The Old Folks Home

[bamadude]

Sorry about your wife Ron! That is difficult. 

X2

 

[Latestarter]

Looks great! How come you have both deeps on with a package, though? Do you also have an entrance reducer on?


Had my first prolapsed hen today. Unfortunately her colon split when I was trying to push it back in. From what I've read though they don't really survive too well, so I guess that was for the best.

Sorry about the loss of your hen...

Guess when you own a bunch of critters, you're bound to lose one for a variety of reasons every now and then.

I have both deeps on because there are internal feeders to help them get a good start:


There's a notch cut out on both sides of the double feeder so the bees can enter underneath and get out as well. I didn't want to put it directly over the inner cover hole in case it leaked. I put the syrup can in there as well because it felt like 1/2 full. Couldn't see wasting it.

There is an (home made - used as an excuse to get a router and router table ) home made entrance reducer. You can also see the screw resting on the left block that I used to pop the cork from the queen cage and the extra marshmallow I didn't need. The bees were all over the cork... pheromones I guess. Made it a huge challenge to get it out without killing the queen in her cage w/the screw, or squishing the bees trying to get to her, or letting her escape while squishing marshmallow into the hole to replace the cork. Those queens are FAST!

I'll see if they even need the feeding and if they do I'll continue for a while or until they don't need it. I'll check to see that the queen has been released from her cage like Wednesday or Thursday depending on weather, and remove the can then and check the syrup levels and decide from there. Started out with no protection at all but when I banged down the first pkg to take the can out, the sheer #'s of bees was overwhelming so I put my veil on before I continued. No stings and we were all happy with the outcome Hope your one hive can come back. Probably hasn't been warm enough up there yet for you to even be able to open it up and check on them. You said you lost one of them...

 

[ronott1]

X2

Thanks Diva, Bama and all!

 

[Latestarter]

Quote:

Wow this is your first go right? The bee keepers here plop the boxes down in the wild mountain Sage...

My land has some sage but not enough flowering stuff to feed a hive But there are other polinators to take care of anything I decide to grow.....

deb

Yes, first go-round. They are incredible insects and I'm not afraid of them and they don't seem all that afraid of me... I've been stung by a honey bee exactly once in my life, while working a bee club hive a few weeks ago because I squished her when I bent/lifted my arm to get a better look at a frame. Didn't know she was there... not her fault, and she died because of it.

I've been stung too many times by hornets and wasps... NO fun at all! I don't like them and will kill them at every opportunity! You know bees will forage over a three mile radius... that's a LOT of ground! You might be surprised at what they'd find as long as they have access to water.

OK for those of you who have Green houses..... When your plants start flowering in preparation for making fruit.... tomatoes.... peppers.... How do you get the polinators in to the green house....


Or am I just being reallllly stupid here....

deb

A lot of times there are windows that are cracked for ventilation and the bees/pollinators can come in and go out through them (season permitting of course). As Alaska stated also, some plants like beans and tomatoes are self pollinators and other plants like peppers can pollinate themselves if you shake the plant to release the pollen.

Quote:

...Bees.....good question. I need to figure out how to draw them in to my orchard and work my fruit trees.

If you grow it (orchard), they will come!

 

[bamadude]

@Latestarter and @superchemicalgirl I WANT BEE HIVES. HELP ME

 

[Latestarter]

Might be risky dude... I hear they don't like loud motorized equipment (like riding lawnmowers) and in your speedo, you'd be a heckuva target

Not sure, but I believe you have AHB's there now as well... they are some MEAN bees! (AHB=Africanized Honey Bees).

But I guess with proper precautions, it's very do-able! Why not get a captcha hive box and try to get started out with a swarm? I truly hope to get a couple more hives established over the summer from swarms around here. Most states have a swarm hotline and if you contact them or the local bee club, and let them know you're interested, they can pair you with an experienced beekeep to go get one (or 2... or 3...).

 

[Latestarter]

@superchemicalgirl , you ought to contact the bee club where you took your course and see if you can get on the swarm list. Perfect opportunity to replace your deadout at minimum cost. and put all that drawn comb to work immediately!

 

[bamadude]

Yeah thanks. Im lost still

 

[bamadude]

Sad droopy face smiley.
Idk i dont do smileys

 

[drumstick diva]

this is the best they've got -sad and droopy face- unless Perchie makes a special one for you