|
I put my excluder and my first honey super on a few days ago. The bees seem to be doing well, very happy and busy, but the weather here has been suboptimal and I blame that for the lack of comb drawn out on my frames. I need newer pictures...I'll try to get some early next week.
|
#
?
Jun 12, 2009 03:31
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 25, 2024 19:58 |
|
|
Hey Touchy, sorry, lost track of the thread. Yes, the bee lady is in Utah, up in Logan working out of USU.
|
|
#
?
Jun 12, 2009 16:17
|
|
|
I started bee-keeping this year. Its been quite a steep learning curve I have found. Was quite interesting to see little subtle differance in US beekeeping compared to UK beekeeping. I just wanted to ask, since people keep asking me about varoa and CCD, how bad are you guys finding the problem there? Here in the UK I've asked quite a few beekeepers about their experience with it. I found that here they seem to be more worried than anything else. As in the actual instances of CCD seems to be not so high as everyone has been making out. I don't know, maybe the problem isn't so bad in this area.
|
|
#
?
Jun 17, 2009 17:28
|
|
|
Are you guys still feeding the bees tons of syrup? I swear to God I go through 10 lbs of sugar a week. It's costing me a fortune. Is this normal?
|
|
#
?
Jun 17, 2009 17:46
|
|
|
I stopped feeding them after about 10 days. They could probably use the help, but as you said, they're pretty drat voracious.
|
|
#
?
Jun 17, 2009 18:17
|
|
|
TouchyMcFeely posted:I ran across something interesting regarding cell sizes. Some folks are claiming that wild bees build much smaller cells than the typical size found on pressed foundation. The argument is that the larger sized cells result in larger bees but it also promotes mite infestation. I built a kenya top bar hive based on bush farms plans last month. It cost around $25 and since it uses top bars, the bees must build their own comb. This approach is not going to maximize honey production but it is more natural. So far I have my new hive baited, and we are hoping somebody finds a swarm soon (we would like local wild bees if possible). So basically I have no experience with top bar hives except for building them. Get on youtube and search for conrad berube, he works top bar hives with africanized bees very calmly (disclaimer: wear your gear with africanized bees!). Our langstroth hive in salt lake city is doing really great. I never wear any equipment working the hive and I have not been stung yet. We have minnesota hygienic bees which are bred to kill foul brood before the mites can get started up in the hive. About kids and bees? I have kids and bees, no major issues yet. My 1.5yr old was stung before we installed our bees and she is more cautious since, she had to pinch it to death to make it sting her.
|
|
#
?
Jun 17, 2009 19:34
|
|
|
Socratic Moron posted:On my land there is a hive of bees that lives under a mattress. How viable is it for me to build or buy some bee boxes like I see under orchards and get them to move into the new home? How DO you entice bees to move? My wife is currently scheming on how to get out there and work with those very bees using home built beehives-I showed her your hawaii thread last night. Not sure how she's going to pull that trip off yet. If you want plans to make your own hives for cheap: http://www.bushfarms.com/beestopbarhives.htm
|
|
#
?
Jun 17, 2009 19:58
|
|
|
CuddleChunks posted:Get them together and release an album apparently: hahaha that's hilarious. those aren't even bees. adept is my husband. My hive is doing well. I have both deeps and one shallow on already. I took a beekeeping class in the winter, rc'd my bees the same time as op. No chems. I'm looking forward to using the top bar hive and converting to all natural beekeeping. You really don't need much space, and they are very gentle, as you can see here with my kids watching very close:  Here is the video that adept shot of me installing the package. I second Conrad Berube's videos and info as well.
|
|
#
?
Jun 18, 2009 07:21
|
|
|
Socratic Moron posted:On my land there is a hive of bees that lives under a mattress. How viable is it for me to build or buy some bee boxes like I see under orchards and get them to move into the new home? How DO you entice bees to move? I would definitely put out some hives on the property and bait them with lemongrass oil. You will eventually get a swarm or two. However, get a local beekeeper to show you how to do a trap-out or cut-out from the mattress. Good skills to have. I'll come do it myself, if we can pitch a tent on your property. :-)
|
|
#
?
Jun 18, 2009 22:49
|
|
|
Man, the weather has been absolutely poo poo the last few weeks. I don't remember if I mentioned it or not but I made an "oopsie" after installing the hive. When I went to take the queen's box out, I forgot to put in the 10th frame. Long story short, the bees ended up making comb cockeyed that spanned 3 frames (I'm trying a foundationless frame). Unfortunately along that section of messed up hive was where they were doing all their work and the queen was laying so I had to wait for them to fill in the rest of the hive before I could get in there and fix the mess I had created. Last week I finally had a nice day to do the clean up work. While working in the hive I couldn't locate the queen and the comb that I pulled out looked a lot like a laying worker. And of course it started raining again so I had to button everything up and pray I was wrong. After a week of traveling and lovely weather and I can say, happily, that my queen is still laying and the hive has recovered from my mess up pretty well. Finally got to put the second deep on so hopefully things will really start picking up. drat I was nervous for a while there.
|
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2009 17:46
|
|
|
Well I have been absent for a while. Graduating, not finding a job and thus getting into graduate school, then starting a company and trying to do both has taken up anything even resembling free time. Sorry I do not have pictures yet, but I hope to have some up soon. I put my bees out the same time Walrusman did, and we have mirrored each other pretty closely within a few days. I fed them as much syrup as they could eat until I put my first super on. At first it was about a gallon a week, but by the time I put on my second deep, they were doing a gallon in two or three days. They filled eight frames of the second deep up in 10 days, so I removed the syrup, and put on the excluder and my first super. Progress slowed greatly from that point on. My super has been on for about three weeks, and they have only built it out about 50% (more in the middle, less on the outsides) and there are 5-10 cells on each one that they have started to put honey in. I was generally disappointed, but opened the hive up yesterday to inspect and ended up removing the super to look below... Oh poo poo. They have been busy, packing it all in down there. I hope they finish shoving it into every nook and cranny so they can start putting some up top, where I can have it! So far, all in all, I think I have done pretty good for having no clue as to what I am doing. I am combating an infestation of earwigs (disgusting little bugs). From what I have read through, they do not harm the bees and only reside in the cracks where the bees can not get (when I opened the hive and some fell down on the landing pad the bees jumped on them like white on rice, killed them and threw them off). They mainly live in the crack around the edge of the inner cover and telescoping cover. Their presence can indicate too much humidity in the hive, and I saw a recommendation to prop the cover open a little more to allow increased ventilation. I did that last night, and we will see how that effects their populations. Other than earwigs the only other issues is the bees build bridge comb everywhere in the deeps. I checked and the bee space is right, but they still do it. It makes me not want to pull the frames out because gooey wax and brood seem to spill everywhere as it damages all the surrounding cells on the frames. Anyway, I got my first taste of honey last night, and BOY WAS IT GOOD! Crazy Armed Pilot
|
|
#
?
Jun 23, 2009 19:28
|
|
|
I just came in from opening my hive after weeks of rain. I have a shallow super FULL OF HONEY!!! Half of it is already capped! I put on yet another shallow super and I'm ordering another today. I'm really surprised at how fast these bees have taken off. Now If I could just locate that feral swarm to fill my Kenyan Top Bar Hive, I would be set. I couldn't find my smoker, so I just went without it. The bees were fine. Either they appreciated being able to go about their business without being choked out by the smoker or I apparently have extra nice bees. ;-) I only wear a veil when I work: shorts, flip flops, tank top, veil. I don't know how you guys wear all that stuff. It's really hot under that veil! For what it's worth, I don't use a Queen Excluder. I was always told it was more of a HONEY excluder. lol Something about it makes it a little less inviting for ALL the bees, not just the queen. The queen has not laid in my honey supers. Only honey is there. I've heard that a good queen will keep her brood all together in a couple or three brood boxes. If she needs more room, they will swarm. Come to think of it, now I wish I would have put my empty super UNDER the full honey super, leaving the empty between the honey stores and the brood boxes. However, it is very heavy. A single frame of capped honey weighed about 10 lbs or so. I was amazed at how heavy each frame was! I can't really lift a full honey super without help. Maybe I'll switch them when I get some help. So that's my update. I LOVE THESE BEES!
|
|
#
?
Jun 23, 2009 19:54
|
|
|
I just want to say that you guys are doing something I've been wanting to do for some time, and I'm really enjoying the thread
|
|
#
?
Jun 23, 2009 20:01
|
|
|
How is it that every beekeeper tells me you won't get honey the first year and yet most of you have supers filled with honey.  Mine haven't even filled the second brood box.
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2009 02:14
|
|
|
 I only just put the second brood super on both of my hives this last few weeks, so I don't expect anything at all before late August. Then again, I started in May. 
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2009 06:37
|
|
|
I've noticed that my bees are really pissy now when we fill their feeder. I loathe the boardman feeder, you have to fill it twice a day. My dad got stung twice already. Are your bees more aggressive?
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2009 03:43
|
|
|
Mine are perfectly content, and didn't even bother me when I added an extra super (or shuffled some frames around). They've also been on their own wrt food for almost a month now, so who knows.
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2009 03:56
|
|
|
Haven't seen much aggression from my hive but I'm starting to think my bees may be a little  .Went into the hive again today and on 2 of the top deeps they started building comb from the bottom up. With nothing supporting it, I'm a bit concerned that it's going to get warm and fall over making a hell of a mess.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2009 19:59
|
|
|
My bees seem to be that wild, independant type: Me: Here guys, have some nice new foundation to draw comb on and build your brood. Them: gently caress YOU, WE'LL BUILD WHEREVER WE WANT. [bees proceed to build burr comb between first and second brood boxes, rather than actually drawing comb on the foundation]
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2009 20:15
|
|
|
Simkin posted:My bees seem to be that wild, independant type: heheh...I wouldn't feel too bad. My bees are doing the same. I had a hell of a time getting the frames out of the top deep because they had combed them to the frames below. I'm hoping that they'll knock it off as the hive expands, but who knows.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2009 20:48
|
|
|
My bees are really mellow. They buzz me and bump my veil when I'm working them, and seem to try to intimidate me by landing all over me and crawling around, but I have never been stung by my bees. (yet) I move slow and easy and purposeful. I don't use gloves. Maximusi: Why are you still feeding your bees? Where in the world do you live that they still need food? Are you feeding them regular processed white sugar syrup? Maybe they are aggressive because of THAT. Plain white processed sugar isn't a good diet for anyone, including bees. I can't imagine a strict diet for months of the stuff. Feeding them is something that should be done SPARINGLY in the spring, if at all. Honey of course is better for them, but who can afford that? I used unbleached, raw, organic sugar syrup. Then only for the first week. Bees definitely have their own agendas when it comes to burr comb. I honestly try not to bother it unless I HAVE to move a frame or box. I figure they know what they are doing better than I do, (or langstroth did) and build where they need & want to. The burr comb is merely a housekeeping inconvenience for the beekeeper. When I do remove burr comb to get to a spot or move frames around, I leave it out front for them to clean up and re-use. It seems like the less "managing" you do with bees, the happier and more productive they are, at least in my experience. Bees do exceptionally well if you just let them "bee".
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2009 22:39
|
|
|
Yeah, we're pretty hands off - although we did shuffle a few frames around a month ago, to try to get the bees to spread their whole operation out a bit. As far as gear goes, I don't wear any, and am usually tending/observing them in just shorts/t-shirt/shoes. I did put the veil on once when I was moving frames around, but the second time, I didn't even bother. Still haven't been stung, and thus far the only one to be stung is my sister, who crouched down while one was sitting on the backside of her knee. 
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2009 22:58
|
|
|
Salt_Phoenix posted:Maximusi: Why are you still feeding your bees? Where in the world do you live that they still need food? Are you feeding them regular processed white sugar syrup? Maybe they are aggressive because of THAT. Plain white processed sugar isn't a good diet for anyone, including bees. I can't imagine a strict diet for months of the stuff. Feeding them is something that should be done SPARINGLY in the spring, if at all. Honey of course is better for them, but who can afford that? I used unbleached, raw, organic sugar syrup. Then only for the first week. Feeding is pretty standard when you get a package of bees because they need to build out their comb, and prepare a place for the queen to start laying. I have read people esimate on beesource that they believe it takes most bees around 3lb of sugar to build 1lb of comb. However if you're still feeding them when they've started working in the supers, in my opinion you don't even have real honey. I read one recommendation yesterday on helping with burr comb between hive boxes. When you're adding additional honey supers, add them underneath the existing honey super. Some people claim the bees notice the foundation quicker when they are working down than up, and build less comb between the boxes. Like you said, I agree that the way to address the extra comb in the brood boxes is to only disturb it if you have to, one of those aspects of "lazy beekeeping".
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2009 15:44
|
|
|
It got cool enough that I decided to open my hive tonight and check on the progress in the first super, and that can only mean one thing: PICTURE POST!! Before I send a lot of sweet sweet pixels your way, let me just say that my bees kick rear end. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who says you can't get honey your first year is a goddamn moron, and I have several partially-capped super frames to prove it. I hope CAP goes and checks on his hive soon, because I bet it's doing even better than mine.  An artsy low-angle shot showing a frame that is mostly capped on both sides. I forget which frame this is.  Me pulling a frame to inspect the delicious progress within. I'm glad I elected to wear my gear, because my gloves saved me from at least three stings, and the bees were generally agitated tonight. It's been hot and they have a lot of honey to protect, I supposed. I'd be pissed too.  This is comb that's drawn out and basically full, but not capped yet. You can see it's pretty much to the full depth of the frame, but they need to fill them a bit more before they cap it I guess.  A partially-capped frame, from somewhere near the middle I think. The comb is a little thicker on one side because I screwed up the spacing and they built it thicker to accommodate for my error. I don't think it hurts anything.  Honnnneeeyyyyyyyy.   A couple more partially-capped frames.  This is just a pretty picture with light shining through the comb and honey. I think this is the second frame from the right, which means they're making significant progress on at least eight of the ten frames. There's some comb and honey on the far outside frames, but I'll give them a couple more days to beef those up before I throw on the next box -- especially given their documented penchant for building up rather than out. Oh god goons, I'm so excited. Between this and my robust-looking tobacco I'll be plenty busy this fall.  edit: shrunk the pics a little more walrusman fucked around with this message at 05:45 on Jul 6, 2009 |
|
#
?
Jul 6, 2009 05:39
|
|
|
walrusman posted:Bee porn.
|
|
#
?
Jul 6, 2009 14:30
|
|
|
This might be a stupid question, but how do you plan on getting the honey out? I'm guessing most people don't have access to one of those giant industrial spinners. How do homegrown people get the honey out efficiently?
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2009 13:49
|
|
|
My plan goes something like this, based on advice from people I know who've done it in the past, and subject to extensive revision if it turns out not to work as well as hoped: 1) Use hot knife to cut caps from comb. 2) Place sheet of cheesecloth across top of clean container (big rubbermaid tub, etc.). 3) Lay frame cut-side-down on same. 4) Wait a few hours. 5) ??? 6) profit  7) Honey.
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2009 01:21
|
|
|
walrusman posted:My plan goes something like this, based on advice from people I know who've done it in the past, and subject to extensive revision if it turns out not to work as well as hoped: shouldn't honey come before profit?
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2009 01:25
|
|
|
Ghostnuke posted:This might be a stupid question, but how do you plan on getting the honey out? I'm guessing most people don't have access to one of those giant industrial spinners. How do homegrown people get the honey out efficiently? Right now we're just eating comb honey. We pull the frame out and use a spatula, or just use it out of the frame. The beeswax is edible and doesn't bother me at all. When I get bees for the top bar hive, that's how I'll get it then too, except you just cut the whole comb off the top bar. You can crush and strain the honey if you want the wax out. The bees will have to build new comb next year. We do know somebody with an extractor, and may join them when they have it out later this year (so it only needs to be cleaned well once). However right now we're clearing out some frames because I'm going to have to buy another super otherwise, and because the honey is awesome and amazingly unique--even from honey made 10 miles away. It ended up amazingly light for wild honey, we are wondering if it is cherry blossom honey in the frame we harvested because we have an extremely huge cherry tree. EDIT: At work I have a jar of the comb honey and people have been coming by and trying it... Most of the people so far have never had wax in their honey, none of them seemed to mind it at all either. adept fucked around with this message at 17:50 on Jul 8, 2009 |
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2009 17:38
|
|
|
I live in norcal. All the bee books told me to feed them syrup until they had filled both boxes up. I just put my super on so naturally I took off the feeder. They're making really dark honey.     You can see the lil eggs there..Build my pretties!
|
|
#
?
Jul 11, 2009 03:02
|
|
|
I wish I weren't so afraid of bees sometimes. I went out into my backyard Sunday to find I had hundreds of new neighbors. A bee swarm decided to hang out on my fence. I realize that these are harmless (they didn't attack, so I assume they aren't africanized little bastards), homeless little honeybees looking for a place to live and that takes a little time. So my question is, when are these little buggers going to leave? Should I go ahead and call someone to come get them?
|
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2009 18:54
|
|
|
I'd imagine they'll move on soon - they wouldn't be very smart setting up a long term colony out in the open like that. Finally added a honey super (and queen
|
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2009 18:57
|
|
|
topenga posted:I wish I weren't so afraid of bees sometimes. They'll probably find a home soon, hopefully in a natural home like inside a tree. The downside to this is if they try to set up shop in somebody's roof eaves who doesn't like honeybees, that person might get an exterminator. You can call a local bee club and they will be extremely happy to come get some bees as long as they're really honeybees. It sounds like a honeybee swarm to me--they are waiting there for reports back from the scouts who are currently searching for a good home. The bees use the most experienced foraging workers as scouts because they know the area best.
|
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2009 21:29
|
|
|
adept posted:They'll probably find a home soon, hopefully in a natural home like inside a tree. The downside to this is if they try to set up shop in somebody's roof eaves who doesn't like honeybees, that person might get an exterminator. I'm really only wigging out because I read that swarms stay anywhere from 15 minutes to overnight. This is day 4. I sent an email to a beekeeper (poo poo, I think he is...) who will pick up swarms for free. He also makes it very clear that he's a "take 'em alive" kind of guy for other types of removals. I've gotten as close as I'm willing to get to them and they have not attacked. One little guy decided that he liked my back door so I was able to get a good look at him. Definitely a honeybee.
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2009 16:40
|
|
|
Really, I wouldn't worry about them attacking you - unless you go out and actually poke them with a stick. Most beekeeping clubs have lists of people who will go out and capture swarms, so hopefully the person you contacted is either able to catch them, or knows someone who wants to.
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2009 16:48
|
|
|
I just put my second honey super on. I was right on the edge since not all the frames are fully capped and one frame is still pretty anemic, but it's supposed to be hot for the next couple days and that seems to be when they do their best work. I wouldn't want them not to have enough room.
|
|
#
?
Jul 16, 2009 02:07
|
|
|
I was thinking about keeping bees but I have kind of a dumb question. What are the chances of them bothering my dog in the backyard? I can put a fence around the hive, or at least keep it out of range of the dog but I was more curious what would happen if my dog was just running/hanging around the yard.
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2009 20:49
|
|
|
Got my first super installed the other day. So I'm pretty stoked about that. I don't think I'll get much of a harvest out of them this year but I don't care about the honey all that much. On a different note, I was quite pleasantly surprised when I went to mow my lawn and found that quite a lot of bees were working the clover I planted last year and earlier this year. My neighbors probably hate it but I love the idea of having a clover field for my front lawn. idolmind86 posted:I was thinking about keeping bees but I have kind of a dumb question. I wouldn't worry about it. I have 2 dogs and just setup a welded wire fence around the hive to keep them out. The bees shouldn't give a rip about animals being in the same area as long as they're not messing with the hive itself. They're too busy working their asses off so you can steal from them.
|
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2009 13:49
|
|
|
Animals aren't that dumb - chances are, they've probably been stung before in their lives, and will accord the bees a wide berth. If not, it'll only take a sting or two before they just leave them alone. Well, that's assuming that you aren't keeping black bears for pets or anything. 
|
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2009 17:31
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 25, 2024 19:58 |
|
|
This is the best use of that emoticon in history. I wouldn't worry about the dogs too much. Mutual apathy will quickly become the order of the day.
|
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2009 19:20
|
|