|
Post by garrett on Jan 3, 2012 15:30:05 GMT -5
any of ya'll keep bees? wondered about trying it.what all is involved? ;D
|
|
|
Post by darwinslair on Jan 3, 2012 20:04:50 GMT -5
Bees, a place for them to live, and gear to wear when you steal their honey so they dont kill you.
Tom
|
|
|
Post by garrett on Jan 5, 2012 0:04:19 GMT -5
thanks tom. grins
|
|
|
Post by dustyjj on Jan 5, 2012 13:23:01 GMT -5
Garrett look into the “top bar” hives. I’ve got them on my “to do” list for this spring but don’t know if it will happen. A more natural way of keeping bees. “The barefoot beekeeper” by P J Chandler is supposed to be a good book on the subject but I’ve not read it. I would like to get a couple of hives built and see if I can get a wild hive to move in.
|
|
|
Post by garrett on Jan 5, 2012 14:19:16 GMT -5
thanks dustyjj.... i'll do some snooping......smiles
|
|
|
Post by widewoman on Jan 5, 2012 15:32:02 GMT -5
Each state and town is different. Mine requires permits. The local office of the Department of Agriculture has infomration so it might do you some good to call your local agricultural extension agency, Department of Agriculture, do a search for bee keeping and your city/county/state and one or more of those should get you some further information.
There is a local bee keeping club, a web page, a bee keeping organization, they all have information that can lead to more information that will give you information on required permits, as well as information on keeping bees, as well as what's required to do the job, and could possibly get you in touch with someone locally who can get you equipment and bees locally and perhaps some folks might give you extra equipment free or at a reduced price. Just keep in mind that whatever you get it will need to be cleaned and disinfected as disease and parasites are a very big problem with bees. Good luck!
|
|
|
Post by annclaire on Jan 5, 2012 20:12:53 GMT -5
Ya, didn't Train have a wild hive set up housekeeping in his back yard last summer? Or maybe it was the year before?
|
|
|
Post by garrett on Jan 5, 2012 23:12:03 GMT -5
ya what is he up to with those gorilla bees? lol
|
|
|
Post by Train on Jan 6, 2012 15:07:03 GMT -5
Ya The bees are fine.Yes, they did swarm and find my hive of only one super with only a few shallow frames. That was 3 years ago. None the less they took to it and made it their home and home it has been since. Here is a pic of the hive in it's current state. The two bottom supers are brood chambers. A queen excluder then a deep super for honey. All supers above the queen excluder are for honey. This spring I intend to put one or two more supers on that hive and get the second hive going. First I have to move the first hive onto a solid footing. I have found that in my clime the taller the hive the better for the bees who are now quite content whereas before they were all over the hive and in front fanning the hive as the temps stayed well above 100 degrees for weeks. The greater the height the better the air circulation. I like the Langstrom hive because drawing honey is much easier, more efficient and much less messy. With a top bar hive you can see much more honey but getting to that honey is then a very messy job. I guess I'll stay with the Langstrom which was designed for honey extraction and honey is what I am after. Train
|
|
|
Post by annclaire on Jan 7, 2012 10:35:26 GMT -5
Mmmmmmmm - looks awesome Train!!!
Can't wait to see how much honey ya get from them busy little bees ;D
|
|
|
Post by Train on Jan 8, 2012 19:27:13 GMT -5
Ya
I got quite a bit early last spring. Nearly 5 gallons but added 2 more supers so I hope to get at least 7 gallons this year. If I get the second hive going this spring the next year I can double that. I'll just have to wait and see. Train
|
|
|
Post by garrett on Jan 9, 2012 3:31:35 GMT -5
awesome train.smiles
|
|
|
Post by annclaire on Jan 11, 2012 0:17:01 GMT -5
Hey Train, do you have to 'register' the hive or something with the state/local ag folks?
|
|
|
Post by Train on Jan 14, 2012 18:42:42 GMT -5
Ya You can find the local laws in your state very easily. Here is a brief of those laws in Texas. www.burger.com/beelaw.htmI think since the advent of killer bees the laws were put into effect so that you can be governed allowing them to inspect your operation and collect fees. Not sure about the correct order of those. For your state Ann. www.state.ok.us/~okag/forms/cps/apiaryact.pdfTrain
|
|
|
Post by garrett on Jan 15, 2012 2:31:38 GMT -5
go bees go.......smiles
|
|
|
Post by Train on Jan 26, 2012 22:54:12 GMT -5
Ya
I am really looking forward to a banner year for honey. The bees have hardly seen a day they weren't busy collecting pollen so I think by late spring when I have my first peek I should be looking at a lot of honey. I have to get busy soon ordering more frames and supers plus another stand and bottom board. Really want to get the first hive squared away. Going to need another container as well I think not to mention more jars. Train
|
|
|
Post by beckyw on Feb 11, 2012 1:00:31 GMT -5
Train -- you make it sound so easy. Is it really? Your hive looks fantastic! I had no idea one hive produced that much honey! Here's my dumb question - is the yield that big because you are in a frost-free zone? Thank you for the photos.
|
|
|
Post by Train on Feb 11, 2012 8:26:34 GMT -5
Train -- you make it sound so easy. Is it really? Your hive looks fantastic! I had no idea one hive produced that much honey! Here's my dumb question - is the yield that big because you are in a frost-free zone? Thank you for the photos. Ya Talking about dropping the ball. Sorry Becky. It hadn't occurred to me to return after seeing the bee topic die in idig. I don't think so Becky. I think what happened was I was slow to go in there and get the honey and gave them about a year and a half to produce. It's a very strong hive and that means there were at least 50,000 bees in there. Now I suspect a hive of over 100,000. I will tell you something. Here in Houston where the torrid temps can frustrate a rock the 2 top supers meant more ventilation and therefore comfort for them causing them to settle down and stay in the hive rather than hang out outside the hive. They seemed to be much happier and that means more production as well. This year has been very mild and the bees have been busy constantly. I may get to that 10 gallon mark yet. They are aware of the second hive I have nearby so if they split I may wind up with two free hives. Free bees that is for everything else was paid for. I hope I covered your interest but if not someone please pm me to remind me to return. Train
|
|
|
Post by dirtdobber on Feb 11, 2012 9:51:04 GMT -5
I never did personally but where I worked the owner had 12 hives on the roof of our factory. Well we would get a swarm or whatever the term is when they would be a group leave the hive and make a new nest. So they normally would land on our factory wall. He would call his buddy who processed the honey for him they would get on pallets ,real safe huh. and lucky me they were in their bee suits I was in my work clothes get to raise them up on the forklift they would smoke them and scoope them into a new brood box (sp) or once again whatever you call the main box. Well one fine summer day they started coming into the plant and our employees were getting stung lol. So the good ole owner bought some bee sting stuff and handed it out to the supervisors to treat the wounded employees.
Well finally they built a huge rack on the back end of our property under some trees moved all the hives as far away from the plant as they could. They would add sections quite frequently and I always enjoyed from a far when they would collect the boxes full of honey. Nothing like fresh honey comb straight from the hive. I always got a quart of this very dark honey with a big chunk of comb in it was so good as we had a huge clover field they were feeding on.
For anyone who has only had honey bought from the store the real stuff is so much better.
|
|
|
Post by annclaire on Feb 12, 2012 12:07:07 GMT -5
Amen, DD, that is the ONLY clover honey I will eat! For those who have never bought honey straight from the beekeeper, take a nice widemouthed mason jar (if you want the comb in) with lid to the beekeeper and trade that for a jar ready to go. He will appreciate you bringing the new jar, and should give you a bit off of the jar you take. Here a few years ago I got ahold of some honey from a beekeeper that had several acres of sand plum thickets on his property and he would set the supers out there every few years when the weather was just right and would sell that honey ... mmmmmm talk about having a fragrance to the honey! But definitely a premium price! I know he didn't get any last year as it was too cold for honeybees while the sandplums were in bloom.
|
|
|
Post by annclaire on Feb 12, 2012 12:07:52 GMT -5
So, Train, do you ship? ;D
|
|
|
Post by dirtdobber on Feb 14, 2012 3:58:30 GMT -5
The thing I liked best was he always gave me the jar for free. I went and watched them process it it was a neat experience for me. My family would just about be out when the next years batch was ready and he would give me a new one.
|
|
|
Post by Train on Feb 16, 2012 16:09:36 GMT -5
So, Train, do you ship? ;D Ya I have not in the past because the shipping rates are killer. Over $11.00 with UPS and now I think that USPS is right in line with that. That's a lot of scratch for a jar of honey shipped. My honey is a wild flower honey and is dark and strong flavored, I should say intense flavored. I favor it over clover honey personally. There is another interested in my honey and I haven't yet figured a reasonable way to ship her either. Train
|
|
|
Post by annclaire on Feb 21, 2012 23:13:31 GMT -5
ROAD TRIP!!! LOL
|
|
|
Post by garrett on Mar 10, 2012 9:20:11 GMT -5
hows dem bees?lol
|
|