This thread is a repository for bee keepers or those interested.
A couple of years ago, a couple of friends an my brother started puttering with honey bees. I didn't buy off because, well, I've never been a big fan of bees or getting stung by them. Last summer I tagged along a couple of times to check their hives and to remove honey bees from a house, public building and an old garage.
I realized at the end of the summer when I was helping them process some, that it's actually pretty interesting, and fits into my expanding "grow my own" logic. I'm not full blown hippy but I see a lot of logic in the self sustaining food thing and I'm doing some of that too.
That said, this thread is about bees, honey bees, bee keeping and bee fighting war stories.
I'm taking the leap and plan to get 2-3 hives this spring and maybe build some bee swarm traps to make it cheaper or to make a few bucks.
Join me and I'll share the real life lessons of an ameture bee keeper. I'm sure I'm going to learn some things the hard way.
That could get really expensive. I'd wait until the EpiPen patent runs out in 2025 so you're not spending around 1,000 bucks each time you need a new pen. [Reply]
I'm pretty much joking about that. I took more than 30 stings from yellow jackets at the end of the summer. I puked and felt crappy but didn't die....
I'm hoping by going this way(used hives) that actually have most of the frames full of comb, some have quite a bit of honey and pollen, I'll have a head start and a decent chance of actually getting some honey in year one.
A little last minute arts and crafts. I'm getting bee nukes Saturday.
Also found a tree with a large hive about 15' up in a limb. Don't know what I'm doing other than watching some YouTube videos but I'm going to put up a ladder stand and try to trap that colony. Maybe grab some pics and lessons learned along the way. If anyone has done that I d be open to advice.
Originally Posted by Iowanian:
Also found a tree with a large hive about 15' up in a limb. Don't know what I'm doing other than watching some YouTube videos but I'm going to put up a ladder stand and try to trap that colony. Maybe grab some pics and lessons learned along the way. If anyone has done that I d be open to advice.
Cut outs are bad enough. Trap outs are even worse imo. Very low chance at getting the queen. Time consuming to boot. Might as well let it thrive and catch its swarms. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Iowanian:
A little last minute arts and crafts. I'm getting bee nukes Saturday.
Also found a tree with a large hive about 15' up in a limb. Don't know what I'm doing other than watching some YouTube videos but I'm going to put up a ladder stand and try to trap that colony. Maybe grab some pics and lessons learned along the way. If anyone has done that I d be open to advice.
Oh boy, please please get a video of you doing this. I have a feeling you'll bring more laughs to the planet than any poster in history. :-) [Reply]
Originally Posted by stumppy:
Oh boy, please please get a video of you doing this. I have a feeling you'll bring more laughs to the planet than any poster in history. :-)
Originally Posted by Groves:
Cut outs are bad enough. Trap outs are even worse imo. Very low chance at getting the queen. Time consuming to boot. Might as well let it thrive and catch its swarms.
I've helped with a couple of cutouts last year and they do suck, especially overhead. We did one in an old garage that was about eye level down and it was easy.
We've found another one in an old camper that should be a saw, remove and smash thing so that should be easy as these go.
The tree thing is more complicated. It's in a very large tree that is sentimental to the family, but the hive is near their house/small kids and they want the bees gone. They'd rather we try to get them than poison them.
My thought is we'll wrap it in screen and funnel them out, put a ladder stand next to it with a nuc box and put a frame or two and see what happens. I can get a frame or two with some brood and if the queen doesn't come out, maybe they can make a queen. Then foam the hole shut in the tree.
My guess is a live cam of my bee keeping would be pretty popular online....if there is anyone destined for disaster, it's probably me. Hell, I got stung 30-40 times the last time I mowed the yard last fall BEFORE I got my first honey bee. [Reply]
My first experience seeing someone have a seizure was because of honey.
I worked in a feed store over a summer in high school. We had a local person that sold it and brought in some jars and free samples for customers.
I was there by myself over lunch and this hot chick comes in and takes a sample. All's good for a while and then she hits the deck and starts convulsing violently like she was being electrocuted.
Then the boss shows back up while she's breakdancing and calls the ambulance and later asks me why I didn't grab her tits when I had the chance. [Reply]
Originally Posted by KS Smitty:
Good luck Iowanian. Local honey is an excellent allergy preventative. We sell a lot of local honey, $20.00 for a quart. We also have a supplier that uses the racks where you can harvest the honey still in the comb (12.99 for 8 oz), very popular with the customers but much more labor intensive than spinning the honey out of the other type racks and he almost always runs out before the next harvest.
I love honey, but there is no scientific evidence to support the allergy claims [Reply]
So today was interesting.
I helped with a tree cutout. We had heard about it from the owner of the timber and I was able to find it by listening, you could hear the dull roar. It went really well and took a couple of hours, and we found the queen.
Not bad for my first time.
Yes, I have some video if I can figure out how to get them off of my phone.
