Nabi berpesan,

"Barangsiapa salah seorang dari kalian melihat kemungkaran, hendaklah ia mengubahnya dengan tangannya. Jika ia tidak sanggup mengubahnya dengan tangannnya, hendaklah ia mengubahnya dengan lisannya. Jika ia tidak sanggup mengubahnya dengan lisannya, hendaklah ia mengubahnya dengan hatinya. Itulah selemah-lemahnya iman."

Ramai yang termotivasi dengan ayat ini lantas bergegas untuk menjadi golongan 'kuat iman'. Lantas segala kemungkaran segera diubahnya dengan tangan. Biar sekecil apapun. Bagus. Semangat berdakwah yang sangat menepati seruan Rasulullah SAW.

Tetapi jangan terlupa. Manusia makhluk yang mempunyai perasaan. Cara manusia itu menerima teguran dan 'pengubahan' terhadap maksiat tersebut amat-amat bergantung kepada perasaannya.

Maka sedikit perkongsian yang boleh saya bawakan di sini. Cara menegur.

Tujuan

Semua perbuatan kita perlu tujuan yang jelas. Tujuan kita hidup adalah untuk mencari redha Allah. Maka semua amal kita adalah berlandaskan sebuah pertanyaan, "Apakah Allah redha dengan perbuatan aku ini."

Maka apa tujuan kita menegur dan memberi peringatan kepada orang lain?

Firman Allah:

Dan (ingatlah) ketika segolongan di antara mereka berkata: “Mengapa kamu menasihati kaum yang Allah akan membinasakan mereka atau mengazabkan mereka dengan azab yang amat berat?” Orang-orang (yang memberi nasihat) itu menjawab: “(Nasihat itu ialah) untuk melepaskan diri dari bersalah kepada Tuhan kamu, dan supaya mereka bertaqwa”.
[Al-A'raf, 7:164]

Tujuan kita menegur dan memberi peringatan ada dua:

1. Melepaskan diri daripada tanggungjawab. Agar nanti menjadi alasan depan Allah SWT yang kita telah berbuat.
2. Agar mereka bertakwa.

Sebab yang kedua ini mungkin ramai penegur-penegur serta pemberi ingatan sekarang terlepas pandang. Apa yang mereka buat adalah sesuatu yang tidak memikirkan adakah orang yang ditegur itu akan menerima teguran mereka. Jika fikir pun, sudut perasaan seringkali diabaikan. Sehingga orang yang ditegur tidak mahu menerima mesej yang disampaikan, walaupun mereka tahu mereka salah.

Punch n Go

Biasa dengar? Sebuah kisah yang menarik untuk dikongsi.

"Mat, kan aku dah cakap, menutup aurat tu wajib hukumnya. Lelaki wajib tutup aurat daripada pusat hingga lutut. Pakai seluar pendek macam ni tak boleh, berdosa." Kata seorang abang kepada adiknya yang berbeza umur hanya setahun.

"Suka hati akulah. Kau sibuk-subuk kenapa? Balik-balik suruh aku tutup aurat. Aku tahulah jaga diri sendiri. Kubur masing-masing!"

"Ye lah, aku nasihat ni takut nanti kubur kau sebelah kubur aku, kau meraung-raung dalam tu, aku yang tak tenang bersemadi nanti." Dengan nada yang semakin meninggi.

"Boleh jalanlah kau! Ingat kau baik sangat? Ingat kau tenang ke dalam kubur nanti? Kau pun banyak dosa gak!"

"Ah, kau tu yang memang dah teruk. Berapa banyak benda mengarut yang kau dah buat? Sedar-sedarlah diri sikit!"

Lalu perbualan yang tujuannya untuk menegur menjadi perbalahan yang tidak berkesudahan. Kenapa? Sebab Si Abang sentiasa menasihati adiknya hanya ketika adiknya membuka aurat. Di masa-masa yang lain dia hanya sibuk dengan kerjanya sendiri.

Mengapa ini berlaku? Kerana kita berfikir hanya untuk memberitahu yang dia salah. Dia sedang bersalah, jadi betulkan kesilapan itu. Kita berfikir bahawa semua orang memang perlu diberitahu secara terus yang dia salah. Sekali lagi, cara kita menyampaikan amat penting. Dari situ orang akan menerima teguran itu atau tidak.

Jika kita bertindak sedikit bijak dengan meletakkan tujuan kedua dalam menegur, makan ia akan dapat diselesaikan. Kita akan sentiasa berfikir, "Macam mana aku nak sampaikan agar dia dapat terima teguran aku, dan agar dia berubah?"

People Wont Care How Much You Know, Until They Know How Much You Care

Jangan pening dulu. Fahami ayat di atas perlahan-lahan. Dah faham?
Kita perlu terlebih dahulu meraih kepercayaan 'mad'u' kita, yang kita hadir untuk membantunya. Bukannya kita hadir hanya untuk menunjukkan yang dia salah. Sengaja mahu membuka pekungnya.

Kisah tadi, mari kita ubah sedikit.

Si Abang terlihat adiknya memakai seluar pendek di dalam bilik. Lalu pergi ke dapur untuk membancuh segelas air sirap sejuk. Lalu menyajikan kepada adiknya.

"Nah, aku buat air untuk kau. Minumlah."

"Aik, baiknya abang hari ni? Terima kasih." Kata Si Adik sambil tersenyum. Siap panggil 'abang' lagi tu. Biasanya ber'aku' 'engkau' je.

"Takdelah, aku sebenarnya kesian dengan kau."

"Kenapa?"

"Kau macam kepanasan je. Aku tengok pakai sikit je pakaian hari ni. Tu bagi kau air sejuk ni, biar 'cool' sikit." Sambil memuncungkan bibirnya ke arah seluar pendek si adik.

"Hahaha, taklah panas sangat, biasa-biasa je."

"Okay, kalau tak panas lain kali leh la pakai seluar panjang kan? Nabi pun suka, Allah pun sayang. Nanti syaitan mesti menangis punya tengok kita tutup aurat, tak buat dosa."

"Hehe..okay."

Got the picture?

Kalau tak tahu bahasa 'Ayam', guna 'Ayam' lain untuk nasihat 'Ayam' kita

Jangan gelak dulu.

Maksudnya, kalau kita sendiri tidak mampu menasihati, mintalah orang yang dekat dengan mad'u kita untuk mengingatkan. Orang yang memang dihormati dan dipercayai oleh mad'u kita.

Minta ayah ibu tolong nasihatkan.
Minta kawan-kawannya tolong ingatkan.
Minta guru-gurunya tolong sampaikan.

Kalau lihat ikhwah lain buat masalah, dan kita dengan dia agak tidak mesra atau terlebih mesra sehingga dia tidak mampu menerima teguran kita, maka salurkan kepada murobbi. Insya-Allah murobbi lebih faham masalah anak halaqohnya.

Jangan Main Dengan Api

Nasihat itu berpada-pada. Jangan diteruskan kalau mad'u kelihatan tidak bersedia ditegur. Sekali disampaikan dia diam, tetap tidak berubah, jumpa kali kedua. Cari di waktu dia sedang ceria dan tidak beremosi. Kalau tetap tidak bejaya, guna kaedah 'Ayam' tadi. Mungkin hanya sesetengah orang sahaja yang mampu menegurnya.

Jangan dipaksakan. Kadang-kadang ada orang nak berubah perlukan masa. Dia diam sahaja, tetapi dalam dirinya sedang berapi-api. Dirinya besi waja yang sedang ditempa dengan api yang bersuhu tinggi. Raging Fire!

Tunggu dia sejuk dulu.

Kesimpulan: Tegur tetap tegur

Kewajiban menegur tetap tidak gugur walau kita tidak tahu cara terbaik untuk menegur. Tersilap dalam cara  menegur 10 kali, ia tidak bermakna kita gagal 10 kali. Sebaliknya kita sebenarnya telah berjaya menemui 10 cara yang tidak patut diulang dalam menegur.

Mari memberi peringatan. Agar makin ramai yang bertaqwa. Insya-Allah.

~End Of Post~

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This is a weekly post by Nidhal Guessoum (see his earlier posts here). Nidhal is an astrophysicist and Professor of Physics at American University of Sharjah

Let’s continue a bit with themes related to Ramadan (at least partially). The month is almost half over, and we are now well settled into a different lifestyle, especially with regard to eating habits. Our intakes (types and rhythms) have changed; our metabolisms have changed. In particular, consumption of meats and sweets has increased, at least in the places I am familiar with.

I don’t have any statistics on the consumption of meat in the Arab-Muslim world, and I am sure it varies between very low levels in famine-stricken and poor lands like Somalia, Niger, and Bangladesh, and extremely high levels in opulent and traditionally carnivorous places like the Arab Gulf. But I can offer two personal observations: first, the general populations of the Arab-Muslim world have largely increased their consumption of meat (this is due to the rise in standards of living and the greater and cheaper availability of meats), and secondly that some segments of the population, the more highly educated and perhaps western influenced groups, have lately started to shun meat or at least reduce their consumption of it; now vegetarianism has started to be discussed and even advocated. (According to Wikipedia, in January 1996 the International Vegetarian Union announced the formation of the Muslim Vegetarian/Vegan Society.)

Recently, in Jordan and in Egypt, advocates of vegetarianism participated in consciousness-raising events organized by the global animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). In the Amman, Jordan event, one lady covered herself with lettuce leafs and marched with others (see the accompanying picture, where the sign reads “'Let vegetarianism grow on you” – literally). Most interestingly to me is the fact that the lettuce-clad lady wears the hijab (the Islamic hair-covering dressing style). Although the activists tried to emphasize environmental and economic concerns and animal treatment issues, not to mention the presumably healthier aspects of vegetarianism, the general reactions to the PETA events were quite negative in both Amman and Cairo. The Arab world, it seems, is not quite mentally ready to embrace vegetarianism, and again we find religion to some extent related to this.

So, what about the religious perspective? Going vegan or vegetarian (the difference is not important here) is obviously a personal issue, one which each one of us should decide on one’s own, but as always in the Muslim culture, the “position of Islam” is often asked. And indeed, one finds in the “Ask the Scholar” section of IslamOnline, a Q & A on this topic in which one reads:

First of all, it should be clear that one should not think that it is better to abstain from eating meat, that doing so will be rewarded, or that being a vegetarian is closer to Allah than not, and so on. It is not permitted to draw closer to Allah in this way.

…

Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi, former President of the Islamic Society of North America, states:

“Allah has created some animals for our food as Allah says in the Qur'an in surat an-Nahl, 'And cattle He has created for you. From them you drive wont and numerous benefits and of their meat, you eat.' (An-Nahl: 5-8)

Muslims do recognize animal rights. Animal rights means that we should not abuse them, torture them and when we have to use them for meat, we should slaughter them with a sharp knife, mentioning the name of Allah. […]

So, Muslims are not vegetarians. However, if someone prefers to eat vegetables, then he is allowed to do so. Allah has given us permission to eat meat of slaughtered animals, but He has not made it obligatory upon us.”

Muslim advocates of a more vegetarian lifestyle insist that the issue is not a religious one and that it is a serious mistake to discuss it in terms of halal (permissible) and haram (prohibited). They further claim that Prophet Muhammad himself preferred vegetables and only rarely ate meat and that some of the great figures of Islamic history, particularly Sufis/mystics like Rabi`ah al-`Adawiyyah, were vegetarians.

Perhaps a compromise of moderation could satisfy everyone, or at least most people, from all perspectives: health, economics, environment, animal treatment, etc. And in the Ramadan spirit of remembering the poor and feeling their hunger and their needs, perhaps some of us should make a conscious effort to reduce our daily consumption of meat to a minimum and donate the difference.

See earlier posts:

Ramadan Aps, High-tech Islam

For a real Islamic Calendar

Ramadan by CCD

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Couple of more thoughts on my recent trip to Malaysia (I still to post some pictures of a fantastic aquarium in Kuala Lumpur). I was struck by the fact that I did not see anyone without a helmet on a motorcycle in Kuala Lumpur. Here is a picture at a random traffic light. I tried hard to find counter-evidence - but did not find one, either on the highway or on the bust streets of  downtown Kuala Lumpur.

Is this a  sign of modernization? An increased value of individual human life and/or a link with a higher level of education than many in the developing world. Yes, I know that helmets are required by law in Malaysia - but then, somebody is enforcing that law quite effectively. As a contrast, here is a picture from Pakistan - where we find many many ordinary daredevils on the street every day:

or some selective use of helmets - again in Pakistan:

I don't know. It is quite possible that helmets do not symbolize anything. But it appears that Malaysia is at an interesting transitionary point. It is certainly more developed than much of the developing world - and, at least Kuala Lumpur, is modern and pluralistic. Yes, there are more conservative, rural areas as well - but my views are based only on comparing urban centers. At the same time, there definitely appear to be tensions between the three dominant ethnic groups - the Malays (also all Muslims), the Chinese and the Indians. While I was there, everyday the newspaper headlines dealt with some aspect of this ethnic-identity debate. The future of Malaysia is definitely tied to how this multiethnic identity is resolved. 

Interestingly, just this past week, Washington Post had an article on Malaysia that talked a bit about this issue:

Malaysia is justly proud of its record in managing what at one time threatened to be a conflict-ridden transition. It also takes pride in its distinctive Muslim culture and in the way its religious and ethnic diversity works in a fast-changing society. But behind Malaysia's new prosperity, seen in glittering skyscrapers and tangles of freeways, there are lively debates about what lies ahead.

Malaysia's challenges involve above all its diverse ethnic, religious and economic identities, and today's debates turn on how the three are intertwined. By constitution, Malaysia is a Muslim nation and its population is majority Muslim. Malays and Islam are tightly linked. That translates, among other things, into legal tussles over whether one can renounce being a Muslim. Malaysians are trying to identify how the country's Islamic identity is distinct and how much latitude there is for different strands of Islamic thinking; how much can Malaysian Islam change as the country modernizes? The country's minorities are largely Chinese and Indian, and they are mostly Buddhists and Christians. How do their rights balance with those of the Malay and Muslim majority, in law and in the society?

The article takes an optimistic approach regarding these debates and I hope this turns out to be the case:

Thoughtful Malaysians worry that Malaysia's successful diversity is being challenged by an increasing de facto segregation in schools and neighborhoods. If the foundation of national identity is indeed that people of different races and religions will live and work together, they need at the very least to know one another. More integrated schools and curricula that highlight Malaysia's multiethnic and multireligious heritage and character are seen as the keys.

Malaysia's lively debates about cool imams, how to curb child marriage, and what should be taught in schools are healthy symptoms of a complex society confronting the complicated realities of racial and religious identities in modern times. South Africa found much to learn from Malaysia when it looked east two decades ago. The lessons continue to this day.

Read the full article here.

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Ramadhan merupakan saatnya melakukan perubahan. Perubahan daripada sifat-sifat mazmumah kepada sifat-sifat mahmudah. Daripada sifat-sifat negatif kepada sifat-sifat positif. Daripada diri yang lemah daya tahan melawan nafsu kepada diri yang kuat dan menjadi tuan kepada nafsu.

Soalnya, sejauh mana kita telah melangkah ke arah perubahan itu?

Ramadhan bukan sekadar menahan lapar dan dahaga

Ramai yang menganggap ramadhan sekadar sebuah bulan yang di dalamnya kita hanya perlu tidak makan, tidak minum dan tidak melakukan perkara-perkara yang membatalkan puasa (ikut orang-orang Malaysia ni, tak korek hudung, tak korek telinga dan lainla) daripada terbit fajar sehingga terbenam matahari. Tidak lebih daripada itu. Para peniaga bergembira kerana inilah peluangnya mencari lebih pendapatan daripada bazar ramadhan. Dan hampir semua hanya bergembira dengan kedatangan ramadhan kerana hanya tinggal 1 bulan sebelum datangnya sambutan 'Mega' yang ditunggu-tunggunya; Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

Tetapi, ini bukanlah makna ramadhan yang diajarkan oleh Allah dan Rasulnya. Ini bukanlah nilai ramadhan yang dicari. Ramadhan difirmankan oleh sebagai bulan tarbiyah. Tarbiyah diri agar menjadi lebih baik. Diri yang bertaqwa. Firman Allah :

Hai orang-orang yang beriman, diwajibkan atas kamu berpuasa sebagaimana diwajibkan atas orang-orang sebelum kamu agar kamu bertakwa.
[Q.S. Al-Baqarah, 2:183]

Mengapa Ramadhan?

Ya, mengapa dalam bulan ramadhan ini dikhususkan untuk membina peribadi bertaqwa? Bukan dalam bulan-bulan yang lain?

Kerana bulan ini sememangnya disediakan dengan ciri-ciri khas agar kita mampu membina ketaqwaan kita. Penghalang utama kita untuk bertaqwa itu tiada dalam bulan ini.

Diriwayatkan oleh Abu Hurairah RA : Rasulullah SAW bersabda, "Apabila bermulanya Ramadhanm pintu-pintu syurga dibuka dan pintu-pintu neraka ditutup dan syaitan-syaitan dirantai."
[Sahih Bukhari, Jilid 3, Bab 31, Hadis No 123]

Syaitan tiada. Sifu kepada nafsu yang menjadi penghalang kepada semua manusia untuk bertaqwa kepada Allah. Yang sentiasa mengeluarkan kita daripada landasan ketaatan kepada Allah. Maka inilah masanya untuk kita mengambil kendali. Masa untuk kita sendiri yang menunggangi nafsu, bukan kita yang ditunggangi.

Syaitan tiada, mengapa masih bermaksiat?

Persoalan yang baik. Mengapa?

Mari muhasabah. Syaitan itu bijak. 11 bulan yang ada sebelum ramadhan ini digunakan sebaik-baiknya untuk 'mentarbiyah' nafsu kita agar 'tahu' apa yang perlu dilakukan ketika tiba saat-saat yang sepatutnya.

'Kalau datang perempuan, tengok terus, jangan lepas!'


'Kalau tengah baca Al-Quran, mesti rasa mengantuk. Jangan lawan, tidur je!'


'Qiamullail tu sunat je, kau ada banyak kerja esok, tidur!'

Dan seribu satu bisikan lagi. Sehingga nafsu kita sudah seperti robot. Sentiasa memilih untuk melakukan kemaksiatan tanpa ragu-ragu. Nafsu berada dalam 'Autopilot Mode', dengan setiap frekuensi serta sistemnya telah diprogramkan oleh syaitan. Jadi, syaitan sedang berbahagia di dalam kurungan, kerana dia tahu manusia yang ditinggalkannya itu bodoh, tidak tahu mengubah keadaan dan terus ditunggangi nafsu, si anak muridnya.

Mari Melangkah!

Cukup. Sudah-sudahlah ditunggangi nafsu. Mahukah kita terus berada di dalam kejahiliahan? Terus meninggalkan ibadah dan melestarikan kemaksiatan?

Mari matikan suis 'autopilot' itu. Caranya ialah dengan mengetahui bahawa kita sekarang mampu mengubah diri kita. Dan hanya kitalah yang mampu mengubah diri sendiri.

Sesungguhnya Allah tidak merubah keadaan sesuatu kaum sehingga mereka merubah keadaan yang ada pada diri mereka sendiri.
[Q.S. Ar-Ra'du, 13:11]

PAKSAKAN diri kita untuk MEMILIH meninggalkan maksiat setiap kali kita terfikir mengenainya.
PAKSAKAN diri kita untuk MEMILIH melakukan ibadah setiap kali kita terfikir mengenainya.
PAKSAKAN diri kita untuk MEMILIH kebaikan setiap kali mempunyai pilihan.

Selalu fikirkan yang hidup ini sementara, syurga yang kita ingin tujui dan neraka yang ingin kita jauhi.

Mari mulakan langkah. Tinggalkan kebiasaan buruk sejauh-jauhnya. Program semula nafsu kita. Biarkan si sifu syaitan pening bagaimana hendak memprogramnya semula apabila dia kembali nanti. Biarkan nanti dia menangis, kita yang bahagia dengan keimanan.

Kesimpulan: Kuncinya USAHA

1000 kali berusaha kemudian tidak berjaya bukan bermakna GAGAL. Itu bermakna kita telah menemui 1000 cara yang salah dalam berusaha. Ambil pengajaran daripada setiap kegagalan. Tanyakan pada diri mengapa masih gagal dan cari puncanya. Lalu lakukan langkah perbaikan. Kita pasti mampu mengubahnya. Kerana kita melakukannya demi mencari redha Allah. Dan Allah pasti menunjukkan jalan-jalanNya. Pasti.

Dan orang-orang yang berjihad untuk (mencari keridhaan) Kami, benar- benar akan Kami tunjukkan kepada mereka jalan-jalan Kami. Dan sesungguhnya Allah benar-benar beserta orang-orang yang berbuat baik.
[Q.S. Al-Ankabut, 29:69]

Mari Melangkah!

~End Of Post~

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Step aside Lourdes. Here comes the festival of the Madonna of the Bikers.

I find fascinating the diverse ways in which religions are interacting with the modern world. I definitely have a soft-corner for UFO-based religions. But then this festival of the Madonna of the Bikers in France (France??) also made me smile. The picture above is an interesting/amusing example of a modern adaptation of an established religion. From On Motorcycle, European Pilgrims Race Toward God:

 The festival of the Madonna of the Bikers, which organizers promote as the largest motorcycle “pilgrimage” in France — there are few aspirants to the title — attracted nearly 10,000 motorcyclists from across Europe last weekend to the soggy wheat fields of Porcaro, population 650. It was an unlikely mix of what Roman Catholic Bretons call the “sacred and profane”; many came to pray, many to carouse, a surprising number to do both.

There were priests and incense and holy water and much solemnity and prayer, but also AC/DC and studded leather, body piercings and tattoos and, beginning well before noon and lasting well into the night, the consumption of prodigious quantities of alcohol.

Somehow, the AC/DC reference is just too perfect here (yes, I'm going to resist here putting any reference to Highway to Hell). And of course, we also have a biker priest:

 Despite all the imbibing, the gathering in Porcaro began as and remains a religious event, with the backing of the Catholic Church.

“The essential thing for me, as a priest — as a biker-priest — is to show this community that God is close to them,” said Father Audrain, who rides a BMW F 800 ST and has helped coordinate the Madonna of the Bikers since 2007. “My work, in the first place, is about making God seem all right, and making the church seem all right.”

Read the full article here.
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Hello friend, we are David & Sheri Burns from Long Lane Honey Bee Farms in central Illinois (where it has been very hot lately)!
The bees have been working hard to keep their hives cool by hauling in water. They use water in the hive by evaporating it as a cooling mechanism. We can’t complain…it’s August.
We live in an old farm house built in 1876, so it doesn’t have central air. A window unit here and there has kept things tolerable. When our house was built, a 4 lb bag of sugar cost 28 cents. A dozen oranges were 50 cents. A house of our size sold for $700. Honey was 10 cents a pound. In Wayne County Tennessee 168 farms produced 13,000 pounds of honey. Ten years earlier in 1860, 150 farms produced 17,000 pounds of honey. But enough reminiscing.
We are slowly adding a new feature to our basic beekeeping lessons by making them available as a PDF file, available for download or to print. CLICK HERE
Sheri and I produce STUDIO BEE LIVE, a beekeeping podcast. In addition to this podcast, I am now hosting a nation wide (world wide) beekeeping podcast called “Save The Bees”. This podcast has existed for some time through the Wild Life Pro Network and I just recently became the new host. What’s so fun about this podcast is that it is recorded LIVE on the internet. You can actually call in to the live recording and ask me questions or just shoot the breeze about bees. It’s low-key, home spun fun. If fact, I really need you to call in to make the show interesting! You can call in with any question you’d like to ask. They are recorded live each third Thursday of the month. Our next one is coming up September 16 at 7pm Central Time. I will be talking about equipment used in beekeeping, specifically about specialized equipment, like queen castles, slatted bottom racks, cloake boards, smokers, hive tools and more!
CLICK HERE TO VIEW OUR FEEDERS & CANDY BOARDS For Purchase
It is difficult to fully understand the complexity of the nutritional requirements of the honey bee. While we know bees require nectar and pollen as their main food source, it is important to understand that a variety of pollen and nectar sources is essential. Bees lacking a variety of pollen and nectar may have insufficient amounts of important minerals needed for hives to reach their full potential.
Bees live on the combination of carbohydrates (nectar/honey) and protein (pollen). While bees are quite capable of meeting the day to day demands of the colony as well as providing stored resources for periods of dearths and overwintering, sometimes bees can benefit greatly by having additional food.
Here are some of the reasons for feeding bees:
1) Installing packages in the spring. New packages have no comb and consequently no stored resources. If it rains for 3 days the bees will be unable to fly out to gather food.
2) To assist colonies in drawing out comb. As young bees consume nectar their wax glands are more able to produce wax for drawing out the frames.
3) To add to the total of stored food going into the winter.
4) To add medication to a hive. Some medications are added to sugar water such as Fumagilin-b.
5) To build up smaller colonies such as swarms or nucs.
6) For queen rearing starter and finishing colonies.
There are several types of feeders used to feed bees.
The entrance feeder has been used throughout the decades as a good spring feeding system. A small tip of the feeder slides into the entrance of the hive and a mason jar screws down into the cap with holes in it. Vacuum prevents the contents from leaking out, allowing the bee to use its proboscis to draw out the sugar water. Normally, spring sugar mixture is 1:1, which is one part water and one part sugar by weight. If you use a 4 lb bag of sugar, then you’ll add 4 pounds of water.
Usually refilling these entrance feeders is not a problem, but occasionally guard bees will show their disapproval. Entrance feeders used during a dearth or in the fall can cause bees from other nearby colonies to rob.

Top Feeders are also used. Sometimes referred to as Miller feeders because it was invented by Dr. C.C. Miller. It is placed on top of the hive and is a large reservoir that holds 1-2 gallons of liquid. The bees can access the feed by staying on the underside of the white panels in the photo, or some use screen. This keeps the bees out of the liquid to prevent drowning. The benefit is that it holds more. Disadvantage is that it can leak or mold.
Division Board Feeder, sometimes called a frame feeder, is similar in size to a large frame but made of wood, metal or plastic. As in the photo, the center is a reservoir which holds the liquid. It is placed in the brood nest in place of a frame. Usually it is important to add material that can float on top of the liquid to prevent drowning. The frame feeder will not promote robbing and can be used in colder climates as the cluster temperature can keep the liquid from freezing.
A pail Feeder is when you place a feeder over your inner cover hole or directly on the frames. The feeder can be a large plastic pail or a smaller mason canning jar as shown in the picture. It is important to experiment outside the hive and poke holes in the pail so that when it is upside-down the syrup does not run out. It is best to mix a heavy syrup such as 2 parts sugar and 1 part water and wait until the syrup has cooled. Warm syrup can flow too quickly. The ideal pail feeder does not allow the syrup to drip out, but the bees use their proboscis to draw out the syrup.
When you place a pail feeder in your hive you then surround it with an empty deep hive body and place your top cover on top. The empty deep hive body simply gives the spacing you need for the pail feeder. It is best to feed through the inner cover hole so that the inner cover can help hold the heat down. CAUTION: Your empty deep spacer can easily be blown or knocked off. Use heavy rocks to keep it down.
Open Feeding. Commercial beekeepers often feed bees in large 55 gallon barrels with sticks placed in the barrel to reduce drowning. Some fear that open feeding bees can prompt robbing. However, I have discovered that open feeding is very good in the fall and actually prevents robbing, provided that the feeding station is placed well away from hives. When beekeepers are entertaining guests out of doors, they can worry about their bees bothering their guests, and sometimes during a fall dearth the bees will be scouting around for food. By open feeding, the bees find the location and are quickly drawn to it and stop searching and robbing. I use entrance feeders or chicken waterers with screens in the mouth of the jar to prevent the bees from crawling up into the feed. These work great for me during the fall. There is no need to open feed when there are flowers.
Candy Boards
Last year we discovered candy boards. They have been around for a long time, but have lost popularity with beekeepers over the last 50 years, probably due to the fact that it is time consuming to make. However, I believe they are one of the most effective feed sources for overwintering colonies. You can also add pollen patties into the candy boards as seen in the picture above. The board is placed on top of whichever hive body box the cluster is located in.
In a previous lesson I provided the exact receipt for making candy boards, but we do sell them and now would be a good time to stock up. You should have them on your hives no later than December 22. CLICK HERE TO VIEW OUR FEEDERS & CANDY BOARDS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE
Pollen
We’ve discussed several liquid feeding methods, but what about protein? Honey bees desperately need pollen. It is from pollen that bees obtain minerals, vitamins and other important nutrients. There are several ways we can feed bees pollen.
1) Pollen trapping. This is a piece of beekeeping equipment that we sell which captures a percentage of pollen from the bee’s pollen basket as they fly into the hive. Once the pollen trap is filled, simply freeze and store it to feed later. One disadvantage is that you don’t really know what’s in the pollen. It could be laced with insecticides from sprayed crops. Also, when you are capturing it, you are reducing your hive’s ability to store what you are trapping. Pollen trapping is usually used to trap pollen that is used for human consumption.
2) Pollen Substitute. This is the most preferred method and is accomplished by either making your own pollen patties or purchasing prepared patties. Most pollen patties no longer contain pollen but a soy based substitute. They have proven to be very beneficial to bees, especially for overwintering colonies or for colonies in early spring prior to when natural pollen occurs. You can see in this photo how the bees have consumed over one half of the pollen patty.
QUICK TIP SUMMARY:

• Entrance (boardman) feeders are most effective in the spring or in open feeding locations away from the hives in the fall. Cannot be used when the temperature drops below 50 because the bees will not break cluster to go to the feeder.
• Top Feeders can be used any time until the temperature drops below 50 because the hive begins to cluster and cannot go up to feed.
• Frame (division) Feeders can be used all year, but keep in mind that you will have to open the hive to re-fill it. This can be a problem during the winter.
• Open feeding can work well during a dearth to help reduce robbing and to prevent bees from bothering crowds. Use feeders that will not allow bees to drown. Can only be used when temperatures are warm enough for bees to forage.
• Candy boards are a huge benefit to overwintering colonies.
• Pollen patties are beneficial to add protein and other important nutrients when pollen sources are low.

Most beekeepers are seeking better overwintering results. More and more beekeepers are having success overwintering bees in 5 frame nuc boxes. Since we had success with overwintering more nucs last year, we’re trying more this year. If you’d like to order a nuc, CLICK HERE. Each year more and more beekeepers overwinter in nucs.
QUICK TIP FOOD SUMMARY:
Feed bees 1:1 sugar water in the spring. This stimulates laying and causes foragers to bring in more pollen.
Feed bees 2:1 sugar water in the fall. This makes it easier for the bees to increase their winter honey stores.
Thanks for joining us today, and we’d like to ask you to share these teachings with a friend. Also, you can sign up to have these sent directly to your email, FREE.
As we near the 2011 bee season, it’s time to start thinking about increasing your supplies on hand. Thank you for keeping us in mind when it’s time to purchase more hives, and other beekeeping equipment. Check us out online: www.honeybeesonline.com or call us at: 217-427-2678
Until next time, remember to BEE-have yourself!
David Burns
EAS certified Master Beekeeper
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If you are looking for ways to help Pakistan flood victims, please visit this post.

About 7 or 8 years ago, Science had published an article that talked about the coming water crisis in South Asia and its potential consequences for Pakistan-India relations. Its prediction (and it was dire) was that first there will be floods due to melting glaciers and other climactic factors, and then there will be a prolong drought. The water crisis, of course, may put the two rival countries at the brink of war. Here is a recent oped that talks about this flood & drought situation in South Asia and what can we expect in the near future. With changing climate, unfortunately, we are going to see more and more calamities affecting large and small populations across the globe. 

As for the current flood in Pakistan, read this excellent article by writer Daniyal Mueenuddin: A Lifetime, Washed Away (I will also have an excerpt from it below a photograph). 

Here is a map of the devastation in the path of the mighty river Indus: 

And here are some pictures:

This gives us an idea of the floods. This is in Muzaffargarh district in Punjab province. Notice that the residents from one side probably will be trying to cross to the other side. (Image from Reuters)

A town in the northwestern region of Pakistan.

This is in the Nowshera district in the Northwestern Pakistan

No - this is not a stunt. This truck, with all these people, is really trying to cross these waters. 

Another picture from the Nowshera district. Notice the waist-deep water where everyone is standing. I have no idea, how that truck in the background is going to make even a mile. 

This is an effective rescue by a sister of her younger brother near Sukkur, in the southern province of Sindh. 

This is near Taunsa barrage in Punjab province.

Here villagers are wading through floodwaters with their livestock. For many, this is the only thing they are left with. This picture is from the Sukkur district in Sindh province. 

This last picture provides me with an opportunity to post an excerpt from Daniyal Mueenuddin's article. 

 A few days ago, I stood atop a 30-foot-high levee in Pakistan’s south Punjab, looking out as the waters from the greatest Indus River flood in memory flowed past, through orchards, swirling around a village on higher ground half a mile out. Twenty miles wide, the flood was almost dreamlike, the speeding water, as it streamed through the upper branches of trees, carrying along bits of brightly colored plastic and clumps of grass.

Many of the displaced people had left the area in the past few days, driving whatever was left of their herds, carrying whatever they were able to rescue. 

...

 I found most pitiful a family gathered around a prostrate brown-and-white brindled cow. The father told me that the cow had been lost in the water for four days, and the previous night it had clambered up on another section of the levee, a mile away. The people of this area recognize their cattle as easily as you or I recognize a cousin or neighbor — they sleep with their animals around them at night, and graze them all day; their animals are born and die near them. Someone passing by told the family that their cow had been found, and the father went and got it and led it to their little encampment.

In the early morning the cow had collapsed, and I could see it would soon be dead. Its eyes were beginning to dull, as the owner squatted next to it, sprinkling water into its mouth, as if it were possible to revive it. Its legs were swollen from standing in water, and its chest and torso were covered with deep cuts and scrapes, sheets of raw flesh where branches rushing past must have hit it.

The rest of the family sat nearby on a string bed, resigned, waiting for the end. This was their wealth, but when it died they would tip it into the water and let it float away to the south. Through the past few days they had seen it all, houses collapsed, trees uprooted, grain spoiled, and this was just one more blow.

Read the full article here.  If you are looking for ways to help flood victims, you can find a list of organizations here. 

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Excellent blog, All Things Pakistan, has compiled a list of agencies that are helping flood victims in Pakistan. I have reproduced that list below. It is still hard to imagine the fact that 20% of Pakistan - about the size of all of England - is under water, and that 20 million people, out of a population of 170 million, have been affected.

Please pick whichever organization you like and help whatever you can. Thanks!



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