Ever wanted to watch a fellow homebrewer stung by a bee?

[Hethen57]

I was turned onto brewing by a friend who heard I had bees and said I should make mead. I made some mead last winter but it takes so long to age, that I got into brewing beer while I am waiting for my mead to age. I started my hives last year and they are so darn fascinating to watch and work with.

FYI - keep an eye on those foundationless frames and if they aren't drawing them straight, fix it asap, if you don't, in a week or two they can make a mess of the whole box, because one comb out of line makes the whole box out of line...
-Mike

 

[Austin_]

Because I love y'all and feel like F'ing with y'all.

 

[Hethen57]

I hope that is a dead bee...supposedly a sting to the eye can be very serious, or he better have serious control over his blink reflex. That photo gives me the creeps...thanks for posting

 

[GroosBrewz]

I hope that is a dead bee...supposedly a sting to the eye can be very serious, or he better have serious control over his blink reflex. That photo gives me the creeps...thanks for posting

I agree.. That is creepy... Hethen, where are you at in N. Idaho?.. I am in Colfax and my dad lives in Post Falls..

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

Science has improved since that picture was taken. If we want to see a bee's genitals we can use a microscope these days.

 

[Hethen57]

Cool...ya, I'm in Coeur d'Alene and work over in Spokane.

 

[GrizlyGarou]

That was awesome.

If you're a smoker, tobacco is awesome for the stings. Just get a little pinch wet and hold it on the spot you got stung with some tape or a band-aid or something. You'll look at it in a couple of hours and wonder why you have a band-aid on then you'll remember you got stung. Guaranteed to get rid of all the pain and swelling.

 

[Bil]

As for the frames, my wife and I are going to do "foundationless" beekeeping..

Cool, that's really good to hear from a new beekeeper. I've had bees for 5 or 6 years now and I'm still trying to un-learn a lot of the stuff I heard from the old timers. Treatment free, small cell, that's the way to go IMO.

So do you guys have any books that you recommend for beginning beekeeping?

As loathe as I am to buy books with these types of titles, The Complete Idiots Guide to Beekeeping is definitely the book I'd recommend to anyone who wants to get into keeping bees. Very up-to-date and informative.

 

[GroosBrewz]

Cool, that's really good to hear from a new beekeeper. I've had bees for 5 or 6 years now and I'm still trying to un-learn a lot of the stuff I heard from the old timers. Treatment free, small cell, that's the way to go IMO.



As loathe as I am to buy books with these types of titles, The Complete Idiots Guide to Beekeeping is definitely the book I'd recommend to anyone who wants to get into keeping bees. Very up-to-date and informative.

Yes, I agree.. That is a good book.. The main problem I have found with keeping bees is the conflicting information...10 different answers to 1 question.. I h ave decided to take the "let the bees be bees" approach and try to interfere as little as possible.. I don't really care if I get any honey or not, I am just fascinated by watching them do their thing..

 

[mnblonde]

Totally Awesome Video!!!! BTW what did you name your Queen? Wish i had my own Mead Makers! Too much spraying goes on around here i think i have 10 acres but the drift from the humoungous farmers :{ wouldnt wanna kill my bees!!

MNBlonde
Drink More MEAD!

 

[Chudz]

That was great . . . the video I mean, not you getting stung. :cross:

And yah, what did you name your queen, Grooella?

 

[MeadWitch]

I was laughing so hard, my 13 year old had to come and see what was happening. He started laughing as well. We watched both vids and enjoyed them both.

Have you ever heard of a hanging hive? I have a girlfriend who is interested in raising bees and mentioned it. She wants to do one in her backyard in a very ritzy residential neighborhood. Bet the homeowners association ain't gonna like it much. Hell, they didn't like the vegetable and herb gardens either. lol

 

[nebben]

I'm not sure if a "hanging hive" would work, at least not here in Utah. A hive must be accessible and be able to be inspected if needed. Hanging up in the air makes that a challenge!

 

[GroosBrewz]

\

And yah, what did you name your queen, Grooella?

That, my friend, was epic....

 

[GroosBrewz]

I was laughing so hard, my 13 year old had to come and see what was happening. He started laughing as well. We watched both vids and enjoyed them both.

Have you ever heard of a hanging hive? I have a girlfriend who is interested in raising bees and mentioned it. She wants to do one in her backyard in a very ritzy residential neighborhood. Bet the homeowners association ain't gonna like it much. Hell, they didn't like the vegetable and herb gardens either. lol

Glad you liked the video! It still makes me laugh, and I'm the one who got stung!

 

[GroosBrewz]

For those interested, my bees appear to still be alive and made it through the winter! The hive never did get as big as it was supposed to be, but I think this is the year I get some honey! I was pretty nervous they didnt have enough food stored away to get through the winter, but on a warm day yesterday they swarmed out! Encouraging sight!

 

[BennyN]

Oh man! awesome video. Nothing but the best for you and your colony!

 

[GroosBrewz]

Oh man! awesome video. Nothing but the best for you and your colony!

Thanks Benny! Here's to hoping for some honey.. By God I have enough time, energy, blood, sweat, tears and stings invested in this little side project to have a little honey this year!

 

[Whut]

In a word, damn - just damn! :cross:

 

[GroosBrewz]

Aw man, that sucks! I got hurt by chicken wire , but so far no bee injuries to me today. They were so cooperative, it was amazing.

The worst thing though, is I've had "Eye of the tiger" in my head all weekend, with thoughts of me running around the yard blasting the smoker everywhere...

ANywho, I'll keep my bees' progress updated too and keep checking on yours too. Its fun stuff so far!

It's been almost a year- How did your hive treat you? Any problems? Did you get a harvest?

 

[nebben]

Nope, they didn't even survive the summer. If I remember right, back in mid July, they were making a new queen cell. I asked my mentor about it, and he recommended to just pinch it off and they should be just fine. I didn't consider that they were making a new queen because the existing queen was having a hard time. A few days after this, I spotted no new brood. Then, I started seeing multiple eggs in cells. Ahh, so my queen is gone/dead and I've got laying workers.

I checked around and decided against buying a new queen, or even getting a frame of good brood from another hive, since my workers were already laying anyway. Did I mention that they hadn't filled up more than a single super's worth of comb?

Poor girls, they seem to have been doomed early and I didn't notice it fast enough to do anything.

After the last of them perished in September, I collected the remaining honey, which was about 1/2Q worth.

I've got TWO colonies on order for April now...hopefully even if one of them winds up in trouble, I can use the other hive to help out. We shall see.

 

[GroosBrewz]

Nope, they didn't even survive the summer. If I remember right, back in mid July, they were making a new queen cell. I asked my mentor about it, and he recommended to just pinch it off and they should be just fine. I didn't consider that they were making a new queen because the existing queen was having a hard time. A few days after this, I spotted no new brood. Then, I started seeing multiple eggs in cells. Ahh, so my queen is gone/dead and I've got laying workers.

I checked around and decided against buying a new queen, or even getting a frame of good brood from another hive, since my workers were already laying anyway. Did I mention that they hadn't filled up more than a single super's worth of comb?

Poor girls, they seem to have been doomed early and I didn't notice it fast enough to do anything.

After the last of them perished in September, I collected the remaining honey, which was about 1/2Q worth.

I've got TWO colonies on order for April now...hopefully even if one of them winds up in trouble, I can use the other hive to help out. We shall see.

Wow- That sucks! Sorry to hear about your troubles! I am surprised that your "mentor" gave you such poor advice.. That queen you pinched off may have saved your hive.. Hindsight is always 20/20 so the saying goes..

My bees only filled 9 of the ten frames in a single super last year..As of October, they had only 3 or 4 frames of honey and the rest was pollen/brood, but apparently it was enough to get them through the winter because they are still alive (I don't know about "well", but alive anyway!).. Now I am just waiting for the weather to get good enough to get in there and do an inspection.. Hoping that my queen is still alive and will be good for one more season.. I don't want to re-queen if I don't have to..Good luck with your new hives and please keep us posted!

 

[CoalCracker]

Bringing this one back... How was the queen?

 

[nebben]

I just installed my 2 new hives two weeks ago. The poor bees have dealt with storm after storm after storm and > 20F below normal temperatures for this time of year. We have had snow every few days, including yesterday.

As far as I can tell, they're chugging away though whenever the sun comes out and the temp gets to 45F or so!

I even spotted the queen in my eastern hive on the last inspection. I'm thinking about getting on the list to pickup swarms around town too.

 

[GroosBrewz]

Finally got my first honey harvest a couple weeks ago.. Two full summers before there was enough honey for me to take a few frames.. This is definitely a hobby where patience is a virtue.

 

[Hybridthreat]

This made me remember that my wife used to have bees. I should talk to her about this for when we live someplace with more land. I think it would make her a little happier to do it again.

 

[nebben]

They are a lot of fun. My dog loves them [TO EAT, MUHAHAHAH].

 

[Hethen57]

I lost all 9 of my second year hives last winter. Started over with 3 new packages and didn't think they would do alot with the horrible weather we had in Spring and early Summer. Much to my surprise, they produced over 20 gallons of honey total , or about 250 pounds! We live in a really good bee area...lots of home gardens and orchards. I also used the minimal intervention approach this year and it worked good, but you would be surprised what an effort it is to pull and extract that much honey. I have fun with the hobby.

 

[GroosBrewz]

I lost all 9 of my second year hives last winter. Started over with 3 new packages and didn't think they would do alot with the horrible weather we had in Spring and early Summer. Much to my surprise, they produced over 20 gallons of honey total , or about 250 pounds! We live in a really good bee area...lots of home gardens and orchards. I also used the minimal intervention approach this year and it worked good, but you would be surprised what an effort it is to pull and extract that much honey. I have fun with the hobby.

250 lbs! Nice haul! I only have only have one hive. I got no honey last year, which was ok.. This year, they managed to fill 9 our of the ten frames in the honey super I installed int he spring. I wasnt sure how much I should take, so I only took a couple frames.. We got 9 quarts.. not a bad haul.. I have never medicated my bees and am quickly realizing as I enter my third year, that I still know very little about bee keeping and I have a ways to go! Thanks for sharing your story. BTW, my dad lives in Post Falls.. Are you near there?

 

[Hethen57]

Ya, I'm 10 minutes from Post Falls. When I said minimal intervention, I didn't mean treatment free. The new packages come treated and have a brood cycle break, so I didn't have to treat for anything prior to taking this first honey off this year, but the varroa mites will wipe you out if you don't do anything over the course of several years, and you might get wiped out anyway. Minimal intervention meant that, as opposed to prior years where I was digging and inspecting, I made sure all the hives were strong and even with brood, broodspace and supplies going into the flow, and then just monitored capacity, adding supers as necessary...no more inspecting the brood nest after swarm season had ended unless I observed a problem at the entrance or in the top super that I wanted to check on further. They seemed to do fine and then I cleaned up all the burr comb at the end of the season and got all hives ready for winter, with a late summer varroa treatment of thymol (essentially a soft chemical to knock back the varroa). I left enough honey and fed back the cappings so they didn't need any sugar feeding.

Good luck with your hive!

FYI - What I did with my 3 packages I purchased was I purchased 2 extra queens at the same time and immediately split the packages into 2 additional nucs, so 3 hives and 2 nucs from the start in April (I was able to do this because I had all drawn comb and honey filled frames from last year's dead outs. The nucs were full hives by the late honey flow we had.