Does anyone keep honey bees? - Page 3

[Chicky2]

Ok, youtube is a goldmine of top bar hive videos! I have spent most of today watching various videos, and am watching one by backyardhive.com as I type. I am so fascinated!

BTW, backyardhive.com is cool, too.

Also, did anyone see "Inside the Hive" on the Science channel recently? SOOOOO cool!!! I'm going to see if I can find it online or on dvd somewhere...

[Chicky2]

This is so neat! This is a video of a queen laying eggs. FF it to 4:32, if you want. The guy spends the first few minutes just trying to find her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJzXGM7aFEg

[chasmyn]

Originally Posted by salt_phoenix

If you can afford it, start them off on REAL honey, not sugar syrup. Feeding them sugar syrup is like giving a baby formula. A valuable last resort. imo.
A 3 lb. package of bees got an initial gallon of food from me when I started my hive. I didn't lock them up during that time, I allowed them access to the outside for foraging from the get-go. I have faith they won't abscond... NOW! ;-)

I am on a feral bee list and an organic beekeeping list that I just LOVE.

When just starting out, where would you source the honey? And would you dilute it, or just feed it straight? And how much for a 2 lb package?

Also, I'd love the links to those lists, too, if you don't mind...

[PAflower]

My favorite book to read was "Beekeeping for Dummies" ! Great book. I also found a local group and they have mini classes and mentors.
Good luck!

[1jooj]

It's too early to say too much, but it hit 40 today, and bees came out of all 5 hives in our beeloft. I'm going to feed them honey every chance I get now until they can collect nectar again on their own. I really tried hard to leave enough stores for them to survive, and I fed them syrup with EOs against mites in the fall.

I just really, really want bee success. The honey was so spectacular, they are such a joy to have around the yard, and the garden did great, too.

[Chicky2]

A few bees came in my house the other day. I also noticed them looking for flowers on my crepe myrtles. Too bad there weren't any. I'm building our first top bar hive in the next couple of weeks. I have another project to finish first then I think I can fit the hive in inbetween the hog pen and enlarging the asparagus patch.

[1jooj]

I have live bees in all my hives.

One hive had major winter kill, though.

I am still learning. I think I will be still learning forever. I like them so much, but they are a lot harder to understand than my larger animals.

Anyway, it looks like two of my hives should have been less tightly closed (better ventilated), because they got a lot of condensation inside. I cleaned out two of the five hives yesterday afternoon and fed everyone a little. They still have honey left over, which is great. I'm glad I didn't starve them. I'm using quart jar boardman feeders so I can keep close tabs on their eating. They have a long wait before they have decent temps for flying or anything at all to eat out there.

I made a few bees mad, but still got by without stings (even in sweatpants ), which is great. I hope they all recover well.

Oh, and the book I really like is The Backyard Beekeeper: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Keeping Bees in Your Yard and Garden.