South Carolina

[RedBugPoultry]

This is the girl I picked up yesterday.

She had a bath and is still a little damp.
I had already clipped some feathers around her eyes so she could see to eat.
The date is never right on my camera

She is beautiful!!

 

[ChickyChickyBaby]

Last week a (BIG BIG) bear hit one of my beeyards. Before and after pic. It looked like a tornado had hit the hives. Lost all seven. The bear had dragged stuff back into the woods. His footprints looked about 7-8 in. across.

BEAR??!???

I missed keeping up yesterday after lunch....so I am behind!

 

[RedBugPoultry]

Last week a (BIG BIG) bear hit one of my beeyards. Before and after pic. It looked like a tornado had hit the hives. Lost all seven. The bear had dragged stuff back into the woods. His footprints looked about 7-8 in. across.

Oh, I am so sorry Mary that this happened! Would an electric wire keep them out? Or just make them mad? I am really sorry, and 7 hives....

I have since read that you do use fencing. I am really sorry about this and what little you can do about bears!

 

[ChickyChickyBaby]

This is the girl I picked up yesterday.

She had a bath and is still a little damp.
I had already clipped some feathers around her eyes so she could see to eat.
The date is never right on my camera

GORGEOUS! As expected!! Ready to show her soon? IDK if I will any this spring or not....IDK of any in SC....I know I will in the fall!

 

[ChickyChickyBaby]

She definitely IS GORGEOUS!!! I need a pic of my lonely pair to post...maybe I did a while back? Sapphire is her name...looks just like your gal here! I LOVE the teal beak. ears, legs, toes...etc! You have a wonderful gal there! I found a pic...here she is! I am not the best picture taker! LOL And her feet are dirty here!

Pretty bird!!

 

[ChickyChickyBaby]

When Kimberly, Nicole and I go to Newnan, I am going to be asking Kimberly and any breeders that will talk to me tons of questions of .

I am dragging Nicole because she can remember more than I can. LOL! I cannot wait to meet some of the bigger breeders there!

 

[RedBugPoultry]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I cried for about 10 minutes, I was so upset. I put so much work into my bees, it is heart breaking to lose them anyway much less to a bear. My DH brought his pick up by after work and we loaded everything in it. A lot of the frames (that go inside the hives) were broken. Most of the outside parts can be used again. He was so big, he just pushed the hives over and then pulled every thing apart. Sometimes they will bust the boxes up to get inside to eat the bees. They actually want the bees and brood more than the honey. [/FONT]The honey is just the dessert for their meal.

SC Dept. of Natural Resources will not issue a permit. As of 3 years ago, they will give you some rubber bullet to try to run the bear off. Which I think is hilarious. I know that would only make the bear mad. If you shoot a bear in SC outside of hunting season, you have to reimburse the state $1500 for the bear. You have to pay fines that can go up to several thousand dollars. If a beekeeper has bear fencing (electric fence) the DNR will try to trap a nusiance bear and transport it someplace else. If the area is suitable they may bring in someone with bear dogs and let the dogs run the bear out of the area and hopefully it will not return. I did not have bear fencing around these hives since it was a fairly safe area. I have fencing around most of my other hives. What I do not agree with is if I walk out in my back yard and a bear is destroying my beehives, I can not do anything to stop him. We had one in our county a couple of years ago that kill goats. Legally, you can not protect your property from bears. From what I have heard, If a bear is trying to harm you or your family, you can shoot it, but you will probably still be charged. You would have to convince a judge that you were in danger to keep from paying the fines. Not sure if you would have to still reimburse the state for the bear. This time of year the females are in their dens having babies. The males will roaming around. DNR did try to get an extra week to hunt bear during Dec. since it would only take out males. But the folks that love bears protested in Columbia so it did not get passed.
The DNR guys spoke at our bee club meeting and told some interesting stories about bears incidents in the upstate. We are soon going to have a lot more per square mile at the rate they are multiplying.

How about a really big hole? Do you have a tractor?

 

[ChickyChickyBaby]

I do not swell or itch from a honey bee sting. I do from wasp and yellow jackets. I keep an epipen and a bottle of childrens liquid benedryl. Anyone can have an unexpected anaphalatic (sp?) shock reaction to bee stings even after years of getting stung. For me the liquid benedryl would be safer but I would use the epipen if I could not swallow the benedryl so I keep both. There are allergy shots available for bee stings.

I keep liquid children's benadryl too......I am allergic to the adult kind........makes me soooooo sick. Children's just makes me a little sleepy.

I have been known to take the adult tablets, crush with a spoon & rub on the sting - I keep benadryl cream on hand also, usually

I hate it when I am not in Spartanburg & tell nurses I am allergic to it...one lady in Shelby did not listen - thought she was gonna be smart about it - and follow it with some phenegran.
She didn't even get half of the syringe of benadryl in the IV line til I was throwing up. I looked at her and said "Told you. Told you. Told you" She looked surprised.


A EMT did tell me how to have the ER give me a shot of the benadryl so it won't make me sick....instead of putting it in IV like usual, give it as a shot in my arm. I did not get sick - extremely sleepy but not sick!

 

[gvilledh]

Lou Ann and I are heading down to see Susanne in a couple of hours. Can't wait to see the farm and the new additions since last summer. I'm glad the rain decided to move out of here. Usually, when we try to plan a farm visit, we seem to bring the rain. Maybe we got lucky this time!

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Quote:
Hey, hey! YOU wanted chickens, Robert! Now Kris is jumping in with both feet and I am so tickled. Your farm is expanding and you two are very dedicated people!
But of course, Kris goes off to dog shows for a bit of respite from farm chores while Mr Robert stays home and does the grunge work! A few chickens has turned into this! Gosh, what a trade off!

Glad I could help!