|
grnberet2b posted:So this happened down the road from where I live, which has us a bit on edge about bees in general, but I'm curious about something the associated article reported. They said that there was ~125 pounds of honeycomb in the hive. How much is that relative to what a backyard beehive would hold? That was an unusually large feral hive, but would be pretty typical in size for a well managed langstroth hive. I leave about 100lbs of honey in every one of my hives for winter. Being in Texas, I would have expected the bees to be Africanized, but africanized bees just don't build hives that large. I'd lay odds that the guy who was stung was loving with them somehow.
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2012 22:00
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 5, 2024 01:49 |
|
|
We're also getting into the late summer dearth, when bees are at their most aggressive. And it looks like it was probably a warm day, too, so lots of bees out. I'm gonna make a wild guess that an employee discovered the hive and tried to take care of it with a hose or something.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2012 00:35
|
|
|
How aggressive are Africanise bees compared to your typical bad tempered Europeans?
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2012 09:43
|
|
|
Tally posted:How aggressive are Africanise bees compared to your typical bad tempered Europeans? Amazingly aggressive, they will chase you for miles and even stick around if you try and hide underwater.
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2012 11:01
|
|
|
http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/williamson/bee-ware-of-the-beehive-bandit Some rear end in a top hat beek is stealing honey from a local charity.
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2012 14:55
|
|
|
Tally posted:How aggressive are Africanise bees compared to your typical bad tempered Europeans? They are crankier than normal. If you're going to work with them, invest in a good suit and wear glasses. If they get really upset with you, so many will try to sting through your veil that venom will get sprayed in your eyes. It's pretty amazing.
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2012 15:22
|
|
|
Raskolnikov2089 posted:http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/williamson/bee-ware-of-the-beehive-bandit Theifing beeks seem to be on the rise. Our local association had three hives stolen this year. Wankers.
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2012 17:40
|
|
|
ShotgunWillie posted:They are crankier than normal. If you're going to work with them, invest in a good suit and wear glasses. If they get really upset with you, so many will try to sting through your veil that venom will get sprayed in your eyes. Do they have any good traits? Are they more resistant etc?
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2012 17:42
|
|
|
Nope. They were trying to create a bee that produced more honey, but it actually turns out to produce less.
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2012 17:52
|
|
|
Raskolnikov2089 posted:http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/williamson/bee-ware-of-the-beehive-bandit KXAN posted:Someone took 150 pounds of honey from the hives this past week, about $2,000 worth.
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2012 18:42
|
|
|
drewhead posted:That's just making GBS threads reporting right? You're not seriously getting $13 + a # for honey in Texas are you? I sell mine for between $30-$40/lb in NYC. It ain't no thang.
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2012 18:46
|
|
|
$30-$40 a pound in NYC? That is like half gallon prices here in Philly.
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2012 18:59
|
|
|
nesbit37 posted:$30-$40 a pound in NYC? That is like half gallon prices here in Philly. Wholesale 4-5/lb, retaill 8-9/lb in WA. What would make you pay 40 for a pound of honey?
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2012 21:57
|
|
|
Nebulis01 posted:Wholesale 4-5/lb, retaill 8-9/lb in WA. What would make you pay 40 for a pound of honey? Specialty product sold to people who are willing to pay extra for locally produced and treatment free honey. Also, I'm super cute.
|
|
#
?
Aug 24, 2012 04:54
|
|
|
drewhead posted:That's just making GBS threads reporting right? You're not seriously getting $13 + a # for honey in Texas are you? Probably, but there are a lot of people with more money than sense around here. We were selling organic heirloom artichokes for $8 apiece last summer, and they were completely selling out. http://www.roundrockhoney.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=1 And yup, looks like 14 a pound is possible. drat, I might need to get some more hives...
|
|
#
?
Aug 24, 2012 23:35
|
|
|
I went to Pike Place Market in Seattle today and at one of the booths that sold honey, they had a few jars open and it had attracted bees who wanted to try the honey as well. I stuck my finger in a little bit that had spilled and hand fed a bee. It was the exemplification of 
|
|
#
?
Aug 25, 2012 19:33
|
|
|
bees have the most adorable little tongues
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2012 16:07
|
|
|
Delta-Wye posted:I went to Pike Place Market in Seattle today and at one of the booths that sold honey, they had a few jars open and it had attracted bees who wanted to try the honey as well. I stuck my finger in a little bit that had spilled and hand fed a bee. I actually have a jar of honey from that guy, from when I visited Seattle in May/June. When I'm on vacation somewhere and I see someone selling local honey I always get some, even though we have way more honey than we could possibly need just sitting around at home. Solidarity or something I guess?
|
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2012 01:24
|
|
|
BEES! My little nuc colony is growing with gusto with heavy feeding and this warm September, they've gone from 4 frames of brood and 1 frame of stores to 6 frames of solid wall to wall brood and 2 1/2 frames of stores, i hope to get them to finish drawing out all the frames before the cold weather hits, but I don't think I'll be that lucky.   (No, I'm not placing the feeder directly onto frames, there's a clear poly quilt (crown board) in place of a regular crown board, they are fantastic, I can nose in all the time and see how they're doing without disturbing them.)
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2012 13:17
|
|
|
This is my first year so apart from worrying that they'll live through winter are there any big jobs you guys do while they are hunkered down? I'm going to build a shed for the amazing about of woodened boxes I'm starting to get. Also I'm getting to the age where I need a comfy shed.
|
|
#
?
Sep 13, 2012 10:44
|
|
|
If you've harvested, it's nice to take the mediums that aren't in use and check them over, make sure the paint is good and the wood isn't splitting or whatever. Wash out the unused frames that still have drawn comb on them and seal them in something to store for the winter - I use giant-sized ziploc bags (they're like 30 gallon bags or something). Clean up tools. Once the hive is buttoned down, not a bad idea to clear brush or grass that's grown up around the base of the hive. But no, nothing really major that I can think of.
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2012 20:30
|
|
|
Do you use paramoth or anything when you store them? Last year I stored them in garbage bags after freezing the frames for a few days and still lost a couple supers worth of drawn frames from wax moths.
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2012 21:42
|
|
|
What do I do with all this wax, now that I've harvested my honey? I've drained it, but of course there are still traces of honey on the wax. How do I clean it, and then melt it into blocks of pure wax?
|
|
#
?
Sep 16, 2012 03:35
|
|
|
There's a recipe online probably. You could make soap, chapstick, candles, anything really. Just make sure you do it in a pot you don't care about, because the wax will ruin it.
|
|
#
?
Sep 16, 2012 04:06
|
|
|
Melt it in a double boiler and put it through some paper towel into a cardboard milk container. The honey will seperate to the bottom, slumgum above that and everything on top should be clean wax once it cools and hardens.
|
|
#
?
Sep 16, 2012 12:19
|
|
|
put the empty frames in a super and put them on top of a hive over a crown board, the bees will clean the honey off and take it down into the hive, leaving you lovely clean frames ready for reuse after a few days.
|
|
#
?
Sep 16, 2012 14:50
|
|
|
Managed to get a laying queen in my hive. Went from a bunch of unhappy workers and no brood and very little honey to ten gallons over the last 3 months.
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2012 03:06
|
|
|
that's a lucky break, just in time, I've just put mine to sleep for the winter, I only have one last inspection to do to check for mice and insert a dummy board and put the mouse guard on.
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2012 18:38
|
|
|
Due to some poor decision making by my corporate partner, I lost 17 hives to Hurricane Sandy. They were swept into the East River. Welp.  The rest of them. http://imgur.com/a/mmZyH
|
|
#
?
Nov 1, 2012 05:17
|
|
|
That really sucks. I still need to go check on a few of my hives but I suspect they are ok, and certainly not swept into a river. What was the bad decision? Placement? Not strapping them?
|
|
#
?
Nov 1, 2012 14:09
|
|
|
Beemageddon.  So, I follow this thread pretty closely despite not having any bee projects of my own, due exclusively to living in the city and renting my place. Anyone here live in Chicago? I'd love to see the process in person when it all starts up again next year.
|
|
#
?
Nov 1, 2012 15:19
|
|
|
Oh wow, that sucks rear end, is the equipment salvageable or was that all waterlogged too?
|
|
#
?
Nov 1, 2012 16:27
|
|
|
That's so sad. Poor bees!
|
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2012 03:07
|
|
|
Pagan posted:What do I do with all this wax, now that I've harvested my honey? I've drained it, but of course there are still traces of honey on the wax. How do I clean it, and then melt it into blocks of pure wax? I'd be interested in some wax from one of you guys, we glassblowers use a ton of the stuff as lubricant for the hot steel tools, and I find different waxes from different regions have different properties and all smell amazing when burning up. I would gladly pay for it. ShotgunWillie, sorry about your bees dude. I'm here in Brooklyn too, we got boned in Red Hook so I feel your pain. If you need some help cleaning up, I've been volunteering every weekend since the storm.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2012 02:20
|
|
|
So this spring I am planning on buying 6 hives and building a new hive support structure. (The old one rotted away). It has been... years since we last raised bees. My 93yr old neighbor still raises two hives and has great honey. He no longer can take care of them and only one other neighbor in ~10 miles of farm land has hives. Since I am starting from scratch again, is there a good book to read this winter? Thanks!
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2012 06:07
|
|
|
Beekeeping for Dummies was actually really useful for me. It has everything.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2012 06:58
|
|
|
I recommend "The Beekeepers Handbook" in the classes I teach. Beekeeping for Dummies is a viable and somewhat cheaper alternative, but I find it to be less useful after the first year.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2012 13:35
|
|
|
Personally I like The Beekeeper's Bible: Bees, Honey, Recipes & Other Home Uses
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2012 18:23
|
|
|
If you already know how to keep bees, I'd heartily endorse The Buzz about Bees: Biology of a Superorganism. It's a research oriented book that really explains what makes bees tick. A subscription to American Bee Journal is also cheap and good. Only print pub I pay money for.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2012 20:25
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 5, 2024 01:49 |
|
|
Indolent Bastard posted:Personally I like The Beekeeper's Bible: Bees, Honey, Recipes & Other Home Uses Terrible introductory beekeeping book. Great recipes though, and nice pictures.
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2012 05:11
|
|