Urban Homesteaders

[nayeli]

Too bad its cane and not bamboo =)

 

[operationindigo]

Wow that sounds fantastic. Yes, semi-suburban folks are welcome! I'm curious about your experience with keeping bees. Do you have a sizable property for that? I wonder if it would be possible to keep them in an urban area...I know next to nothing about bees though.

 

[operationindigo]

Are any of you currently keeping bees in an urban or suburban area? They just legalized it my area and am wondering if you are liking it and if anyone complains.

I am curious about this as well. I know nothing about keeping bees as of right now, but I would be interested in learning some about it to see if it is possible.

 

[operationindigo]

We are buying a house on 1/4 an acre (seems by far the smallest here). I am planning on gardening (tomatoes, peppers, raspberries, etc) and raising chicken, ducks, quail, and meat rabbits! Chicken and Duck can share a coop/ area and we can house the quail and rabbits in hutches/cages in our sunroom. My biggest concern is our dogs... One is a half wolf... he is the sweetest dog but overly excitable/playful!

I'm really excited to start even though it might be a slow process given I'll be doing house remodeling and trying to build cages/ get animals and going to college full time. I'm more worried about money than time though!

Overall I have high aspirations for our first house =)

I'm not even sure if my backyard is a 1/4 acre. It's a pretty small urban lot.

 

[nayeli]

Well it seems like your making the most of it! I need to too, so I'll have to get creative with my cage designs to maximize space. I also am considering rooftop gardens on any outside hutches, dog houses, etc.

 

[CarolinaHen]

I am interested in bees as well. We have a swimming pool in our yard which is great for a lot of things, but.......... I'm concerned about the bees being close to swimmers. We aren't too many years away from grandchildren (oldest got married in July and I would hate to position the hive where it would put the pool in the direct line of flight to the hive.

 

[Faerie]

I have always wanted to have bees. This will be my 3rd year gardening, and I have expanded my garden every year. And this will be my first year with chickens. Eventually I would like to have rabbits for meat and the bees. I live in the city, most of my garden is in my front/side yard because my back yard is pretty shaded.

 

[CSWolffe]

I live on a tiny lot, 0.13 acres, and have a garden, 5 hens, and two beehives. You don't need a lot of space to keep bees at all, and there are a few things you can do to make sure they don't bother people. Bees fly up 3 miles to forage for food, and are very good at it, finding pollen and nectar in places you'd never think to look. Most sub-urban and even urban settings have more than enough forage.
Bees are not naturally aggressive, they don't want to sting, and will only do so if bothered. The only time I have ever been stung is when working my hives. I don't wear a bee suit, btw, just long pants, long sleeve shirt, gloves, and a bee hat. I work my garden in the middle of clouds of bees with no problems at all. My daughters have not been stung once in three years. My youngest likes to poke her little nose right in the entrance to the hive to watch them come and go, with bees bumping into her little cheeks, and she's not been stung once.
Please, and I cannot stress this enough, research local ordinances first. There will be location restrictions. Most municipalities want hives in back yards or side yards, with a water source, and 5' or 6' fence between the hive and pedestrian walkways.Make sure they are legal first. It would be tragic if a neighbor were to complain and code enforcement were to make you move your established hive. I helped a lady set up a hive last spring, and two months later that happened, she was very distraught.
Location is important. Side yards are a bad idea, if they don't get sun. Sun is your friend. Bees don't fly if there is no sun, don't stick your hive in a shaded side yard. Winter sun and especially spring sun are more important than summer sun, summer shade can be a benefit, but winter and spring sun are a must. Protection from winter wind is necessary. Bees like a south facing entrance to their hive, and tend to fly south first when looking for forage, keep that in mind when selecting a site. Also please choose a location based on the interest of the bees, not convenience of the keeper.
Fences are your friend too. When bees encounter a fence, they fly up and over, and then continue on their merry way, they don't drop back down. So a fence will put them above head height for most people. This can keep them from bothering your neighbors, and if you have the room for a 'bee yard', it could keep them from bothering your kids, guests, swimmers, etc. Most bees will fly sough from their hive, so don't put a fence withing 8' to 10' south of the hive, so they have enough room to fly up. This will also help keep the hive out of winter shade(sun lower in sky, longer shadows).
Water is important, bees drink lots of water, and will target a neighbor's pond, bird bath, or pool. If you have a pool, that will be the best source of water for your bees, and they will be attracted to it. You will need a good water source within their bee yard, that is always full, or they will go to the pool. Bees see sunlight differently than we do, they can tell the direction of the sun from a patch of clear sky, even if the sun is hidden behind clouds; they are attracted to the reflected light off the pool. There is very little you can do to discourage them from drinking from it. They are not likely to randomly sting swimmer though, they will land at the edge, and lap up water. That's it. Of course, that will still freak out a lot of people.
Keeping bees is one of the easiest, and most rewarding hobbies I've had. I don't work the hives much, I prefer a 'leave alone' method. I believe bees have been bees for a lot longer than people have been around, and they know how to do it better than I do. Bees are in trouble, dying off in droves every year. I believe that after pervasive use of pesticides, intensely industrial modern keeping methods are to blame. I don't harvest honey in the fall like most keepers, I leave that for the bees. I get less honey that way, but I don't have to feed mine sugar all winter either. I dont treat for mites(which is done by putting pesticide strips in the hive-really? pesticides INSIDE a beehive?***?!?). I've had zero mite problem, and better than average winter survival. The trade off is I only get about 2 gallons of honey a year from each hive, instead of 7 to 10. It all depends on what you want out of keeping bees.
/soap box moment, thank you all for listening.

 

[biga]

how do you START a beehive? where do you get them?

 

[ClovisMan]

I closed on my "homestead" in May of 2013. Its a little over 3.5 acres in Central Texas. I have been busy clearing and cleaning up downed juniper trees and dead oaks. I have a 2600 sqft home with an aerobic septic system and a 410ft deep well. I would love to find a way to run these off solar. I currently do not have a garden setup, but I have built 10 raised bed boxes. I just received a box from Meyer Hatchery containing 15 Silver Laced Wyandottes so I will be busy build a coop over the next few weeks while they grow. Eggs and meat chickens will be my first step toward living the self sufficient lifestyle. I have a long road ahead...