Bees anyone?

[mustang_94]

I'm not sure that this is the right place for this, but it should be!!! The bees love the garden (especially if there are a few fruit trees) and the garden loves the bees. And I love the honey. So, We're all very happy. I'm also lucky enough to live next door to a three acre landscape nursery where the bees are welcome. Currently three familys share six hives of the little honeymakers. This year we are adding four more hives because people want to buy. Well, Merry X-mas to all and if you don't have your bees yet, I'm happy to help with info. I have had bees most of 61 yrs.

 

[AgapeBible]

So you like the honey? But aren't the bees dangerous? Aren't you afraid of getting stung? I hate it whenever I have wasps or bees come into my yard, they are scary I am scared of being stung by them. When my wisteria is in bloom the bees and some wasps like the sweet fragrance. The wisteria growing on the lattice work that hides the garbage cans from view is beautiful when it is in bloom in the spring. The blossoms are lavender and blue and hang down in clusters.

 

[AgapeBible]

I like honey, but I can only get it from the grocery store, I shop at wal-mart. I like to put honey on biscuits, pancakes or waffles. I remember when I was a little girl I was vacationing in North Carolina in the Smoky Mountains with my parents. We came across an elderly couple that had a farm and they were selling fresh honey from a bee hive that they were taking care of. They were bee-keepers as well as farmers and had livestock like cows, sheep and goats as well. My sister and I loved to play with the farm animals. They had some cute cuddly cats that we played with. I got to pet some goats and lambs. We bought a jar of fresh bee hive honey that had a chunk of honeycomb in it. When we went back to Florida, Mom made pancakes and we used the honey on them. I noticed the honeycomb inthe jar and wondered what it was. My dad told me about honeycombs. I tried to eat a bit of the honeycomb, but it tasted nasty, probably because of the wax, honeycomb is not meant to be eaten, but honey is.

 

[wayfaring man]

I like bees, and wasps they are friends of the garden, and will barely ever sting unless pressed upon, or if their nest is threatened.

I used to slice the honeycomb putting thin slices on fresh hot biscuits...delicious !

Pray for our earth's bees they are endangered by illnesses, probably related to man made contaminants.

wm

 

[mustang_94]

So you like the honey? But aren't the bees dangerous? Aren't you afraid of getting stung? I hate it whenever I have wasps or bees come into my yard, they are scary I am scared of being stung by them. When my wisteria is in bloom the bees and some wasps like the sweet fragrance. The wisteria growing on the lattice work that hides the garbage cans from view is beautiful when it is in bloom in the spring. The blossoms are lavender and blue and hang down in clusters.

Hello! I was afraid someone might inform me that I should take my bee's and get out. Honeybees are nothing like wasp or hornets. A person would sure want to get some help from an experienced beekeeper. But most beekeepers are very quick to help or offer advice. And most honeybees are actually very gentle if handled properly. But watch out for the africanized jobs!!! Really bad news. By way, I am from Jacksonville myself, though I now live in Washington state. Still have 10 acres between Jax. and St. Augustine. I hope to see you here again,telling how well your bees are doing.

 

[mustang_94]

I like bees, and wasps they are friends of the garden, and will barely ever sting unless pressed upon, or if their nest is threatened.

I used to slice the honeycomb putting thin slices on fresh hot biscuits...delicious !

Pray for our earth's bees they are endangered by illnesses, probably related to man made contaminants.

wm

Hey, glad to hear from all you nice folks. Yes, it's getting tough to stay ahead of the problems. I personally think that the commerical pollinators are the largest part of the problems. Bees just aren't up to working all day and traveling all night to get to the next job. And then, there is the airplane that sprays the wrong field. The wind drift that sends the chemicals to the wrong orchard. And on and on !!! I have five acres in the edge of a small town and about 500yds. from a river, so I don't get to many problems from those guys. But it's not perfect by any means. Occasionally, the city decides to cheat and spray along the river for mosquito's at night. What's a person to do? I just do my best. Thank's for plugging in.

 

[BeeWrangler]

I have been beekeeping for about 6 years now, my dad got me a hive of bee's for my birthday one year because I love honey so much lol. Have loved beekeeping ever since!

 

[mustang_94]

Hello Wrangler, My name is Jim and I was sure glad to see your post. I will be watching for you on the forums. A friend of the bees is a friend of mine. Might interest you to know, a friend and I just retrieved a very large nest of bees out of a ladies attic.They had been there 3 yrs. Bit of a job to get them out of there, but well worth the effort. probably 10 to 12 lbs. of bees and tons of capped brood. I guess the heat of the house was working for her. Lucky we had some full combs of honey. Though,we will have to feed pollen a few weeks. Her brood started hatching yesterday. All in all, a great start to the season. And so early. Be sure to tell us all your best stories.

 

[BeeWrangler]

That's a huge hive, and a great catch! 3 years on their own, not shure if they would last that long out this way without help from a beekeeper. Varroa Mites and foulbrood are a big problem out here, it's really sad to see. I remember when I was a lad there was honeybee's on every flower and it was nothing to see a hive in a tree hollow. When I was no more than 10 I found one in the woods. I went home and got a mosquito mask used for fishing, a pair of my dads work gloves and a hatchet. No smoker and no idea what I was doing but I went back to get me some honey... the bee's won that one lol!
Glad to hear your season has started out so well! Still a month or two of snow left here before I find out how my season is going to start

 

[sealacamp]

Pray for our earth's bees they are endangered by illnesses, probably related to man made contaminants.

It took two years to find out that it was a virus, not man made anything. Looks like they are coming back slowly so to me that would indicate that those that survived the decimation have some immunity to that disease. Unfortunately viruses have the ability to mutate and make all life sick again. So who knows what species will be next, maybe us.

Sealacamp

 

[mustang_94]

That's a huge hive, and a great catch! 3 years on their own, not shure if they would last that long out this way without help from a beekeeper. Varroa Mites and foulbrood are a big problem out here, it's really sad to see. I remember when I was a lad there was honeybee's on every flower and it was nothing to see a hive in a tree hollow. When I was no more than 10 I found one in the woods. I went home and got a mosquito mask used for fishing, a pair of my dads work gloves and a hatchet. No smoker and no idea what I was doing but I went back to get me some honey... the bee's won that one lol!
Glad to hear your season has started out so well! Still a month or two of snow left here before I find out how my season is going to start

My Daddy kept a couple of hives for our own use. When he retired, he built up to about twenty to thirty hives. He had a friend who had orange groves down at Cape Canaveral, Fla. and he took the bees down every year for that wonderful orange honey that supplemented his S.S.. So, I've sort of always been around bees. Our biggest problem lately, is nosema. We can treat the bees with fumigillin, the problem has been how to fumigate the hives. I just found an old-timers solution. Acedit-acid (80) wet cloth pads laid on the bars (1 per box) stack box's, tape the cracks, leave one week. Air out for 1 week. Suppose to be safe for your combs and the honey. PRAY FOR SUCCESS!

 

[BeeWrangler]

I have never had orange blossom honey, but I have been told it is amazing! Best honey I myself have tried is blackberry blossom. So many types I have on my have to try list. I don't have nosema issues yet, but I will remember the acedit-acid if I ever do. Hope it takes care of it for you, I will pray it does

 

[Delilah01]

Today I installed two empty hives of mine with package bees. This is my second year of beekeeping and Ive really enjoyed it. I would have never known how fascinating these little insects really are. I'm hoping this year I might get lucky and be able to catch a swarm

 

[gideon123]

" I hate it whenever I have wasps or bees come into my yard, they are scary I am scared of being stung by them"

Can I suggest that you gently move away from hysteria.
I have wasps in my garden.
I like them
They are great friends of gardeners - because they remove a number of pests that would otherwise eat your garden alive. I often see the wasps flying amongst my hedge, looking for small caterpillars and other hungry stuff. They do a really good job.

If I come across a wasps nest in a place I don't want it - I move it gently. Don't be harsh, and they won't be harsh with you. Stay soft and gentle, and they will not panic (and sting you). I moved a wasps nest last summer to a different bush, and things worked out very well.

Too many people are absolutely paranoid about wasps, spiders etc. But all these creatures are Gods creatures, and they all have a place in your garden. If you kill them, then you will destroy the balance. Then as a result you will wind up using insecticide - which is absolutely terrible for peoples' health.

Don't give in to fear.
learn to coexist with all of Gods creatures.

P.S. I'm not saying that every type of bee and wasp is friendly. But your basic common garden wasp is not nearly the fierce individual that you would think. And frankly the stings don't hurt that much either.
I don't know if people can post pix here.
But if it's possible - I will show you some pix of me with creatures in my garden ... including the wasps.

cheers,
Gideon

 

[paul1149]

I would love to keep some bees, but I don't know what's involved or how permanent I am in this location.

 

[drjean]

My dad had some bee hives when I was growing up... it was wonderful to have the honey so fresh, and to chew on the comb! We also had orange groves so the honey was from orange blossoms... mmmmm

But today? IDK ...the african bee is infiltrating the hives terribly...and if you're in a residential community, there's probably a law against hives due to safety?

Hope you figure it out...
You do have to steal the honey or it overflows and drips and etc... and probably keep adding hive boxes as the hive grows... wish I could be of help here.

Bee well