*** OKIES in the BYC ***

[Teach97]

most folks call the orange variation a chicken snake...why i don't know..well...they do like eggs but it is actually a rat snake. Also attracted by the rodents attracted byt the feed from the birds so why yu see tham aorund chickens...so i guess i answered my thought...I have a lavender that would make beautiful music with it! well at least babies!

 

[poultryand bees]

Quote:
Just think how much trouble we could get ourselves into with enough working incubators to hatch 1000s of chicks/ducks/turkeys each week.

I only think my feed bill is terrible now

It is nice to be at home, but hard to sit around - the only thing keeping me in compliance with doctor's orders not to lift anything heavier than 15 lbs is the pain I feel when the meds wear down. We had to move all the bees Monday evening to facilitate the trenching of a sewer line through the middle of the former bee yard. I need to walk across the street and see how the bees are doing in their new location, but need to have the meds in full force before I walk that far. Dean thinks they are trying to start a new hive in the old location, which they won't be able to do unless they can convince the queen to leave the hive and go with them

When you move bees, it is a few feet at a time over several days, OR it is 1/4 mile. Bees have their navigational homing systems set up for the cycle of the sun. You either have to work with it or make a bigger jump. If the bees are trying to set back in the same location, they are homing. The sewer crew may not like them that close.....We've had hies for years.

Ordinarily, I would have done the "gentle move" and done it a few feet at a time. Under the circumstances, I decided to tape them up for a few days after the move, so that when they came out of the hive, they would re-orient themselves with the sun. We moved them Monday night and I untaped them this morning (Thursday). Some of the hives had bees going in and out of the spaces between boxes that got a little bit out of alignment in the move.

The bees that are back in the original bee yard are in two groups. One was swarming comb that was beneath a hive that was moved. I put that comb into a bucket and took it to the new bee yard and set it about 15 feet from the hives, since I don't know which hives those bees are from. There are still bees swarming the cinderblocks that the honeycomb hive was setting on, but I think they are cleaning up honey and wax.

The second group decided to go into an empty hive box that was next to the relocated hives. I moved the empty hive to the new bee yard and set it up there. Most of the bees came with it, but there are still some bees covering the top of the cinder block that the empty hive was on. Since they can't have a queen with them, I feel certain that they will either find a hive to call home, or die. I will spray the cinder blocks with mouthwash tomorrow, to cover any scent from the old hives. There aren't enough bees covering the cinderblocks to even call them a swarm - certainly not enough bees that I would ever want to waste gas to get that quantity off of a tree somewhere.

I have only had honeybees since 2006, so am still learning about them, which is why I attend monthly meetings in Noble and OKC - so I can pick the brains of the long time beekeepers.

I am glad to know someone else on this forum with bees. Chiclooker and NeilV have bees also.

 

[Okla-doodle-doo]

City theres not much I can say that hasn't already been said. Just know we are thinking of you and your family.Wish we were close enough to be of some help. You are indeed a special person!

 

[muesky]

Hi Everyone,

Maribeth, I sure enjoy hearing about your bees. It is something I am interested in but worry about having time to build and maintain a hive.

City- Glad you were able to be with your dad in his last moments. May we all be so lucky to have someone who loves us, with us when it is our time. Bless you for being there for him.

Teach, you do know that having snakes and chickens are kind of on the opposite ends of the animal spectrum right? It's okay though I really like snakes as well and have caught and rehomed quite a number of of them since I have started raising chickens.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week. I have some ideas for decorating for POOPS. Later this evening I will present my ideas.

Have a great day!

 

[Teach97]

snakes and chickens ain't opposites! they both lay eggs and have scales! I have had both look at me in ways that I knew I was about to get bit!

 

[GotGame]

Ok, so who all on here has asiatic game birds? There is me, Cuban, Teach, NN, who am I missing?
I have Asils and bantam shamos, Teach has Bantam Malays and I think NN does too, Cuban has her cubans, malays, and what else?

 

[Kassaundra]

Quote:
I have several small brown snakes w/o any markings at all that live in the dirt in my yard, any ideas on type?

 

[Teach97]

I also have asils

old*cowboy has asils

splitsocket can't forget him!

I have some cubalaya blood...not on or in me but in chickens....

 

[GotGame]

Quote:
Thats right, old*cowboy, split_socket, your asils bantam or standard?

 

[Teach97]

Quote:
I have several small brown snakes w/o any markings at all that live in the dirt in my yard, any ideas on type?

more than likely blond snakes..very cute look like earthworms w/o the lump....yup...I would take some of them...