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Becktastic posted:That's awesome! I am concerned about my notably bitchy neighbors. They called the cops on our "party" (re: about 10 people playing Rock Band at 8pm) Keep us posted how this works out for you. I am also in Tucson and am considering starting my own hive next year when I have a backyard... stupid apartments...
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Mar 27, 2009 01:14
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Zquargon posted:Keep us posted how this works out for you. I am also in Tucson and am considering starting my own hive next year when I have a backyard... stupid apartments... Its easy to find a place for hives. I am not going to keep mine at my house (rental, and will be moving half way through the summer to another rental). Ask around, someone with a garden would love to have your bees in their yard. I was complaining about not being able to keep bees at my place and I had two of the chemistry professors on my floor competing against one another to get to have the bees on their property. Crazy Armed Pilot
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Mar 27, 2009 05:26
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Crazy Armed Pilot posted:Its easy to find a place for hives. I am not going to keep mine at my house (rental, and will be moving half way through the summer to another rental). Ask around, someone with a garden would love to have your bees in their yard. I was complaining about not being able to keep bees at my place and I had two of the chemistry professors on my floor competing against one another to get to have the bees on their property. So what's the updated scoop on when we get to go out to Silverton and pick up these bees? Can we take the little truck or we going to have to put them in the passenger compartment of one of our cars? 
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Mar 27, 2009 06:16
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walrusman posted:So what's the updated scoop on when we get to go out to Silverton and pick up these bees? Can we take the little truck or we going to have to put them in the passenger compartment of one of our cars? Your too drat lazy to call me?  Well they are supposed to be ready around the 1st. I am kind of planning on either taking my hive to him on Sunday or Tuesday. I am going to take it in my car, but when he calls to pick them up, I am planning on taking the pickup truck. I imagine I can pick yours up too and drop it off on the way back to Corvallis. This reminds me through that I have not bought our smokers or hats yet. I think I have the stuff to make a hat so I need to get off my rear end and do that or fork out the   to buy one.Are you going to have any time to hit the Bee store in Eugene on a weekday before Wednesday? I would tomorrow, but I am going skiing and will be in Eugene before they open, and after they close tomorrow. Crazy Armed Pilot Crazy Armed Pilot fucked around with this message at 06:35 on Mar 27, 2009 |
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Mar 27, 2009 06:30
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Crazy Armed Pilot posted:Its easy to find a place for hives. I am not going to keep mine at my house (rental, and will be moving half way through the summer to another rental). Ask around, someone with a garden would love to have your bees in their yard. I was complaining about not being able to keep bees at my place and I had two of the chemistry professors on my floor competing against one another to get to have the bees on their property. I would do that, except I recently picked up blacksmithing and all my tools for that are being kept in someone else's yard. It's not a big deal, except it bugs me every time I have to go somewhere else to play with my things. I imagine I would get just as irritated going somewhere else to check on my hives.
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Mar 28, 2009 19:06
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If we have someone that comes and sprays pesticides every month or so in our backyard, could this be harmful to the bees? I live in California, and if we don't have this done, hundreds of spiders/ants invade our house in the summer and winter. We really want to start a hive, but I don't know if we can now.
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Mar 28, 2009 22:49
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Maximusi posted:If we have someone that comes and sprays pesticides every month or so in our backyard, could this be harmful to the bees? I live in California, and if we don't have this done, hundreds of spiders/ants invade our house in the summer and winter. We really want to start a hive, but I don't know if we can now. According to Beekeeping for Dummies as long as your given prior warning so that the day of the spraying you can put a bed sheet soaked in water over the hive that touches the ground (so as to stop most of the bees from going out that day) and remove it the following morning after the spraying is done. They also suggest you register your bees since most companies will check the list of bee keepers and call you before they spray.
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Mar 31, 2009 01:10
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Okay, how do you all feed your bees. I have been told to use inverted sugar only, and then today at the bee store they said use whatever sugar was cheap, kind didn't matter. My bees are going to need to build out a bunch of comb, and I have a top mounted feeder to keep them rolling in sugar water. How do you feed your bees this time of the year? Crazy Armed Pilot
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Mar 31, 2009 20:37
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I am hella excited! I go to pick up my bees TOMORROW. Pictures to follow soon (I hope). ETA: Okay, my guy is so unorgonized, he actually wants my box so he can put them in next week, but this is what he emailed me: Bee Guy posted:give me a call XXX XXX XXXX. You can bring your equipment and ill install the nucs for you. Crazy Armed Pilot Crazy Armed Pilot fucked around with this message at 18:15 on Apr 2, 2009 |
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Apr 2, 2009 05:56
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drat. I don't get my box of angry bees until the 18th. Regarding what to feed and when - this page seems to be pretty helpful on that subject.
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Apr 2, 2009 14:48
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Crazy Armed Pilot and I took our boxes out to our local box-of-angry-bees dealer today, to be filled with angry bees sometime in the next week. The guy showed us around his operation and let us watch him queen a few hives with some fancy Hawaiian queens. CAP and I were unscathed in our regular shoes, jeans, t-shirts, fleece jackets and fancy hoods while fellow goon hedgiejugglr, tagging along for the afternoon, managed to get stung despite wearing some borrowed pro gear. CAP took some pictures that he'll probably post before too long. Tomorrow I have to head back out to crazy bee-land to drop off four gallons of sugar syrup, so that our precious bees have something to eat in their shiny new home.
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Apr 3, 2009 07:12
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I've been making sugar syrup all afternoon. I bet you didn't know that twenty pounds of sugar could easily be dissolved in three gallons of water, did you? I hope three gallons is enough because I am loving DONE with making this sticky bullshit. Now I have to take it out to crazy bee dude and hope the jugs don't rupture in my car.
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Apr 3, 2009 22:59
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walrusman posted:hope the jugs don't rupture in my car. Just put the bees in there they will clean it up 
Crazy Armed Pilot
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Apr 3, 2009 23:33
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Crazy Armed Pilot posted:Just put the bees in there they will clean it up They're so helpful.  Post those pics of us dressed up like idiots.
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Apr 4, 2009 01:05
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walrusman posted:Post those pics of us dressed up like idiots. But I look like an idiot... hedgiejugglr  walrusman  CAP/walrusman  ETA: Anyone want that boat in the background, he tried to sell one of his five that we saw to walrusman and I, but we declined. Crazy Armed Pilot Crazy Armed Pilot fucked around with this message at 01:47 on Apr 4, 2009 |
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Apr 4, 2009 01:45
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Crazy Armed Pilot posted:ETA: Anyone want that boat in the background, he tried to sell one of his five that we saw to walrusman and I, but we declined. 1) no place to store a boat 2) nowhere to use a boat 3) no vehicle to tow the boat from (1) to (2) 4) no particular desire to own a boat 5) spent all my money on bees anyway
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Apr 4, 2009 18:11
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I had some honey ice cream yesterday after my run. OH MY GOD, I want my drat box of angry bees! This summer at work is going to rule, liquid nitrogen honey ice cream! Crazy Armed Pilot
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Apr 6, 2009 17:56
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Random question: does anyone have any experience of keeping bees and also having children? Neither is an issue for me at the moment but I was always curious if there were any concerns.
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Apr 11, 2009 21:01
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tuckfard posted:Random question: does anyone have any experience of keeping bees and also having children? Neither is an issue for me at the moment but I was always curious if there were any concerns. No real concerns beyond the same concerns adults have as far as I know. Crazy, since you're starting a hive fresh this year, are you doing any medicating with the new hive? I'll be picking up my box of bees next weekend and wasn't sure if I should have medication on hand before they arrive or not. Also, any updates? You've had your hive installed for what, like a week now? Done any inspections, how was the install process, anything other rookies should know before they make the jump?
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Apr 12, 2009 15:37
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I ran across something interesting regarding cell sizes. Some folks are claiming that wild bees build much smaller cells than the typical size found on pressed foundation. The argument is that the larger sized cells result in larger bees but it also promotes mite infestation. These guys (I've also come across posts of theirs on the Beesource forums) are the folks making the claim. They recommend using foundationless frames and allowing the bees to return to their natural cell size. I have 1 piece plastic frames and am thinking about cutting out the foundation and giving the foundation free framing a shot. I have enough frames that I could experiment with a single deep to see how it works out. If things go horribly wrong I can swap out the foundation free frames with the normal plastic ones. Hopefully I won't kill my colony doing it this way but I think it's worth the risk to avoid using any harsh chemicals.
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Apr 15, 2009 01:51
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I've just finished helping my father build a couple of national hives, when is a good time to put them outside, we won't be getting the bees for a few weeks yet?
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Apr 15, 2009 10:45
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TouchyMcFeely posted:I ran across something interesting regarding cell sizes. Some folks are claiming that wild bees build much smaller cells than the typical size found on pressed foundation. The argument is that the larger sized cells result in larger bees but it also promotes mite infestation. From what I understand, smaller cells make smaller bees (duh). However, smaller bees mature a few days quicker, which means the mite embryos don't have as much time to mature in the cells alongside the bees, which leads to mite populations that increase more slowly. If the bees also have hygienic behavior, then the bees and mites can live together in the hive without the mites getting out of control and killing the colony. You can check out the info here and make your own foundationless hives. Then, when your bees try to swarm this spring, you can split the hive and move half the bees into the new hive. I have two of these hives sitting in my shed - they're just waiting for the bees to arrive this weekend. Maybe I'll start a thread on top-bar hives this fall, and let everyone know how it went.
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Apr 16, 2009 18:40
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TouchyMcFeely posted:Crazy, since you're starting a hive fresh this year, are you doing any medicating with the new hive? The advice to me was not to. I am starting to get pissed, this fucker hasn't called me to pick up my box-o-angry-bees yet  Walrusman, I am going to have to send you over there to see wtf is going on. Crazy Armed Pilot
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Apr 17, 2009 05:55
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Crazy Armed Pilot posted:The advice to me was not to. Call him. If he keeps being a dick, I can go jack some of those drums of honey. I might need to borrow your forklift...
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Apr 17, 2009 07:16
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Is this why there has been naught but teasing in this thread and no drat PICTURES?!
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Apr 17, 2009 15:37
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landis posted:Is this why there has been naught but teasing in this thread and no drat PICTURES?! Yeah, basically. We were supposed to have our nucs by LAST Friday, at the latest. This guy is giving CAP and me some major box o' bees blue balls. 
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Apr 17, 2009 15:46
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And I get to go pick mine up tomorrow so nyah! Although I probably won't have any pictures since all of my friends are giant sissies and don't want to go. I did get my hive all setup today and fenced in to keep my dogs out. All I need now are bees and I should be good to go. edit: oh, and it turns out Harbor Freight has those pierce resistant nitrile gloves. So if you're interested in getting some here ya' go. TouchyMcFeely fucked around with this message at 19:25 on Apr 17, 2009 |
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Apr 17, 2009 19:05
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Picture time! I didn't get any shots of the warehouse where they were distributing the boxes but jesus christ, I have never seen or heard so many bees before. It was awesome and terrifying.  Click here for the full 2000x1500 image. I noticed the bees on the outside of the box but didn't have a way to brush them off. Sure, what's an hour drive on the highway with bees loose in the car? They all stayed put until about 10 minutes from home but then only 2 or 3 were hanging out on the rear window.  Click here for the full 1800x1350 image.  Click here for the full 2000x1500 image. Here is the installed queen. The little black bit hanging from the bottom is a hollow plastic tube with wax. I had to push that in when I took the queen out of the larger box.  Click here for the full 1500x1125 image. The tin can is full of sugar water to feed the colony while they're in the box. I had to remove the queen then quickly put the can back on the hole to prevent the entire box from swarming on the queen.  Click here for the full 1500x1125 image. So how do you get the bees into the hive? You turn the box upside down and shake!  Click here for the full 1125x1500 image. There's still plenty of bees in the box but they all made their way to the hive after a few hours. So there ya' go. Not the best pictures but it's a bit difficult to snap shots, work the bees and not piss your pants all at the same time. TouchyMcFeely fucked around with this message at 19:22 on Apr 19, 2009 |
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Apr 19, 2009 19:14
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TouchyMcFeely posted:Picture time! My hero. When I move I might try and hide a hive behind the shed, let them do their thing in peace.
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Apr 19, 2009 20:38
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drat, the glory whore I am wanted to be the first to post bee-pictures I need to drive to my bee-dealer and beat his rear end. Where the gently caress are my bees!!!! (I had store bought honey on my pancakes this morning, so I am a little depressed.) Crazy Armed Pilot
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Apr 19, 2009 21:15
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TouchyMcFeely posted:frickin' finally Is it just me or are bees ridiculously adorable (except when they're  ).
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Apr 20, 2009 14:28
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TouchyMcFeely posted:Picture time!
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Apr 20, 2009 14:33
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Ashcans posted:Just to be clear, you didn't get stung during any of this process? Including the up-ending-bees-into-hive part? What were you wearing in terms of gear? Nope, not a single sting. As far as gear, I was wearing a jacket with built-in veil and nitrile gloves. Nothing too spectacular or out of the ordinary. The bees really were easy to install although they did make a hell of a lot of noise when they hit the top of the frames. I actually took some video but don't know where to host to share. They're more geared towards my friends/family who think I'm insane but you get a pretty decent idea of what an active hive sounds like.
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Apr 20, 2009 15:49
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How loud is the sound of the bee hive? I'm getting my Russian bees on saturday, so I'll try to post some pictures of when I install them.
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Apr 20, 2009 22:58
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Maximusi posted:How loud is the sound of the bee hive? I'm getting my Russian bees on saturday, so I'll try to post some pictures of when I install them. When you first install them it's pretty friggin' loud. It was actually kind of neat early yesterday morning. I didn't see any bees anywhere so I went and stuck my head next to the hive. I could hear a low buzzing so I knew they were still in there and once the sun hit their hive they started coming out and taking off.
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Apr 20, 2009 23:10
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The picture of the bees in your car is both interesting and terrifying. I would've sweated through my clothes and probably the seats. I guess the outside bees were probably wondering how to get back inside.
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Apr 21, 2009 15:48
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Well, CAP and I went last night (FINALLY) and picked up our bees. We snuck in under cover of darkness, threw the two boxes in the bed of his pickup, tossed an envelope of money in the cab of a dilapidated pickup and sped away into the night. CAP took some pictures and I'll be taking some more when I head out to check on them, so look forward to some awesome pictures in a little while.
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Apr 22, 2009 20:24
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What's the latest one can start beekeeping in the season? I really wanted to try this, this year but I won't be able to find time until finals are over, which is the 27th. Am I poo poo outta luck this year? I live in Michigan and do a nice big garden every year and really want bees too.
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Apr 22, 2009 23:06
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Time wise you should still be OK. Your biggest problem will probably be finding a beekeeper that has starter boxes or nuc available. Can't hurt to find out though.
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Apr 22, 2009 23:08
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Here we see my beehive in its natural habitat: my backyard.  Well hello there.  Let's pop you open and take a look inside, shall we?  This is the feeder that Crazy Armed Pilot and I have used so far. The bee dealer said they didn't like it too much, but your mileage may vary. They seem to be pretty content with it so far, insofar as they've eaten all the syrup from it. They're pretty much self-reliant at this point, but I think I'll keep the feeder in the stack for a little while longer.  They've already made some comb on the feeder bottom. Hi friends!  As you can see, the four dark frames are the frames of brood that the dealer put in as part of the nucleus hive. He said since they didn't take too kindly to the style of feeder that we used, he also had to add some extra bees after the fact. Whatever, they all look like bees to me. As you can kind of see, they are expanding out quite handily, and they've already started drawing out comb on the second frame to the left, and the second to the right as well. My bees kick rear end. They get that from me. When those frames start getting close to full, I'll slap another deep on top, and see what happens then. Today when I inspected the hive, I wore a fleece jacket and jeans with a pull-over hood and some nitrile gloves that I guess CAP probably stole from a lab someplace. I didn't bother to smoke them; I figured that early in the morning, they'd be docile. I was right, until I started trying to pull frames to look at them; then they got pissed, and very defensive. My next step is going to be to learn how to use the smoker. After that, buying some gloves I trust is probably in order. As it was, I was only able to partially pull a couple frames. However, they seemed to be doing fine, so that's good news. This is just a pretty picture of bees, so here ya go.  Happy beekeeping!
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Apr 24, 2009 18:13
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