Beekeeping

[scmoose]

What exactly do they eat? I thought they ate pollen? Gosh I need to do some bee research.

Very interesting thread for sure.

They gather pollen as a protein to feed baby bees, they bring in nectar as a food for adult bees that they store and cap. We feed them sugar water in ratios of 1:1 early in the spring to get them going before a nectar flow starts. If you harvest all or a majority of the honey in late summer, you will have to feed them sugar water at a ratio of 2:1 so they can store it to live on throughout the winter when they stay in the hive.

[Johnny Reb]

Last year was my first full year of beekeeping. I overwintered both my colonies and made splits last week. I have 4 colonies now and will be adding more. I have 4 swarm traps out on various properties all starting to see decent scouting activity. I also had a swarm call last week and was able to easily put them in a Nuc but ended up giving them to a friend who wanted to get started.

[USMCsilver]

By all means, if anyone wants to put some sorta contraption at my house to lure these little bastards away from my roof, have at it!

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[scmoose]

Managed to get this one from a house yesterday. Was a pain in the ass but in the end managed to get the Queen and 90% of the bees.

[scmoose]

I’ve got 9 traps out in random areas and it sure would be easier if one would move in but it hasn’t been the case yet.

[Silentweapon338]

What is in the bucket that makes them go in it with out attacking you or it?

You got more balls than me.

I'd have 2-3 bee suits on and 200 gallons of lorsban mixed up in a pto driven pump, and or a flame thrower. The home owner may not appreciate the flame thrower approach!

Some one was telling me the queen will control/teach the bees to be mean or not? I dont know how that would work or if that is BS. But a guy I know says he is getting rid of his queen and getting a new one due to this?

[scmoose]

Sometimes I’ll put a frame of old brood comb and try to coax them into the bucket. I had given up on that plan and just knocking them in at this point hoping to get the queen. I eventually did and the majority of them started to fly down into the box I had on the ground. It was a shit show, I had a pile of dead bees on this ladies doorstep, got lucky by not killing the queen and being able to find her, put her in a clip and in the box on the ground.

[scmoose]

This was one I should have walked away from. They are generally pretty calm when they are balled up like this. But you go to knocking them around and they can get pissy.

[Tater]

I had to enter a gated and locked property to survey. I was told “the key is in the big wooden box at the entrance by the church”. I go to said entrance near the church and there’s no wooden box, big or small. Directly in front of the church there’s a wooden box hanging on a power pole that’s the size of two boot boxes. Hmm, odd place, but ok. I take the box down as there’s no obvious access to the box with the exception of a small handhold sized opening on one side of the box. Weird.

I set the box on the ground and raise the lid. Uh-oh. I see bees. Lots of bees. And a line of slats covered in bees. And it’s in the 70’s. And the bees don’t appear happy and are beginning to pour out of the box. Not cool.

I put the lid back on as best I could and slowly and methodically vacate the area.

The situation around the box deteriorated so I left the area, but not before noticing that the lid wasn’t completely on the box.

I wound up finding the “big wooden box” 483 yards away from “the entrance at the church” and promptly made myself a copy of the key to avoid this fuckery going forward (actually made the keys the next day, but that’s another story).

The next few days (this was about a month ago) were warm as well and when I would go by the bees they would be cruising around the box so I left them alone. Then it started raining and was still warm. I felt bad having left the lid slightly ajar. Finally, Friday it was back into the high 30’s so I drove down there, put the lid on properly and re hung the box on the power pole.

Bees are a pain in the ass

[scmoose]

That was a swarm trap, evidently it worked.

[Tater]

Indeed it did, soon as I opened it they swarmed my ass

[turbo]

Lol.

Tater should write a book.

[Glenn]

Honey bees are an invasive species.

[Tater]

[Tater]

Those pics are from the morning I put the hive back on the pole with the lid properly closed. After that I drove down the road to put the original key back in the box it came from. When I opened that box an Anole fell out and plopped on the ground. Plenty cold, I reckon. I picked the little dude up and put him back in the box and closed it back up.

In the words of the Doggie Doc…..”not all heroes wear capes”.

[turbo]

Honey bees are an invasive species.

I'd call 'em non-native.

Tell me one thing they make worse (not including the folks that bitch about getting stung) and I'll join your team.

Invasive just insinuates a negative outcome.

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[turbo]

Those pics are from the morning I put the hive back on the pole with the lid properly closed. After that I drove down the road to put the original key back in the box it came from. When I opened that box an Anole fell out and plopped on the ground. Plenty cold, I reckon. I picked the little dude up and put him back in the box and closed it back up.

In the words of the Doggie Doc…..”not all heroes wear capes”.

You would be the one that doesn't call a lizard a lizard.

Hippy.

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[Tater]

Bet yo’ bippy, trippy hippy

[turbo]

Bet yo’ bippy, trippy hippy

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[2thDoc]

y'all are making more sense than normal but its been a looooong day so maybe i'm the one that aint right....