my bee hives

[red maples]

Well just putting up wood for house and maple thats about it for that.

But 1 of my hives (both new) is just really humming along!!! From everyone in bee school and all the beekeepers saying you don't get much honey your first year 1 hive looks like I am gonna get 2 full supers by next week!!! I won't be able to get to it until next week so I have to put on a 3rd honey super!!! Good thing I have my frame spinner just about finished!!!:D .

[Ausable]

Well just putting up wood for house and maple thats about it for that.

But 1 of my hives (both new) is just really humming along!!! From everyone in bee school and all the beekeepers saying you don't get much honey your first year 1 hive looks like I am gonna get 2 full supers by next week!!! I won't be able to get to it until next week so I have to put on a 3rd honey super!!! Good thing I have my frame spinner just about finished!!!:D .

Well Brad - Hope to Bee educated a little. What is a Honey Super and a Frame Spinner? Know nothing about Bee Keeping and never heard the terms before. --- Mike

[red maples]

well the first 2 boxes on a bee hive are called the brood boxes basically where the queen lays here eggs and the larva is cared for and for the storage of honey pollen and water which they eat, the 3rd box on a hive is called the honey super, each box is actually a super, why is called a super I have no idea that came up in bee school but no-one seemed to know the answer. maybe someone opened the lid and said well "super" there is the honey in here and it stuck!!! In each box there are 10 frames these frames are what the bees will draw out their honey comb on and use for raising bees, storing honey, pollen , and water.

Frame spinner, is a honey extractor, thats just what I called it. you load the frames in and spin it very fast mine will be hooked up to a drill and the spinning forces the honey out of the frames with out damaging the honey comb. then you can put the frames back into the box and put the box back onto the hive. for more honey!!!

[Dennis H.]

Post some pics of the frame spinner.

I actually thought about getting into bees also but when I started to read and talk to a few locals about raising bees I changed my mind for now.

Great to add something to go along with the maple sales.

[Ausable]

Thanks Brad - So It is possible to extract the honey and not damage the comb. So the Bees then refill the old combs with honey and don't have to build new ones - is that correct? Is there a market for Bees Wax anymore? I know years ago Church Candles were made from bees wax - but don't know if that is still true. -- again thanks for the information ---- Mike

[red maples]

yeah I bought a cutter and some special boxes so I can sell the comb too. yeah there is alot of use other than candles for bees wax lip balm, soap, lotions lots of stuff, hopefully I get enough honey I wanna try to make some mead. but we'll see what happens.

I will get some picks of my honey extractor soon, I have a few more things to do to it before I can use it. but its almost done.

just like maple if your handy you can save a few bucks, but its really not that bad I built my hives with my kids over the winter(wife got me 2 full hives for x-mas) and assembled all the frames, then I ordered my bees at valentines day I think, put them in and check them about once a week make sure they are doing OK and doing what they are suppose to be doing. The biggest problem is mites. I don't really belive in medicating them. if they are not strong enough they won't survive...sorta survival of the fittest. mites on a bees is kinda like having a something the size of 1/2 a patio brick hanging on your back 24/7. so they weaken the bees.

It is possible to dump a bunch of money but I think I am in it for about $1000 right now which is what I figureed in the beginning and thats with labels and container etc. Clear plastic honey jars much cheaper than maple jugs but you also don't hot pack honey either.

[Haynes Forest Products]

I keep thinking about the bee thing. I have a few setups in storage and never moved on from there. I do have commercial spinner sitting in a barn for the asking but it hasent hit me like maple did. If I get the spinner home and clean it up it might sing to me like the HOLY GRAIL in the movies....NO its a secret:rolleyes:

[red maples]

I just did it. just like the maple thing!!! I have wanted to do bees for a few years but didn't have the knowledge. but I went and got it. I am finding out really quickly your hives are only as good as your queen!!! If you get a bad queen she either gets kicked out, or killed and the grow another one!!! Too bad that wasn't the case for humans some times!!!:lol:

[len]

superstructure is what came to mind. Never heard the term?

[KenWP]

The supers are called supers because they are on top of the rest of the hive. Super means above . That's why we use the term supervisor which means the top man or maybe woman or the head honcho. My grandfather had bees so the term has been around since I was a little kid. I allways wanted bees but for some reason people keep thinking they sting. I can work around wasps even with out getting stung as long as I don't scare them or sit on one.

[spud]

I raised bee's for three years here in Alaska. I really enjoyed the whole process and found them to be quite interesting. Summers are short in Alaska so most people i know only make up to 40 pounds of honey per hive on a good year. One summer we had so much rain that the worker's would not leave the hive. I was buying 25 pound bags of sugar every week just to keep them alive. The best i ever did was 27 pounds on a hive which is low. I never worked my hive's during summer like you are supposed to. I was always working and never had time. Each hive has it's own smell and the guard bee's at the door will not let any other bee in the hive. The male bee's do nothing except eat all the honey. The female bee's are the worker's and they leave the hive to collect pollen. I would lay a few tires on the ground and fill them with fresh water for the bee's to drink. The water would stay cool and the groves on the inside of the tires would prevent them from sliding in and drowning. I'm thinking the reason i did not have more success was because i did not use GOODYEAR tires.:lol:

Spud

[500592]

Did you get a NUC or package?

[SeanD]

Hey Brad,

There are a lot of sugarers who keep bees. There's something about getting a delicious resource out of a natural and sustainable process that is wired into how we look at the world and our place in it. I think I'm going to pull the trigger next year.

You might want to treat the bees for pests after all. The world bee population is taking it pretty hard right now and they need all the help they can get. Survival of the fittest would have been noble fifty years ago, but we've stacked the deck against honey bees to the point they may be gone in our lifetime.

Good luck with the new hobby. I may ask you for advice when the time comes. Is there a HoneyTrader?

Sean

[western mainer]

We have 5 hives and haven't treated them at all and they are doing well. Why would you treat the bees with stuff that would hurt you. The two bottom hive boxes you leave for the bees to winter over and take the honey super for your self.
Brian

[beetree]

Iv kept bees for 15 years hear in southern MI. Let me tell ya, you can relay get stung in the bee business! I finally decided to get out this year. I owed my dad for his labor in the syrup season,and he's retiring this year, so we traded two years sap labor for 25 hives and all the equipment. I have had as many as 130 colonies,and had looses from 40% to 97%. I guess I place the blame mostly on farm chemicals and genetically modified corn and beans. Over all I'm sure I lost a a lot more then I ever made with bees. But,I guess I relay wasn't in it to make money. Maybe someday when Iv got more time, and money isn't so tight, Ill get back in.

[red maples]

western mainer...I have to agree with you. I am not only doing bees for the sake of keeping bees but which they are incredible things, but also for honey to me adding medications and whatever to the hives would be like adding stuff into you syrup you just wouldn't do it. Around here the main problems seem to be the varoa mites and alot of people just don't manage them correctly. Now NH just made leagal the formic acid, which is a natureal product that ants of all things have, but I still don't wanna put it next to my honey!!! but for those who don't know there are 3 things yoou can do to help control the mites and they are 1. a screened bottom board, when the mite fall off bees then they fall through the screen in the bottom and onto the ground if you have a solid board they can climb onto another bee it also helps with ventilation. 2. Drone comb, the males bees (who's only purpose is to mate with queens, eat honey, and hang out at that bar in the sky) need a bigger cell than the workers(female) so the mites will lay their eggs in the drone bigger cells and they have more room to reproduce, so they sell plastice frames with the bigger cell base and workers will draw out the comb and produce drones(males) once they are capped you remove the frames and discard the larve this in turn will help to kill off the mites, and 3. powdered sugar dusting, in your bottom 2 hive boxes (which is where the bees live(this is the actuall hive part) you using a sifter or a screen what ever dust the box with about 1/2 cup of powdered sugar this does nothing to the bees except pisses them off a little, but the mites will drop and you can put a white board under the hive for about 10-15 minutes and see what falls off. monitor how many mites you get and this will be andication of your mite infestation, everyone has mites!!! now is perfect time for this as mites will be spiking early august so its a good time to start to regulate them!!!

I did get package bees.

Thanks Ken that makes good sense, never thopught of that!!!I will have to pass that along.

[KenWP]

I would be lost with out bees in this world as the only sandwich I can eat is peanut butter and honey.Took them to school everyday for 12 years and then work for the last 37 years.I have the best collection of honey and peanut butter containers around.

[twobears1224]

when,i was growing up we had bees and most of the time we had 10 hives.i don,t have any now but come spring i,de like a couple hives.i plan on setting aside the lumber and this winter build some hives/supers and a extractor.

delbert

[afretired]

Red Maples
Bees are a lot of fun, I have about 30 hives now, and hope to increase the number. We are in a dearth right now and the bees aren't getting much done. Hopefully this fall will be wet and we will have a good goldenrod flow.

I also built my extractor, and it works great. I used a plastic 55gallon drum and made the rack inside to hold the frames. I also used a small gear head motor to drive it. It may not look as good as a new Stainless steel one but then again I still have the money in my pocket.

For me it's handy since I am only about 50 miles from Walter T Kelleys if I need anything else.

The honey helps to fill in part of the year that there isn't any syrup. I am also planning to make sorghum this fall if I can get it all together.

David

[The Birdman]

Red Maples
You can use powderd sugar for might control the mites.

[stoweski]

I've been keeping bees for four years now. We just finished extracting 100 lbs of honey from three hives - all one super per hive as they were the hives that survived this past winter. We are back up to five hives now and unless provoked by a swarm, don't see ourselves growing much larger.

Mead is great stuff. My wife makes it each year and actually has two carboys of mead ready to be bottled - about 5 gal each. It's easy to make too.

The 'trader' version of the bee world is called beesource.com. Actually found that site first before finding the trader.

Check out my site for some bee (and maple) picts of our work including a bee cutout and extracting picts.

Keith

[Sugarmaker]

Our five hives are doing great. Very hot and dry so I took some water down to them tonight with chunks of wood floating in it to minimize drowning.
We have taken off about 110 lbs of spring honey and are hoping for a good fall goldenrod crop.
I like the spring honey since it usually doesn't sugar up near as much as the fall goldenrod and aster.
Good talking about bees to fill the maple gap!
Regards,
Chris

[red maples]

Took off 40lbs of honey today off of 14 frames...boy bees get PISSED OFF!!! when you're robbing their honey... it was my first time I think I will invest in a fume board for the next time. I had stingers all over my jacket and gloves. I have never seen them that aggressive. I saved 2 frames to do some cut honey comb bought some little plastic boxes. Very light colored honey ...oops almost called it syrup....:rolleyes: and very floral flavor and very tasty.

I will have another couple of lbs once the cappings drain out. messy job!!! I have honey in places I never thought I would have honey!!! I wanna see if I can make my extractor into a 4 frame instead of a 2 frame. to speed things along a little more.

And yes its not too pretty but it works. maybe I will buy a pretty SS one in a few years!!! We'll see!!!!

I have an avitar on beesource.com and I go there to read a little I asked a few questions and got 10 different answers to each question. a friend of mine said its a good read but do what your local folks tell you, bee keeping in florida is different from NH as it is different in CA. A guy in florida told me sell my evaporator because bees are better. WHAT DOES HE KNOW!!! HE IS IN FLORIDA!!!! :lol:

[stoweski]

Took off 40lbs of honey today off of 14 frames...boy bees get PISSED OFF!!! when you're robbing their honey... it was my first time I think I will invest in a fume board for the next time.

a friend of mine said its a good read but do what your local folks tell you, bee keeping in florida is different from NH as it is different in CA. A guy in florida told me sell my evaporator because bees are better. WHAT DOES HE KNOW!!! HE IS IN FLORIDA!!!! :lol:


I prefer triangle escape boards instead of fume boards. The main reason is the chemical/stench of the chemical. Escape boards take a day or two to clear out the bees and then you can take the super off without the fear that they'll go after you. I realize it takes longer but if you plan ahead it works.

One of the biggest pains for me is asking a question on beesource and getting 10-20 different answers... and they're ALL right! Only thing worse is asking 10 members of my beekeeping club the same question and getting 12 different answers! I hate it.
What I've found is after I've asked the question and taken all answers into consideration I go with my best educated guess. Usually that works. If it doesn't I make sure to store it in memory and go with a different method next time.

Get yourself a triangle board - I think you'll like it... and no chemicals!

[red maples]

OH yes I will get one I don't wanna use any chemicals or scents I think thats what I ment by fume boards.

Yes I get the same from my beekeepers assoc. I usually go to the most experienced. The most experienced usually will say,"well this is what you should do ....but I don't do that....I do this...." Everybody pretty much has there own way which is what I like about it.

The general concensous seems to be manage your mites have strong queens and you should be OK.

One guy did everything you should do for your bees but didn't manage his mites and when he opened the hive in the spring the cluster looked good but he waited about a month for it to warm up and had 2 dead hives. he called in the state inspector and it was loaded with varoa mites, which over loaded the brood cells and hatched sick, bad bees which died.

[KenWP]

I was pressure washing out a room in the pig barn saturday and could hear this noise all day.Turns out the place was full of honey bees drinking the water off the walls I guess. Being deaf has it's problems. Goldenrod is in full bloom here this year for some reason.

[red maples]

How Fumigilin B do I add to 1 gallon sugar syrup? In 1 book is says more than once 1 tsp per gallon but the directions say 2 tsp per US gallon, Well it says 5g per 4 L syrup which is very close. So which do I use??