I love how Bob in the above videos is working the hives with a Glock on his hip and no suit. I don't know what offers more protection from potential assault, the Glock or the bees. Either way, I'd bet he's covered in the security department.

When I see things like that, I realize that there are some people I'd like to have around if the world goes to shit. Bob seems like one of those guys.

Beekeeping seems like a rewarding hobby that I could see myself doing.

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Originally posted by ffips:
I have also gathered that there are many different approaches and that some topics are polarizing.

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Originally posted by RC:
When my son showed me the hives he was just wearing normal clothes and he said show no fear and they won't bother you.
We didn't get stung
His wife showed up and she was not wearing her bee keeping suit and you could tell she was a little afraid, sure enough some of the bees came after her

My son laughed a little and said, see they sensed her fear.

He went back to explaining about the hives as she took off to get her protective clothing on.

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Originally posted by Gustofer:
Regarding protective gear, don't go cheap is my advice. Get some good stuff and wear it every time until such a point that you are comfortable enough around them to not wear it.

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Originally posted by 45 Cal:
To the O P,learn as I did with a hive tool and a smoker,that other junk is just that,get your mind in a calm place and work your bees with out that protective crap.

So we have two votes protection. Three votes no protection. Right now, I plan to use the jacket, veil, and gloves until I am comfortable. Yep, I know it can be done without protection, I am just not at that point yet.

If I may, what can anyone share their valuation of three (3) colonies that are approximately two (2) years old. Assume that it is mostly brood box with at most a shallow of honey. Someone local is getting out of the business. This might be a chance to get started a bit easier. In my mind, $500 seems fair. I base that on nucs going for $165-$170 in the area. So, I am offering about half price on my opinion. I suppose I might adjust up if I knew honey was involved and the condition of the hives.

I sort of feel like of that doesn't pan out, it might be best to woodenware up, keep trying to find people doing inspection workshops and get ready for spring 2019.

I worked with hives many years ago, with a guy who I believe has contributed to "The Hive and the Honey Bee" - Professor Al (Alphonse) Avitabile (who is a Korean War veteran). He taught me a lot about bees and beekeeping.

I only needed the hat & veil - the bees won't bother you unless you bother them. The smoke is an absolute necessity to hide the guard bees pheremone alert when you open the hive.

Be careful when handling the frames - don't cause a bee to sting you because you put your finger on him and exerted pressure on him. I recommend you tuck your pants into your socks. I had one of the bees get up my pant leg one time I forgot to do that, and he stung me when I moved and the pants squeezed him.

Because I was working the hive, I couldn't get the stinger out for about twenty minutes. Honey bees have barbed stingers; once they sting you, they're stuck until they rip themselves off the stinger (which kills them shortly afterward). When they detach like that, the venom sack stays on the stinger and continues pulsing, pumping in more venom. Because that stinger stayed in me for so long, for the next few days I limped and my leg (calf) was really sore.

When you do get stung, try to get the stinger out as soon as possible. Don't try to grab and pull the stinger out with your fingers. The correct way to remove the stinger is to scrape it out with a fingernail or your hive tool. Removing it that way prevents pumping venom out of the sack and into you.

quote:

Originally posted by 45 Cal:
Good paying hobby.
For me it ended when the clayton county sprayed fall before last for mosquitoes every week the whole summer .
Wiped out 17 hives in my back yard and four of mine in a friends yard a mile away.
Thanks for the flick Detroit,good times.
Sad for me as I have worked bees from 1955 of and on.
To the O P,learn as I did with a hive tool and a smoker,that other junk is just that,get your mind in a calm place and work your bees with out that protective crap.

Man, I'm sorry to hear that your hives are gone.

I've long been interested in bees, and our new place might work, but they do spray for mosquitos around me. After the hurricane last year, the feds flew over spraying from C-130s. I think the county sprays from trucks, too. People are afraid of West Nile virus.

The queen is the most important bee in the hive, without her the hive is doomed. It is a good skill to be able to find her but playing Where’s Waldo is not necessary. Pulling frames can damage or kill your queen if not done carefully. It is very easy to comfirm her presents, just look for eggs. If you have eggs you have a queen. I used 9 frame supers.

And if you think having bees is fun, wait until you start catching swarms.

JWF, I understand your comments about the importance of the queen.

In some ways, looking at the bigger picture, I think she becomes a slace slave to the colony. True, without her, there are no eggs, but at any point, the colony can revolt and supersede her with another. If she isn't doing what the colony demands she is outed.

I don't fully understand what triggers a swarm. Is it the lack of space or a desire to leave the weak? Or is it just a cyclical thing?

I am also trying to get my head around the genetics. Is it possible to "breed" for desired traits, or is it all just a roll of the dice with bees? The single mating flight and reduction/elimination of drones almost seems to increase the survival challenge.

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This message has been edited. Last edited by: ffips,

ffips, a queen cell can only be made when there are fresh eggs available, one or two days old. All larvae are fed royal jelly but a queen candidate is fed a lot more. If a queen fails or is injured and no eggs are available, the colony is doomed.

A swarm is usually triggered by spring build up, the colony gets crowded and a new queen (usually several) is hatched. Swarms can be contained by watching for queen cells and cutting them out. Give the colony more room with additional supers or divide/split the colony (man made swarm).

Without getting into the weeds on genetics, look up commercial queen rearing and artificial insimination. A commercial beekeeper I know replaces his queens periodically to keep a fresh queen of known genetics in the hive. Rossman in Moultrie, Ga is a queen producer.

If you have not already, find a local beekeeping club and visit/join. There is a lot of info they are eager to share. If you are around Cherokee County I can recommend Cherokee Beekeepers Club, http://cherokeebeeclub.com .

Well, today was a good day. Went to a class and as a group, we went through about 10 hives. Each person went through a box, so some hives had two people in them. The day started cool and breezy, then turned really nice. All of the queens were marked and we found them all.

I guess today cemented the desire. Now I need woodenware and then bees.

I know I still have tons to learn, but now realize to some degree you just learn as you go. Today went a long way to showing that there really is no reason to fear the bees. If you pay attention to them, they will tell you when you are agitating them. I can see how a hive could be worked without a suit or jacket (maybe even a veil).

I also see how it can be as cheap or expensive as you want to make it. With some simple tools (skill saw, tape measure, and driver) boxes can easily be made. The frames are a bit more technical, but there are probably simple ways to do those as well. It is also possible to just buy it all assembled and readd to go.

Seems like a good way to combine wood working and time outside together.

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This message has been edited. Last edited by: ffips,

Building hives is a winter hobby for one of my beekeeping buddies. Just the boxes, not the frames.

I might take it up, but making dovetails ain't my forte.

The gentleman teaching today didn't use fancy corners. He just did butt joints with screws.

Rather than starting a new thread:

I found someone about 1.5 hours away that was moving so they were selling their colony and two hives. The seller said they were mutts but he believed them to possibly be heavy in Russian genetics.

Last night, I jumped square in the middle of the beekeeping path. I moved a hive, worked with and without PPE, and got stung at least once (not sure if I felt two phantom stings on my legs or if they were real but shallow).

The sting was my fault, I was using a pair of gloves that let one crawl in. I had that moment of "was that a drop of sweat or..." then I got lit up.

Eager to figure out exactly what I have, but will probably wait until this weekend before I do much more than feeding them. I am fairly certain I can do a split now and build up two colonies for the winter. The current colony is crammed full to the brim in two deep ten frame boxes.

So, now my question is:
Is there any desire for a deep dive into my first experiences/year with bees or would it just be wasted bandwidth?


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This message has been edited. Last edited by: ffips,

quote:

Originally posted by ffips:
So, now my question is:
Is there any desire for a deep dive into my first experiences/year with bees or would it just be wasted bandwidth?
edited typos

I would tune in to that.