Who has honeybees? I really love my bees.

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RV10flyer

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Just one more of my little "flying related" hobbies. R/C being the third. We purchased the materials to build two hives last spring, then the bees arrived. It is fun to watch all of the girls work all summer in our garden, orchard and flower beds. We did not take any of their "liquid gold" so that they would have plenty of stores(60 lbs or 5 gal each hive) to make it through the winter. Today at 64F here in NE Ky they were out on their cleansing flights and hauling out the corpses. I had to take a peek inside. They are doing well with plenty of capped honey remaining. I covered them with a blanket when the OAT dropped below 0F.

If you want to get into beekeeping, order materials and bees now. Figure about $400 per hive. Yes, that was 160 gal of 100LL.:rolleyes:
 
I don't but one of my coworkers is over the "program" for Chatam County (Savannah, GA).

I found it interesting that the local mosquito sprayers (Both heli and trucks) have systems wired to GPSes to cut the spray off when they get near a registered beekeeper.
 
So, Wayne, you have to buy the bees or they come on their own? It seems interesting to me. How low of a temp can they survive in the winter also?

Cool hobby and bees are so important to us for food.

David
 
flhrci said:
So, Wayne, you have to buy the bees or they come on their own? It seems interesting to me. How low of a temp can they survive in the winter also?

Cool hobby and bees are so important to us for food.

David
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Don'cha need a queen to get one going?
 
flhrci said:
So, Wayne, you have to buy the bees or they come on their own?
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I was wondering that too. I see bees around here in the summer but I have no idea where they live or what they do in the winter.
 
Tell me more.................. I am VERY interested....
 
I work with a guy who has hives locally and up in Northern Michigan. He says it stays pretty warm inside the hives all winter - they kill the drones and kick out the bodies then just live on the honey until spring.

You can get queens by mail.
 
We have a local guy who keeps hives on our farm. Unfortunately the last couple years have been tough. One hive swarmed, just up and left, no forwarding address.
 
Chip Sylverne said:
We have a local guy who keeps hives on our farm. Unfortunately the last couple years have been tough. One hive swarmed, just up and left, no forwarding address.
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Ungrateful buggers.

I had thought about keeping a hive a long time ago when we had a friend of the family who was a beekeeper. He'd get called by the city to remove swarms when necessary.

Right now I have too small of a yard.
 
I have honeybees! I have been keeping them for 4 years now. Was up to 7 currently down to 1 and plan to make a few splits is spring to get my hive count up.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
You can get queens by mail.
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You can buy 3lbs package of bees through the mail. When I started I bout 2 packages of bees. They come is a wood and wire box. I never forget the looks I got as I walked out the post office with 6 lbs of buzzing bees!
 
Matthew said:
Ungrateful buggers.

I had thought about keeping a hive a long time ago when we had a friend of the family who was a beekeeper. He'd get called by the city to remove swarms when necessary.

Right now I have too small of a yard.
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The guy I work with has them on a city lot. They fly miles to gather honey so there is no problem with lots of bees at the neighbors.
 
RV10flyer said:
Just one more of my little "flying related" hobbies. R/C being the third. We purchased the materials to build two hives last spring, then the bees arrived. It is fun to watch all of the girls work all summer in our garden, orchard and flower beds. We did not take any of their "liquid gold" so that they would have plenty of stores(60 lbs or 5 gal each hive) to make it through the winter. Today at 64F here in NE Ky they were out on their cleansing flights and hauling out the corpses. I had to take a peek inside. They are doing well with plenty of capped honey remaining. I covered them with a blanket when the OAT dropped below 0F.

If you want to get into beekeeping, order materials and bees now. Figure about $400 per hive. Yes, that was 160 gal of 100LL.:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Are you using all mediums or two deeps for the brood chamber? I I started with a deep and a medium for brood, now I'm gonna start switching to all mediums. Makes for swapping boxes and frames much easier. 3 mediums would make a brood chamber and stores. Anything above that is mine.
 
I saw a show on the tube a while back saying bees are disappearing at an alarming rate,,, Climate , mites, pollution,, who really knows, BUT... They are required in the great scheme of things.... I would like to help out the world.... To you bee people..
I have a few acres here in Jackson Hole and 80 at my ranch /private airport 40 miles from here...

1- Can they live is cold climates ?
2- Do I just buy some bees and construct the hive ?
3- Are the low maintenance ?

I don't really care about the ROI... just want to help out the world..

Thanks in advance for the feedback..:yes:
 
N801BH said:
I saw a show on the tube a while back saying bees are disappearing at an alarming rate,,, Climate , mites, pollution,, who really knows, BUT... They are required in the great scheme of things.... I would like to help out the world.... To you bee people..
I have a few acres here in Jackson Hole and 80 at my ranch /private airport 40 miles from here...

1- Can they live is cold climates ?
2- Do I just buy some bees and construct the hive ?
3- Are the low maintenance ?

I don't really care about the ROI... just want to help out the world..

Thanks in advance for the feedback..:yes:
Click to expand...

1. People in Alaska keeps bees. It's takes planning but up there you will be fine.
2. Or a find a swarm. I bought my bees the first time from rossman apiaries. But more than likely finding a package of bees this time of year is going to be hard. Normally you buy hem in the fall and they ship them to you in the spring. Swarms are free though.
3. Yes and no. For max honey production you need to stay in them every 10 days. The object is to stop the swarm impulse. Once they have it set though they will swarm. You can usually catch them though and make another hive with them. And when it's time to extract honey it time consuming and messy. Then if your like me you will wonder why you just don't go buy local honey. :) very worth it though. 2 hives won't really require a lot of time though honestly. Maybe an hour every 10 days during swarm season, then they are on auto pilot.

Check out www.beesource.com. They have a forum and all kinds of info and plans to build your own hive.
 
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Just so you know, I am a low time beekeeper(and pilot). I have built a small business, house and plane. This can't be too bad...I started with new wooden ware, new wax foundation and two 3 lb packages of bees that came from Georgia. The packages contained small hive beetles in addition to bees/queen. The new bees slowly built their comb to fill with brood, pollen and honey. The bees were not as healthy and strong as they should have been and left the hive due to SHB making a mess.

So then I searched for a beekeeping club and bought this book...Beekeeping For Dummies. Two things I should have done first.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0470430656/ref=redir_mdp_mobile

There are tons of videos on beekeeping.

For my second and successful try I purchased two nucs(search starting bees with nucs) from a local supplier. It is much better to buy local bees that are used to your climate. They were five frame nucs with new queens. I put five more frames with new wax foundation in for them to build comb on. I inspected the hives once a week initially and every two to three weeks once established(takes about 30-60 min for each starting out. They are easier to take care of compared to dogs, chickens, guineas, tropical fish that we have had in the past(still have two dogs). I fed mine a 1:1 sugar syrup to help get them going and again in the fall with a 2:1 mixture to top off their winter stores. Mine have some varroa mites(very common) that will require some medication occasionally if too many show up during sticky board test.

http://www.thewarrestore.com/usingastickyboard.htm

I forgot the other things you will need...a white(they like white) jacket with vail attached and gloves.:yes: Bees are very gentle from April-June. After that the girls get a little moody. You will need a hive insp tool and smoker. That is about it. I burn the following in my smoker...pipe tobacco, burlap, wood shavings, leaves and grass. You need a good back to be able to lift up to 60 lbs or so.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I do. Flying, bees, r/c and gardening are my favorites in that order. Cost wise...gardening, bees, r/c and flying. Dang it.
 
simtech said:
Are you using all mediums or two deeps for the brood chamber? I I started with a deep and a medium for brood, now I'm gonna start switching to all mediums. Makes for swapping boxes and frames much easier. 3 mediums would make a brood chamber and stores. Anything above that is mine.
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Two deeps on each hive now. I may switch because they are so heavy for my 43 yr old back. I have shallow honey supers that I hope to put on this year.
 
bartmc said:
I don't but one of my coworkers is over the "program" for Chatam County (Savannah, GA).

I found it interesting that the local mosquito sprayers (Both heli and trucks) have systems wired to GPSes to cut the spray off when they get near a registered beekeeper.
Click to expand...

I about had a stroke when I saw the power line right away crews spraying poison on all of the foliage in July. They used to bush hog. I got my tractor and bush hog out and did it myself after asking them to leave and put me on their "do not spray" list. Chemicals=Cheap...really sad.
 
flhrci said:
So, Wayne, you have to buy the bees or they come on their own? It seems interesting to me. How low of a temp can they survive in the winter also?

Cool hobby and bees are so important to us for food.

David
Click to expand...

I think I have read about bees in Canada. I think the main thing is plenty of flowers to them to forage on. We have planted/sowed a lot of bee plants.
 
I noticed a healthy hive in full sun helps control mites and shb. My bees also came from Georgia and while I didn't shb I could see varroa on the bees. It wasn't bad though.

It got down to 8 the other night which is very cold for here. Today bees were out in full force cleaning and getting water.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
I work with a guy who has hives locally and up in Northern Michigan. He says it stays pretty warm inside the hives all winter - they kill the drones and kick out the bodies then just live on the honey until spring.

You can get queens by mail.
Click to expand...

They shiver and maintain about 93-95F. The girls kick out the male drones when it starts getting cold and don't let them back in. Some of the older girls die off through the winter. Then on days like this one above 55F, they haul the dead out to the entrance and fly off with them. They drop them soon after takeoff.
 
simtech said:
I have honeybees! I have been keeping them for 4 years now. Was up to 7 currently down to 1 and plan to make a few splits is spring to get my hive count up.
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I was hoping there were some beekeepers on here.
 
Drones just like to eat and mate. So they kick them out or they wouldn't survive. Sometimes we have to feed them sugar water or do the emergency dry sugar feed. Fascinating creatures for sure. I love when they washboard. I can sit down and watch that for a while. But that first jar of honey you get will the be sweetest!
 
N801BH said:
Word on the street is Larry tried to service the hives wearing only a thong and,, well... you can guess the rest...:yesnod::yikes::eek:................................:D
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:rofl::rofl:

there are some people on youtube who do it naked. Strange people.
 
I was surprised that I only got stung once last year on the back of my arm while eating an orange 15' away. They must not have liked the scent. After the first one stung me, releasing pheromones, reinforcements were called and I headed for the shop door 40' away. Jeez, they all were in formation behind me when I looked around. All I could think of is that I must run at least 12 mph. I think that is their 75% cruise speed. The honeybee has large forewings and smaller hind wings. The fore and hind wings attach together with a series of tiny hooks. During flight, these hooks allow the two wings to function as one. At rest, the hooks slip out and the wings disconnect, allowing them to be folded separately over the bee's back. They have tiny hairs sticking out all over their body, legs, eyes and wings to collect pollen. I guess that is probably why they have a fairly low cruise speed. Thank goodness.
 
Used to have hives dropped off during bloom. Was kinda scary sometimes, dozen hives at the edge of the orchard, which happens to run along side my driveway. And me on my motorcycle. Face shield down, shoulders hunched, pass the hives as quickly as possible.

We no longer contract for that, but we get plenty of them when the fruit trees start blooming. Would love to keep a couple hives on the property. Just no time to tend to them.
 
My grandpa has been keeping the little buggers for over 50 years.
He loves it. Sometimes I think he's on the first name basis with most of them in there.
My job as a kid was to provide the ornithological services - ie shoot one of these guys http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Merops-apiaster.JPG with a BB gun, tie him by the wing and stick as high up as I could. Repeat after few weeks. Darn things lived nearby, and if not scared away a few dozen would show up and reduce the bee population by half in short time
 
I know a guy who makes his living this way. His barn where he processes the honey smells so good! He is actually a private pilot also.
 
brentee said:
I find all this really, really interesting, but...

W........T........F ?!?!?!

:yikes::yikes::yikes::yikes:
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Just kidding. I really do my inspections with jeans, boots, rubber bands around ankle area to keep them from climbing up between jeans/boots, t-shirt, jacket, veil, gloves.
 
moonshine said:
My grandpa has been keeping the little buggers for over 50 years.
He loves it. Sometimes I think he's on the first name basis with most of them in there.
My job as a kid was to provide the ornithological services - ie shoot one of these guys http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Merops-apiaster.JPG with a BB gun, tie him by the wing and stick as high up as I could. Repeat after few weeks. Darn things lived nearby, and if not scared away a few dozen would show up and reduce the bee population by half in short time
Click to expand...

We had a summer tanager eating mine in midair last summer.
 
Old97 said:
I know a guy who makes his living this way. His barn where he processes the honey smells so good! He is actually a private pilot also.
Click to expand...

At $10-15/qt, that is some serious work. Someday I might sell a little excess.
 
RV10flyer said:
We had a summer tanager eating mine in midair last summer.
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Yeah when you have a queen that goes off to mate it will get it too, and trust me, queen less hive is not fun to mess with. I hate them birds!
 
RV10flyer said:
Just kidding. I really do my inspections with jeans, boots, rubber bands around ankle area to keep them from climbing up between jeans/boots, t-shirt, jacket, veil, gloves.
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I used to could mess with mine in shorts and a t shirt, no gloves or veil. For some reason that changed and I don't dare touch them unless I have my suit on.

What kind do you have, I'll guess you got them from rossman a so I'll say you have Italians? That's what I have but mine have since I'm sure been bred with local bees, hence them being testy.
 
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