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Beeboy and other BKr's HELP or at least some advice

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Good to hear the hives are working out Kace, there are still three good months left for building them up. I'm planning to use some grapefruit leaves as smoker fuel on a regular basis, see if it helps with the mites, probably will dry some grapefruit skins and toss them in the smoker as a experiment. Can't get any real data with only four hives but still can observe what happens with different smoker fuel.
In the middle of a drought down here in Florida, don't know what honey sources the bees are working but they are bringing in honey. Still waiting for the shallows to fill up, beekeeping is almost as bad as mead making with the waiting, can't rush the girls or yeasties, they work at thier own pace :-\.
 
Re: Beebo and other Bkr HELP or at least some advice

Is a drought good or bad for beekeeping? I thought I heard some where that the bees concentrate the honey more in dry years so you end up with less honey but better quality and taste. I'm probably off in left field with this question, what I know about bee keeping would fit on the back of a bee.
just curious,
Tarot.
 
The drought is preventing the plants from flowering heavy which decreases the nectar flow, at least that is what I've been told. you have a good point about whatever honey is brought in being better quality. The little bit of burr comb I collected had a thick sweet honey in it. Burr comb is the honey comb that the bees make to fill in any large spaces in the hive and can become a problem if not removed.
 
Beeboy the grapefruit leaves really intrigues me. The tobbacco to if it wasn't so expensive.
I'm not to worried about my colonies now, I started feeding them syrup again and pollen patties. Wow was that a mess today. I figured I will just pop the lids and throw a patty in there no problem, no need to light a smoker, in and out real quick. Yeah right. They must have still been pissed from being opened the day before. Once I got the inner cover opened they were on me like gangbusters. Got hit in the eye, the cheek and who knows how many times in the arms. They chased me off good. So the really weak colony got a patty inside the hive and I have no idea how good the outer got put back on. The not so weak colony got a patty on top of the outer cover.lol While I ran off.
Luckily I am over swelling and all the ill effects of bee stings. I must have been stung 40 times last week working for my mentor. So now its that inital hurt of the sting and its all over.
I agree with your explanation of drought conditions and honey production.
I really need to start learning the local flora.
things look to be shaping up to be a good year here, everything is coming on early, But it got pretty dry here in August last year so, who knows.

I just got my dad's radial arm saw so building some nuc boxes are on the agenda this summer so I won't have such a problem next year with splits. I can't beiliev how much nuc boxes go for! geez there about as much as a deep with a bottom board and covers!
 
I forgot in my previous post about you mentioning patience with the girls like wiht the mead beeboy. Very true
Sometimes I think of the girls as giant yeast cells. I think fermenting and beekeeping have a lot in common. Both can take care of themselves but they will work better with proper management.
Luckily the yeast don't hurt you when they are mad about their living conditions or we would be in a lot of trouble! ;D
 
Hi KACE, I forgot to answer your other question from a couple of days ago. You wanted to know how long befor beeweaver brood and bees dominate the colony?
The new queens will be shipped 6-12-06 so I will *pinch* the old queens 6-11-06. The new queens will arrive 6-14 or 6-15. It will take the bees 2 or 3 days to eat throu the *candy* and free their new *mom*. From there it should only take 5 to 7 weeks and the colonies should be about 85% beeweaver.
I enjoyed your last post about getting stung. For some warpped reason we beekeepers find that amusing. That might be a good thing to post. What is the most beestings you've had in one day?
What was the worst place a bee has stung you?
There are a lot of people here on the forum that are thinking of getting into bees and it would be great if they knew what they might be getting into. I'll start with my worst this season. One of my little darlings worked her way into bee jacket and inside of my shirt and proceeded to sting me IN the navel. Try putting out a cigarett in your belly botton. Man oh man that hurt!!!

You know you're a beekeeper when you refuse to mow the lawn because your bees are working the Dandelions. ;D Dennis
 
The worst stings I've ever gotten was trying to recover a swarm that was in a pine tree. Now remember that I was new to beekeeping at the time and had read a lot of books but had no hands on experience. The swarm was about twenty feet up the tree and out maybe six or seven feet on branch. So I figured that I could climb up the tree with a bucket tied on a stick and just poke the swarm till it fell into the bucket after all swarming bees won't sting, at least that's what the books said ;D. So up the tree I go with a bucket tied onto a piece of 2x3 and procede to poke the swarm, maybe 4-5 pounds of bees, till they dropped into the bucket. Next thing I knew the bees came out of the bucket in a big cloud just like a cartoon, flew down the 2x3 and began stinging me all over the head. Time to get out of the tree fast so I began to climb down till I missed a branch and started to slide down the tree trunk like a fireman on a fire pole. One big difference between the tree and a fire pole is that the tree had branches every few feet which I was snapping off with my feet, elbows and knees. Meanwhile the swarm of really p1ssed off bees was still all over me stinging everything they could. After I hit the ground in a shower of broken branches and bees I ran into the garage to hide. Final count was four or five stings on each ear, three on the face, another half dozen along the hair line and back of the neck and three or four under the shirt. Had to comb the bees out of my hair. I also broke six or seven branches off the tree on the way down. The worst thing about it all was that the bucket half full of bees was stuck way up in the tree LOL. Had to use a ladder to finally get the swarm down and you know that hive was always a mean one. Moral to the story, don't believe everything you read and alway wear a veil. I could of made Americia's Funniest home videos with that stunt. :D
 
Now that's funny! Thanks Beeboy, it's stories like that, that make beekeeping fun. The guy in the cubical next to me came over to ask what was so funny.
Thanks for the chuckle, Dennis :D :D
 
Geez the most I have been stung in one day was probably 20- 25 times, after about number 5 you don't count and just think about how sore you will be tommorow. Other than stings in the eye probably the worst is down real low getting a little to close to destroying my sex life for a day or two.lol
I get most of my stings working the commercial yards and rarely get stung by my own bees. I almost never wear a veil while working my own bees, I just smoke them real good.

I work as a welder and some of the other welders think I am nuts for keeping bee's, that it hurts so much to get stung. I say welding burns hurt more and for longer. I will take a beesting over getting a burn from 2000 degree steel any day! Its amazing how a welding spark can bounce down in your boot and not hit you until it lands in between your toes. ouch. The worst burns are the sparks that go up your nose or in your ear. I think a burn in your nose is the worst of all.

Anyone following this thread, don't fear the beesting. Its not as bad as you think. The more you get stung the less it will bother you. It still hurts but only for a minute or two and it is all over. Beekeeping is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done, even if I don't get a harvest. I know that I am doing a great service for everyone within 5 miles of my colonies and you should see your garden when you have bees in the back yard.

Won't mow the lawn cuz the girls are working dandelions..lol
 
Oskaar <---allergic to the point of having to carry a prescription bee-sting kit until the last couple of years.

Oskaar <---stung once and had a nice ride to the hospital

Oskaar <---thinks bees are cool as long as they don't sting him

Oskaar <---will leave the bee farming to those who are properly equipped and non-allergic

Cheers,

Oskaar
 
One of my other addictions if flying, if it has wings, I'll try to fly it. So one day, Southern California, middle of the summer a friend and I are happily flying along in a couple of things that most closely resemble lawn chairs with engines attached when he starts flying most erratically, and then down he goes to land on a ditch bank. So I follow thinking something most have gone horribly wrong with his plane. When I get down, there he is right in front of a family out for a quit Sunday nature walk with his shorts off, jumping up and down, waiving them in the air and cussing up a blue streak. The look of shock on the parents faces was unbelievable, yes our friend the bee had found his most private of parts and had inflicted the most damage possible.


Cheers
Jay
 
Thanks for the laughs guys!! The mental images are priceless!!
 
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