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That's a pretty good idea, I wouldn't have thought of it. I'd have thought that if you did get stung, it'd be harder to scrape out than if you got stung through bare skin and/or generally shittier.
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Sep 1, 2011 00:18
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 (my hosting) I got stung through the gloves once. Snapped the gloves back and the sting came out with it; barely any venom got in. This is the glove turned inside out.
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Sep 1, 2011 02:22
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j4on posted:
This. If anything its easier to get the sting out. Just pop the glove off and out comes the stinger and away goes the alarm pheromone.
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Sep 1, 2011 14:08
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Oh man, that's pretty loving sweet. I'm assuming they don't care about the nitrile smell, at least unless the first time you put them on you starting punching the poo poo out of comb or something.
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Sep 1, 2011 17:30
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The instructor at the class I took said that bees are less likely to sting the gloves because it doesn't feel like flesh. I don't know if that's true or not. Our colony is totally screwed this year. We had an absent queen and it took us four weeks to finally get one because it was too hot to ship them. Finally introduced her and went back a week later to check and found laying workers. We're just going to harvest the honey that is there and start over next year.
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Sep 1, 2011 19:07
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I guess it depends on the glove. I was wearing one hairy welding glove on one hand and a long leather glove on the other today and the welding one got stung a few times, the leather not at all.
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Sep 2, 2011 00:14
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so I stumbled on this thread one day and loved reading about bees. Recently I have been thinking about brewing a Mead (prickly pear mead to be exact) and started thinking about where I could get 20lb of Honey. So that's why I have come to you. I'm in northern IL (West Chicago Suburbs) and I would like to find someone local who can sell me Honey rather then going through a big business. Where would I find someone and what would be a fair price for said honey?
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Sep 3, 2011 02:35
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There's a guy selling honey in SA-Mart, actually. He might be able to help.
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Sep 3, 2011 05:15
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Farmers' markets often have someone selling local honey. Also contact your local hippy-dippy healthfood-type places, since they always have honey and often have local stocks. Alternatively, find your local beekeepers' association and contact them. Someone will surely want to sell you bulk honey. One more idea: find the local beekeepers' supply store. They tend to be fairly few and far between, but since you're in the Chicago area, I suspect there's probably one around. Those places often sell honey (which they buy from beekeepers) and if not, can surely refer you to someone. As for fair price: my local honey place buys honey from beekeepers at a minimum of $3/lb, more for interesting flavors. That's a wholesale price, so you should be prepared to pay at least that much. Retail I'd expect to pay something like $6/lb., give or take.
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Sep 5, 2011 03:00
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ShotgunWillie you are mad, bad and dagerous to know son! I'm such a baby when it comes to beekeeping, if I go anywhere near I hive I dress up like I'm going to walk on the moon, and even then I freak out everytime a bee starts buzzing into my veil. One of these days I'm going to HTFU, but until that day I shall admire you crazy keepers from afar, with a smoker in my gauntlet clad hand. As an aside, I'm in America at the moment (Arizona) and have just purchased my first ever jar of desert honey. Yum.
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Sep 7, 2011 01:22
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Dr Scoofles posted:ShotgunWillie you are mad, bad and dagerous to know son! I'm such a baby when it comes to beekeeping, if I go anywhere near I hive I dress up like I'm going to walk on the moon, and even then I freak out everytime a bee starts buzzing into my veil. One of these days I'm going to HTFU, but until that day I shall admire you crazy keepers from afar, with a smoker in my gauntlet clad hand. Haha, thanks. I've been doing this for a long time, and I know the risks. I find them acceptable. My dad suits up. So do I, if the bees are cranky. Most of the time, I don't. That hat is about as effective as a veil in my experience. I guess the bees don't like my hair. If you're in AZ, look up Dee Lusby. She is the queen of organic beekeeping and is completely nutters. Best honey I've ever tasted. Tell her that Sam Comfort's friend Tim ONeal says hello if you do.
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Sep 7, 2011 01:41
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My bees are in danger of exploding. I think that they're thinking of swarming. DON'T SWARM! They've just been more active than usual. A lot of them out. It must be the heat or something.
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Sep 7, 2011 02:41
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Yeah we're having a bit of a heat wave and it's also our late summer dearth so there's less nectar out there to get. Mine are pretty active right now too.
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Sep 7, 2011 02:43
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Maximusi posted:My bees are in danger of exploding. I think that they're thinking of swarming. DON'T SWARM! I was really worried the bees were going to swarm in early August. It was so hot and humid, and they were crazy active. But luckily we've had a cold snap and I think that's tempered them a little. I still see them hanging out on the front board, but not bubbling out like before. Since we're approaching fall and winter, what tips do you experienced beekeepers have for us novices who are going into our first cold season with our new hives? I live in Atlanta, so the fall/winter weather ranges from mild to cold.
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Sep 7, 2011 16:01
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I did my first extraction yesterday at Philadelphia's 2nd annual honey fest. Had a great turn out. Pictures below, but first I am seeking some advice. I have one hive that will not make it on its own through the winter. They have all of 5 frames filled out and almost no food. I should at least try to get them through the winter, but what is the best way? Move them to a nuc and keep it on top of a strong hive with a double screen board while feeding them all winter long? Pictures!  People gathering to watch the extraction process and ask questions about bee keeping.  Using the uncapping fork to uncap. I found this much easier than the knife since I had 10 frames in the hive and the wax stopped at the wood.  Interested kids  Using the knife to uncap  An uncapped frame. The center is dark for I believe 2 reasons. The first being that the queen went into the honey super and laid eggs. I put on a queen excluder to keep her out once I found but, but by the time the bees hatched out the spring flow was over so the bees probably couldn't fill it up again until the fall flow, which is typically darker honey.  Loading up the extractor  Inside the extractor. We tried 5 frames at first to do two even loads, but the extractor didn't like that and wobbled way too much.  The honey must flow!   A now empty frame  All of the left over cappings  
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Sep 11, 2011 16:17
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Fantastic pictures. I have so many happy childhood memories of doing this with my dad. I use a big knife and am seriously considering getting one of those plastic doohickies instead. By the by - I would be really interested to know what people here think about all organic & minimum contact beekeeping. I picked up a copy of 'The Complete Idiots Guide to Beekeeping' the other day (I know I know, it was like 50p in a Borders closedown sale) and was shocked at somewhat hardline stance the authors took against treatment and feeding. They argued hotly against treating for varroa, saying it's better to let a hive die than contaminate them with unatural chemicals. Anybody here practise clean keeping? How hard is it? Oh, and here is my second attempt at making honey soap (first attemt bombed). Still not quite right, it's perfect soap but still isn't very 'smooth' looking all the way through. I'm confident I'll have it cracked by the time I'm looking to hit the farmers market though. 
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Sep 11, 2011 22:11
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nesbit37 posted:I have one hive that will not make it on its own through the winter. They have all of 5 frames filled out and almost no food. I should at least try to get them through the winter, but what is the best way? Move them to a nuc and keep it on top of a strong hive with a double screen board while feeding them all winter long? Thanks for sharing your pictures! Exactly how to get your hive through winter will depend on where you live - e.g., how cold it gets, how long the winter is, etc. obviously you'll need to feed the hive. Putting a nuc on top of a strong hive is probably a more advanced technique that I don't know about - I'm a california goon so we have mild winters and I haven't done as much reading about stuff like that. Dr Scoofles posted:By the by - I would be really interested to know what people here think about all organic & minimum contact beekeeping. I picked up a copy of 'The Complete Idiots Guide to Beekeeping' the other day (I know I know, it was like 50p in a Borders closedown sale) and was shocked at somewhat hardline stance the authors took against treatment and feeding. They argued hotly against treating for varroa, saying it's better to let a hive die than contaminate them with unatural chemicals. Anybody here practise clean keeping? How hard is it? First question: was that book written before Colony Collapse Disorder became a big deal? Either way, though: there are definitely two minds about this stuff. On the one hand, anti-treatment evangalists say that improving the genetic stock of honey bees is only possible if we allow "weak" bees to fail and die - by treating for things like varroa, we're helping to prevent genetic selection from doing its job. Other arguments are about using "harsh chemicals" or whatever, due to harm (real or perceived) to the environment, the harvested products, other bees, or whatever. On the other side: CCD is a real thing, and it may be that by allowing varroa to destroy a hive that otherwise would be doing well, we actually knock out bees that are resisting CCD (or whatever causes it). Also, we're already doing something unnatural just by keeping honey bees. It's not like they're native species - in fact, our honey bees assuredly put pressure on native bee species. If we are going to keep bees and harvest honey from them and move their hives around and artificially breed them and all that stuff, then we're already stomping all over what they'd do "naturally" if left alone. It may well be that our own practices encourage varroa (or other diseases and parasites) - things like using artificial frame foundations which set cell size, choosing entrance size ourselves, constantly opening a hive and messign with it, queen excluders, putting multiple hives in close proximity to each other, etc. etc. - so in a sense, we "owe" the bees to help them with problems that we are contributing to. As for my own opinion: I'm willing to treat my bees, but I prefer to use nontoxic and low-invasiveness interventions. Powdering them with sugar (encourages grooming which removes mites and parasites) and using grease patties (natural grease mixed with peppermint oil which the mites hate, but the bees don't mind) seem pretty benign to me. I'm not willing to use hard chemical treatments, particularly since I'm not a commercial keeper - if my hive fails, I'm out a few bucks and I feel sad, but it's not my livelihood at stake. I don't think it's helpful to get angry at people who treat heavily, nor do I think those who choose not to treat are being stupid. I suspect that by having lots of beekeepers trying many different approaches, we're doing the best thing; whatever works best is most likely to succeed, and if something turns out to be very harmful, well, at least not everyone is doing it. And for the evolutionary/genetic pressure thing: I've studied genetics and evolution enough to know that it doesn't take a very high mortality rate to have a profound effect on population genetics. If you have bees which are genetically resistant to varroa and bees that are genetically vulnerable, a mortality rate difference between the two of just 1% is sufficient that resistant bees will become the majority in the population within a very short time. Totally eliminating the varroa-vulnerable genes, on the other hand, takes far longer and a larger discrepancy, especially if "vulnerability" is not the same as "100% fatal". As long as a large percentage of varroa-vulnerable gene-carrying bees survive each year anyway, the genes will remain in the population. This is all supposing that there is a gene or assemblage of genes which definitively determines varroa vulnerability, which is not certain. Alternatively, you could have a situaion analogous to sicle-cell in humans, where vulnerability is attached to genes which have a secondary advantage (malaria resistance), ensuring they will remain in the population at significant percentage. Say (just wildly speculating here) suppose varroa-resistant populations have genes which encourage spending lots of time grooming, but that this activity reduces the overall time foragers spend foraging, thus reducing the amount of food gathered on average compared to non-resistant bees. Ultimately my own conclusion is that there are good arguments for taking a non-invasive approach, and I'll prefer that for myself, but that anyone who stakes out a position of certainty in this matter is probably taking too extreme a position, given what we actually know (and by "know", I mean, have determined imperically via controlled experiment and scientific study, not "know" via practical but subjective experience and hearsay) about the issue.
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Sep 11, 2011 23:00
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Leperflesh posted:Thanks for sharing your pictures! I have urban bees in Philadelphia. Winters are not too bad here, at least compared to those in Wisconsin that I am used to. I have asked a couple more experienced people and it sounds like the double screen board will keep the bees warmer. If anyone has experience with this technique please post here or PM me, I am curious of your experiences as well as any thoughts as what I should do with the extra space. They don't have all of the frames filled out, so I am not sure if I should move all the finished frames to the middle and fill out the sides with dummy frames or something else. I just put a gallon of 2:1 sugar syrup on their hive so hopefully they can start to store that soon.
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Sep 13, 2011 01:50
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Any opinions on Apiguard? I bought some a year back, haven't used it yet, but plan on giving it a shot shortly. Aside from SHB still haven't found anything in my hives *knock on wood*, but I believe in the old adage about an ounce of prevention.
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Sep 13, 2011 15:40
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Raskolnikov2089 posted:Any opinions on Apiguard? I've already treated my bees with apiguard. Fingers crossed it does the job. I remember as a kid my parents losing their entire bee stock to varroa, I'm WAY too much of a worrier to not treat my little chums. I too would be interested to hear from folk who use it, this is my first year so I have no experience with it.
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Sep 13, 2011 18:36
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Did you do a mite count to check if you needed to treat first? I did the sticky board thing and two hive had no mites drop and three days and the other only had one. I was hoping not to treat since it was my first year and, assuming that test gave a semi-accurate estimate of mite population, I don't have to.
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Sep 13, 2011 20:00
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There's another mite control thing that we're trying this year. Varroa mites prefer drone cells (because they are bigger and the maturation rate is different). So, we bought and added to the hive a drone cell frame. The bees built it out a bit and this weekend we removed it from the hive, with the frame showing perhaps 50 or so "bullet" cells with drone larvae. Then the hard part... we stuck it in the freezer. You kill the drones, but the idea is that hopefully you've trapped a large percentage of the varroa in the hive, so the mite load should now be lower. I hate to kill bees, but supposedly this method works, and it's totally non-invasive, no chemicals or whatever. It'll be difficult to say whether it works or not - I mean, if the hive survives, it might have survived anyway, and if it doesn't, it might have failed despite removing varroa. But my wife wanted to try it so we are.
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Sep 13, 2011 20:38
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Hey everyone! I've been out of here for a while, but I've *finally* gotten to NYC. I live up around the northwest corner of central park. Any who, I joined a large community garden for veggie growing, and they were all "AUGH ALLERGIES" at the idea of a honey bee hive in the spring. I was disappointed, but not all that surprised. It's a pretty big garden, more like two-in-one compared to the other Green Thumbs and lots of the kids have members. I passed by another garden, much smaller, that only grows flowers and is only a block from my apartment. All of the members are older (there are maybe 7 in all) and three of them seemed really interested when I came in and chatted about it. They said they'll pass on the info to their president and I should hear back from them soon. So that's exciting!
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Sep 14, 2011 23:13
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I've just started beekeeping classes and my plan is to get a hive started this spring. We learned about the different bee races and I was wondering if people who have experience can tell me how much more aggressive Russians are than the Italians. Or any other races, I just think I would have trouble getting anything else around here. I have dogs and neighbor kids wandering around, I really don't want anyone stung if they happen to wander too close to the hive.
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Oct 9, 2011 01:51
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Uh oh. ENHANCE.  I'm way over the recommended mite count. Treating with Apiguard now.
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Oct 9, 2011 02:01
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rangergirl posted:I've just started beekeeping classes and my plan is to get a hive started this spring. We learned about the different bee races and I was wondering if people who have experience can tell me how much more aggressive Russians are than the Italians. Or any other races, I just think I would have trouble getting anything else around here. I have dogs and neighbor kids wandering around, I really don't want anyone stung if they happen to wander too close to the hive. Carniolans (that's the "russian" variety, from the caucasus) have a reputation for being a bit more aggressive than the more-common Italian bees. That said; I really think this comes out more when you're working the hive, rather than just random bystanders. Dogs learn very quickly to leave the bees alone, and it's unlikely anyone will be stung just from walking past the hive. You can get a bee tangled in your clothes if you wander through the beeline, though. The beeline being the main avenue the bees are taking to get out of the hive entrance and up into the air. A bee that gets in your hair or under a sleeve is more likely to sting. So, you'll want to place your hive in a way that the entrance isn't pointing right at a nearby pathway. One more thing: all bees can be more or less aggressive depending on conditions. If the hive is queenless, or is fighting off invading robber bees, or even is just dealing with the late-summer dearth (when nectar sources become scarce) may be more aggressive than normal. In contrast, bees that are cold, or gorged on honey (such as during a swarm), or are basically just happy with current conditions, will be more docile and tolerant of the presence of people, to the extent that many beekeepers open and work hives without wearing any safety equipment at all.
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Oct 9, 2011 05:01
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I have Russian bees and they seem to be really docile. I've also read in several bee books that Russians are the most docile of all the breeds...Ask 5 different beekeepers, get 5 different answers.
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Oct 9, 2011 07:21
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Maximusi posted:I have Russian bees and they seem to be really docile. I've also read in several bee books that Russians are the most docile of all the breeds...Ask 5 different beekeepers, get 5 different answers. I would like to get Russians just because they are supposed to be more hardy and if my beekeeping experience is anything like my other agricultural experiences I need to start with something hard to kill. I will have an electric fence around the hive, we have LOTS of bears in the area so I'm not terribly worried about anyone getting too close. My other question, which is kind of stupid, is if anyone with chickens has a problem with their birds eating bees/getting stung. I don't tend to see the chickens eat bees, but we don't have many bees around here really. They eat everything else that flies around...moths, dragonflies, horseflies. Are they smart enough to leave the bees alone? I know a couple of hens aren't going to wipe out a hive, I'm more worried about my little bantams getting some kind of reaction to a bee sting from trying to eat one.
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Oct 9, 2011 20:32
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For any of you NYC Beekeepers, we're hosting the next meeting of the Backwards Beekeepers of NYC meeting tomorrow, Thursday October 13th, at 61 Local. http://brooklynhomesteader.com/beekeeping/next_backwards_beekeepers_of_nyc_meeting_thurs_1013.html I'm going to be giving a talk on structured small cell regression and why it was a good idea for me and maybe you! I'm a founding member of the group, so I'll actually be at most meetings, but this talk is on a topic that I find particularly interesting. For you curious LA folks, we are related to, but independent from, the Backwards Beekeepers of LA. Kirk Anderson came out to swap tips and give his blessing, but we have our own practices and philosophies. Also, we're chill as gently caress. We accept that treatment is the right choice for some people. We just think its not the right choice for us, or the best option in the long run.
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Oct 12, 2011 15:45
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Just tucked all my hives up for winter. Took ages to put woolly hats and scarves onto all the bees! Fingered crossed I don't lose any, we're supposed to have a real lovely winter in the UK coming up 
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Oct 14, 2011 12:53
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So a lot of bees have been flying around the entrance and there's lots of bees clustered near the opening...I'm really worried that they're going to swarm but its way too late in the season to swarm! What the hell are they doing? I really gotta check the hive. Any thoughts?
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Oct 27, 2011 06:17
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Received my second sting ever (2 years as an apiarist, we only wear gloves and a veil). It was a stupid moment of panic, I felt tiny little insect legs under my glove and my natural reaction was to brush the bee away instead of just ignoring her. I glanced to make sure the stinger was gone, then immediately bent back to bee inspection. I felt rather awesome since I realize most non-beeks would have run for it by then.
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Oct 27, 2011 06:58
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FYI for anyone looking to get into beekeeping or needs to order a bunch of stuff. This coming Monday Brushy Mountain has free shipping on orders over $100 and 10% off some things. I know that Mann Lake always has free shipping for over $100, but their catalogs and prices do not necessarily match. Lets you comparison shop, at least. Cyber Monday: Cyber Monday is the internet's response to Black Friday at the brick and mortar stores and is always the Monday after Thanksgiving (November 28). No long lines, no rushing, just the comfort of your keyboard and mouse. This year we are offering free shipping anywhere in the lower 48 states as well as at least 10% Off on all items in the "Holiday Gift Ideas" section of our site. Here is the fine print: orders must to over $100 to qualify; excluded from the free shipping are buckets of corn syrup, honey, glass jars, and truck shipments; to get the free shipping and special prices, you must enter PCCM into the promotion code field of the cart. Once the code is entered the special pricing will be visible.
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Nov 23, 2011 18:27
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I know it's a bit early to prep for this year. But I bought a house in Sept last year and finally have space to keep bees! I just acquired and constructed the first of hopefully two hives. Anyone else prepping for first time keeping this year?
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Jan 11, 2012 20:03
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I'm very interested in starting this year, but just not sure I have the time with other projects. One big obstacle is not having a proper fence built already.
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Jan 11, 2012 20:11
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Depending on your climate, now is a good time to start prepping. My local beekeeper outfit (Beekind in Sebastopol, CA) started accepting orders for package bees this month (they arrive beginning in April), for example. If you're going to assemble your own hive parts, now is the time to order them and start nailing stuff together. It's also not a bad time to get into touch with your local beekeeper association if you haven't already. Cpt.Wacky, do you actually need a fence? Is your hive going in a back yard, or somewhere else? Check your local ordinances (if you care about following them), sometimes it's just x feet from the property line or whatever. It's a good idea to raise the subject with your neighbors ahead of time, if you're ever going to. You can get them used to the idea and find out up front if they're going to freak out about it, don't care, or are enthusiastic supporters.
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Jan 11, 2012 20:48
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I'll check on the ordinances, that's a good idea. I want a fence to keep it out of sight in the backyard, and I also remember reading that it was good to force bees to fly higher to avoid problems with people. My neighbors will probably be either OK with it or indifferent. I do get a lot of foot traffic in the alley with retired folks out walking, some with dogs, so I'd like to avoid problems. I want the fence for other reasons too. What is a rough estimate of time required for 1 or 2 hives? Like daily maintenance and some seasonal tasks?
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Jan 11, 2012 21:41
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There's no "daily" maintenance. At certain times of the year, you'll want to spend a half hour or so every weekend for inspection. When you are harvesting honey, you'll want to block out a full day. During winter when they're buttoned up and (not exactly) hibernating, and at times during the summer, checking on them every two or three weeks is plenty. If there is a problem - you need to treat a disease, you have an imminent (or actual) swarm, you need to re-queen, etc. - then you might suddenly need to spend a couple of hours at any time. The reality of this though is that you can spend a lot of time being fussy and hovering over it like a worried mom, but basically the bees take care of themselves most of the time and you can also just leave them alone for a month and probably not have any issues. In that respect I think it's a fairly low-impact hobby that is very tolerant of a small amount of neglect. You can plan to take a vacation, pick a weekend for harvesting that suits your own schedule, skip an inspection for a couple of weeks, etc. and be OK. And of course, you might lose the hive regardless. That happened to us. The good thing - although it's distressing - is that this isn't all that expensive to deal with. Most of the cost in beekeeping is the equipment. A package of bees with a queen is like $100, so worst case scenario, you lose the hive and re-populate it when you can next order a package and you're OK. (Admittedly there are one or two diseases that can force you to have to burn your hive boxes and frames, but they're pretty rare.) \/\/\/ e. Yeah, frames are cheap so we always have extras. If you leave big empty gaps in your boxes, the bees fill it with comb that you'll then have to cut out, and if the comb is full of something (honey, brood) it will be a messy process that might upset the bees. Better to avoid that altogether. Having spare frames and maybe even a spare medium box is a good idea as well if the bees happen to be super-productive but you don't have time to harvest - throw another box on and let them fill that for a while until you next get a chance to steal all their honey. Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 23:01 on Jan 11, 2012 |
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Jan 11, 2012 22:53
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I like to have a person help me harvest because the boxes are extremely heavy and awkward to carry. Otherwise, very little maintenance. Make sure you either have extra frames or you replace the frames back in the box after harvesting or you will be very sorry.
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Jan 11, 2012 22:58
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Does anybody, particularly in the UK, have an opinion on polystyrene hives? I've been looking at them as they're considerably cheaper than a wooden option and they seem durable. Apologies if this has been discussed before, I skimmed the last few pages and didn't see anything.
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Jan 19, 2012 17:14
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