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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 10,353
Campfire Outfitter
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OP
Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 10,353 |
Got my package of bees Sat and put them in their hive. Here are some pics for those who are interested. My son spraying sugar water into the drawn comb that the bees will soon call home. Here is what 9,000 bees (a package) and a queen look like. me picking out the queen from the middle of the package. Me putting queen in the hive Dumping the rest of the bees in the hive. One got me What they look like from the top. [img] http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/blammer8mm/Beekeeping/DSCN5497.jpg[/img] The jars are where the sugar water is to feed them. [img] http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/blammer8mm/Beekeeping/DSCN5498.jpg[/img]
Whatever you are willing to put up with, is exactly what you will have.
When your ship comes in. ... make sure you are willing to unload it.
PAYPAL, sucks and I will never use them again. I recommend you do the same.
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 25,844
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 25,844 |
Have fun,keep'um away from me afraid they would hook up with Africanized strain and I'd be cover and stung to death...or maybe I watch to much Discovery channel
My dog is a member of the "Turd Like Clan"
Covert Trail Cameras are JUNK
3 Time Dinkathon Champion #DinkGOAT
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 16,971 Likes: 1
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 16,971 Likes: 1 |
Blammer,
Are those supers or Hive bodies? - Hive bodies are deeper and we always left to there for the winter so they had food. Typically the queen would lay in the hive bodies (wax blades were maybe a foot wide vs. a super frame that was 6-8" wide).
Congrats on the bees, if you don't have a smoker yet you might want to pick one up. and remember scrape those stingers out vs. smashin' them and pushing more juice in.
Spot
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 10,353
Campfire Outfitter
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OP
Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 10,353 |
yep, got a smoker, and yes on the scraping stingers out, had two to practice on already....
This package I installed in a medium super, with drawn comb. (a bonus)
This particular hive I will use nothing but medium supers, for the brood chamber and the honey supers. I suspect I will have about 3 mediums I will use for the "living" quarters and then put more mediums on as needed. I did this for ease of swapping frames if needed. I could take a frame of honey and put it in the brood area if needed. Etc....
Whatever you are willing to put up with, is exactly what you will have.
When your ship comes in. ... make sure you are willing to unload it.
PAYPAL, sucks and I will never use them again. I recommend you do the same.
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,318 Likes: 30
Campfire Oracle
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Campfire Oracle
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,318 Likes: 30 |
Very Cool!
It'll be 2-3 weeks before we get our bees. My wife had a bad reaction last year, so I'll be supernumary in the bee management this year.
We have polystyrene hives. Wondering what all the cement blocks are for?
Do you not have any blossoms yet? When will you take away the sugar water and let them fly? Ours hit dandelions first and spruce-tree pollen.
If you take the time it takes, it takes less time. --Pat Parelli
American by birth; Alaskan by choice. --ironbender
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 29,942 Likes: 10
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 29,942 Likes: 10 |
Not a bee person, but where does one acquire a clean and healthy batch of bees from now days? A past friend used to ship them in from Hawaii, but I understand the mites finally made it over there. They are indeed becoming a rarity around here in eastern Oregon. I don't think I saw a single honey bee in my yard last summer. 1Minute
1Minute
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 10,414
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 10,414 |
Fascinating!!! Thank you so much for the pictures and the explanation. I'm wondering how the bees get to the sugar water. It looks like two jars with lids on, sitting upside down. Are there small holes in the lids, or something? I LOVE bees! Penny
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. --Hebrews 11:1
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 10,353
Campfire Outfitter
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OP
Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 10,353 |
Iron- we had some warm weather last week and everything blossomed! Then the snow came and killed it all off. The spring blooms are done! Apple tree blooms, blueberry etc took a hard hit. So the bees are gonna suffer till something else come in bloom. there are some local bee people here in NC. Actually a LOT of major bee companies are in this state, so it is not hard. Barak W- There are a bunch of 1/16 inch holes in the bottom of the jar. the vacuum keep the sugar syrup in the jar and the bees just siphon it out of the bottom when they are hungry. Here are a few more pics. Some with bringing in pollen, and the grassy entrance was put there due to a "robbing" situation. about 150 or so "girls" were killed in the melee.
Whatever you are willing to put up with, is exactly what you will have.
When your ship comes in. ... make sure you are willing to unload it.
PAYPAL, sucks and I will never use them again. I recommend you do the same.
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Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 7,328
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 7,328 |
Have you heard about the missing bee's? US beekeepers have been stung in recent months by the mysterious disappearance of millions of bees threatening honey supplies as well as crops which depend on the insects for pollination. Click on this link for more info: http://www.physorg.com/news95135881.htmlThis could be a serious problem for our bee pollinated fruits and vegetables............ Prices could "Sky Rocket"!
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Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 67,786 Likes: 7
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 67,786 Likes: 7 |
Best of luck. Keep an eye out for those hive mites.
Sam......
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 15,619
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 15,619 |
When it comes to choosing friends....I'm at an age where I'd rather have 4 quarters than 100 pennies.
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 16,971 Likes: 1
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 16,971 Likes: 1 |
When I was a kid we had a couple hundred or more hives. Each summer we'd get calls to come and get swarms out of peoples trees in thier yards.
Nothing funner than putting a super without a few blades in it under a branch giving them some smoke and wacking the branch to get the lot to fall in and let them cover the queen. Of course the other method was to smoke and dig her out by hand.
Spot
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 311
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 311 |
Ahhh! Chasing swarms, what a hoot. The last one I did was when after carefully removing siding from the house of a terror-stricken householder I was informed that I would have to pay him for the bees. I carefully replaced the mangled combs and nailed back the siding and left him with his bees. It took me four or five years to get the Agricultural Commissioner's office to take my name off the bee rescue squad list. One time Fred Huntington asked me to remove bees from high up on his second story home. It involved trapping them out, a several day job that needed to be completed after dark to leave as few bees as possible. He was anxious to be rid of the beasts, but did not wish the rotting bees in the wall. He finally opted for the Cyanogas and the wax moth mess. It may have been in _Beekeeping: the Gentle Craft_ that a way of extracting a few hives without an extractor was described. Hobbyists are well advised to gather for joint extraction parties and sharing queens when a queen fails if you have only one hive. May Father Langstroth smile on your venture. Cheers from Darkest California, Ross
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 18,005
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 18,005 |
Man, this brings back memories! I used to keep a dozen hives when we lived in Northern Alberta. Fascinating hobby (and profitable, too... 100+ pounds of honey per hive per year). I kind of miss the little buggers.
"I'm gonna have to science the schit out of this." Mark Watney, Sol 59, Mars
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 10,414
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 10,414 |
Your bees are just beautiful! I think it would be so neat to keep bees. Penny
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. --Hebrews 11:1
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Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 4,107
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 4,107 |
Way to go Blammer, keep us updated when you can!!!
Neat link Hindsite give too, good info there, and in the replys also.
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 10,353
Campfire Outfitter
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OP
Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 10,353 |
Yep, heard about the Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) as it's now called. Seems to mostly affect the polination beekeeps. Us small timers don't seem to have as big a problem, yet....
Checked on the queen today, she wasn't released so I released her. She scuttled down with the rest and seemed to be ok.
I then made the mistake of pushing the frames together and I think I may have 'rolled' her. (killed in leaymans terms) THAT would suck! I'll dig into the hive tomorrow to see when I replenish the feed bottles. If she's dead I've got a line on a replacment. A $15 mistake. Yes ONE bee cost $15, the rest you buy in gross....
News and pics tomorrow on a different thread.
Whatever you are willing to put up with, is exactly what you will have.
When your ship comes in. ... make sure you are willing to unload it.
PAYPAL, sucks and I will never use them again. I recommend you do the same.
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