A post about some of my favorite bird photos from around the world

Spectacular!!!!!!

 

I've had no particular interest in birds, but the pics were exceptional, and the info was good.
I'm worried though by the bee-eater. I don't want to see the bee population decimated. We need the honey.
But I will allow them to eat into the dragonfly population.

 

You have more power than I might've guessed.

But don't be too hard on those bee-eaters, as they eat beetles and wasps, too, so I've read.

BTW, just how much Armenian honey do you eat in a year?

 

Tom. You're good!

We've fed the birds year around here for many years and have all kinds. Best 'insecticide' for the garden ever.

 

I had five hives at one time and skunks are a real threat in warm weather when bees are lingering/fanning on the outside of the hive, they'll gorge themselves on the bees. I almost lost a hive to a skunk(s) until an old timer told me why the bees were getting fewer. Raised the hive on concrete blocks and solved that problem.

 

The 'smart' came from the ol' timer, I'm just passing it along.

No. That first wave of bee mite infestation around 1981-83 took my last very strong (5 large super high (90lb honey each), probably a million plus strong population) hive TOTALLY unexpected over winter. Went in the winter strong, entire hive dead in March. Shocker. Had too many other fires for the iron at the time and.gave up the endeavor/hobby/food source

It soooo depends upon the flora the bees are collecting from. Not sure what that flora would be in Kansas, probably something agriculture. Here, in my locale a most superb honey is collected during the brief window of the bloom of the native Black Locust Tree (Acacia family). A beekeeper has to be on their toes to catch that bloom 'just right' and rob the honey at 'just the right time'.

 

…egad, 100,000 plus not 1,000,000 plus