Beekeeping

[bonnie]

I don't, I find it stresses the colonies a bit too much to harvest twice. I have had hives with 6 supers before, though.

I should have been more clear. I only harvest in the spring, once the wildflowers are in bloom and my bees don't need to rely on their stored honey. It eliminates needing to feed over the winter months - I'd rather have them benefit from their own work than have them rely on sugar water from me. No double harvest. Definitely less honey this way, but I get plenty.

 

[FlasherZ]

I should have been more clear. I only harvest in the spring, once the wildflowers are in bloom and my bees don't need to rely on their stored honey. It eliminates needing to feed over the winter months - I'd rather have them benefit from their own work than have them rely on sugar water from me. No double harvest. Definitely less honey this way, but I get plenty.

Ah, ok - we harvest only once but in the fall, we leave enough for them to overwinter (typically full double deep)

 

[Jouler]

Ugh, an afterswarm. Did you watch the queen hatch process / clean up any additional queen cells after the first swarm?

Ugh? Is an after swarm that bad? Is it because they gorge themselves on honey and take the most productive bees?

Nope, we've been rather laissez faire in our approach as beekeepers, opening it infrequently and trusting the bees know what's best for the colony. Perhaps this is foolish. Ultimately both swarms this week went to people we know. One of which told us he would be happy to give them back or provide us with a new queen if there was a problem. The hive which is rather large and not completely drawn out still seems incredibly full of bees... Hoping they will continue to thrive.

 

[FlasherZ]

Ugh? Is an after swarm that bad? Is it because they gorge themselves on honey and take the most productive bees?

Each afterswarm takes a good chunk of the bees left and increases the recovery time for the colony. If your intentions are more laissez-faire and you just love keeping the bees for the sake of pollination (or just want them as pets ) and you don't really care about a honey crop, it's not a big deal. The only thing you have to consider is that afterswarms increase the risk that a colony may be more stressed and may not survive a stressful time or the winter, if they haven't built enough of a colony size. Each afterswarm tends to have a big impact on honey crops.

I try to manage swarming as much as I can - during this part of the season I'm watching for queen cups / swarm cells and trying to manage the hives so they are less likely to swarm. I might take a brood frame with queen cells to another nuc to create a split, or add a super with frames containing only foundation so the bees are kept busy drawing wax (which can help prevent swarming).

Finally, after I've seen a swarm or detected one, I watch for the hatching of queen cells. I destroy any queen cells that have a different "age" than the first set that hatched (if the bees built a second set, for example). The virgin queen will pipe and begin to seek out and destroy other cells, but sometimes doesn't make it across the entire hive to destroy all of them, and I help her do her job.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

ya, we don't have another space set up to put a second colony right now. I think the chunk of bees taken in our second swarm was a little less than the first. We have so many fir, redwood and spruce trees + blackberries are flowering & I think they will manage alright.
the afterswarm was about the size of a quart mason jar around and maybe 20-24" long. they were going to hang out overnight so I called a buddy looking for a second colony to take them. super easy, just held the box around the bee 'rod', clipped the kiwi branch and the bees remained super mellow as they fell into the box.

I think I might try and take a look at the hive this week if the weather is good and the bees start to mellow out

 

[GasDoc]

My first hive is now in its third day. There is a steady flow if bees in and out of it and they are eating the sugar syrup I have in the homemade front feeder.

Is it normal and ok to see a few ants trying to get in? Not a lot but a small trail. Looks like the bees are taking care of them.

Anything I should do?

 

[FlasherZ]

My first hive is now in its third day. There is a steady flow if bees in and out of it and they are eating the sugar syrup I have in the homemade front feeder.

Is it normal and ok to see a few ants trying to get in? Not a lot but a small trail. Looks like the bees are taking care of them.

Anything I should do?

No, the ants won't eat much. You'll find all sorts of critters, and the bees usually do a good job. In a weak hive, you may have to assist. I had a mud wasp build a next on a piece of foundation last year, because the colony was too weak to defend against it, they just built the wax around it and left the rest of it go.

Big things to worry about are varroa mites, wax moth larvae, and in winter, mice nesting on the bottom board.

I keep a small beetle trap in the corner of the hive to take care of those hive beetles.

 

[Denarius]

My first hive is now in its third day. There is a steady flow if bees in and out of it and they are eating the sugar syrup I have in the homemade front feeder.

Is it normal and ok to see a few ants trying to get in? Not a lot but a small trail. Looks like the bees are taking care of them.

Anything I should do?

You can use ground cinnamon to stop them. It won't bother the bees and the ants hate it. Depending on how your hive setup you can sprinkle it around the legs of your stand, or around the bottom board where they are climbing up.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

I'm curious to see if this will work?
this is our afterswarm. supposedly the bees will walk up the ramp to the hive. (used to work for our peking ducks)

he has never tried it like this before and usually just puts the swarm straight into the hive.
anyone ever do this method?

..ants - supposedly DE works(not sure if it might bother landed bees but they don't usually land under our hive), cinnamon smells good + should work.

 

[Denarius]

Looks similar to a taranov split? But as I understand that only works before a swarm, not once they swam. The idea is to separate out the swarm before they leave and move them into a new hive.

The great divide: a Taranov split | Honey Bee Suite

 

[ggies07]

I don't have any hives, but recently got into bees this past Fall when reading the book Oil and Honey. Has anyone read this? I learned a lot and made me more aware than ever.

Also, those that have hives, do you keep up with whats going on in the bee crisis? I thought this was an interesting article: Pesticide Pushers Spin the Bee Crisis to Protect Profits

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

MAM 2014 (March against Monsanto)

keeping w/ the last post - March against Monsanto ... May 24th

http://www.march-against-monsanto.com/p/blog-page_5.html

wearing beesuits is encouraged

 

[GasDoc]

OUCH! DAMMIT!!!:cursing:

I guess I should have changed out of that red shirt before giving the neighbor an impromptu look at the hive. I felt one land in my hair, a few seconds later...owww!

Got the stinger out and put some steroid cream on it. Still aches.

At least it appears that I'm not allergic

 

[bonnie]

You can become allergic over time. It's good to keep an epipen handy as a precaution (or if a guest is stung). But glad it wasn't more than that!

 

[GasDoc]

You can become allergic over time. It's good to keep an epipen handy as a precaution (or if a guest is stung). But glad it wasn't more than that!

I've got access to a lot of epinephrine. There's some in the house.

Any tips on taking away the ache?

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

I've got access to a lot of epinephrine. There's some in the house.

Any tips on taking away the ache?

gas ? :wink:

baking soda poultice maybe?

actually wiki says
1. ice
2. toothpaste
3. baking soda vinegar and papain (meat tenderizer) - so you smell like anitpasta
4.calamine/cortisone
5. Honey

..hmm
raw onion
potato

 

[FlasherZ]

I've got access to a lot of epinephrine. There's some in the house.

Any tips on taking away the ache?

I rub a baking soda paste onto it. Also be sure you pay attention to how you dislodge the stinger - you don't want to squeeze the venom sac and push the rest of the poison into you. Use a thin tool, like a credit card, to go along the skin's surface and push the stinger out without grabbing the venom sac.

 

[GasDoc]

I rub a baking soda paste onto it. Also be sure you pay attention to how you dislodge the stinger - you don't want to squeeze the venom sac and push the rest of the poison into you. Use a thin tool, like a credit card, to go along the skin's surface and push the stinger out without grabbing the venom sac.

The sac wasn't attached, just the stinger part. I think the bee continued to fly around and harass me after the sting. I scraped off the stinger with a blade and put some lidocaine and steroid cream on it. Just aches now.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

my stings itched like crazy for 3 or 4 days... then again, sadistically, I did make sure to get all the venom into me -trying to bond with the bees, right?

 

[slipdrive]

I don't have any hives, but recently got into bees this past Fall when reading the book Oil and Honey. Has anyone read this? I learned a lot and made me more aware than ever.

Also, those that have hives, do you keep up with whats going on in the bee crisis? I thought this was an interesting article: Pesticide Pushers Spin the Bee Crisis to Protect Profits

Just heard a disturbing story catching up on a week ago NPR Morning Edition show (thanks to internet radio in the Model S!) Apparently a good percentage of colonies were killed this year in the California almonds, by what they termed "tank mixing". That is, the growers save money by not running trucks spraying individual chemicals, so they mix together and spray them ALL at once. Almost as was in the Ace Hardware yesterday and overheard a guy asking how to kill "a mushroom" in his FLOWER garden, and they quickly gave him a fungicide! This is not going to end well I fear ...