Beekeeping

[Surface]

Any beekeepers in the group?

I've been keeping honeybees for years and it's a fun hobby, but sometimes frustrating and this year, expensive ($175/package)

This winter, I lost 3 of 4 colonies, so I'm going to try something different this year and would value an opinion.

So this year, in addition to what I've been doing, I'm going to try a horizontal hive (Layens) instead of the traditional Langstroth (with vertical supers)

This style hive, is much better insulated, which would be of benefit for the climate in the north-east, where winters can be long and cold.

Additionally, since the bees don't need to go up, the frames have no clearance at the top, so when one opens the hive, each frame is isolated, so the entire colony remains virtually undisturbed.

This advantage got me thinking about trying Russian honeybees, which can be more agressive than the Italians or Carniolans.

The Russian bees are more varroa mite resistant and generally seem better suited to this style hive and my climate. The downside is the Russians are very prone to swarming which shouldn't be a problem this year, but looking forward to next year, idk how to control that tendency without keeping close tabs on queen-cells.

Anything you can share before embark on this experiment?

[Jeff]

($175/package)

What does this mean?
I know nothing about beekeeping, just curious.

[beej]

My daughter and son-in-law are starting to get into it. I've got a close friend who has been keeping bees for about 10 or 12 years. He still has his original hives that he started with And he prefers to capture wild bees rather than buy them. He says they are hardier. So that's what my son-in-law has planned for this year. I am looking forward to having homegrown honey from my farm in a year or two.

[Flycut]

Not a bee keeper but totally invested in this topic.

[Surface]

What does this mean?
I know nothing about beekeeping, just curious.

To start a new colony, a hive requires a queen-bee and a sufficient number of bees to perform all of the necessary roles within the community.

A package of bees consists of around 3 lbs (10,000 bees) plus one queen-bee.

The queen in the package is isolated in a separate cage because apiaries raise the queens separately, so this queen is not related to the worker bees in the package (since each hive has only one queen, the workers would kill a foreign queen), but after a few days, the workers accept the queen as their-own and free her from the tiny cage.

Beekeeprs will sometimes purchase just a queen-bee ($40-$60) and replace one in a existing hive.

[Surface]

My daughter and son-in-law are starting to get into it. I've got a close friend who has been keeping bees for about 10 or 12 years. He still has his original hives that he started with And he prefers to capture wild bees rather than buy them. He says they are hardier. So that's what my son-in-law has planned for this year. I am looking forward to having homegrown honey from my farm in a year or two.

Your friend is right. Feral bees are usually hardier and better suited to the climate and conditions in their home area. If a swarm is easy to catch, you can be sure I'd make the effort.

That said, apiaries specialize in bees and have the knowledge and resources to in-breed specific traits, so sometimes it's preferable to start with a specific breed and allow nature to run it's course from there.

If you think of dogs, mixed-breed dogs can be good pets, but if you're looking for a good family dog, start with a Golden retriever.

     

[beej]

Your friend is right. Feral bees are usually hardier and better suited to the climate and conditions in their home area. If a swarm is easy to catch, you can be sure I'd make the effort.

That said, apiaries specialize in bees and have the knowledge and resources to in-breed specific traits, so sometimes it's preferable to start with a specific breed and allow nature to run it's course from there.

If you think of dogs, mixed-breed dogs can be good pets, but if you're looking for a good family dog, start with a Golden retriever.

     

I have been skeptical of how easy it is to catch a hive.  but several of the beekeepers my son-in-law has talked to says it's not too hard. I guess we'll see how this goes. I see honey bees on the white clover in my yard often. I've wondered for a long time if those are tame bees from somewhere or if they are wild. But I don't know of any neighbors keeping bees.

[Flycut]

I guess I could Google this but what stops somebody from simply finding a bee nest in the bush and starting with that?

[beej]

I guess I could Google this but what stops somebody from simply finding a bee nest in the bush and starting with that?

You can definitely do that. I've heard stories from my dad that old-timers would find a bee and just follow it back to the nest. I can only imagine what following a bee on it's way back home must look like.

several years ago we had a swarm on a tree branch in our backyard. A friend came over with no bee suit at all and just clipped that branch and dropped it into a paper bag and took it home. I guess when they swarm they must be pretty docile. I thought he would get stung for sure.

[JakeL]

My dad said there was one time when he was a kid, during winter, him and his brother thought it'd be a good idea to bring a bees nest inside. He said it was fun until the bees warmed up 

[Incogneeto]

My dad said there was one time when he was a kid, during winter, him and his brother thought it'd be a good idea to bring a bees nest inside. He said it was fun until the bees warmed up 

Years ago on the farm we would cut wood in the winter.

Me and a few others were knocking out deadwood with chain saws.'

one standing dead tree , and me with a chainsaw (teehee)

I went straight at it.

was a nest inside , it was dead cold winter and they came flying out!!

got about 3 feet and were just dropping.

If it was summer.

I woulda been pin cushioned.

Inside a that tree it had to bee 90 degrees. Get it "bee" 90 Degrees??

[Del.]

I like a good buzz  🐝

[Flycut]

Did you end up getting the Russian bees?

[Jim at Gentex]

I never tried it but my son-in-law's dad got into beekeeping as a hobby maybe 10 years ago.
They live out in the country with farm fields everywhere, so it seemed like a great place to do that.
He didn't have too big of an operation to where he could sell the honey, but he usually harvested enough for family and friends to have a jar or two.

Then my understanding is that there was some sort of bee disease that spread all over this part of the country and he lost all of his bees in a very short amount of time.
He told himself that he would possibly start doing it again after he retired, but I don't know if he has.

On a side note, I just recently saw the new Jason Statham movie 'The Beekeeper'.
Lots of action, and overall pretty entertaining IMO.   

[Smit]

I never tried it but my son-in-law's dad got into beekeeping as a hobby maybe 10 years ago.
They live out in the country with farm fields everywhere, so it seemed like a great place to do that.
He didn't have too big of an operation to where he could sell the honey, but he usually harvested enough for family and friends to have a jar or two.

Then my understanding is that there was some sort of bee disease that spread all over this part of the country and he lost all of his bees in a very short amount of time.
He told himself that he would possibly start doing it again after he retired, but I don't know if he has.

On a side note, I just recently saw the new Jason Statham movie 'The Beekeeper'.
Lots of action, and overall pretty entertaining IMO.   

I have dive friends in Florida who keep bees for the fun of it. They have some vertical bee hives that look to be easier to work with and maintain. They found the farmers markets and such were more hassle than they were worth so they just share their honey with friends.

I suggested they make gallon jugs of mead with the extras. That would likely be more popular with friends than the honey!

Re: Jason Statham "The Beekeeper" won't be nominated for best picture but it was fun and entertaining.