The Honey Factory

[shawluvsbirds]

No dux here. I fed it to a jointer. Dirty fingernails don't bother anyone or anything that lives here. Got to give the germs somewhere to live.

Okie dokie I just hope you don't bite your nails.

 

[Conan]

I can't believe you missed the short finger!!

I didn't. What a lovely nubby.

 

[Hidrainja4]

Ohio

Could you give us a general area you live in?

I would over winter my bees if possible. I just don’t think I can do it here.

I know quite a few people that keep bees many of them have kept them for years. I have yet to find one that has kept the hive alive over winter around me.

For me to think I can keep them alive and healthy in my first year when these experienced people can’t would be arrogance on my part,



I will not be bringing the bees into the house. My wife would shoot me, stab me, choke me and then hold a pillow to my face while I slept if I did.

I have no outbuilding with heat, or capable of being heated.

Looking at it financially, it’s cheaper to kill the bees than keep them alive and healthy. If you could give me specifics of how I can do that, please do.

Keep in mind I live in an area that is routinely 40 below and we go three weeks at a time without the temperature getting above 0 farenhight.

I am in Ohio. We are not that cold. However- Try the University of Guelph bee videos They are in Canada https://honeybee.uoguelph.ca/videos/ also the Canadian Bee Keeper

There are some places that are just to dang cold .

 

[R2elk]

Okie dokie I just hope you don't bite your nails.

Never have and never will. Besides I only have 9 nails that could be potential targets as I cannot reach my toenails.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

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.

Sorry about your thumb, but this is great!!!!! Why is the queen excluded from the rest of the bees, don't we want her to procreate? Or would that ruin the honey with eggs in it? congrats And keep us posted on how your project is going, this sounds so cool.

 

[R2elk]

Sorry about your thumb, but this is great!!!!! Why is the queen excluded from the rest of the bees, don't we want her to procreate? Or would that ruin the honey with eggs in it? congrats And keep us posted on how your project is going, this sounds so cool.

The queen excluder is to keep the queen from laying eggs in the supers. Normally honey is only taken from the supers allowing the bees to keep any honey and pollen they have deposited in the hive bodies. If brood is allowed to be raised in the supers, you would have a much more difficult time trying to reap nice clean honey. It would make it pretty much impossible to sell honey without first filtering it.

In my case, she will have two deep hive bodies in which to lay her eggs.

When bought bees are first introduced to a hive, the queen comes in a cage because number one, the bees that she is shipped with are not the bees that raised her and already are devoted to her. She needs to be protected while the rest of the workers become acclimated to her. The cage entry is currently filled with a mini marshmallow that the workers will slowly remove by eating it. By the time the marshmallow is gone, the workers will know her as their queen and will not attack her.

In a few days when the weather has warmed back up, I will check the queen cage to see if the queen has been released. If she has been released, I remove the empty queen cage.

 

[duluthralphie]

Here is a picture of the cage my queen came in.

I am keeping it to use as a bee jail Incase I find a bee with criminal intent.

it is about 3/4 inch by 2 inches.

 

[R2elk]

It is a good thing the bees came yesterday. It is currently 25°F with approximately 3 1/2" of white.
Saskatraz

Italians

 

[shawluvsbirds]

It is a good thing the bees came yesterday. It is currently 25°F with approximately 3 1/2" of white.
Saskatraz

Italians

Wow that is a totally different scene from yesterday to today!!

 

[R2elk]

Wow that is a totally different scene from yesterday to today!!

This happens regularly in Wyoming. It is predicted to be 50°F by Saturday and 60°F by Monday.