Beekeeping

[Rick]

Speaking of getting started, depending on your location it is getting a bit late in my experience.

 

[mtolosa]

Great! You're off to a good start already!

Perhaps you could buy some bees or used equiptment from them.

Another thing about bees - you'll want to get started as close to spring or, hesitantly, early summer as possible. The bees will need time to draw out comb, forage, and for the queen (if you introduce her) to be released and have the first egg emerge as a worker in 21 days.

If you have any more questions, or just want to talk bees with us, please do ask/join us!

OH! And I can't stress the importance of reading, reading, reading. Libraries are a great source for taking a look at hobbies before you jump into them. (I myself checked out 10+ books on beekeeping during the past year.) Once you find a book that you really like, buy it! Then you'll have a bunch of information to help you as you're working your hives and identifying problems.

Sounds perfect! I'll try to spend the next year researching and maybe save up to start next Spring. I'll definately keep in touch!

M

 

[ScienceGirl]

Sounds perfect! I'll try to spend the next year researching and maybe save up to start next Spring. I'll definately keep in touch!

M

You can also talk to the local beekeepers and see if you could go out and help them work their hives during the summer.

 

[jamurfjr]

Checking in. My bees(both colonies) seem to be doing well. I'm up to five stings now; three occurred simultaneously—one just above my right eye.

 

[Rick]

Checking in. My bees(both colonies) seem to be doing well. I'm up to five stings now; three occurred simultaneously—one just above my right eye.

Yeah I got hit in the eye last year just walking through the yard. Bee got caught under my sunglasses. Then I had a time where two bees got into my veil somehow. No stings there but not a good thing. My friend was over taking some macro mantis shots and wanted to get some bee pics. He got stung on the forehead. But lucky him he has zero reaction, I swell bad.

 

[ScienceGirl]

I have a bad reaction, too. When I first got stung to see if I was allergic (wouldn't it be fun to find out you're allergic with a trunkful of angry bees in your car? :clap: ) the back of my hand swelled up largely for a week. When it finally went down, I, happy to again see the bones of my hand, gently traced them. Within the hour, it had begun swelling again. It reached full size and remained this way for a week. (NOT fun when you're traveling with a large ensemble and having to play flute and solos on piccolo with your abnormally large left hand.)

Were you wearing a veil, jamurfjr?

I observed my bees doing a behavior called washboarding in front of the entrance yesterday. It's this cute little dance where they quickly bob forwards, backwards, and side to side in small increments, all while furiously rubbing with their forelegs and mouth. The purpose of washboarding is probably to clean, says my go-to bee book. I enjoyed watching their immense concentration as they scrubbed.

 

[jamurfjr]

I have a bad reaction, too. When I first got stung to see if I was allergic (wouldn't it be fun to find out you're allergic with a trunkful of angry bees in your car? :clap: ) the back of my hand swelled up largely for a week. When it finally went down, I, happy to again see the bones of my hand, gently traced them. Within the hour, it had begun swelling again. It reached full size and remained this way for a week. (NOT fun when you're traveling with a large ensemble and having to play flute and solos on piccolo with your abnormally large left hand.)

Were you wearing a veil, jamurfjr?

I observed my bees doing a behavior called washboarding in front of the entrance yesterday. It's this cute little dance where they quickly bob forwards, backwards, and side to side in small increments, all while furiously rubbing with their forelegs and mouth. The purpose of washboarding is probably to clean, says my go-to bee book. I enjoyed watching their immense concentration as they scrubbed.

Veil...umm no :blush: ...but I have been wearing one ever since. Think I learned my lesson after walking around with what looked like a shiner for a couple of days.

I love to watch them orienting and washboarding. That's part of the problem; I'm always then compelled to take a peek inside and don't feel like "gearing" up.

 

[ScienceGirl]

Veil...umm no :blush: ...but I have been wearing one ever since. Think I learned my lesson after walking around with what looked like a shiner for a couple of days.

I love to watch them orienting and washboarding. That's part of the problem; I'm always then compelled to take a peek inside and don't feel like "gearing" up.

Haha, you sneaky jamurfjr!!! (lol, idk if you've seen the Jimmy Kimmel Halloween candy on youtube... My aunt showed it to me. ) Yes, I love, Love, LOVE watching the girls flit around. While I have yet to decide whether or not I like the smell of curing nectar that greets me whenever I come near the apiary, I do enjoy hearing their buzz of protest when I open the lid. Still, I'm not comfortable opening them without a lid, and keep my distance to two feet from the entrance, at the least.

After supering the new colony, I checked queen-killer hive. . . And found frames of BROOD!!!!!!!! So happy!

 

[jamurfjr]

Haha, you sneaky jamurfjr!!! (lol, idk if you've seen the Jimmy Kimmel Halloween candy on youtube... My aunt showed it to me. ) Yes, I love, Love, LOVE watching the girls flit around. While I have yet to decide whether or not I like the smell of curing nectar that greets me whenever I come near the apiary, I do enjoy hearing their buzz of protest when I open the lid. Still, I'm not comfortable opening them without a lid, and keep my distance to two feet from the entrance, at the least.

After supering the new colony, I checked queen-killer hive. . . And found frames of BROOD!!!!!!!! So happy!

Haven't seen it(Kimmel skit), but will check it out.

Congrats on your brood!

 

[jamurfjr]

Counted and crushed five small hive beetles on the top cover alone. Beetle blasters(traps)on the way!

 

[Rick]

Counted and crushed five small hive beetles on the top cover alone. Beetle blasters(traps)on the way!

The bees in my hives keep the beetles under control without the use of traps. Those traps don't use chemicals so not a big deal I don't think.

Speaking of bees, I need to get into the hives.

 

[ScienceGirl]

The bees in my hives keep the beetles under control without the use of traps. Those traps don't use chemicals so not a big deal I don't think.

Speaking of bees, I need to get into the hives.

Me too. Haven't opened them up in while... One of the hives may have swarmed, but until I open it up, I can't be sure. I used to be able to see masses of bees clustered on the bottoms of the frames (most likely for brood care and comfort...). However, it has stayed around 80-90 degrees F, so another very real possibility is that they aren't needed on the frames for warmth, but must forage and move around to keep the hive cool.

 

[Rick]

Me too. Haven't opened them up in while... One of the hives may have swarmed, but until I open it up, I can't be sure. I used to be able to see masses of bees clustered on the bottoms of the frames (most likely for brood care and comfort...). However, it has stayed around 80-90 degrees F, so another very real possibility is that they aren't needed on the frames for warmth, but must forage and move around to keep the hive cool.

Aren't your hives new? I doubt they would have swarmed already. Mine have been up and running for three years and I haven't had one swarm yet.

 

[ScienceGirl]

Aren't your hives new? I doubt they would have swarmed already. Mine have been up and running for three years and I haven't had one swarm yet.

I bet they've just relocated the bees keeping the frames warm to AC duty.

Hives being new hasn't done anything for me yet. I've lost 2 queens in one colony in the first few months. The newer hive seems to be doing fine, though.

 

[Rick]

I bet they've just relocated the bees keeping the frames warm to AC duty.

Hives being new hasn't done anything for me yet. I've lost 2 queens in one colony in the first few months. The newer hive seems to be doing fine, though.

Not sure what you mean about hives being new not doing anything for you yet. I am still a newbie at this even after three years and have no problem admitting to it. I could easily be wrong about the swarming.

I went into one of my hives today to find a mess from my perspective. Bees built plenty of nice new comb full of new honey but they have cross combed really bad. I broke a few combs trying to inspect. If there is one bad thing about top bar hives that right there is it.

On a lighter note here is a pic. I admit I laughed:

 

[ScienceGirl]

Rick - I meant that being new hasn't guaranteed an easy path without lots of calls to my mentor yet.

Did you know that wax is a valuable by-product? Especially white, fresh wax. When I opened my hive, the comb they built between the frames and top board broke, spilling honey and nectar. I removed this white wax and set it down for them to clean... I just realized I haven't retrieved it yet.

 

[jamurfjr]

Good one, Rick! I laughed too. Reminds me how things work around here.

An observation made today: I never EVER thought I'd be weed eating with a smoker, but this I now do.

 

[Rick]

Rick - I meant that being new hasn't guaranteed an easy path without lots of calls to my mentor yet.

Did you know that wax is a valuable by-product? Especially white, fresh wax. When I opened my hive, the comb they built between the frames and top board broke, spilling honey and nectar. I removed this white wax and set it down for them to clean... I just realized I haven't retrieved it yet.

Yep. I save it and my wife makes hand lotion out of it. I'm just going to wait for all that honey to be capped and then I'm going to remove all of that comb.

jamurfjr, do they give you problems? I mow and weed-eat around mine with no issues. They don't even seem to know the mower is there.

 

[jamurfjr]

Yep. I save it and my wife makes hand lotion out of it. I'm just going to wait for all that honey to be capped and then I'm going to remove all of that comb.

jamurfjr, do they give you problems? I mow and weed-eat around mine with no issues. They don't even seem to know the mower is there.

One hive—the weaker of the two—is particularly testy. There may be other issues going on. Guess I need to take another look inside. I don't have any issues when I mow, because I launch kamikaze runs past the hives at a high rate of speed.

 

[Rick]

One hive—the weaker of the two—is particularly testy. There may be other issues going on. Guess I need to take another look inside. I don't have any issues when I mow, because I launch kamikaze runs past the hives at a high rate of speed.

I do the opposite. I go slow. I've been hit by bees when I move too fast. If I move slow they tend not to run into me. One ran into me and got caught under my sunglasses one day when I was walking fast through the yard. Got stung in the face so I try to avoid that now.