ended up on land 40 mins west of Ottawa, so its a bit of a hike, but I hope to find other fruitful spots in between Richmond-Ottawa over the next year to make the endeavor more profitable down the road.

Hope to end this year with 12-14 healthy colonies built up to winter well enough.

[Angus]

I truly wish you the best Oddmott. If you are competent , your hives will thrive. If you are not you can blame the farmers.

And being an honest person, with some integrity, I am sure when you talk to the people you let them know how you feel, like in post #38.