Bee Keeping

[short cut sally]

After a year of my Dad stating I should venture into bee keeping with him and finally getting my DH's approval (he swells like a wet sponge when stung by insects)- I've made it official. I'm gonna be a bee keeper! My dad came into bees accidentally 2 years ago, and his little hive built in an old barrel however momma bear and her 2 cubs devoured all the honey last summer so he lost his bees and his "hive" so to speak.
Last week I went to an apiary/supply place and came home with the bottom brood boxes and some other inside goodies to assemble to make the hives. I wanted to purchase the pre-assembled but DH said he would assemble them for me, after I stated I wanted pre assembled as I know him. There is a dead line because my bees come in May 13th and will need to be picked up that day. (maybe that will get the spark activated.) The apairy was very informational and I came home with the smoker and the bee suit.
I went on line and found an older man that used to be the local bee inspector and now runs the county honey bee association. I chatted with him for some time, and I spent 3 1/2 hours with him on Sat. while he opened his hives for the first time this year so he could show me what to look for.
I found that my bees have to be registered and then they are inspected by the county at least once a year for diseases. They want to try and catch any diseases before they spread to other hives or other bees in the area.
I was amazed at how often they should be tended to, at least every 10-14 days one should inspect them and do all the mite treatments. Treatments include ranges from harsh chemicals to almost organic methods. The chemical treatments state caustic if touched by humans, wonder what they do the bees and honey in the long run? I am going to go as "organic" as they say as can be.
The hives have to be bear and skunk proofed. That means an electric fence of some sorts, with 2 lines of wire. THe top wire has to have bacon attached as the bears will go for the bacon and when their mouths touch the "hot" bacon, they learn to stay away. No bacon, the bears will just plow thru the fence. Skunks won't come near the wire.
Extracting the honey can be done 6-10 times a year, but this year, will be mainly getting my bees established. Letting them make their own honey for wintering over. But maybe next year, if things work well for the bees, I can get some honey to have on my bread. I'm not informed on the whole gathering and bottling things of the honey but this is what I know....I was told it won't make me rich. Darn;). So much for those "quick to get rich schemes"....:D
So, I am looking forward to this new adventure of being a bee keeper. I wanted to share my excitement with someone..does anyone else here do this venture?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I really admire your doing this. :)
I've started a worm bin for composting, which looks sort of like a hive. We've considered bee keeping as well, but are not 'ready' just yet. I love insects and keeping tiny creatures that produce a harvest of some sort. For me I guess it's earthworm casting fertilizer for now. Bees are definitely tempting, especially when you don't have a lot of land available.
My older daughter has a Cornell entomology degree and worked there in the honeybee dept there for a couple of years. At the time the 'colony collapse' had not become an epidemic yet, but she was working with and researching mite control.
Good luck, and keep us posted!

[OakLeaf]

How exciting!

Being a snowbird means I can't keep any kind of livestock :( but I just LOVE honeybees. I'm happy whenever I see them! Good luck with your hives!

[tulip]

That is wonderful! I've always wanted to keep bees. The former-DH said no way, but now that I'm on my own...maybe, just maybe, I will! GLC has bees--I'm sure she'll chime in here.

[skhill]

Bee keeping-- how cool! My Grandpa kept bees-- we grandkids got drafted to come over and help with processing the honey when he harvested. Every time I have to buy honey, I think of him... Honey from bees you've met and that you yourself strained and bottled definitely tastes better!

[ZenSojourner]

What are you doing for an extractor? I've got plans for a home made extractor and a solar wax melter thingy around here somewhere, from the old homesteading days.

[sfa]

That's so cool! I've been interested in beekeeping for years (and DH would love for me to do this since he makes mead and is always looking for sources of honey) but have never taken the plunge.

I'm looking forward to your updates!

Sarah

[aly]

I'm so impressed that you're doing this! There was a short segment on NPR a few days ago that was about beekeeping, but I just learned so much more from your post. It sounds so interesting. Maybe I can talk my SO into this since he rejected my chicken plan. I've only managed to get him onboard with composting and gardening thus far. It's tough because we have lots of pets and a smallish yard. Does it end up being very expensive?

Please keep us all updated.

[GLC1968]

Tulip is right, we have bees. It's my husband's project, so he's the real expert in the family, but so far so good. We have Italian bees since we don't have much space and we knew we'd be working in close proximity with them quite a bit. Italian bees are supposed to be very docile.

We picked up our bees about a month ago and they are doing a great job of getting the hive established. My husband opens it and checks on their progress once a week and they are doing really well.

We set our hive up in the middle of our 'mini' orchard and they seem quite happy there. We don't have issues with bears, and I've not heard that skunks would be a problem (we do have two dogs and about 4 cats in the immediate area, so varmits are rarely an issue for us).

Out of all of our live creatures so far, the bees are the easiest (even moreso than the worms which caused us fruit fly issues in the beginning).

[Biciclista]

I have a friend who does bees in Arkansas. There is a small but growing group of organic beekeepers, and from what i am hearing, if you follow their methods
a lot of the problems plaguing bees will not plague yours. Google "Bush Bees"
and you will find a wealth of information.
(this has nothing to do with presidents who coincidentially share that name)

[GLC1968]

Oh yeah, and we are aiming for 100% organic in our beekeeping, too. We won't certify because it's for our own use only, but that's how we operate (no chemical inputs if at all possible) for all of our 'farming'.

Mimi is right - there is quite a large movement towards natural beekeeping, particularly for the small backyard keeper. The 'backwards beekeepers' in CA have a great blog: http://beehuman.blogspot.com/ if you want to read more about it...

[badger]

oh, I'm so envious!

A short while ago I met someone who was trying to get a beekeeping apprenticeship program up and running in B.C. He told me he'll keep me updated.

I've always idealized beekeeping and hope that one day I'll get enough courage to leave my work to do something like that.

Good luck!!

[short cut sally]

Thanks for all the great replies so far and your enthusiasm.
Like GLC, I have ordered Italian Bees. They had last years prices up but a box of bees I think will cost me about 80.00. But, when I pick them up I'm sure as with anything, the price will be different.
To answer Aly's question, I've purchased so far, 2 brood boxes, a bottom tray, and 20 liner majobbie things that the bees will attach their combs to for establishing their broods and pollen storage, a lid, a feeder tray for early spring, a smoker, a half bee suit vs. the full bee suit, and a beginers bee book that went into detail about all the diseases and mites..(the mites control just makes my head spin )so far, all that stuff was a few dollars short of 300.00. I still have to get some "honey supers" as they are called for the honey comb itself. I have yet to get a battery and fencer unit and fence and posts for the wire. I have to get paint for the boxes. So in addition to the bees, I have more expense yet. ANd we shouldn't forget about that slab of bacon that needs to be applied to the wire:D..
To answer Zrnsojourners question, extracting??? HHMMMM....I was told that there may be a 50/50 I will get honey this year. This year was to mainly get the brood established and get them ready for winter. If they filled both brood boxes complete then I could think about honey this fall, but only if they filled. If not then I might have to feed them over the winter with a dried sugar block--which is different than the liquid feeder I purchased for initial set up. I looked at the extractor that was a hand cranked one that spun the racks of honey, but I think that came with a small price tag. I knew I was getting a small sum racked up so I stopped shopping but just listened to what the apiary had to offer. Maybe I will rig something up or do what my grandpa did, just cut the combs of honey off the rack and flop it on a plate..He only did comb honey but I am sure I can figure out something really cheap, even if I just drain it over a pan or something..
The bee man I went with, he scrapes the racks for the extra wax, keeps that and melts it all down in a solar wax melter and does stuff with it. Then the bees make this stuff called propolin- a sealant of sort made from saps of pine trees or anything sticky, and they make seals in leaky areas. He scrapes that and gives that to his friend who sells it.." there's money in that stuff" I was told, its made into salves or something.
I still got lots to absorb before my bees arrive, my DH thinks my hobby is getting very involved..but once you learn the ropes, it shouldn't be so complicated. I go to my first honey bee association meeting in May, they are held once a month and are filled with guest speakers from Cornell extension and other local keepers. I had no idea that it was so involved..I just remember my grandpa going to the field, opening the lid, getting the honey and going back home and putting the rack of comb on a plate, then having bread with honey spread on it..oh to relive that time again...
I will keep you all posted..and I may be asking GlC for advice too so be prepared...and all of your opinions too...thanks again

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Shelly can we have an update on your bee hive progress? I am very interested!

[Zen]

That is way cool. I like the idea of a Bee Inspector :)

knockknockknock
Who's is it?
Bee Inspector!
I'll be right there!

[short cut sally]

Last week was busy and just getting to update presently.
I went to my first local honey bee association meeting. I am a new member, at a whole $5.00 a year fee. The elderly gentlemen were so funny. The forum was open as I was told, usually there is a quest speaker but that night it was just a night for socializing. I borrowed a new book to read. Met a man (Chuck) that removes bees from unwanted places and gives them to anyone that wants them. Gave him my name along with my Dad's name for when he gets any extra bees. Meetings are once a month, the wives bake snacks for the men and they also make coffee. Am so looking forward to next month.
My bees were scheduled to come in this past Thursday. SO, DH readied the selected area of occupancy for the hives. He put filter fabric down to help with weed control, put in metal rods for the fence posts and got the wire run for the fence. Bears and skunks need to be reminded they are not welcome here. He just needs to get some stone to lay on the fabric to make it look even better. He made a nice pedestal for me to place the hive on with room for an extra one just in case. We went and picked up our bees, and decided that it's getting late so we would put the bees in their hive in the morning. We also picked up the hive kit for my dad, along with another hive kit for myself just in case Chuck called and said he had a swarm for us. We came home rather late, as we stayed and visited at the bee place for quite awhile. There was a message on our answering machine from Chuck, he had a swarm and could he bring them up that night. So, we readied everything and got my first free swarm all safe and sound in the hive that was ready for the packaged bees..Friday morning, before going to work, DH, Dad and I are assembling all the hives and painting to get ready for the packed bees that need their new home soon. Sat. morning, we put the packaged bees in their newly assembled hive.
Yesterday (SUnday) morning we fed both hives pollen patties, which are these thin flexible sticky things (that resemble the size of frozen cheesesteak patties) that go inside the hive and offer them nutrients and sugars until they can obtain their own. It has been really chilly and windy here lately so they won't venture out to explore so we are supplementing with sugar water and the patties.
When we lifted the lid to the swarm bees, they are in a huge clump stuck to the inside of the lid. I'm not sure if this is normal or not, I have to get more information. The packaged bees, are running all over all the frames inside. THe packaged bees, their queen bee comes in her own little cage, which is capped with a sugar cube and they will chew her out and once she is released, they will be acclimated to her and will accept her as her queen. So, with her still being in her little cage, they were active around her. And she is at the bottom of the box. I am not sure where or even if there is a queen in the swarm clump. Without a queen, bees become confused, will either fly away or die. With them just in this big ball, I'm not sure and I gather you shouldn't play with them until its a little warmer out and no wind.
I sent off my paper work to Albany to register my bees. Apparently they will send me my "numbers" for the hives which I have to post either inside or on the outside of the hives. The inspector may or may not come this year as they are new. Was told, next year for sure. OH, they don't knock, they just show up...so one has to be on their best behavior at all times;).
Apparently, in addition to numbers on the hives, it's recommended to put your name on the hive bodies and frames. According the older men at the meeting, if there is good quality honey, after an inspection, hives in the past have come up missing and it never gets solved as to where they go. Not very often but they each had a story or knew someone that has theft of their hives. Gosh, I only thought that happened with bikes, electronics, vehicles, and money.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Amazing! What a completely fascinating update....thank you!! :p

I would think if the 'free' bees are clustered in a ball perhaps they are surrounding/protecting their queen until they get oriented?

[Zen]

I'm still stuck on the Bee Inspector concept though I doubt it would make for good TV.

[short cut sally]

Zen, all I can say is I hope the "girls" are properly attired when he "peeks in" on them;) I'll be thinking of you when I meet him....

[Zen]

I just realized something.
This thread is useless without pictures ;)

[GLC1968]

Shelly - that is SOOO cool that you got a free swarm! I can't wait to hear how that pans out over time. Make sure to keep us updated (and yeah, pictures!).

Zen - This was from the inspection two weeks ago. We don't have traveling bee inspectors (as far as I know, anyway) but my H does open our hive and take notes on how things are going once a week. He often takes photos:
http://www.tranquilitysystems.com/gallery/files/1-img_0008.jpg

I thought he had a photo of the queen, but I can't find it online. He may not have uploaded it yet.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Ooooh, wonderful photo!

Shelly, GLC,.....have you guys been stung yet?

My daughter who worked with honeybees at Cornell used to get stung almost daily and told me after a while it was no big deal. :eek:

GLC- how old is your hive? Do you have more than one? Any honey yet?

[short cut sally]

GLC that was a really cool pic...
I am gonna have to get out of the stone ages and buy a digital camera and download pics...Along with that will have to come an education as it's something I've never been exposed to. I've been meaning to since I joined here, but haven't felt the need to.
I am going to check the hives tomorrow. It will be warmer and not so windy. Tomorrow is also the day to see if the packaged bees have released their queen yet..
I refilled the sugar waters last evening. Lifted the lid ever so slightly on the swarm bees and they are still in a ball. Granted it was later afternoon and you're not supposed to "work" them then, but I just peeked. I'm gonna have to call my 2 mentors and see what I should do. I do agree with Lisa they are trying to stay warm, I just wish they would take to the frames (What GLC's pic. is of) that I put in so they can start making their combs for laying. tomorrow when it's warmer they may spread their wings and explore the world then I can fill the rest of the box with the frames that belong in there.
Lisa, I bought a bee suit and heavy wear leather gloves. Was told I will be stung several times. The gentleman that I spent a day with, handled his hives with no gloves, and was constantly going "ouch" but he just flicked his fingers and kept on working. He said he rarely wears gloves unless they are really agressive. He said "you'll get used to the stinging". :eek:
I'll let you know tomorrow about the "queen release"..or the possibility of...

[GLC1968]

I've not been stung, but I keep my distance when the hive is open. I grew up in a 120 year old house that had two massive bee hives encased within the walls on the front of the house. I got stung almost daily in the summer back then, so I'm not too concerned.

My husband is the beekeeper right now and no, he has not been stung yet either. He rarely wears his suit anymore. Usually it's just a long sleeve white tee, khakis and his bee hat. He doesn't even bother with gloves! He's very gentle with our bees and they reward him with similiar behavior. ;)

We've only had our bees for about 6 weeks now. They've filled about 3/4ths of the bottom box and are just starting to fill the frames in the middle box. They definitely seem quite happy there (thank goodness!). We give them sugar water free choice and my H has to fill it every couple of days. We've been questioning the sustainablity of this, but I guess it's pretty necessary as they get established. Once they've filled the hive, they won't need supplemental food because they'll just eat the honey. Right now, they can store all the honey they make and eat the sugar water. We have not harvested any honey and we don't plan to for the first year. Right now, it's all about getting them established. We also have no intention of ever selling any honey, so we can be very careful about how much we remove so that the bees always have plenty left for them.

Apparently, commercial honey growers make more money off the honey than it costs to replace the bees. :mad:


Shelly - definitely be careful not to disturb them too much in the beginning. As much as we like to look, we are being very careful to only open the hive once a week and only when it is reasonably warm out. My H knows a guy who lost all his bees in the first two weeks because he kept checking on their progress and it annoyed the bees. If they don't feel safe, they'll leave!

[Zen]

If my landlord kept peeking in on me I'd move too.

[short cut sally]

GLC, I think they recommend not to look for something like 10 days I read, but I have to open the pkged. brood box tomorrow to make sure the queen is out..per the bee seller. And I agree, we were told we should supplement their feedings all summer and winter too. As they are new and need all the help they can get in the first year. They make these big flat sugar blocks you can give over the winter, I might consider those. Like you, I too, don't plan on any honey this year. I am ready with the smaller honey supers and frames just in case, but not really expecting it. I don't plan on selling it unless I get a surpluss of honey, then it will be given away..maybe something like that x-mas fruit cake...:D
When we got the swarm, Chuck, said to leave the 2nd box on top and he set the almost full swarm container on top of the frames in the bottom brood box. They didn't want to leave that little box for nothing. DH the next day had no idea he was to remove the top box and put the lid on the bottom box. So that is where I've run into my mess. I was at work when he did this. (He's like a kid, can't leave anything alone). I ended up taking a few frames out of the bottom brood and setting the lid full of bees into the bottom brood where they belong. Hopefully they will figure out what to do. And I can put back the frames. Time will tell.
We just took a load of stone out to put down on the filter fabric. The pkged. bees were busy all over the hive. The swarm was so-so. After they settle in a little bit we are going to spread the stone. We wanted the stone before the bees arrived but it didn't work out that way.

[GLC1968]

That swarm thing sounds so cool. Do they look like the same type of bees as the ones you purchased?

We've noticed that our bees are kind of like our chickens in that when the sun goes low in the sky, they go inside. Maybe you could watch for a pattern like that in order to lay the rock? It's been unseasonably warm here for the past few days, so ours have been really active. The first time it was warm, we saw huge swarms around the front entrance. My H called our local bee guy to ask if that was ok and he said yes. That it was the bees' idea of 'hanging out on the front porch" on a hot day! I guess it gets warm in that hive, so they have to come out to cool off.

We put our hive in the center of our tiny orchard. It is surrounded by apple and pear trees that will give it shade from the midday summer sun, but it does sit on cinder blocks in the grass (that we leveled). So far, we've just been mowing around the hive with the lawn mower and the bees don't seem to mind at all. I think your idea of rock on weed cloth is a good one, though. I wish we'd thought ahead and done something like that. As it is, we spent weeks arguing about where the hive should go! I'm amazed we settled on a place in time for their arrival!

[OakLeaf]

Apparently, commercial honey growers make more money off the honey than it costs to replace the bees. :mad:

Really? I only know what I've read, but I'd understood that honey is a break-even proposition at best, and commercial apiarists make their money by renting the hives to farmers who need them for pollination? That one of the many stresses on bees that they're thinking contributes to CCD, is the hives getting moved all over the place all the time?

[GLC1968]

Really? I only know what I've read, but I'd understood that honey is a break-even proposition at best, and commercial apiarists make their money by renting the hives to farmers who need them for pollination? That one of the many stresses on bees that they're thinking contributes to CCD, is the hives getting moved all over the place all the time?

Yes, that's true...I've read that as well (about moving the hives).

Maybe it's not that they actually make more money on the honey, but that it's just more cost efficient to risk letting the bees die each winter. If a beekeeper doesn't get greedy for honey, a bee hive will make enough to last them all winter. The problem is that many commercial keepers take too much, putting too much stress on the hive, figuring that they can just replace the bees when the time comes. Honey is definitely more expensive than bees (but it seems really stupid to me considering how much work goes into establishing a hive). Of course, if you are in it for commercial gains, then you have to figure in costs for distribution, disease control, overpopulation, etc....things a small producer doesn't really need to worry about.

I honestly haven't studied all the economics of it since we didn't get our bees as a money-making venture.

[short cut sally]

LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!!!
Or something like that!:D
I opened my pkged. bees hive yesterday to see if the queen was released from her little cage, and she was. The frame that I removed to get the queen's cage, they were starting to make comb on. They are all over the pollen patties and drinking the syrup water with no problems.
My swarm bees, were still stuck up on the inner lid. I had DH help me and we shook them back into the brood box, and put in the frames that I took out to accomodate their balling issue. COme to find out, they were building comb on the inner lid. We scraped that off and set the lid back on. Hopefully we didn't upset them too much -per GLC's story I'm nervous now. They're using the pollen patty but I don't think they are impressed with it, but they are using just as much syrup water as the pkged. bees are. We got to see the queen. I'm not opening that box again for awhile. What they decide to do in there is gonna have to be. I'm not "remodeling" their hive anymore.
GLC, they are the same bee coloring. The only difference I can see in the 2 hives is the size is the swarm bees all seem to be on the larger size, where the pkgd. bees have differnent sizes of bees, small to average. The pkged. bees do a lot swirling and buzzing around their hive, the swarm has very little activity compared to the other. They I think are on a mission, know what to do and just do it. They are in and out of that hive in a flash. They don't hang out, nothing. That 's why I thought something was wrong with them because they didn't seem that active. They were just darn effecient at what they do.
I'll update after the weekend. I work every Fri, sat, and Sun. With Mon. being the holiday, we have picnics to go to, so it may not be until then. I'll let you know if I still have tenants in the swarm hive.

[short cut sally]

Well, I've had an interesting week with my bees. I observed the swarm box a few days after I shook them off the cover and into the hive. The entrance had a decrease in activity, but still had activity. So, curiosity got the best of me, as the sugar water just wasn't being consumed. Sure enough, the swarm left, but didnt' take all of the crowd with them. They left enough behind to fill a family sized mayo jar. They were building comb, even though they were very small in number. Tried to find a queen, couldn't. My bee mentor, Don, said I could marry the weak hive to the pkg. hive as they won't do anything in that hive without a queen. They will die. So, I went to gather the newspaper as the books and Don said, to put the hives on top of each other, and when the bees chewed thru, they would be accustomed to each smell and no fighting would occur. I was prepared to do this, until the paper I had, wasn't large enough for the hive...so now I am left to figure out where to find larger newspaper to put in place.
I had to go the bee store to get a few more things, so I inquired there about what to do. He said just let them be, make a learning experience out of the handful of bees that are in there. They may be waiting for a queen to come back if they are continuing to build comb.
Both Don and the bee place said that swarms are so funny. Usually swarms are formed when a new queen emerges in the colony, and the old queen will leave and take half the colony with her. They also will swarm when there are several "virgin" queens and they take flight, or fresh young mated queens will also take colony with them. Both agree that swarms are not stable things.
So, I opted to wait another week, see what goes on in that swarm hive. As of this weekend, maybe 100 bees might have been mingling around. There was no hopes of a queen coming back.
At work, a friend asked me what a swarm of bees looks like as they believed they had a swarm in their tree. Sure enough, they did. They agreed not to kill it until I got their this morning, but it had to be gone bright and early. I got up, took a giant pillow case, and came home with a new swarm of bees.
I decided, seeing as how there was nothing going on in the swarm hive, they were about to get some new company. Per the honey bee place, I sprayed some floral room deodorizer in the air to mask any smells, sprayed in the walls of the hive and around the pillowcase. I then took out a few frames, removed the branch and proceded to shake the branch off while DH shook out the pillowcase which is covered with klinging bees. The air became filled with bees. I bet there was a good 3#s of bees, in this swarm, if not more. They swirled and swirled. IT was really amazing, it would've been terrifying if we weren't in our protective gear though. Immediately some took to the pollen patties and I filled the sugar water feeder half full-as that's all I had pre-made. Covered up the hive and left.
I went back up tonight as I wanted to get the aerosol can I forgot to pick up, and the sugar water was gone. So I came back, made up some and went back to fill it up. There was maybe 25-40 dead bees on the ground at the entrance area. Not sure if they were dead ones from the swarm that got injured or if they were what didn't make it during the "merger".
I have to check my pkg. bees and see what they are doing. It's time this week to pull a few frames and see the progress. They have had constant entrance activity, all coming and going. I probably should've done that before putting the swarm in the hive, but I didn't want to keep the swarm in the case too long. I had to travel almost an hour to get them, and Don wasn't home to help walk me thru, his wife promised he would be right back to call me. I waited 2 hours then opted to do it before the bees became too overheated in the case.
I will give updates on both hives next week or so. I go to my 2nd honey bee association meeting next week. I might make PB cookies..or rhubarb custard pie to take. OR I might just make and forget to take..:D
Oh, I had to send in my papers to register my bees as mentioned previously, and I received my "yard" numbers. I have to make a sign to hang the hive (house) numbers on. I asked our tax assessors DH that if they are assigned a house number, does that mean I have to pay taxes on their establishment too? He looked very dumbfounded..then took a minute to realize I was joking with him.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Shelly, what a fabulous tale!!
I am so impressed that you went and nabbed a whole swarm of bees in a pillowcase and drove them home in your car! :eek: :eek: Stunning move.

[Zen]

This is an exciting story.

And i want that pie recipe:D. I don't even cook but loooove rhubarb, pie and custard. All three together...I swoon at the thought.

[GLC1968]

Holy amazing story, batman!

I hope your new hive makes themselves right at home. :)

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I hope your new hive makes themselves right at home. :)

And there's always the possibility that the 'new swarm' is really the 'old swarm that left her hive a day or two before those poeple told her there was a wild swarm in their tree. Could be you went and kidnapped your same bees back! :D :rolleyes:

[short cut sally]

I was very proud of myself for getting that swarm, of course, early in the morn, it was cool and they were huddled so it made it a lot less terrifying for me, and my friend was there to hand me the branch cutters once I got the case around the branch. The impressive part was putting them in the hive, the swirling of bees was just amazing..My friend couldn't believe they were going to be right behind me in the back seat..he was going to listen to the scanner to see if any crazy lady got into an accident with a bag full of bees inside her vehicle..;)
And Zen (and everyone else) here's the recipe for Rhubarb custard pie
1 1/2 cups milk
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 Tblsp. flour
pinch salt
2 cups of rhubarb cut up to smaller size(like celery for a sandwich)
Beat eggs, then add milk and sugar. Mix flour and salt and add to wet mixture then add rhubarb. Put mixture into a 9" unbaked pie shell, you might want to cover the pie edges only with foil, bake for a good hour at 350 or until knife comes out clean.
I usually go over the hour to bake, hence the foil around the pie edges. I have never used foil tins to bake in, only glass so this is based on that.
This recipe is not low fat, but man is it ever so hard to resist. Keep refrigerated after baking too..ENJOY...

[Zen]

That sounds easy enough, thanks!

OOOH! Check this out-
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/odd_bees_on_a_plane

I am thinking of Samuel L. Jackson ..."I'm tired of these m.....f......bees on this plane!"

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

The Path to Freedom website/blog has some nice bee raising photos:
http://urbanhomestead.org/journal/2009/06/04/hive-maintenance/
Plus you can search their blog for all bee-related posts there. :)
Urban bees!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I'd like an update on this thread from those of you with bees. How have your hives been doing this year?

I have decided to start two hives this next coming Spring. I've been visiting a couple of local people with hives to get the 'feel' of things, also doing a lot of reading. :)

[short cut sally]

Well, I have 2 hives, the swarm and the boughten bees (pkg. bees) and my pkg. bees are not gonna do well this winter i believe. I put their 2nd brood box on in June, that means this is their 2nd story of their home for raising brood, and storing some food for winter. I just took off the brood box because they never filled it. They put only one of 10 frames to use, by filling it with honey. I took that out, and swapped it with a frame in their first story that wasn't full. I checked and the queen is still there, I don't think she's a good laying queen.

My swarm bees are shy 1 frame in their 2nd story of filling. I was told to put the honey supers on this hive and they will give honey. I told people I don't want honey this year, but they insisted. I took that off this week as it's been on 3 weeks and they haven't even thought about filling it out with comb. they have no intention of using it so no use keeping it on.

I also have my dad's hive which was another swarm that I traveled to get. They came in June, during a rain storm and bees hate rain and they were not pleased when I tried to corral them into my bag. I've been babysitting them but in a different location on our property as my dad was going to get his yard ready for them. Well, my dad changed his mind on where he was going to put them. They have bears (not as pets:D) and he was going to put his hive in a shed up on a shelf. Good idea, poor working conditions for the person working the hive--me. So he liked the idea of the fence and was going to get it done. A couple of weeks ago, we were just going to take the hive up to his house in hopes it would encourage him to get it built. That came to a halt when there was 3 baby cubs on their back steps one night. So, his bee's went into my yard as rumor has it that there was a bear up on our hill. His bee's were miserable the night I went to get them, and they still are. They come after me when I mow or do any trimming. So I have to wear the suit just to mow in that area. I was a good 75 foot away and they came after me on the mower.

So what I'm going to do, is combine my pkg. bees and my dad's bees together. I will kill the queen from the pkg. bees and combine the hives. The hives have to be seperated by a piece of paper, they will chew thru the paper and once they meet their smells will be intermingled and shouldn't be a problem. OK, that's what I've read and have been told. I went to do this today but man, I didn't think I had enough strength to lift the pkg. body to make a 3rd story. They sit on stacked bricks so it makes it a little higher off the ground. Or I would've done it myself, as I wanted to get it done now instead of later. DH won't be home til late, and I work the next 3 days so it will be next week before I can get to it, or hound him to do it I should say. I didn't want to kill the queen and then have him not get around for days to combine them, as there would be disrupt in the hive. Not that there's much to disrupt in this hive, but I do want to keep what's there.

Lisa, I'm glad to hear that you're interested in doing bee's. I go to our county bee meeting, held once a month. It's a majority of older men, but they have some great stories and ideas. I had to ask how to keep ants off the inner cover of my one hive, the bees keep them from entering inside but they still were all over the inner cover. They had ideas, but once the meeting was over, we have social hour-coffee and snacks provided by some of the wives and myself, they all come up and tell you their method and how their method is better. I have a lot of fun there. They have a library collection that you can sign stuff out and return. Mind you, it's all stored in an old suitcase but still does the job. The last meeting we had a guest speaker from Cornell come and give advice on how to winter over your hives and how to control the pests that are killing the bees.

I have learned so much since starting this little venture of beekeeping. I had no idea that I had estimated 200.00 would get me going on several hives when in fact, 200.00 gets me one complete hive if I'm lucky. By the time I bought the fencing, solar fencer (I wouldn't use anything but solar. some members use car batteries and they have to charge them every 2-3 months), I bought 3 complete hives (2 stories each for family rearing and 1 honey super for each, all the covers, boards etc). It all added up to way more than what I had expected. I was in sticker shock to say the least. But as the credit card commercial goes, they give all the prices and the reward at the end is priceless. And that is what I feel this little venture is. Priceless. I have learned so much about this little creature. One bee does so many things in its 6 week life, from being a nurse bee to housekeeper, to guard bee to a forrager of pollen and nectar until she dies. It's all done on instinct. They are so facinating. I sit and watch them come and go, and there little legs are loaded with pollens.

One of the guys from the bee club is going to let me know when he starts collecting honey and I'm going to go with him, see how it's done, and how to spin it and all the other stuff involved. That way for next year, I'll have a clue.
I also met our local bee inspector at the last meeting, apparently there is an inspector shortage. He's doing more than just our county. He's been inspecting hives that are going out of the state to other states for pollenating and honey collecting. He said that's a big business.

So that's how my bees are doing. I went and spent 2 days this summer at our county fair. The bee club set up an observation hive, and they needed persons to sit and talk about bees when people passed thru. That was fun. I made construction paper bees and put bee facts on their wings, and hung them up for extra reading. I hoped someone saved them, as I would like to laminate them and reuse them.
GLC- the torch is passed to you for your Dh's update:D

[tulip]

Shelly, Thank you! What a wonderful report!

I would love to try bees. I've been told that I'm allergic to bees, but I'm not sure I am. I was stung by a yellowjacket a few weeks ago and aside from freaking me out a bit (I was ready with my epipen), it was like a big, if more painful, mosquito bite. Can one get tested for bee sting allergy without actually seeking out a bee to so the stinging?

[GLC1968]

tulip - I'd bet there is a way to test for it without stinging you (or endangering your life!). I'm sensitive to wasp and hornet stings but bees are no trouble for me. Of course, I haven't been stung yet, so I hope this is still true!

Our bees are doing well. They have filled two big boxes...the bottom with brood, the top with honey. We harvested one frame a couple of months ago and they have since filled it mostly back up, so we think they are good to go for the winter.

Just two days ago, we saw bees (not yellow-jackets) on the rotten pears! I guess that in the absence of pollen, they'll make due with fruit sugar. It makes sense - they eat what they can now so that they can save the stored honey for later. Smart little buggers!

I'm amazed at all the work you have to go through to keep your hive safe, Shelly. We do nothing...ours sits on two cinder blocks smack in the middle of our orchard with no fence or anything. We did construct a big shade cloth for them when our temps were above 100F for a few days in a row. The sun was relentless, so we thought they'd like a little shade. So far though...they seem happy. Next summer we are going to try raising our own meat chickens and the plan is to use the orchard for that. We may have to rethink our hive location but I'm hoping that chickens and bees can live in harmony. We'll see...that's still a ways off.

Oh and the honey was/is delicious!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

So happy to see updates on this thread. :p

I did get to visit one hive locally last week. And I got my first sting!
I was visiting this guy with a hive while on my bike and the bee came zooming out of his hive and crashed into me and got jammed between my bike helmet and my sunglass earpiece and naturally stung my temple. OW-eeeeee!!!!!!! :eek: But hey, I lived, and had no allergic reaction. :D The spot was a bit sore and itchy for 3 days or so, but not too bad after the initial 10 minutes of pain.

I had been stung by a wasp once, but I was glad to get this 'test sting' from a honeybee to make sure I wasn't allergic before I get into this endeavor! :rolleyes:

GLC- can you explain your previous photo of the jars of honey mash with duct tape in your kitchen?

[GLC1968]

Wow, that's weird. That photo of the honey in the jar is not the original photo I posted! Something must be up with our server and the addresses got mixed up, I think. I'll have to let my H know. I'd originally posted a picture of a close-up of the bees on a frame!

Anyway, that jar photo is how we strained our honey. My H cut the comb off the frame, put it in a bowl and chopped it up fairly small and then put it in the half gallon ball jar. Then he put a piece of clean nylon hosiery over the top and flipped it over onto the top of another jar. He attached them with duct tape. Then we left it like that for about 24 hours in a reasonably warm location. The honey drained into the bottom jar and the comb stayed in the top jar. It's a simple way of separating them if you don't have the centrifuge type equipment. :D

You can see a few more photos here:
http://simplemetamorphosis.blogspot.com/search/label/honey

[papaver]

My father used to be a bee keeper, but when mobile phones became popular (and antennas were planted kinda everywhere) the bees just vanished...

[Pax]

Wow, that's weird. That photo of the honey in the jar is not the original photo I posted! Something must be up with our server and the addresses got mixed up, I think. I'll have to let my H know. I'd originally posted a picture of a close-up of the bees on a frame!

Anyway, that jar photo is how we strained our honey. My H cut the comb off the frame, put it in a bowl and chopped it up fairly small and then put it in the half gallon ball jar. Then he put a piece of clean nylon hosiery over the top and flipped it over onto the top of another jar. He attached them with duct tape. Then we left it like that for about 24 hours in a reasonably warm location. The honey drained into the bottom jar and the comb stayed in the top jar. It's a simple way of separating them if you don't have the centrifuge type equipment. :D

You can see a few more photos here:
http://simplemetamorphosis.blogspot.com/search/label/honey

Neat pics GLC!! I'd love to visit our local beekeepers but the only ones I know are affiliated with the university and they're not open to the public.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Well I am now officially a beekeeper. :eek: :)

A neighbor sold her farm that was located in another town, and she had had a bee hive there for several years which she now had no place for, so she said i could have it. It especially pleased her that she would even be able to come visit her old bees down the street in their new home at my place. :)
After much preparation, today a kind young beekeeper helped me and we went through the whole hive getting it ready for winter... and then at dusk he and I trucked it over to my house this evening and now it's all set up in back of my garden. :cool:
Poor bees will wake up tomorrow in a whole new world. :cool:
It was so cool, we found the queen and got to look at Her Majesty!
I'm very lucky- these bees are very healthy, are acclimatized to our zone already, and were extremely gentle when we took apart the whole hive.
I'm very happy and excited! :D

[short cut sally]

WOOO HOOO for you!!!!! COngratulations to you...You will be so amazed next year, they have been so fascinating for me. They truly are amazing little creatures.
I wanted to peak into the hives today, but it's so windy out that I didn't dare to. I wanted to take the inner cover off and put in some crisco/sugar mixture to help with some mite control for over the winter..I don't want to use chemicals or antibiotics like a lot of people do. I want to keep it more natural.
Oh, and in November, somewheres around the 13th, there is a meeting in Syracuse for the Eastern honey bee keepers association. I heard about it last night by another bee keeper. He said he goes as there are lots of speakers and things. It's like 45.00 a day maybe and it's a 2 day event. I didn't get all the facts yet, I was half asleep when he called to tell me...;)

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

WOOO HOOO for you!!!!! COngratulations to you...You will be so amazed next year, they have been so fascinating for me. They truly are amazing little creatures.
I wanted to peak into the hives today, but it's so windy out that I didn't dare to. I wanted to take the inner cover off and put in some crisco/sugar mixture to help with some mite control for over the winter..I don't want to use chemicals or antibiotics like a lot of people do. I want to keep it more natural.
Oh, and in November, somewheres around the 13th, there is a meeting in Syracuse for the Eastern honey bee keepers association. I heard about it last night by another bee keeper. He said he goes as there are lots of speakers and things. It's like 45.00 a day maybe and it's a 2 day event. I didn't get all the facts yet, I was half asleep when he called to tell me...;)

Thanks Shelly...ooops I mean Sally! :)
Here are more details and pictures of my new/old hive, now in place in back of my garden!: HERE (http://strumelia.blogspot.com/2009/10/young-beekeeper-met-me-at-hive-that-i.html).

Yes, it is nasty bee weather here too today. I wanted to give them some syrup but it's windy and cloudy and chilly. Will maybe try tomorrow if no wind.
'The girls' are not venturing out much today anyway...too cold and windy and of course they are completely disoriented at this point too. :( Still, there are a few dozen brave souls going in and out, yet a dozen or so have died this morning on the ground around the hive- too chilled and couldn't find their way back in again I suppose. :( Good thing there are several thousand to spare. :cool:

I am still amazed at how gentle they all were when we were pulling the whole hive apart frame by frame yesterday. Very impressive and endearing.

Have you looked into the Honey-B-Healthy supplement to add to sugar syrup feedings? It contains natural stuff like lemongrass oil and spearmint oil, no nasty chemicals, and I've heard bees seem to thrive on it and the varroa mites detest it and their numbers tend to decline when bees are fed with it.
I've read that the grease/crisco cakes are good for tracheal mites but do little to combat varroa mites.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Photos I took of my girls today while I was doing hive chores :p ...
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2749/4106234381_6f4e52a924_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2676/4106230737_b29e7f099c_o.jpg

[tctrek]

Those are amazing pics of your girls! Fascinating.

[short cut sally]

Hey Bleeker, your girls look happy and healthy!!!
I've been feeding mine the sugar water solution. I have to find out about the Honey B supplement to add, it's getting too late for it this year, next year though. I did know that the verroa don't like menthal smells, so this fall I had put in the hives, an all natural product that was like a bag balm consistency and had a menthol smell and was used as a verroa mite deterrant and "bee calmer". But that was a little on the pricey side, like 18.00 a bag and one bag per hive:eek:..I didn't follow recommendations on that..:cool:. (I divided it up )
Other than that, it's hope for the best. I'm hoping for one more good day so I can check them out again, to see if they've made any honey with all that sugar they've been consuming or hopefully not used what little they did make to store. I'm just afraid that they aren't gonna make it:(. I don't want to start all over next year. All I wanted to do was get one more swarm to add to the bunch not get 3 swarms to get going again...Time will tell...
Enjoy

[GLC1968]

yet a dozen or so have died this morning on the ground around the hive-

Chances are - those dead bees were already dead when you set up the hive. Bees often do 'house cleanning' - particularly when it starts to get cold. They move all the dead bees out of the hive before they get it all set up for winter. It's extremely common to find small piles of dead bees outside the hive entrance as the temps start to drop.

Those are some beautiful photos!


My H and I attended two classes at our local bee suppliers location this past weekend. We took a soap making class in the AM and then a candle making one in the PM. Man...that beeswax is some handy stuff, isn't it? I'm really looking forward to 'harvesting' some next year. My H can have the honey...I want the wax! ;) This year, we took only one frame of honey and we are not feeding our bees this winter. They did very, very well this year and really built up a beautiful supply. If all goes well, we'll buy/build a second hive in the spring. :)

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Yes, if this hive comes out of winter strongly, I want to split it into two hives as well. These bees I got are very healthy and gentle, and well acclimatized to this area already. :)
I have plenty of new boxes ready to add in the Spring. I'll be putting together about 50 new frames this winter so I'll have enough for new deeps and supers for two hives. They are wintering now in their two old deeps in order to minimize disruption for them.
I too worry that they will die over the winter! It's irrational but I can't help it. :o I'm like a worried mother hen.

[short cut sally]

OK Bleeker, how are your girls doing? I know that it's been sunny the past few weeks so I'm posting this to get an update on your hive. I'm interested in GLC's hubby's bees too..
I went into winter with 3 hives in my pen (1 of my dad's and 2 mine) and the Pkgd. bees didn't make it. They never went beyond one brood box, even though they had capped honey, they were sorta soppy in a clump when I scoped them out a couple of days ago. The 2 swarms made it with no problem. They had some capped honey left, so I took the empty frames out and replaced them with the capped honey from the pkgd hive. I left he empty hive open so there has been great robbing going on in it, I'm assuming or hoping it's by my bees.
I shimmed open the cover on all my hives in December with a piece of luann board as to allow more air to circulate (per a suggestion from a keeper in the area, and I never reduced my entrance). I'm not sure that's what kept them going or not, but there was no mold or anything, but still not sure about the pkgd. bees, they were simply not a good batch.
I'm going to order some "nuc" bees here as soon as I can find a ladies number that belongs in our local bee club.
Just was wondering how everyone's girls made out...I know spring's not here yet, and maybe jumping the gun on getting my hope's up for the bee's, but just couldn't help myself to see how they made out.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Hi Sally/Shelly....

Sadly, my one hive did not make it through the winter. :( :( :(

Around December 3, I found the queen dead outside the hive in front of it.
I'll never know what happened, since there has been no sign of disease of any kind, not excessive mites. No indication of CCD either.
Apparently after the queen's death, the hive slowly dwindled and was not able to raise brood to replace the older workers.
Last week I finally disassembled the hive and still could not find any clues as to what went wrong (aside from, obviously, the queen's death). I am forging ahead after my winter mourning period.

Many pounds of wonderful honey and pollen remained stored up and untouched in the frames of the two deeps, so i took that out and wrapped and stored it in my basement so it wouldn't get robbed.
I had the good sense to order two new packages back in January, so I'll have two new colonies to start up the first week of May. :o I also have an excellent local source of non-treated mite-resistant queens near me, so I'll likely split or do some requeening during the summer. My goal is to have 3 or 4 vigorous hives going into next fall. The odds are not so favorable for winter when you only have one hive. :cool:

I have also set up a swarm lure box for the year to do a little feral bee 'fishing'- you never know! Took an old wreck of a deep and baited it with old brood comb frames and lemongrass oil. There are honeybees from *somewhere* checking it out already for the past couple of days, going in and out and and cleaning out any remaining grains of sugar and old honey residue. With some luck I will catch a swarm eventually.

Meanwhile, I've been putting up nesting boxes for the little native bee pollinators too, our local wild blue orchard mason bees:
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showpost.php?p=498359&postcount=381
So it looks like there will indeed be bees flying here this summer, one way or another. :)

[BeeLady]

Well, I know my two hives made it through the winter. For the first time in two years we have lots of wildflowers and I think we just had our last frost yesterday so the mesquite should be blooming soon. Love that mesquite honey!

I didn't feed all winter but instead left the fall honey on my hives. This far south we can usually harvest twice a year, but I didn't want to be feeding all winter so followed my natural beekeeper book and left honey on.

I believe one of my hives is Africanized. It was pretty testy last summer and fall. Its lid blew off and I veiled up to replace it this morning. Only one bee came after me and didn't even bounce off the veil, so far so good. I haven't requeened this hive so I have to assume that it is Africanized.

I've had my bees for five or six years; have had enough honey to make it through each year but not much for friends/family during our two-year drought. Am SOOOOOOO glad we've had a wet spring; hopefully the rain will give us a brief reprieve and not knock the blooms off until the bees are ready for the next phase.

[short cut sally]

Sorry to hear about your bee's Bleeker. I wonder if she reached her prime, wasn't laying anymore, but would think they would;ve managed to requeen themselves. That's an interesting process in itself. BUT you do have a jump on this year though. I figure if I leave my empty hive open, it will be robbed/cleaned and ready for the next colony to get their feet planted, as like you said, I'm hoping a colony will move in so I don't have to fill it myself. My goal, to have 5 hives, including my dad's single hive. My DH gives the approval too, he's gotta extend my fence and lay more filter fabric and get the stones. He has just as much fun telling about my bees as I do. I could work with the space right now, but it would be cramped and not allow any space between the hives, and would reduce my working range.
I talked to a local bee keeper today, he was set up selling his honey and hoeny cream at a local maple festival. I've never had honey cream, and let me tell you, I grew up on maple cream and this was just as delicious as that. I bought several tubs from him. Yeah, it was that good. Anyways, he went into winter with 12 hives, lost only 1. Another customer was there talking, he went into winter with 3 swarms and didn't lose any, which he said was his first time in years at not losing any. He used to have 15 at one time he said but lost them over the winters. They were all happy as there wasn't much honey made this past year due to all the rain.
Bleeker, I did read about your mason bee boxes. In fact, I had never heard of these, so after reading your little blog about them, I researched. Intersting. Here I thought they were some sort of deformed flying ant or something when I saw them. I had no idea. I asked Dad about them, he'd never heard of them either. So I plan on doing up some boxes and putting them around. So thank you for the information! There is so much more to this site than biking, it's all well rounded bunch of useful information! :)

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Hi Sally,
When my queen died in beginning of December, replacing her wouldn't have worked anyway because there were no drones for the entire winter approaching, and I'm told a virgin queen can't overwinter 5 months and then successfully make it into May and still be able to go on a mating flight. Plus, by that time all the workers would have long since died of old age and the virgin queen could not have replaced them. It was doomed when my queen died. My only hoope during the winter was that there was a second queen in the hive, but apparently not.

I'm SO glad you've become interested in our native solitary bees. :)
I recently added a few more cool links to sites about them on my blog post:
http://strumelia.blogspot.com/2010/03/springs-almost-here.html
Be sure to explore the German site with all its gorgeous photos of creative 'art' bee houses over in Europe.

[short cut sally]

Bleeker, i was making dinner after I wrote that about the hive making a new queen, I thought to myself, "you (meaning me) idiot"...I KNEW there was no way a new queen would get mated in December, the drones are long booted out and on the verge of dying, and where and how is a new queen going to mate? That was silly talk on my end..sorry.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

This morning I got to watch the hatching of two of my solitary blue orchard mason bees from their cocoons. :p Miraculously I got a couple of good photos of the event:
http://strumelia.blogspot.com/2010/04/my-mason-bees-are-hatching.html

[Zen]

Wow.

I was thinking of you and your bees today. There was a good show on Science Friday today all about bees and beekeeping.
http://www.sciencefriday.com/program/archives/201004024

[OakLeaf]

Oh, how exciting!

[short cut sally]

With the past few days being unusually warm and sunny, I decided to investigate the hives.
I got into my dad's hive first, I had to go back and get the smoker, they were a little on the irritated side to say the least. The top brood/honey storage box, was getting filled with pollen, and liquid gold, it was heavy and also filled with bees. The bottom brood box, was full of active bees. I found the queen. She's still healthy, lots of eggs and larvea filled the comb. They were so active it was amazing. They are really consuming the pollen patty and block of sugar that I put on the top of the hive frames.
I lifted the lid off of my hive, and noticed that they were all active on top. I didn't remove any frames, but I lifted the top box off and in the bottom box, there were empty frames, a few straggling bees here and there but no activity what-so-ever, but the bottom board was full of dead bees (I already cleaned them out once). I thought, not good. I've noticed they only are flying in and out from the top vent hole in the inner cover, and not using the entrance. So, my time frame didn't allow me to pull apart the top box of frames to see what they were doing or should I say, how poorly they might be doing. I was hoping as today was going to be nice and warm again, that I would be able to investigate my hive better, but it's so windy out that I'm not going to take any chances. Only time will tell. And here I thought for sure, they were gonna make it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they hang in there. They are all over the sugar block, but not really using it, but they are using the pollen patty.
Oh well, I keep everyone posted!

[short cut sally]

Well, I got to take the hive apart and do an inspection. There appeared to be lots of bees when I took the cover off, however, they were just at the top. There is only a handful left, and there is no queen. I looked twice thinking maybe I just missed her, nope, no queen. So they are doomed, if I had noticed sooner I would've been able to introduce a queen and maybe make things work. With it being the holiday weekend, and my work schedule, it would probably be too late by mid week to get a queen. I will have to make a phone call to see. It might be a pointless venture with so few bees to work with. Time will tell. Enjoy the day.

[tulip]

Sally, so sorry to hear about your hive! I'm glad your dad's is thriving. What can you do if it's too late to introduce a queen?

Lisa, your Mason Bees are really cool. I would love to keep bees, but I'm not sure that I can keep honeybees, as I was very allergic to the stings when I was younger. I keep an epipen with me, but i haven't been stung in decades, so I don't know if I still am allergic. Sometimes kids outgrow it, I've heard.

But I could keep Mason Bees (or at least provide them with tubes)!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

But I could keep Mason Bees (or at least provide them with tubes)!

Exactly. And you could feel good about helping our native bees.

Sally, I would take those leftover bees and do a 'newspaper combine' to put them in your healthy hive rather than just let them die off.
If you can get your good hive built up enough, you could just do a split.

[short cut sally]

Bleeker, I thought about doing the paper split to combine the dwindling hive, my husband did too. I should've done the paper split last week, to be honest, but then I thought, what if they were diseased by something, and I introduced something into the strong hive. Then I would be really upset. It was a 50/50 thing I debated about. They looked healthy but I'm a newbie at bees and maybe I'm missing something that I hadn't been exposed to yet. ( I did a couple of hive days last year with an experienced bee keeper who showed me different things but that was last year, and my memory goes empty at times like my cats food dish after he's been sleeping all day:o). The total bees last week might have covered one side of a frame, if that...it was a gamble, and still is a gamble.. I'll update when I go and visit the hive..thanks for the concerns everyone!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

My two new honeybee colonies arrived and I installed them into their two new hives yesterday. Very exciting! All went well, totally gentle bees and can't wait to see them fly today...supposed to hit 74F and sunny! Woo-HOOOOO!!!!
:D YES!!!!

[short cut sally]

Oh Bleeker, you will so enjoy them. I know I have.
To update on my hive that was essentially doomed. There is a shining star looking out for them yet. I see today that there are larvea in small to large stages, so I'm thinking maybe they made a queen. I inspected today and even though I didn't see one, there must be one. They had some spunk today too. It was too bad I used all my cornhusks and peanut shells for the smoker for my dad's bees. I'll know next time to take all the stuff in the bee yard with me instead of leaving it behind. My dad's bees are going great guns, I think I'll be adding another hive body on next week or so..they are like everywhere..

[crazycanuck]

Saw this on today & thought the bee folks might like it

http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8682000/8682842.stm

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Here's a video i took of my new bee hives a few days ago:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN8DA_F6hUw
it was a pretty buzy day. :)

[crazycanuck]

Just another reason to be a small bee hive keeper...
http://www.news.com.au/world/one-person-dead-as-truck-carrying-17-million-bees-crashes/story-e6frfkyi-1225871170288

:eek:

[OakLeaf]

Wow. :(:(

Bee peeps, how likely is it that these bees will survive?

I still have not seen a single honeybee since we've been back in Ohio. Seven weeks now.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Just another reason to be a small bee hive keeper...
http://www.news.com.au/world/one-person-dead-as-truck-carrying-17-million-bees-crashes/story-e6frfkyi-1225871170288
:eek:

I've seen this story in several versions already.
When you see the various photos, there are obviously not 7000 bee hives on that truck. The bee owner said it was 800 single hives (that number jives better with the photos), and of those only 150 hives either fell off the truck or were jarred open. Bee-wise, it's lucky the bee truck did not tip over. Yes that's a lot of bees escaping, but 4/5 of the hives on the truck were not damaged or cracked opened. Beekeeper workers transferred the undamaged hives onto a new truck and got them out of there.
The one person killed and other people injured were in vehicles that collided with the truck. One car was very badly crushed, it's a wonder more people weren't killed or seriously hurt. Very sad.

Some of the 150 or so crashed hives might have been salvageable, at least in parts. The beekeeper could probably re-use some of the frames and boxes, and might even have been able to transfer some frames full of bees or brood that were on the ground into empty boxes and transport them away from the crash site. Once the hives are removed from the highway area any remaining flying disoriented bees will disperse and probably die off.

[mudmucker]

Well, it's close to 9 months since the last bee posting. It's March now and time to think about bees. I make mead and locally good honey can get expensive when you need 6 to 12 lbs per batch. So I said, well, let's do my own bees! I've decided to build my own top bar hive and take the more natural beekeeping route. There are many obvious reasons why I've decided to go this way over the conventional vertical hives, which I won't get into here. I've ordered my bees from a local apiary and am awaiting the call in April. This was fun to build and extremely inexpensive.

See here for more pictures and narrative https://picasaweb.google.com/103731528026043392922/Bees#

Building the hive
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_ghv7T6ztD3g/TWhH7RHys4I/AAAAAAAACS4/fDh4erlGtgE/s400/DSC02205.JPG

Making a top bar
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_ghv7T6ztD3g/TXPHYOTJBeI/AAAAAAAACj8/_SYIDUpKsJI/s400/DSC02274.JPG

Nearly completed
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_ghv7T6ztD3g/TXPHg0n5GkI/AAAAAAAACkU/d7tHj80PD6A/s400/DSC02283.JPG

Made a roof. Still need to put something protective over it. I think some brown aluminum flashing to keep it very light.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_ghv7T6ztD3g/TXGDIJMyYsI/AAAAAAAAChI/ffL1wlDEIXw/s400/DSC02259.JPG

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Mudmucker I look forward to hearing about your first bees in April. :)

Of my two hives last year, one died over the winter but the other looks very strong now. they were flying like mad today at 50F and sunny. I have plans to split that one into several small new colonies, for raising my own queens this year. I also have one replacement nuc coming in the mail at end of April.
Hopefully I will get some honey this year one way or another. :rolleyes:

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Well it's autumn, the two hives i started this year with have been multiplied to 3 full size and two small ones. I made some splits using queen cells, good to get experience in propagating new hives on your own. Getting winter preparations made slowly now- top insulation, tarpaper, mouse guards. With any luck I will have 2 or 3 surviving hives next Spring.
I actually got my first small honey harvest a couple weeks ago- wound up with about a gallon of very yummy beautiful honey.
some photos:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ewENUPIq-TA/TpSBgCl-46I/AAAAAAAADaE/VtpkPhnEeQc/s400/DSC07319.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-81kNz9xJWQ0/TpSBfVF_9jI/AAAAAAAADZ8/_R8xFIP5Sgc/s400/DSC07324.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UGQ7N-NJlaE/TpSBLguR3uI/AAAAAAAADZA/KnESClZ6g_M/s400/DSC07362.jpg

and some nice wax...
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iwjXydsHDMU/TpSBK_nnB8I/AAAAAAAADYg/imriuHcpmUs/s400/DSC07373.jpg

[spokewench]

[QUOTE=BleeckerSt_Girl;607444]Well it's autumn, the two hives i started this year with have been multiplied to 3 full size and two small ones. I made some splits using queen cells, good to get experience in propagating new hives on your own. Getting winter preparations made slowly now- top insulation, tarpaper, mouse guards. With any luck I will have 2 or 3 surviving hives next Spring.
I actually got my first small honey harvest a couple weeks ago- wound up with about a gallon of very yummy beautiful honey.
some photos:

VERY, Very Cool! I just can't see raising bees where I live, but would love to do that some day