Any beekeepers here?

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Inspecting the queen cage to make sure she is alive:

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Beautiful bees! :wub: I love them and wish that I could keep some.

The guy who just bought the house next door, is complaining that there are too many bees around, and wants to call to see if he can get a hive removed. <_< The hive isn't even on his property. :angry: If he were to keep his weeds cut short enough they wouldn't come around his property anyway, and our front lawn wouldn't have as many unwanted weeds. They are more than welcome in my yard, and love the flowers in the backyard.

There are alot of bees around, and when I go net sweeping I usually have to avoid stepping on them, and also get them in the net by accident. Surprisingly, the bees take no offense and just go about their business after I release them. My daughter and I love those cool bees and if we ever are in a place where we could keep some, it will be on!

I love the shot of the bees flying. :)

 
Beautiful bees! :wub: I love them and wish that I could keep some.

The guy who just bought the house next door, is complaining that there are too many bees around, and wants to call to see if he can get a hive removed. <_< The hive isn't even on his property. :angry: If he were to keep his weeds cut short enough they wouldn't come around his property anyway, and our front lawn wouldn't have as many unwanted weeds. They are more than welcome in my yard, and love the flowers in the backyard.

There are alot of bees around, and when I go net sweeping I usually have to avoid stepping on them, and also get them in the net by accident. Surprisingly, the bees take no offense and just go about their business after I release them. My daughter and I love those cool bees and if we ever are in a place where we could keep some, it will be on!

I love the shot of the bees flying. :)
Thanks. Sadly in the time I have lived here I have seen very few honeybees. Lots of bumbles though. So far the girls are already bringing in pollen.

 
some of these guys on this other forum theearthgarden have convinced me to build mason bee hives this spring, (they are solitary bees making single pkts of honey/eggs they arent usefull for honey harvesting but it has been said they pollinate more flowers than honey bees.

 
Thanks. Sadly in the time I have lived here I have seen very few honeybees. Lots of bumbles though. So far the girls are already bringing in pollen.
I hope that your raising bees will repopulate your area. Don't the queens sometimes make other queens that can go out and make hives of their own? It would be cool if more people could help to solve the population problems that are happening in many areas of the U.S.

 
I hope that your raising bees will repopulate your area. Don't the queens sometimes make other queens that can go out and make hives of their own? It would be cool if more people could help to solve the population problems that are happening in many areas of the U.S.
Yes. It is called a swarm. Half the colony leaves with a queen to go out and find a new home. That is how honeybees spread. Many beekeepers try to prevent swarms but if mine choose to do so someday I will let them. The main point of top bar beekeeping is to make it less stressful on the bees and to be more natural in the way they do things. You get a little honey, wax, and comb out of the deal as well along with pollination.

 
I really expected more interest in something like this with the people here.

Did the first inspection Tuesday mainly to ensure the queen was out of the queen cage. She was not out yet and the candy plug had fallen sideways. I went ahead and released her because they were building comb next to the queen cage and were starting to build it onto the cage itself. One decent sized comb is built along with a smaller one they just started.

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Pretty intense. I kind had the creeps, like one was crawling on me, then I got to the bottom of the page and jumped! The bug on your signature line looked just like a bee!!! :eek:

 
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Pretty intense. I kind had the creeps, like one was crawling on me, then I got to the bottom of the page and jumped! The bug on your signature line looked just like a bee!!! :eek:
Are you afraid of bees? :lol: I would probably be a little nervous my first time messing with a hive. :unsure: Still, I have always wanted to visit one of the man and bee made ones. :D

There is a cool hive in a tree trunk by a restaurant that we frequent, there is a parking place right underneath it. My daughter and I always have to go there and visit the bees before, and after eating. :D We can walk right up to the tree, I think that those bees are used to the human traffic.

 
Most of these bees have been bred to be docile over the years. So far these girls are very calm. I spend time each day just a couple feet away from the entrance watching them work without any gear on. It is interesting watching them bring back pollen to the hive. I haven't been stung yet.

 
Are you afraid of bees? :lol: I would probably be a little nervous my first time messing with a hive. :unsure: Still, I have always wanted to visit one of the man and bee made ones. :D

There is a cool hive in a tree trunk by a restaurant that we frequent, there is a parking place right underneath it. My daughter and I always have to go there and visit the bees before, and after eating. :D We can walk right up to the tree, I think that those bees are used to the human traffic.
Let me just say this: "Things not understood are best viewed from a distance." ;)

Been stung quite a few times (I was asking for trouble when I went running barefoot through fields of clover), and it's quite unpleasant.

 
Most of these bees have been bred to be docile over the years. So far these girls are very calm. I spend time each day just a couple feet away from the entrance watching them work without any gear on. It is interesting watching them bring back pollen to the hive. I haven't been stung yet.
Once you get stung...and keep them. You'r hooked. I'm looking forward to some honey.

Can't keep the bees, but I LOVE the honey
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Once you get stung...and keep them. You'r hooked. I'm looking forward to some honey.

Can't keep the bees, but I LOVE the honey
tongue.gif
No way I would get rid of a colony of bees because I got stung. Getting stung comes with the hobby. I know there are plenty of stings in my future. Just part of the deal I guess.

 
For those interested here are some pics from the last week or so.

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Congratulations on doing so well on yr first try, Rick! When will you start selling honey on the forum? Put me down for a pot! :D

BTW, what does it say on yr shirt? It looks like "All American Engineers Stay Airborne", but that doesn't sound right.

 
+1 on the honey for sale! Maybe the wax, too!

By the way, I wonder if there's a market for frozen, or freeze dried honey bees? Of course, after they've died a natural death at a comfortable, waxy hospice, obbbbbviously.

I see people selling crickets that way, and I know from experience that I can get my large mantids to eat frozen flies via tweezers. I'd rather feed them frozen bees than frozen crickets.

 
BTW, I have officially been thinking like/about my bugs for too long. I looked at those bees in the pictures and my first reactionj was "Those look tasty". That's seriously messed up.

 
Bees are cute :D My neighbors keep honey bees and the honey is sooo much better than store bought. Honey is delicious any way you can get it but when it's fresh and unpasturized it just tastes so much better! :D

Best of luck to you and your girls ;)

 
Wow Rick, this is really interesting. This looks like something i'd be interested in getting into in a few years when i get my own house. Keep up the photos :)

 

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