Texas

[erikk]

Didn't realize that Texas bees could really be that aggressive. The ones that would come around my Houston home were docile as could be. I could still cup them in my hands and then let them go after a minute w/out getting stung just like when I was a child in the 50's.

It takes a lot of stings to kill an average person, commonly regarded as 7-10 stings per pound of body weight. Folks with an allergy to bee venom might have severe distress or death with only a single sting or two.

"Africanized" bees generally just respond more forcefully to any disturbances. Whereas with a gentle European honeybee beehive you might be able to do all the work with only a veil or not even that, with an Africanized hive you need full suit. Pre-Africanization if you upset a hive you might get escalating responses from a few bees. In an Africanized hive their "alarm" pheromone is very strong (smells like sweet bananas) and drives hundreds to "defend" the hive from a perceived attack. It's the greater number of bees that respond in a defensive/stinging manner that cause the problems.

If ever attacked, get indoors asap where they cannot get to you. This could be a car/truck or building. European type bees might give up the chase after a few dozen feet, but africanized bees will follow you hundreds or thousands of feet. They are somewhat visual though, if you can dodge through brush and trees to break their line of sight it does help.

http://www.livescience.com/37094-man-dies-in-killer-bee-attack-africanized-honey-bees.html

 

[LBejaran]

Oh, so adorable! I love how you focused the picture. Are you getting the Autumn decor ready, too?

 

[erikk]

Last week I got in "Beekeeping for Dummies" and "The Beekeepers Handbook" both I saw had good reviews on a Texas bee site. I haven't read them yet. There are a lot of cool beehive ideas here: http://webecoist.momtastic.com/2013/03/08/backyard-beekeeping-12-sweet-hive-designs/ including a DIY 55 gallon barrel type and someone who experimented with allowing bees to build in a glass bell jar so you can see them at work.

This past Spring we had a lot of honeybees on the arborvitae and they were noticeably smaller....are those the African bees?

Beekeeping for Dummies is well regarded. There's lots of good free info at http://www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm
Somewhat hard to navigate but has answers to just about any question/problem you might encounter.

Keep in mind TX law requires honeybees to be kept on removable frames to allow for inspections by state agents. I don't know how often or even if TX inspectors actually inspect backyard hives. I imagine it's more applicable to commercial beekeepers/breeders. A TBH qualifies as removable frames. Make sure you use come guides and proper spacing.

Speaking of spacing, that has a lot to do with bee size. All honeybees in America used to be smaller 100 years ago but over time the wax foundation sizes grew larger. (because in America bigger is always better right!?). With larger cell sizes on foundation larger cells get built out and larger bees get hatched. However if you let bees draw their own comb they'll draw it smaller than the common foundation sizes. Commonly available foundation today is 5.4mm across the cell, whereas bees will very often draw at most a 5.1mm cell. Many believe 4.9 should be the largest cell size because it has been shown to inhibit the varroa mite infestation. In a 4.9 or smaller cell there just isn't room for the varroa to fit alongside the pupae. Larger cell sizes leave extra space for the mite.

There is no physical way to distinguish africanized bees from legacy european honeybees. The coloring, sizes, wing length were all ONCE thought to be indicators but ultimately only genetic testing can tell. So we are left to just find out how nice/not-nice any hive of unknown bees are by experimenting. Hence I strongly suggest a full suit. There are packages of bees or just queens you can order in from other states where africanization isn't as common. You'd likely get a gentler queen. But queens swarm with about 1/3-1/2 the bees during a swarming event. Virgin queens are left behind. They'll mate with local (africanized-hybrid) male bees, and then you'll end up with a mixed-breed queen that'd be very likely to have some african genetics.

Sorry for the long post.

 

[TexasLisa]

I have a mix of regular deep (~9 inches tall) and medium (~6 inches tall) beehive equipment. What some people do is have 2-3 deep boxes that are left alone for the bees to keep for themselves as brood rearing and winter honey storage area and put mediums or deeps above that for seasonal honey harvest.

Top Bar hives are great for being able to access easily but make it difficult if you end up wanting to trade equipment with a friend such as when you might want a frame of eggs if you think your hive is queen-less. Langstroth frames can also be easily tossed in the freezer during the plentiful months then pulled out and put back into the hive if you need to feed the bees when they're short on honey stores.

TBH vs Langstroth is a personal decision on what will work best for your situation but I just wanted to make sure everyone is aware that Langstroth hives come in different sizes.

If you're going to get Texas bees make sure you get a very good full-body suit. After 2-3 decades any Texas bees you encounter should be considered "Africanized". To some degree most Texas bees are African-hybrid, some with the mean streak and some not so much.

There's a good Yahoo Groups list that discusses organic, treatment-free beekeeping. I think it's called organicbeekeeping or something like that.

Thanks Erik for the information. Don't apologize for the long posts. That is how we learn!!! You just had to live in Abilene, didn't you???

Italia, that is a GREAT picture!

Lisa - I have plans for retirement even though it's about three years off because if I don't have plans I'll just sit and rot! No one likes a rotted Tammy.

I hear you loud and clear! What would we do without our plans?

Lisa

 

[RachaelS]

Okay, sorry these pics are not the best, but I finally took some of the "Three Musketeers". These are all I have left, just 3 Cubalaya boys, still looking for homes

Spangled one is the leader


The Twins - from Jungleexplore


"Where is the food woman?"

 

[Jungleexplorer]

Yep. Those are from my birds. Here is a pic I took about an hour ago with my phone.

 

[Jungleexplorer]

Jungleexplorer - Did you know you can sell your greenhouse plans on Amazon? There is someone who did it with their coop plans, if I remember correctly. Edited: Did you check out Pixoto?

Did not know that. Hummmm.. Interesting.


Have not checked out Pixoto yet. Been busy. I will though.

Got a couple wild hives honey bees that have been on my land for over 20 years (I have been told). They are very tame and have never stung anyone. I mow right next to one that is in a tire with my shredder and they never get excited. I was attacked by real africanized bees in the Amazon a few times. Not a good experience! I captured a huge hive of them (in the Amazon) one time. Had round honey comb that was more then 24 inches across. I have wanted to put these wild hives here in boxes to get some honey from them, but with the bad drought, I thought it best to wait until there is more rain.

 

[LauriTX]

My GLW and SLW.

4 of my 5 girls...the brahma was running around chasing something!

 

[RachaelS]

Yep. Those are from my birds. Here is a pic I took about an hour ago with my phone.

So when are you going to hand deliver some girls

Again, I wish you were not so far away. I bet your girls could teach my boys a thing or two (or 1,000)!

 

[Texasmja]

If anyone near me is interested in Heritage Bronze turkeys, I have 4 for sale. All hatched in 2013 and from show stock. $25 each if sold by Saturday. Email me at [email protected]