The Honey Factory

[electrycmonk]

I have to check mine on Friday or Saturday to see if my Queen is laying.

I also need to try and bring two frames a tad closer, the bee space is off. If I can.

I have to make up another batch of feed. I doubt they drank much today, but who knows.

Remember to take the bee box tool....

 

[electrycmonk]

We just might have spare time to setup a hive here later this year......

 

[duluthralphie]

Remember to take the bee box tool....

I might need a crowbar.

 

[Angileen]

I have just started my very own honey factory.

I was going to ha e two hives but decided to just buy one batch of bees, in case I kill them instead of two.

I can use advice from anyone and everyone with experience.

I do not plan to over winter my bees. I will use them as protein for the birds when their work is done.
My bee box:


View attachment 2078027View attachment 2078028

I have it level side to side and and 1/8th bubble high on the back side.

Here are my new workers;View attachment 2078032View attachment 2078033View attachment 2078034

this was right after I moved them into their new home.

I was out and visited them a little bit ago. There were 50-100 bees crawling on the box above the door. I hope that’s normal.

I have Saskartraz bees. I think that’s because the Sasquatch developed them.

@R2elk might know more. As I said these are my first ones.

I know they were friendly and would purr when they sat on my arm, so I could pet them.


It was a tad intimidating to have a box of bees clumped together and buzzing like mad in my hands. I was not sure how getting them into the box would go.

It was not bad, I took the queen out first. She assured me we would get along fine and she had no hostility towards me. Hopefully, she pays her rent.

Her box had a wood plug and not a candy plug in it. I popped the plug out and put a marshmallow into the hole.

I hung her box between two supers, then dumped the rest into the box and replaced the supers I had removed to make space to dump them.

All of this was accomplished without a sting!

I am a tad nervous they won’t like my box and leave tonight.

I gave them a pollen patty and a jug of sugar water inside the box and I have a chick waterer set up outside the hive for them.

They have been here 4 hours. I will check on them in an hour or so.

My Aunt used to raise bees and sell honey. She put a hive in my orchard one year. I used to go with her to check the honey. I stood about 5 feet away and never got stung even with her pulling out the trays. Probably would be a good idea to have an extra bee hive that is empty just in case. While my Aunt had the bee in my orchard another queen was born, she was on a tree branch in the orchard with a big mass of bees swarmed around her like a big massive ball. Half the bees left the hive to go with her. So my Aunt and I got a garbage bag, cut the limb off the tree with the bees attached. and stuck them in the garbage bag and she brought them home and added them to an empty hive she had.

 

[Angileen]

Honey can also be used as an antibiotic for cuts. Honey will also store forever if no water gets in the jar. And they also say if you eat a spoonful of honey every day from a local hive where you live it can help ease seasonal allergies. Because it builds up immunity to your local pollens.

 

[Angileen]

If you have bears around I would put up an electric fence around the hive. they will tear them open.

 

[duluthralphie]

If you have bears around I would put up an electric fence around the hive. they will tear them open.

I have an electric fence around them, because I have bears.

 

[R2elk]

The Italians arrived this morning.

 

[R2elk]

It was 42°F in the shade when they arrived and they are predicting a cold front and more snow so I went ahead and hived them.
Hive number one.

Cluster hanging from sugar candy.

Sugar candy

Cluster on queen cage.

Open package

After being dumped in hive

Queen bee in cage

Frames back in place with queen cage suspended between two frames

Queen excluder

Medium super

Inner cover

Hive closed up

I had one mishap with this group. One bee felt like it was squeezed to hard and committed suicide by stinging the base of my thumb. The palm base of my thumb is now swollen and hot.

 

[R2elk]

Hive number two.

Open package

After being dumped in the hive and the temporary location of the queen cage.

Queen bee in queen cage

Frames back in place

Queen excluder

Inner cover

Hive closed back up

No incidents with this hive!!