A BEE thread....for those interested in beekeeping.

[Ewe Mama2]

I'm researching bee keeping (for adding them to the farm next year) and am looking for the titles of books that you found most useful. What books are good for beginners? Which books do you find yourself turning to when new questions arise?

Thank you!
Amy

 

[sgtmom52]

Quote:
Two of the books I use the most are "The Backyard Beekeeper" by Kim Flottum (who is the editor of Bee Culture Magazine) and "Natural Beekeeping" by Ross Conrad

You may also consider joining a beekeeping forum such as http://forum.beemaster.com/

 

[sgtmom52]

This is a picture I took last weekend at a hive inspection class. It is a frame from a queenless laying worker colony as evidenced by multiple eggs in cells and only capped drone brood. It does however give you a good visual on eggs and larva in the cells.

 

[YakLady]

Thanks! What a great shot! That really helps. Yes, those little grubby looking things are definitely in my hive, so I guess queenie is good to go. I haven't spotted her yet, and I'm scared to death that I might hurt her while inspecting the hive. I'm sure all these fears and trepidations ease off with time. It's good to know that the hive is progressing normally, though.

ETA: I wish I was more knowledgeable. I have a feral colony in one of the eaves of my house. If I knew what the heck I was doing, I would try to attract them into a hive. We moved in a year ago this month, and the bees were there already. Not sure how long they've been there. We talked about building a small top bar hive and attaching it to the roof near where they are going in and out, then putting some pheremone in it.

 

[chicken stalker]

I love seeing all these hive pics! more please...

 

[Mr_Jeff]

Quote:
Two classics:

The ABC and XYZ of Bee Culture
The Hive and the Honeybee

 

[bibliophile birds]

Quote:
it can't hurt to try and it's really not that difficult. set up a hive, one super deep, below where they are. go ahead and have the frames in. lightly rub some lemongrass and/or bee balm on the frames to entice the bees. just keep an eye on it and if they move in then you've just caught yourself a wild swarm!

another option would be to contact a local beekeeping organization and see if someone will assist you. there are ways to more actively remove them from the eaves, but i wouldn't suggest doing that yourself.

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
Thanks, Ann!

Its good to know that the humming means they are content....for now! I keep imagining them realizing they have arrived at the poor farm, taking a look around and packing their bags for better digs!

I left the queen in her little cage but with the candy plug exposed for bee assisted removal. The instructions said to leave it that way for 3-4 days and check to see if they got her out. If not, I'm to release her at that time.

Yaklady and bibliophile...those pics are fantastic and just what we needed for this thread! So very nice to see the pics and have them explained. I'm loving this thread way better than the typical, slow-moving bee forums...sometimes it takes a while to get an answer to questions on there.

I sure wish they would start a sister site to BYC about bees.

I have officially joined the ranks of all the bee charmers out there in the world...I feel honored!

 

[bibliophile birds]

"You're just a bee charmer, Beekissed. That's what you are, a bee charmer"

god, i love that movie.

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:

ME TOO!!! What woman wouldn't love a movie where they kill the nasty, abusive hubby and BBQ him and feed him to other men? Now THAT's my kind of movie!!!!

One of my boys actually used that very quote after I dumped the bees in the hive and came back to the house....