The topbar beehive is not a new concept. Historical reference to the top-bar hive date back to the 1600's. Most of today's top bar bee hives are derived from work in the 1960's. It was perfected for use in Kenya, Africa, and is often referred to as the Kenya Hive. Today it is also used in many other developing countries for it's simple design and cost effective management methods. In recent years it has also become more popular in the United States.
The traditional Langstroth beehive consists of several boxes (supers) and numerous other parts that are either difficult to build or expensive to buy. In addition to the beehive, the Langstroth hive requires many other pieces of equipment to harvest honey and manage your bees. Not so with the top bar hive as you can read below.
Simple and Maintenance-Free
The top bar hive has only a few components: the hive body (box), 20 to 30 top bars (frames), and a lid. That's all you will ever need. Compare that to your Langstroth hive. Bees build their own comb which eliminates the need for costly frames. The top bars are re-used after the harvest.
Non-Invasive Design
The top bar hive is healthier for bees. To check your bees, you will not have to take the whole thing apart. Hence, your bees will be less disturbed by your presence and checking of the comb.
Easy Harvest
To harvest your honey, you simply remove the bars with honeycomb. Unlike traditional methods, you won't have to take the hive apart and disturb the bees as much. Not only is the top bar hive less stressful to harvest for you, it also does not disturb the bees as much. In addition to honey, the top bar hive has more beeswax to harvest. You also do not need a honey extractor/centrifuge or uncapping knife which saves you thousands of dollars. Smoking is completely unnecessary and many top bar hive users do not wear protective clothing either. (For the beginner I do advise to use some kind of protection, gloves and veil as the minimum!) Once you remove the honey comb, the bees will go about their business as usual. Try that on a Langstroth hive.
Healthier Bees
The top bar hive is designed for the bees' optimal living conditions. This makes a colony much stronger and enables it to fight off pests and diseases on their own, much better than in a Langstroth hive. Besides healthier bees this will save you hundreds of dollars in medication as well as disappointment.
Why doesn't everyone use top bar hives?
The top bar hive is not designed for maximum honey production, although there have been reports otherwise. For the hobby beekeeper a few pounds less honey are well worth the ease of management. You will harvest more beeswax with a top bar hive though. Any hobbyist should have more of an interest in keeping healthy bees than in squeezing out a few more pounds of honey from a stressed, overworked colony. With just one top bar hive, you will still have more than enough honey for your whole family and friends.
2008年9月17日星期三
2008年9月5日星期五
Housebreaking Your Pit Bull Terrier: Puppy Dog Training
Housebreaking any new pet can often be a daunting challenge, and housebreaking your Pit Bull puppy will be no exception. It is a necessary step that you as a dog owner must take if you intend your Pit Bull to be an indoor pet, but one that many owners dread. The earlier you start training your dog the better, and many veterinarians recommend starting housebreaking at around eight weeks old.
Pit Bulls tend to learn well by repetition, so it is important to develop a daily routine and stick to it as much as possible. They also crave lots and lots of attention, which will help them to feel more secure in their new home and possibly make training easier. It is best if someone is at home at all times with the Pit Bull during housebreaking, as it will definitely make the process much faster. It is important that you have a designated area for your Pit Bull that is to be considered his individual space. Ideally, his space should be somewhere easy to clean up, like a tiled floor for example, because accidents are likely to happen, especially in the beginning. The area will need to have his bed, chew toys, and food and water since this is the area he will spend a lot of time in, especially if you are away. Make sure the area can be closed off so that the dog cannot get out and gain access to other areas of the house when no one is home. Baby gates tend to work well, because the dog can still see you and won’t feel as though he is shut in.
During your time at home, try to give your Pit Bull puppy as much of your attention as possible. Try to go outside with him at least every thirty minutes or so, and make sure you praise or reward him for relieving himself outside. Praise and rewards will help him learn that it is good to potty outside, and he will catch on quick.
Expect your puppy to have accidents in the house. It is just something that is going to happen no matter how diligent you are in training him. Punishing your puppy for this will only lead to more setbacks. The best way to handle housebreaking is to be patient, and remember that it is a long process for both of you that won’t happen overnight. The more attention you give your new Pit Bull puppy, the more he will thrive and do well. During all of the time you devote to training your puppy, you are building a good relationship with him as well, hopefully one that will last a lifetime.
Pit Bulls tend to learn well by repetition, so it is important to develop a daily routine and stick to it as much as possible. They also crave lots and lots of attention, which will help them to feel more secure in their new home and possibly make training easier. It is best if someone is at home at all times with the Pit Bull during housebreaking, as it will definitely make the process much faster. It is important that you have a designated area for your Pit Bull that is to be considered his individual space. Ideally, his space should be somewhere easy to clean up, like a tiled floor for example, because accidents are likely to happen, especially in the beginning. The area will need to have his bed, chew toys, and food and water since this is the area he will spend a lot of time in, especially if you are away. Make sure the area can be closed off so that the dog cannot get out and gain access to other areas of the house when no one is home. Baby gates tend to work well, because the dog can still see you and won’t feel as though he is shut in.
During your time at home, try to give your Pit Bull puppy as much of your attention as possible. Try to go outside with him at least every thirty minutes or so, and make sure you praise or reward him for relieving himself outside. Praise and rewards will help him learn that it is good to potty outside, and he will catch on quick.
Expect your puppy to have accidents in the house. It is just something that is going to happen no matter how diligent you are in training him. Punishing your puppy for this will only lead to more setbacks. The best way to handle housebreaking is to be patient, and remember that it is a long process for both of you that won’t happen overnight. The more attention you give your new Pit Bull puppy, the more he will thrive and do well. During all of the time you devote to training your puppy, you are building a good relationship with him as well, hopefully one that will last a lifetime.
2008年9月2日星期二
Arthritis Treatment for Dogs
Storm and I were best friends from the day I found him abandoned and covered with ticks. About 6 years ago, however, our playtime became a burden to Storm instead of fun. He developed arthritis. The symptoms began with general slowing down of his movements. Then it became harder for him to move because of stiffness in his joints. He had trouble getting up and climbing stairs.
I took Storm to the vet and was disappointed with the arthritis treatments for dogs that were available. The vet suggested giving Storm aspirin for the pain. That did work for a while, but it didn't fix the problem. It just hid it. I stopped giving Storm aspirin after he almost died from taking it! He contracted a very serious intestinal infection. This almost tragic event sparked my desire to find a safe arthritis treatment for dogs. I wanted to find an arthritis treatment for dogs that didn't just cover up the problem, but actually helped. I found a product called Syn-flex Liquid Glucosamine that claimed to be an arthritis treatment for dogs. I ordered a bottle and started to give it to Storm.
The first thing I liked about this arthritis treatment for dogs was that it was easy to give. It came with a built-in measuring spout. All I had to do was measure it out and pour it over his food once a day. Storm didn't even notice that I had put it on his food. He didn't mind the taste at all. The best thing about this arthritis treatment for dogs was that it didn't really have any side effects, which was a relief after the scary events with the aspirin.
Storm started to show improvement in about a month. The slowness that he had been experiencing improved and he was able to get around much easier. The stiffness also improved. Storm didn't struggle to get up and could climb the stairs again. He wasn't a puppy, but Storm and I could continue to make our trips to the park. In fact, we continued to play (although more slowly) until he passed away from old age at 15, which is quite an old age considering that Storm was a large dog. I gave him the glucosamine arthritis treatment for dogs every day and that probably helped him live a longer, healthier, more fulfilling life.
Thousands of our customers have had the same experience with their arthritic dogs as I did with Storm. Liquid glucosamine can't be beat as an arthritis treatment for dogs.
What makes liquid glucosamine work so well? The main reason that glucosamine is a well accepted and effective arthritis treatment for dogs is that it works without negative side effects! Glucosamine is not only an accepted arthritis treatment for dogs, but for humans as well. The ease of administering glucosamine makes dog owners feel at ease that they are giving the treatment correctly and makes it easier to stick with the treatment. Dogs either don't notice the taste of the glucosamine, or don't mind the taste. Out of the thousands of customers using glucosamine as their arthritis treatment for dogs, only one has reported that their dog refused to eat food with the glucosamine poured on it.
When I began to search for a treatment for Storm's arthritis, I didn't want something that would just cover over the problem as it continued to get worse. Many anti-inflammatory, and sometimes dangerous, drugs do just hide the pain while allowing the arthritis to worsen. Using glucosamine as an arthritis treatment for dogs does not hide the pain. It works by actually rebuilding and regenerating joint tissue. Glucosamine helps repair the damage that arthritis causes to joints.
Most dogs, and people, will suffer from arthritis to some degree as they get older. Because of this, we recommend giving your dog glucosamine starting with the second half of their lives because this is the time of life when arthritis begins to set in and start to cause damage. Giving liquid glucosamine is so easy and effective as an arthritis treatment for dogs that it just makes sense to stop the pain arthritis can cause before it happens.
I took Storm to the vet and was disappointed with the arthritis treatments for dogs that were available. The vet suggested giving Storm aspirin for the pain. That did work for a while, but it didn't fix the problem. It just hid it. I stopped giving Storm aspirin after he almost died from taking it! He contracted a very serious intestinal infection. This almost tragic event sparked my desire to find a safe arthritis treatment for dogs. I wanted to find an arthritis treatment for dogs that didn't just cover up the problem, but actually helped. I found a product called Syn-flex Liquid Glucosamine that claimed to be an arthritis treatment for dogs. I ordered a bottle and started to give it to Storm.
The first thing I liked about this arthritis treatment for dogs was that it was easy to give. It came with a built-in measuring spout. All I had to do was measure it out and pour it over his food once a day. Storm didn't even notice that I had put it on his food. He didn't mind the taste at all. The best thing about this arthritis treatment for dogs was that it didn't really have any side effects, which was a relief after the scary events with the aspirin.
Storm started to show improvement in about a month. The slowness that he had been experiencing improved and he was able to get around much easier. The stiffness also improved. Storm didn't struggle to get up and could climb the stairs again. He wasn't a puppy, but Storm and I could continue to make our trips to the park. In fact, we continued to play (although more slowly) until he passed away from old age at 15, which is quite an old age considering that Storm was a large dog. I gave him the glucosamine arthritis treatment for dogs every day and that probably helped him live a longer, healthier, more fulfilling life.
Thousands of our customers have had the same experience with their arthritic dogs as I did with Storm. Liquid glucosamine can't be beat as an arthritis treatment for dogs.
What makes liquid glucosamine work so well? The main reason that glucosamine is a well accepted and effective arthritis treatment for dogs is that it works without negative side effects! Glucosamine is not only an accepted arthritis treatment for dogs, but for humans as well. The ease of administering glucosamine makes dog owners feel at ease that they are giving the treatment correctly and makes it easier to stick with the treatment. Dogs either don't notice the taste of the glucosamine, or don't mind the taste. Out of the thousands of customers using glucosamine as their arthritis treatment for dogs, only one has reported that their dog refused to eat food with the glucosamine poured on it.
When I began to search for a treatment for Storm's arthritis, I didn't want something that would just cover over the problem as it continued to get worse. Many anti-inflammatory, and sometimes dangerous, drugs do just hide the pain while allowing the arthritis to worsen. Using glucosamine as an arthritis treatment for dogs does not hide the pain. It works by actually rebuilding and regenerating joint tissue. Glucosamine helps repair the damage that arthritis causes to joints.
Most dogs, and people, will suffer from arthritis to some degree as they get older. Because of this, we recommend giving your dog glucosamine starting with the second half of their lives because this is the time of life when arthritis begins to set in and start to cause damage. Giving liquid glucosamine is so easy and effective as an arthritis treatment for dogs that it just makes sense to stop the pain arthritis can cause before it happens.
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