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Author Topic: 1.5 hours talking with NPR  (Read 5582 times)

Offline beemaster

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1.5 hours talking with NPR
« on: October 06, 2004, 07:48:34 pm »
So the first part of the creation of a SWARMING PROGRAM on National Public Radio went well. We talked for nearly an hour and a half and covered a tremendous numbers of topics, both personal and bee related.

Laura, an indendant producer really had some great questions, many standing from a list that I sent her several days before. She seems very prepared for the interview and had a good basic understanding of how the hive works.

We dicussed the reasons for swarming, the growth of the hive, the role of each the queen, workers and drones in the hive and what their life expectancy is compared to their production to the colony.

NEXT.... She will cover the material and come back with a second round of Q&As and that will floww by an on location at Beenaster Central as we enter the hive and I point out the difference in person to her.

Thanks about all for now, just keeping you informed as promised. She said that the AIR-TIME is probaby a month or so away, so I'm sure she will let me know BEFORE the broadcast so all of us can give a listen to see if I did the wonderful world of bees justice :)
NJBeemaster my YOUTUBE Video Collection

Please enjoy the forum, and if it has helped you in any way, we hope that a small donation can be made to support our FULLY member supported forum. You will never see advertisements here, and that is because of the generous members who have made our forum possible. We are in our second decade as a beekeeping forum and all thanks to member support. At the top right of every page is a donations link. Please help if you can.

Offline buzz

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1.5 hours talking with NPR
« Reply #1 on: October 06, 2004, 09:04:56 pm »
Thats great, Beemaster! Can't wait to here more about your story with NPR.
Scott
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"If you have no money and you have few possessions, if you have a dog you are still rich"
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Offline BigRog

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1.5 hours talking with NPR
« Reply #2 on: October 07, 2004, 12:02:22 am »
I second that that thought!

WTG John
"Lurch my good man,…what did you mean when you said just now that 'You've got better things to do than run my petty little errands'…….?"

Offline asleitch

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1.5 hours talking with NPR
« Reply #3 on: October 07, 2004, 04:52:18 am »
Will someone be able to record it as an MP3 file - and then send it out by email? I know that probably breaks some broadcasting law - but well, it sounds interesting.

Funnily enough my club had a lecture on swarming last night, by one of the speakers from the BBKA (british beekeepers association). It was very interesting. Learning all the time!

Adam

Offline eivindm

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1.5 hours talking with NPR
« Reply #4 on: October 07, 2004, 06:19:38 am »
Quote from: asleitch
Will someone be able to record it as an MP3 file - and then send it out by email? I know that probably breaks some broadcasting law - but well, it sounds interesting.


I thought about the same.  But as i checked http://www.npr.org it looks as they archive all the programs they send and make it public with real audio and windows media. Hope that's correct and not just some of the programs, so I can listen to it later.  Of course it is possible to listen to the live stream, but I guess that is in the middle of the night Norwegian (and UK) time :-)

A backup plan would be to make one of the computers at the university rip the live streaming while I sleep and convert it to MP3.  All the needed software are available already. Just need some scripting and testing :-)

eivindm

Offline Bee Boy

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« Reply #5 on: October 08, 2004, 07:04:19 pm »
This is an awesome Beemaster! I get to hear u on the radio :lol:  I can hardly wait to hear the program!



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Offline beemaster

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1.5 hours talking with NPR
« Reply #6 on: October 08, 2004, 07:34:59 pm »
Thanks Everyone for their interest. I had emailed a list of swarm and bee facts to Laura the show Producer, so when she asked questions aboutbees, she had an idea of what the answer would be and she was ale to expand herknowledge about each of the topics.

I'm pretty sure that MOST audiofiles are kept around quite awhile and I promise to make it available through my site if at all possible in a streaming or DLable format for anyone to keep or listen to.

I'm thinking that the actual show date is probably about a month away, but when I find out when it will broastcast, I promise to announce it with plenty of notice so you can all get a chance to hear the show.

I am excited though :) I enjoy any exposure to the hobby and to the website and forum. I'll do my best to let everyone know that the forum has lots of informed and enthusiastic members awaiting to assist anyone with bee questions of any kind!

Imagine if we end up with about a thousand members due to great world wide exposure, very cool huh :)

Either way, I hope that I do justice to the topic and that I represent our small but close family of backyard beekeepers. All of you make this forum unique and I know there are bigger forums out there, but in this forum I'm happy to say that I know all of you better than most people know their neighbors. And as I have said many times: I am very very proud to be a part of this awesome group, just a member, no more or less and I always look forward to your posts.

I'll keep in touch about future NPR updates!!!!
NJBeemaster my YOUTUBE Video Collection

Please enjoy the forum, and if it has helped you in any way, we hope that a small donation can be made to support our FULLY member supported forum. You will never see advertisements here, and that is because of the generous members who have made our forum possible. We are in our second decade as a beekeeping forum and all thanks to member support. At the top right of every page is a donations link. Please help if you can.

Offline leominsterbeeman

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1.5 hours talking with NPR
« Reply #7 on: October 11, 2004, 11:32:04 am »
This is so cool.  this is a global beekeeping club.  I can't wait to hear it.
Michael Keane
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Offline asleitch

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« Reply #8 on: October 12, 2004, 07:57:29 am »
This might be interesting listening for your radio host....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/beeinspector.shtml

To listen to the shows, you'll need to click the link above, and from the BBC website, you can then listen to the shows by streaming them across.



Adam

This series follows David through the seasons, from spring, through summer, autumn and winter. And along the way we learn something of his full life from keeping bees as a boy, to finding his vocation as a bee inspector. He explains how beekeeping has reflected the changing nature of the British countryside. Before the war farming was in the doldrums, but "bad farming was good beekeeping" - overgrown hedges, abundant wild-flowers and the like assured plentiful honey crops. Intensive farming after the war was terrible for bees, but they were saved in the seventies when flowery crops like the vivid yellow rapeseed became popular. And now lush suburban gardens attract well-fed bees!

1. Spring

The first programme finds David in the spring, checking how well bee colonies have survived the winter and looking for the first signs of disease as the days get warmer. One of the highlights is a trip to Hodsock Priory, most famous for its spectacular display of snowdrops in February, but also home of rare, beautifully-preserved and working Victorian beehives. Designed like little houses, unlike the modern functional box hive, the most striking is a white tower, with a genuine gold-leafed portico for bees to come and go through. "If I was a bee, that's where I would want to live" says David.

 Listen again to programme 1

2. Summer

The second part is summer-time, with a round of County Shows to add to the numerous individual inspections. Bad weather keeps the growing colonies inside their hives until, like mischievous children on a rainy day, they break out and swarm in places they're not wanted. We hear the sound of "roaring" bees ripening off the honey - they buzz furiously inside the hive while clinging on with their feet to create an air-conditioning system that drives the excess moisture from the stored nectar. The draught is strong enough to blow out a candle held at the hive entrance. And we hear the rare sound of "piping" queens, calling to each other prior to a fight to the death that leaves just one survivor, the new queen. By August the female worker bees are at it again, killing all the male bees in what has been known for centuries as "the slaughter of the drones".

 Listen again to programme 2


3. Autumn

As late summer merges into autumn in programme three, many beekeepers have moved their hives onto the moors to take advantage of the late crop of heather honey. David still keeps bees and takes the opportunity to harvest his own honey, and we eavesdrop on the process. With the pace of inspections slowing down, David also finds time to reminisce about his own start in beekeeping at the age of just 9 years old. He also reflects on how beekeeping has been affected by the changing face of farming since World War II.

 Listen again to programme 3

4. Winter

Winter is a time of consolidation. A chance to go round the beekeeping groups, advising them how to keep their colonies alive through the winter, and how to watch out for disease next spring. Highlight of this final programme is a rare chance to go inside the Government's Central Science Unit at York, home of the specialist bee research unit. David is a regular visitor, but access for this programme is something rather special. The programme ends with the beekeeping year turning full circle as he checks his own colonies have survived the winter in Chatsworth Park and looks forward to the return of spring.

 Listen again to programme 4

Offline eivindm

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1.5 hours talking with NPR
« Reply #9 on: October 12, 2004, 08:06:04 am »
Very cool reference asleitch!

I'll be sure to rip all the streams!  Very nice to be able to get the BBC programmes as I don't know of any such programmes in Norwegian radios!!

eivindm

Offline asleitch

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« Reply #10 on: October 12, 2004, 09:19:51 am »
Quote from: eivindm
Very cool reference asleitch!

I'll be sure to rip all the streams!  Very nice to be able to get the BBC programmes as I don't know of any such programmes in Norwegian radios!!

eivindm


If you search the BBC website, their is quite a bit on Beekeeping. Searching for Beekeeping, Beekeepers, Honey, HoneyBee, bee's, Varroa etc throws up lots of previous stories and articles.

In the UK, the funding to the National Bee Unit, who fund the Bee Inspectors is about to be cut. European foulbrood is to be delisted as a notifiable disease. Beekeepers are fighting this, and I've heard it'll be on Radio 4's "The Today" programme - tomorrow morning.

I had a look round your website by the way - lots of interesting stuff - I liked the coffee roaster - but there wasn't much on beekeeping?

Adam