I wish I knew the old wives tale "eat local honey to help with season allergies" thing...some coworkers told me about that today

but I just read that you need to do it for a few weeks ahead of time before pollen gets bad

4/5/2012 9:37:39 PM

My dad does that every year. It's supposedly got to be cold-pressed honey or bee pollen granule things. But his allergies are still shitty so I don't know that it actually does anything.

4/5/2012 9:54:01 PM

I never had allergies until my grandfather died and stopped giving me honey

THAT'S ALL THE EVIDENCE I NEED

4/5/2012 9:59:09 PM

Quote :

"(This totally wasn't how I planned this to happen, I wanted to get my hive done by late April and the bees in May, but I didn't want to get screwed out of bees this year by some unresponsive guy). "

You didn't want to wait that long, especially since shit is flowing so early this year. My bees are going crazy and there is plenty out there for them right now. I would still feed the shit out of them, but the earlier you start, the better.

4/5/2012 11:32:05 PM

Quote :

"I wish I knew the old wives tale "eat local honey to help with season allergies" thing...some coworkers told me about that today"

you actually need to eat small doses of bee pollen for this to happen, it is not proven, but there have been many people who have beneficial results. Also extremely good for you, and the purest form of protein, more protein packed by weight than beef!

4/5/2012 11:52:32 PM

The bees are in! It went textbook- popped the feeder out, got the queen and removed the cork, duct taped
her box to the side, dumped the rest of the girls in. We had some problems with the front top feeder leaking from
an angle, but we fixed it with shims.

I didn't get stung, and the bees were really inquisitive about my plaid shirt. We fenced off the hive with
chicken wire so the dogs wouldn't stick their noses in and require a trip to the vet. The bee brush is a useful
tool for getting them off of you.

I'll check on the queen in a few days to make sure she's out.

4/6/2012 8:23:12 PM

^ That's awesome! I thought I was probably going to have to go with packaged bees this late in the game, but I found a guy in Kernersville that will have Nucs available the end of this month. I met him today and gave him my deposit for 2 of them. Really nice guy, he answered a bunch of my questions. Told me to call him any time during the process if I needed any help. I just feel more comfortable starting with Nucs as a beginner. If I have success this year, I plan to start 2 new hives next year from scratch. (i.e. packaged bees).

4/7/2012 3:30:13 PM

There's an apiary right across the street from our church that I might have to hit up for some local honeycomb.

4/8/2012 1:53:21 PM

The hives are ready for my babies! Picking up my Nucs next weekend!

4/16/2012 1:07:03 PM

Tulip poplars just opened up on friday at my place, i'm hoping there is a major flow happening right now. Once the main flow has quit here, me and a buddy plan to take some hives up to my place in the mountains to catch the spring flow up there and double up. everything is at least a month behind home.

4/17/2012 10:55:14 AM

Picked up my Nucs last night. Installing them in my hives this afternoon.

4/29/2012 9:49:24 AM

Installed the bees with no protective gear other than gloves, no stings. They already love me!

[Edited on April 29, 2012 at 6:27 PM. Reason : a]

4/29/2012 6:20:23 PM

IT'S BEE TIME PEOPLE!

Finding the first Queen:


Finding the second Queen:


Hive 1:


Hive 2:


Both Hives:

4/29/2012 7:09:58 PM

Both of my hives are doing great! The ladies definitely LOVE the honeysuckle that is all over my property. And to think, I planned on pulling all of that down this year, lol.

My strong hive has bees drawing foundation on 8 of the 10 frames. The weaker hive has just gotten started on the 7th frame. As soon as I have brood on 7 frames and see them working on the other frames, I will add supers.

[Edited on May 13, 2012 at 12:35 PM. Reason : a]

5/13/2012 12:34:23 PM

Queen's present, because I have mini swarms which indicate the next generation has been coming out, getting a mental picture of where they are, and going back into the hive. Hive never swarmed which seemed to be the
'in' thing for the bees to do this year.

I ordered a medium super for honey/more brood. Going to paint it to match, and re-assemble. They
should be happy with more room.

If they're gangbusters when I do my next visit, I'll think about a 2nd deep super. Maybe time to even start hive
#2?

5/13/2012 7:55:02 PM

How long until honey?

5/13/2012 9:13:04 PM

If it's a new hive, you shouldn't harvest honey this year. A medium super should be plenty, and they will need all that honey to get through the winter. You may be able to get away with pulling 1 or 2 frames of honey just so you can "sample the fruits of your labor", but I wouldn't take any more than that.

And make sure you get a queen excluder, or the queen will lay eggs in your super



[Edited on May 14, 2012 at 12:29 PM. Reason : a]

5/14/2012 12:28:23 PM

5/16/2012 5:07:39 PM

picked up a complete hive and took a hive from a nuc to full brood box over the weekend. I haven't had bees in about 4 years so i'm looking forward to getting back into the working with them.

5/21/2012 11:01:52 AM

All things good in the hive on Saturday. Found the queen in about 5 minutes with some help, observed frames,
have brood (even got to see some emerging kiddos ), added medium super, moved to their new painted table.

They got a little OCD about filling in a gap between frames, so I ended up with about half an extra frame's worth of brood and honey. Moved it upstairs into the medium super.

Lesson learned: space your frames evenly to prevent this.

5/21/2012 3:14:38 PM

I just avoided a swarm in my strong hive. I got home and they were all over the outside of the hive, just about to leave. I added a super to give then some more space, and they are fine now. Found the queen so she hadn't left yet. That one was close.

For the first time I actually suited up, because they started to get really pissed.

[Edited on May 26, 2012 at 7:52 PM. Reason : a]

5/26/2012 7:51:56 PM

I was told a few different things about bees hanging out on the outside of the hive. They could be getting ready to swarm, they could be emerging brood that are siting their hive, and lately, they could just be hanging out on the front porch because the inside of the hive is too hot, and they rotate in and out to cool off. I've noticed mine are sensitive to temperature and weather, so they tend to be more irritable when it's really hot like now, cloudy, or rainy. They seem to prefer sunny, warm, calm days in the 70-80 degree range-probably takes the least amount of effort to keep the hive temperature stable, and easy to fly and collect pollen.

Of course, an established hive is going to be pissed off when you work with them- I had to smoke mine for the first time last week.

5/27/2012 1:53:19 PM

what is the purpose of smoking them and whats in those smoke canisters?

5/27/2012 2:14:33 PM

Smoke calms them down- supposedly it masks the alarm pheromones they would produce if the hive is disturbed. It makes them easier to work with, because they don't automatically sting you. We use pine needles or wood chips for smoking.

These are videos my bf took of me screwing around with the hive:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hef3Tb2xfw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbZCeozlj1A

[Edited on May 27, 2012 at 9:04 PM. Reason : your mom ]

5/27/2012 9:00:28 PM

Latest pics:

The hives:


A couple ladies having a drink in a water bucket:

6/14/2012 3:25:45 PM

I put a deep super on the hive on Saturday to give them more room. The washboarding/bearding effect has diminished somewhat.

I went to the Durham County Beekeepers meeting and learned how to extract honey in an old-school drum centrifuge. It looks feasible to build one- I was thinking of renting, but with the group's master beekeeper recently having AFB, I'm instituting a hive-specific equipment policy.

Now the old-timers are recommending I get ready to split the hive into two either this year or next. Now I'm trying to figure out where the hell I'm going to put that!

7/16/2012 7:58:18 PM

My mother harvested her honey last weekend.

7/16/2012 9:26:14 PM

^^^ dumb question. Are those standard honey bees? I've always noticed bumble bees checking out my plant flowers but today was the first time I've seen the color of the ones you posted. Are they wild also or does someone in my neighborhood have honey bees?

7/16/2012 9:46:51 PM

^ They are Italian Honeybees, which are the most common in the hobby. Honeybees in the wild are few and far between, which is why the hobby is so important. Typically wild Italian Honeybee colonies are most likely a swarm that was at one time raised by a beekeeper and left the hive for whatever reason.

In other words, it is possible that the bees visiting your flowers are wild, but more likely that you have a beekeeper in your neighborhood. You should find out who it is and thank them.

7/17/2012 12:00:12 PM

We have both wild and domestic ones in my neighborhood. The wild ones were also most likely a swarm from a domestic hive. They actually live in my beekeeping friend's yard in the front, and his domestic ones are in the back. Hopefully our queens got some bangin' genetics from the wild drones .

7/17/2012 1:07:38 PM

Inspected today and added a super plus a top feeder to my weak hive. Feeding a 1:2 sugar:water syrup which should get the queen laying again to build up the brood. I have been concerned about that hive because it is so far behind my other one, so hopefully this works.

My strong hive on the other hand, is just that.....strong. Every super comb has nectar in it, and about half of them have capped honey. I am considering swapping a few super combs so I can get at least 1 jar this year.

Found the queen in both hives and they both look great

7/18/2012 6:37:11 PM

Checking out the flowers on my mint.

7/25/2012 7:45:28 AM

I saw my girls today all head-buried in my squash and cantaloupe blossoms, hopefully some awesome
veggies and fruit will follow!

7/25/2012 12:42:09 PM

I see my ladies in my garden all the time. And yes, my veggies have been off the hook this year......to bad the deer have enjoyed more of them than I have.

Almost 0 activity on my weak hive since adding the feeder. Hopefully this means they are taking advantage of their new in-hive food source and not venturing out for pollen. I still see a few coming and going, I assume to search for water. I plan to inspect tomorrow to see if there are any new egg/larva cells, as well as to see if there is any nectar in the super.

7/26/2012 9:19:31 AM

I was planning on starting a hive this spring, but I have a couple questions before ordering my stuff.

1. The only place I have found that has nucs won't be ready until July. Should I still get the nuc or should I order a bee package to get started earlier?
2. Anyone know of anyone selling nucs (I live in Raleigh)?
3. If I get a nuc, should I wait to buy my hive until I have the nuc ordered (will the nucs only work for an 8 frame or 10 frame, or does it not matter)?

1/18/2013 2:17:51 PM

where did all the bee experts go?

1/19/2013 5:54:21 PM

I am by no means an expert, but there should be plenty of people in Raleigh that have Nucs available way earlier than July. Brushy Mt. usually has theirs' ready in April, but from Raleigh you will have about a 3 hour drive to pick them up.

I found a local guy for my Nucs on Craigslist. There were several to choose from, and I picked my guy because he was literally up the street from me. Living in Raleigh, it should be even easier for you. There are just not a lot of keepers that will put up a listing for Nucs until they are ready, and that certainly is not in the middle of the winter.

Go ahead and buy all of your equipment, you will have no problem finding Nucs when you are ready for them. Get all the frames built (build double what you need) and get the medium in them (I recommend natural beeswax). You are starting at the perfect time, because you can have everything ready for your bees when they are ready in the spring.

I definitely recommend starting with Nucs as a first-time beekeeper. I am going to do 2 more hives this year with package bees, but now I kind of know what I am doing. Starting with an established colony makes it a lot easier to determine what mistakes you are making.

1/22/2013 8:27:19 PM

thanks for the suggestions. I'll be patient and wait for some nucs to pop up (thanks for the tip about craigslist).

1/22/2013 11:11:23 PM