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

[rebrascora]

Hopefully the link below will work

https://www.facebook.com/SurreyNaturalBeekeeping

Sadly, the photos do not do justice to how good the hive looks in real life but it gives you an idea of what it is about.

 

[1muttsfan]

Thanks Barbara, that is very interesting. I built a Top Bar hive and like it quite well - my main purpose being for pollinators and some honey on the side. It is quite a topic of conversation for visitors.

 

[OmAnNom]

We have been keeping two hives in our residential backyard for two years now. But yesterday we had a shocking first that we just have to share with people who would understand the gravity of it... PURPLE HONEY!!! Has anyone else here ever had purple honey?? You can see pictures from our harvest here http://peregrinfarms.wordpress.com/2014/08/21/purple-honey/

 

[sunflower4you]

We have been keeping two hives in our residential backyard for two years now. But yesterday we had a shocking first that we just have to share with people who would understand the gravity of it... PURPLE HONEY!!! Has anyone else here ever had purple honey?? You can see pictures from our harvest here http://peregrinfarms.wordpress.com/2014/08/21/purple-honey/

First, let me say...purple honey?!? Coolest thing I have ever seen and you have taught me something new.

Second...your avatar is hilarious.

 

[Deb B]

We have been keeping two hives in our residential backyard for two years now. But yesterday we had a shocking first that we just have to share with people who would understand the gravity of it... PURPLE HONEY!!! Has anyone else here ever had purple honey?? You can see pictures from our harvest here http://peregrinfarms.wordpress.com/2014/08/21/purple-honey/

A few years back some French beekeepers got blue honey. Seems it came from waste from a biogas factory using M and M waste.
Here's the link:

http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/10/05/french-bees-produce-blue-honey/

 

[1muttsfan]

When bees from a hive happen across a food source, they return to the hive and do a little dance that tells the other bees of their find, and how to navigate to it. For both hives to find the same supply, bees from each would have to find it independently, as they do not share such valuable information with other hives. Sounds like that hive found something new.

http://animals.howstuffworks.com/insects/bee5.htm

 

[OmAnNom]

A few years back some French beekeepers got blue honey.  Seems it came from waste from a biogas factory using M and M waste.
Here's the link:

http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/10/05/french-bees-produce-blue-honey/

We had previously heard of that story, and now are being sent it by the droves :/ There are no such factories around us. In fact, the only thing outside our neighborhood within the bees' foraging range are cotton/corn/soybean fields and forests.

Interestingly, purple honey is actually a well-know, but not understood phenomenon in Central North Carolina. It has been documented in books as far back as 75 years ago and apparently happens nowhere else in the world. Weird! And delicious.

 

[OmAnNom]

Thanks, Mutts! That's a good link. We're very familiar with the waggle dance and knew they would not intentionally disclose information between hives regarding food sources. I suppose I always figured they sort of kept tabs on one another and generally knew what their neighbors were up to. You know, like how we have a pretty good idea about what our neighbors are doing day to day without actually talking to them. I find it really fascinating that one hive would find such a unique food source in their shared foraging radius and the other didn't.

 

[LightningTFarm]

I don't officially have bees yet, so I have just been trolling on this site. I did have a hive in the wall of my house, but about a month ago they were going nuts and even got in the house, then just disappeared. I think they swarmed. I hope they come back! My landlord isn't wild about having a hive in the wall, but he hasn't done anything about it, either. I will say, with all those bees, my garden this year was the best ever. I got 35 pounds of cucumbers off of just one plant!

I was reading this site and skipped over via a link to a beekeeping site on Facebook for natural beekeeping in the UK. I spotted this cartoon and had to post it here:

 

[joannefiddler]

thanks for the smile!!