OT - Any Bee Keepers Here? - OT

butt_juice · January 2021

Any of you keep bees? I just picked up three hives and two hives that are unassembled. Planning on starting two in the spring.

northGAcock · January 2021

@piney has taken up this hobby. Might be a helpful resource.

hoosier_egger · January 2021

@alaskanassasin

alaskanassasin · January 2021

Hey, I have about 30 hives going into this winter... hopefully close to that amount coming out. I’ll PM you my phone number.

Great resources are American Bee Journal magazine if you are a bit more into the science and Bee Culture magazine if not but still a great magazine.

Beekeeping Today is a podcast put on by Bee Culture.

Basically the main thing you need to know about beekeeping is Varroa mites will destroy your hive in roughly 2 years if you do nothing to control them.

piney · January 2021

northGAcock said:

@piney has taken up this hobby. Might be a helpful resource.

I'm not having much luck, this winter I've lost 2 colonies already.

johnmitchell · January 2021

Calling @MaskedMarvel

GregW · January 2021

This book is a good resource.
https://www.amazon.com/Honey-Bees-Beekeeping-Year-Apiary/dp/1929832311#:~:text=See this image-,Honey Bees and Beekeeping: A Year in the Life of,Apiary, 3rd Edition Spiral-bound&text=Beekeeping is enjoyable and satisfying,can successfully raise honey bees.
The author is Keith Delaplane, Ph.D from the University of Georgia. His Ph.d is in Entomology.
Over 10 years ago he had a tv show to the RFD TV - the series was available from the University, but I can't seem to locate it now.

nolaegghead · January 2021

BIL had bees for years until his wife found out she was very allergic to their stings. He moved his hives to a botanical garden.

Anyway, he's a total "nerd" about them. Here is a list of interesting articles about bees that he wrote.

Bees

alaskanassasin · January 2021

@DuckDogDr & @CTMike

butt_juice · January 2021

piney said:

northGAcock said:

@piney has taken up this hobby. Might be a helpful resource.

I'm not having much luck, this winter I've lost 2 colonies already.

Seems to be common. Damn Varroa mite kills many hives. I'd like to be treatment free, but in order to do so it sounds like you have to catch some wild bees when they are swarming, to increase your genetic diversity and gain behavioral traits that fend off Varroa before you can attempt treatment free. It also sounds like a lot of bees die off when treatment free, even when being considered a successful treatment free keeper. I'm going to start two colonies in the spring and hoping to have at least one be strong enough in year two for a split. Sourcing local bees that are minimally treated and fed is my starting action plan, rather than bees that are coming from totally different environments cross-country.

fishlessman · January 2021

are these the same mites that are seen on bumblebees, they are covered with mites the last few years

butt_juice · January 2021

fishlessman said:

are these the same mites that are seen on bumblebees, they are covered with mites the last few years

Not sure on the bumble bee. Varroa mites look like ticks with legs on one side of their body only.

fishlessman · January 2021

butt_juice said:

fishlessman said:

are these the same mites that are seen on bumblebees, they are covered with mites the last few years

Not sure on the bumble bee. Varroa mites look like ticks with legs on one side of their body only.

dont know about the legs, but they move well, gets to the point it looks like the bee wont fly. never seen them before two years ago

Carolina Q · January 2021

Anyone ever hear from or about @Little Chef (Michelle Reyes). She used to be a regular on here, but I haven't heard anything in several years. She got into beekeeping in south Florida some years ago. No idea if she's still involved.

alaskanassasin · January 2021

butt_juice said:

piney said:

northGAcock said:

@piney has taken up this hobby. Might be a helpful resource.

I'm not having much luck, this winter I've lost 2 colonies already.

Seems to be common. Damn Varroa mite kills many hives. I'd like to be treatment free, but in order to do so it sounds like you have to catch some wild bees when they are swarming, to increase your genetic diversity and gain behavioral traits that fend off Varroa before you can attempt treatment free. It also sounds like a lot of bees die off when treatment free, even when being considered a successful treatment free keeper. I'm going to start two colonies in the spring and hoping to have at least one be strong enough in year two for a split. Sourcing local bees that are minimally treated and fed is my starting action plan, rather than bees that are coming from totally different environments cross-country.

A couple of points to ponder. A swarm of "wild bees" is most likely a colony that originated at a neighbors apiary somewhere and is a year or two old, remember honey bees are not native to the United States. Studies have show that a "local" bee colony and queen maybe more acclimated to your local weather/environment, also studies have show that it does not matter where they come from. In either case they will both be susceptible to mites.

"Treatment free" does not mean that you do nothing to control varroa. Very few beekeepers are successfully treatment free and they work very hard to make it happen.

Here are some examples of things they do to control varroa without chemical treatments.

Forced brood breaks, since we know varroa mite feed mostly on bee larvae some people will remove the queen from a hive to force a brood break and give the bees a chance to clean out the mites.

Furthermore mites prefer drone brood, so some people put large cell frames in the encourage drone production, therefore creating a trap for the mites, then removing and culling the frame.

Culling susceptible hives, Take 100 hives, monitor the varroa mite through out the season, Cull the hives with varroa problems, this may be 95 out of 100. Breed the 5 hives in a "controlled" (drone yard of your making) or artificially inseminated queens and try to create you own varroa resistant bees.

You can also buy Russian queens that seem to be better at grooming or the above mentioned resistant queens but you would have to continually requeen because as soon as she is superseded the offspring virgin queen will go mate with random drones bringing the genetic line down.

Even if you do all that and I am not trying to offend anyone but a neighbor who might be doing anything to prevent or monitor varroa mites will unknowingly let their hive succumb to a varroa invasion creating what is known as a varroa mite bomb. Honey bees are scavengers and will raid a dying or dead hive and carry all those mites back to their home at your apiary.

If you plan to keep bees I urge you to join a bee club or talk to your county bee inspector, or a experience beekeeper.

If you insist on a treatment free apiary at the very least monitor you hives mite load, I guarantee that %100 of the time you will have mites, and if you perform a mite count you may be able to prevent a hive crash before its too late. And remember if you have two hives in the same location your healthier hive will carry all those mites over and cause problems.

fishlessman · January 2021

butt_juice said:

fishlessman said:

are these the same mites that are seen on bumblebees, they are covered with mites the last few years

Not sure on the bumble bee. Varroa mites look like ticks with legs on one side of their body only.

looks to be a different mite

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/the-northerner/2013/may/22/crook-county-durham-bees-infested-mites

alaskanassasin · January 2021

This is a amazing free resource for beekeepers of all backgrounds and skill sets.

http://scientificbeekeeping.com/

http://scientificbeekeeping.com/first-year-care-for-your-nuc/

Botch · January 2021

Timely, this popped up on my EweTube this afternoon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYuvLSFFalo

DuckDogDr · January 2021

Sorry been away from the forum for awhile..I'll try to help anyway I can. But I'm still learning myself

butt_juice · January 2021

@alaskanassasin thanks for all of your insight. I agree with you. It is a very dynamic issue with many variables, the majority of which are out of our control. I think treatment free or minimal treatment is where I want to work toward and I understand that it isn't somewhere I'll be operating at right away or with very few hives. Swarms likely have originated from apiaries in the area, but I would think they could be several seasons out in the wild without being managed by bee keepers.

What I don't want to be doing as a starting bee keeper is to be over treating, over feeding and over managing my bees. I do want them to develop traits and behaviors to where they are storing enough food reserves, mostly on their own. I don't want to contribute wussy bees to the population, I would prefer to developed as hardened hives as I possibly can, while providing enough management as necessary to keep them healthy and numerous enough to split hives and grow their numbers.

alaskanassasin · January 2021

Swarms are the best way to go starting out, the bees are loaded with supplies, a queen and ready to rock and roll and the price is right.

If you want to increase you chances of getting a swarm make up some business cards or something with your name number and swarms on it. Hand them out to your local FSA, police, sheriff, water and soil office, health department, and any exterminators you can. Especially going into spring so its fresh on everyone's mind It is amazing who people will call when they see a swarm.

If you know of any local bee hives in trees or buildings or whatever watch them like a hawk in mid spring they will most likely swarm. I catch a lot of swarms the weeks leading up to and around mothers day, it just depends on the weather, if its **** out they are not going anywhere, if it has been **** out for a week or so and then you get a killer day, look out. Once you get hives going you will will be able to spot queen cells and know they are about to swarm.

I don't feed my bees, unless we are having a really cold spring and they are out of honey then have some mercy man. As far as treatments go, simply put if you don't monitor varroa and treat when necessary the bees literally do not stand a chance.

Finally try to get 5 hives or so going in two locations 5 miles apart if you are committing to the hobby, winter losses can be absolute if not monitoring varroa and 20-50% otherwise. Everyone looses over wintered hives it is just a matter of how many.

butt_juice · January 2021

@alaskanassasin Thank you.

butt_juice · January 2021

alaskanassasin said:

This is a amazing free resource for beekeepers of all backgrounds and skill sets.

http://scientificbeekeeping.com/

http://scientificbeekeeping.com/first-year-care-for-your-nuc/

I read through the entirety of the bottom link. Very helpful information. Thank you.

alaskanassasin · January 2021

Good luck my friend welcome to the rabbit hole.

butt_juice · January 2021

alaskanassasin said:

Good luck my friend welcome to the rabbit hole.

Add it to the list. I don't know why I pick such expensive hobbies...maybe they are the most fun:
Jeeps
Overland camping
Bee Keeping
Hunting
Fishing
Shooting
Meat Processing
Mushroom hunting - this one is cheap

Botch · January 2021

butt_juice said:

alaskanassasin said:

Good luck my friend welcome to the rabbit hole.

Add it to the list. I don't know why I pick such expensive hobbies...maybe they are the most fun:
Jeeps
Overland camping
Bee Keeping
Hunting
Fishing
Shooting
Meat Processing
Mushroom hunting - this one is cheap

Lotsa outdoor activities; you should look into nature photography!

butt_juice · January 2021

I forgot to mention that one! I take most of our family photos lol. Bought my wife a Nikon DSLR a few years ago and it turned out that I enjoyed learning the basics of photography more than her lol. Definitely an amateur when it come to photography. Probably won’t go deeper than my initial investment in that hobby though.

They all take time though. The older I get the more valuable that becomes.

Kayak · January 2021

It seems, reading between the lines, that the biggest problem with beekeeping is amateurs determined to go 'treatment free'. Don't be that person.

alaskanassasin · January 2021

@kayak the largest hurdle for almost ANY beekeeper to overcome is varroa mite.

Beyond that you have Chalkbrood, European Foulbrood, large and small hive beetles, nosema, Tracheal mites, Deformed wing virus, and on and on. Most of these things can be avoided by monitoring and maintaining a healthy hive/apiary.

There are also threats beyond our control such as fire, theft, bears, droughts, lack of forage due to mono cropping, pesticide applications, adulterated un pure honey being sold as genuine from countries such as China, or China selling to other countries and eventually making it to our shelves.

In California they are starting to pollinate Almond trees with drones, 80-90% of commercial beekeepers in the USA migrate to Cali for the annual almond pollination. 750,000 acres of almonds, two hives per acre at 200 each, if they can save 300-500 million dollars a year flying drones they will.

On the horizon we have Murder hornets and eventually Tropilaelaps mites which are currently running rampant in Asia (also the origin of varroa destructor).

The only place that I know of that still remains varroa free is Australia.

butt_juice · January 2021

@alaskanassasin no bears for me in central Kansas (that I know of!) Pesticide applications would be my primary manmade outside concern here.

Kayak · January 2021

I made that comment because of the problems commercial beekeepers are having with varroa mite, and the likelihood that it is in large part caused or made worse by amateurs. Not that only amateurs have it. It's normally no concern of anyone if you struggle up the learning curve with a hobby, since most of them have no implications for others. The number of beginner beekeepers that start and fail is very large, and many of them dump one or more new loads of mites into the environment as they go. So this hobby isn't one that has no down side besides your own cost. My neighbor has been through multiple failures, and he is determined to be organic and natural and no treatment at all costs.

OT - Any Bee Keepers Here? - OT

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