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Nebulis01 posted:I was told no longer than 30 days after hiving to add a second deep, shorter if they are doing very well. As to them all coming up are you smoking them when you return the lid? I find this helps hunch back down into the hive so I don't have to squish so many of them. I'm not using smoke or anything, just trying to be gentle and calm with my movements. I have a smoker, just haven't used it yet.
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May 18, 2012 19:08
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Pagan posted:How much larger were you thinking? I dunno. 1600+?
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May 18, 2012 22:42
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Here you go; biggest I have. http://warhams.dangerbearing.com/images/BigBee-8333.jpg (sorry for breaking tables, I'm trying to make it a URL but I guess SALR automatically parses it as an image)
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May 18, 2012 22:55
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Nebulis01 posted:I was told no longer than 30 days after hiving to add a second deep, shorter if they are doing very well. As to them all coming up are you smoking them when you return the lid? I find this helps hunch back down into the hive so I don't have to squish so many of them. The time doesn't matter as much as how many frames they have filled out. If a month has gone by and they only have 4 frames done a second box is just going to make them move into it for the next frames instead of spreading out horizontally. The general rule I have been told and follow is to add a second deep when they start working on the outer 2 frames. As for getting the cover back on, you can use smoke as mentioned or slide the cover on instead of placing it on. they will move, you just have to give them enough time to move with your slide. If they are just in one spot you can also just pat them on the back with your hand and they will get out of the way. This is also useful if you are trying to check for eggs and the frames are covered with so many bees you can't see into the cells.
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May 19, 2012 14:18
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Sorry to go a bit off topic for this thread, but I've got a bee problem  Today has been the first proper warm day of the year so far here in the UK. This morning i noticed quite a few sleepy wild honey bees hanging about on the side of my house. By this afternoon I had lots of bees going in and out of the cracks in an old wall in my garden. Unfortunately it is about 6 foot from my back door and is one side of a very narrow path that gets you from my front to back garden. My back door also opens onto a half finished patio and retaining wall and my building site of a garden - which I am trying to finish this week. The bees are all over the place. every slab or brick I move they seem to want to inspect (which is making laying slabs and bricks quite tricky!), and they keep trying to crawl on me when i'm working which makes work quite slow. If I leave the door open I get loads wandering around the house. I'm running outdoor lights behind another part of the wall and theyre all over any hole I'm trying to poke trunking and wire through. Are these guys likely to be living behind my wall or have they just been sleeping there and will they likely move on as they wake up? They seem to be looking for places to live rather than flowers at the moment. Is there anything i can do to put them off getting in my way?
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May 21, 2012 20:17
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Pagan posted:Here you go; biggest I have. Thank you! Man you can see individual grains of pollen, and it's so fuzzy!
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May 21, 2012 20:29
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If they are honeybees they most likely have or are starting to build a hive in your wall. I am not sure how you best handle it in the UK but in the states you would need to find someone who does cut outs.
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May 21, 2012 21:17
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Dick Trauma posted:Thank you! Man you can see individual grains of pollen, and it's so fuzzy! 17 Megapixels plus an actual, proper Macro lens will do that. Glad you like it! I'll be taking more pictures throughout the year, and sharing them here.
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May 21, 2012 23:33
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Pagan posted:Here you go; biggest I have. I'm more than a little biased, but as insects go, bees are pretty adorable.
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May 22, 2012 00:00
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Tomarse posted:Sorry to go a bit off topic for this thread, but I've got a bee problem Could try calling your local Beekeepers Association, see what they recommend. If it's a colony you've got in there you might find they'd be happy to try and take them off your hands. How deep is the wall? Is there a recess that they could have built a nest in? It it's south facing you could've just ended up with a load of solitary bees finding the wall as a particularly good nesting spot. Check out http://www.moraybeedinosaurs.co.uk/solitary.html for some slightly better information
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May 22, 2012 15:46
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On that thought, does anyone know how deep a solitary bee-house really has to be (bee?)? Thinking about putting one together for the garden. Somebody bought me one of these for Christmas but it seems rather... Small? Lots of wasted potential! Edit: Ok, I can't read  Website says about 15cm!
Nettle Soup fucked around with this message at 22:48 on May 22, 2012 |
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May 22, 2012 22:42
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I am currently in Ethiopia, training local subsistence farmers on modern and transitional beekeeping techniques. I'm being funded by USAID and brought a bunch of donated equipment from Walter T. Kelley, Dadant, and Maxant Industries. I just graduated my first group of people from the training program. Also, my thoughts on Varroa destructor in East Africa: http://www.boroughbees.com/2012/05/graduation-day-may-18th.html
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May 23, 2012 08:52
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Dirty Needles posted:Could try calling your local Beekeepers Association, see what they recommend. If it's a colony you've got in there you might find they'd be happy to try and take them off your hands. Since earlier in the week the number of bees has decreased. There are a lot less buzzing around now. It is now only noticable above the background bee level if you go right by the wall in the afternoon. They dont seem to wake up until atleast 2pm when it is warmest. It is not a south facing wall and is in a hollow such that it never gets direct sun. It just has small cracks and holes around it so I would assume solitary bees. apart from the sounth facing thing they sound more like masonry bees from that link- I think they have just hatched and are buzzing around trying to find new places to live. Hence why they love my building projects so much! From what I can find on the internet limewashing the walls will put them off nesting there again. I was about to do this anyway!. Will the limewash hurt them? Will they re-nest in there straight away or will they not come back until the end of the summer? I guess I should give that bit of wall a few weeks for them to clear off before i paint it. Tomarse fucked around with this message at 08:14 on May 24, 2012 |
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May 24, 2012 08:05
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If you can, fill in some of the larger cracks or ones you've seen them using before you limewash, just to make it that little bit harder for them to return. If you leave it until they've largely cleared off before washing the wall then you should be fine. You could try putting up one of those Bee Hotel things on or near the wall to try to encourage them to nest there in future.
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May 24, 2012 10:42
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It's prime bee season! Where are all the apiarists?! In other news, I have completed clearing a small plot on the waste ground beside some allotments in the hopes of putting one or two hives there, a few resident allotment holders where a bit wary, including one lady who didn't want them within 100 metres because she doesn't like being buzzed by insects (why the gently caress do you own an allotment then?!) which sadly took a lot of choice locations away. It's a bit late in the year to expect anything productive out of them once they arrive, but you never know, the warm weather might hang on just that bit longer. I'll have some pictures once the hives are on site!
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Jun 22, 2012 20:25
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Curious to know how the terrible weather has affected you guys this year. We don't seem to have had a proper summer here in the UK at all yet...
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Jun 22, 2012 20:33
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A 100m no-bee zone because she does not like to be buzzed by insects? If that was her reasoning you should have just offered to put up some type of 2m+ barrier in front of the bee line so they fly over her head no matter where she is. I dunno, it may be prime bee season but not much to report. 4 hives going this year and having much better results than last year. One of them is a new split I made and it has been going crazy making 15 deep frames of wax and working on its 3rd medium honey super, wax and all. The other hives are doing well but won't put wax in the honey supers. Only two queen issues so far and one is sorted out while the other I am going to see if they can make their own queen. The nectar flow either just ended or is about to end for here so will see what happens during the summer dearth and then the fall flow. I also made some stencils of my geckos so the bees could identify their hives better this year and make them a little more interesting to look at. I of course cannot prove they are helping, but drift seems to be down a lot from last year and all 3 hives are doing better then they were in this same location last year. That all could be coincidence though. 
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Jun 22, 2012 20:50
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New bee keeper here (well assistant actually). I met with the local association of bee keepers and I'm working with Henry on his four hives this season so I will be all set for next year. In Illinois summer has been here for a month, it is hot and sunny with rain only lasting a short time, but coming down in buckets. Henry's hives are a bit of a task as he left them alone too long and ended up with lots of comb attached to the top board. We cut it away and "grafted" it with rubberbands into empty frames. It seems to have worked well enough. Two of the hives are really under performing barely having filled a few frames with brood; while the other two have just been fitted with supers. Updates and maybe pictures as the work progresses. I also stumbled across this today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjiePi0_Nh4
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Jun 22, 2012 21:04
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Nettle Soup posted:Curious to know how the terrible weather has affected you guys this year. We don't seem to have had a proper summer here in the UK at all yet... The lack of summer here has been terrible, the inconsistant weather has set every hive I know back by over a month, bee count is low and theres hardly any honey, they didn't start swarming till the end of may becasue of all the wet weather so all the new nucs still arn't ready for rehiving. edit: are you making GBS threads me, beekeeping is illegal in LA?! Yeti Fiasco fucked around with this message at 10:19 on Jun 23, 2012 |
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Jun 23, 2012 10:13
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The winter was good for the bees on the east coast. We were worried it would screw up the spring flow but that doesn't seem to have happened. Just take a look at this article on New York City bees to see what it has been like out here (I am in Philadelphia) http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/19/nyregion/honeybee-swarms-increase-in-nyc-after-mild-spring.html?_r=3&hp
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Jun 23, 2012 14:05
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nesbit37 posted:The winter was good for the bees on the east coast. We were worried it would screw up the spring flow but that doesn't seem to have happened. Just take a look at this article on New York City bees to see what it has been like out here (I am in Philadelphia) Haha, thats a photo of me. That articles been making the rounds.
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Jun 24, 2012 05:18
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Had my first association meeting yesterday at the community apiary, very enjoyable, wish I took pictures, got to enjoy a demonstration of shook swarm and merging two hives together then enjoyed a peaceful tea in the grounds of the abby where the apiary is, very enjoyable.
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Jun 24, 2012 13:45
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I was stung today by one of my bees and my hand is really swelling up. There's a 3-4 inch circle around the sting where it is swelling, itching, and fairly warm. I've never had a problem with insect stings in general, and I've been stung 3-4 so times this year with no problem, and 3 times last year without any issues. Is this a sign that I'm becoming allergic to bee venom, or is this just some freak random reaction?
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Jun 27, 2012 14:43
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I think there are a lot of things that factor into. Location of sting, how long was the sting in, age of bee that stung, etc. I have had stings that I barely notice, others that swell, itch and hurt like crazy. I will get stung on the same day and have different reactions to each one, so I don't really think what happened to you is necessarily an indication of increased sensitivity to stings.
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Jun 27, 2012 15:03
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That's good to hear. I was a bit worried, since a friend of mine developed an allergy to snake venom over time (she worked with pygmy rattlesnakes, from 3 bites and all the venom in the air/objects from processing them), and didn't want something similar to happen with bees.
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Jun 27, 2012 15:11
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You could be becoming allergic, check with your doctor is the best advice. I've had that happen before though, sometimes they just pump a bit more venom in there or you might be mildly allergic like I seem to be. I got my first sting of the year inside my ear last week, I was about 50 feet from the hives checking them out and I guess the heat wave made one extra cranky. It was painful and swelled up a bit but nothing out of the ordinary then I started having trouble swallowing about 30 minutes later. Went to the hospital just in case and the triage nurse said it wasn't anaphylactic and the doctor would take a look in about 3 hours so I just left and took a benadryl.
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Jun 27, 2012 15:11
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I was stung on my hand and it was fine, itched a bit but didn't even swell, then I was stung on my leg and it went up like a fatty balloon, what the hell.
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Jul 1, 2012 00:47
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Yeti Fiasco posted:I was stung on my hand and it was fine, itched a bit but didn't even swell, then I was stung on my leg and it went up like a fatty balloon, what the hell. Young workers make for less reactive ouchies, mature 'guard' workers have peak effectivness when it comes to venom effectivness and stinging. That is one possible reason, anyway.
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Jul 1, 2012 04:52
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I have finally secured a site for my apiary in a LUSH location!       It might look like a dumping ground of 8ft brambles, stinging nettles and 40 years of allotment garbage to you, but I see opportunity! I plan on renting out a brush cutter with a steel disc to get through it all, tried using a hand scythe to no avail, its really just too thick. I'll post more photos as the project continues, a local tool hire does a Hire for the weekend for the price of 1 day, so I'll probably get started on friday.
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Jul 1, 2012 12:41
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From the GIF thread:
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Jul 1, 2012 17:07
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Yeti Fiasco posted:I have finally secured a site for my apiary in a LUSH location! Just make sure the pirates don't steal the honey 
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Jul 1, 2012 17:54
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It's alright, I know that particular pirate. 
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Jul 1, 2012 20:20
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D-D-D-D-DOUBLE POST!! Since the weather has been set to awful for the next week, I can't crack on with the clearing so instead I've started on the hive stand.  Dimensions are:- 2x 25mm x 150mm x 2100mm (1:6) 2x 25mm x 150mm x 370mm (1:6) 4x 50mm x 70mm x 120mm (3:2) £14.80 all together for rough cut pressure treated wood, should last for ages, bargain!  (The pink box is a rough hive shape) I wanted the inside dimensions 37cm so I can hang frames from it while I'm inspecting and the length should be adequate for 3 hives plus plenty of space for laying stuff down. I'm a tall guy, I wanted the working height at 60cm so I'm not constantly bending down, the other 60cm of the 120cm post is for ramming into the ground to get a nice sturdy foothold in what I'm assuming to be crappy soil. Yeti Fiasco fucked around with this message at 15:31 on Jul 2, 2012 |
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Jul 2, 2012 15:27
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Update! Got myself a brush cutter for the weekend, unfortunately the weatherman wasn't right and it rained all day Friday and Saturday. Regardless I had no other time to do it and after about 7 hours of work I have a lovely little secret bee garden, hidden in a patch of brambles, blocking it from sight and giving it a really good wind break all around, I recon I have space for about 6-7 hives, and I can always cut down some more if I need more space.      All that's left to do is dig up the big bramble roots to stop them growing back so vigorously and clear out the cuttings, both are on hold for the moment as I managed to snap BOTH mine and my dads forks trying to get the roots out, oops. 
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Jul 8, 2012 12:11
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I am literally keeping bees in my front yard. Over the past couple weeks I've been noticing bees hanging out around the walkway, which didn't seem too overly odd as I had a hive that I had to move a couple weeks ago, so I figured they were left behinds just bein' weird and hanging out on my sidewalk, that's cool, whatever bees. But then yesterday and today I noticed a significant increase in their numbers and that they were coming out of and going into holes on either side of the sidewalk. I did some Googling and underground bees are apparently a thing, but I can't find anything about them except how to kill them, which I'd prefer not to do. The hive I moved, I had to move because there just weren't enough good plants around, I'm surrounded by miles of corn fields, and on the suggestion of a local beekeeper moved them to a different better location a few miles away. I stood right in the middle of the cloud of underground bees for awhile, had a few land on me, they weren't agressive, and I saw a few carrying pollen going back to their home. So... what the hell bees? And what the hell do I do? Just leave them alone? Should they be killed for some reason? How the poo poo did they get underground? Is this some sort of super bee or something?
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Jul 9, 2012 06:01
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They could be robbing an underground colony, you might have some gangsta bees, check to see if they're ferrying good back to their hive of if they're taking stock from their hive underground. The only other things I can think of for bees standing outside is during the queens mating flight, they all seem to come outside for 10 minutes and potter about before going back in.
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Jul 9, 2012 10:48
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They may be building a colony in the storm drain. It's a cool dark place with plenty of room and it may also be free from predators. In other news because we are lazy, my wife and I didn't take our hive apart after we lost the colony over winter. There have been bees coming and going the last two or three months, not a lot of bees but there's always five or six around the entrance. We've been assuming that they're just robbers taking the leftover honey and stuff in the hive but now I'm starting to wonder if I don't have a wild colony in there. If I do, their numbers are nowhere near our installed colony numbers, there's been no bearding, but I guess I should open it and look. We haven't done that up till now mostly out of discouragement and laziness.
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Jul 9, 2012 16:58
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you should totally check it out and take pics if there is one
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Jul 9, 2012 19:12
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Theres a competition on a website for designing or redesigning a tool to aid beekeepers. Since I dont keep bees myself, is there anything that you folks feel really needs to be redesigned, or "I would buy a tool that does < x > ?"
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Jul 11, 2012 16:21
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I think you should look to designing something new rather than redesigning something else. I work at a historical society and am giving a presentation on the history in beekeeping late this summer and have been going over some old beekeeping documents we have and getting them digitized. One of these things is a beekeeping supply catalog from 1898 and it is amazing how little most things have changed in 100+ years when it comes to the tools used. If it isn't broke, don't fix it. But that doesn't mean their can't be innovation in other areas. There was an electronic bee-counter project someone was doing that could have some interesting applications, though this is probably more complex than you are looking for: http://www.instructables.com/id/Honey-Bee-Counter/
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Jul 11, 2012 17:39
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