The Old Folks Home

[ChickenCanoe]

The sugar water is a great idea-- We want to do honey bees this year but don't have a clue what bee house to invest in. Several different designs. IF anyone has suggestions, I"d bee grateful.

It's best to go with the Langstroth design, patented in the 1850s. The units are interchangeable so most places you buy equipment they will have that design.
A topbar hive is nice if you only want bees for pollination.

New challenges for bees and keepers come almost every year.
I recommend getting a good bee book. I have this one now. http://www.amazon.com/The-Beekeepers-Handbook-Diana-Sammataro/dp/0801476941/ref=pd_sim_b_5
I have a really good older book that I still reference but it doesn't have any information on more recent phenomena like small hive beetles.
The one with the link has a lot of good information on the plants bees prefer to use.

 

[Arielle]

Last night I went to put all chickens back in the pen because I was letting them free range, I could not find my new white one, this morning at 5:30 I found him!!! CROWING IN MY GARAGE!!! HOW IN THE WORLD HE GOT IN THERE I DON'T KNOW

. Everyone have a wonderful day!

Glad he was found. Safe and sound.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: GREAT !!!

We have been waiting on bees becaue there are so many problems, and start up is pricy. I do worry about the chemical contaminants in the honey given the amt of herbicisdes and pesticides used around here. Fortunately much of the land is still state owned as forest land, though not sure how much food would be available for them there.

I know there is a group of bee keepers in the area that teach newcomers-- so hopefully they will have answers when problems arise.

Buying bees from a healthy colony is probably what worries me the most.

 

[chickadoodles]

I raise honeybees and chickens. I have seen the occasional bee on the feed but never covering the feed. I'm surprised the chickens aren't eating the bees.
If they truly are honeybees, their primary desire is pollen and nectar so I don't understand them being enamored with the chicken feed.
I would try putting out a couple pans of sugar water with several pebbles so the bees can land, consume and fly away. Once they find your syrup, they'll leave the feed alone.

If you live where it's warm enough to have bees now and you have fruit trees, you undoubtedly have a local beekeepers organization that could help.

That is a good idea. Thanks. It has been in the 60's here and bouncing into the 30s-40s. I appreciate your help, I will put some out this morning. I really don't want to have to call someone to come take the bees away! I have been trying to get some to pollinate my fruit trees for 3 years now.

 

[chickensnewtome]

Glad he was found. Safe and sound.

Oh me too, He is a new rooster so doesn't know the whole, follow mom with the food back to the pen, thing So I am glad we found him safe and sound too.

 

[chickadoodles]

Chicken, I am also happy you found your rooster.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

GREAT !!!

We have been waiting on bees becaue there are so many problems, and start up is pricy. I do worry about the chemical contaminants in the honey given the amt of herbicisdes and pesticides used around here. Fortunately much of the land is still state owned as forest land, though not sure how much food would be available for them there.

I know there is a group of bee keepers in the area that teach newcomers-- so hopefully they will have answers when problems arise.

Buying bees from a healthy colony is probably what worries me the most.

If you want bees this year, I recommend you try to obtain package/s or nucs now. They sell out earlier and earlier every year. By March, they're hard to find. You just have to reserve your order and they will ship when they're ready.

A package is 2, 3 or 4 pounds of bees and a queen with attendants in a separate cage inside the package box.
A nuc is a nucleus of a hive (4 or 5 frames with drawn comb, honey and brood) and gets the hive started much faster than a package. In a package, the bees have to draw comb so won't be making honey for some time. Whatever way you start, make sure one of the things you obtain is a hive feeder so you can provide syrup whenever there isn't a good nectar supply. When I make syrup for them, I only use C&H sugar, or any you can find that declares it is pure cane sugar. Any other sugar is from sugar beets which are GMO.
When you buy bottom boards, don't get solid bottom boards. Full screen bottom boards allow the bees to discard mites and small hive beetles.
I lost one hive in one day when the scouts discovered a nectar source that apparently had been sprayed with a pesticide. The hive was healthy one day and the next, all the bees were dead on the ground.
Actually hardwood forest can be good since one of the big nectar/pollen sources is flowering trees.
Bees ignore small flower beds and individual flowers because they need huge sources like a field of clover or a grove of locust trees.

We have big issues with Mons*nt* around here. Some of us are convinced that GMO crops are one of the problems with the bees.

Startup is pricey but well maintained equipment can last decades.

 

[Highcotton]

Quote:
I don't believe it is honey bees. It sounds like it is probably yellow jackets. Try to see where they are coming from. If they are going under a stump or in the ground it is definitely yellow jackets.

 

[Highcotton]

Quote:
Honey bees will only eat sweet liquids or water during warm periods in the winter. They generally only take short cleansing flights when the weather warms up. I Watch for the general direction they are flying from and too and see if you can determine where the hive is They are easier to see if you dust them with flour. If they are honey bees provide them a saucer of water of sugar water 4 to 1 ratio like hummingbird feed and they should go to that source. Beekeepers have feeders that they can slide into the front of the hive in the winter and early spring.

 

[Highcotton]

Quote:
Honey bees only eat nectar.