The Old Folks Home

[Wisher1000]

He He He .... check out the time on the edit above.......

 

[hennible]

I have a feeling your 2 hours a head of me

 

[bamadude]

No, Dude, as tempting as it was, I did not eat the brownies.  One - I have been around long enough not to be gullible, and Two - we have random drug screening where I work and I don't want to get fired.  I gave the whole plate to the senior ladies' Sunday school class for their New Years party tonight.  I think they will find the fireworks hilarious.

lol. The kitchen staff will be busy

 

[Amberjem]

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote: yep, all yummy.

Deb, gotta agree with you there. DD's horse is half percheron half quarterhorse and that mare does the draft horse stomp and snort very well. Never a question who is making the noise when the horses were all agitated.

Our Percheron would growl.

Katee does that too.... but its infra sound.... you can only feel it if you are close hear it if you are closer. She does a big mubmling rumble when you have something she wants to eat

deb

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Any recommendations/words of wisdom from other bee keepers on the thread?

I have 2 hives. One is on its first year, the other is a year older. I read "Beekeeping for Dummies" and took a 6 week class (one class a week for 3 hours a night). The previous years' classes are posted online for all to watch at http://www.klcbee.com/school.shtml. The class was nice for me to learn "the tricks" of doing the things in the book (the break out sessions that allowed you to touch and use equipment was also nice - I really appreciated the "learn to light and use a smoker" session because I am very challenged in that area) and to ask the questions that aren't really clear in the book. It was also good to take the class to get some mentors and the class has a listserv that is helpful as well. A few of the teachers also invited us for open hives but I did not go (I live pretty far from KLCBee and there's no local club anymore). I highly recommend you start with langstroth hives - most of the online and in person help will be people familiar with that type of hive, although the other types are gaining in popularity.
I bought all my beekeeping stuff online - mostly through Kelley Bees when they have free shipping although we have local stores. I bought online because we're very damp here in the spring/summer/fall and all the stuff up here was cheap pine that generally needs to be completely replaced every 3 years per locals. Through Kelley I was able to buy Cypress for just a little bit more and I wanted to give that a try for longevity. They also have a nice monthly newsletter that is mostly helpful and reminds you to do the things that are due around that time period to your hive(s). I highly recommend sticking with all mediums for your hive bodies and honey supers. If you use deeps for your hive bodies and mediums or shallows for your supers you will need to purchase frames of both sizes plus foundation for both sizes. I've found it infinitely easier to stick with mediums and everything is interchangeable and you know if you have it or not. For overwintering the only difference is you need 3 mediums instead of 2 deeps. I have 5 mediums purchased for each hive which is one more than you technically need. When I take the first honey super off I'll plop the 5th super on the hive so they can immediately start making more comb and honey or I can bring some empty frames down in the box and swap them out for a few filled frames and then use the box to transport the full (heavy) frames back to the house. I also recommend the Kelley hive top feeder. It is easy to use (you can refill it without disturbing the bees), won't drown/wet the bees, doesn't go bad due to heat/sunlight & doesn't attract robbers like entrance feeders do and comes with a cool 3 inch "box" that you can use for treatments or change to a candy board for winter.
I personally like packaged bees over nucs. Most of the nucs are in old nasty boxes. Many people this year got hive beetles along with their nucs. Although the nuc is technically local, "pre started" and generally healthier due to having comb/brood/food, I don't like starting with nasty stuff (I'm very type A+ personality). Both times I purchased packages from a local supplier who got them from Georgia or somewhere else down south. That's generally where packages around here come from (our season is too short to supply them locally). Although the bees don't come related or with comb, food, brood, etc, I like that they start with a clean slate hive. It does take at least 21 days to start to get babies, though, and they have to start from scratch building comb - so that's the major disadvantage. I think the trade off is worth it. The bees likely come with a small amount of mites, but I don't have nasty woodware in my hives. I've never seen a swarm of bees in my life so I likely won't go that route. You can join the swarm catchers of your bee club, and may have more luck that way. The first year I bought a package of Italians with an Italian queen. They are very docile and lovely. I rarely hear opera coming from the hive. The second year I bought Russians raised on small cells (supposed to be more mite resistant). It's a pleasure to go into the Italian hive. The Russians are not as nice, although they do occasionally ride horses without a shirt on in the front yard and are entertaining. I've never been stung by either hive, but I have been harassed and chased off by the Russians. Neither hive really minds when I mow unless I accidentally whack their hive with the mower. BF weed whacks around them with a 12 foot extension pole. He strenuously dislikes the Russians after being run off by them the day they got hived.
I'm happy to answer questions, send me a PM if you want. I'm by no means an expert, but I've made plenty of mistakes and learned lots and am happy to share.

@Latestarter they sting

They're really pretty docile. I've gone into the Italian hive a few times without my bee suit on and a few times without smoking them. Bees rarely sting unless you're trying to steal their honey or they think you're otherwise threatening the hive. Again, I've never been stung.

SCG you must really young. The crash happened just a few days before my 13th birthday and the song came out when I was 25.

I like Vincent better than American Pie.

I'm in my 30's. Pretty sure that doesn't qualify me as "really" young but I can't have a conversation with most people under the age of 25 without having to filter what I want to say.

I've thought about bees, I know a few people who keep them. But I don't want them interfering with all the lovely native bees in my garden... I really like the solitary bees, and honey bees just edge them out of the environment....

No native bees here except bumbles. The bumbles coexist very well with the honeybees. Even the darned paper wasps, which I were hoping would be chased off by the bees, are still here.

 

[hennible]

That's good ( the native bee thing ) I have at least 6 kinds of native bees in my greenhouse each year... Hover flys and mason bees, wild honey bees, bumbles... and a bunch I can't identify... Plus wasps, hornets etc...
I don't want to mess up the natural system.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

I've had issues with my garden not being pollinated prior to getting bees. Used to have to go out each morning and insert my finger into the flowers to pollinate. Once I got the first hive of bees I stopped doing that and had a bumper crop. The neighbors have also noted that their garden is fruiting more and they had an insane amount of wild blackberries this year compared to other years, as well. They are quite happy I've got bees.
Considering I have probably close to 100,000 bees on my property, I rarely see them. I almost never saw them (except when I was standing next to the hive) when I only had one hive, but now that I have two hives, I do see them more but not alarmingly so. They very much like the chicken and duck waterers and will go to those even though they have a bee only waterer near their hive. The chickens won't eat them, luckily.

 

[hennible]

That's great glad your bees are enriching your location. No way I could pollenate everything by hand...

 

[superchemicalgirl]

That's great glad your bees are enriching your location. No way I could pollenate everything by hand...

I've expanded my garden since getting bees. It used to be a small plot by the kitchen. Now it's pretty much anywhere that gets sun. Less for me to mow, more for BF to weed whack. Win!