Last Year I Started Beekeeping - So Exciting

[zazouse]

Welcome to beekeeping! It is a great hobby ~ we started about 6 years ago as a "retirement hobby". The first year we had 1 hive ~ now we have 12 with plans for more. It is like "chicken math"!

HUM my hubby has been building boxes and frames like mad, me thinks he has a plan, God i hope not i have enough going on here and he works so much i don't get much help when i really need it.
He has yet to look things up about the bees and so i have taken over as the looker upper and learn what i can so i can try to help him.
This was suppose to be his baby but i am begining to wonder. LOL

 

[madamwlf]

Okay, someone help. I came home to my bees on the ground in front of the hive. Of course the queen was down there. I managed to get them all back in the hive with much effort. I have feeding station all over my yard, thanks to you nice chick waterers. How can I keep her in the hive?? At what point she requeening be considered? I can't keep putting my bees back in the hive everyday. This is crazy!

But I'm not giving up!! This is a learning experience and I hope to be better learned for the next package to come.

 

[Blarneyeggs]

Oh my!! I can NOT believe this happened to you again! We don't have our bees yet, I hope someone else comes on soon and gives you good advice.

 

[sgtmom52]

Okay, someone help. I came home to my bees on the ground in front of the hive. Of course the queen was down there. I managed to get them all back in the hive with much effort. I have feeding station all over my yard, thanks to you nice chick waterers. How can I keep her in the hive?? At what point she requeening be considered? I can't keep putting my bees back in the hive everyday. This is crazy!

But I'm not giving up!! This is a learning experience and I hope to be better learned for the next package to come.

You could try putting a queen excluder between the bottom board and the hive body to prevent the queen from leaving.

 

[madamwlf]

I will try that next. I'm hoping tomorrow is a new day with bees happily being bees. And not trying to fly away.

 

[3forfree]

Not being a beekeeper, what makes them want to leave.

 

[Themehmeh]

Hooray for bees! I hope to be setting them up next year!
They're not illegal in town like the chickens, but probably because nobody thought to make them illegal.
Along with the chickens, the vermicompost which I hope to have ready sometime this year (last year died, some kind of parasite) , the cat dog and fish. I might as well be running a full time farm. Not that I'm complaining!

 

[Kay56]

Hi....I am new to chickens AND bees. This year my hubby and I decided to give them both a try. I do not get my chicks until May 1st but hubby gets his bees on the 24th of this month. I think he is getting 3 nuks from another bee keeper in our area. I have been dosing myself with local honey over the past 6 months hoping to avoid the awful spring allergies I always get....it worked great. So that is one of the reasons we are trying bees. He joined a local bee group and we are very fascinated by all of this. We are never to old to learn.....wish we had this adventure 10 years sooner though....

Our three sons and their families are just as excited about the bees and chickens so MAYBE they can start a bit sooner.....lol

 

[chigger bait]

This is my 3rd year of bee keeping.

I captured my first two swarms this year.

The 1st one was the size of a soccer ball.

I put it in a hive body but it didn't stay.

Let after about 4 hours.

A couple of days later I found one about the half the size of the 1st one.

This time I closed up all the opening for a day and a half.

They are still there today when I just checked.

I lost one hive this past winter, so this swarm will replace them.

 

[madamwlf]

So a small step forward today. Came home to no swarms and bees actively retrieving syrup and going back to the hive. Yeah!