Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[TheDandyLion]

Bees in February??

Sure. Once the temperatures get warm enough they will break cluster and start to fly. They will take cleansing flights. Bees won't defecate in the hive, so they hold it until a warm day then go relieve themselves, and clean the hive.

 

[Folly's place]

And don't forget that ticks will be active if the temps are 34F or above. Most of this winter here...
Mary

 

[Sally PB]

Bees in February??

Sure. Once the temperatures get warm enough they will break cluster and start to fly. They will take cleansing flights. Bees won't defecate in the hive, so they hold it until a warm day then go relieve themselves, and clean the hive.

Yes, thank you for the explanation. I saw/heard 3 or 4, maybe more.

I'm really about the fruit trees and bushes.

Hubby is really about the crappy snow total for this winter. He's gone cross country skiing twice.

 

[TheDandyLion]

Yes, thank you for the explanation. I saw/heard 3 or 4, maybe more.

I'm really about the fruit trees and bushes.

Hubby is really about the crappy snow total for this winter. He's gone cross country skiing twice.

They will also look for pollen too. On a really nice day you may see them take orientation flights too. It's such a delight to see a bunch doing that in the winter, to know they are still there and are ok .

 

[Sally PB]

Bees won't defecate in the hive, so they hold it until a warm day then go relieve themselves

Oh my goodness, now that I think about it, I think I saw one pooping. I didn't see any poop (I don't know what bee poop looks like), but she was wagging her tail slowly up and down.

 

[fuzzi]

Sure. Once the temperatures get warm enough they will break cluster and start to fly. They will take cleansing flights. Bees won't defecate in the hive, so they hold it until a warm day then go relieve themselves, and clean the hive.

Does a bee poop in the woods? I mean, hive?

 

[TheDandyLion]

Little splatters of yellow/orange on the outside of the hive? Bee poop.

 

[Chickin Fairy]

Sure. Once the temperatures get warm enough they will break cluster and start to fly. They will take cleansing flights. Bees won't defecate in the hive, so they hold it until a warm day then go relieve themselves, and clean the hive.

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?) helpful

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 ).

 

[Chickin Fairy]

I'm really about the fruit trees and bushes.

Oh for sure! I'm in SW Mi and we have tons of fruit trees and grapevines. I can see my own trees starting to bud, but I don't see any major budding on the fruit trees around here. Let's hope they hold off!

 

[Folly's place]

We used to try to 'retrain' difficult cockerels, and no method actually worked. You might possibly convince him, some of the time, to avoid you, but he will still attack any other human who arrives.
Our first rooster, a little bantam, would fly up to my eyeball level daily, trying to kill me. I carried a weapon, and really ,nothing mattered to him except getting any human in range. Life was much better when he left!
While this guy is stalking you, the Giant Who Brings Food, he's not looking out for his flockmates. And this is where 'romance meets reality' in chicken keeping: he needs to be gone, and not rehomed. And I hope you have a really good farm insurance policy, with excellent liability coverage.
Mary