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Sorry for the double post, but nevermind! I found a local beekeeper who is willing to sell me a nuc! Rock and roll... 
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Mar 2, 2010 02:00
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Leperflesh posted:OK, is it fairly common for municipalities to have a law restricting hives from within 25 feet of a property line? What is this law supposed to accomplish? Unless your neighbors can see your hive I wouldn't bother telling them about it. Chances are they won't even notice the hive is there or the increase in bees. Just make sure you have a water source available for them so they're not raiding the neighbor's dogs water dish, hot tub or pool. Regarding the regulation, you're right that you can't register your hive. However, registering your hive is like registering your dog. Only your hive isn't going to run out in traffic. I know there are a fair number of hives in New York City on rooftops and none of them are registered because it's illegal to keep bees in NYC. Chances are if you decide to keep bees nothing is going to happen. The worst thing that could happen is an inspector will show up and tell you to move your hive but even that isn't all that likely as there's probably just one or two inspectors for your area.
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Mar 2, 2010 02:26
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That is great to hear. None of our close neighbors have swimming pools, and we keep a little lily-pond in a half-barrel that will be perfect for bees. One of our neighbors does have kids and dogs, so I was thinking they'd be the ones to notify. We're in a very Hispanic, working-class neighborhood, though, lots of practical-minded people who aren't squeamish and understand the value of producing for yourself; there's a guy two houses down who has his vegetable garden in the front yard, and I am certain I can hear a rooster and chickens a few houses away on the street behind our house, that kind of thing. I think it'll be fine. I just don't understand the ordnance itself. What does 25' do? Either bees are near your house and you don't like that, or it's fine. 25' strikes me as a meaningless restriction.
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Mar 2, 2010 07:15
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Leperflesh posted:I just don't understand the ordnance itself. What does 25' do? Either bees are near your house and you don't like that, or it's fine. 25' strikes me as a meaningless restriction. Maybe 25' is enough of a distance that if someone like me sees a hive swarming with bees I won't shriek like a little girl and run for it. 
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Mar 3, 2010 01:44
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Apiphobia (is that right?) is understandable, but also irrational. Honestly, a neighbor's dog is much more likely to be dangerous than their beehive. Of course I guess I know the answer; bees are restricted because lawmakers didn't understand or didn't care about bees and how they actually behave when they wrote the ordnance. I suspect that cities often just copy laws from each other, as well, without bothering to discover if they make any drat sense at all first.
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Mar 3, 2010 01:53
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I've got to buy a veil now, has anyone bought one from Betterbee? I was looking at the tie-down veil. http://www.betterbee.com/products.asp?dept=611 Anyone have this one, or have one they really love from somewhere else?
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Mar 3, 2010 05:08
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That one looks like the one I have. Works just fine. just make sure you get a wide hat, if not the beekeeper hat, otherwise bees will be able to sting you through the mesh. Has anyone started giving the bees sugar syrup? I still have my super on the hive because it had a couple frames of honey inside. Did any of you replace the queen? The bee book says to do it but I don't know. It's hard enough finding her.
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Mar 3, 2010 05:45
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Well I am definitely building a top bar hive this weekend. I will take lots of pictures to show the thread! I am meeting with my bee farmer on Saturday to discuss when I can get the bees, my guess is the end of the month. So the adventure is beginning!
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Mar 4, 2010 20:25
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I ordered my bees today from HMS Beekeeper in San Francisco. The woman said they would be taking orders through Saturday, for delivery in April. You can order online: http://www.hmsbeekeeper.com/HMSB/Blog/Blog.html (Yes, order from the Blog page. Don't ask me!) 3 lbs of bees and a mated Italian queen for $85, which was the best deal going in the area.
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Mar 5, 2010 07:23
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Awesome, I talked to my bee farmer today, he is a really cool guy. He will sell me a 5-frame nuc for $80, plus guarantee the bees for 30 days. He also said he would be willing to stop by anytime to check on my bees if I wanted.  Also, I bought all my lumber for my top bar hive (it cost about $65 in lumber) and built my follower boards and legs. Tomorrow I will assemble the rest and put up some pictures. Overall, a good day for bees!
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Mar 7, 2010 02:29
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Sorry for the double post, but here are some pics of the beehive progress. I got most of it done, I still have to add the roof, cut the rest of my top bars, and paint. This is a Top Bar Hive, which you can read more about at biobees.com Lumber  Cutting the follower boards  Gluing the follower boards to 2 top bars  Attaching the sides and ends  Adding a mesh to the bottom for ventilation and mite removal  And here is where it stands now. The clamped part is the base of the roof, I still have to add the gables and roof pieces.  Next weekend I will finish it up, and get it ready for our buzzing friends.
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Mar 8, 2010 06:13
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Hey, that's really cool! When all said and done, how much do you think building your own hive put you back in materials?
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Mar 8, 2010 15:15
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TouchyMcFeely posted:Hey, that's really cool! Hard to say exactly, my first lumber trip was $65, but then I took a couple things back and got a few more, I would probably say $80 in lumber overall. The bigger expenses came because I had to buy a couple tools - I didn't have clamps, sawhorses, or a good drill bit. So that was probably another $45 or so. (Turns out I have lots of good car tools and no good woodworking ones!) But I could make another one much cheaper now, so that's good. Overall it was a lot of fun, and I learned that I need to improve my woodworking skills, because I am no expert! Ishamael fucked around with this message at 16:24 on Mar 8, 2010 |
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Mar 8, 2010 16:18
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Are you going to build supers that stack on top, or is that the whole hive?
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Mar 8, 2010 22:02
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Leperflesh posted:Are you going to build supers that stack on top, or is that the whole hive? Top bars generally don't have supers, but you can add them if you want. Top bars make less honey than a Langstroth, but I will still get more than I can handle eating myself hehe.
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Mar 8, 2010 23:48
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I sent a message this craigslist ad: http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/wsh/grd/1631034292.html Now time for construction and book reading.
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Mar 9, 2010 01:19
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Ishamael posted:Attaching the sides and ends GIVE ME YOUR CAR. Also, that's a beautiful hive.
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Mar 9, 2010 08:19
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Slung Blade posted:GIVE ME YOUR CAR. No! You go drive your electric tractor and leave my car alone! Also, thanks. I am glad it looks beautiful from a few feet away, haha. My woodworking skills are definitely rusty.
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Mar 9, 2010 15:09
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Yet another double post, but it's been a while so I don't feel bad. Made some more progress on the beehive! Iced tea break - the gables are cut and in place on the roof.  Fitting the roof panels.  I found an old box of roofing shingles in the shed so I decided to do a shingled roof. It will work great for waterproofing, but I am a bit concerned that it's gonna get too hot in the summer. We'll see. In progress:  All my top bars are cut, once I get my beeswax in the mail I can put the beeswax strip on the bottom of each bar.   Here it is with the roof on.  Today I'll be painting the outside white to help repel some heat as well as protect my cheap-rear end wood. It's coming along! EDIT: Here it is, all painted! 
Ishamael fucked around with this message at 22:04 on Mar 14, 2010 |
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Mar 14, 2010 15:51
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That's pretty friggin' sweet that you put that all together yourself. Congrats on the new hive and here's to hoping the installation of the bees goes just as smoothly!
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Mar 15, 2010 00:21
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Just checked my hive and I think my queen is dead. Which means my hive is totally hosed. WHY GOD WHYYY?! I'm so sad.
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Mar 15, 2010 01:05
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TouchyMcFeely posted:That's pretty friggin' sweet that you put that all together yourself. Thanks dude! I will keep updating with pics, I should be getting my bees at the beginning of April. Maximusi posted:Just checked my hive and I think my queen is dead. Which means my hive is totally hosed. WHY GOD WHYYY?! I'm so sad. Better order another queen asap. But how do you know your queen is dead? Do you have laying workers? Also, how many queen cells do you have?
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Mar 15, 2010 01:48
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I didn't look very thoroughly because the bees were really agitated but I need to confirm whether or not I have a laying worker or a failing queen. If I have a laying worker I'm definitely hosed. I didn't see any queen cells.  I saw a bunch of drone cells and empty cells...It doesn't look too good.
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Mar 15, 2010 07:37
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What makes you think you've lost the queen? For what it's worth, I have yet to spot the queen in my colony. All through the beginning of the season last year I was waiting for the colony to collapse but it never happened. She was in there somewhere but I just didn't have the eye to spot her.
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Mar 15, 2010 14:35
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Maximusi posted:I didn't look very thoroughly because the bees were really agitated but I need to confirm whether or not I have a laying worker or a failing queen. If I have a laying worker I'm definitely hosed. I didn't see any queen cells. How many frames are filled, and did you check all of them? A queen will sometimes lay more than one egg in a cell, if that is what you are using as your indication that she is dead. If it's more than 2 in a cell, odds are you have laying workers. Basically, tell us more! What makes you think she is dead, what did you check, what did you see? EDIT: Also, you can just order a new queen very easily and not be "hosed".
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Mar 15, 2010 16:15
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Received the annual BetterBee catalog today and hot drat do they have some nifty stuff! I didn't get any honey last year because my ladies are a bunch of lazy assholes. Thinking I might go ahead and pickup a strainer and a bucket this year in hopes of a plentiful harvest.
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Mar 15, 2010 23:01
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What I saw was a frame with domed drone cells spotting the area and a bunch of empty cells. I freaked out because normally you never see drone cells. Maybe 1-2 per frame if that. Then I rechecked today and saw some worker cells and a bunch of empty cells. I think the bees hatched recently. So the queen isn't dead. There was only one egg per cell. But now I'm stuck with brood in my super cause I left out the excluder. I'm wondering if I should switch the bodies around. Do you guys check all your hive bodies in each inspection? I tried doing the 2nd box, but the frames are glued so well I couldn't get one out, even with the hive tool. I'm so glad my queen's not dead. But if you have a laying worker, ordering a queen will not solve your problem. The bees will kill the queen every time, guaranteed. Because they think laying worker=queen.
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Mar 16, 2010 02:40
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Maximusi posted:But if you have a laying worker, ordering a queen will not solve your problem. The bees will kill the queen every time, guaranteed. Because they think laying worker=queen. Well, a laying worker is definitely more of a sticky situation, but it is still solveable. Usually you have to introduce a frame of new brood into the hive, or I have read about people dumping the whole swarm a ways from the hive, and the younger ones make their way back and the laying workers don't. Anyhow, glad to hear the queen is dead. As for drone comb, there isn't a set amount they will make. Some of the top bar people have seen as much as 20% of their total comb taken up by drone comb, no one is quite sure why the amount of drone comb can fluctuate so much. EDIT: meant to say "glad to hear the queen ISN'T dead" Ishamael fucked around with this message at 14:22 on Mar 22, 2010 |
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Mar 16, 2010 14:10
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Ishamael posted:Anyhow, glad to hear the queen is dead. As for drone comb, there isn't a set amount they will make. Some of the top bar people have seen as much as 20% of their total comb taken up by drone comb, no one is quite sure why the amount of drone comb can fluctuate so much. The ladies is gettin' lonely 
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Mar 16, 2010 17:42
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Who uses queen excluders and how do you think it affects your honey yield?
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Mar 18, 2010 21:03
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Finished up my hive this weekend, woo! First I cut some entrances on either end, and corked all but one.  Here it is in its spot in the yard.  Then I found out that my mesh bottom was made of squares that were too big (the bees could get out and wasps could get in), so I put in a new one. I found a needlework mesh at the craft store and overlapped the pieces a little. My wife sewed them together to make them bee-tight.  Then it was time to make the bars. I took my bars, measured the middles, and got some beeswax. (I used 3 sheets of cut comb starter strips, total)  Then I got a cheapo brush and some natural twine.  I melted the beeswax in a double boiler.  Then I painted the strings into place, and cut them to length with an exacto knife after the wax dried.   All done! My bees should be here in a week or two.
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Mar 21, 2010 13:10
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I'm so jealous, Ishmael. My parents own some land where they grow hazelnuts and there is a large area of burdock, so I'm really hoping to get a hive setup out there. Unfortunately I pretty much missed the mark for this year, so I have to wait another whole year, but will give me time to build a hive. Still trying to decide between langstroth and top bar, but even if I went lang it would be foundationless, I'm pretty sure. If anyone finds a good resource (or book) that covers how to keep brood out of honey in a top bar, or how to inhibit swarming properly in a top bar, that would be appreciated! The land is about 45 minutes away and we only visit it every weekend or every other weekend so I need something low-maintenance.
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Mar 21, 2010 15:42
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Rescue Toaster posted:I'm so jealous, Ishmael. Well, you can never really inhibit swarming per se, but you can create an artificial swarm by using the design that I am using, with the follower boards and flipped entrances (biobees.com). Then you can choose to move half the hive to the other end if you want. Or, if you think it's just based on crowding, you can expand the hive by a few more bars (until the hive fills up). As far as having a honey super like a lang hive, I have seen some people that have done it - it looks weird but it seems to work. Most top bars, though, operate on the principle of minimal interference, so you just wait until a bar is completely honey and then steal it, rather than trying to create a brood area and a honey area. (Obviously you only steal it once you are sure that the bees will have enough honey for the winter) The bees will naturally make their brood nest near the entrance, and then make honey moving out from there. The Barefoot Beekeeper book is decent, although he seems to be writing from an angry place ("Stupid beekeepers now don't know the damage they are doing! Raa!"), where most other beekeeping books come from a place of "this is a cool hobby that helps your plants, come join us!"
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Mar 22, 2010 14:28
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woop woop I just found someone who will take my new hive for this year since I won't be moved into town (hour away from where I am now) until after the season has started. I also got a couple contacts off craigslist for telephone help. I've compiled a couple documents for building the hive and going to start tonight after sorting through and drawing up a final plan. Also, since I'm always on IRC I made a channel for us (please edit into the op). Server: irc.synirc.org Channel: #bees EDIT: I live in Minnesota, planning on doing two brood boxes and two supers, getting a nuc early-mid April. Any opinions on this? c0ldfuse fucked around with this message at 19:21 on Mar 23, 2010 |
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Mar 23, 2010 19:17
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c0ldfuse posted:
Do you have your bee supplier lined up yet? If not, check craigslist, or go to the local farmers market and talk to the honey people (that's how I found my guy) Hey, are there any bee-goons in the Raleigh NC area who want to help me install my bees next weekend? I have to chop a couple frames and could use some extra hands. I have an extra veil!
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Mar 26, 2010 15:18
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So I hate to be a downer, but.. my girls didn't make it the winter.  I opened the hive up, and there they all were, just like they were working away, only frozen in place, forever. I just had a baby 3 weeks ago, so the postpartum hormones kicked in and I sobbed and sobbed. I feel like I let them down, even though I did all the same stuff I did last winter.I guess it'll be easier to move the hive to my new house now. I'm going to call and put in my order for another batch of bees. God that's depressing though. The poor dears. I'm sorry.
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Mar 29, 2010 03:23
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Well that sucks rear end. Don't know where you had gotten your bees before but I got my colony fron Knight Family Honey last year. Their box pickup was pretty crazy and the folks there were pretty kick rear end. They're also at the Salt Lake Farmers Market every week which makes it easy to drop in and ask quick questions (and buy their kick rear end honey butter).
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Mar 29, 2010 03:46
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TouchyMcFeely posted:Well that sucks rear end. Dang, it looks like they Knight Family Honey is sold out of package bees for the year. I guess I've gotta get 'em from Jones again.
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Mar 29, 2010 04:15
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Went to my first Association (county chapter) meeting Friday night... and brought the median age down by 20 years... and I'm not that young. Room was packed. Had to be close to a hundred people. I had more than one comment that is was good so see "someone younger". Gee, maybe if you didn't hold your meetings at 7PM on a Friday. Lots of super smart/experienced bee folk sharing all manner of great information. I learned a bit, and am happy I went.
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Mar 29, 2010 12:52
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Wife and I took the free Package Bee Installation class at Beekind in Sebastapol yesterday. Then we picked up all our equipment: two built deeps and a built super, each with eight frames and two followers, plus two more unbuilt mediums and a box of 20 more medium frames. Plus lid, some kind of special bottom, hive tool, smoker with fuel, two hats/veils and two pairs of gloves. Almost $500, even with the 10% discount they give (I think for people who attend their classes? Or maybe just because it was sunday, or who knows). This hobby can get expensive! (But I think this should do it for expenses for the whole year, unless we somehow need a fourth medium super). My wife is so excited to get our bees, she's going nuts. Melodywise, I'm curious; did you find that the hive still had honey left? And if so... what was the coldest day you had this past winter? If you don't mind talking about it, I hope it's OK.
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Mar 29, 2010 18:39
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