One Hive of survivalist bees is now two

[pintoshine]

I lost 90% of my bees over the winter of 2006 to 2007.

Needless to say I was really pissed off. After growing my collection to 10 hives in 2006, to b left with a single solitary hive was really discouraging.

I all but called it quits then after having a bad year in 2005 and 2006 and then the massive die off for 2007.

So..........
The solitary hive and all the empties got neglected in 2007. I did not fed them. I did not check them and I did not medicate them an any way. I became a bee 'Haver' rather than a bee keeper.

But in spite of my neglect, this single hive of ladies was still here in 2008. I decided to peek inside to see how they were doing. I found:

Every one of the 20 full sized frames was full. It had eggs, brood, pollen and honey to spare.
The population density was almost to the swarm density.
There were indicators of old queen cells which means they probably requeened themselves recently.
There were no wax moth, hive beetle, or mite infections that I could find. Generally I can see the evidence of tracheal mites or find varroa mites.
These do not look like Italian or carniolan bees. I had some wild Brittish bees visiting my hives a couple years. They do not look like Russians or any other bees I have seen.

These girls are a bit aggressive but no where like Africanized bees. I'll take aggressive if they are the survivors they have demonstrated themselves to be.

Having said all that I split them leaving the queen in the bottom and taking the top half, which contained the newest eggs, and made two hives. I'll check them in a week to see if they have drawn out queen cells or not. If they have no luck then I'll insert some cups in the queened hive to get them filled and transplant a few new eggs manually.

I guess I am keeping bees again...

[MountedGoat]

That is awesome Pint, I want to do some beekeeping as there is a serious lack of honey bees in my area. What is a good rescource to get some bees? My cousin is going to try and do some keeping, though he is a bit of a procrastinator and I really don't see him getting his act together any time soon.

Cheers

[BW Redneck]

Are "British" bees the same as the European dark bee (a.k.a. German Black Bee)? I'm no beekeeper, I'm just getting my resources from here.

Oh well. I've had a hive that settled in an old hollow sassafras tree in my front yard for as long as I can remember. They used to swarm twice a year, but after the mites hit, it's been down to one a year if I'm lucky, and the last one was only a couple dozen bees.

[wineo]

Hopefully the bees are making a comeback.I didnt see too many last year,and had heard of all the dieoffs etc.It was probably mans impact that caused the problem.Mother nature always seems to find her way around the mess we make.{most of the time}
Pint,did you get my PM?

[Old_Blue]

The SC dept of agriculture has reported more swarms this year than the bee keepers can come get. Also, it looks like the current crop is recovering nicely from the last couple of years of downturn.

[BoomTown]

I can see that this is an old thread, and hoping the participants are still active in the bee keeping theme.

We're locating our new distillery in the middle an Amish farming community, and I'm thinking that if I put in a hive, it'd make the neighbors happy, and maybe make us enough honey to offer a flavored spirit later on.

Has anyone else done this, and with what success. BTW, I know next to nothing about Bees, but have plenty of time to learn.

Boom

[DAD300]

I have not, but have a friend that does. He taught me one cool thing!

A method of growing a hive rather than buying a hive. You set up a hive box and wait for local bees to inhabit it! If you get local bees, they can be more successful than buying.

I'm sure there is more to it than that...

[BoomTown]

I have not, but have a friend that does. He taught me one cool thing!

A method of growing a hive rather than buying a hive. You set up a hive box and wait for local bees to inhabit it! If you get local bees, they can be more successful than buying.

I'm sure there is more to it than that...

DAD, thanks for the quick review. Would you be willing to connect the two of us? I'd like to talk about it a bit with an expert to get a feel for the level of effort involved.

Boom

[Jimbo]

Boom, if you want to try to 'adopt' a swarm as DAD is suggesting, setup a hive body 1 'deep' with 10 frames, lid, cover, bottom etc. the whole works, and put some lemon grass in it. Slim chances a hive will move in, but if you have a lot of hives around you, you might. Alternatively you can 'catch' a swarm. Here's a pic of one I caught (from one of my own hives that swarmed) http://homedistiller.org/forum/download ... p?id=20220

May is swarm season in the Northern Hemisphere, so, now. They will take up temporary residence on a branch, like this, until the scout bees find a suitable home. Look for swarms or put the word out.

Or just buy a package of bees with a queen, about $125, and put them in your box. And do lots of reading so you know how to be a bee keeper, not just a bee haver. This is the best resource anywhere, George Imirie was the dunderhead of beekeeping. http://pinkpages.chrisbacherconsulting.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[goose eye]

Get 2. Easyer to keep both alive.
Get a nuc instead of package. Your 30+ days a head
Get a swarm try to have brood in there they less likely to take off.

So I'm tole

[BoomTown]

Boom, if you want to try to 'adopt' a swarm as DAD is suggesting, setup a hive body 1 'deep' with 10 frames, lid, cover, bottom etc. the whole works, and put some lemon grass in it. Slim chances a hive will move in, but if you have a lot of hives around you, you might. Alternatively you can 'catch' a swarm. Here's a pic of one I caught (from one of my own hives that swarmed) http://homedistiller.org/forum/download ... p?id=20220

May is swarm season in the Northern Hemisphere, so, now. They will take up temporary residence on a branch, like this, until the scout bees find a suitable home. Look for swarms or put the word out.

Or just buy a package of bees with a queen, about $125, and put them in your box. And do lots of reading so you know how to be a bee keeper, not just a bee haver. This is the best resource anywhere, George Imirie was the dunderhead of beekeeping. http://pinkpages.chrisbacherconsulting.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Thanks Jimbo, (great pic BTW), those seem like sound suggestions. I take it, one can buy one of these 'hive body' boxes somewhere, possibly have it delivered?

Maybe wait a month to see what happens, while he reads up on bee keeping and buys all the accessory tools, and if nothing happens to the box, then buy a package of bees? This sounds like the reasoning that got me into distilling, it all seemed so simple reading what other folks said about it.....

[BoomTown]

Boom, >>>>> This is the best resource anywhere, George Imirie was the dunderhead of beekeeping. http://pinkpages.chrisbacherconsulting.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Hey Jimbo, the guy who wrote that referrence lives (lived) about 25 miles from my home in Virginia. How bout that. I may trek on over there and talk with the Master himself, if he's still above the grass.

Thanks again for the suggestions and the refereces...
Boom

[BoomTown]

Reading along on this, seems like not a good time to try to buy a 'nuc' as they should have been installed a few weeks back. Right now, the 3 acres around the warehouse where we are creating our distillery are blanketed by dandelions. By the time a 'nuc' would evolve through a generation, there likely will be any blooms to pollinate...what say you experts? But there are corn fields in 10 miles in three directions, and a creek running along the base of a tree covered mountain about 1/2 mile to the south. I think the 'wait a month' plan may be the right approach, and i may have missed this season, heh? Or will the bees work the corn as it comes in?

[Jimbo]

If you want to buy a package or a nuc they are generally available now, May. The first year is always tough tho, its less than half a hive worth of bees, and the bees have to build comb on the foundation before the queen can even lay, then its another 3 weeks for non flying bees (nurse bees, janitors etc) and 6 weeks for them to be able to fly and bring groceries back. By then you missed the bloom season. By the end of June youre pretty much done for the year unless you have goldenrod or something that blooms in the fall. New package hives need to be fed a lot of sugar syrup to build up the wax comb on all the 20 frames in their 'house' which is 2 full size boxes and 20 frames. Then you need to build 3-4 'supers' which are smaller boxes with 10 frames each that they put honey in. But before they can put honey in they need to build that wax up. Its not a small task to get into this hobby, and its pretty expensive for all the hardware and bees, and then lots of die off every year. I lost 2 of my 3 hives last winter, winter before I lost 3 hives.

Here's a few supply houses.
https://www.dadant.com/catalog/login.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/login.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
http://www.mannlakeltd.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Unfortunately George is in bee heaven.

[ga flatwoods]

Dont be fooled-beekeeping is everybit as difficult and challenging of a hobby as is distilling! Yes, you can vet nucs, supers, frames, queens and 3lbs of others, set them on some blocks and be a bee haver. As with anything worth doing, it is worth taking the time to do the mandatory reading and study before investing all the money necessary forma good start then end up losing them and getting frustrated because of thinking you knew all about it. Contrary to distilling, there are folks around that have bees and are much more approachable about the hobby than would be a stiller. As with the bees, those that would take the initiative to keep them has been dwindling for the last 20 or 30 years. No wonder though, it is hard work done properly, especially for a business venture. The mites and disappearing swarm phenomenon has hurt. I have studied bee keeping for years on and off. Now that I have the room and plans for fruit trees, I look forward to having 10 complete hives here on the property and/or scattered around to ensure adequate food sources.
Good luck in the apiary persuit all but read till ya eyes bleed!

[BoomTown]

Hmmm, I went ahead and bought a starter kit, but no bees yet.

I'm a hands on learner, and while I probably won't be comfortable about buying a 'nuc' this year, I'll set up the hive, outside and hope a 'swarm' adopts it this year. Meanwhile, I'll collect a bunch of 'bee books', just like I did with the stilling hobby. Don't plan on this ever being a business, maybe hoping to get enough honey next fall to flavor a few bottles of our legal stuff, once it starts coming mature enough to bottle something.

I really love our location, especially early mornings this spring, when the mist was floating around the valley, and I'm looking forward to watching the neighbor's crops grow. The Amish neighbors are like watching a period movie most days....They've been out with 4-horse teams, spreading manure for the past 3 weeks, and now that the rains have backed off, those horses are dragging other farming machines around too.

I'm hoping that later this summer, I'll be sitting out back, strumming my old Martin, in tune with the chirping crickets and buzzin bees. Back in the late 50's, early 60's when I was a kid, we lived 9 miles from the nearest blacktop road, 79 miles from the first stop sign....I've missed the sounds of rural live for so many decades....bees may be the next hobby, I may have one more hobby left in me....

Sort of dreading the winter coming...but plan to be busy making whiskey deal from DC and leaving the shovelling to the kids....

[jedneck]

Nothing to add on topic but I do love the country life.
Tell Lady Di we all say hi.

[BoomTown]

Nothing to add on topic but I do love the country life.
Tell Lady Di we all say hi.

Hey Jed! She says Hey! Think about you often, mostly about how to encourage you to come see our new place up in Rebersburg....if you have Google Earth, you can see it at 4996 Brush Valley Road, Zip 168720....

Hope you an all those girls are happy, healthy, and doing well. Have you run anything in that little trophy pot yet?

[Jimbo]

Boom, if youre gonna get a kit get the bees too. They take a year to establish their hive.

[BoomTown]

Boom, if youre gonna get a kit get the bees too. They take a year to establish their hive.

Just found a place in Wilkesbarre, where I could drive over and pick up a 'nuc'. We'll see.

[jedneck]

Boom I sent you a pm as to not derail this train.

[goose eye]

That book say it to late for a nuc. Throw that book away.

You got to beekeepers you gonna have 3 opinions.
how you make a small fortune in bees? Start with a large one.
you have bee havers an bee keepers.

Corn pollen aint got enough protein to keep a hive alive
They'll work it but aint gettin nothin.

Break the brood cycle for veroia mites.

You want another hive. Take the queen out if there is 1 to 3 day old egg
They'll raise one.
Buy a couple move hives cause when you holdin a swarm
It no time to go lookin equipment.
Ole boys had em for pollinatiein.
Aint enough paper here to write what you need to know.
Just when you think you know em they school you.
You we a swarm in the air whirling. Get you a mirror an shine on me an
Sometime you can walk em down. Think it deals with triangulatin. With the sun.

So I'm tole

[BoomTown]

That book say it to late for a nuc. Throw that book away.
...

Well, the hive i bought has taken forever, but got notice yesterday that it had been shipped. Have not taken steps to get any bees yet, and likely have missed any chance of a 'swarm' adopting the new home....

But that's my luck.

[Jimbo]

Local guy is still putting nucs together

[BoomTown]

Local guy is still putting nucs together

Jimbo, you must be hand-in-glove in this bee business....if I ordered one from him, how would it be shipped? BTW, Dandylions have all gone to seed, and all I can see in any direction from the door step is fields sprouting....

[BoomTown]

Local guy is still putting nucs together

Jimbo, you must be hand-in-glove in this bee business....if I ordered one from him, how would it be shipped? BTW, Dandylions have all gone to seed, and all I can see in any direction from the door step is fields sprouting....

Well there are few wagon loads of Amish farmers moving up and down the road....

[FullySilenced]

CNN: Obama's Bee Plan:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/19/politics/ ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[BoomTown]

CNN: Obama's Bee Plan:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/19/politics/ ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Just gotta say, bees are pretty serious business where our distillery is. Farmers don't take this stuff lightly.

[Jimbo]

Most bee folk won't deal with shipping you usually need to find a local guy. But I'll shoot you his email soon as I get home and you can ask no harm in asking

[goose eye]

You want it now. Gotta have a queen. Do he instrumental enseminate?
If not that queen gotta fly. If it rainy chance are they aint gonna fins the
Dca. Drone containment area. Where they go to party.
Way to much learning to do here.
Go to a gourmet called ...... beesource. That's a start

So I'm tole