Randy Oliver- Celebrity Beekeeper, Great Lecture
On Saturday, Randy Oliver, the Scientific Beekeeper from Northern California, and world famous,, gave an extraordinary talk in the Public Utilities District of Snohomish County's lecture room, to a pretty much sold out crowd. Like a rock concert- sold out- and packed full of fans sitting on the edge of their seats.
Which, I number myself, a huge fan, and my friend Jim, whom I invited and did not know of him, became one too.
It was a four hour talk, with a small midpoint break, and no one moved, no one left, all of us in the audience were glued to our seats. I assume so anyway- an extraordinary learned person, with great enthusiasm and passion for the work he's doing ( how does one recommend him for a McArthur grant???), and someone working with bees in the field- not the lab- but as a commercial beekeeper with 1500 hives, and a devotion to finding out how to make this all sustainable.
I loved every minute of it, but, admittedly, I don't get out much. And although I love art and music- I'd much prefer to listen to a great lecture on beekeeping, then hear my favorite band. Odd, I know. I get bored easy. But not with information- which he had. Good stuff. Great ideas,
I shook his hand at intermission and told him that he had turned my life around about beekeeping- that I stick with it because of him. I said I had sent him some darkfield video of Nosema last year- and asked him how an amateur could distinguish between N. apis and N. ceranae. He said that just the day before, he had seen N. apis in a lab at Davis- one cell- that's how rare it was, and he described the subtle (very), shape difference. I was thrilled.
Which I now add to my "experiences with the stars". Everyone has a list, I would guess. I can't think of anyone really more than this, I sat with McCoy Tyner, the jazz pianist, once, and talked to him (l love his music), but that was long ago. I think that might be it. Sort of a short list. A young woman running for Mayor of this town stopped by yesterday. Maybe she'll be famous someday. But that's about it.
His "take away" was short and sweet: Look at how much royal jelly there is in larval cells, and don't spray acid in your eyes. And of course, the three "V"s. Varroa, varroa, varroa. Easy to remember.
Which prompted me, this evening, to start thinking again about how my hives are shaping up for the winter. So I spent a few hours going through two typical hives, and drawing each frame using
this form, that I made in 2000, and attempted to map out my hives then- to get the "gestalt" of how they were shaped. Next post, I will try to show this in 3D form, and I think it is interesting. A great tool for understanding the internal architecture of a hive, and where things are.
Which, I number myself, a huge fan, and my friend Jim, whom I invited and did not know of him, became one too.
It was a four hour talk, with a small midpoint break, and no one moved, no one left, all of us in the audience were glued to our seats. I assume so anyway- an extraordinary learned person, with great enthusiasm and passion for the work he's doing ( how does one recommend him for a McArthur grant???), and someone working with bees in the field- not the lab- but as a commercial beekeeper with 1500 hives, and a devotion to finding out how to make this all sustainable.
I loved every minute of it, but, admittedly, I don't get out much. And although I love art and music- I'd much prefer to listen to a great lecture on beekeeping, then hear my favorite band. Odd, I know. I get bored easy. But not with information- which he had. Good stuff. Great ideas,
I shook his hand at intermission and told him that he had turned my life around about beekeeping- that I stick with it because of him. I said I had sent him some darkfield video of Nosema last year- and asked him how an amateur could distinguish between N. apis and N. ceranae. He said that just the day before, he had seen N. apis in a lab at Davis- one cell- that's how rare it was, and he described the subtle (very), shape difference. I was thrilled.
Which I now add to my "experiences with the stars". Everyone has a list, I would guess. I can't think of anyone really more than this, I sat with McCoy Tyner, the jazz pianist, once, and talked to him (l love his music), but that was long ago. I think that might be it. Sort of a short list. A young woman running for Mayor of this town stopped by yesterday. Maybe she'll be famous someday. But that's about it.
His "take away" was short and sweet: Look at how much royal jelly there is in larval cells, and don't spray acid in your eyes. And of course, the three "V"s. Varroa, varroa, varroa. Easy to remember.
Which prompted me, this evening, to start thinking again about how my hives are shaping up for the winter. So I spent a few hours going through two typical hives, and drawing each frame using
this form, that I made in 2000, and attempted to map out my hives then- to get the "gestalt" of how they were shaped. Next post, I will try to show this in 3D form, and I think it is interesting. A great tool for understanding the internal architecture of a hive, and where things are.
Comments
Post a Comment