Honey Bee Sanctuary - NOT!

[Mimi13]

Oh there is a whole story to the swarm capture. It's funny too. Video as well, which friend has.

As for help...any time!

I would like to see a video of that. I honestly can’t imagine.

 

[Mimi13]

It was also the cost of suit, and all the other gear, big factors in putting me off of it.

Yeah, but @aart, think about how creative you are. I think a lot of the bee keeping items could be recreated, so to speak. Recreated is not he right word, but you know. Ingenuity has always been one of my strong suits and I think yours too. If I do this bee thing, a smoker is a definite purchase, as well as a suit, I guess. A hood for sure. I’m generally calm and easy going and luckily have avoided being stung in the past 20+ years, but I don’t know if luck will be sufficient or not. As far as tools go, mine will be something repurposed. I’ve got too much junk around here not to have something. Anyway, I may or may not give it a shot this next spring. Heck, I’m not even through tinkering with my chicken run. I don’t guess I’ll ever be done. But that’s what I enjoy the most, just fiddle-farting around on whatever. That’s my life, and I love it.

 

[Mimi13]

Sorry, what I was meaning was the deeper the bucket, the less you have to refill. So long as the bees have a good surface to crawl on, they'll be fine.

Visualize a cement block standing on end inside a 5 gallon bucket. You can fill the bucket with water to where the water level is just shy of the top of the block. Then as the water is consumed, the bees will start to crawl down the sides of the block in order to reach the lowering water level.

This means less interaction (or less potential for problems) with the bees.

Oh yes, I understand completely and that is a great idea and something I’ll most likely do.

My burning barrel is about 5’-7’ away from my processing table (where the bee waterers are) and I accidentally burned a small amount of stuff yesterday. I stood there watching the bees and the smoke started wafting over toward me...and the bees quickly disappeared. I knew instantly what I had just done. I’m thankful I didn’t burn much. So for this very reason I’m gonna set up something elsewhere and I think this bucket idea will be perfect. Thank you.

 

[Mimi13]

Tv

Thats why i lime the top bar. I built it. Bought a suit and smoker. . Hive tool is an old kitchen knife. Strainer for honey os an old kitchen seive.

Nothing else needed. No extractors. No spinners. No frames. . No foundations to replace.

Ok I did buy those two books. But I'm a book person.

Ah ha! This is perfect. See, @aart, we can do it.

I did sign up to go to a quick, 90 minute bee keepers class the beginning of October. It will be complete with the opening of a hive. I will have my answer whether or not I’ll keep bees after that. I don’t want to be overwhelmed by this for sure.

 

[aart]

Yeah, but @aart, think about how creative you are. I think a lot of the bee keeping items could be recreated, so to speak.

Yep.... but beyond my capabilities, motivation, and desires at this point.

 

[ewok126]

Luckily I don’t have bee allergies, but I think I will still want to suit up. You have been so helpful. Thank you.

Yeah, but @aart, think about how creative you are. I think a lot of the bee keeping items could be recreated, so to speak. Recreated is not he right word, but you know. Ingenuity has always been one of my strong suits and I think yours too. If I do this bee thing, a smoker is a definite purchase, as well as a suit, I guess. A hood for sure. I’m generally calm and easy going and luckily have avoided being stung in the past 20+ years, but I don’t know if luck will be sufficient or not. As far as tools go, mine will be something repurposed. I’ve got too much junk around here not to have something. Anyway, I may or may not give it a shot this next spring. Heck, I’m not even through tinkering with my chicken run. I don’t guess I’ll ever be done. But that’s what I enjoy the most, just fiddle-farting around on whatever. That’s my life, and I love it.

You are spot on Mimi. A hive tool is basically a flat thick metal blade used to scrape off propolis, burcombe etc and also used to pry the frames lose. A thick scraper or even a large flat head screwdriver can be used. For a bee suit which I do not use. I just wear some thick baggy sweatpants that have the elastic band around the ankles so a bee can not fly up my pant legs and a baggy sweatshirt that has bands around the wrist and I tuck it in the top of the band of the pants. Or, I will wear a cheap used pair of medical scrubs from Goodwill when I do not want the sweat pants and such and just put an elastic band around the sleeves and pant legs. Also you can just tuck the pant legs into your socks. The nitrile gloves you can get from harbor freight dirt cheap. I think 7.99 for a box of 100. I reuse mine until they tear. Other than that just the hive body box, frames and foundation is all that is needed. The hive body box you can get for 16 or 17 bucks unassembled. The frames you can get for like $1.25 each unassembled, and the foundation you can get for about $1.25 each. Oh the head gear, again I do not use any head or face gear. You can get the beekeepers hat and face netting that has a draw sting around the shoulders so bees can not get inside it while working dirt cheap off of amazon. I think I had seen it for like 17 bucks. Then of course the bees.

I love my bees dearly! I sit with them almost everyday. I have hand fed them many a times. I love watching the social aspect of my honey bees. Workes, Drones, and the Queen and how they all function as one living organism. It is the most astounding thing I think I have ever seen. The bee dance or "bee waggle" as some call it is AMAZING!

I got to quit now before this becomes a long article lmaoooo.

 

[Mimi13]

What I have done for my bees is I have one of the large gravity fed automatic dog watering bowls

. I place it on the opposite side of my yard away from my birds. What I have also done is I have filled the base with the Styrofoam packing peanuts. We call it "Ghost Poop." or you can cut a piece of bubble wrap and cut holes in it the size of a pencil eraser and float it on top of the water. This way no rocks are needed, the bees have a place to land or swim to so they can get out if they should fall in the water and its very easy to move if I need to. Also the peanuts or bubble wrap changes with the water level since they both float. Now as far as keeping the bees away from your birds water I would suggest this. Do something similar a bucket and place a layer of Styrofoam packing peanuts or bubble wrap on top of the water. I would suggest the bubble wrap because with the peanuts, wind blows it off the top of the water. With the bubble wrap this does not seem to be an issue. Then, take a piece of wood or something heavy that will soak in some fluid and put Lemongrass essential oil on it. Let it soak into the block of wood and sit it beside the bucket, bin, bowl (not in the water but beside the water dish) where you want the bees to go to get their water. Reason for this is lemongrass essential oil puts out a scent that is similar to honey bee pheromone. This is what is used in swarm traps for folks that want to catch a wild honey bee swarm vs buying honeybees. This will draw the bees to the water you have put out for bees vs your birds water. If all goes well then you have killed two birds with one stone. (No pun intended.)


A great deal of folks wear suits when keeping bees especially if they know they have bee allergies. I do not wear a bee suit at all. I found it was a huge waste of money. The only thing I do wear special when I go to get into my hive is the 5 mil Nitrile powder free gloves. This is just in case I should accidentally squish a honeybee under my fingers while getting out the frames lol. The only other tool I have besides my hive tool that I keep is an Epipen. Even though a person is not allergic to bees. That can change with one sting from any bee at any time. You can not be allergic one second your whole life and then suddenly you are. There is no way to tell until it happens so an epipen is a must if you ever plan to keep bees. I do not use a smoker. You will read a lot that say "The smoke calms the bees" this is BS. What is does is it puts the bees in a state of panic (OH SHIT FIRE!) and they run down in the hive and start gorging themselves on their food storage ie (honey) just incase they should have to move in a hurry if the hive should catch on fire. Since it will be a year before I get honey I do not have a honey extractor. Last thing I wanted was a "garage ornament" for a year before it was needed.

Sorry for the long reply but just wanted to try and help out.

Best Regards,
Chris Q.

Oh mercy, @ewok126, you are a man of a lot of information, that’s for sure and thank you for sharing.

The “ghost poop” may be the newest thing for bee waterer rocks, but I have chickens that hunt that stuff down, like a shark to blood or a cat to catnip, or, well, a chicken to styrofoam! In my case anyway! I’m just afraid those would be a death sentence for my nosy girls.

I will most likely buy a suit, at least a hood/veil. If there’s one thing I can’t stand is a mosquito buzzing around my ears. It drives me bat crazy. I think the buzzing bees would do the same thing to me if they could get that close to my ears. The “goo” factor doesn’t bother me too much, so gloves might be optional. Not to mention my hands are extremely small and I have the hardest time finding work gloves to fit. I’d imagine the bee suit gloves would be the same way. However, I may find out that it’s best for me to work with an entire suit.

As for carrying an epi pen, wow! That’s a huge, added expense to the whole keeping bee experience, unless you know you really need it, that is.

And, a smoker would definitely be on my to buy list. I have horses so I have an infinite supply of smoker fuel. No worries there. And anything that prevents the bees from getting stressed (no matter how it works) is for the best, just like my chickens. Ain’t nobody got time fo dat!

Thanks a bunch for your response.

 

[Mimi13]

You are spot on Mimi. A hive tool is basically a flat thick metal blade used to scrape off propolis, burcombe etc and also used to pry the frames lose. A thick scraper or even a large flat head screwdriver can be used. For a bee suit which I do not use. I just wear some thick baggy sweatpants that have the elastic band around the ankles so a bee can not fly up my pant legs and a baggy sweatshirt that has bands around the wrist and I tuck it in the top of the band of the pants. Or, I will wear a cheap used pair of medical scrubs from Goodwill when I do not want the sweat pants and such and just put an elastic band around the sleeves and pant legs. Also you can just tuck the pant legs into your socks. The nitrile gloves you can get from harbor freight dirt cheap. I think 7.99 for a box of 100. I reuse mine until they tear. Other than that just the hive body box, frames and foundation is all that is needed. The hive body box you can get for 16 or 17 bucks unassembled. The frames you can get for like $1.25 each unassembled, and the foundation you can get for about $1.25 each. Oh the head gear, again I do not use any head or face gear. You can get the beekeepers hat and face netting that has a draw sting around the shoulders so bees can not get inside it while working dirt cheap off of amazon. I think I had seen it for like 17 bucks. Then of course the bees.

I love my bees dearly! I sit with them almost everyday. I have hand fed them many a times. I love watching the social aspect of my honey bees. Workes, Drones, and the Queen and how they all function as one living organism. It is the most astounding thing I think I have ever seen. The bee dance or "bee waggle" as some call it is AMAZING!

I got to quit now before this becomes a long article lmaoooo.

Truly amazing.

 

[ewok126]

Oh mercy, @ewok126, you are a man of a lot of information, that’s for sure and thank you for sharing.

The “ghost poop” may be the newest thing for bee waterer rocks, but I have chickens that hunt that stuff down, like a shark to blood or a cat to catnip, or, well, a chicken to styrofoam! In my case anyway! I’m just afraid those would be a death sentence for my nosy girls.

I will most likely buy a suit, at least a hood/veil. If there’s one thing I can’t stand is a mosquito buzzing around my ears. It drives me bat crazy. I think the buzzing bees would do the same thing to me if they could get that close to my ears. The “goo” factor doesn’t bother me too much, so gloves might be optional. Not to mention my hands are extremely small and I have the hardest time finding work gloves to fit. I’d imagine the bee suit gloves would be the same way. However, I may find out that it’s best for me to work with an entire suit.

As for carrying an epi pen, wow! That’s a huge, added expense to the whole keeping bee experience, unless you know you really need it, that is.

And, a smoker would definitely be on my to buy list. I have horses so I have an infinite supply of smoker fuel. No worries there. And anything that prevents the bees from getting stressed (no matter how it works) is for the best, just like my chickens. Ain’t nobody got time fo dat!

Thanks a bunch for your response.

Yeah you would not want the chickens near the ghost poop. What I was meaning is if you put a seperate water supply for bees somewhere else in your yard where the chickens can not get to it. Put something with lemongrass oil near this seperate water supply and it will help draw bees to it instead of them going to your chickens water lol.

I get my epipens for $6 bucks a set.$1.50 each. It is less than what I spend on a 3 liter of coke. The thing about it is, even though you are not allergic to bees anyone can become allergic at any time in their life even if they are not allergic right now and never have been allergic in their life. Last thing is it does not matter if you have a bee suit or not. If you keep bees you will at some point get stung. I have had a bee sting me through the lambskin gloves that came with my bee suit. Gloves not fitting is why I like the nitrile gloves they are very tight like surgical gloves. Honey bees can not typically sting through the 5 or 7 mill gloves and I can feel if a bee is under my fingers. With the leather gloves you can not feel a bee under your finger until it is squished.

I knew a beekeeper than was not allergic and had been stung a few times throughout his life then one day he got a single sting. Next thing he knew his lips and fingers went numb. He decided to go to the hospital because this was something new. Before he got to his vehicle he passed out. He went into anaphylactic shock. Lucky for him he had an epi pen just to be safe and his wife had grabbed it on the way out to the car. She injected him with it. If she had not he would have died. So yep an epipen is a necessity and for 3 bucks it will be the cheapest and possibly life saving tool you own for beekeeping lol.

It is my pleasure to share information. I can not say my information is right for everyone it is just right for me lol. Since my stroke, what is left of my brain I try to keep it learning all I can. Needless to say most of it is worthless information lol.

 

[Mimi13]

Yeah you would not want the chickens near the ghost poop. What I was meaning is if you put a seperate water supply for bees somewhere else in your yard where the chickens can not get to it. Put something with lemongrass oil near this seperate water supply and it will help draw bees to it instead of them going to your chickens water lol.

I get my epipens for $6 bucks a set.$1.50 each. It is less than what I spend on a 3 liter of coke. The thing about it is, even though you are not allergic to bees anyone can become allergic at any time in their life even if they are not allergic right now and never have been allergic in their life. Last thing is it does not matter if you have a bee suit or not. If you keep bees you will at some point get stung. I have had a bee sting me through the lambskin gloves that came with my bee suit. Gloves not fitting is why I like the nitrile gloves they are very tight like surgical gloves. Honey bees can not typically sting through the 5 or 7 mill gloves and I can feel if a bee is under my fingers. With the leather gloves you can not feel a bee under your finger until it is squished.

I knew a beekeeper than was not allergic and had been stung a few times throughout his life then one day he got a single sting. Next thing he knew his lips and fingers went numb. He decided to go to the hospital because this was something new. Before he got to his vehicle he passed out. He went into anaphylactic shock. Lucky for him he had an epi pen just to be safe and his wife had grabbed it on the way out to the car. She injected him with it. If she had not he would have died. So yep an epipen is a necessity and for 3 bucks it will be the cheapest and possibly life saving tool you own for beekeeping lol.

It is my pleasure to share information. I can not say my information is right for everyone it is just right for me lol. Since my stroke, what is left of my brain I try to keep it learning all I can. Needless to say most of it is worthless information lol.

Wow on all the info and I’m sorry to hear about your stroke. You know, life is short and we have to enjoy it to the fullest. I think all of us on BYC do this by loving our chickens.