"Louisiana "La-yers" Peeps"

[JP33]

Quote:
Well, yes & no. This is the deal. If you set up a colony and don't manage it, at some point they will begin to throw off swarms and Lord knows where they'll wind up, could be your house or a neighbors or a tree, etc...

Healthy, strong colonies will swarm, they want to propogate their species just like anything. One of the challenges in beekeeping is managing colonies to minimize swarming. Without any form of management they will swarm.

So you could set up a hive (a minimum of 2 is always recommended) and enjoy them for some time, but not managing them is a recipe for swarming. Unless you put them hundreds of yards away from your nearest neighbors, it would not be very responsible to keep bees without managing them.

Many people believe that if they put a few hives on their property the bees will work whatever flowers they have, but the bees may find other flowers more inviting down the road or even a mile or so away.

Honeybees aren't as scary as people think, and like anything, beekeeping is a journey with many little steps along the way. With a little patience and protective gear anyone can keep bees and enjoy it. There are even blind people that keep bees.

I could go on and on, but enough for now.


...JP

 

[catdaddyfro]

Howdy LA-yers just chickin' in here to let everbody know that we havn't floated of over here yet, but any more rain and I guess we'll turn the chicken run and hen house in to a crawfish pond if there's any of them left. Heck the other day there was water shooting up out of a crawfish hole about 6 inches high draining right into the hen house, looked like a little Old Faithful gyser right here in the backyard.

catdaddy

 

[JP33]

Well, today I was going to redo my coop with a few changes. This is what I wanted to do, on my birthday, me, the birds & my coop, but noooooooooooo! We got tons more rain today!

Wettest December in history for us!


Glad to see you back Harry, phone workin' yet?


...JP

 

[harryg6167]

Quote:
Like we need more rain right now! After doing school work yesterday had the kids haul some
sand in the wheelbarrow to put in the run. Had gotton some mud so had to clean the
mud out and put about 3-4 inches of sand in it's place.
Did away with house phone JP..Oh wife left this morning going to her moms and I sent my
cell phone with her and the kids. I will be home all day everyday until Tuesday..Just send me a message through here if you need to..will
also be online most all day everyday.

 

[TerriLaChicks]

Yeah, we're living up to our "swamp" reputation for sure! After I get off work going to go throw another bale of hay out at the "duck hut" --silly things don't want to go inside their coop, so at least this gives them something to huddle in & tear up & make a bigger mess all over their run. (they're worth it though, just for the laughs).

Don't know about ya'll but I'm ready for summer----triple digits are tough but sure beats this stuff!

Where else can a person get a new & improved rain slicker for Christmas and be jumping for joy? (yes, that would be me!)

 

[Sassymygirl]

Quote:
I'm ready for summer!! I want to go swimming!!

 

[TerriLaChicks]

JP we may need to get together & talk about bees & beehives, come this spring---I know there is someone down the road from us who has about a dozen box hives (whatever you call them?) on the bayou bank. I never have seen anybody around them, but I assume there are bees in there--maybe that's where our swarms are coming from. We do get several every year. Is it hard to 'capture' them into a hive? I need to do some internet research on this, I guess!. Any links you would recommend would be appreciated.

Hey who's firing up their 'bators after the 1st? I am ready to fire up mine! my Blue Andulasians are cooperating as are my Runner ducks, just need my young Welsummers to get into the act.

Merry Christmas/Hannuka/Kwanzaa/& whatever I missed/ to all of you & did you see the thing where Louisiana is one of the top states that people are happy to live in? Whoda thunk it!! (not me! I was born & raised here & wouldn't live anywhere else-in spite of the triple digit heat & humidity & the hurricanes--hey, it's not Kansas Toto, but it IS Home! )

 

[La Mike]

Louisiana (outdoor paradise)
Been all over the country and some abroad
I have to say myself there is no greater place to live
Hunting is great fishing is great and theres always something to do and someone to say hi as you walk by
No strangers in louisiana

MIKE

 

[Preservation Acres]

Hey family!

I'm writing from Murfreesboro, Tennessee near Nashville, but I grew up in Larose in Lafourche Parish...near Thibodaux and Houma.

I saw someone on here who's from Cut Off...right down the road!

 

[JP33]

Quote:
You first will need woodenware. I like cypress because it holds up much much better to the elements than other woods. You can buy it here: http://www.gabees.com/store/index.php?cPath=37&osCsid=41fb0e49cdbf1138b39f1d8bb17e5c75

Once you get woodenware, you can set up a few hive bodies (We can talk about that) & bait them to entice swarms. You are already getting swarms & the hives you mentioned probably are throwing off swarms. I would try to find out what type of bees & their disposition are being kept down the road from you, Italian, Russian, etc...

I keep feral Italian bees, they are pretty gentle in temperment & pull in resources just fine. Russian bees are big in Louisiana, I don't particularly like them. They are commonly quite aggressive, not a good beginner line.

If you check out different suppliers for woodenware you will see "beginner kits" offered, don't go there, you will wind up discarding a lot of components of those kits, quite a few useless items in the kits. We can talk more about that another time.

If the bees down the road are fairly gentle, I would entice swarms to my woodenware if I were you. Since they are throwing swarms seasonally it should be fairly easy to catch some. Without going into detail here, there are a few attractants that you place in your woodenware that will attract a swarm looking for a new home. Simple as that.

You have an invitation to talk with me about bees, no problem.


...JP