Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[Sally PB]

This is really cool. My next adventure is to start beekeeping, so learning these things is always amazing to me. Anyone know anything about the Flow Hive? It's a new gadget and looks really nice to me, but I don't have enough experience to know if it would actually be a benefit, some expert advice there would bee (see what I did there?) helpfu

I'm a member of the Grand Rapids Area Beekeepers (GRAB). I don't know of ANYONE in that group who has a Flow Hive, and some have 50+ hives. Nor has my "bee guy" (mentor) ever had one. There is a reason the Langstroth hives are used by professionals and amateur beekeepers. The design has stood the test of time.

We only got bees last May, so I am far from expert.

I want to add a second hive. If our colony is really big in a couple of months, I'll split it. Otherwise, they might sense they're over crowded for the space and swarm, ie, leave, looking for a better place. And the queen goes with them.

If I split it, I'll either have a buy a queen (yes, that's a thing, and they're $40-60 -- yup, for ONE bee), or make sure they produce one. If I buy, I would prefer to get one from a GRAB memeber, or from my mentor. You can buy them online, but like with chicks, they could die in transport. I don't know how the sellers handle a claim of a doa queen.

 

[1muttsfan]

I always had good luck with shipped queens. I did get them from Northern suppliers.
Some friends of mine still have my Top Bar hive.

 

[Sally PB]

I always had good luck with shipped queens. I did get them from Northern suppliers.
Some friends of mine still have my Top Bar hive.

Cool!

Question about the shipped queens... are they mated? Or can you order them that way?

 

[TheDandyLion]

Ask your club. You may find someone locally who raises queens. Or if anyone in the area is selling packages they usually sell queens too.

I ran topbar for years, and switch to langstroths, running all mediums. Easier for me to pick up, supers get too heavy for me to lift.

I have a word in with a pest control guy to contact me if he gets a swarm call.

 

[fuzzi]

Had a bit of an off night last night. My 9 month old rooster has been getting real protective. He usually jumps at me and I have done what I thought would stop it. I have completely ignored him and the other day I finally had enough and caught him and carried him around in front of the girls (I had heard they get humiliated). Didn't work.

Yesterday, I made a really dumb mistake and stuck my head into the coop about the time everyone was coming in to roost. I got kicked in the head... didn't really hurt because he is a bantam and young, but it scared me and I started to consider getting rid of him.

I decided I'm not rehoming him and I'm not killing him. Plus, I chose to have a rooster and I knew what I was getting into before I hatched him. He brings too many benefits to my flock to get rid of, anyway. He stops arguments between the girls, protects them, and watches over my lower hens while they are laying (which means I have less stressed hens and more eggs!). He is not mean to my ladies and absolutely dotes on all of them. He riles everyone up every single time someone lays and egg and LOUDLY celebrates right alongside them with his own ridiculous egg song. It's adorable. He also finds the best places for them to nest (which I don't always agree with, but as long as it's in the coop, whatever).

Any advice to get him to chill about me? Will he mellow with age? Is there anything I can do in "chicken-speak" to let him know I'm not a threat? Honestly, if I can't do anything about his attitude, I'm alright just maintaining a little more caution around him and definitely stop doing dumb things (well... I mean I'll try to stop doing dumb things, but no promises ).

I have read the gamut of advice on roosters, from separating to freezing. From all the advice I've read here l am confident to say that is no one way to handle a rooster.

At one time I had SEVEN cockerels. Then I had three, then two. One took the head roo position, the other bided his time. I never saw fight injuries. I stopped handling them at about 4 months.

The head cockerel/roo was Joel, who was very good with his girls, tidbitted nicely. A few times he pecked me in my leg, or tried to get in a staring match with me. I ignored but watched him, didn't put myself in a position that would tempt him to attack. I also reduced my own tidbiting of the girls, so I wouldn't be a threat. He never attacked me seriously.

Joel passed away, and Samuel has taken over. He's not as good with the girls as Joel was, but he also defers more to me.

Maybe you can tidbit something out of my post.

 

[Chickin Fairy]

I'm a member of the Grand Rapids Area Beekeepers (GRAB). I don't know of ANYONE in that group who has a Flow Hive, and some have 50+ hives. Nor has my "bee guy" (mentor) ever had one. There is a reason the Langstroth hives are used by professionals and amateur beekeepers. The design has stood the test of time.

We only got bees last May, so I am far from expert.

Thank you for this info. I was kinda looking for the why in it, though, since Flow hives are Langstroth hives, but appeared to be less work. Turns out, they are not less work and have some unappealing qualities and have a higher likelihood of swarm. I will stick to traditional stuff for now.

Anyone interested in the comparison of a Flow hive to a traditional Langstroth hive can read more here: https://dustinbajer.com/flow-hive/

 

[TheDandyLion]

I looked at flow hives when I started, they still require the same amount of work to inspect, etc. Still require boxes for brood, etc. And from what beesource forum folks said, they have their own problems for harvesting honey. You just have to figure out what method of harvesting works best for you. Was what I was told. I use a crush and strain method.

As I mentioned I started with topbars, looking back, I'd recommend going with langstroth at first. You'll find more help and items available for you as you learn. I wanted to go foundation less, and as natural as possible, so picked topbars at first. But I switch to langstroth later. I still don't use foundation, it's easier to move a live hive, easier to feed, treat for mites, inspect comb, fix comb problems, etc. And you can start with a nucleus hive instead of packaged bees.

Lots to learn if you want to get into beekeeping. It's a great experience though. And as Sally is learning, getting your first hive through its first winter alive, a fantastic feeling. But be prepared for loss, so much can go wrong and winter hive loss numbers are high.

 

[chickflick]

Dr Pol's son, Charles has a new show. Starting a farm. He got bees. Interesting to watch. Bees got mites and someone from MSU came out and explained a lot of things.

 

[1muttsfan]

Oh boy. Another amateur expert.

There is actually a list of veterinarians in the state that will care for bees. Maybe the Ag Extension would have that?

Any rooster around here with a questionable temper is immediately and humanely put down. Too much risk of injury, and who wants to pass those genetics on? There are so many good roosters that need a home. Doesn't cost any more to feed a good one than a bad one.

 

[riss]

Are you still looking for a home for her? Did I miss the picture?

I'm seeing if we still have her. I haven't been over to their house in a little bit