Finished building the beehives

canis_lupus · Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 5:42 pm Post subject: Finished building the beehives

...and the bees will be here at the end of April.

This year's goal is to not kill the bees. Smile

If anybody is interested, we built two hives for $50 apiece. If all goes well, I should get 50lbs of honey per hive.

Check it out at Back Yard Hive

Does anybody else here have beekeeping experience?

steam_cannon · Expert Joined: Dec 28, 2006 Posts: 2560 Location: MA

Very interesting...

WisJim

I had 30 or so hives of bees some years ago, but sold them all when we moved about 19 years ago. I had moved them once before (a hundred mile move to a new home) and I knew that it was going to be a lot of trouble for me to move them again, with all the other things I had to do (like make a house livable), so I sold all the bees and most of the equipment, but I did keep enough stuff for a half-dozen hives. Things have changed a lot in the last 20 years though. Back then, we were worried about the Africanized bees moving up from the south, and now you don't hear much about that, but mites and the loss of bees to unknown causes are the more recent concerns. We were hoping to get back into bees this spring, but it isn't happening, as we have too many irons in the fire as it is.

Good Luck!! and keep us up to date on the bees.

PeakOiler

Gotta love bees and other pollinators:

Does anyone know what kind of moth this is?:

Sorry it's a bit out of focus. The lighting wasn't that great and the moth was moving. At first I thought the moth was a hummingbird. It's wingspan was perhaps 7-8 cm or more.
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steam_cannon · Expert Joined: Dec 28, 2006 Posts: 2560 Location: MA

PeakOiler

That's it!

Thanks steam_cannon. You demonstrate the value of this web site for it's collective knowledge.

Good luck with the beehives C_L. Take some pics please, if you can. I'm glad there's a beekeeper about a mile from here.
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BastardSquad · Heavy Crude Joined: Oct 24, 2004 Posts: 306

smallpoxgirl · Moderator Joined: Nov 08, 2004 Posts: 6458

Does beekeeping seem like it's still something people are doing with relative success? I got the impression from all the bee die-off reports that beekeeping was pretty much finished. No?
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"So while you sit and whistle Dixie with your money and your power.
I can hear the flowers a-growin in the rubble of the towers.
I hear leaders quit their lying
I hear babies quit their crying.
I hear soldiers quit their dying, one and all." - OCMS

BastardSquad · Heavy Crude Joined: Oct 24, 2004 Posts: 306

smallpoxgirl · Moderator Joined: Nov 08, 2004 Posts: 6458

That makes me very happy to hear that. I think it would be a really fun thing to get into.
_________________
"So while you sit and whistle Dixie with your money and your power.
I can hear the flowers a-growin in the rubble of the towers.
I hear leaders quit their lying
I hear babies quit their crying.
I hear soldiers quit their dying, one and all." - OCMS

leal

I hope You will get some bees. I heard that there are some problems with bees are dying out, how is it in your area? A colleague of mine has bees and so far it hasn't been any problems here in Sweden that I heard of.

smallpoxgirl · Moderator Joined: Nov 08, 2004 Posts: 6458

Gotta get land before I can get bees.
_________________
"So while you sit and whistle Dixie with your money and your power.
I can hear the flowers a-growin in the rubble of the towers.
I hear leaders quit their lying
I hear babies quit their crying.
I hear soldiers quit their dying, one and all." - OCMS

alokin · Intermediate Crude Joined: Aug 24, 2007 Posts: 883

lupus, great link, did you make a hive like in the picture? I really never saw a hive like that. Isn't it a bit difficult to build the hives and do you need a table saw and all this?
the big advantage is that you have a pollinator in your garden.

wisconsin_cur

bromius · Heavy Crude Joined: May 26, 2008 Posts: 143

I did beekeeping as hobby when I was 14-16 years old. It was one of the more rewarding things I've been involved with. I was a little flaky at that age but even then I still managed to get some decent amounts of honey from my two hives. Still have the two frame crank extractor that I used. What ultimately ended it for me was a bear. One winter a black bear tore both my hives apart. The destruction was utter and complete, not even two sticks of wood still attached together.

Looking at getting some land in the next year or two. When I do I'm going to resurrect my operation. By then there should be better info on how to deal with the Collapse disorder issue as well.

The main book I read on the subject was Hive Management by Richard Bonney. http://www.amazon.com/Hive-Management-Seasonal-Guide-Beekeepers/dp/0882666371/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212279009&sr=8-1 I remember it being an enjoyable and informative read. Only problem with the book is that it didn't mention bears. Live and learn. Haha.