tIDbits

a few tidbits

Archives for July 2009

Netflix Competitors Learn the Power of Teamwork – NYTimes.com

7/28/2009 By dni Leave a Comment

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/28/technology/internet/28netflix.html

The biggest lesson learned, according to members of the two top teams, was the power of collaboration. It was not a single insight, algorithm or concept that allowed both teams to surpass the goal Netflix,……Instead, they say, the formula for success was to bring together people with complementary skills and combine different methods of problem-solving.

The sad thing is that somebody had to put up a million bucks to figure that out.

Sigh.

Filed Under: general, tech Tagged With: collaboration

Apiary Update – Up to 6 Hives

7/27/2009 By dni

Lots of activity in the bee yard this weekend…

Found some queen cups and cells in Macintosh – here you can see a new queen is chewing her way out of the bottom of the circled cell.

A new queen is chewing her way out of the bottom of the circled cell.
A new queen is chewing her way out of the bottom of the circled cell.

The bees have started capping honey for the winter. Hope there will be enough good weather and plants for them to make some for us, too.

Capped Honey in Roger
Capped Honey in Roger

With the new queen emerging from Mac, I split her off into her own “nuc” (nucleus hive). The newest one is the third from the left with the blue-colored center box. So we are up to 3 full size hives (for honey production) and 3 nucs (to overwinter for full hives next season).

3 full hives and 3 nuc (nucleus) hives
3 full hives and 3 nuc (nucleus) hives

Filed Under: beekeeping Tagged With: bee, beekeeping, bees, hive, honeybee

Is that a honey bee in a buoy?

7/9/2009 By dni Leave a Comment

My friend Juli thought she might have a swarm of honey bees in a lobster buoy on her front porch (this is, after all, Maine).

So, I  went over to look at lunchtime, as the prospect of a swarm to plop in a nuc (nucleus hive) was appealing (free-bees).

lobster buoy with yellow jacket nest
lobster buoy with yellow jacket nest

Sadly, she had  nasty yellow jackets (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_jacket)

For those of you who think you might have a swarm of bees, here are a few clues (in this particular instance):

• The yellow jacket nest looks a bit like like gray paper (see detail photo below)
vs. a honey bee hive, where they would build  hexagonal comb
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Honey_comb.jpg

• Yellow jackets are (mostly) shiny and the yellow is VERY yellow – their abdomens look kind of like armor.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:European_wasp_white_bg.jpg

• Honey bees are fuzzy all over and more of an orange/tan color
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Drinking_Bee.jpg

• Honey bees are a lot “nicer” (yes, I am biased) in that they are not really interested in stinging you – if they sting you they will die – they will only sting if they feel you are threatening the entire hive.

detail: lobster buoy with yellow jacket nest
detail: lobster buoy with yellow jacket nest

Filed Under: beekeeping Tagged With: bee, beekeeping, bees, wasp, yellow jacket

How to get rid of ants in a honey bee hive

7/5/2009 By dni 28 Comments

Damn ants took advantage of my two weak nuc (nucleus) hives and crawled up and infested the place.  They were there to steal the 1:1 sugar:water syrup that I had left to feed weak bees, as it was going to be a rainy week.  The nucs were made with bees from one of my stronger hives (James) and super-fancy queens that were bred by Michael Palmer in Vermont.  Acquired the Queens at a Nuc Workshop run by the Cumberland County Beekeepers Association‘s own Erin Forbes and Larry Peiffer.  A very helpful class that I would highly recommend (I think they are going to do it again next year).

Ants in a honey bee hive (nuc)
Ants in a honey bee hive (nuc)

Anyway, back to getting rid of the ants.    Ground cinnamon sprinkled around the base of the hive and inside the top of the hive are a well know way of keeping the ants at bay – but I learned a super-nifty trick from Erin –  I propped the entire nucs up on cinnamon sticks, too (see the red circles in the photo).  That way any ant that wants to steal from my bees will have to physically traverse the cinnamon (which apparently they abhor).  Take that, ants!

I propped the nucs up on cinnamon stick to fend off the ants
I propped the nucs up on cinnamon sticks to fend off the ants

Filed Under: beekeeping Tagged With: ant, bee, beekeeping, bees, cinnamon, hive, honeybee, nuc, Overland Apiaries

Categories

  • apple (4)
  • art / design (24)
  • Automotive (1)
  • beekeeping (20)
  • Drawers (3)
  • food (9)
  • general (15)
  • goldfish (1)
  • hockey (2)
  • humor (18)
  • links (35)
  • mac hardware (3)
  • mac software (30)
  • music (48)
    • song of the day (25)
  • odd (4)
  • rants (12)
  • raves (12)
  • Socks (7)
  • tech (54)
    • UAV / Drone (1)
  • Things I hate about my Wolf stove (2)
  • WordPress (4)

Archives

  • August 2020 (3)
  • March 2020 (1)
  • February 2019 (1)
  • May 2018 (1)
  • April 2018 (1)
  • February 2018 (1)
  • March 2017 (1)
  • December 2016 (1)
  • May 2016 (1)
  • April 2016 (1)
  • March 2016 (1)
  • February 2016 (2)
  • January 2016 (1)
  • October 2015 (1)
  • September 2015 (10)
  • August 2015 (2)
  • June 2015 (2)
  • May 2015 (4)
  • March 2015 (1)
  • February 2015 (1)
  • January 2015 (2)
  • November 2014 (3)
  • October 2014 (4)
  • September 2014 (1)
  • June 2014 (1)
  • November 2013 (1)
  • October 2013 (2)
  • July 2013 (1)
  • April 2013 (2)
  • November 2012 (4)
  • March 2012 (1)
  • January 2012 (2)
  • December 2011 (1)
  • October 2011 (1)
  • September 2011 (1)
  • August 2011 (1)
  • June 2011 (1)
  • May 2011 (1)
  • April 2011 (1)
  • September 2010 (1)
  • July 2010 (2)
  • June 2010 (1)
  • May 2010 (3)
  • March 2010 (1)
  • February 2010 (1)
  • January 2010 (2)
  • November 2009 (2)
  • October 2009 (1)
  • July 2009 (4)
  • June 2009 (1)
  • May 2009 (3)
  • March 2009 (1)
  • February 2009 (2)
  • January 2009 (2)
  • September 2008 (1)
  • November 2006 (1)
  • July 2006 (4)
  • June 2006 (1)
  • April 2006 (1)
  • March 2006 (2)
  • February 2006 (3)
  • January 2006 (3)
  • December 2005 (10)
  • November 2005 (3)
  • October 2005 (3)
  • September 2005 (10)
  • August 2005 (5)
  • July 2005 (16)
  • June 2005 (17)
  • May 2005 (16)
  • April 2005 (5)
  • March 2005 (9)
  • February 2005 (7)

Copyright© 2021 · as if anybody on the internet respects copyright....hahahah