Bees - Anyone a beekeeper?

[Dacula]

Looking to see if any FReepers are Beekeepers. Any tips and hints for a successful hive would be appreicaited.

[Openurmind]

“Yep. Your a bee keeper.”

“guess what buddy... We are moving in like it or not. You are a beekeeper now.”

I got Bossy Bees. lol

Yeah, I think my best bet is getting a box parked next to it and trying to get them to move to it. Then a real bee keeper can come get them easier.

[Dacula]

Is there enough interest in starting a Beekeeping thread?

I am a novice to this and would welcome any help.

[Delta 21]

Mother nature has been cruel in these parts the last few years. Thanks to modern day scientific and mechanical advances, Kansas is a monocrop wasteland. Bees dont like wheat, corn or milo, and EVERYTHING has been sprayed with RoundUp (Glyphosate) for decades.

The drought went out with a bang and tennis ball size hail that cut a swath in the flora and fauna that could be seen from space. Being in town helps as the vegetation is varied, and there are several river beds within flying range (and a few feedlots where that yummy flavor comes from). The hail interrupted foraging for close to a month when the girls were supposed to be packing it away for winter.

And those damned Varroa mites!!!! I started with 2 hives and worked up to 5 for a short time and was keeping 3 running steady when the hail hit. The mites took hold the following spring and all 3 went south in a hurry. Everyone around treats for mites some way but we had hives collapsing all over and that becomes known as a mite bomb. The mites leave the dying hive for better pickings.

Its one of the "realest" things I have done in the last decade. I do love it!

[Openurmind]

Been to the hospital once and had to EPI once since. I have a BIG yard and they found a place under some stuff to set up camp. Desert bees, apparently they don’t mind being closer to the ground. They don’t bother us much, but once in a while I accidentally run into one here and there while it’s flying while out working. Sometimes they get mad and come back after me.

[Delta 21]

You need to make it where they have to go thru the box you want them to move into, to get to where they are now. They will get used to it and maybe start moving house into their ‘new’ home. When the queen moves into the new ‘home’, you’ve done it. All the bees follow the queen.

Yes. When you figure out what the bees are up to, they have been driving hard on it for over a week and you are way behind. (BTW - The “hive mind” is great for tiny communal insects but lousy for liberal humans.)

Get you some protective gear, an epi-pen and GET ON IT !

Keep looking and putting the word out. You will find a bee keeper who will be glad to help.

[fidelis]

Some county agents are more helpful than others.

[Dacula]

Good information. Thank you for sharing.

I got my bees on Tuesday and we already have honey from an outside hive. My dogs love it and it helps their allergies.

[bert]

I no longer mind a colony. I did though for twenty + years.

Treat your bees gently and well and they will reward you with wax and honey and more bees.

A colony is a living organism with a queen and thousands of ordinary workers and a few drones. The colony has a mind and makes decisions and allocates resources and jobs. The colony decides when it is prosperous enough and then swarms. The colony decides where to go and then takes the queen to the new residence.

Bees can detect CO2. The CO2 from your breath is located and a warning can be given by buzzing there before your eyes. Be gentle and it will go away.

Bees have needs. Keep one super ahead of their current storage. Be sure the brood chamber is maintained in good shape. Don’t be greedy. Do not take off too much of their stores. Provide water that can is not too deep and is easily accessed. Read and study.

Until we learn to communicate with bees, we can forget about communicating with aliens

Enjoy your bees

Thus saith bert

[Jeff Chandler]

Buzz off.

[Dacula]

You Varroa away.

[bert]

Probably yellow jackets, not honey bees

[Dacula]

Thanks Bert

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

beef :" I tired last year to install a new package in a hive that I put a lure in several years ago.
It never attracted a swarm so I forgot all about it."

The best lure is a previously used honeycomb that another queen bee has already worked (pheromone release)
better yet, use several frames.
Even a 'trap hive' needs queen scent (pheromone ) to attract scout bees, looking for a new home.
Wear a bee veil and gloves - they are 'sting resistant', not bee 'sting proof'.
Wear rubber bands on the bottom of your pant legs - prevents intrusion up the leg.
Never wear floral perfume, nor dark fuzzy plaid shirts - entraps and enrages bees in the fibers.
Do not mow your lawn near a hive as the noise bothers them, as does thunder and lightening.
Also, they are atmosphere pressure sensitive, and can tell of an approaching storm which aggravates them.
Move bee hives only at night, during chill, as they will all be at home,
and use a pick up truck as they don't travel well in a sedan (!).

[Delta 21]

HA !

[Trumpet 1]

Bees need water. The water supply needs to be very shallow so the bees will not fall in and drown. And to keep the new hive going through the winter, the honey needs to be kept in the hive for a food supply for the start up colony. Round up kills weeds. Insect killing sprays will kill bees. Bees are insects. Round up does not kill bees.

[cquiggy]

Bee sure to check out the Walter T Kelly Company. Beekeeping supplies and info. There about a half hour from my house and are really great people. In business since 1924 They have everything you could ever need for bees from Hobbyist to Pro beekeepers. kelleybees.com

[kalee]

Same situation for us. Hopefully in retirement at our rural hillside house.

[Dacula]

I had my home established as a wildlife habitat years ago. I provide year round water and food sources for many species.

I live in suburban Atlanta and people think that I am crazy for having chickens and bees.

[Delta 21]

There is nothing like working a hive with one of your grandkids then eating the honeycomb with them. One of the best unintended circumstance of my life.

[minnesota_bound]

Close up of a bee