beekeeping

[Mt.B]

For those that want to go smokeless and connect with their bees, this is a good video on the subject.

 

A really good YouTube channel too IMO.

[whitewind]

Neonicotinoid pesticides linked to honeybee decline

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/335/6076/1555

The new research strongly links the pesticides to the serious decline in honey bee numbers in the US and UK – a drop of around 50% in the last 25 years. The losses pose a threat to food supplies as bees pollinate a third of the food we eat such as tomatoes, beans, apples and strawberries.

Scientists found that bees consuming one pesticide suffered an 85% loss in the number of queens their nests produced, while another study showed a doubling in bees that failed to return from food foraging trips. The significance of the new work, published Science, is that it is the first carried out in realistic, open-air conditions.

[mud]

I read a quote of Rudolph steiners 50 years or so ago..

he's documented as saying if we dont stop perverting the bee natural tendencies (using langstroth, standardised high yield methods)

then we'll have a worldwide collapse within 50 years.

There ya. No longer are they the fractal snowflake designers of natures interdependence,

but lil cogs like the rest of humanity, bred and fed to slaughter.

Lucky i'm lazy, and (?) half my hives are still doing their own thing in old cabinets, cardboard boxes and tree stumps : )

[Gúzmann]

I'm a beginner beekeeper. Last year I had 2 hives, but one collapsed after about a week. The other was hanging on for the rest of the summer, only to lose its queen over the winter. I'm starting from scratch again, bees should be arriving this April.

Interestingly, I hear that bee hives do quite well in cities and suburbs because of all the flowers people keep on their balconies and plant in their yards.

[etherealdrifter]

hi friends,

yesterday whilst wondering a wonder around my backyard stroll i noticed a stack of bees swarming around a conifer branch.

the swarm ball is now approx. o.4 x 0.4 m in size(obviously i couldn't get too close). The clump of bees is about 3m off the ground.

I'd be very thankful if someone here could provide some advice.

1.Do i just leave them alone because they like my company and will leave when they feel like it?

2.Should i keep an eye on them because they might want to move within the confines of my abode?

3.Let them just hang with the other creatures in my backyard because i might be able to get some honey down the track?

4.Call a beekeeper? Where do i find one in my area?

bluetongues,frogs,ducks and now bees, i love nature.

cheers any advice would be great.

[etherealdrifter]

cheers guys.

the best advice ever.

the pack flew away.

nude bathing is back on my backyard

[bogfrog]

^

yay! Best use of backyard space - ever!

[teonanacatl]

I found a wild hive today, Im going to get the honey out but Im wondering if its worth buying/making a hive and transferring the brood combs, queen and some honey combs to it to see if they will recolonise?

[watertrade]

I'm pretty sure you can just put a hive in place where the wild one is and transfer the comb over . 'Sewing' it into frames. Leave it for a little while and they will come to like their new home. Then move it to where you want then to live ( more than about 5 km away from the original site)

As long as you can get the queen and brood into a new box the rest of the hive will follow. Do it in the middle of the day when all the field bees are away collecting - They will put up less of a fight.

Try and place the new box as close as possible to the old location.

And good luck. ;)

[Bigred]

I found a wild hive today, Im going to get the honey out but Im wondering if its worth buying/making a hive and transferring the brood combs, queen and some honey combs to it to see if they will recolonise?

Its best to get a small bit of honey and comb out and send it to the DPI and they will test it for disease etc.

If said hive is healthy there are plenty of you tube vids that explain how. I would let the hive settle and then

switch out the queens with a mated queen from a reputable source .

edit spelling etc

Edited November 16, 2013 by Bigred

[teonanacatl]

I should say Im in the middle of nowhere in Cape York so there are no commercial bee keepers to worry about. I dont get winters here but I do get wet seasons and from what Ive read thats when most people loose their hives. So I was thinking that wild strains here (possibly asian bees) would have evolved to survive better?

Ive just started keeping native bees for honey this year- hoping to have 20 hives by the end of the year! So I kinda see Apis bees as introduced pests that compete with the natives. So if they die Im not too fussed, the key is I dont want to be spending too much $.

The nest is up the top of a tree in a hollow so Ill have to cut the tree down to get it. So not much chance getting a sample till I raid the nest.

[teonanacatl]

Just read DPI's info. The area Im located in is a weird quarantine zone separating PNG and the Torres Strait from mainland Oz- we have heaps of agricultural pests here that are not found in the rest of Oz. As such my plan is as follows:

1) Build a top bar hive.

2) Cut tree remove bees and honey and ID the bees.

3) Contact DPI and offer a sample for disease testing- they come out here every year to inspect my bananas so Im sure they would love to check a few bee hives too. If the nest takes Ill register with DPI.

4) Use honeycomb as bait and find other feral hives in the area :D

5) See how the bees fare during the wet season and if they affect my native hives- if they do bye bye Apis bees.

[watertrade]

As long as they are healthy they should survive winter as long as they have enough honey to eat. Where you are they probably don't need much of a hibernation and there is plenty of warm weather ahead ( even where I am).

If I were you. I would chop the tree down, wait a few days and return to see if they are still there. I imagine they will be angry. If they are still there then decide what to do

Good luck!

[teonanacatl]

Yeah winter is no problem- we dont get winter it only gets to 18 degrees min! But during the wet season there is a lot of rain which apparently is when they die due to starvation if their honey reserves are not good. Peak honey flow is ~Jun-Nov.

[tripsis]

How's life in Cape York? It's a different world up there. Would love to move up that way, but have no idea what I would do for money.

[AnthromorphicGerbil]

I am starting to feel enthused after reading this thread. For years I have thought about one day having bee hives ----some day off in the hopefully not to distant future when I can afford to buy some land away from the confines of suburbia----

but after reading the info here - yeehaa I'm going to look into it!

Cheers guys

Edited November 17, 2013 by michael1968

[teonanacatl]

Life here is great- been here nearly 5 years and no plans to leave.

Plenty of money to be made doing lots of things, really though I live here for the lifestyle.

[tripsis]

Whereabouts are you, if you don't mind answering? Of course the move would be for the lifestyle, but a means of making a living is necessary. The climate up there is awesome, and it's stunningly beautiful. Not sure if there's much rock climbing though...

[teonanacatl]

Im near Bamaga

[tripsis]

Wow, right near the tip! That is far, far farther north than I've been! It that on Aboriginal land? I was under the impression much of the peninsula is.

[teonanacatl]

Yeah most of the peninsula is though there are a lot of leasehold and a few freehold bits as well.

[tripsis]

Good to know.

[teonanacatl]

So two days ago I transferred the wild hive to a top bar hive I built. This was my first time doing anything with bees! I was wearing a bunch of flannos jumpers and jeans and I used mozzie net to keep them off my face, my protective equipment was completed with a pair of diving gloves and a pair of diving booties. Basically I got stung 100's of times which was more so annoying than painful. I initially forgot my smoker but my bro went back for it and it made a big difference. My chainsaw was playing up so after cutting down the tree I just put my arm down the hollow and pulled/cut out all the comb. I managed to get three medium sized pieces of mostly full brood and one full of honey into my topbar hive along with the queen. The topbar is situated right next to the old hive and so Im hoping the bees that are around there will smell the queen and honey and head inside.

Wearing all the gear I had on in 30+ degrees with 95% humidity took its toll on my so I didnt do a very good job. I only transferred about 30% of the brood and about 15% of the honey to the new hive. I managed to harvest 3.5-4kg of honey and Im making a wax extractor to separate the wax out. The honey is very strong in flavour and is about the same colour as coca cola and you cannot see through it, some of it is a little runnier then normal stuff but it all tastes great.

Ill check on the hive again today, when I checked yesterday there were bees flying in and out of it but still a lot hanging around the old hive.

[Darklight]

This.

Hot.

http://www.facebook.com/flowhive

We are very excited to introduce our new invention that allows you to enjoy fresh honey straight out of your beehive without opening it. It's far less stress for the bees and much, much easier for the beekeeper.

Launches tomorrow 11am. Is getting good reviews.

You can fit 2 Flow supers on top of a non-modified Langstroth brood box from the looks of things, as long as the frames are deep

If it's as good as it looks it does have a couple of on-flow impacts of interest:

If beekeeping becomes idiot-proof, more idiots will keep bees and not look after them, potentially providing a pool of pathogens and pests

If European beehives proliferate they could potentially knock native bees back a way. European bees start foraging much earlier in the day than the locals.

These are not negatives which would stop me from coveting and purchasing a Flow hive, any savings I make in time and money stuffing round with extractors etc I'll put into providing native hives for the locals

[teonanacatl]

My attempt above failed, as did one other when the bees absconded from their branch hive. I just caught a swarm yesterday and they appear to like the makeshift hive I gave them.

That flow hive is cool