INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Leahs Mom]

PS: It amazes me that if you look at some of the top bar hive videos, these guys are out there with bar arms working with the bees!

We once visited some folks that showed us their 3 top bar hives. She said that each of the colonies had their own personality. One of hers were "mean" and the others were more docile which I thought was very interesting.

 

[FarkerFarms]

I did the bee thing 30+ years ago. I had 3 or 4 hives.

I bought one box of bees through the mail and collected the rest myself from swarms.

I collected one swarm downtown Indianapolis during lunch hour while wearing a business suit. I cut off the tree branch with my pocket knife and placed it in a cardboard box I got from a business nearby. I folded the box shut and put it opening-down in the back of my pickup truck. I parked back in the parking garage. When I got back to work, I mused with my co-workers about what would happen if a thief tried to steal the box from the truck.

The longer I had them, the meaner they got. When dealing with bees, you never think of individual bees, unless the individual has managed to get inside the veil with you. At that point, you think ONLY about that individual. Once, I had so many inside the veil that I ran and ripped off the veil. They chased me all the way back to the house, about 800 feet. Fortunately, it was upwind or I wouldn't have been able to stay ahead of them. Now I would be able to run (slowly) maybe 80 feet.

One night, I went out after dark (they won't fly at night) and pulled all the comb frames out and piled them up on the truck's tailgate brushing off the bees from the combs, pant legs, gloves, etc.

I broke up the combs and put them in a pressure cooker pot that held 3 or 4 gallons and warmed it up on the stove. I strained off the crud consisting of larvae, form wires, cocoons, etc. Then I skimmed off the beeswax. I then poured the remaining honey into quart and pint jars.

That supplied my extended family with honey for years.

It was fun until they got mean. I still have some of the bee stuff laying around in the basement and barn if someone wants it.

John

I'm definitely interested in your bee keeping wares if you are sure you are not going to get back into that hobby

 

[Old Salt 1945]

I'm definitely interested in your bee keeping wares if you are sure you are not going to get back into that hobby

Come on over and we'll dig it out. We were gonna do it when you were here for Lora's easter eggers, but forgot.

I probably have most of what you will need, even scrap lumber that can be used to make the boxes to hold the frames.

John

 

[PeacefulWalls]

Thank you for sharing your ups and downs! I am concerned also, but want to give it a try for at least a couple of years. I am hoping to keep the costs down by making my own hives, and I have heard that the top bar method, although you get slightly less honey, is much easier to work with and less intrusive to the bees. I had friends try bees and it lasted maybe 6 months, but I am really into the idea of homesteading and trying to be as self sufficient as possible! Plus I'm super stubborn!

I might know some people who are super stubborn, too! I was truly hoping we'd enjoy it more. Perhaps if we didn't have, oh, say, a ton of chickens, rabbits, alpacas, and ducks and the chores to go with them we might have felt like spending more time with the colonies of 20,000+ other tiny livestock!! I also had read some about the topbar hives. I think a past issue of Mother Earth News had an article about it. I was very intrigued and had thought about trying it as well. I think, too, it may be a bit easier to manage. You certainly wouldn't have to be lifting supers filled with 50 lbs. of honey off the top of the hive to check something in the bottom of it -- definitely easier on the back! Go for it and try to find a mentor if possible. One book, among others, that I pretty much read cover to cover was The Backyard Beekeeper by Kim Flottum. You might want to see if your library has it. The 2010 edition is revised & updated.

 

[barb s]

HI! We are new and was told about the state sites! I am looking to start our adventure here in Northwest Indiana, but don't know where I can purchase chicks. We are looking to purchase egg layers. We are from Northwest Indiana and our town is looking to change our ordinances, so that is why we are looking now. We were going to wait until Spring, but now we cannot. And why wait right? I look forward to "meeting" everyone and thank you in advance for your help!

Welcome!!

 

[kabhyper1]

Quote:
Thank you. It's fun, but nerve wracking all at the same time.

 

[kabhyper1]

All this bee talk would make my husband swell up just reading it. LOL. Can anyone tell me if I should put a heat lamp over the brooder with Lavender and the chicks when they hatch? It
s been pretty chilly at night. I know she supplies most of the heat, but what about when they are running around the brooder? Also is there any way of telling, by her behavior, if the hatch has started under her yet? Just curious, thanks!

 

[PeacefulWalls]

I did the bee thing 30+ years ago. I had 3 or 4 hives.

I bought one box of bees through the mail and collected the rest myself from swarms.

I collected one swarm downtown Indianapolis during lunch hour while wearing a business suit. I cut off the tree branch with my pocket knife and placed it in a cardboard box I got from a business nearby. I folded the box shut and put it opening-down in the back of my pickup truck. I parked back in the parking garage. When I got back to work, I mused with my co-workers about what would happen if a thief tried to steal the box from the truck.

The longer I had them, the meaner they got. When dealing with bees, you never think of individual bees, unless the individual has managed to get inside the veil with you. At that point, you think ONLY about that individual. Once, I had so many inside the veil that I ran and ripped off the veil. They chased me all the way back to the house, about 800 feet. Fortunately, it was upwind or I wouldn't have been able to stay ahead of them. Now I would be able to run (slowly) maybe 80 feet.

One night, I went out after dark (they won't fly at night) and pulled all the comb frames out and piled them up on the truck's tailgate brushing off the bees from the combs, pant legs, gloves, etc.

I broke up the combs and put them in a pressure cooker pot that held 3 or 4 gallons and warmed it up on the stove. I strained off the crud consisting of larvae, form wires, cocoons, etc. Then I skimmed off the beeswax. I then poured the remaining honey into quart and pint jars.

That supplied my extended family with honey for years.

It was fun until they got mean. I still have some of the bee stuff laying around in the basement and barn if someone wants it.

John

I'm starting to wonder.....is there anything you haven't tried?!? Perhaps we should start a contest to see who can be the first person to find something John hasn't done in his lifetime!

 

[pginsber]

All this bee talk would make my husband swell up just reading it. LOL. Can anyone tell me if I should put a heat lamp over the brooder with Lavender and the chicks when they hatch? It
s been pretty chilly at night. I know she supplies most of the heat, but what about when they are running around the brooder? Also is there any way of telling, by her behavior, if the hatch has started under her yet? Just curious, thanks!

When I would reach under my broody, she didn't bite me until she had CHICKS under her. This is my first time, so I can't say that it always happens, but she was DEFINITELY more aggressive about the chicks compared to eggs.

 

[PeacefulWalls]

PS: It amazes me that if you look at some of the top bar hive videos, these guys are out there with bar arms working with the bees!

We once visited some folks that showed us their 3 top bar hives. She said that each of the colonies had their own personality. One of hers were "mean" and the others were more docile which I thought was very interesting.

Reminds me of one of our bee club leaders. He works most of his hives in a t-shirt and shorts and a baseball cap and usually there is no problem. He shared a story, though, of one hive he had where he & the other club leader had to work it together. They both put on thick heavy clothes with a bee suit on over that yet too. He ended up re-queening the hive to get rid of the aggressive bees. Yikes! Certain breeds of bees are known to be calmer than others. Thank goodness the 2 nucs we had gotten ended up being relatively gentle. One of the past presidents of the Michiana Beekeepers Assoc. lives near Nappanee, IN and raises queens/sells nucs. We had gotten our 2 nucs from him. We also set up a hive to see if we could capture a swarm in the spring, but it didn't work. We live across the road from part of a commercial orchard, which sprays their trees countless times throughout the year. I was always concerned that our bees would end up being killed by the spray or they would bring traces of the chemicals back with them mixed with their pollen. Both of our hives mysteriously vanished last October. Don't know if the queen left, died, the hives were attacked by another group of bees (we saw a lot of dead ones on the ground around the hives), chemicals from the orchard or corn fields killed them (has been happening a lot) or what. The person we got the bees from said there could be countless reasons what happened to them. If they hadn't disappeared we would still actually have them. I wasn't ready to spend another $100/nuc again this spring!