"Louisiana "La-yers" Peeps"

[Ron Skekel]

Smoking might piss them off but they think fire and fill up on honey to save the hive. When full of honey they don't sting. If you want them gone i'll come get them.

if you need more info to keep them I can give you that too.

 

[Angelicisi]

I appreciate it and if we give up you're 1st on the list to call!
I'm going to try and see how they do, I got the boxes cleaned. We need to order new...combs? The old ones we pulled. Had to, half were infested maybe more . We want them pollinating and producing honey they're active and queens active hopefully we can get them going. but I have a severe allergy and no epi pen so have to wait til I have available time to get one and another adult around . Plus I don't have a day off until next Sunday

Smoking might piss them off but they think fire and fill up on honey to save the hive. When full of honey they don't sting. If you want them gone i'll come get them.

I work maintenance downtown baton rouge we lost a few employees recently...I'm here a lot .

Where is it you work?  

 

[LemonMeringue]

I had the same problem when I started out! Small top knots and incorrect toe numbers. I found some nice hens from a lady a few hours away that have everything correct. They are my broodies right now. They may not be show quality (which I'm looking in to! I contacted someone who shows and has very nice birds. I may be able to get something in October,) but they are so much better than what I started with. I started with a pair. While the hen had alright fluff, the male was horrible and they both had bad toes. Here they are:




They actually have some of the top silkie breeders here in the south. I dug around Facebook and found some. I have six or so two/three month old I'm growing out from a friend. I haven't examined them too closely, but a few have nice top knots. I wouldn't mind parting with a few if you don't mind chicks. (I'd have to count toes. I have no clue if they are correct.) I only raise black silkies, and my friend gave me a white and a blue. I'll have to get some photos of them.

I haven't done a photoshoot, but I'll add a photo from my phone in a second. In the words of Agnus, "They're soooo fluffy!"

That is how our first pair was. We got them from Petrus (they order from Privette Hatchery). They both had the correct ## of toes it was just their fluffiness that was lacking and probably some body type maybe (I'm no expert but I'm learning). My struggle right now is if I am going to keep straight Silkies or continue with my beloved Sizzles (which I need to have Silkies for anyway). I just adore the Sizzles (Same body type as the Silkie except with regular barbed feathers that can be flat or curly)! The only problem I see with them is that they can't be shown unless there is an extra category for a feathered leg chicken or something like that. I'm not sure. I just don't want to have extra fluffies around and not be able to find them homes if they aren't desirable to other poultry keepers and maybe 4-H ers. In any case if I can get a couple of hens that have large crests and the correct ## of toes, blue earlobes etc, I would be thrilled. And I have read that the blacks tend to be closest to the correct type generally. But my favorites are any color other than black or blue, go figure. The main problem with my Sizzles that I have so far is their crest size. Maybe if your breeder you are talking to works out maybe you could share their info with me as well

 

[Ron Skekel]

I appreciate it and if we give up you're 1st on the list to call!
I'm going to try and see how they do, I got the boxes cleaned. We need to order new...combs? The old ones we pulled. Had to, half were infested maybe more . We want them pollinating and producing honey they're active and queens active hopefully we can get them going. but I have a severe allergy and no epi pen so have to wait til I have available time to get one and another adult around . Plus I don't have a day off until next Sunday
I work maintenance downtown baton rouge we lost a few employees recently...I'm here a lot .

No epi you better get your butt to the Dr. and get one or two. Bee's are attracted to dark colors so don't wear black like the lady in your pic. When you smoke them move slowly smoke and give them a few min. then smoke again. The fuller they are the better. Always move slow. To move the hive wait till dark all bees are in hive at night. Make sure you put reducer on entrence. Them plug entrence with rag or duct tape. Then move hive try not to jar or knock hive.Your wax comes on a frame either wood or plastic. If you have wood just replace wax after cleaning.If plastic clean well then heat bees wax and paint a thick layer on them. Do you have the tools to go with the hive? Smoker, capping knife, hive tool. bee brush,Frame lifter,queen excluder, bee hat and gloves this is a bear bones of what you need to get started. For the hive you need bottom board, entrence reducer,bottom brooder, honey box on top with queen exculder in between brooder and honey box. this keeps queen in bottom so you have nothing but honey in the top.You need frames for the honey box. Have either one of you robbed the hive for the honey before? If not I could help you so you don't need that epi pen. Pam

 

[LemonMeringue]

No epi you better get your butt to the Dr. and get one or two. Bee's are attracted to dark colors so don't wear black like the lady in your pic. When you smoke them move slowly smoke and give them a few min. then smoke again. The fuller they are the better. Always move slow. To move the hive wait till dark all bees are in hive at night. Make sure you put reducer on entrence. Them plug entrence with rag or duct tape. Then move hive try not to jar or knock hive.Your wax comes on a frame either wood or plastic. If you have wood just replace wax after cleaning.If plastic clean well then heat bees wax and paint a thick layer on them. Do you have the tools to go with the hive? Smoker, capping knife, hive tool. bee brush,Frame lifter,queen excluder, bee hat and gloves this is a bear bones of what you need to get started. For the hive you need bottom board, entrence reducer,bottom brooder, honey box on top with queen exculder in between brooder and honey box. this keeps queen in bottom so you have nothing but honey in the top.You need frames for the honey box. Have either one of you robbed the hive for the honey before? If not I could help you so you don't need that epi pen. Pam

Hey funny thing, I just saw someone on "Cajun Farm Animals and Supplies, Louisiana Area" is looking for someone to remove some bees for them. The picture looks like they are in the fascia boards on a house. It says Reeves, LA Justin Fontenot.

 

[Ron Skekel]

Hey funny thing, I just saw someone on "Cajun Farm Animals and Supplies, Louisiana Area" is looking for someone to remove some bees for them.  The picture looks like they are in the fascia boards on a house.  It says Reeves, LA Justin Fontenot.

Could you give me a link or do I just look up Cajun Farm Animals and supplies? We just put our hive back up and put honey in it trying to attract some. We've got swarms befor its a good way to get them. Honey is getting so expensive. I got my new incubator now I'm itching to hatch some eggs.

 

[forgetful]

That is how our first pair was.  We got them from Petrus (they order from Privette Hatchery).  They both had the correct ## of toes it was just their fluffiness that was lacking and probably some body type maybe (I'm no expert but I'm learning).    My struggle right now is if I am going to keep straight Silkies or continue with my beloved Sizzles (which I need to have Silkies for anyway).  I just adore the Sizzles (Same body type as the Silkie except with regular barbed feathers that can be flat or curly)! The only problem I see with them is that they can't be shown unless there is an extra category for a feathered leg chicken or something like that.  I'm not sure.  I just don't want to have extra fluffies around and not be able to find them homes if they aren't desirable to other poultry keepers and maybe 4-H ers.    In any case if I can get a couple of hens that have large crests and the correct ## of toes, blue earlobes etc, I would be thrilled.  And I have read that the blacks tend to be closest to the correct type generally.   But my favorites are any color other than black or blue, go figure.  The main problem with my Sizzles that I have so far is their crest size.  Maybe if your breeder you are talking to works out maybe you could share their info with me as well

That's exactly why I chose the blacks. They are a simple color pattern, and easier to keep clean than the whites. They do fade, but mine stay in the shade and I don't show yet, so it's no problem. However I believe the whites are the closest to type. I think almost all white variations are closest to type, since you don't have color to distract you from build. If you'd like, I could get a list of names of silkie breeders in the area I found on Facebook and pm it to you? I'll let you know which one is the guy I'm talking too as well. That way you can browse and find someone you like.

 

[Angelicisi]

Saw that too. I just joined a beekeeping in Louisiana group too recently but haven't been active in it yet

Hey funny thing, I just saw someone on "Cajun Farm Animals and Supplies, Louisiana Area" is looking for someone to remove some bees for them.  The picture looks like they are in the fascia boards on a house.  It says Reeves, LA Justin Fontenot.

 

[PrimroseMom1]

Hit or miss WiFi this evening! On day 4 of a 13 day stretch at work, already pooped
Hmmmm
Checked on the gardens, pulled apart the bee hive (Not DESERTED! OMG) whoops but i'll figure more of that out later.
Assorted watermelons doing awesome. Have no idea what kind or when to harvest

2nd round of cayenne peppers

Made tomato basil soup out of our tomatoes, herbs and my kids LOVED it!

Meaties were set loose in the gardens to play (and get any bugs I can't )

Aw. The babies are SO cute. Talking about the children!!!! So sweet. Bad Eddie. Lol

 

[PrimroseMom1]

Mistress of the property had a beehive.
Person that was maintaining it left state.
It did well, but caught wax moths. Maggots everywhere. Disgusted the mistress.
It was disassembled, seemed for weeks it was abandoned.

Bottom box of the stack had the bees!
Figuring they'd NOW Give up and go to the many available areas in forest...but no. They want their box. Queen is not giving up lol we tried and lost. They're peaceful if pusting about, even dismantaling the hive and moving it around to vacuum larva with dust buster bees left us alone ...but smoking them, then shaking them into new area just angered them.

EDIT: after I read further, it was Pam that knew a lot.

My plan is to clean, screen top and reassemble a smaller hive. (didn't know about anything til had to research what maggot ) wax moths now have traps hanging.

It was 5? Boxes high? Maybe 4 lol. I have to go look at pics. And seems not quite nuff bees in a "new" coloney (1 year old) to cover and protect from moth or beetle intruders. Smaller hive they can grow with might work better?

I don't remember who it was, but there was a member of this thread that was serious beekeeper. Maybe you can search for it.