GT61 TURBO ZX14 wrote on 01/26/18 at 17:49:49:


Because my shop is full of other bikes, 3 engines (7.3 powerstroke, a Mercedes slk 230 suped 4 banger, Y-Block 4.6 v8 fwd that I'm converting to run rwd for the town car)  half a Town Car... and barely enough room left for my tools and power toys.

My Savage lives outside like the beast it is.
Inside the garage is my 03 Yamaha YZF600R Thundercat, 03 GSX-R600, and my partner's (beekeeping business partner) early 80's Rebel 450. About to have to make room to start chopping on a `96 LS650 that will likely end up a trike, and a mid 90's V-Star hardtail that is getting gutted and mostly parted out. I just wanted the motor to stick on my Tomerlain Crossfire buggy.

I'm not too worried about it being messed with. People around here know I shoot first.. and don't bother with the questions. My place is under guard 24/7 and under random dog run. Beekeeping is expensive. Estimate every active hive at 1k$ and up depending on the bees temperament and how well they produce. We are currently over 150 active hives. There has been a recent rash in stupid ass kids destroying apiaries. We absolutely can not afford to have that happen here. Our bees pollinate the entire county, and a good portion of the surrounding counties.

That's why my Savage is outside.

Saw a story a week or so ago about two young guys flipping fifty hives. It was cold and about fifty thousand bees died.
Such needless, wanton destruction,  
Without
Go Fund Me the young couple would have been bankrupt.

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 01/27/18 at 05:00:27:


That was closer to half a million bees.
Not only did the stupid kids knock the hives over... they doused them with diesel fuel.

The punishment should fit the crime... I say make the lil A-holes work that bee yard unprotected.

Several beekeepers around the country have stepped up to help the couple out and donated packages of bees to their apiary. Fortunately the hives were not set on fire, so with a very thorough cleaning most of the hives may be reusable.

Apiary theft is also becoming somewhat of a problem.
Less than 200 miles from me (Just north of Angleton, Tx) a beekeeper had 111 hives STOLEN! Who could pull that off except for another beek? Many of us down here are flat out disgusted one from our own niche community would stoop to that level.

My partner and I are working on a marking system that is much more difficult to obfuscate to identify apiary equipment. The go to method for the past 50+ years has been to spray paint over a stencil. We are looking to incorporate permanently affixed, stamped metal I.D. tags and possibly rf id. Beekeeping is already expensive enough without this crap going on.

Somewhat on the same note...
Just as we projected...
We do not have enough bees in the country for the pollination events this year. The floods in the almond fields last year did one heck of a number on colony numbers. What are we going to do for pollination required food production? How many farmers are about to go bankrupt because their yield wont even pay for the diesel it cost to plant, maintain, and harvest?

We all but refuse to get into the commercial pollination game for that exact reason. Bees did not evolve to survive, definitely not thrive- on a single resource environment.


On another note... A little less depressing one...

The 96 Savage is coming home today, along with the V-Star and a midget style dirt track buggy lol.
The dirt track buggy might end up with the motor from the v-star...
I'm leaning away from the little crossfire buggy. I prefer the heavier frame of the midget.

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 01/27/18 at 07:38:11:


It had to be another beek. And that was just the largest theft in the area recently. Another fellow not too far away also had like 20-30 hives stolen around the same time. Yes, it would have required a flatbed tractor trailer or they got really bold and made multiple trips.

Most of our bees are straight up feral(Wild bred, African genetics). We like the absolute meanest bees we can get. They get to know us and after a couple months of working with them pretty much just let us do what we need to do. Strangers are not so fortunate. Bees can and do actually recognize human faces and distinguish differences between individual people. They get to know and trust keepers. So in that regard, our bees secure themselves for the most part. I almost feel for the poor fool who tries to steal or cause harm in our bee yards.
We are experimenting with methods of bee propagation and maintenance that induce exponentially less stress on the colonies come harvest time... But for most of the year that leaves the hives mostly packed full of resources. Bees get aggressive, by orders of magnitude... as they start running out of room to pack in resources. The general mode of the colony shifts from foraging to defense. This is where we like our bees to be. Ready to kill at a moments notice to protect the colony. It does make for a bit more difficult time to manage them... but this method circumvents the need to cram antibiotics, pesticides, and processed sugars into our apiaries. We practice what has been dubbed "Neo Darwinian" beekeeping. The strongest colonies survive and thrive, while weaker genetics do not. This method is producing bees that flat out do not require pesticide intervention to handle small hive beetles, verroa, wax moths, raccoons, opossum, skunks, etc... (yes pesticides help deter mammal pests in most commercial beekeeping operations)

Drill a hole, slip a chip in, epoxy, paint..?

Enough people investing could make it affordable..
If they are insured, then an aantitheft device might get a discount.

norm92de wrote on 01/27/18 at 12:05:11:





Yup so true

You didn't get wet because your windscreen was acting as the fender.