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

[rochrunner]

Excellent! Thank you.

 

[allieloveschickens]

I really want to take up beekeeping! However in San Diego the city ordinance states that the apiary must be 600ft away from any residence (except your own) and though I have a large backyard there is nowhere I could put a hive that would be 600ft from any of my neighbors

I signed a petition with the San Diego beekeeping society to try to change the ordinance to 25ft- so hopefully soon there will be a change!! Any other San Diegan's out there should also sign the petition! http://www.beefriendlysandiego.com/ I am considering asking my neighbors if they would mind if I had a beehive- we shall see. Glad to have found this thread, lots of good info!

 

[rochrunner]

Quote:
Okay--this was one those ideas that should have worked out well, except that it didn't. My bees found the frame of brood and the chickens couldn't get near it. I gave up and just put it back in the hive. Oh well, live and learn.

 

[Sword]

Hey beekeepers, I have a quick question. Do you need a Queen Excluder in Top Bar hives? If you don't, do they keep the larva on separate combs than the honey, or do you have to strain larva out of the honey later? Sorry if it's a dumb question, I don't really know anything about bees.

 

[rochrunner]

Quote:
You don't need an excluder with a TBH. The bees will use the first few combs for brood, but eventually will have nothing but honey in combs over the course of the season. I know some folks use different width bars for brood and honey. Not sure there is anything scientific about that though.

Good luck!

 

[Tam'ra of Rainbow Vortex]

Last night I got my very first honey bee sting. And my second. (totally my fault I made them mad. I dropped the lid back onto the hive while I was checking on their progress and they rightly were agitated!) Up till now I have only ever been stung (8+ years ago) by yellow jackets (also not to blame, I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time) and I don't remember it being all THAT bad.
But this has been 15 hours or so and I am still sore and swollen. How long does it hurt when all of you get stung? I know it's different for everyone, I am just curious to find an average.

I feel bad for the bees who got squished when I dropped their lid, and for the brave ones who gave their lives to protect the hive (the ones who stung me!)
The funny thing is last night I was more protectively dressed than I have ever been while messing with my hive. Saterday I was out beekeeping in my underwear (sports bra and boxer shorts) because it was laundry day and I had just come home from the lake. Never had a problem before!

 

[rochrunner]

When I first got into bees I would swell up like a balloon at the sting site and then it would itch like crazy for a week. It was so bad I almost got out of the bee business. Now 4 years later I hardly swell up and the itching stops in a day or two. It still hurts like heck when I get stung, but the side effects are minimal. Hang in there, things do get better.

 

[Tam'ra of Rainbow Vortex]

Yeah, my Dad doesn't seem to have any side effects from stings at all-lucky! But I react badly to mosquito bites and apparently bee stings. The one on my neck is not aweful- feels like a bad mosquito bite (swollen lump that itches) but my finger sting has swollen so badly I can barely bend my finger and the itching is so intense it woke me up twice last night. I slathered it in benadryl gel in hopes the swelling will go down to make work easier to bear, but what else can I do? This is the second day... and so far its worse than the first. I hope it doesn't take a week to pass! I need my fingers functional!!!

 

[NevadaRon]

The good news is you'll never have arthritis in that finger! At least that is the old wives tale I heard when I got my first bee sting, also on my finger. But other than some mild discomfort right after the sting, which went away almost immediately, I didn't have any pain. It did stay swollen for a few days and itched a little. I also am very allergic to mosquito bites - they swell up and sometimes itch for weeks after the bite. One of the reasons I love the desert!

 

[littlebit93]

I know everyone will say I am crazy

...but... If you slice an onion in half, kind of juice up the center with the knife edge then place the flat sliced part on the sting for about 5 minutes. It reduced the itching and swelling by at least 50%. Make sure the stinger is out of course. We have always done this since we were kids and yes it does work. We've always done this right after the sting. Never tried it long after a sting but it might be worth a try.