Beekeeping...for those interested!

[reinbeau]

Ann--Where and how do you sell your honey? At least I'm assuming you need to sell with so much! I could possibly go through 1 lb of honey per day before I bloated to a size that wouldn't allow me to get into the kitchen Man, ALL honey is great!

I sell lots to clients, friends, they tell their friends, and so on, and so on We do use it, too, but we could never use it all! Usually we sell it at the Marshfield Fair but I was too sick to bottle it in time this year, so we've got to hustle it on our own. I also carry around a bag of it in my car and sell it at the various Pilates studios I teach at.

 

[the simple life]

I have been pulling frames throughout the summer and doing cut comb.
Its such a beautiful thing, all that nice white creamy wax and honey!
I just love it, I sold some and gave some away to family and friends.
No one had ever had or even seen cut comb honey before so it was something nice for them to try.
I did crush and strain on some of the combs too, I made a bunch of granola with it the other day.
I still have not pulled the rest of it though, I was waiting until I do my final inspection for the season.
I want to leave them more than they will need and then just pull it in the spring if they don't use it.

M&G
I have the biobees book and I was going to just donate it to the bee club library but if you want it I will send it to you instead.
Just pm me your address and I will drop it in the mail tomorrow.
The warre' hive. I was just discussing this last night at my bee club.
I have someone making one for me as a matter of fact so that is my next hive this spring.
I already do all foundationless in the lang hives so this won't be all that much different but the idea behind the warre' is that you only go in the hives once a year, which kind of makes you wonder about what could happen.
I mean when the warre' was invented there were no mites, wax moths or hive beetles to worry about.
I am going to use the hive but I am not sure how I will manage it at this point.
I don't use chemicals anyway but if you never go in the hive you won't really know if they are queenless or if they need more room etc.
I was planning onresearching that more over the winter.

 

[dragonlaurel]

From what I understand, Apiguard is just Thymol which is concentrated oils from the thyme plant. The vapors are an irritant to varroa mites and tracheal mites. If you had varroa mites would you be against using herbal treatments such as thymol or lemon grass to keep them healthy? How bout the powdered sugar thingy?

Has anybody tried planting thyme near the hive? It would let the bees have access to it when they want it. I want to keep everything natural when I can get them and wondered if it might help.

 

[reinbeau]

Apiguard is very concentrated. I've got lots of thyme, they love it, but it does nothing to kill varroa. There is some news out about some VSH (Varroa Sensitive Hygiene) bees being bred, hopefully it'll be something that really helps fight those nasty little beasts!

A side note - ya gotta love the way that article is titled - Colony Collapse Disorder is an attention grabber, and varroa aren't the root cause of CCD, they've been around in this country since 1986, I believe. Just another example of how the press twists info to suit themselves.

 

[dragonlaurel]

It was worth a thought. I'd plunk the hive down in the middle of an herb garden if it would help. I want to do organic and protect them.
I have time to do more research. The apartment management wont allow me to have hives here. Cats or small dogs only.

Honesty and good information sell trade magazines sometimes but they aren't used as much in the news. Sensationalism is so ... interesting.

 

[Beekissed]

Gearing up for the beekeeping season this year and have been reading a lot over on Beemaster.com.....very interesting info on there about all natural methods and top bar hives.

Anyone else eagerly anticipating keeping their bees this year? This will be my first year and I can't wait to see how this thing plays out....could be pretty interesting. I am going to try to keep a photo diary of the building of the hives, the swarm capture(if any) and all the other interesting things about beeking.

 

[the simple life]

Its finally warm enough here that the bees are flying all over the place today.
They were trying to fly into the kitchen when I opened the door for the mail.
I can see them all coming and going into their hives.
Its a beautiful sight to see because it means they have at least made it this far into the winter.
Especially since I don't treat them or supplemental feed other than the honey I left them to overwinter on.
I just finished putting the handles and hinges on my solar wax melter this morning.
I wish spring was here already.

 

[Beekissed]

Now THAT would be a great pic to see! Got any pics of this solar wax melter? Any plans you want to share for same?

Wish my bees were already hived and ready to go....

Been perusing posts on Beemaster about natural beeking and found a discussion about this fellow's methods, which is zero interventions with treatments or chemicals. These are his hive inspection certificates for the past few years....quite impressive! Note the number of hives had even increased, as the presence of mites and diseases went down:

http://www.bushfarms.com/beescerts.htm

 

[me&thegals]

As I suspected, 2 of my hives starved out. I feel sick about not realizing soon enough last summer/fall that they were being robbed blind. One lesson learned. I fed them sugar syrup and dry sugar, but it was not enough.

The split we formed to make a third hive has thrived! I got inside last week in the warm weather and even saw the queen, a very rare experience for me! She was long and sleek, which was a little startling. I only got 2 bars into the broodnest, but there were eggs. I would have liked to have gone all the way to see if there was a great brood pattern, but the girls were ticked and I hadn't smoked.

My goal this year is no feeding. And also to stay out of the hive as much as possible.

Another goal is to make a couple splits. I have lots of beautiful comb to attract swarms (crossing fingers) and give my 2# package (coming in April) off to a good start. I would like to end with 4 strong hives going into winter.

My lovely husband is dedicating almost an acre of difficult-to-plant field to bee crops such as buckwheat, clovers, etc. He is nearly as enamored of the gals as I am.

I have had a wonderful time making lip balm and soap using beeswax and honey. I made way more than my hives could support, so I would be tickled silly to have a LOT more honey and beeswax this year. My main goal, though, is to have healthy, treatment-free hives and hopefully some feral genetics in some manner or the other.

How are you all doing, beewise?

 

[FarmerDenise]

My bees left a few years ago, I barely had them for about 6 months.

This week we were excited to see a swarm. We prayed that they would settle in our yard, but they didn't

I am really hoping to get a new bee colony going this spring.