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

[Beekissed]

LOVE your picture!! I'm planting some borage this year too, just for the bees....what I didn't know is, that the blossoms are edible for us too. I think you should really contemplate getting into bees sooner rather than later...it's just that important.

That's one reason why I want to do bees....they are dying out and, if I can provide a safe place for them to live and breed, I'd like to do so. Last year I saw one honey bee. That was it. This year I think the mild winter allowed them to thrive and have a bigger colony through the winter as I saw many of them on my peach blossoms, so I want to capitalize on that plenty by trying to give their swarm a good place to live.

My dogs can protect the hive from marauders and the bees can do the rest. All I need is to give them a safe, stable and roomy place to live. If they come to live, if I'm still here by next spring, I'll build an additional box for them to swarm into. That's where I stop, though....I don't want a big apiary.

 

[Leahs Mom]

My thoughts exactly.

I haven't seen bees in at least 4 years that we've been here. When I was a kid they'd be everywhere. (I'm at my childhood home right now.)

One neighbor put up a couple of hives last year and I only saw his bees once all season. Not on the pasture that I left for them full of clover, dandelion, etc....never saw one there. Only time I saw them was when they came over to drink the chicken's water pans. I actually floated sticks in the pans so they could drink without drowning.

I think they were busy eating the sugar, syrup, patties, etc. that he was feeding. Very unfortunate.

 

[Leahs Mom]

So here's what I'm going to do this spring.....



Going to populate a top bar hive (Golden Mean...one I purchased for a great price...almost fee) with a package. I'm already aware of all the problems with package bees so I don't have a lot of expectations but will do my job and hope for the best.


Then.... I'm pretty excited about this....
I found a guy that has the best, treatment-free bees in our area that I'm going to get a split from to populate a horizontal Langstroth hive. The nuc he does will be some of the best bees in our area. He doesn't feed sugar/syrup, etc., leaves honey for his hives to over-winter, etc. I started purchasing his honey a few months ago and the first time I tasted it I realized that I had probably never had real honey before (from bees not fed junk food and not had any chemical input in the hives).

Anyhow, husband if going to build the long langstroth hive from the plans here with a few variations http://horizontalhive.com/how-to-build/long-langstroth-plans.shtml

If anyone is interested in learning about horizontal hives, I'd highly recommend his book. It was the best education and understanding I've gotten so far on the subject. (And I've read a LOT.) After I read it I felt like I understood the management of horizontal better than ever. Very practical reading, though I'm not going to do double deep frames. I like the idea of the long Lang rather than the top bar because I can use standard frames. My intention is to use them with no foundation (like the top bar) but it will be easier to handle/work with and will be able to use standard sized equipment purchase nucs, etc.

 

[Leahs Mom]

A couple images of the long langs. These hold 31 deep frames.

From horizontalhive.com

 

[Beekissed]

My thoughts exactly.

I haven't seen bees in at least 4 years that we've been here. When I was a kid they'd be everywhere. (I'm at my childhood home right now.)

One neighbor put up a couple of hives last year and I only saw his bees once all season. Not on the pasture that I left for them full of clover, dandelion, etc....never saw one there. Only time I saw them was when they came over to drink the chicken's water pans. I actually floated sticks in the pans so they could drink without drowning.

I think they were busy eating the sugar, syrup, patties, etc. that he was feeding. Very unfortunate.

Amen! It's standard thinking and practice to feed bees all the time and I feel it's just poor management....if you have to feed bees a lot you either have taken too much honey or are nursing along a hive that's too weak to survive on its own. Either way, I'd rather have a hive die out altogether than be so weak it needs unnatural nourishment.

So here's what I'm going to do this spring.....



Going to populate a top bar hive (Golden Mean...one I purchased for a great price...almost fee) with a package. I'm already aware of all the problems with package bees so I don't have a lot of expectations but will do my job and hope for the best.


Then.... I'm pretty excited about this....
I found a guy that has the best, treatment-free bees in our area that I'm going to get a split from to populate a horizontal Langstroth hive. The nuc he does will be some of the best bees in our area. He doesn't feed sugar/syrup, etc., leaves honey for his hives to over-winter, etc. I started purchasing his honey a few months ago and the first time I tasted it I realized that I had probably never had real honey before (from bees not fed junk food and not had any chemical input in the hives).

Anyhow, husband if going to build the long langstroth hive from the plans here with a few variations http://horizontalhive.com/how-to-build/long-langstroth-plans.shtml

If anyone is interested in learning about horizontal hives, I'd highly recommend his book. It was the best education and understanding I've gotten so far on the subject. (And I've read a LOT.) After I read it I felt like I understood the management of horizontal better than ever. Very practical reading, though I'm not going to do double deep frames. I like the idea of the long Lang rather than the top bar because I can use standard frames. My intention is to use them with no foundation (like the top bar) but it will be easier to handle/work with and will be able to use standard sized equipment purchase nucs, etc.

That is a wonderful thing that you've found a bee guy that doesn't treat his hives or feed artificial feed...those are rare but getting more prevalent. Ten years ago the only guy not treating hives seemed to be Mike Bush and he was the only one who would even talk to me about that and also about TBHs. I think he still feeds his bees at times, though.

And you are right about the honey...we had bees when I was young and we first homesteaded and it tasted better than anything I've tasted since then. We didn't know what we were doing back then and it was probably a good thing.

I like the long body hives as well....for an old lady, they represent the least amount of heavy work for me.... and am building this one as a long body Lang/Top Bar hybrid with foundation-less Lang medium wedged frames in the honey side that have the bottom of the frame removed, but the sides left in place~and~a 2 3/8 " wide top bar setup for the brood side, without groove or wedge, but with the bottom of the bars left rough like they do in the Warre hives.

I'm also going to use burlap instead of a top board and use ventilation a lot like the Warre hives too, but this will mostly be a long body Lang/TBH.

However, I don't intend to do much "management" of the hive....I'll likely check it now and again out of curiosity, but I don't intend to interfere in it at all other than to remove a little honey if needed and replace with empty frames if they've run out of room. That's not likely to happen in the first year anyway, so it's pretty much hands off and let them live or die on their own to keep that wild vigor intact. If I can't have self sustaining bees, I don't want any at all....if they can't survive without a lot of supplementation they aren't going to survive out here anyway.

 

[MichelleT]

Thanks for the link and the book review... I too am a reader/researcher and I will read this before we get moving (probably next spring).
Your hives are also BEAUTIFUL!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Thanks for the link and the book review... I too am a reader/researcher and I will read this before we get moving (probably next spring).
Your hives are also BEAUTIFUL!

Sigh...not my hives but posted from the horizontalhive.com website photos. I've emailed him to ask if he hand painted or if there was a "decal" of sorts.

 

[mak1]

Not all beekeepers want to feed there hives. If Beekeepers didn't feed there hives they would die. Last year the honey crop was so poor we barely got any honey and the 2 million acres of almonds would not be pollinated. Therefore, If you have honey for the bees that is good but is better to feed to stimulate the bees. I do not agree with letting a hive die. We do not have lots of bees like before so better is to save it than leave it to die.

 

[rebrascora]

I lean very much towards natural beekeeping but I would agree that it is better to feed a colony than let them die. I only use swarms to populate hives and sometimes a late caste swarm will need help to get through winter. I don't treat my bees and the past few winters I have had 100% survival with 8 or 9 hives. Some of those have been very small with only a few combs, one last winter, as little as two combs and would not have made it without a little help in the form of feeding. They still build up the following year so there is nothing wrong with them, but they just got a slow start due to timing or weather conditions. I cannot let a colony of bees in my care starve any more than I can let a chicken that I own starve, it's about helping when needed and leaving alone when not.
I personally do not feed to stimulate growth in Spring as I believe that knocks the bees out of syc with their environment. They will grow when there is enough nectar for them to grow and I can assure you that my colonies all throw multiple swarms each season before they settle down to build up for winter. My strongest. healthiest colonies are those in smaller hives. They swarm early and then have a bit of a holiday before laying down stores for winter. I don't get any honey from these hives but they survive without any problems or help and I never have to worry about them. They are more conservation and stock producing hives. The swarms are given away to new beeks who want to get started... preferably as natural beekeepers.... and I have some larger hives that I harvest a bit of honey from
There is some evidence recently from a study done by Prof Tom Seely, that small colonies survive untreated much better than larger colonies, so perhaps big is not always beautiful.

To those of you who have problems with moisture build up in winter, I would suggest that insulation is more important than ventilation. If you think of a hollow tree, the colony is usually in the top of the cavity with a mass of wood above them. Condensation occurs at a lower level below the bees. In a modern hive, if there is no insulation above them, condensation can form there and drip onto the bees and this is what can kill them. With insulation, the condensate safely forms on the walls and runs down and may even become a source of water for the bees in winter if the walls of the hive have been well propolised. I live in a damp climate in the bottom of a valley and my bees can overwinter on very little stores but it's important not to have a through draft of air that creates a chimney effect, taking warm air up and out and drawing cool air in the bottom, as the bees have to work twice as hard and consume more stores to keep warm. Some ventilation in summer may be helpful when they are ripening off honey and there is a lot of moisture in the hive but high humidity can also be beneficial as it hinders varroa.

Just some things to consider before you start venting your hives, particularly in a cold climate.

 

[Leahs Mom]

When I speak negatively of feeding, I'm talking about sugar/syrup, sugar, etc.

When I'm getting my tb started I will initially offer them some local honey from a clean source until I know the flow is good and they are doing well. I don't have a problem with that at all. I also don't plan on harvesting much, if anything, this first year so they have adequate stores to get through the winter.

I know I'll have to give the honey to the tb since they are coming on the 20th and the weather will still be unstable where I live. Since they're coming from a package I feel it's my responsibility not to leave them "high and dry".

@rebrascora

Your comments on ventilation make good sense and the author of the book I wrote about takes the same approach - especially for winter. They are pretty clear that it is the humidity and condensation that gets on the top of the hive box and drips down onto the bees that is deadly. If you're getting heavy condensation up there then probably not insulated on top well enough. It makes sense as in nature, as you say, there is a very thick tree overhead usually and an entrance that isn't allowing a cross flow either top to bottom or side to side.