Arizona Chickens

[mclevinson]

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Chiiiken maaaaath got you, chicken math got you, neener neener neener.

 

[mclevinson]

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Oh geeze, I would be crying, too.

I guess at least they all had a good time?

Oh yes, they are sleeping like satisfied little babies.

 

[mclevinson]

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Thank you 5pinkarrows *sniff* That was beautiful.

 

[rufus]

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I have also thought about keeping bees. The last three springs, however, I have had budding colonies set up (with honeycomb) in or very near my yard. The first year, I paid $300 to watch someone spray them with soap, then rake up the bodies, scrape away the honeycomb, and dust the area with insecticide. The last two years I dealt with it myself, ultimately using the same protocol minus the insecticide. I am not convinced that I can keep a colony that will not be overtaken by an africanized queen. Is it possible to keep this from happening?

You have to re queen the hives frequently. Otherwise, the wild Africanized strain will dominate the hive. Sometimes you have to think if it is worth keeping bees, between the liability issue, the mite problem and foul brood. Maybe for one or two hives just as a hobby it might work out.

It seems like most of the honey sold in the grocery stores comes from China now.

So many beekeepers are going out of business now. I wonder what next year's citrus crop will be like. My trees are in bloom now, but there does not seem to be any bees working the blossoms.

My apricots just finished blooming. I should know in a month or two if we will have a crop this summer. I am afraid the answer will be "no."

Rufus

 

[5pinkarrows]

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I have also thought about keeping bees. The last three springs, however, I have had budding colonies set up (with honeycomb) in or very near my yard. The first year, I paid $300 to watch someone spray them with soap, then rake up the bodies, scrape away the honeycomb, and dust the area with insecticide. The last two years I dealt with it myself, ultimately using the same protocol minus the insecticide. I am not convinced that I can keep a colony that will not be overtaken by an africanized queen. Is it possible to keep this from happening?

You have to re queen the hives frequently. Otherwise, the wild Africanized strain will dominate the hive. Sometimes you have to think if it is worth keeping bees, between the liability issue, the mite problem and foul brood. Maybe for one or two hives just as a hobby it might work out.

It seems like most of the honey sold in the grocery stores comes from China now.

So many beekeepers are going out of business now. I wonder what next year's citrus crop will be like. My trees are in bloom now, but there does not seem to be any bees working the blossoms.

My apricots just finished blooming. I should know in a month or two if we will have a crop this summer. I am afraid the answer will be "no."

Rufus

How sad! We always buy raw local honey from the farmer's market. Nothing but raw is even good for you, and who doesn't want the allergy help of local honey? It is a little pricey, but worth it.

 

[Mandymooligan]

How much does a pair of Seramas cost? I know it varies but just give me your best opinion.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

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I have also thought about keeping bees. The last three springs, however, I have had budding colonies set up (with honeycomb) in or very near my yard. The first year, I paid $300 to watch someone spray them with soap, then rake up the bodies, scrape away the honeycomb, and dust the area with insecticide. The last two years I dealt with it myself, ultimately using the same protocol minus the insecticide. I am not convinced that I can keep a colony that will not be overtaken by an africanized queen. Is it possible to keep this from happening?

You can keep them from being overtaken by an africanized queen! There's a thing called a "queen excluder device" that prevents foreign queens from entering the colony. A couple of my best friends raise bees for a living. They have several hundred colonies distributed from one end of NM to the other and they use queen excluder devices on the colonies at low elevation and at the southern end of the state. While they sell a LOT of honey, they make most of their money selling queens. For the past three years we've gone up to their place in Truchas, NM to spend a week+ to help them work with bees. They're always on me to get a colony, but i think my neighbors would draw the line there. Raising bees for a living makes for a very hard life. It's no wonder honey costs what it does.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

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I had the same problem my first couple years with my plum tree--very low fruiting due to lack of pollination. It was so bad here I was hand pollinating lots of things. I'm doing all I can now to attract pollinators. I have a "wild" side of my yard that I keep bee-attracting native flowering plants growing. Maybe the best thing I did was make bee houses. I took old blocks of wood, tree-trunks, etc. and drilled holes into it. It didn't take long for the native bees to start stocking the holes with their brood. This spring my plum tree is covered with flowers buzzing with native bees. I think part of the problem here in AZ, particularly in the urban areas, is that whenever a honeybee colony shows up, it's destroyed. That's for good reason too! I certainly wouldn't want an africanized colony in my yard. Consequently, we have fewer bees.

 

[arizonadreamer]

I had a terrible night sleep. Worried all night about the new hen in our yard. It was dusk when we got her here and she had been through a traumatic night on Friday so I wanted her to feel safe without all the hen pecking. She seemed to get along with everyone for the short time I had them all out except for the strong headed one in the flock. They went at each other a few times, exchanged some words and went back to foraging. She did well on her own and an hour after I let them all out she was foraging along side the others. When she walks by the pen with the AS Little Ricky Roo cat calls her but she just goes about her business.

Yes Little Ricky does have what looks like a devil face between his eyes. I think everyone has mentioned it, but he is nice and gentle, I catch him all the time and hold him. Anyway do we really know what the devil looks like??

On the lighter side, I discovered that when I got out to feed the chickens they are always chuckling at me and never crack a smile.

Have a great Sunday everyone.

 

[arizonadreamer]

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The horny one (no pun intended) is Little Ricky Roo. He took the pics with my cannon which obviously he knows how to operate better. My pics were blurry and disappointing. He is a good a photographer.

Ricky Roo? Looks like Satan to me.

It was good to meet you and your DH today! I hope Ricky Loo(cipher) likes Candy Cane.

He kept calling to her and she ignored him. Ricky is penned with his flock right now so I can keep the fertility rate high, but CC did try and get in with them at dusk last night. That is how she ended up on the wall she tried to fly into the pen and overshot it.

It was also nice meeting you and I'm sorry I didn't properly introduce DH to you. My head had been terribly stuffed from allergies and I didn't even realize my rudeness until we had been sitting stuck in traffic for 30 minutes or so on the way back. I am sorry about it and DH's name is Joe. Thanks again for letting us add CC to our family.