Surviving Minnesota!

[Bogtown Chick]

 

[duluthralphie]

Everybody is taking in the 45 degree weather. It jumped up above the forcast

Watched some interesting beekeeping videos this weekend. They say the Bee hives are built with too thin of wood. 3/4 inch and should be 2 by construction. Also kits with Italians are meant for southern climates. The other commercial variety is better but less calm. The guy on the videos is Russian decent. He recommends putting up swarm boxes and getting local strong feral strains. And then he recommends horizontal boxes for easy keeping ( less complex). His website is horizontal hives.com. Free plans for swarm boxes and the hives

I have read this before.

what I decided was because of a thing called bee space and the tight tolerances and knowing my own ability I will use the normal hive boxes.

as far as the bees go as I understand it..

The more aggressive bees make more honey (Africanized)...

Other bees survive better. But because of the problems with mites and disease in the winter and because most people have trouble keeping bees over winter...

I will pick a little more loving bed that does not want to make me into a pin cushion... and will not care about their survivability. I actually want them to dies fast and easy on the first cold day we get.

What I really don’t want is them figuring out what I have in store for them and their honey...

They might pick up their honey and go somewhere safer for them in September if they catch wind of my plans... or start a war and attack me..


I have read/heard of problems with the horizontal hives of swarming and the honey and brood being mixed poorly.

 

[R2elk]

They might pick up their honey and go somewhere safer for them in September if they catch wind of my plans... or start a war and attack me..

By far, the Italian bees have out produced any other bees I have had. Depending on the source, Italians can be either the gentlest or the meanest bees there are. Carniolans survived very well for me. The first hive I had lasted 7 years before the County poisoned them. They did a good job of pollenization but I was only able to get a good amount of honey one year and only a small amount most years.

I had Russians one time. They over wintered okay the first year. They produced honey okay but winter killed the next year. They were a docile bee but they would harbor a grudge.

The advice about being calm around bees and not swatting at them is good most of the time. If you get a bee tangled in your hair, kill it immediately or it will keep burrowing deeper and will sting you. I now immediately swat bees that land on my hair.

 

[duluthralphie]

By far, the Italian bees have out produced any other bees I have had. Depending on the source, Italians can be either the gentlest or the meanest bees there are. Carniolans survived very well for me. The first hive I had lasted 7 years before the County poisoned them. They did a good job of pollenization but I was only able to get a good amount of honey one year and only a small amount most years.

I had Russians one time. They over wintered okay the first year. They produced honey okay but winter killed the next year. They were a docile bee but they would harbor a grudge.

The advice about being calm around bees and not swatting at them is good most of the time. If you get a bee tangled in your hair, kill it immediately or it will keep burrowing deeper and will sting you. I now immediately swat bees that land on my hair.

I don’t plan to allow a bee anywhere close to my hair..

I plan to dress like I am descending into the inner chambers at Chernobyl when visiting my bees..

I might even swat and kill one if it comes near me on the deck as a warning to the others..

 

[CindyinSD]

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Intrepid arctic explorer chickens! We've had a couple warm days but yeah, still looks a lot like that here, too.

 

[jerryse]

I am not current on bee types . However Dad had bees . The gentlest were the caucasians . They had a midnight hybrid back then of the caucasians . I also remember the European black bees that were feral . Dad called them tree bees . Poor producers and prone to go back to live in trees . Italian bees have been around a long time . I may set a swarm trap . I have been without bees for over 10 years .

 

[Bogtown Chick]

It looked like the ferals were a bit of a darker bee.

I have only researched a day or so on bee keeping but the swarm traps like a good idea if you don’t want to risk a $1000 to colony collapse in a year and the horizontals looked like they were easy maintenance (easier on the back) deeper for northern climate and deeper frames.
The horizontal hives have the the baby making by the entrance and honey frames advance down the line as you add frames.

Jerry let us know if you capture a swarm!

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Intrepid arctic explorer chickens! We've had a couple warm days but yeah, still looks a lot like that here, too.

Cindy it was a complete bribe job with BOSS. I think once out they enjoyed the sun’s heat collecting in dark feathers and sunflower seeds but soon they returned their cute chicken feet to the run’s straw!

 

[CindyinSD]

It looked like the ferals were a bit of a darker bee.

I have only researched a day or so on bee keeping but the swarm traps like a good idea if you don’t want to risk a $1000 to colony collapse in a year and the horizontals looked like they were easy maintenance (easier on the back) deeper for northern climate and deeper frames.
The horizontal hives have the the baby making by the entrance and honey frames advance down the line as you add frames.

Jerry let us know if you capture a swarm!

I want to do that, but with exterior grade plywood and double walls with rigid insulation. I'm not certain there are any feral bees up here on the mountain, though. I'm thinking I make a swarm trap or three first. If it works, the traps he gives plans for should be good for a week or two while I make my hive. If it doesn't work then there's probably not enough of a flow here for bees anyway. That would make me sad, but not as sad as building one of those hives, but double-walls, and not being able to keep bees alive after all that.

 

[jerryse]

Morning . Got to 58 yesterday . Spent the day outside doing stuff . Overdid it a bit . Old body was letting me know . Feel ok now . Got to take advantage of nice days this time of year . Rain coming this afternoon . Winter storm advisory for Tuesday and Wednesday . So I will get to rest the old body .