This thread is a repository for bee keepers or those interested.
A couple of years ago, a couple of friends an my brother started puttering with honey bees. I didn't buy off because, well, I've never been a big fan of bees or getting stung by them. Last summer I tagged along a couple of times to check their hives and to remove honey bees from a house, public building and an old garage.
I realized at the end of the summer when I was helping them process some, that it's actually pretty interesting, and fits into my expanding "grow my own" logic. I'm not full blown hippy but I see a lot of logic in the self sustaining food thing and I'm doing some of that too.
That said, this thread is about bees, honey bees, bee keeping and bee fighting war stories.
I'm taking the leap and plan to get 2-3 hives this spring and maybe build some bee swarm traps to make it cheaper or to make a few bucks.
Join me and I'll share the real life lessons of an ameture bee keeper. I'm sure I'm going to learn some things the hard way.
Originally Posted by KS Smitty:
Which, if any, of these are native to North America? Are bees hybridized by cross breeding?
After a queen hatches, she flies to a drone congregation area, DCA (drones are boy bees)
She gets mated by 4-8 drones (in-flight mind you.) She returns to the hive with enough sperm to last the rest of her egg laying life.
When laying, she decides when to lay a fertilized egg that becomes a female bee, and when to withhold the sperm to lay an unfertilized egg that becomes a boy bee. Boy bees are haploid.
So her dna mixes with whatever sperm she received during mating flights to create more purebreeds or mutts, depending.
Originally Posted by KS Smitty:
Which, if any, of these are native to North America? Are bees hybridized by cross breeding?
There were honey bees in NA millions of years ago, but no natives ones today.
Bees can be cross-bred, (not sure how genetically similar the lines have to be) and some genetic lines are made through selective breeding over generations. They're selectively bred for hygiene behaviors, honey production, aggressiveness level, and other behaviors. [Reply]
Originally Posted by redhed:
There were honey bees in NA millions of years ago, but no natives ones today.
Bees can be cross-bred, (not sure how genetically similar the lines have to be) and some genetic lines are made through selective breeding over generations. They're selectively bred for hygiene behaviors, honey production, aggressiveness level, and other behaviors.
That makes them... wait for it.... GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS
It's been cold and rainy and I hadn't seen or heard of much swarm activity. I did miss out in one last weekend when a lady asked for help with a swarm at her house but wouldn't tell me where it was or her number. Dumb.
This afternoon I was mowing and noticed a bunch of bees in my orchard, even though it was a dreary, rainy day. I had hung a trap/box in an apple tree. I was witnessing a swarm moving into my trap! I trapped my first swarm today. I'm not sure if they swarmed from one of my hives or just outlaws but I'm happy to have them.
It was pretty cool to see. Not long after they arrived there was a flurry of activity. I didn't get a pic but bees were coming out and dropping dirt and crumbs on the ledge and others were pushing the crap off of the ledge. It was pretty cool to see just how fast they started working when they moved in. Almost immediately.
Originally Posted by Iowanian:
It's been cold and rainy and I hadn't seen or heard of much swarm activity. I did miss out in one last weekend when a lady asked for help with a swarm at her house but wouldn't tell me where it was or her number. Dumb.
This afternoon I was mowing and noticed a bunch of bees in my orchard, even though it was a dreary, rainy day. I had hung a trap/box in an apple tree. I was witnessing a swarm moving into my trap! I trapped my first swarm today. I'm not sure if they swarmed from one of my hives or just outlaws but I'm happy to have them.
It was pretty cool to see. Not long after they arrived there was a flurry of activity. I didn't get a pic but bees were coming out and dropping dirt and crumbs on the ledge and others were pushing the crap off of the ledge. It was pretty cool to see just how fast they started working when they moved in. Almost immediately.
You're one tough MF'er if you mow in the rain. [Reply]
My bee hive is going along swimmingly. I actually have a wood cover surrounding it so I can lock them in when nearby fields are being sprayed. I think it has helped with all the damned rain too. After my foray with removing africanized bees i have not ventured into swarm trapping again. Although I have a trap box ready. Wondering if I should place it near my hive in case of a swarm from my hive. [Reply]
It didn't rain so this evening I went through all of my hives. The one I hate is a goner...no queen, no brood. My favorite hive has queen cells. I'm thinking it swarmed and that's what I caught in the post above. I'm good with tha, they're great.
One of the cutouts froma couple of weeks ago, the one I knew I had a queen is going great. I put a honey Super on that hive today....but I'm a little concerned by how much drone brood I saw. Didn't see a queen cell but it makes me wonder if they are planning to swarm. The other one from the cutout looks good, but I didn't see a queen or any brood. I'm going to have to buy a queen or rib a frame of brood and queen cells from my big hive or from a friend.
I moved the swarm I caught in my apple tree to another place for a few days in case they came from my hive. They would be confused and get lost if I don't relocate them for a few days. I'll bring them back to my yard in a few days and they should be good to go.
I made a mistake today in that I worked them late in the afternoon. They were stirred up because I was so deep into all of the hives. I was stung on a finger and forearm, not a big deal. Then I took my hood off as I finished and got piled. I was stung 3-4 times on the head and 4 behind my left ear....right where the ear attaches to your head. That's one of the worst spots to date FYI. By far the most sore spot and I can feel swelling in my ear and down my neck. Those weren't fun, but I know some of you are cheering for the wrecks.
My ear feels like cauliflower ear.....it's hot and sore. I might tape these wind scoops down to my head next time.....
On the bright side, I won't have to bitch about that shitty, smelly, bug infested hive anymore. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Iowanian:
It didn't rain so this evening I went through all of my hives. The one I hate is a goner...no queen, no brood. My favorite hive has queen cells. I'm thinking it swarmed and that's what I caught in the post above. I'm good with tha, they're great.
One of the cutouts froma couple of weeks ago, the one I knew I had a queen is going great. I put a honey Super on that hive today....but I'm a little concerned by how much drone brood I saw. Didn't see a queen cell but it makes me wonder if they are planning to swarm. The other one from the cutout looks good, but I didn't see a queen or any brood. I'm going to have to buy a queen or rib a frame of brood and queen cells from my big hive or from a friend.
I moved the swarm I caught in my apple tree to another place for a few days in case they came from my hive. They would be confused and get lost if I don't relocate them for a few days. I'll bring them back to my yard in a few days and they should be good to go.
I made a mistake today in that I worked them late in the afternoon. They were stirred up because I was so deep into all of the hives. I was stung on a finger and forearm, not a big deal. Then I took my hood off as I finished and got piled. I was stung 3-4 times on the head and 4 behind my left ear....right where the ear attaches to your head. That's one of the worst spots to date FYI. By far the most sore spot and I can feel swelling in my ear and down my neck. Those weren't fun, but I know some of you are cheering for the wrecks.
My ear feels like cauliflower ear.....it's hot and sore. I might tape these wind scoops down to my head next time.....
On the bright side, I won't have to bitch about that shitty, smelly, bug infested hive anymore.
Did you get the yard mowed?
And I admit after reading this post I'm too much of a pussy to think about keeping bees even though I have the ground to do it. [Reply]
I did finish mowing last night, it only rained for 20 minutes or so but I'm A grown ass man and I finish what I start.
I can't say that I feel particularly tough about this crash. The finger, arm and head stings dont bother me at all...but this ear.....my inner ear itches....my ear feels like it's 300 degrees and I'm sore half down the side of my neck and up into my hair....I guess that's what 4 stings do....
I'm being super manly....alpha male about it.....brideownian brought me an ice pack that looks like a small red teddy bear. I guess it makes kids stop whining. I'm going to need the ice pack and a couple of ultra manly Busch lights. [Reply]
