Colorado

[Latestarter]

Here is the website of our bee keeper, he sells full colonies to get started, not sure of pricing. He has been doing this 20+ years and is very knowledgeable always willing to answer questions and such. Anyway can't offer more than that at this time as we bartered with him to have hives on our property and we get some honey. We might be looking to buy or make our own down the road. One thing at a time....

Our gang did fair overnight, happy to say the coop didn't get down below 14 and the humidity didn't get higher than 18% humidity. Our roo's both had frost bite on their waddles this am, so far I have applied bag balm to both waddles and will see how they do. Rocco's waddles are a little swollen as well. Will have to monitor, the waters have both been changed out to the smaller size chick feeders, both sitting in sand in the heated dog bowls. We will see how that works, I notice a couple girls who have gotten their waddles wet even drinking out of those. Not sure what to do from here.

@Late - did you roos stop eating when they had frost bite on their waddles, how often did you apply bag balm?

Woke up to frozen pipes

Edited because I forgot the link!

Really sorry about your frozen pipe(s). Hope they didn't burst! The frozen wattles didn't stop or slow my roos down at all really. They did shake their heads quite a bit as I bet it was uncomfortable/painful for them, but there was no bleeding either. When I checked them this morning there was no further damage than that from back in November (thank God!) to wattles or combs. Glad your group did well. Temps are supposed to be going back up slowly over the coming week, so hopefully the worst is once again over for the moment.

Thanks for the link. I checked out that bee keepers website but it says he only sells queens, not colonies. He does advertise pollenation services, which is what I believe he's doing by setting up hives on your property. I think I've decided to go with http://www.bees-bees-bees.com/ Just got off the phone with Kathy and everything sounded great! She's in Thornton, her prices are the best I've found and she and her family's had years of experience going back to her grand parents. I'll be heading over there later this week to check everything out and if all goes well, will buy the 2 hive setups as well as the packages of bees to go in them.

This is getting as exciting as when I started (late, but better then than never) doing chickens

Now I have to plan on getting the garden area prepped and installed this year as well. Not getting bees just to get stung!

edited for spelling

 

[uzisuzuki]

Wow, was it cold last night!!! I did not get up early enough to check the thermometer, but was minus 10 about 4pm last night.

Cool on the beekeeping! Not sure we could have them at our altitude of 8700" or not, have never been inclined to have them, but very cool that others are!!!!

Sad when you can't find someone reliable to watch your critters as well as you do....... just hope your little dog got back inside, I would think he would keep trying til he made it back in, or one of the others would go out and get him, dogs are smarter than we think. You could always have a back up dog house in the yard, insulated and with a dog heating pad down in case it ever happens when you are not home.

Congrats on the Brinsea being ordered!!!! I see some chickies in your future! lol

I just use fortex bowls in the winter, easier to clear the ice from, and they last FOREVER. I have a heated dog water bowl, but no elec in the coop, so for now this works best for me, I also try and water early in the day so their wattles don;t have water on them later in the day when the temps start to drop.

Well, they predicted a harsh winter for the latter part of winter...... maybe this is the beginning of it???? I hope not, and it holds off til February or March. Going to warm up again next week! Yay!

I am hoping to have some purebreed Barnevelder eggs for sale late spring, or early summer, if anyone is interested in adding Barnies to their flock.

I hope so! I'm not going to try hatching too many eggs (mostly since only one hen is laying consistently) but I couldn't help myself in buying an incubator to try hatching out. My curiosity is too great. I might be interested in some Barnevelder eggs, depending on how many of my ordered chicks survive their shipping (late May) and how many eggs I get to hatch. Would you mind keeping me in mind when you get ready to sell? You guys with all your pretty chicken hatching eggs! I definitely am heading towards buying a Tiny House for all the chickens I want! XD

I totally almost jinxed myself with my frostbite comment last night. Ody showed what looked like some very early signs of it on his comb this morning when I brought him in to clean up his nose (it was kinda crusty). He stayed inside until all the colour came back and he started getting restless. Back outside with his hens, they all were very eager to eat and drink and stretch their legs despite it still being about -10. I'm getting some vasoline to put on him until I can score some Bag Balm. I'll be happy when the temps get above freezing again (and I think the chickens and mini ponies will, too)!

 

[maggiemo]

Hi Everyone.
It was -15 here in South Boulder last night. My girls seem to be fine this morning, so I am happy about that.

I have bees. I have been keeping them for 4 years now. Every winter I lose a hive or two so I hope to have one or two make it through this winter. It was a rough year for most beekeepers I know last year, not much honey was harvested, if any.
I try to buy bees from local beekeepers and not from California or down south. I have had better luck with them wintering over if they are local.
I usually get a swarm or two in the spring. Put the word out to friends and family now that you want to be called if they see a swarm.
Beekeeping is very challenging with all the pesticides and mono-cropping, good luck to you all. The bees need all the help they can get!

Happy New Year.
mo

 

[COChix]

Really sorry about your frozen pipe(s).  Hope they didn't burst!  The frozen wattles didn't stop or slow my roos down at all really. They did shake their heads quite a bit as I bet it was uncomfortable/painful for them, but there was no bleeding either. When I checked them this morning there was no further damage than that from back in November (thank God!) to wattles or combs. Glad your group did well. Temps are supposed to be going back up slowly over the coming week, so hopefully the worst is once again over for the moment.

Thanks for the link. I checked out that bee keepers website but it says he only sells queens, not colonies. He does advertise pollenation services, which is what I believe he's doing by setting up hives on your property. I think I've decided to go with http://www.bees-bees-bees.com/ Just got off the phone with Kathy and everything sounded great! She's in Thornton, her prices are the best I've found and she and her family's had years of experience going back to her grand parents. I'll be heading over there later this week to check everything out and if all goes well, will buy the 2 hive setups as well as the packages of bees to go in them. e This is getting as exciting as when I started (late, but better then than never) doing chickens Now I have to plan on getting the garden area prepped and installed this year as well. Not getting bees just to get stung!  

edited for spelling

So were your roo's wattles swollen at all? Rocco our alpha roo's wattles are swollen a bit. Bruno's don't seem as bad, not sure where the roosted last night will have to really start catching their spots where they roost. To determine if use inside the coop.

-14 overnight in NoBo...

 

[suncatcher]

Roosters usually have bigger wattles than hens, and when they drink, their wattles get more water on them, which then freezes as the temps get colder. You might try watering earlier in the day, also warm water freezes quicker than cold water....... From what I have read frost on wattles tends to make them swell. Hope this cold snap passes quickly!!!!! Just my two cents worth.

 

[COChix]

Roosters usually have bigger wattles than hens, and when they drink, their wattles get more water on them, which then freezes as the temps get colder.  You might try watering earlier in the day, also warm water freezes quicker than cold water.......    From what I have read frost on wattles tends to make them swell.  Hope this cold snap passes quickly!!!!!  Just my two cents worth. 

Thanks, I knew swelling was due to moisture, my guess is they got drinks before bed and there wattles were moist. As far as water we offer water free choice in the run but none in the coop. So not sure what to do with 25 birds that all spend most of the time outside during the day.

I have learned a couple things already on frostbite I will pass along as there are a lot of us knew to chicken keeping in winter.

Once they have frostbite it has been suggested that it is better not to touch those affected areas as it could make matters worse. I did apply Bag Balm after injury so I hope my inexperience doesn't make it worse.

Don't use products to coat the combs and wattles that have a water content as this can freeze. I did not do this one, just thought worth mentioning.

The sun is out at it is 20 out the gang has been basking in the south part of the run in the sun all am. Hope that helps everyone with a bit of frost bite.

 

[Latestarter]

Was a dummy and got caught up reading about beekeeping and lost track of time... Been 4 hours since last egg retrieval. As a result I just collected 8 eggs that I believe are all frozen

They'll be used as animal food I'm afraid... I don't like/eat boiled eggs.

 

[Latestarter]

So were your roo's wattles swollen at all? Rocco our alpha roo's wattles are swollen a bit. Bruno's don't seem as bad, not sure where the roosted last night will have to really start catching their spots where they roost. To determine if use inside the coop.

-14 overnight in NoBo...

They were swollen just a little, and very warm to the touch, as if they were trying their hardest to thaw them.

 

[laceykins]

I was up @ 4am as I had spent some 8 hours researching bee keeping and sources for materials/supplies. I'm going to set up 2 hives this spring and figure I better get started pretty quick to make this happen. I know some others had said they want to start as well. You might check out these two info sites. They are almost/essentially complete training courses without the hands on: http://basicbeekeeping.blogspot.com/2007/09/lesson-one-in-beekeeping-introduction.html  &  http://www.ohiostatebeekeepers.org/beekeeping_class/  Right now I feel confident that I could do this without taking the one day class, but will do so anyway just for the hands on and personal training/experience. Fully confident in starting to buy/order the basic equipment now.

I Stopped and talked with the man "in charge" of bee keeping at the Agfinity store yesterday. They're holding a 1 day course in February but from what I've gathered on line, many places run out of (ordered - to be delivered in May) packaged bees by late January. They also sell all the box materials, but un-assembled and about the same price as what I can find online for (local - no shipping) fully assembled and painted/stained boxes. <--They also offer a package w/the boxes and bees, but I have no idea where the bees come from. Hope to contact them later today to find out. I did find one other local bee seller online but his add/info was years old with no comments at all...

Any recommendations from other CO bee keepers on the thread? Has anyone dealt with http://www.bees-bees-bees.com/? They're the one (not Agfinity) I talked about above. I might take a trip over to see their operation later today if they'll be there. Has anyone found a local source of bees to start their colonies with? I mean I could sign up to capture swarms, but that's hardly a reliable source... I am going to make this happen this spring

Denver Urban Homestead has classes on beekeeping and other stuff.

 

[Latestarter]

Thanks Lacey, I know. There is a class right here though so I don't need to drive/travel.