The bee keeper diaries

[Iowanian]

It's a great time to buy stock in eppy pens.

This thread is a repository for bee keepers or those interested.

A couple of years ago, a couple of friends an my brother started puttering with honey bees. I didn't buy off because, well, I've never been a big fan of bees or getting stung by them. Last summer I tagged along a couple of times to check their hives and to remove honey bees from a house, public building and an old garage.

I realized at the end of the summer when I was helping them process some, that it's actually pretty interesting, and fits into my expanding "grow my own" logic. I'm not full blown hippy but I see a lot of logic in the self sustaining food thing and I'm doing some of that too.

That said, this thread is about bees, honey bees, bee keeping and bee fighting war stories.

I'm taking the leap and plan to get 2-3 hives this spring and maybe build some bee swarm traps to make it cheaper or to make a few bucks.

Join me and I'll share the real life lessons of an ameture bee keeper. I'm sure I'm going to learn some things the hard way.

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by Iowanian

I'm also working on some new products...herbal remedy honey(infused with herbs for medicinal purposes) and also am looking at some new creamed honey flavors to include aronia and elderberry to target those health aware markets and make those berries palletable with the power of honey.

I'll be eager to jump in line when the time comes.
The wife is from the Cali desert and every year her allergies get worse.

I'm also heavy into supplements and doing whatever I can to avoid prescription meds. I was able to get through my covid stretch with mullen, mushroom powders, and soups with herbs that have antiviral properties.

Never had a sinus or lung infection but had actual physical pain in all my joints and sense of smell and taste were off. I already had some kratom for the pains and aches so really only had a gross sense of smell and taste.

[displacedinMN]

If you are not watching football, I hope you are watching 9-1-1 on ABC.

If not, make sure you watch this and the next two episodes.



BeeNado

[displacedinMN]

this is in todays paper--have not read it completely

Problems with bee hives this fall

Spoiler!

Kirk Nelson walked outside a week ago to check on the honeybees he’d been tending for about six years, and got a stark surprise.

One of the two colonies in his backyard in Orono had buzzed out of its hive — the queen, workers and drones alike — leaving nothing behind but honey.

“We had been out in the hive two weeks before that and it looked like it was doing great, and all of a sudden they were just gone,” Nelson said.

Nelson isn’t the only Minnesota beekeeper who’s missing their prized honey makers. He said he spoke with two others who had lost hives in the same way. And similar reports have come in to the University of Minnesota’s Bee Lab, according to Marla Spivak, a professor in the department of entomology.

Asked what the cause might be, Rebecca Winkels, a beekeeper with the West Metro Bee Club, guessed the pervasive varroa mite.

“[My bees] did the same few years back,” she wrote in an email. “Mites were crazy this fall.”

Varroa mites are present in every honeybee hive across the United States, Spivak said. The parasites suck bees’ blood and spread viruses from bee to bee. Spivak agreed mites and the viruses they spread were the likely culprit in Nelson’s case. In late fall, if viruses are rampant, bees often fly away suddenly when they are about to die, she added.

Mites are a well-known problem to beekeepers, who cited the parasites as the biggest single impact on bee health in a survey conducted by the Bee Lab. Nelson said he had treated his hives this September.

An additional factor made the mites worse this year, however: a warm fall that has allowed queen bees to keep laying eggs long past when they usually would, Spivak said. If the brood keeps growing after a mite treatment, the mites will keep reproducing too — and the beekeeper might not know it’s happening unless they check. Apiarists should always check after a mite treatment to make sure it has worked, Spivak added.

“We don’t have any way of knowing how many people this is happening to,” Spivak said, because Minnesota has no beekeeper registration or tracking program. The Bee Lab does offer classes for beekeepers, however, and keepers can reach out with questions at the email beelab@umn.edu.

The mite infestations do not qualify as “colony collapse disorder,” a phenomenon first reported in 2006 where hives would similarly disappear, but leave their queens behind. In those situations, bees disappeared in the summer. Scientists still don’t know the exact cause of that situation, Spivak said. Annually, 30% to 40% of U.S. colonies die every winter, mostly from mites and viruses.

The Washington Post recently reported that the number of American honeybee colonies had surged, with the USDA reporting 3.8 million hives nationally in 2022. Much of that growth, however, came from Texas, which has changed its tax code to apply lower property tax rates to land where bees were raised.

Nelson said he and his niece, who tend the bees together, don’t plan to give up their backyard operation. Their original hive is still going strong, and feeding on honey the other bees left behind. They will likely start a new hive next spring, he said.

[myselff77]

My neighbor and her son started keeping bees on a piece of hunting land he owns. They will bring the honeycombs back to press the honey out of her garage (sorry if I have the lingo wrong). The other day, they left a bit of honeycomb out on the driveway.

It was amazing to watch. That thing had to have attracted every bee within several square miles. Hundreds upon hundreds of bees were swarming that thing for the next few hours. I'd have never guessed we had that many bees around the neighborhood. It's fascinating to think how all the bees knew the honeycomb was sitting out there.

[Iowanian]

The state Apiarist put out a message a couple weeks ago telling bee keepers to pucker up and get ready to get our ass kicked this winter. They’re expecting huge losses due to several reasons.

I’ve already lost several hives this fall. It’s going to be ugly.

On the upside, I officially released our hot honey and have it in a couple of stores and people love it.

[Mr. Wizard]

I have horizontal hives. With extra insulation on top. I finally have a hive that are native and not purchased. They are a bit meaner but are hardy as hell. My goal is to put out more hives and let native bees infest them. Time to tarp and strap the hives. I leave just enough space for them to get out. I use canvas tarps so they breathe in the winter.
I no longer use any chemicals in my hives, nor do I feed my bees. I do make sure they have ample water and that’s it.

[Iowanian]

I was too busy to post about bees this year….and too busy to take care of them in reality.

This fall, the state apiary guys put out word to expect to get wiped out…colony collapse pending…with multiple factors….timing of wet fall made treatment for mites tough…late, warm fall with large clusters of busy bees using winter resources…..

They weren’t wrong. 75% of my hives are already dead.

That’s about 3 years in a row when I’ve been completely kicked in the stinger with dead bees and starting over. With changes in job and a personal issue, this is the first year I’m not certain what I’m going to do. I’ve managed to build a name in the area, I’ve developed a couple of products that are selling well….but the time and expense of starting over every year, hard work and low profit margins…..

Bee keeping more than small hobby level is not for the weak of heart…that I can tell you.

I’ll always have some hives at least for friends and family but I’m not positive what I’m going to do with the store level part of this going forward. Bee keeping is about as humbling as anything you can do.

[displacedinMN]

that sucks

[myselff77]

Any of the beekeepers also raise chickens? Given the state of egg prices, I'd be interested in a Chicken Keepers Diary thread, but not sure it would gain steam.

Ideally I'd like two chickens though being a suburbanite, I don't know how practical it really is.

[Iowanian]

I’ve had chickens…got out a year or so ago….ill be getting back into the chickens this spring.

I’m sure free range chickens help some, but I’ve heard more than one person who have Guinea fowl roaming because they help control small hive beetles.

[htismaqe]

We had chickens for a while. It's a lot of work.

[ghak99]

You just need a youtube channel, way more hives, and an unpaid intern from the local ag school. It doesn't even have to be profitable after the subscriber clicks take over.

That's how all the "experts" became the online expert in their niche.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by myselff77

Any of the beekeepers also raise chickens? Given the state of egg prices, I'd be interested in a Chicken Keepers Diary thread, but not sure it would gain steam.

Ideally I'd like two chickens though being a suburbanite, I don't know how practical it really is.

Meh. If you want to run chickens, run chickens. But the people that I know that run chickens have way more money in the chickens than they would buying eggs. And a few of them are trying to do it on the cheap.

If you need a hobby fine, fire away. They're pretty easy if you can keep predators out. If you think you can save money on eggs, save money somewhere else. Livestock ain't it.

*** I may be unduly sensitive about the thing because I have a person in my life that blathers on about how they don't have to buy eggs and they're feeding their family and all this shit. And frankly I get sick of hearing about it.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by Iowanian

I’ve had chickens…got out a year or so ago….ill be getting back into the chickens this spring.

I’m sure free range chickens help some, but I’ve heard more than one person who have Guinea fowl roaming because they help control small hive beetles.

Guineas make me laugh. Somehow they always hang out on the highways and roads and don't get ****ed up. The people that have them say they have them to eat snakes.

You just look at those things and you can see in their eyes they give no ****s.

[ptlyon]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

Guineas make me laugh. Somehow they always hang out on the highways and roads and don't get ****ed up. The people that have them say they have them to eat snakes.

You just look at those things and you can see in their eyes they give no ****s.

That sounds like an old girlfriend we all once had