Oh, beehive!

[your_comforting_company]

After meeting with the folks at Landmark Park, I got some names and phone numbers to beekeepers and the bee club over in Dothan.

So I caught up with Mr. Carter on the phone before church this morning and MAN, OH MAN he was helpful!! He not only answered every question I could think to ask him, he invited me to a bee class on the 15th! Best of all IT'S FREE through the cooperative extension!

So I've been out using power tools instead of rocks the last few days.. well, just to get my rock fix.. and this is what I came up with.
Still gotta build the bottom stand to keep it up off the ground, and build a jig for making frames. Then I gotta order my starter grids, a block of beeswax, and hopefully find a swarm (he suggested this was best, as the "bred" species seem to be less tolerant of adversity) to get started.. well actually, I have to build a whole extra box set, because I need to start with two colonies,, but at least I know a little bit more what to expect and do now.

So this is my start-up phase of beekeeping. I'll gladly give pointers and links to anyone interested. Since I'm building it all myself, I didn't go by any specific plans, so my measurements probably won't help if you are buying frames, but the gist is in the reasoning behind some of the cuts, etc.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

[crashdive123]

Looking good. You'll love it.

[Winnie]

I love all this handywork stuff. I'll look forward to seeing it full of bees!

[ClayPick]

Bees sure are an interesting little critter, if you take a liking to them two hives won’t be enough. Nice job by the way! The landrace bees here tend to like one size of hive, lots of thanks to the beekeepers for figuring it out. It’s neat to locate hives in different places and noticing the taste off the honey. Buckwheat is one of my favourites. Good luck!

[grrlscout]

Fantastic! I'll be following allong, for sure.

Best I could do was a bee block, for solitary bees:

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

I get no honey out of the deal though, just pollination in my garden.

[your_comforting_company]

grrlscout that is WONDERFUL! bees are so valuable to our gardens. I'm probably going to build several of these blocks also just for the garden, like I mentioned, I'm a little worried about them attacking when cutting the grass.

Do you find them to be aggressive when you're out working your garden? (don't know if you use tillers and such)

[Brazito]

Here's a link you might find helpful: http://www.dadant.com/ I worked there after high school 35 years ago. Bees are interesting creatures.

[your_comforting_company]

Looks Great Brazito!

I don't have time to read it right now.. got a skin soaking I gotta stretch (good luck softening, eh, it's 100% chance of rain), but I will definately look into it this evening! Thanks!

[crashdive123]

grrlscout that is WONDERFUL! bees are so valuable to our gardens. I'm probably going to build several of these blocks also just for the garden, like I mentioned, I'm a little worried about them attacking when cutting the grass.

Do you find them to be aggressive when you're out working your garden? (don't know if you use tillers and such)

A trick to keep the bees away from you while you are in the yard and in close proximity to the hives is to surround the hives with a six foot high privacy fence. Leave yourself plenty of room to work inside the fenced area, or to add more hives. What the fence does is to force the bees to fly to a height that will be over your head while they are traveling to and from the hive. I have spent time handling managed hives with nothing more than a head net and gloves. When I was more than 10 feet away, I wore no PPE.

[grrlscout]

From what I've read and experienced, native bees are very gentle. They also don't swarm (since they are solitary). I regularly garden around them -- even brush them off if they get in the way -- and they don't sting me. I'm not really good at identifying them, but I'm pretty sure most of what I get are leafcutter bees (the regularly take bits of my rose bush leaves to build their nests with), and just a few mason bees.

Here's a leafcutter's nest that fell out of the PVC I use for trellis:

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

This is a leafcutter working on a lablab hyacinth bean leaf:

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

[r0ckhamm3r]

After finding a wild hive in West Texas a few years ago, I started reading about bees. They are truly amazing and productive creatures.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

[OhioGrizzLapp]

There is a great article in the latest version of Backwoodsman on keeping bee's.

[your_comforting_company]

Trabitha, that bottom one looks like what Mr. Carter described as the "small black german bee".

I don't know about identifying them either, but I'll consider putting up a fence for sure. Something I read about in one of the several articles I have read, suggested a removable cage made of window screen. When I want to cut the grass or work close to them, put the cage over the hive and they can't get out. Anyone heard of that?

[crashdive123]

Honey Bees.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

Honey.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

[your_comforting_company]

mmmmm... yum!

I'm excited about this. Wierd how all these things came around at once for me ain't it.

Got a lot of frames to build.. tht is gonna be a pain, but it'll be worth it. How much honey does it take to sweeten a gallon of tea?

[crashdive123]

YCC - I was doing some work for a guy and we got around to talking about bees. He started with two hives. He now has 134 on his property and manages about 50 others for people on their property. This, coupled with all of the other "exposure" you are getting might eventually lead to a new career for you.

[your_comforting_company]

A career parallel with nature, rather than opposed to it would be awesome.

[your_comforting_company]

It was a nice day yesterday, though a bit on the cool side.. too cool for painting, so I went over to mom's house, set up her garage with saws and jigs and all that stuff, and got all the frames cut. Now I have to build a jig to fit them together.

I should have gone with standard sized measurements, because I haven't been able to find plasticell or wax foundations that are oversized. I'm either going to have to try to make my own, or shim out my frames to fit them (which is probably what I'll do). My frames actually wound up being only about 1/4" oversized, but all my framework is 1/2" thick as opposed to the standard 1/4-5/16", they should be more sturdy.

So far I have quite a few hours in building this myself, and I've only done one hive. I can see why they are so expensive. It's a lot of work! So far I have about $50 tied up in wood, but I used a lot of scraps from construction sites and "junk" that the building supply was going to pile up and burn, so if you are resourceful, you could build one yourself on the cheap.

Talked to a bee farmer down in Chipley yesterday and I can get nucleus hives from him WITH a queen and 5 frames (1 brood, 2 workers, 1 drone, and 1 honey) for $75, which is a heck of a lot cheaper than any of the websites I've visited. He only asked that I return his hive box once I get them moved in, but most likely I'll take my box and let him install them for me there.

I also found a pattern for a "bee cage" which is basically a screen "sock" that you place over the hive(s) when you want to cut grass.

It is a lot of work, but the only thing we are promised in this world is time. We are not promised great careers or lots of money. Many people will say "Time is money" but that's just not true. In this case "Time is honey"!

[your_comforting_company]

OH, an extra note.. he said that diatomaceous earth doesn't do a whole heck of a lot to keep the mites or hive beetles away, and he recommended a natural miticide that he manufactures himself, and some stuff called "beetle blaster".

I sure hope to be able to make a go of this.. one more step towards self sufficiency.

[crashdive123]

YCC - I would recommend standard sizing. You will find many more resources availible to you. I have found these guys to be very helpful. Lots of good info, especially in their learning center. Their bargain center sometimes has good stuff too. http://www.mannlakeltd.com/