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

[rebrascora]

Hi Boskelli and thanks for the welcome

So sorry to hear your bees didn't make it through the winter. You have had things pretty rough weather wise from what I have seen. It's a shame you don't live nearer as I could, no doubt, have supplied you with a swarm or two to repopulate your hives. My bees love to swarm and I'm starting to run out of new homes for them!

I'm in the North East of England. We normally get much worse winters than the south, but this year, although it has been wet, we haven't had any of the horrendous flooding that they have down south. The past few days have been glorious and we are forecast for another 2 weeks of high pressure sunny weather with temps getting up to possibly 16C on Thursday, although it's -3C out there at the moment and the overnight frosts will continue.

My bees are working the catkins and crocus and dandelions are starting to flower which is always good to see. I love dandelions and so do my bees.... and my horses and my hens. I don't know why people are so intent on killing them.
Anyway, good to read that there are other Top Bar Beekeepers on this forum and look forward to reading more of this thread when I get the chance.

Best wishes

Barbara

 

[CluckyJay]

We won the grant from our state and got our beehive! My mentor is getting our bees to us soon. It came with most of the basics and is a ten frame hive. Were about to build another hive to go with it. Exciting.

 

[WindStep]

I hate bees the doc said I could lose my life after 10 stings!!!!!

 

[sgtmom52]

I hate bees the doc said I could lose my life after 10 stings!!!!!

I'm sorry that you feel that way. It is a sad thing to be so allergic to something like that. I hope that you carry an epi-pen, just in case.

Bees are very important to our ecosystem as they pollinate a lot of plants. 1 out of every 3 bites of food you take is available due to bees pollinating plants.

 

[KsKingBee]

I hate bees the doc said I could lose my life after 10 stings!!!!!

They say that one out of a hundred people are allergic to honey bees to the point that one sting will make them go into anaphylactic shock. That is when the airway closes up and makes breathing difficult to the point of suffocation. Not every stinging insect has the same venom and there are different reactions to every sting. Just because someone will get a bad reaction to one type of insect does not mean that they are allergic to all stinging insects. It is sad that so many doctors are just as uninformed as the general public when it comes to stings.

I am not saying that you don't have a problem with honeybee stings and you might, I don't know, but I do have a problem with haters in general. I hear so many people jump and scream that they are allergic because they get the normal sting reaction that all I can do is shake my head in amazement. Perhaps they should just stay inside and miss out on Gods wonderful world.

 

[KsKingBee]

I'm sorry that you feel that way. It is a sad thing to be so allergic to something like that. I hope that you carry an epi-pen, just in case.

Bees are very important to our ecosystem as they pollinate a lot of plants. 1 out of every 3 bites of food you take is available due to bees pollinating plants.

An epi-pen can be a dangerous tool if not really needed. I used to carry one incase someone went into shock while I was doing bee removals. My doctor made sure that I knew that the person would be in a dire situation before using it and my insurance agent made sure that I stopped carrying one altogether. More problems can be caused by using one if not needed than the sting itself.

 

[sgtmom52]

Quote:
Also many people that are "allergic to bees" are actually allergic to members of the wasp family which includes yellow jackets & hornets and not bees. They are as different as dogs and cats.

When I do information demos about bees, I find there are many people who just hate bees because they were stung once as a child. You have much more chance of being injured in a car crash or many other types of accidents than by a tiny bee. And unless you really are allergic ~ it only hurts for a little while. I get stung frequently each year and I consider it my "apitherapy" ~ good for arthritic hands.

 

[SunnySkies]

Well, I make an annual trip to Staunton, VA in March, and I randomly learned there is a beekeeper's equipment shop not far from my conference. I'm planning to go pick up 2 triple medium 8 frame hives and some extra supers to haul home. I've recently learned a friend's father keeps a lot of bees somewhat locally; he came over to my place last fall to learn how to butcher chickens and I had no idea or I'd have picked his brain then.

I still want a top bar hive, but I have a lot of trouble wrapping my brain around something I know I can build. I'm sure I can't build a Lang...it's square My attempts at square coops and square hog houses have all ended badly.

 

[KsKingBee]

You made a good choice in the eight frame medium hive, much better than a TBH in my opinion. If you only wanted to keep some pollinators around and not make honey TBH are fine but if your interest is in honey production Langs are the way to go. TBHs can be fun to play with but they present their own problems when it comes to feeding and harvesting.

 

[StupidBird]

What are the chances of doing a "build it and they will come" for honeybees? I have been quite concerned over the absence of honeybees and strange dearth of any insect on blooms this spring. (Atlanta area).