We got our new "over wintered" honey bee colonies. I had to hurry to swap them into the new hives since tge weather is going to be crap for several days. I love watching them
Bees!!
- Thread starter wvfarrier
- Start date
I have a friend that does the honey bee thing. She uses it for "play money". I have thought about it living in the sticks and looked into it at a quick glance.
I can tell you for some reason there have been some hive thefts in our area.
I can tell you for some reason there have been some hive thefts in our area.
A takes a person with special knowledge to steal a bee hive. Fk-that, it wasn't me.
Correct, although one could be faking it
A cheaper/easier way to get started is to catch a swarm in the spring or summer. I usually post an ad in the local sale pages
Actually its SUPER easy. Wait until nighttime or heavy rains, put a blocking board over the opening and put a ratchet strap around the whole thing to keep it together. A well established hive can sell for over $1000
I have thought seriously about it...but no time.
My place in FL is next door to the Apalachicola National Forest, and there are tons of apiaries from Wewahitchka to Apalachicola. In April they spin off all the honey when the first Tupelos bloom in the swamp. That stuff sells for four times what a normal jar of honey costs.
When you hold it up to the light it's green, no shit.
I will probably get a couple of acres off the beach when I move there, and then I will have time for another hobby...
My place in FL is next door to the Apalachicola National Forest, and there are tons of apiaries from Wewahitchka to Apalachicola. In April they spin off all the honey when the first Tupelos bloom in the swamp. That stuff sells for four times what a normal jar of honey costs.
When you hold it up to the light it's green, no shit.
I will probably get a couple of acres off the beach when I move there, and then I will have time for another hobby...
Dad used to have people put hives on our alfalfa fields, I don't think any money changed hands, but they would give us a few big jars of honey.
One nice thing about bees is they are EASY. Set them up, put a little food in the hive and walk away. They require almost nothing else....actually the more you mess with them the worse they develop
Easy so long as there is enough forage.....otherwise you got a box of 50,000 angry bitches looking for the welfare.....and the cost of sugar has gone way up for making simple syrup (welfare)
That's cool 
I've thought about doing that, but not enough time. We have lavender plants in our yard and when they are in bloom, the honey bees are thick on them. I'll take a chair down there, set up and just watch them. They're extremely docile. I can slowly put my hand right up to them and they'll climb on my hand for a little bit, then get right back to work.
I've thought about doing that, but not enough time. We have lavender plants in our yard and when they are in bloom, the honey bees are thick on them. I'll take a chair down there, set up and just watch them. They're extremely docile. I can slowly put my hand right up to them and they'll climb on my hand for a little bit, then get right back to work.
Bee Keepers put hives in my spare field last year. I now have a lot of respect for anyone keeping bees. It is a lot of work. But, really helped my garden.
I can actually get an ag exemption for them in Texas, I need to park a couple hives out in the back.
After my grandfather passed my grandmother sold all his bee keeping stuff. There was boxes of supers to be assembled, frames for the honey comb, a big stainless extractor, everything you could want for beekeeping. She would have given me all of it if I'd wanted it. At 12 years old it was the farthest thing from my mind. Man if I had known then what I know now.
After my grandfather passed my grandmother sold all his bee keeping stuff. There was boxes of supers to be assembled, frames for the honey comb, a big stainless extractor, everything you could want for beekeeping. She would have given me all of it if I'd wanted it. At 12 years old it was the farthest thing from my mind. Man if I had known then what I know now.
Chewing beeswax from local hives is also good for allergies
Damn I would like to keep some bees but I am sure my neighbors %would have a fit……
Thanks for the invite but with the recent spate of gunlaws the Pacific NW is off my list.
I live inside city limits Laramie WY so I think code enforcement might have rules against that. Otherwise I could give a rat’s behind.
There's more to it that just that. People that get anaphylactic shock from bee stings, don't have severe reactions if they consume honey from local bees. Not sure it would have helped me 20ish years ago, since I was tapped by a yellow jacket and ended up in an amberlamps for a ride to the ER.
You had me at Montana……
You sure about that? This was my commute last night...
That's a 70mph 2 lane highway, with 12" snow drifts and all the plows were parked when I went past the dot shop. The interstate wasn't any better.
I had hives from elementary school until I left for college. Going to get some more when I retire/semi retire. Always liked messing with them. Made good pocket money selling honey and hive splits. Too much now with job, hunting/fishing, cows, horses, chickens, big garden, etc. But, I will have some again.
I never got tagged by a wasp. Honey bee, yes; sweat bee, hundreds of times...those little bastards lit me up mowing hay after cutting over one of their hives (dens?) in the ground. Tapped by bumble bees more times than I can remember. Yellow jacket only the one time, well two since that fucker double tapped me.
My FIL had bees for years, I remember one time a black bear came and carried or dragged one
of the boxes over a hill and had a party. I remember it was a lot of work to process the honey or they would swarm
to somewhere. I remember a lot of cursing.
of the boxes over a hill and had a party. I remember it was a lot of work to process the honey or they would swarm
to somewhere. I remember a lot of cursing.
I’ve kept bees for many years, have gone from max of 13 hives down to 6 this year (will be doing splits in a few weeks so I’ll have more). If you are a beekeeper, you know there are plenty of opinions, but in my experience along with many beekeeping friends, modern inventions like the Flowhive have propagated the idea that bees take little work and supply a lot of honey.
Urban beekeeping has become a big thing as of late and people are enticed into keeping them with the idea of tons of honey with little effort/time/money. This is unfortunately a myth. Especially in Africanized bee areas, you have to check them frequently. I am in my hives every week, except in the coldest times of winter (which isn’t much in Phoenix). Those hives I don’t visit for awhile are much grouchier when I get into them again having not checked them for awhile.
Beekeeping is a lot of fun, they are awesome creatures but to really manage them and get honey from them, they require time AND money. I’ve saved some coin over the years by building some of my own equipment, but frames, supers, protective gear, tools, extraction tools, jars, screened boards, requeening, and more, it’s a huge money suck.
Ya know, our raised bed gardens here in central Texas last year (mainly tomatoes and peppers) didn't yield shit and I swear a large part was no bees around to pollinate the plants. We did have a spray guy come in once a month for mosquito control because they were bad. He did stay away from the garden but I'm wondering if it also deters bees?
Not only does it deter bees, it kills them.
The county used to cout out our way and spray for mosquitoes. We finally told them to just stop coming down our road (private road, all family on our end) because one time when they sprayed, the wind was blowing in the direction of my grandfather's bee hives and it killed all of his bees. Four well established hives that he'd had for years.
Permethrin is what's usually used, and it's insecticide (as in kills all insects). It doesn't discriminate, period. The good gear guards (Sawyers) are mostly permethrin, and it'll hang out on cloths and keep everything away for a long, long time. I spray all my Turkey stuff with it for Spring and I'm never bothered by anything. The Thermacells work, but combined with Sawyers you'll be in an insect free bubble. Trying to turkey hunt with gnats and mosquitos flying around your face sucks.
Born in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, live in Wyoming, grew up in Maine…..mother’s milk.
bee's or Keith Richards blood can cure almost any deadly disease you just have to try both to find out which is better for you .
My buddy in N. Texas has a bunch of hives for AG exemption. He says he has to keep feeding them because there isn't enough forage around.
For mites, he uses this method: https://scientificbeekeeping.com/oxalic-shop-towel-updates/
For mites, he uses this method: https://scientificbeekeeping.com/oxalic-shop-towel-updates/
My grandfather had over a hundred hives in Virginia. His specialty was Sourwood honey. Few know about it and its almost impossible to find pure sourwood these days. I sent some to both @Sean the Nailer and @NickH I got into it for a while but had a mite infestation that wiped me out.
Bummer. I've been thinking about getting into bees here lately. I can get ag exemption for them in Texas. Plus theres nothing like that raw honey. I grew up harvesting honey from my grandfather's bees. Man the cap off that honeycomb is the best!
Ive never been hit by an African Bee, but Yellowjackets are worse than wasps, r even hornets. And they attack en masse.
