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My Archives: March 2006

Monday, March 27, 2006

Roadkill was my cat. I acquired Roadkill in 1998 as a kitten rescue when I saw her running onto the on ramp of I 95. A trucker saw her and stopped also. When the truck stopped, the cat ran into the wheel well of the truck. I got clawed up trying to recuse this cat. I named the cat Roadkill spend a fortune getting it fixed up from disease and parsites. Roadkill was an awesome cat, I got a hell of a return on my investment.

This past Friday my neighbor's dog jumped the fence into my yard and killed Roadkill.

Posted by understudy @ 01:15 AM EST [Link]

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

I went in on Sunday and did another inspection and I did another powdered sugar treatment. The bees are doing very well. The superhive was showing some beees with deformed wings which can be a sign of varroa mites. So I did a simple powdered sugar treatment. Basically I sprinkle a cup of powdered sugar (per deep box) through a shifter and let it fall on the bees and the comb. It forces them to go into a cleaning mode. The grooming helps to remove mites.

Some of the queen eggs in the super hive have hatched. Sooner or later there is going to be a supercedure and a new queen. I just hope they replace her and don't swarm. It is very likely I am going to be busy when I get back from Chicago. The nuc also has a queen cell starting. This one is definitly a swarm cell queen and that is fine. I am going to move the nuc bees into a new box when I get back.

I am going to go with the permacomb frames and start using medium boxes. Spring has barely begun and they are filling up frames with a lot of honey. I do not want to get overwhelmed.You can see my most recent inspection here

Posted by understudy @ 09:49 PM EST [Link]

I decided that I was going to address a letter to the powers that be about picking up some of the items that have left behind by the Solid Waste Authority. I decided I would photograph some of the garbage and email all the powers that be. The one thing I asked was that they quit hiding behind bull and do something about it. Guess what they can't do it.

Here is the letter:

Hi ,

Since the last CCRT meeting was so enlightening and I have so much free
time I decided with the seconds I have to spare that I would go down two

streets (tropical and westtrail) and photograph some of the garbage that

is being left behind. Some of the garbage is left behind because it in
not the proper size, some is left behind because it is on vacant lots,
some is left behind with pretty little stickers on it. Everyone has a
reason for leaving it behind.

I have a novel idea, how about someone picks it up.

Oh I can see the finger pointing now.

Maybe you can leave the boat behind as I may need the next time this
area floods (sarcasm).

Instead of making excuses citing codes and statues, since many of the
people in this area at least made an effort to make semi organized
piles, maybe someone could make a little extra effort and stop splitting
hairs.

You can see the pictures at :
http://www.brendhanhorne.com/images/crimewatch/mar06/index.html

And that was just a few streets I wonder how much there is if you look
down more streets.

If you have any further questions please contact me at xxx-xxx-xxxx

Sincerely,
Brendhan

You can read more for the response.

Posted by understudy @ 03:38 PM EST [Link]

Monday, March 20, 2006

I am becoming more and more jaded. I have a definitive lack of faith in the law enforcement in this area.
I understand that there are laws out there and I believe in many of the laws and a few I disagree with and there are some beyond comprehension.

I am not so accepting of hearing how cops have their hands tied. I know that there are some limits but law enforcement still has many avenues available to it that normal citizens do not.

Today as I was driving into Delray Beach to pick up my wife from her job, since her car is in the shop. I came to the intersection that leads toward where she works. The intersection gets crowded with traffic during rush hour. As traffic came to a halt I had notice the occupants of a car in front of me rush out and suddenly attack the occupant of another car that was traveling in the opposite direction. Two women rushed this woman sitting in the other car and started hitting her and trying to pull her out of the car. She tried to drive off but traffic was so congested there was nowhere she could really go. I was on the phone with 911 as soon as the beatings began. I step out and yelled for the women to stop. I was not going to step into the middle of it. As soon as traffic started to flow the victim took off with the flow of traffic. The women in the car in front of me got back in their car and started to drive off. I followed still giving tag numbers and car descriptions to 911. When the 911 operator told me that since the fight had broken up and the victim hadn't contacted the police there was nothing she would do.

I was furious. Here I was trying to do the right thing and do it in real time and still the police won't do squat. I had followed the car up till the point that I needed to make a right to pick up my wife I had given the police more than enough information and been on the phone with them for long enough that they could have had an officer in my area. Oh, did I mention the police station is less than a mile away from where all of this happened. Also all of the other cars there and all of the neighbors who rushed out during the commotion and how many people called the police? Just one person, me. So while this is a failing of law enforcement, it is also a failing of the community, who are more than happy to watch a train wreck but forget actually making a difference by reporting the assault.

I picked up my wife and turned around and went to the police station looking to file some type of a report with Internal Affairs. After being told there was no complaint document, I was told I could speak with the sergeant in charge. So I did. I got the standard response of no victim, no crime. Basically because there were no guns or blood or injured third parties bleeding on the ground the cops really couldn't do anything.

Now I haven't read the specific laws that would pertain to assault and to prosecution allowances. I don't plan on it right now. I understand the concept of burden of proof. I understand the need for proper investigation procedure. I agree with innocent until proven guilty. I don't agree with cops who play politics instead of doing what they were designed to do. Protect the citizens of their community.

You want to know why crimes aren't reported because the following happens when you do:
1. There is a great likelihood that the police will do nothing, and you have wasted your time.
2. You will have to be a witness and that will mean you miss work and have your life inconvinced and basically waste your time.
3. The District Attorney will at the last moment drop charges and you will have wasted your time.

I am expected to show up for jury duty and waste my time. I am expected to do the right thing and report crimes and waste my time. The police officer was very happy that I had called 911 and done the right thing, but I wonder why he didn't go after the the the women in the car when he had enough information to at least bring them in for questioning. Maybe it was a waste of his time.

Posted by understudy @ 11:46 PM EST [Link]

Sunday, March 12, 2006

I did another complete inspection on both hives today. Populations are going nuts. The nuc is just getting to that stage where I need to pay attention to the population for possible swarming. The bees are consuming a jar of sugar water with Honey B Healthy once every two to four days, for each hive. The small hive beetles haven't gone away but their numbers are minimal. This hive is going going going. Now the super hive I was worried about the queen has shown an interesting issue. When I went in and look at the frames I found 6 queen cells total on different frames. these were at various stages of development. They aren't swarm cells so it isn't an issue of space. Although the hive is quite populated it isn't anywhere near critical mass. The current queen which I haven't yet seen is definitly laying eggs but I guess the bees are looking to usurp her.

Now for what is interesting. The sugar water mix usually has a fly or two trying to move in and grab some and when it leaks just a little much the flies are there to clean up any extra. Well that has also attrached something else, shinning beetles. They like the remants of the powdered sugar that are left from hive treatments. They also hang around the sugar water mix like it was a bar. A bar with an open tab.
The bees are not fond of them and usually are pushing them away. However the beetles are nocturnal and the bees are diurnal. Which means the beetles have turn the bee feeder into the hottest night spot in the yard. You can see them playing darts, commenting on sports and politcs and picking up hussy beetles. Usually in the morning the are passed out. Drunk beetles are being tossed to the alley in the morning by the bees. The beetles are not going into the hive but they are bringing down property values in the hive neighborhood.

The bees are forming a neighborhood watch and bee commishion is going to pass legislation banning all beetles if they don't straighten out. I am watching for little crime watch signs at the entrance.

Posted by understudy @ 10:11 PM EST [Link]

Monday, March 6, 2006

Well I went in Saturday and went for a pretty complete inspection of both hives. I have been doing simple looks just about everyday before I leave for work.
The nuc box:
This is doing really well. The bees aredoing great there is a minimal number of small hive beetles and the queen is laying eggs like mad. The population on this hive is probably going to need to be moved at the end of the month. They are building new comb on the other frame and eggs have already been capped.
These bees also have a great attitude. They aren't to mean and they tend to not get worked up when I look.
The super hive:
Okay there is definitly a queen in there she is laying eggs. She is however is giving birth to some bastard attitude bees. They don't tend to sting but they love to get in your face. They win is a stare contest. The hive still has small hive beetles. However it also has something else, drones (male bees) and a bunch of them. Damn those things are huge (compared to a worker). There is still a queen cell so I think the bees are going to do a supercedure on the current queen. The population is still doing well but I need it to get bigger to knock off the rest of these small hive beetles. Also I may have to requeen if this queen cell doesn't take. Right now I am going to let it take it's course.

Posted by understudy @ 09:27 AM EST [Link]

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