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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2009 11:43:36 GMT
I have toyed with the idea of keeping bees on and off for quite some time now. I even had someone who keeps bees here locally come to my garden and investigate the feasibility of this venture(do I have enough sources of pollen et.). He seemed to think I did. I was put off for awhile because of all the hype around the viruses,mysterious colony collapse and other drawbacks but am now seriously reconsidering. Have any of you ever kept bees? Ideas,hints,advice?
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Post by bixaorellana on May 1, 2009 13:50:16 GMT
When I lived in Wilmington, NC, I belonged to an Herb Club. Members took turns giving reports on related subjects. My favorite report ever was given by a very shy dentist who was a backyard beekeeper. The information was fascinating, and seeing a tasting different honeys was a revelation. This article seems to indicate that you have an excellent set-up for at least one hive. And it would be such a New Orleans enterprise, too ~~ in your area, the Italian bee is preferred and, just as with Krewes, the hive must be requeened every year.
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2009 16:52:46 GMT
My French grandfather had a beehive when I was little. It was at the base of a pear tree surrounded by strawberry plants in a corner of the garden of which I was quite wary. I'm sure that it helped both the vegetable and the flower gardens flourish, but I have just a very vague recollection of having eaten the honey from the hive. I do vaguely recall a honey jar in which there were pieces of honeycomb.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 31, 2009 23:09:55 GMT
Very excited as I and my helper/friend had consult today with a premier NOLA beekeeper. Aspiring to be a bee charmer in 2010! Something I have wanted to do for a very long time. Stay tuned or buzzed as it were!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2010 0:22:46 GMT
A new project is even better than a resolution.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2010 12:16:20 GMT
A new project is even better than a resolution. I agree! The gentleman with whom we consulted had been to my garden many,many years ago on two separate occasions,and I was flattered that he remembered it so well. Since the time he last visited, much has evolved and he expressed much enthusiasm for our venture. Also,in the time we met, he pointed out many interesting and curious factors and determinations to successful beekeeping. I will embellish more on these as the project enfolds.
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Post by spindrift on Jan 13, 2010 23:02:33 GMT
I'll be most interested to hear what's going on. Will you look after the hives yourself or just provide the pollen? When I lived on the farm a beekeeper used to put his hives in a corner of a field, depending on what would be growing in there... they were no trouble at all.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2010 0:08:23 GMT
I'll be most interested to hear what's going on. Will you look after the hives yourself or just provide the pollen? When I lived on the farm a beekeeper used to put his hives in a corner of a field, depending on what would be growing in there... they were no trouble at all. I plan on becoming a" bee charmer" Spindrift. (The plan is to place two hives in the back,has to be away from lights,so,am having to explore locations as I have some commercial property behind me,may need to pull out the ol' BB gun )Will keep you posted,right now the bees are all dormant with the cold weather.
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Post by Kimby on Jan 14, 2010 6:44:28 GMT
While you wait for your hives to arrive, casi, perhaps you can re-read "Secret Life of Bees" for tips. ;-)
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Post by spindrift on Jan 14, 2010 15:36:41 GMT
A bee charmer? Wonderful...let me join you
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2010 21:29:18 GMT
A bee charmer? Wonderful...let me join you Two bee charmers has got to be better than one! Thanks Kimby,will do.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2010 5:42:40 GMT
Anyway, since the bee population is in dire straits at the moment, all efforts should be made to increase their numbers.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2010 4:13:52 GMT
In talking with the local beekeeper here,he told us it's only the imported bees that are used to pollinate the large orchards and transported in trucks all over(California in particular)that the bee decline is more prevalent. The bees we are going to be using are wild bees,gathered here locally from hives in trees and houses that people don't want.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 20, 2010 18:41:28 GMT
I would love to keep bees and if the water situation improves, will figure out a way to do so. Bees fascinate me and I've been reading all the articles about the hive-death phenomenon. I highly recommend this site for balanced information. Be sure to follow the related links, as well, one of which addresses native bees. Here's one small article from the site that fits in beautifully with the landscaping philosophy of many of us here in Putting Down Roots: Do you lament the disappearance of the bees, but feel powerless to stop it?
Well, plant a garden.
The British Bumblebee Nest Survey has found that, more than forests or grasslands, bees like to live in gardens. Why? Juliet Osborne, author of the resulting Journal of Applied Ecology article, explained to the BBC that
"The diversity of garden features and gardening styles provide a large variety of potential nesting sites compared to more uniform countryside habitats." [...]
"Areas with gardens have a high concentration of boundary features, such as hedges, fences and garden buildings, which are suitable for nesting."
And if you don’t have time to tend a garden, Osborne recommends planting a few brightly-colored flowers. Failing that, just let the grass grow tall.
Could there be a better excuse to skip the lawn mowing than saving the bees?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 27, 2010 10:25:02 GMT
Time for an update. We captured a swarm of wild bees that were in an abandoned house. They escaped as we were trying to move them and all landed in a tree and congregated on one big branch. With the help of an experienced bee charmer, we were able to remove the branch of the tree(during evening hours while the bees were in repose) and moved them into my friend's house where they now are,seemingly happy as they are already starting to build a new comb. The plan is to move them over here to our house and put them in the "bee box" we have built for them. No pics as of yet. Hope to move them later this week.
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 27, 2010 14:36:22 GMT
Details!
How were they captured and how did they escape? How was the branch removed? (& where was the extra person with a video camera? ;D) Are they in a hive at your friend's house?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2010 16:49:41 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2010 10:20:36 GMT
So,this same hive remains living downtown in the upper 9th ward in between two studs in a wall with a plexiglass window for viewing from the inside. The comb grows everyday and the bees come and go through a hole drilled in the outside wall of the house. In the meantime,four of us, successfully moved a hive from the eave of a house over on the West Bank. The owners of the coffee shop/residence had obtained information about us from another friend. (We put the word out in the garden community that we were looking for a hive or two of wild bees,who needs Facebook? ) So,with high hopes,a ladder,two veils,a smoker,a large box with a flip out lid,crowbar,hammer,nails,and knives, we ventured over across the river to charm said bees. It was an oppressively hot,hot day and we had to wear long sleeves and pants. There were times when I felt positively faint from the heat. It was obvious once we got there,where the bees were. We could see them coming and going and there was a cluster or two of them hanging from the eave where we knew immediately,that there were thousands of them inside,and the comb,and of course,the Queen. to "bee" continued...
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 13, 2010 19:56:21 GMT
That's pretty exciting. You all must have been able to hear the buzzing, right?
Not quite on the subject, but ... you'll remember my thread about the bees coming to drink in the birdbath when it was so hot. I recently read that they come to water when it's hot because they're taking it back to cool off the hive.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 15, 2010 11:07:17 GMT
Yes ,we could most certainly here the buzzing and it got louder!! (I would imagine that the water thing is right on Bixa,it makes perfect sense. I'm finding out really how much I don't know about bees as I go along. I've been reading several books and articles on,it's so fascinating!). So,having located the hive,we spoke with the proprietors of the building who had initially contacted us as mentioned. They were so accommodating,it was cool. They didn't care really how we went about removing the bees. The gentleman told us that if we had to remove boards,gutters,flashing etc.,not to worry about replacing or repairing it once we were finished. The woman who called us and whose business is attached to the house,remained inside as she was frightened of the bees and being stung. The bees were in the hollowed out section of house in the picture just below the gutter. We set out to remove the long board by prying it off with a hammer and crowbar. It got a little more complicated as it always does,once we got that board loose. My friend Luke,the most experienced of the four of us. He choose not to wear the veil just yet as it is very cumbersome and it was so bloody hot out. He was able to loosen the board some but,in doing so the bees starting getting restless as one can imagine,so close to their Queen. We decided at this point it was time to get the smoker going in an attempt to calm the bees. The smoker is an old fashioned contraption,cleverly designed,compact and very lightweight and efficient. The lid is hinged to place the herbal blend inside a small but not too small area,to be lit and then allowed to smoke a bit before pumping air into and allowing to come out.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 15, 2010 11:19:15 GMT
The herbal blend is a combination of primarily mugwort and artemisia(dried). It's quite pleasant. We got the recipe from a reference we rely pretty heavily on for advice,The Barefoot Beekeeper. (The herbs btw,are from my garden.) We also had a bundle of the same mixture tied up ready to light to wave around the area and near us to keep from getting stung too much. The bees were getting restless. They knew something was up. It's important to mention that we moved very slow,methodically and tried not to make any sudden movements,it wasn't easy,but,the main thing is to try and stay calm. If you're frightened,the bees pick up on it and you're more prone to getting stung. packing and lighting the smoker
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Post by Deleted on Jun 15, 2010 11:31:58 GMT
Once we got the smoker going we placed it on top of the air conditioning unit (which was broken so no worries there) just underneath the area of the hive.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 15, 2010 12:01:59 GMT
Most of the bees that were hanging down off the eave dispersed at this point and we started prying off the board housing the hive. Up until now,no one has been stung but,there was a lot of activity in the air as you can imagine. We thought,wrongly...that we would be able to simply pry the board from the bottom,lift it,and voila,the hive. It wasn't that easy. We discovered that the trim and a strip of flashing also needed to be removed to get the board loose enough. Ok,flashing and trim removed,now to pry the board loose. There they are... We decided to take a break at this point,one of us had gotten stung twice at this point,and we needed to get our strategy together,and it was so bloody hot. The bees were buzzing all around us. Best let them settle down a bit. We kept the smoker going the whole time and it really seemed to help. Feel free to comment please,or not,while I wait on pics from another camera. My battery went dead in the middle of this and I had to borrow my friends...)
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 15, 2010 22:37:30 GMT
Completely missed seeing this earlier today! I don't the blue markers on the board always work. Anyway ............ fascinating! I don't know what I expected to see once the fascia was removed, but I was surprised and amazed by all that perfectly formed comb. That's an incredibly good picture, by the way. Eeeee -- looking at the sweat gleaming on the arms & shoulders of the guys working with the crowbar, all I could think was how attractive that probably was to the bees. It had to have been nerve-wracking right at the end, to have ones face right up there where a bunch of annoyed bees had the front of their house ripped off.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 18, 2010 4:25:17 GMT
Well, it must be bee season in New Orleans!
One of my son's friends who lives in NO posted pics, comments, and videos of a huge feral hive. I don't feel it's right to take someone's FB stuff, but did copy this comment: The hive was six feet tall, sixteen inches wide and two or three combs deep throughout.
You can see in the photos it's an old NO house with those narrow clapboards. They took the siding off, and it's a lathe and plaster house inside. The hive completely filled the space between two studs.
The beekeeper's name is Jeff -- do you know him, Casimira?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2010 18:16:56 GMT
So very cool Bixa! No,can't say I know a beekeeper named Jeff off the top of my head. Luke might,he's more in the loop than I am. There are quite a few about which I think is great,lots of networking going on and plenty of bees. More and more people are becoming aware of the alternatives out there. That's a really big hive you described,am kind of glad ours wasn't that big....
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 10, 2010 3:57:46 GMT
Came across this, just released & downloadable in pdf form: The latest edition (March, 2010) of "The Very Handy Manual: How to Catch and Identify Bees and Manage a Collection" is now available! Compiled mainly by Sam Droege at the USGS Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab with input from specialist researchers and taxonomists over several years from 2004-2008, this guide provides detailed instructions on bee monitoring techniques including specimen collection, processing and management; bee identification; and more! pollinators.nbii.gov/documents/Handy%20Bee%20Manual.pdflink takes you to manual
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2010 10:50:48 GMT
Thanks Bixa,I will add it to my BEEKEEPING library. My favorite thus far is, The Barefoot Beekeeper,although,in some places a little tooooo" hippie dippie",(for me). BTW,I'm still waiting on Luke's pictures from this episode.The bees are doing well,and we extracted about a gallon of honey from that one single hive,.I think it's primarily from elderberry blossoms.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2010 4:22:33 GMT
I went downtown tonight and visited with the bees that we removed from the house. They are currently residing in the wall of a house down in the upper Ninth Ward part of town,in between two studs and covered inside by a sheet of plexiglass where you can watch them. You will be amazed at how much they have grown, quadrupled,at least, in number and are quite happy where they are,however,became irritated at being disturbed after a bit,and having a light shined upon them as they were coming in for the night. Here in the first shot,is the hole drilled into the outside of the house where they come and go throughout the day to tend to their Queen. view taken from inside of the house,behind the sheet of plexiglass. Happy,happy bees!! My friend took this last picture of me holding up the light,in order to give you an idea of the scale of the size of this wall. There is a curtain/shade that gets lowered at night time to allow for them to rest and be in darkness, As noted,they did not take too kindly to having the light beaming in on them,so, at this point we discontinued the pictures,and let them go to bed. Another busy day tomorrow...
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 8, 2010 16:01:03 GMT
I am very embarrassed that I somehow missed seeing the fascinating sequence above. Having that first shot, with the little hole and the little bitty bees followed by the astounding evidence of their industry is mind-boggling. Fabulous group of pictures, Casimira! Has that honey been collected? I've been reading all the articles about the hive-death phenomenon. I highly recommend this site for balanced information. Be sure to follow the related links, as well, one of which addresses native bees. It appears that a cause has been identified, giving hope for a solution: Since 2006, 20 to 40 percent of the bee colonies in the United States alone have suffered “colony collapse.” Suspected culprits ranged from pesticides to genetically modified food.
Now, a unique partnership — of military scientists and entomologists — appears to have achieved a major breakthrough: identifying a new suspect, or two.
A fungus tag-teaming with a virus have apparently interacted to cause the problem, according to a paper by Army scientists in Maryland and bee experts in Montana in the online science journal PLoS One.
Exactly how that combination kills bees remains uncertain, the scientists said — a subject for the next round of research. But there are solid clues: both the virus and the fungus proliferate in cool, damp weather, and both do their dirty work in the bee gut, suggesting that insect nutrition is somehow compromised.Click text above for full article.
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