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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. I built a kenya top bar hive based on bush farms plans last month. It cost around $25 and since it uses top bars, the bees must build their own comb. This approach is not going to maximize honey production but it is more natural. So far I have my new hive baited, and we are hoping somebody finds a swarm soon (we would like local wild bees if possible). So basically I have no experience with top bar hives except for building them. Get on youtube and search for conrad berube, he works top bar hives with africanized bees very calmly (disclaimer: wear your gear with africanized bees!). Our langstroth hive in salt lake city is doing really great. I never wear any equipment working the hive and I have not been stung yet. We have minnesota hygienic bees which are bred to kill foul brood before the mites can get started up in the hive. About kids and bees? I have kids and bees, no major issues yet. My 1.5yr old was stung before we installed our bees and she is more cautious since, she had to pinch it to death to make it sting her.
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Jun 17, 2009 19:34
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Socratic Moron posted:On my land there is a hive of bees that lives under a mattress. How viable is it for me to build or buy some bee boxes like I see under orchards and get them to move into the new home? How DO you entice bees to move? My wife is currently scheming on how to get out there and work with those very bees using home built beehives-I showed her your hawaii thread last night. Not sure how she's going to pull that trip off yet. If you want plans to make your own hives for cheap: http://www.bushfarms.com/beestopbarhives.htm
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Jun 17, 2009 19:58
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Salt_Phoenix posted:Maximusi: Why are you still feeding your bees? Where in the world do you live that they still need food? Are you feeding them regular processed white sugar syrup? Maybe they are aggressive because of THAT. Plain white processed sugar isn't a good diet for anyone, including bees. I can't imagine a strict diet for months of the stuff. Feeding them is something that should be done SPARINGLY in the spring, if at all. Honey of course is better for them, but who can afford that? I used unbleached, raw, organic sugar syrup. Then only for the first week. Feeding is pretty standard when you get a package of bees because they need to build out their comb, and prepare a place for the queen to start laying. I have read people esimate on beesource that they believe it takes most bees around 3lb of sugar to build 1lb of comb. However if you're still feeding them when they've started working in the supers, in my opinion you don't even have real honey. I read one recommendation yesterday on helping with burr comb between hive boxes. When you're adding additional honey supers, add them underneath the existing honey super. Some people claim the bees notice the foundation quicker when they are working down than up, and build less comb between the boxes. Like you said, I agree that the way to address the extra comb in the brood boxes is to only disturb it if you have to, one of those aspects of "lazy beekeeping".
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Jul 1, 2009 15:44
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Ghostnuke posted:This might be a stupid question, but how do you plan on getting the honey out? I'm guessing most people don't have access to one of those giant industrial spinners. How do homegrown people get the honey out efficiently? Right now we're just eating comb honey. We pull the frame out and use a spatula, or just use it out of the frame. The beeswax is edible and doesn't bother me at all. When I get bees for the top bar hive, that's how I'll get it then too, except you just cut the whole comb off the top bar. You can crush and strain the honey if you want the wax out. The bees will have to build new comb next year. We do know somebody with an extractor, and may join them when they have it out later this year (so it only needs to be cleaned well once). However right now we're clearing out some frames because I'm going to have to buy another super otherwise, and because the honey is awesome and amazingly unique--even from honey made 10 miles away. It ended up amazingly light for wild honey, we are wondering if it is cherry blossom honey in the frame we harvested because we have an extremely huge cherry tree. EDIT: At work I have a jar of the comb honey and people have been coming by and trying it... Most of the people so far have never had wax in their honey, none of them seemed to mind it at all either. adept fucked around with this message at 17:50 on Jul 8, 2009 |
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Jul 8, 2009 17:38
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topenga posted:I wish I weren't so afraid of bees sometimes. They'll probably find a home soon, hopefully in a natural home like inside a tree. The downside to this is if they try to set up shop in somebody's roof eaves who doesn't like honeybees, that person might get an exterminator. You can call a local bee club and they will be extremely happy to come get some bees as long as they're really honeybees. It sounds like a honeybee swarm to me--they are waiting there for reports back from the scouts who are currently searching for a good home. The bees use the most experienced foraging workers as scouts because they know the area best.
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Jul 14, 2009 21:29
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topenga posted:Nope. I hit another bee resource type site today and supposedly it's very hard to find beekeepers to take bees in Texas (and the rest of the southwest). Wow, $200 is more than half the cost to start bee keeping. I wish people were begging me to take colonies here in Utah. I have seen pictures of bees setting up shop in the open before but it is not common.
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Aug 4, 2009 23:41
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But I don't think they'll kill them. I'm waiting on a call back to set up an inspection.
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melodywise posted:
Another idea similar to the popsicle stick is a paint stick if it will fit in the groove, since it is even larger. Personally I'm just going to use the same kind of comb guides as I put in my top bar hives because I have them mostly ready and they seem really nice. They are little wooden triangles around 1" wide on the largest side and as long as the inside of the frame. I attach them to the frame by predrilling the frame then putting a screw through the top of the frame down into the comb guide... I really like the result but it's probably not worth the trouble. I don't even own a table saw, and I have to borrow one to make this comb guide triangle (right now I just have some left over that I'm going to use on the batch of foundationless frames that arrived yesterday). Michael Bush seems to have some good ideas, I liked his top bar plans okay and he goes into depth on foundationless in this link. http://www.bushfarms.com/beesfoundationless.htm We also just received a 1.5" honey gate to make bottling quicker. Last time we harvested 6 frames and found that I had put far too narrow a spigot on the bucket and it did not pour nearly fast enough (this is a huge understatement, I was foolish to even try it). Maybe a full open 3/4" spigot would have worked but the one I tried was smaller. Melody, have you had many bad experiences at Jones Bees? I am ordering gear now because the lady is always rude to me.
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Aug 5, 2009 15:56
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topenga posted:Oh god, don't tell me that. This guy is coming from San Antonio (I'm in Austin), so I am more than happy to pay for his gas and his time. Seriously, if these little guys didn't scare the ever loving crap out of me, I'd keep a hive. Everyone I talked to said that there hive location was very weird. And it just got back into the triple digits again. I half expect to see wax dripping any day now. You can spend $200 on a beekeeping suit actually, we just didn't... So far it is working out but it could be more of a concern in africanized land. The $400 basic setup I was referring to is more like this: 2 hive options: - $25-40 materials cost DIY Kenya Top Bar Hive-this takes time but you have bees now. There are also quick cheap hive options that are not designed to harvest honey from but I don't think you're even allowed to use them in Utah. Removable frames are a requirement I think? - $200 traditional bee hive from the bee store $120 Misc (Smoker/fuel, basic veil, gloves, bee brush, hive tool, sugar) $70 3lb package of bees $0-30 crush and strain honey harvesting setup Another concern about taking the project up yourself is needing to cut combs and wire them onto frames or top bars to get that comb into the hive. I have not done it yet myself and when I do that could be the day I find out I want a better beekeeping suit. It could be a scary task if you haven't had some time to get used to tons of bees flying around you. Maximusi posted:Not recently, but there's tiny eggs. I know she's there, I'm just wondering if the bees think she's not preforming up to par. I think my queen is mediocre. I've had this hive since April 26 and they still haven't filled all the frames of both boxes. I believe our bee inspector works for the state department of agriculture. Maybe you could start there. I know that some bee inspectors would rather devote their time to people who have questions and need help than randomly doing inspections, so you should try to contact them rather than wait in my opinion. adept fucked around with this message at 16:22 on Aug 5, 2009 |
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Aug 5, 2009 16:19
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melodywise posted:I like that triangle guide idea, I think I may build something up as soon as I get my hive over to my new house. Who wants to help transport a hive? Yeah, we aren't really happy about the selection there either but it's the customer service issues that will stop me from going back. As far as alternatives, Lee Knight in Lehi sells bee packages and we have been extremely happy with those bees (we got the minnesota hygienic bees). Lee was helpful and friendly. I would not be surprised if there is demand for another small bee store in the salt lake valley, we have wondered about the same thing.
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Aug 5, 2009 18:50
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walrusman posted:I checked my bees last night, and was also somewhat disappointed at their (lack of) progress. I guess the local beekeeping club's timeline was accurate when it said honey flow stopped at the end of July; that would definitely coincide with my observations. The last time I checked them, which must be at least two weeks ago, they had almost filled the first super, and made virtually no progress on the top one. Bumping the frames firmly against something hard helps knock bees off the frame (watch youtube for this). Then we brush the last few off (I think you brush in an upward motion?), and put the frame in a bin, and close it... Repeat for the rest of the frames. The rubbermaid bin I was using would have only held 4 frames properly and was not doing well by the time I put 6 in, there's probably a better way or I need a better bin. I smoked the bees kinda heavily last time we harvested and I think it made tons of them start eating honey, more than I had ever seen eating honey. I will be trying less smoke next time, hopefully enough to make them docile but not so much that every single bee in the hive is trying to gorge itself on honey. I think it made it harder to clear bees off the frames. And even when I smoked heavily, there are a few bees insisting on buzzing my ears and hair constantly, which is very different from early in the season. T-shirts are way better than polo shirts for this job if you don't wear gear, the bees get caught in my collars and I end up finishing the job shirtless. adept fucked around with this message at 22:27 on Aug 6, 2009 |
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Aug 6, 2009 22:25
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SaltPhoenix pulled 10 frames of honey last night, we pulled from the bottom super because we REALLY liked the springtime honey. Our bees were acting very very protective and SaltPhoenix was stung 5 times while trying to clear the frames off. I guess shorts/tshirt are a bad idea for the honey harvest--she added gloves after the 3rd sting. She said that the bees that stung her weren't even like the "angry bees" I come across buzzing your ears and hair, they went straight for the sting. I was near the hive but a couple feet away, watching our daughter. I got to participate more with shaking bees off the frames last harvest, I believe my daughter was asleep. Without any veil or gloves and the bees getting extra protective at this point in the season, I didn't mind sitting it out. After we brought the frames inside, I got my first sting of the season, probably from a bee caught in my clothes. This harvest looks like 30lbs, which is what a shallow super should hold. To hold the brushed off honey frames, we used an extra shallow super with a towel wrapped around it to prevent bees from getting back into them. It worked much better than a plastic bin. We forgot the foundationless frame in the other super and want to pull that one out soon. After clearing 10 frames off while the bees are more protective, we are considering a bee escape board to mostly clear the bees out of the super before we go out to harvest. You put the board underneath the super(s) you are going to harvest and give them 2-24 hours to clear out. Deluxe bee escape board: https://www.dadant.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=31_56&products_id=482 Basic escape to be installed on an inner cover: https://www.dadant.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=31_56&products_id=480
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Aug 10, 2009 18:37
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Maximusi posted:Do you guys have any 'tricks' to make the bees draw comb on the super? Mine's been there a whole month, and still no progress whatsoever. I really want to put a frame of bees in there, that really helped draw out the second brood box. The problem is that the frames are too big for the super. Are you using a queen excluder?
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Aug 10, 2009 18:59
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Maximusi posted:Yeah, I've read a lot of arguments whether or not it's a honey excluder so I don't know what to think. I'm glad you've already had a chance to see the debate on those... The queen excluder is the first thing I thought of when you described how the bees are reluctant to start drawing comb in the super, but I don't have personal experience with excluders. I've never seen any brood in the supers and we do not use a queen excluder.
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Aug 10, 2009 22:02
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Simkin posted:I've got queen excluders on both my hives, but it really does seem to be keeping the bees from branching out. The bottom two supers are just crammed with bees, but there's only a dozen or so enterprising workers at any one time crawling around in the top super. Wow... It would take some serious queen problems before I would try one of those, I haven't really heard much positive about those queen excluders. I might even replace the queen on a hive before using an excluder if I did have problems with where she lays eggs.
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Aug 11, 2009 17:29
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walrusman posted:I'm using an excluder and they don't seem to mind it. It took them a day or two to get used to it, but they made honey just fine. This is the first I've really heard about excluders causing problems. There is definitely some debate on this subject so it does come down to what works for you. Some beekeepers will tell you that queen excluders work fine, but you get less honey, and then some other beekeepers might overhear that and come stab them in the face for assaulting their beliefs but if you ask me those aren't very nice beekeepers and you should probably run away. My approach is to not use an excluder until it becomes apparent that I need one. Since it's really easy to tell brood from honey, and I've never seen brood in the supers, it appears I don't need one so far. EDIT: Last year before we got a hive, I had looked at a couple websites and made an assumption that you HAVE to use a queen excluder. I wasn't corrected until my wife took a class where the professor went into her own preferences. adept fucked around with this message at 18:28 on Aug 11, 2009 |
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Aug 11, 2009 18:23
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Chajara posted:Mother Earth News has an article on top-bar hives: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/Top-Bar-Beekeeping-Method.aspx I can verify that they're easy to build, made a top bar hive a few months ago from the instructions on bushbees.com. Next year hopefully I'll get some experience keeping bees in them compared to the conventional/langstroth hives. Watch Conrad Berube's videos on youtube if you want to see how the frames are handled in a top bar.
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Sep 21, 2009 22:12
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Ishamael posted:I am very interested in that top-bar method. I have read some articles saying that the box hives promote a larger-cell build, which makes the bees more susceptible to disease/mites, etc. Not sure of the science behind that, but the simplicity of the top-bar hive definitely appeals to me. It's the foundation that is commonly used which defines the bee size, not the hive type. Somebody with a commercial hive can pull their frame foundations out and put some comb guides in so the bees build comb the correct direction, and they will have a similar result of "natural bee size", no different than the natural comb size in a kenya top bar as I understand it. Commercial beekeepers actually want that foundation (you can order it in different sizes) to keep their bees large which keeps lots of honey rolling in--these are the beekeepers most affected by colony collapse and other bee diseases from what I have read. Maybe it's because they're greedy fucks! EDIT: I should go a bit further into this point, unnaturally large bees are very susceptible to varroa mites specifically, so then the commercial beekeeper starts insisting on medicating the bees and a bunch of other stupid things. Where the Kenya Top Bar Hive seems to really shine is the cheap cost to build, the easy construction, and very basic construction materials. adept fucked around with this message at 22:24 on Sep 21, 2009 |
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Sep 21, 2009 22:21
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I wouldn't harvest more than a super at a time. That's over 25lbs of honey usually! Like TouchyMcFeely pointed out, your seasons and harvesting are going to be very different... If we tried keeping bees in Utah with the hive you have, we couldn't take any honey (at least in the fall) since you have the minimum recommended hive size to overwinter here (2 deep hive bodies). It makes sense that yours doesn't need to be as large with no winter. I'd suggest talking to more local beekeepers if you can (maybe the locals will explain that one deep hive body is enough in Hawaii?). Without any additional advice, I would simply harvest that top super over and over again as soon as all of the frames are capped. Crush and strain harvesting is great for doing a single super or even less frames (feel free to harvest a single if it's capped). About needed processing, I have read that freezing your honey overnight can get rid of wax mites, but we don't do this. That also applies to your frames. I don't know anything about wax mites, just that I ignore these precautions currently.
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Sep 28, 2009 19:17
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walrusman posted:The second batch of wax actually turned out a little lighter than this one, which is odd. Maybe the second render session had something to do with it. Now I need to start looking for lip balm and candle recipes. Does anyone have any advice as far as that goes? You probably won't have enough wax to make many candles but your wax will go a long way for lip balm. I like really absorbent oils like shea butter in lip balms, it instantly turns your lips soft and the wax coats your lips to keep them protected... And I think essential oils worked pretty well to scent balm. You'll probably need a firmer oil too if you use shea butter, can't remember if coconut is a good choice for balm. It's been around 5 years, we made some lip balm because we had extra supplies from soapmaking. So it's a kinda blurry recollection.
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Oct 6, 2009 16:15
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