Beekeeping

[FlasherZ]

There are days I love my girls, but they have an issue with me.

Was mowing around the hives today, getting rid of some of the higher weeds in our second bee yard. One of them decided they didn't like me doing so:

 

[bollar]

Ouch!

For me, it's fire ants...

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

Queen rearing

My wife and I went to a Queen rearing and natural beekeeping class with Sam Comfort(bee god?) on Saturday.
He is pretty amazing, great knowledge and very captivating speaker.
+ he writes and plays excellent banjo songs about bees!
we practiced queen grafting and learned a bunch of other techniques
no one got a sting except for me..on the ear. I leaned in to see a virgin queen running around in a Les Crowder hive and a girl flew straight at my ear and landed on the top while buzzing. I think I moved a bit when she landed so maybe that was enough. Plenty of others landed everywhere.
http://anarchyapiaries.org/

 

[Denarius]

My wife and I went to a Queen rearing and natural beekeeping class with Sam Comfort(bee god?) on Saturday.
He is pretty amazing, great knowledge and very captivating speaker.
+ he writes and plays excellent banjo songs about bees!
we practiced queen grafting and learned a bunch of other techniques
no one got a sting except for me..on the ear. I leaned in to see a virgin queen running around in a Les Crowder hive and a girl flew straight at my ear and landed on the top while buzzing. I think I moved a bit when she landed so maybe that was enough. Plenty of others landed everywhere.
http://anarchyapiaries.org/

Based off of the website it looks like he is based out of New York? Did you fly there or did he do something local? The class must have been awesome!

I read through his site and his philosophy aligns perfectly with mine. I'd love to get my hands on one of his queens, but it looks like he doesn't ship them. I've been foundationless from the start with my 2 hives, and I will not treat them. However, both my queens came out of large California breeders, as I can't find a good source for local queens.

 

[Jouler]

Based off of the website it looks like he is based out of New York? Did you fly there or did he do something local? The class must have been awesome!

I read through his site and his philosophy aligns perfectly with mine. I'd love to get my hands on one of his queens, but it looks like he doesn't ship them. I've been foundationless from the start with my 2 hives, and I will not treat them. However, both my queens came out of large California breeders, as I can't find a good source for local queens.

Yes Sam was really quite amazing, he's an excellent orator and his rapport with the bees was nothing short of astonishing. He is based in New York but was at the 'treatment free' conference in Oregon last week, stopped here to teach us, and is headed to Sonoma for the following week. It certainly sounded like he would ship his queens. Drop him a line and ask. I know he's quite busy, but it's definitely his life's mission is to spread knowledge and share bee genetics, I imagine if he can find the time he will be happy to help.

 

[Denarius]

Yes Sam was really quite amazing, he's an excellent orator and his rapport with the bees was nothing short of astonishing. He is based in New York but was at the 'treatment free' conference in Oregon last week, stopped here to teach us, and is headed to Sonoma for the following week. It certainly sounded like he would ship his queens. Drop him a line and ask. I know he's quite busy, but it's definitely his life's mission is to spread knowledge and share bee genetics, I imagine if he can find the time he will be happy to help.

I'll shoot him a note. Thanks!

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

I think our Bee genetics are pretty good. They are raised in Sonoma and our queens have been amazing layers so far ( the one we bought, which I assume fled last fall and her daughter and some offspring that have been hived this spring)
If I end up making some queens or splitting hives or pulling queen cups ever I can try and send you one/some (supposedly can mail them ok). That, or the guy who is pretty much leading the beerevival in Humboldt (coordinated getting Sam and Les Crowder here for workshops) and has our first spring swarm will definitely help w/ some treatment free & foundationless genetics from here.

Sam was/is freaky cool! check out his bee songs / bee stuff on Youtube
might need to go cross country for bees ;>
I wanted to go into my hive yesterday without anything on, I even used smoke but I just couldn't do it. I didn't feel/see any bees try to attack me but I was cutting some stray comb off of the top of brood and it was sticky. I 'saved' a girl and moved her by the wings and she stabbed my leather glove and wasn't saved anymore.
maybee next time

 

[Denarius]

I think our Bee genetics are pretty good. They are raised in Sonoma and our queens have been amazing layers so far ( the one we bought, which I assume fled last fall and her daughter and some offspring that have been hived this spring)
If I end up making some queens or splitting hives or pulling queen cups ever I can try and send you one/some (supposedly can mail them ok). That, or the guy who is pretty much leading the beerevival in Humboldt (coordinated getting Sam and Les Crowder here for workshops) and has our first spring swarm will definitely help w/ some treatment free & foundationless genetics from here.

Sam was/is freaky cool! check out his bee songs / bee stuff on Youtube
might need to go cross country for bees ;>
I wanted to go into my hive yesterday without anything on, I even used smoke but I just couldn't do it. I didn't feel/see any bees try to attack me but I was cutting some stray comb off of the top of brood and it was sticky. I 'saved' a girl and moved her by the wings and she stabbed my leather glove and wasn't saved anymore.
maybee next time

Yea, working bees without any protection is pretty terrifying in my opinion! I wear a full suit and when I feel really daring I go without gloves. It sounds silly, but it feels just as intense as the time I was nearly eaten by sharks (8 of them, true story). We are really at the mercy of the girls crawling over our hands. I should do it more often, to get more comfortable and relaxed.


My two hives have done very well so far this year. Both queens have had very good laying pattern and the hives have built up well. One queen I believe came from Olivarez. The other queen came in a package I got through Wooten's Golden Queens. I imagine they will do well over the winter, but time will tell. Sam mentioned on his site that there aren't really bad genetics, given the opportunity most will thrive.

I was really interested in Sam's genetics since they've been surviving the New York winters, but I'll take anything that has been surviving without treatments and foundation! Especially if you've want more practice making queens! Perhaps I need to take an east coast trip early next spring!

 

[NigelM]

The-Beekeepers-Ball

From a novel my wife is reading, two of the main characters discussing their respective wish lists:

Bingo. “What else is on your list?” He took the phone from her hand.

“Hey, give that back.” She grabbed for it, but he held it out of the way, teasing.

“You really do have a list,” he said, glancing at the screen. “That’s cool.”

“It’s none of your business. Give it back.”

“Let’s see—swimming pool, wood-fire pizza oven, solar panels for charging the electric Tesla, endowment for the nonprofit foundation? For what?”

 

[Half Dollar Bill]

Of all the topics on the Tesla forum, I never imagined I'd be posting to this one.
We live in VA in a two story single family home. I just noticed some white shavings outside my front door and when I looked up I noticed insects flying into a small cavity between the brick and the eve on the front of our home. I know they haven't been there long because we clean our front stoop regularly and would have noticed the "shavings" earlier. As I watched their activity, I think I determined they were yellow jackets. There's clearly one that's a whole lot bigger than the others that comes and goes.

The entrance is between the brick and a facia board so the nest itself isn't visible. It's on the second floor so only reachable by ladder. We also just had the attic spray foamed last year so there's really no way to try and get at it from there.

My dilemma - is there anything I can do to get rid of this myself or do I want to call a pest control company? I'm a MacGuyver-type personality so I've been imagining ways I can wrap myself up for protection and climb the ladder with a can of pesticide. I realized last night I can tap the knowledge of professionals and thus this morning's post. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Bill

 

[Denarius]

Of all the topics on the Tesla forum, I never imagined I'd be posting to this one.
We live in VA in a two story single family home. I just noticed some white shavings outside my front door and when I looked up I noticed insects flying into a small cavity between the brick and the eve on the front of our home. I know they haven't been there long because we clean our front stoop regularly and would have noticed the "shavings" earlier. As I watched their activity, I think I determined they were yellow jackets. There's clearly one that's a whole lot bigger than the others that comes and goes.

The entrance is between the brick and a facia board so the nest itself isn't visible. It's on the second floor so only reachable by ladder. We also just had the attic spray foamed last year so there's really no way to try and get at it from there.

My dilemma - is there anything I can do to get rid of this myself or do I want to call a pest control company? I'm a MacGuyver-type personality so I've been imagining ways I can wrap myself up for protection and climb the ladder with a can of pesticide. I realized last night I can tap the knowledge of professionals and thus this morning's post. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Bill

A long as you are sure that they are yellow jackets, and if there aren't that many I'd just hit it with a can of spray. Most now can spray 20ft or so. Get it at night so they are all home.

 

[FlasherZ]

Of all the topics on the Tesla forum, I never imagined I'd be posting to this one.
We live in VA in a two story single family home. I just noticed some white shavings outside my front door and when I looked up I noticed insects flying into a small cavity between the brick and the eve on the front of our home. I know they haven't been there long because we clean our front stoop regularly and would have noticed the "shavings" earlier. As I watched their activity, I think I determined they were yellow jackets. There's clearly one that's a whole lot bigger than the others that comes and goes.

The entrance is between the brick and a facia board so the nest itself isn't visible. It's on the second floor so only reachable by ladder. We also just had the attic spray foamed last year so there's really no way to try and get at it from there.

My dilemma - is there anything I can do to get rid of this myself or do I want to call a pest control company? I'm a MacGuyver-type personality so I've been imagining ways I can wrap myself up for protection and climb the ladder with a can of pesticide. I realized last night I can tap the knowledge of professionals and thus this morning's post. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Bill

Depends on the rate of insects... if it's very recent and you only see a few now and then, you're probably fine handling it yourself. After 10 days or so, you'll have a much bigger problem because the newly hatched wasps will take over nest construction and the queen will devote herself to egg-laying. Things begin to move really fast once that happens and you'll probably want a professional in there.

I have wasps that constantly build behind the dental molding just beneath the soffit, but they're always the small nests and they like the shaded cavity there - a few cans of 25' spray along its surface usually discourage them from continuing. Do you think yours are going into the soffiting and building inside the attic?

 

[FlasherZ]

It's that time of year again:

670 lbs. / ~56 gallons this year (30+ gallons not pictured here).

Couldn't use the Model S this year to haul the supers... need that Tesla pickup truck.

 

[Chris TX]

It's that time of year again:

View attachment 59151

670 lbs. / ~56 gallons this year (30+ gallons not pictured here).

Couldn't use the Model S this year to haul the supers... need that Tesla pickup truck.

Do you need someone to make some mead with that? I can help!

Will trade for Tesla Supercharger parking signs

 

[Denarius]

It's that time of year again:

670 lbs. / ~56 gallons this year (30+ gallons not pictured here).

Couldn't use the Model S this year to haul the supers... need that Tesla pickup truck.

Wow, how many hives do you have?

 

[kennybobby]

Of all the topics on the Tesla forum, I never imagined I'd be posting to this one.
We live in VA in a two story single family home. I just noticed some white shavings outside my front door and when I looked up I noticed insects flying into a small cavity between the brick and the eve on the front of our home. I know they haven't been there long because we clean our front stoop regularly and would have noticed the "shavings" earlier. As I watched their activity, I think I determined they were yellow jackets. There's clearly one that's a whole lot bigger than the others that comes and goes.

The entrance is between the brick and a facia board so the nest itself isn't visible. It's on the second floor so only reachable by ladder. We also just had the attic spray foamed last year so there's really no way to try and get at it from there.

My dilemma - is there anything I can do to get rid of this myself or do I want to call a pest control company? I'm a MacGuyver-type personality so I've been imagining ways I can wrap myself up for protection and climb the ladder with a can of pesticide. I realized last night I can tap the knowledge of professionals and thus this morning's post. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Bill

Sounds like carpenter bees, also look like bumble bees. i use a tube of chalk to seal up the holes, just get a chalk gun and squirt it in.

 

[FlasherZ]

Wow, how many hives do you have?

5 beeyards throughout the state. Two have 22 spread among them, another has 10 or so, another has 5, and another, 3. So roughly 40 hives, but not all produced this year (we lost *all* of our colonies this past winter). This was honey from about 30 supers.

- - - Updated - - -

Do you need someone to make some mead with that? I can help!

Will trade for Tesla Supercharger parking signs

Unfortunately, every ounce is spoken for; we could probably double what we produce and still be demand-constrained (and even more time-constrained! )

 

[Half Dollar Bill]

a few cans of 25' spray along its surface usually discourage them from continuing. Do you think yours are going into the soffiting and building inside the attic?

I'm going to have to go the professional route. I've tried the sprays and I just can't get between the brick and the board to get at their entrance. I've killed a couple with the sprays and they are yellow jackets. I've backed away from going up on a ladder to get a closer shot with the sprays.

 

[ggies07]

So I've been waiting several months to see this documentary and it's finally out to rent from itunes. My wife and I just finished watching it and all I can say is I will always remember Burt. He's a cheeky, weird, and kind little old man rolled up into one. The whole story is slightly sad in a way, yet everything turned out just fine. Here's the trailer for it:

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

Burt does seem really cool. If he wasn't in the east I would swear I have met him in Humboldt at Farmers Market. seems like he kind of got used a little bit

so I think our bees went south for the winter, or maybe moved into the forest? At least our 1 colony produced quite a few more colonies in our area that are still doing well and I will probably get an offspring and a few brood frames in the spring. I have tons of woodware now and made a few different style boxes for next year.

this is the wax we got from the hives. Pretty much just 2 large supers - 1 quart of beautiful yummy smelling wax

We never did a real honey harvest and only pulled some stray capped comb and 1 sheet of capped wax I broke when trying to inspect our uninspectable hive. I think we only had maybe a little over 2 pints (hope you like our Humboldt Honey Bonnie!) and a bit of syrup. the little bit of leftover sugars in the hive were crystallized when I cleaned it all out