Beekeeping

[FlasherZ]

Looks great, Bonnie!

You're doing it the right way - and you're right, it's a bit painful. I'm impatient... I move them faster.

In the afternoon I place ratchet straps beneath the hive, enough to wrap around and hold the hive together. I keep a set of inner covers with window screen stapled to the feeder hole so that the upper exit is closed, and change to them. I take some duct tape so that the "completely closed" side of my entrance reducers are stuck to the adhesive. When night comes and they all crawl in, I slip the entrance reducers in and then tape the duct tape to the base and the hive body. I close the ratchet straps to hold the hive together, then load up the hive.

I move 2-3 at a time, depending on where they're going in the yard. I find that bees on the ground aren't a problem if you move them at night, and as you noted, stack a bunch of branches in front of the entrances (or lean a pallet against the top of the hive). I remove the tape in the morning and then the bees usually start reorientation flights, you can see that they're reorientation because they're flying in circles and re-landing. Wear your suit, they don't like being bottled up...

That whole "move them more than 2 miles" thing tends to be a myth if you force reorientation in the right way, in my experience.

 

[bonnie]

I'm impatient... I move them faster.

You have more hives than I do. Plus, I'm dealing with a healing fractured wrist, which has cut down on my ability to lift, etc. This pace works better. I can deal with a hive at a time.

Wear your suit, they don't like being bottled up... :smile:

Hah! No kidding. Dogs are left in the house, I open the relocated hive up & stay away.

That whole "move them more than 2 miles" thing tends to be a myth if you force reorientation in the right way, in my experience.

I've always done the branches in front to force the reorientation, but this time there are a lot less bees trying to return to their former location.

 

[FlasherZ]

I've always done the branches in front to force the reorientation, but this time there are a lot less bees trying to return to their former location.

I found an interesting effect this year... I collected a swarm in mid-summer from a tree about 5 miles away. I dumped it into an empty hive body at the end of my hive row, with 2 drawn frames. I had an entrance reducer in it, but not completely closed - just the minimal entrance. In 2 hours, most of the workers (and I presume the queen?!) jumped from the big box into a nuc with another similar swarm capture that was about 10 feet away - now overloaded and overflowing with bees clinging to the front, top, and sides. Baffled, I replaced that nuc with another bottom board and box.

Now here's the weird part - bees kept flying into that outer box for several months! They'd collect nectar, deposit it, and they even capped honey in it - without a queen or nurse bees, and the workers would defend the honey too! I couldn't understand why other hives just didn't rob it, or why all the bees wouldn't go back to their queened home; it's like they considered it an annex of that second hive!

Weird critters...

 

[Canuck]

Looks great Bonnie. That work is good for the soul, or at least our everyday well-being. It looks like you have a nice serene piece of the world there from the pictures you post.

 

[bonnie]

I found an interesting effect this year... I collected a swarm in mid-summer from a tree about 5 miles away. I dumped it into an empty hive body at the end of my hive row, with 2 drawn frames. I had an entrance reducer in it, but not completely closed - just the minimal entrance. In 2 hours, most of the workers (and I presume the queen?!) jumped from the big box into a nuc with another similar swarm capture that was about 10 feet away - now overloaded and overflowing with bees clinging to the front, top, and sides. Baffled, I replaced that nuc with another bottom board and box.

Now here's the weird part - bees kept flying into that outer box for several months! They'd collect nectar, deposit it, and they even capped honey in it - without a queen or nurse bees, and the workers would defend the honey too! I couldn't understand why other hives just didn't rob it, or why all the bees wouldn't go back to their queened home; it's like they considered it an annex of that second hive!

Weird critters...

That's really strange behavior. I'm watching one empty hive right now, because I've noticed a few bees checking it out. They don't seem to belong to one of my hives, so I'm wondering if they're scout bees, looking for new digs. It would be awesome if a swarm decided to relocate in an empty hive. Could I be that lucky?

On an unrelated note, opening the entrance of a moved hive on a cold, rainy day results in the bees not even caring. They're clustered. Not one came out. So last hive will be moved this week when it's predicted to be 65 - and then the next day is another rain day.

Hopefully this is the end of moving hives.

Looks great Bonnie. That work is good for the soul, or at least our everyday well-being. It looks like you have a nice serene piece of the world there from the pictures you post.

Have to admit, I love living here. I come home from a crazy day and just let out a sigh of relief.

 

[Chipper]

I finished up a new beeyard in the last week. (Current site is where I eventually would like to build a small barn, so they needed a new location.) Definitely moving more than 2' and way less than 2 miles ... more like 50 yards.

Moving hives can be a pain, as everyone here knows - but this has turned into a fairly painless job this time. Just not very quick.

Each hive is taking about 3 days to move (weather dependent). I installed these great Brushy Mtn. robber/moving screens that work like a charm.
View attachment 100399
Basically, one hive at a time, IF it's at least 65deg outside, I'm moving the hive onto my trusty yellow cart, letting it sit all day in the old spot, coming back at night and closing up the last entrance, and then wheeling the cart to the new hive location. I let it sit for at least a day on the cart, tons of branches in front of the entrance, and then finally open it up so the bees can reorient. After two days, when everything looks settled, I take the hive off the cart, put it on the permanent stand, and start with the next hive.

I'm sure there are faster ways to do this, but it's been so low-drama without bees flying madly around or crawling around on the ground in confusion, that it's totally worth it.

Here's the new beeyard, with a rock wall from rocks on the property & lavender on the wall. I plan on planting clover in the area around this fall.

View attachment 100400

Are those your Flow-Hives, Bonnie?

 

[bonnie]

Are those your Flow-Hives, Bonnie?

No - I'll put the Flow boxes on when it's closer to nectar flow (sometime next spring). Right now the bees are preparing for winter.

Has anyone seen this grass before? It's called Kurapia, not really a grass, but extremely drought-tolerant, with bee-friendly flowers that bloom from May thru November. You only have to mow it if you feel like it (basically to remove the flowers) - it only grows to 3"-5" height.

I left my entire front yard go dormant this summer because of drought conditions and have been thinking of replacing it with something that will do better with less water. Kurapia seems to need about 60% less water, put down a root system that goes several feet down. And since I'm also transferring the house over to a gray water system, this might all work out.

 

[Lloyd]

This was on 101 today.... RIP bees :crying:

 

[wdolson]

This was on 101 today.... RIP bees :crying:

Is that around Cuesta Grade?

I didn't know there was a bee keeping thread here. I don't keep honey bees, but I've been cultivating orchard mason bees the last few years. In this climate some of my fruit trees flower before the honey bees are out most years. I've had insane plum crops since the mason bees have been working on them.

I'd like to keep honey bees, but my SO is allergic to bee stings and has been stung enough that she's been told the next one could be fatal. She things they're out to get her. Her red hair may be a contributing factor. I do think we have a wild hive of honey bees in the neighborhood, we get legions of them when the weather gets warm enough for them to be out. Someone may keep bees in the neighborhood, there is some acreage properties near here, but I don't know of anyone.

 

[FlasherZ]

I didn't know there was a bee keeping thread here. I don't keep honey bees, but I've been cultivating orchard mason bees the last few years. In this climate some of my fruit trees flower before the honey bees are out most years. I've had insane plum crops since the mason bees have been working on them.

In my orchard, the honey bees tend to leave the plum trees alone, you don't tend to see too many on them. There are a number of mason bee colonies somewhere near me, because my plum trees are swarming with them in the spring.

I'd like to keep honey bees, but my SO is allergic to bee stings and has been stung enough that she's been told the next one could be fatal. She things they're out to get her. Her red hair may be a contributing factor. I do think we have a wild hive of honey bees in the neighborhood, we get legions of them when the weather gets warm enough for them to be out. Someone may keep bees in the neighborhood, there is some acreage properties near here, but I don't know of anyone.

I keep 10 hives at home, but I guarantee that in the ~10 acres of woody swampland around me that as feral bees there are 2x the number of hives I keep.

Bees will travel up to 2 miles to collect nectar, so it's highly likely there are several of them somewhere within that radius.

Even though none of us is allergic to stings, we keep current epi-pens (both adult and junior) on hand in case one of us develops a reaction or the neighbors are stung, etc.

 

[wdolson]

In my orchard, the honey bees tend to leave the plum trees alone, you don't tend to see too many on them. There are a number of mason bee colonies somewhere near me, because my plum trees are swarming with them in the spring.



I keep 10 hives at home, but I guarantee that in the ~10 acres of woody swampland around me that as feral bees there are 2x the number of hives I keep.

Bees will travel up to 2 miles to collect nectar, so it's highly likely there are several of them somewhere within that radius.

Even though none of us is allergic to stings, we keep current epi-pens (both adult and junior) on hand in case one of us develops a reaction or the neighbors are stung, etc.

The plum trees bloom here the same time as the rosemary and the honey bees appear to prefer the rosemary. This year we had an early spring, but daily temps are usually still in the 40s F when the plums bloom. It's usually warmer when the apples, cherries, and pears bloom, so there are usually plenty of bees out for that. This spring I was concerned the plum trees weren't going to get pollinated because all the bees were flocking to the rosemary, but the trees did get pollinated eventually. I had so much fruit on one tree a branch broke, even with supports.

I suppose a backyard gardener like me may have a hive or two within a mile or so. In this area green belts are popular, every house in our neighborhood touches wild land which is mostly strips of forest. Plenty of places for wild bees to build a hive. In the greenbelt behind our next door neighbors house I noticed a wild apple tree a couple of springs back. It's in the middle of a deep gully surrounded by blackberries, so it's impossible to get to it, but it's there.

We should have epi-pens here for my SO, but she never gets around to getting them. I've had allergies to all sorts of things my entire life, but fortunately all of mine are nuisance allergies, I've never had a reaction to anything that was anywhere close to life threatening. I also tend to be allergic to odd things like mushrooms, onions (raw or partially cooked only), and anise. I'm also allergic to GMO corn (one of the worst reactions), but fine with non-GMO. I've never had a single problem with any common food allergen.

I've never been stung by a bee, so I don't know if I would have a reaction. Historically bees have tended to like me and/or ignore me. Though if they knew I was the one introducing the praying mantises to the environment they might not be so nice to me. Adult mantises like to catch bees unfortunately.

 

[jerry33]

Has anyone seen this grass before? It's called Kurapia, not really a grass, but extremely drought-tolerant, with bee-friendly flowers that bloom from May thru November. You only have to mow it if you feel like it (basically to remove the flowers) - it only grows to 3"-5" height.

View attachment 100893

Note that you have to search for Lippia nodiflora because it has several common names: Capeweek, Creeping Lip Plant, Frog-Fruit, Frog's Bit, Licorice Verbena, Turkey Tanglefoot, Frogfruit "Alba". And probably a lot more I've never heard of.

 

[bonnie]

Note that you have to search for Lippia nodiflora because it has several common names: Capeweek, Creeping Lip Plant, Frog-Fruit, Frog's Bit, Licorice Verbena, Turkey Tanglefoot, Frogfruit "Alba". And probably a lot more I've never heard of.

That appears to be in the same family, but not drought-tolerant like studies have shown kurapia to be (lippia nodifloria citations say regular watering in tropical areas, kurapia can be reduced up to 60% in the Sacramento area, where we have extremely hot (weeks above 100 deg) and dry weather through the summer months.

 

[jerry33]

That appears to be in the same family, but not drought-tolerant like studies have shown kurapia to be (lippia nodifloria citations say regular watering in tropical areas, kurapia can be reduced up to 60% in the Sacramento area, where we have extremely hot (weeks above 100 deg) and dry weather through the summer months.

Hmm, I got the scientific name from UC Davis Centre for Urban Horticulture.

 

[bonnie]

Hmm, I got the scientific name from UC Davis Centre for Urban Horticulture.

Yep, that's where the studies were done.

 

[GasDoc]

This event looks awesome. I think my wife and I and another colleague who keeps bees are going.

Bonnie...It's close to you. Bring the X!

It's February 6th Dinner at UC Davis

https://registration.ucdavis.edu/Item/Details/187

The Feast: A Celebration with Mead and Honey

• A Mediterranean inspired menu is being created by Ann Evans, author of the Davis Farmer's Cookbook, and Kathi Riley, caterer and past chef at Zuni Cafe, San Francisco. We will begin the evening with mead cocktails at 6:00pm. Candlelight and music by the Jonny Gold Trio will set the relaxed atmosphere. A four course meal will follow and we will end the evening with the ultimate 'after dinner mead flight' led by legendary Darrell Corti.
  Mead, a fermented blend of honey, water and often fruits, yeast, or spices, has been dated to about 7000 BCE. Ceramic shards found in Jiahu, Henan Province, China held a mead-like residue according to Dr. Patrick McGovern, the leading authority on ancient alcoholic beverages. According to the BBC the number of meaderies in the United States has grown in the last ten years from 30-40 meaderies to over 250.

 

[rage_777]

Thought this might be helpful to some bee people. They have found that a mite is killing the bees.

http://news.discovery.com/animals/insects/tiny-mite-killing-millions-of-honeybees-photos-160204.htm

 

[FlasherZ]

Interesting work going on in Ohio and West Virginia to select for a trait whereby the bees attack the mites. Check out this video:

[video]https://www.facebook.com/DavidJHeilman/videos/10207789413723464/[/video]

 

[bonnie]

Oh that's fantastic.

I'm getting some of these queens this spring (local beek): Harris Honey Bees | Queens

The VSH queens are bred for their ability to detect varroa mites reproducing in the cells with the bee larva. When varroa are detected, the bees remove the varroa and the larva. This does not reduce the population of varroa mites by killing them, but instead interrupts their mating cycle.

It would be even better to have bees that aggressively attacked varroa mites.

 

[ecarfan]

Interesting article in Science titled "Deformed wing virus is a recent global epidemic in honeybees driven by Varroa mites"
Deformed wing virus is a recent global epidemic in honeybees driven by Varroa mites | Science
You need to be a subscriber to read the entire article. Here is one writer's take on it at Humans are spreading a virus killing millions of bees - Futurity

QUOTE: "European honey bees appear to be the source of a disease that is affecting bee hives worldwide, a new study shows. And human activity, particularly moving bees from place to place to pollinate crops, is spreading the disease, called deformed wing virus.

The virus is particularly deadly when the parasitic Varroa mite carries it. The combination has wiped out millions of honey bees over recent decades, researchers say."