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CuddleChunks posted:Get them together and release an album apparently: hahaha that's hilarious. those aren't even bees. adept is my husband. My hive is doing well. I have both deeps and one shallow on already. I took a beekeeping class in the winter, rc'd my bees the same time as op. No chems. I'm looking forward to using the top bar hive and converting to all natural beekeeping. You really don't need much space, and they are very gentle, as you can see here with my kids watching very close:  Here is the video that adept shot of me installing the package. I second Conrad Berube's videos and info as well.
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Jun 18, 2009 07:21
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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? I would definitely put out some hives on the property and bait them with lemongrass oil. You will eventually get a swarm or two. However, get a local beekeeper to show you how to do a trap-out or cut-out from the mattress. Good skills to have. I'll come do it myself, if we can pitch a tent on your property. :-)
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Jun 18, 2009 22:49
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I just came in from opening my hive after weeks of rain. I have a shallow super FULL OF HONEY!!! Half of it is already capped! I put on yet another shallow super and I'm ordering another today. I'm really surprised at how fast these bees have taken off. Now If I could just locate that feral swarm to fill my Kenyan Top Bar Hive, I would be set. I couldn't find my smoker, so I just went without it. The bees were fine. Either they appreciated being able to go about their business without being choked out by the smoker or I apparently have extra nice bees. ;-) I only wear a veil when I work: shorts, flip flops, tank top, veil. I don't know how you guys wear all that stuff. It's really hot under that veil! For what it's worth, I don't use a Queen Excluder. I was always told it was more of a HONEY excluder. lol Something about it makes it a little less inviting for ALL the bees, not just the queen. The queen has not laid in my honey supers. Only honey is there. I've heard that a good queen will keep her brood all together in a couple or three brood boxes. If she needs more room, they will swarm. Come to think of it, now I wish I would have put my empty super UNDER the full honey super, leaving the empty between the honey stores and the brood boxes. However, it is very heavy. A single frame of capped honey weighed about 10 lbs or so. I was amazed at how heavy each frame was! I can't really lift a full honey super without help. Maybe I'll switch them when I get some help. So that's my update. I LOVE THESE BEES!
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Jun 23, 2009 19:54
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My bees are really mellow. They buzz me and bump my veil when I'm working them, and seem to try to intimidate me by landing all over me and crawling around, but I have never been stung by my bees. (yet) I move slow and easy and purposeful. I don't use gloves. 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. Bees definitely have their own agendas when it comes to burr comb. I honestly try not to bother it unless I HAVE to move a frame or box. I figure they know what they are doing better than I do, (or langstroth did) and build where they need & want to. The burr comb is merely a housekeeping inconvenience for the beekeeper. When I do remove burr comb to get to a spot or move frames around, I leave it out front for them to clean up and re-use. It seems like the less "managing" you do with bees, the happier and more productive they are, at least in my experience. Bees do exceptionally well if you just let them "bee".
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Jun 30, 2009 22:39
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Protective my rear end. Those bees were PISSED. Never again will I steal honey in August without a SHOWER and full protective gear. I must have smelled like a bear. They kamakaze'd me as if I were one. No accidentally mashing them in the fold of my arm, no sudden jerky movements to pin one under my hand. These bees dove in and stung ON PURPOSE. I knew it was only a matter of time before I got stung but they made up for lost time in one day. I definitely earned that honey. 20-30 minutes of pain from a little sting I can handle; it's the 5 days of pain and swelling and itching from secondary allergic reactions that I could do without. It's really hard to scrape out that stinger and poison sack too, when your hands are busy manipulating heavily filled honey frames. Not my best beekeeping day. I think I am going to start harvesting a little bit (a few frames) in late June or early July before they get irritable and leave the rest until spring. I think that harvesting in spring will both assure the bees enough of their own honey to feed them through the winter (an end to sugar syrup altogether) and they won't be nearly as irritable during spring nectar flow. Seems that spring harvest used to be the way bees were kept until commercial beekeepers started taking ALL their honey in the fall & supplementing them with sugar syrup in the fall & spring. I was actually kind of traumatized by my "nice bees" going all crazy kamikaze on me although not surprised, seeing them act somewhat desperate for the last few weeks, I should have known they would completely change their attitude. Traumatized yes, but I also felt really sorry for them and somewhat guilty for stealing their hard earned stores with them willing to give their lives like that trying to protect it. I just don't see the same kind of commitment in the human species. I mean, if a robber comes in and starts emptying my fridge, I'm probably going to let him. I think that if adept is so keen on all this "right now" honey, he should be the one facing the wrath of the bees in August. On the up side: Our new honey gate fills the jars like a dream. Highly recommended. Oh, on a side note: Those hummingbird feeders that you see full of red syrup? Honeybees love them. They also get stuck in them and die. I would venture to guess that the artificial color and high fructose syrup they are made of isn't exactly GOOD for them either. Made me re-think trying to be nice to the hummingbirds. Hey, here's a novel idea: PLANT MORE REAL FLOWERS!!!
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Aug 11, 2009 23:32
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