All the buzz fit to sting

[TheRedneck]

Good morning, fellow doers!

Earlier this spring, I was thinking about an idea I had. It came from a YouTube video (now so deep in my history as to be irrecoverable) and I started checking on the possibility. I have two goals for this project: honey (haven't been able to afford that golden elixir in a couple of decades) and pollination for my garden. So far the pollination hasn't been terrible as we do have an occasional wild honeybee and plenty of bumblebees, but more is better when it comes to pollination.

Now, surely, someone else on here raises bees... so I decided to post this to let that someone educate me. I want to learn all about this before I jump in with both feet. Here's what I am thinking:

Out near my barn there is plenty of room for several hives. That's maybe 50 feet from my garden as well (assuming bees don't get deterred by wire fences, lol). It's also a respectable distance from my house. I am about the only one usually out there, and bee stings don't hurt me all that bad. They sting, yes, but compared to a red wasp (those buggers have stung me plenty throughout my life) they're an annoyance.

I'm thinking of starting with a single hive and letting them swarm until I have maybe three at the most. I'm not interested in selling honey; I am interested in having honey. I could get all the equipment to make the honey, which as I understand it is a few 5-gallon buckets, straining material, and a small (2-frame?) centrifuge. I have plenty of room to set that up.

Yes, that includes a bee suit. I'm tough, not stupid.

I plan on making my own hives, too, and that includes the frames. I am decent at woodworking after all. I have one issue with the standard stackable hives, though, and that is the amount of work to lift them off one at a time. They need to be inspected regularly and of course taken out to get the honeycomb. But in my present health, any physical exertion is severely limited... I still have some strength, but stamina have I none. I have 5 minutes to exert on a good day, then it's a folding chair for an hour while I try to wheeze myself into a coma. I am therefore looking for the easiest hive to inspect and remove frames from; difficulty in assembly is a secondary consideration. So any advice on that front is appreciated. I even had the bright idea of making an outer frame with hives that could slide in and out, but I have been told that's just not feasible because of how the bees tend to seal their hive.

I'm also trying to decide what kind of wood to use. I am et up with cedar and red oak, and of course pine is cheap to buy. I do have the capacity to turn rough-cut boards into finished lumber, so I could find other indigenous species at local sawmills (and maybe barter some standing logs for lumber; I'm not able to run a sawmill anyway so I deal with them time to time).

The only competition around that area would be the bumblebees and the occasional wasp (very few wasps out there). We do have yellow jackets, but they are on the opposite end of the place, 500 yards or so away.

I missed getting everything running this spring; I was unprepared and things take me longer than they do normal people. But come next spring, I would like to be ready to get some bees. That means I need to start preparing now. So come on, all you rogues and roguesses out there in virtual conspiracy land! What advice you got for an aging, decrepit redneck who so far has refused to fall down?

TheRedneck

[VioletDove]

I love that more people are getting into beekeeping. I’ve been tossing the idea around for a couple of years but haven’t gotten brave enough to do it yet. I’m not scared of getting stung, I’m afraid of doing something wrong and losing my hive.

A few months ago I talked to someone who has bees and wanted to add some more hives but was having a hard time finding any. So I didn’t even look into getting started this year. I’m hoping to get brave and try next year.

I noticed earlier, in the shoutbox that @"Rodinus"#19 mentioned he’d caught some wild bees for his hive. Maybe he’ll stop by and give some pointers.

Good luck with your endeavors!

[TheRedneck]

I love that more people are getting into beekeeping. I’ve been tossing the idea around for a couple of years but haven’t gotten brave enough to do it yet. I’m not scared of getting stung, I’m afraid of doing something wrong and losing my hive.

A few months ago I talked to someone who has bees and wanted to add some more hives but was having a hard time finding any. So I didn’t even look into getting started this year. I’m hoping to get brave and try next year.

I noticed earlier, in the shoutbox that @"Rodinus"#19 mentioned he’d caught some wild bees for his hive. Maybe he’ll stop by and give some pointers.

Good luck with your endeavors!

Getting stung doesn't really worry me; as I said, I've been stung plenty of times by much more hostile critters. When I was younger, I was stung by a red wasp on my eyelid! Thank God I closed my eye when I did. I spent the next hour getting the pain under control, then the next week exterminating the little buggers wherever I could find them in the most agonizing and cruel ways I could think of. Hint: one shot of WD-40 and they literally drop from the air and lie there with their evil little bodies twitching uncontrollably as they slowly die in agony. And with a little care, WD-40 makes a pretty decent flame-thrower, too.

Like you, I'm afraid of losing a hive though. I can afford to set one up, but only once.

The thing I like about bees is the sae thing I like about chickens: no feed, no constant working with them, just check once in a while to make sure they're healthy and gather the rewards. I've raised cattle, pigs, goats. and rabbits before and they're expensive to maintain and a lot of work on a regular basis. Chickens are easy, and it appears bees are too.

I just want to get it as right as I can the first time.

TheRedneck

[TheRedneck]

Oh, come on now! No one here is into bee-keeping?

TheRedneck

[quintessentone]

What I've noticed from the one family I knew that kept bees that they did not seem to know how to protect them from harsh weather, particularly cold/freezing weather and they, sadly, all died. My heart broke.

I recently watched the movie 'The Theory of Everything' and learned that Stephen Hawing and his first wife kept bees in their basement and I thought, 'that's how to protect them'. That Stephen must have researched the theory of everything bee.

Did you know, Redneck, that many other insects are pollinators, such as humming birds, flies, butterflies and beetles, to name most of them.

I wish you the best of luck with your attempt at beekeeping but why not house them in a basement or build an underground bunker for them?

[Bally002]

Oh, come on now! No one here is into bee-keeping?

TheRedneck

Certainly.  Have worked at a few concerns.  Have had many hives on the property and bees living in the foundations.  And yes, I've suffered my share of stings.  One sting on the side of my right eye had me off work for a couple of days.

In the last year and a half, following some serious fires and floods, hive beetle set in and shut down most local concerns.  Areas are now quarantined.

Sadly we haven't seen bees about around our local area for some time but I'm sure they'll be back perhaps later this year.  My son who is still working in the industry outside the quarantined areas will set some hives up late spring near our gardens and trees.

@"Rodinus"#19 is into bee keeping.   

Hope you enjoy the bees and get the rewards.

Kind regards,

Bally)

[Rodinus]

I will be along during the week as have just housed my new wild colony in their hive...

Need to leave them alone and have patience...

Hugs

Rod

---

Patience is the big word.. 

They are busy as buggery right now as tons of pollen to gather in the forest at the back of our garden.

Honey will be for next year.

I love watching them come and go to their hive... Working their little bee bums off to keep missus happy...

Bee back next week once I have an update 

Hugs

Rod

[Snarl]

Oh, come on now! No one here is into bee-keeping?

TheRedneck

• Beekeeping takes some effort to get going.
  
• Honey collection/storage/distribution is way more work than most would think.
  
• If, what you're really after is the honey, better to save on the effort and just go buy all that you will ever want to eat. The stuff doesn't go bad.
  

If you're still set on having bees:
Bees live in a house. A house has to have a good foundation. Do not fail or it will cost you.
Bees will get to know you (what you sound like moving around too).
If you feed them (and you will have to), they will trust you and you will only get stung once in a blue moon. The trust phase only requires a minuscule amount of sugar syrup. Walk up and feed them. Go out with your dog running all around you and feed them. Ride up on a horse and feed them. Drive up on your lawnmower and feed them. Drive up on your tractor and feed them. You probably get the point of this exercise.  In the winter, feed them 'pollen patties'. They like water, so don't make them waste time looking for it.

All you really need to control them is a smoker. You can go $$crazy$$ on bee clothing, but eventually it's just not worth the trouble and you realize you wound up wasting money. All you have to do is 'listen' to the hive and you'll hear what the bees are saying. When you find the hive tool you like the best ... buy two more ... 

Spread out your hives if you've got the room. I've got two (barely connected) rectangular fields that are 100 acres each. I've run four hives (3 honey supers and two deep supers each) total over the past two years and I haven't 'seen' any of them swarm (yet). I've got eight more complete hives out in the barn to catch splits and set out next spring. These still need a lot of work before they're ready to go outside.

Bees get sick. There's a lot of video to watch on YouTube. You'll hear a million different Voodoo stories. Only had to treat for mites. Every prospective beekeeper should plan for that. Several different ways. Some do it differently. Any of 'em seem to be effective if you ask me.

If you're still gonna go down this path, I'd strongly recommend buying your first hive off of Amazon. Get one that comes pre-treated with beeswax. My buddy's a woodworker (and generally one of the handiest guys you could ever meet). He made me all of the components off the Amazon model's design. And, while he's crazy precise, I can assure you the bees are going to seal up any 'craftsmanship drafts'. All of my subsequent hives are painted to keep them preserved. They're cut from white pine. Bees double. Make sure you have enough hives at the ready for this. And, you can't have too many spare frames.

Buy foundation sheets for the interior frames and understand how they fit before you make the frames. Also, start collecting beeswax now if you can (flea market). Bees are better scavengers than a US Army Platoon Sergeant. They'll get a jump on making the comb if you provide old beeswax to build with.

I get about 12gal of honey from one of my hives. That ... is ... a ... butt-ton ... of honey!! I made the mistake of harvesting twice a long time ago. I know other beekeepers get away with it, but you might 'kill' a hive inadvertently like I did. So, I leave them their second harvest and worry about them dying a lot less when it gets cold. Did I say, "Treat for mites?"

All of my neighbors have ALL of the honey they'll probably ever desire. I care for the bees because everyone's crops around here are improved. There are only two other beekeepers I'm aware of around here for miles. They sell their excess honey at the flea market. Not a good way to make money for me. Sterilizing glass jars is more than it's worth to me. I might change my mind if I run all 12 of those hives and they get full fast ... and if I can find a commercial buyer.

I let the preacher know when I'm bringing in honey the following week. I've got two 5gal buckets with honey spouts (those were my biggest investment). I've never brought them back home completely empty. Some people think it's a miracle that they never seem to run dry ... even the time some greedy yahoo dumped out two gallons of water and filled 'em up.

What else ya wanna know?

[TheRedneck]

I will be along during the week as have just housed my new wild colony in their hive...

Need to leave them alone and have patience...

Hugs

Rod

---

Patience is the big word.. 

They are busy as buggery right now as tons of pollen to gather in the forest at the back of our garden.

Honey will be for next year.

I love watching them come and go to their hive... Working their little bee bums off to keep missus happy...

Bee back next week once I have an update 

Hugs

Rod

I'm old with a bum heart, on SS Disability. I got patience... as a matter fact, all I have left is patience and leverage.  

From what I have heard watching YouTube and talking to some locals, if I start a hive in the spring, I might... might... see honey that fall. Second fall would be expected. So I'm prepared for that. Pollination assistance would start the first year, though.

Looking forward to your contribution!

TheRedneck

---

What I've noticed from the one family I knew that kept bees that they did not seem to know how to protect them from harsh weather, particularly cold/freezing weather and they, sadly, all died. My heart broke.

I recently watched the movie 'The Theory of Everything' and learned that Stephen Hawing and his first wife kept bees in their basement and I thought, 'that's how to protect them'. That Stephen must have researched the theory of everything bee.

Did you know, Redneck, that many other insects are pollinators, such as humming birds, flies, butterflies and beetles, to name most of them.

I wish you the best of luck with your attempt at beekeeping but why not house them in a basement or build an underground bunker for them?

The problem with a basement/bunker is, here that requires jackhammers and dynamite. A few feet below my feet lies solid bedrock. It makes all my buildings very strong and secure, but digging down is something to be avoided at all cost. My garden is as far from the mountain as I can get it, so I have a few feet of soil there, enough to grow the veggies good, but where I want these hives at the barn? Maybe two feet. Maybe.

TheRedneck

[Infolurker]

I had thought about it once.

Then decided the cost in time, frustration, and money was more than just buying a couple of 55 gallon drums of honey and calling it a day.

Canadian prepper had a great video maybe a year or two ago about prepping (storing) versus producing.

I cannot remember the video name as the title wasn't related I don't think but the bottom line was the "manhours" needed to produce a 50 pound bag of rice was "Astronomical" versus buying it for almost nothing and storing it now.

[loam]

Oh, come on now! No one here is into bee-keeping?

TheRedneck

I'd love to, but I'm allergic to them.

Fascinating creatures.

[TheRedneck]

• Beekeeping takes some effort to get going.
  
• Honey collection/storage/distribution is way more work than most would think.
  
• If, what you're really after is the honey, better to save on the effort and just go buy all that you will ever want to eat. The stuff doesn't go bad.
  

If you're still set on having bees:
Bees live in a house. A house has to have a good foundation. Do not fail or it will cost you.
Bees will get to know you (what you sound like moving around too).
If you feed them (and you will have to), they will trust you and you will only get stung once in a blue moon. The trust phase only requires a minuscule amount of sugar syrup. Walk up and feed them. Go out with your dog running all around you and feed them. Ride up on a horse and feed them. Drive up on your lawnmower and feed them. Drive up on your tractor and feed them. You probably get the point of this exercise.  In the winter, feed them 'pollen patties'. They like water, so don't make them waste time looking for it.

All you really need to control them is a smoker. You can go $$crazy$$ on bee clothing, but eventually it's just not worth the trouble and you realize you wound up wasting money. All you have to do is 'listen' to the hive and you'll hear what the bees are saying. When you find the hive tool you like the best ... buy two more ... 

Spread out your hives if you've got the room. I've got two (barely connected) rectangular fields that are 100 acres each. I've run four hives (3 honey supers and two deep supers each) total over the past two years and I haven't 'seen' any of them swarm (yet). I've got eight more complete hives out in the barn to catch splits and set out next spring. These still need a lot of work before they're ready to go outside.

Bees get sick. There's a lot of video to watch on YouTube. You'll hear a million different Voodoo stories. Only had to treat for mites. Every prospective beekeeper should plan for that. Several different ways. Some do it differently. Any of 'em seem to be effective if you ask me.

If you're still gonna go down this path, I'd strongly recommend buying your first hive off of Amazon. Get one that comes pre-treated with beeswax. My buddy's a woodworker (and generally one of the handiest guys you could ever meet). He made me all of the components off the Amazon model's design. And, while he's crazy precise, I can assure you the bees are going to seal up any 'craftsmanship drafts'. All of my subsequent hives are painted to keep them preserved. They're cut from white pine. Bees double. Make sure you have enough hives at the ready for this. And, you can't have too many spare frames.

Buy foundation sheets for the interior frames and understand how they fit before you make the frames. Also, start collecting beeswax now if you can (flea market). Bees are better scavengers than a US Army Platoon Sergeant. They'll get a jump on making the comb if you provide old beeswax to build with.

I get about 12gal of honey from one of my hives. That ... is ... a ... butt-ton ... of honey!! I made the mistake of harvesting twice a long time ago. I know other beekeepers get away with it, but you might 'kill' a hive inadvertently like I did. So, I leave them their second harvest and worry about them dying a lot less when it gets cold. Did I say, "Treat for mites?"

All of my neighbors have ALL of the honey they'll probably ever desire. I care for the bees because everyone's crops around here are improved. There are only two other beekeepers I'm aware of around here for miles. They sell their excess honey at the flea market. Not a good way to make money for me. Sterilizing glass jars is more than it's worth to me. I might change my mind if I run all 12 of those hives and they get full fast ... and if I can find a commercial buyer.

I let the preacher know when I'm bringing in honey the following week. I've got two 5gal buckets with honey spouts (those were my biggest investment). I've never brought them back home completely empty. Some people think it's a miracle that they never seem to run dry ... even the time some greedy yahoo dumped out two gallons of water and filled 'em up.

What else ya wanna know?

Yea, still considering bees. So far I haven't seen or heard much to dissuade me. Here's my plan in detail:

First I need to set up the hives. I want to get this done by end of summer, because I don't do well in a hurry anymore. They can set over winter no problem. I'm pretty handy with woodworking myself, so I plan on building the hives and frames. What I am trying to figure out is how to construct a hive so I don't have to completely disassemble each one, one-by-one, if I need access to a lower hive. I need something that will allow me to go in, get the honeycomb, and button it back up fairly quickly before my strength gives out.

Thanks for the advice on keeping them docile! I do plan on getting a smoker... the bee suit I have my eye on is a cheap one, just to stop the occasional miscreant. Where I am placing these is just out from the treeline at my barn, so I have good room. I don't want to overcrowd them, which is why I mentioned 3 hives maximum. That would put them up to 100 feet apart. That area is right now covered in dead brush from some old cedar trees I had cleared out; that is why I just got a used wood chipper. Cedar chips are great for deterring termites and ants.

I also have something similar in my backyard, but oak brush instead of cedar. That is going on my garden. The lareger sticks I will use on my lathe; the brus will be shredded into mulch.

That area where I plan on putting the bees is also where I keep my tractors,  so I will heed your advice and feed them when I crank a tractor up. I want to get it mowable, so the same for the lawn mower. I have noticed that the bumblebees no longer get agitated when I ride the mower out there and leave me be, so that makes sense.

One question is what material to make the hives out of. I can buy pine cheaply, and i can get oak, cedar, elm, poplar, hickory, etc. out of my mountain. I doubt they would like cedar (although the bumblebees love it), so I am wondering if red oak would be appropriate? I have close to 1000 board feet of that here, ready to be planed and straightened. Or I could drop a couple trees of whatever species works the best. I have been told cypress is perfect, but cypress doesn't grow here and is pretty pricey.

Maybe poplar? I've got some of those. A few black locust too, although I would have to hunt for those.

Anyway, I figure if I can get the hives ready this year, next spring I can get the bees and introduce them. Looks like one day's work. Then I will get the smoker and bee suit. Before fall I want to get the buckets (I keep five gallon buckets), strainers, and a centrifuge, along with any other tools I think I'll need for the honey. I can store it in the barn if needed, but I am thinking it might be better closer to the house.

I plan on making my own frames as well, using purchased beeswax inserts. Later on, I'll just make some beeswax as well for new frames, and for finishing wood projects. I know it's cheap, but it will be right here; why not use it? I like sustainability and I despise waste.

It looks like with three hives, I might have a couple hard days (for me) processing the honey. I'll keep what I need and if there is any excess, I'll sell it to someone who has a farmer's market. They might actually buy it in bulk and do the canning themselves. And of course, neighbors will all get some. I'm not really looking at the honey as an income source, but we're back to that hating waste again. Besides, I have had a lot of luck bartering. Maybe trade honey for veggies I don't grow? Or even for meat.

I'm working on expanding my chicken flock for that very reason: eggs, especially free-range organic brown eggs like I have, make great bartering material!

I will keep an eye out for mites, thank you!

TheRedneck

[quintessentone]

• Beekeeping takes some effort to get going.
  
• Honey collection/storage/distribution is way more work than most would think.
  
• If, what you're really after is the honey, better to save on the effort and just go buy all that you will ever want to eat. The stuff doesn't go bad.
  

If you're still set on having bees:
Bees live in a house. A house has to have a good foundation. Do not fail or it will cost you.
Bees will get to know you (what you sound like moving around too).
If you feed them (and you will have to), they will trust you and you will only get stung once in a blue moon. The trust phase only requires a minuscule amount of sugar syrup. Walk up and feed them. Go out with your dog running all around you and feed them. Ride up on a horse and feed them. Drive up on your lawnmower and feed them. Drive up on your tractor and feed them. You probably get the point of this exercise.  In the winter, feed them 'pollen patties'. They like water, so don't make them waste time looking for it.

All you really need to control them is a smoker. You can go $$crazy$$ on bee clothing, but eventually it's just not worth the trouble and you realize you wound up wasting money. All you have to do is 'listen' to the hive and you'll hear what the bees are saying. When you find the hive tool you like the best ... buy two more ... 

Spread out your hives if you've got the room. I've got two (barely connected) rectangular fields that are 100 acres each. I've run four hives (3 honey supers and two deep supers each) total over the past two years and I haven't 'seen' any of them swarm (yet). I've got eight more complete hives out in the barn to catch splits and set out next spring. These still need a lot of work before they're ready to go outside.

Bees get sick. There's a lot of video to watch on YouTube. You'll hear a million different Voodoo stories. Only had to treat for mites. Every prospective beekeeper should plan for that. Several different ways. Some do it differently. Any of 'em seem to be effective if you ask me.

If you're still gonna go down this path, I'd strongly recommend buying your first hive off of Amazon. Get one that comes pre-treated with beeswax. My buddy's a woodworker (and generally one of the handiest guys you could ever meet). He made me all of the components off the Amazon model's design. And, while he's crazy precise, I can assure you the bees are going to seal up any 'craftsmanship drafts'. All of my subsequent hives are painted to keep them preserved. They're cut from white pine. Bees double. Make sure you have enough hives at the ready for this. And, you can't have too many spare frames.

Buy foundation sheets for the interior frames and understand how they fit before you make the frames. Also, start collecting beeswax now if you can (flea market). Bees are better scavengers than a US Army Platoon Sergeant. They'll get a jump on making the comb if you provide old beeswax to build with.

I get about 12gal of honey from one of my hives. That ... is ... a ... butt-ton ... of honey!! I made the mistake of harvesting twice a long time ago. I know other beekeepers get away with it, but you might 'kill' a hive inadvertently like I did. So, I leave them their second harvest and worry about them dying a lot less when it gets cold. Did I say, "Treat for mites?"

All of my neighbors have ALL of the honey they'll probably ever desire. I care for the bees because everyone's crops around here are improved. There are only two other beekeepers I'm aware of around here for miles. They sell their excess honey at the flea market. Not a good way to make money for me. Sterilizing glass jars is more than it's worth to me. I might change my mind if I run all 12 of those hives and they get full fast ... and if I can find a commercial buyer.

I let the preacher know when I'm bringing in honey the following week. I've got two 5gal buckets with honey spouts (those were my biggest investment). I've never brought them back home completely empty. Some people think it's a miracle that they never seem to run dry ... even the time some greedy yahoo dumped out two gallons of water and filled 'em up.

What else ya wanna know?

Yea, still considering bees. So far I haven't seen or heard much to dissuade me. Here's my plan in detail:

First I need to set up the hives. I want to get this done by end of summer, because I don't do well in a hurry anymore. They can set over winter no problem. I'm pretty handy with woodworking myself, so I plan on building the hives and frames. What I am trying to figure out is how to construct a hive so I don't have to completely disassemble each one, one-by-one, if I need access to a lower hive. I need something that will allow me to go in, get the honeycomb, and button it back up fairly quickly before my strength gives out.

Thanks for the advice on keeping them docile! I do plan on getting a smoker... the bee suit I have my eye on is a cheap one, just to stop the occasional miscreant. Where I am placing these is just out from the treeline at my barn, so I have good room. I don't want to overcrowd them, which is why I mentioned 3 hives maximum. That would put them up to 100 feet apart. That area is right now covered in dead brush from some old cedar trees I had cleared out; that is why I just got a used wood chipper. Cedar chips are great for deterring termites and ants.

I also have something similar in my backyard, but oak brush instead of cedar. That is going on my garden. The lareger sticks I will use on my lathe; the brus will be shredded into mulch.

That area where I plan on putting the bees is also where I keep my tractors,  so I will heed your advice and feed them when I crank a tractor up. I want to get it mowable, so the same for the lawn mower. I have noticed that the bumblebees no longer get agitated when I ride the mower out there and leave me be, so that makes sense.

One question is what material to make the hives out of. I can buy pine cheaply, and i can get oak, cedar, elm, poplar, hickory, etc. out of my mountain. I doubt they would like cedar (although the bumblebees love it), so I am wondering if red oak would be appropriate? I have close to 1000 board feet of that here, ready to be planed and straightened. Or I could drop a couple trees of whatever species works the best. I have been told cypress is perfect, but cypress doesn't grow here and is pretty pricey.

Maybe poplar? I've got some of those. A few black locust too, although I would have to hunt for those.

Anyway, I figure if I can get the hives ready this year, next spring I can get the bees and introduce them. Looks like one day's work. Then I will get the smoker and bee suit. Before fall I want to get the buckets (I keep five gallon buckets), strainers, and a centrifuge, along with any other tools I think I'll need for the honey. I can store it in the barn if needed, but I am thinking it might be better closer to the house.

I plan on making my own frames as well, using purchased beeswax inserts. Later on, I'll just make some beeswax as well for new frames, and for finishing wood projects. I know it's cheap, but it will be right here; why not use it? I like sustainability and I despise waste.

It looks like with three hives, I might have a couple hard days (for me) processing the honey. I'll keep what I need and if there is any excess, I'll sell it to someone who has a farmer's market. They might actually buy it in bulk and do the canning themselves. And of course, neighbors will all get some. I'm not really looking at the honey as an income source, but we're back to that hating waste again. Besides, I have had a lot of luck bartering. Maybe trade honey for veggies I don't grow? Or even for meat.

I'm working on expanding my chicken flock for that very reason: eggs, especially free-range organic brown eggs like I have, make great bartering material!

I will keep an eye out for mites, thank you!

TheRedneck

I am just offering up this bit of info on horizontal hives from an expert, supposedly. 

Long experience has taught me that one should never stray from the following three principles, which constitute the bedrock of any good beekeeping:

1. Big hives.
   
2. Big frames.
   
3. Enough room in the hive to always allow the queen’s egg-laying to proceed uninterrupted.
   

In this way, you will: 1) minimize natural swarming; 2) produce as much honey as the location will allow; 3) build up a strong population by fall. All three points are very important for an apiary’s future.
My neighbor farmers have long applied this simple method to their apiaries, which consist of horizontal hives. These procedures have been used in my apiary for twenty years now, and for fifteen years in theirs, and this simple approach is becoming increasingly popular throughout France.

https://www.beeculture.com/the-layens-hi...0carefully.

[p358]

I don't know if you need this ... but have a look at how to protect your hives from Super Hornets ... with mouse pads!

Lol.

P

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onq9ixC7OEg

[Snarl]

I am just offering up this bit of info on horizontal hives from an expert, supposedly. 

Long experience has taught me that one should never stray from the following three principles, which constitute the bedrock of any good beekeeping:

1. Big hives.
   
2. Big frames.
   
3. Enough room in the hive to always allow the queen’s egg-laying to proceed uninterrupted.
   

In this way, you will: 1) minimize natural swarming; 2) produce as much honey as the location will allow; 3) build up a strong population by fall. All three points are very important for an apiary’s future.
My neighbor farmers have long applied this simple method to their apiaries, which consist of horizontal hives. These procedures have been used in my apiary for twenty years now, and for fifteen years in theirs, and this simple approach is becoming increasingly popular throughout France.

I can't disagree with that ... except ... if you've got anything commercial, you're probably better off going with standard size frames. I also never overstacked the supers, because I recover the hives from the fields in the fall. That's a lot of work for me.

@"TheRedneck"#115 : don't know if bees will take to wood other than pine. My contribution was all about: even a dummy can succeed at beekeeping.

[quintessentone]

I will be along during the week as have just housed my new wild colony in their hive...

Need to leave them alone and have patience...

Hugs

Rod

---

Patience is the big word.. 

They are busy as buggery right now as tons of pollen to gather in the forest at the back of our garden.

Honey will be for next year.

I love watching them come and go to their hive... Working their little bee bums off to keep missus happy...

Bee back next week once I have an update 

Hugs

Rod

I'm old with a bum heart, on SS Disability. I got patience... as a matter fact, all I have left is patience and leverage.  

From what I have heard watching YouTube and talking to some locals, if I start a hive in the spring, I might... might... see honey that fall. Second fall would be expected. So I'm prepared for that. Pollination assistance would start the first year, though.

Looking forward to your contribution!

TheRedneck

---

What I've noticed from the one family I knew that kept bees that they did not seem to know how to protect them from harsh weather, particularly cold/freezing weather and they, sadly, all died. My heart broke.

I recently watched the movie 'The Theory of Everything' and learned that Stephen Hawing and his first wife kept bees in their basement and I thought, 'that's how to protect them'. That Stephen must have researched the theory of everything bee.

Did you know, Redneck, that many other insects are pollinators, such as humming birds, flies, butterflies and beetles, to name most of them.

I wish you the best of luck with your attempt at beekeeping but why not house them in a basement or build an underground bunker for them?

The problem with a basement/bunker is, here that requires jackhammers and dynamite. A few feet below my feet lies solid bedrock. It makes all my buildings very strong and secure, but digging down is something to be avoided at all cost. My garden is as far from the mountain as I can get it, so I have a few feet of soil there, enough to grow the veggies good, but where I want these hives at the barn? Maybe two feet. Maybe.

TheRedneck

Hi Redneck, I also read that you should not harvest their honey, or a large portion of their honey, the first year as they need it for overwintering, but that is just what I read and it makes sense to me. You might want to research that fact more.

https://freeimage.host/i/Hrh2cJI

[Kenzo]

Great project there TheRedneck ...besides, honey taste so goooooooood

[quintessentone]

About honey tasting good. The family I wrote about in a previous post gave us honey over a two year period. The first batch on year 1 was fabulous but the second year it did not taste as good and that second year was the year the bees died. I wonder if there is a correlation.

[Kenzo]

About honey tasting good. The family I wrote about in a previous post gave us honey over a two year period. The first batch on year 1 was fabulous but the second year it did not taste as good and that second year was the year the bees died. I wonder if there is a correlation.

Probably is correlation IMO


I been thinking same about coffee , at some point in last 2 years i noticed that the coffee i drink ( organic and 2 brands )  started to have bad taste. Then it started to seem like i got stomach problems just after drink it.  Now i stopped drinking it ...

[quintessentone]

About honey tasting good. The family I wrote about in a previous post gave us honey over a two year period. The first batch on year 1 was fabulous but the second year it did not taste as good and that second year was the year the bees died. I wonder if there is a correlation.

Probably is correlation IMO


I been thinking same about coffee , at some point in last 2 years i noticed that the coffee i drink ( organic and 2 brands )  started to have bad taste. Then it started to seem like i got stomach problems just after drink it.  Now i stopped drinking it ...

I am going through the same thing with coffee and stomach problems, so I will be buying different brands to see if there is any change. I am not ready to give up coffee yet.

As for bees, could they also be eating pollen from the wrong type of plants or plants that have pesticide on them?