Bee~ Journal of then...

[MorelCabin]

It is very interesting...I know I thought of you this summer...we had a group of wasps at my backdoor looking for a place to build a nest in the stone fencing behind the house...I thought...wow if those were Bees I might be running in to get some info from Bee...would have been the perfect opportunity:>) But I didn't have a hive set up...and I was planning on moving anyway And...after all, they were just wasps...

 

[Beekissed]

Never know.....could make for some interesting honey!

I have seen bee swarms and they are so very impressive....and a little menacing. I hope to overcome that creepy feeling and get down to it when the time comes.

 

[big brown horse]

Forgive me for being so "bee" dumb, but why do you have to wear white?

 

[Up-the-Creek]

No Bee, Dad is more a traditional beekeeper,...I am sure though by this summer my DS , DH, and I will be tending to them when need be. Dad is getting so feeble he is barely able to motivate much. I did see a piece in a bee book I have about TBH's,..

KEEPING BEES AND MAKING HONEY by Alison Benjamin & Brain McCallum

"Top bar hives are used in many parts of Africa, where they are built using cheap local materials. They have a movable frame but rather than using a constructed frame with foundation, the bees are encouraged to build their own honey-comb on bars, which are removed completely when the time comes to harvest the wax and honey.

A variation of the top bar hive is the long deep hive. Using the same frames as the single walled hives, this design has been developed with the beekeeper- rather than the bees - in mind. Instead of growing vertically, the hive expands horizontally. It can be mounted higher off the ground so the beekeeper doesn't need to bend over so much and is designed to minimize the lifting of heavy supers. "

Sounds interesting!
I myself like the double-walled WBC hives,..my Dad has just the traditional single walled at this point. My brother has even begun making them himself,..he can be quite talented when the need arises!

 

[Farmfresh]

I am making my own bee veil this spring and will be buying some coveralls, as I have no white or light colored clothing on hand.

Take a look at Home Depot. They had low cost white overalls the last time I was there. They are supposed to be for painting but you could sure use them for bees.

Tell me more about catching a hive in a flower pot.

 

[MorelCabin]

I am making my own bee veil this spring and will be buying some coveralls, as I have no white or light colored clothing on hand.

Take a look at Home Depot. They had low cost white overalls the last time I was there. They are supposed to be for painting but you could sure use them for bees.

Tell me more about catching a hive in a flower pot.

When she actually attempts it I want it on video...

 

[Up-the-Creek]

Forgive me for being so "bee" dumb, but why do you have to wear white?

You don't have to wear white,...as long as it is a light color.It can be tan,light olive,etc.,... If you wear a dark colors the bees may mistake you for a predator,..like a bear. Then they come after you!

 

[Beekissed]

Hey, C! Check out these sites...this barrel hive is the one I will be constructing. Just happen to have a barrel exactly like this one in my building.....

http://robo.bushkillfarms.com/beekeeping/barrel-top-bar-hive/

I bought this book but I really need one for beginners...this one was more geared towards someone who had some expertise in beekeeping..... this is their site. I really like what I've read so far:


http://www.biobees.com/


Morel, they use those terra cotta colored, plastic flower pots that are sort of small at the bottom and widen at the top and have a square body~look to be a 3-5 gal. size. They place the swarm in one, place some bars across the top, lay a lid of some type over this and bungy it all down. An entrance hole is already drilled into the base of the pot and they have a cork placed in this, for transport.

I thought the idea was both cute and innovative....and easier than building nuc boxes.

 

[Up-the-Creek]

Bee thanks for the links! That is a very interesting idea,...I may have to give that a whirl myself. I have access to barrels and the rest is a piece of cake. I saved the links on my computer to show my Dad,.. just to see what he has to say about them. As you said I will have to do much more research,...My DS thinks its COOL! He's the bee man.

 

[Beekissed]

I'll tell you why it attracts me so very much.....I have spent a lifetime making the difficult more simple. I love problem solving in my every day life.

When I started researching beekeeping, it all seemed so mind-boggling and involved that I was very discouraged and hesitant to even start it. Then you get the folks who try to discourage you from even trying because they say it's expensive and it's hard to keep the bees alive now with the CCD thingy. All the locals who have tried, failed and complained about all the money they spent tried to get me to not get into bees .....soooooooo....

......I decided to " frugalize" beekeeping like I do everything else and these links were the first hope I had of accomplishing this. And it's not some wild idea of mine that may or may not work....people are already doing it with great success! Not only that, but some of the oldest hives found were crude topbar hives, so folks have been doing it longer than they have with the Langstroth hives.

This gives me hope! Before, I felt a little discouraged and daunted, but now I do not.

And I love the idea of re-purposing the barrel into two hives....I love giving items new lives to live!