Apparently, bees can starve to death surrounded by honey.
Talked again to a local pro who advocated drastically reducing available living space for the winter. He had suggested this to me a couple months ago, but I hadn't heeded the advice. It wasn't a technique that I had seen mentioned in any of the guides I had read. Besides, aren't the bees supposed to be feeding off of the honey in the upper box over winter? The basic theory is that it takes a lot of energy to keep living space warm, so if that living space is highly limited and better insulated, it will be much easier to keep it warm.
I get the worry, but I just didn't think it was that big a deal in the generally mild climate here. But, clearly things are not working out as well as I would like.
So, I reduced the available living space from two deeps to about half a deep, repositioned some of the accessories for better insulation and set up a sugar water feed directly over the knot of remaining bees.
When I inspected the hive, I did see a couple of grubs, but no where near what I had hoped to see. The outer brood frames were covered in mold.
This might be a dumb question, but how often do you guys get stung? Are you wearing protective gear?
I love honey and keeping bees fascinates me. I'm allergic though, so it kind of seems like playing with fire.
I've been stung 3-4 times over the past year. I wear jeans and a protective bee jacket and gloves. For minor maintenance or adjustments, I don't bother with any gear at all. You could calmly sit 1 foot away from the hive all day long and not get stung. Accidentally startling or annoying the bees will get you stung. Most of last year's stings happened when I was doing something stupid.
The stings have been more annoying than I expected; the stings aren't particularly painful, but each sting has caused significant swelling and itching lasting for about three days.
Some bee professionals believe that getting 3-4 stings per year presents the most long term danger of developing serious allergic reactions. They believe that getting stung much more often (20 - 40 times) is much more likely to result in a protective acclimatization to bee poison.
Mostly echoing what polq said. I was stung 3 or 4 times. All when I was rushing or handling in a not best way. Nothing went through my protection. Most of the time I used no gear.
I have a friend through keeping who is severely allergic. He was super surprised when I was showing new comb while not in any gear. He says he just has to be diligent with protection, making sure he is always wearing the jacket hat gloves. And having his meds. Cause he's been stung.
You will get stung. But you can mitigate how often by doing it smart.
That's not nearly as often as I expected. I'm really just hoping someone who lives near my gets a hive and I can beg/borrow/buy honey from them.
That's not nearly as often as I expected. I'm really just hoping someone who lives near my gets a hive and I can beg/borrow/buy honey from them.
You can pretty much be assured someone "near" you keeps bees. Best thing to do for the honey is get out to local farmers markets. Also if you have the place to put them thinking it would be a good area for them, contact your local keepers association. They may know someone who is looking for a location to host a hive. Often keepers will exchange product for people hosting a hive on their property. The issue being you have to give them access to the hive whenever they need it. Also they will know who is selling honey and such, all locally sourced. If you want to start keeping they will put you into contact with those who may also have allergies.
Thanks guys, when it warms up a bit I might dig into this more.
When the bee comes to your house, let her have beer; you may want to visit the bee’s house some day. - Congo Proverb
Do you know what time it is?
Bee Time Fun Time
The part of our show where our brave narrator gives us some bee facts* he finds nifty.
So last time we talked about hives. Specifically old style hives that are not in abundant usage. Majority of which were not really helpful to bees.
First hive I want to talk about is the big one right now, The Langstroth. The original Langstroth was patented in 1852 by Rev. Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth. His claim to fame for Hives to be named after him is not the movable frame. Those were around already in several different styles. He is credited with figuring out "Bee Space", and figuring out that at that space bees don't fill it with propolis or comb. This was revolutionary. It solved many issues with the practicality of movable frames. Suddenly the frame wasn't as prone to cross-combing or being cemented in place.
Top Bar Hive - This is the hive I currently have and what the picture on the thread is. It consists of a trough design with bars that go over the top for bees to use. There are several variations on said design: Kenyan TBH, Tanzania TBH, Cathedral Hive. All of them use the same basic designs.
*These may or may not actually be facts. They might be conjectures, hypothesis, observations, or even flat out falsehoods used to perpetuate the will of our secret masters.
**I am going to be adding more to this.
Bee space is important. I've left frames a little too far apart and had them build across. I've left frames out for only a day or three and found giant new comb formation hanging down into the empty space.
I've had a fair amount of luck with getting the bees to refill harvested frames. i'm going to try to mostly use wireless empty frames this year (the wire is used to add structural stability for centrifuge honey extraction, which I'm not doing). I think I can get the bees to fill them by organizing them in an ABABAB pattern where A is an empty frame and B is a fully built out frame.
I still don't know if last year's hive is going to survive or not. I probably won't know until sometime in mid or late February.
Bee time fun time (Modern Hives, Part 2)
Instead of editing the first lets just add on here.
Warre Hive - If you look through history, a lot of scientific study was accomplished by priests. This is due to that religious figures who were part of an enclave of some sort were some of the only people who had the time to do the research. Many of our oldest colleges of academia were so some sort of seminary which allowed people to pursue their field of interest. You will find this just as true for be Apiology. Enter in Abbé Émile Warré, who wanted to give beekeeping back to the people with his minimal maintenance approach to beekeeping. With that goal in mind he developed "The People's Hive". When it starts to get full you add a box, and you only get into it really to harvest. Main issue is you put a new box on the bottom, so you have to lift up all the other boxes. I think it would be pretty nifty to try one day.
National Hive - Long ago our fore fathers said they hate the British. There was a big to do about it. Some people had a tea party, and the king/queen was upset for not being invited. Well ever since then we have not wanted to do things like our former colonial overlords. That extends to beekeeping. They have their own hive. I am betting you would be hard pressed to find someone around these parts who use one. Seem to be similar to a Langstroth, except square.
Perone Hive - This is a hive I would love to try some day. Its massive. Also designed with the idea of minimizing interference with the bees. Consists of a Bee Area and a Keeper Area. The keeper will only ever go into the Keeper area.
That'ts it for now on hives. If you've managed to get through all of this, then you get a cookie. Next time I see you tell me I owe you one. Then the next time after that I may be able to provide it, if I don't forget.
Also if there is anything you all want to know about please let me know!
Pretty awful for the bees and us!
Yeah I heard about the vandalism. Glad they caught them, shame its young kids possibly ruining their future. The amount of destruction they committed is so perplexing. Just why?
cartoonin wrote:Pretty awful for the bees and us!
Yeah I heard about the vandalism. Glad they caught them, shame its young kids possibly ruining their future. The amount of destruction they committed is so perplexing. Just why?
The story sounded a little odd to me. Most people who are unfamiliar with bees don't want to get within 20 feet of a hive. And, as vandalism targets go, most vandals don't really want to go for targets that have the potential to fight back. But, maybe these kids were extra special.
Anyway, I really like the idea of the Perone hive. I think it would have been a great choice for people focused on low impact beekeeping prior to about 1990 or so. But, I don't think it would work today. I think it would be worth experimenting with though.
Bee Time Fun Time - Reader Submission Edition
Bee to the blossom, moth to the flame; Each to his passion; what's in a name? - Helen Hunt Jackson
Bee Sex History!
We are certainly turning to the lurid side of the hive on this one folks.
I would like to give a great big thanks to Katy for this. She sent me this link to Ask an Entomologist. It is worth a read. I really appreciate the link for two reasons; 1 - Katy sent it to me thinking it might be worth a read so that means SOMEONE out there is reading this, 2 - it is really good information that I don't normally access since I don't do anything on the twitterverse. What will follow will be a summary and impressions.
So the initial statement that starts the whole thing is:
A person's social environment changes how they view the world, influences the questions they ask, and how they interpret their observations.
The story of how we discovered the honeybee has sex is a very good demonstration
It goes on about how we figured out about how bees procreate. More though it talks about misconceptions. Which is really the history of our understanding of bees. A good chunk of it revolves around the king/queen bee understanding. In summary for a long time we attributed the leadership* of the hive to a male (king bee) because people of the time (mid 300 B.C.) could not comprehend the concept of a female in charge, now today there is still rampant sexism in the workforce. Many men still have issues with following direction from women. That's not even the in the same ballpark of what we are talking about. I am referring to ownership of women, women being unable to own their property themselves. With that as a base mindset, to try and fathom a queen bee was impossible.
One of my next BT,FT will be about the important people of beekeeping. It will be a multi-part doozy. So I hope you wait with bated breath.
*Since my opinion is the only one that matters. The whole concept of leadership in a hive is wrong. The Queen isn't a leader, its a specialized worker. Sure she is catered to, but its a delicate balance. At the first sign she is no longer what they need the hive will start to make another queen then kill her. We are the ones who have trouble understanding a structure that works without a dedicated leader and infer our own worldview bias onto bees. The queen doesnt give directions, or do anything more than mate and lay eggs. The real power is in the workers. Its a Marxian wet dream.
**If anyone else would like to create a topic, or write a BT,FT please do.
I've just lurking in here cause i'm interested in bees, but no where close to being in a place where i can do any keeping myself.
I wanted to speak up and say I've been reading your posts Igneus and they have been fascinating, keep it up!!
I've just lurking in here cause i'm interested in bees, but no where close to being in a place where i can do any keeping myself.
I wanted to speak up and say I've been reading your posts Igneus and they have been fascinating, keep it up!!
Thanks, I really appreciate it.
The best part of this is that I am learning. I love being engaged with learning. If you ever talk to a keeper (besides here) you will realize they can go on forever about bees. Well this is the opportunity to do just that. I have no problem with being wrong either, as long as I am learning.
Also my hive was pretty busy yesterday, lots of cleansing (poop) flights in/out if it. They may just yet survive. We shall see. Means I will need to get another hive, sorry wife!
How do you know your bees were having "poop flights"? Did you just follow them till they landed and took a big dump?
How do you know your bees were having "poop flights"? Did you just follow them till they landed and took a big dump?
Well yeah. Bees won't crap where they eat. They will hold it for months at a time till weather is nice enough for them to leave the hive. It's noticeable when they go, because they are quickly flying out, you see a drop of something fall, and they go back.
NOTE - Most Oglaf cartoons are *extremely* NSFW, so be careful if you want to view more than this one.
NOTE - Most Oglaf cartoons are *extremely* NSFW, so be careful if you want to view more than this one.
That's awesome. Also, HOLY COW you were not kidding about the comics contents.
NOTE - Most Oglaf cartoons are *extremely* NSFW, so be careful if you want to view more than this one.
Understatement of the year to date.
Most of them are hilarious, however. 
This is one of the most interesting threads on GWJ, and it's nearly all you Igneus. I get the feeling there are lots of lurkers like me.
And there would be more if people would leave the comfort of their favorites list.
I actually helped keep bees for a few summers in high school, so this is really nostalgic for me.
Did anyone else read that twitter feed on bee sex? Just wondering what people thought.
We would like to think we are above those misconceptions. But worldviews certainly change the way we react/interact with information.
Did anyone else read that twitter feed on bee sex? Just wondering what people thought.
We would like to think we are above those misconceptions. But worldviews certainly change the way we react/interact with information.
I saw it on my Twitter feed a few days ago. I thought it was a pretty useful corrective. It also makes me wonder how much of the beekeeping literature is informed by inaccurate conceptual models. In particular, there seems to be a lot of emphasis on requeening and queen management in the commercial beekeeping community. My limited experience so far suggests that those things are maybe best left to the hive itself.
I took out a bunch of queen cells in late summer last year and I regret doing so. In the future, I'm going to avoid messing with brood areas, except for checking for general health.
I'm still not sure how my hive is doing. I'm going to avoid checking again for another 15 days or so. But, I've stuck several partially filled and partially harvested frames to a tree near the hive and today I saw a decent number of bees actively stripping the frames of the remaining honey. Having a food source near the hive may encourage them to start producing/expanding more than having plenty of food within the hive itself.
Did anyone else read that twitter feed on bee sex? Just wondering what people thought.
Uhhh, I am a little wary of typing "twitter bee sex thread" in my search bar...
Igneus wrote:Did anyone else read that twitter feed on bee sex? Just wondering what people thought.
Uhhh, I am a little wary of typing "twitter bee sex thread" in my search bar...
I can't see see that going wrong... You can find it in the last Bee Time Fun Time I posted.
This is one of the most interesting threads on GWJ, and it's nearly all you Igneus. I get the feeling there are lots of lurkers like me.
I live in an apartment, so the opportunity to keep bees is nil. But I really enjoy gardening and look forward to having a house in the future, at which point I'd like to explore beekeeping. In the meantime, I live vicariously through Igneus, polq, and others. I appreciate all of the discussion!
LouZiffer wrote:This is one of the most interesting threads on GWJ, and it's nearly all you Igneus. I get the feeling there are lots of lurkers like me.
I live in an apartment, so the opportunity to keep bees is nil. But I really enjoy gardening and look forward to having a house in the future, at which point I'd like to explore beekeeping. In the meantime, I live vicariously through Igneus, polq, and others. I appreciate all of the discussion!
This is my situation as well.
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