Bees

[pineywoods]

It's about that time for some of y'all and some of us are already into it. Caught this swarm last week and have split several of my hives in fact I've split one twice already this year.

See the swarm?

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• pineywoods
• Mar 19, 2013

Just touched the tree and they fell to the ground. Put the nuc box on it's side and the queen climbed in and after that the other bees started crawling in after awhile I stood the box up and left it for more bees to fly in. It got pretty full after about 45 minutes.

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• pineywoods
• Mar 19, 2013

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• pineywoods
• Mar 19, 2013

Finally put the top on it taped it up and brought it home. It was pretty full so the next day I put it into a full sized hive. We made 5 splits that day and caught the swarm so a pretty good day. I'm helping a friend split a couple hives tomorrow and have to split another one of mine sometime this week.

 

[kathrynn]

A friend of mine got theirs yesterday.  I have some of their honey....and it's fabulous!  That looks a bit scary tho!!! 

Kat

 

[daveomak]

I've tasted some of Jerry's honey.... Deep, rich flavor..... don't taste like no store bought stuff.....  Very, very good...  

 

[roller]

After helping a friend ( I thought ) build 8 hives last year he gave all of his swarms to his cousin..He promised me 2 of them but did not come threw. He did give me 2 pts of honey...Oh well such is life....

 

[DanMcG]

Nice Jerry!

 

[boykjo]

talk about free bee's......lol

 

[squirrel]

Oh Jerry that is fantastic!! I've been researching bee keeping and hope to get in to it some day. Great post thanks for sharing!

 

[pineywoods]

Caught another swarm at a friends place today

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• pineywoods
• Mar 27, 2013

 

[daveomak]

That's a money shot.......  

 

[baja traveler]

Our hive swarmed a few weeks ago, managed to get a new nuc out there and capture it. They seem happy in their new home...

I also found a local nursery that carries bee keeping supplies, and they rent a really nice stainless centrifigal spinner for harvesting the frames for only 1 pound of honey per day of use. Going to make next harvest so much easier...

 

[johnnyt]

I've been using honey from a local bee farm for my foiling sauce and it can't be beat! We've noticed the difference from the store bought since we switched over. Can't say enough about homegrown honey. I think that's what you'd call it eh?

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• johnnyt
• Mar 28, 2013

 

[pineywoods]

We went through hives today went through the ones here first then went to my friend's the one I got the swarm from yesterday and here's what we found when we got there.

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• pineywoods
• Mar 28, 2013

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• pineywoods
• Mar 28, 2013

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• pineywoods
• Mar 28, 2013

They were wanting to swarm when we opened the hive we found two brand new queens and six queen cells that were in the process of hatching we quickly caught the two and moved the cells into jars and within an hour they had all hatched as well. We made 2 splits off of this hive. We took the other new queens and put them into other hives that hadn't made queens yet so all is good now. At least I hope it is

 

[thoseguys26]

Piney, you're the bee whisperer. That's awesome!

JohnnyT - What's the Sweet Heat jug?

 

[johnnyt]

Not actually sure, it's a sauce that a buddy of my father in law makes. I've deducted pineapple juice, ketchup, and red pepper in it but not sure what else is in it. Does have a little twang so im guessing vinigar too. All I know is I love the stuff, and use it on a lot of stuff. Works great in my foiling sauce.

 

[thoseguys26]

I haven't checked my bees for about 6 months. We're having a snow storm and cold weather the next couple days and I figured it'd be a good time to check on them since they should be slow moving. I have two supers and a half on top. We got them last year and are hoping to gather our first honey this summer.

Is there anything I should keep an eye out for when I peak in tomorrow? Should I check the supers at all or just the half on top? The bottom two supers were pretty much full last fall and maybe a third of the half on top.

Things are budding and they're really active during the warm days. Pretty exciting.

 

[dcarch]

Two days ago, I got an e. mail from a friend. All her six hives died. She has been keeping bees for four years now. Her farm is in Columbus, GA.

I wish you lots of luck. Bees are having problems.

dcarch

 

[daveomak]

http://www.king5.com/news/environment/Bees-winter-better-in-cold-storage-180454391.html

Interesting......  Dave

 

[diggingdogfarm]

Bees have always had problems.
In 1985 we lost 90% of about 900 colonies!!!
That'll get your attention!!!! :icon_eek:

~Martin

 

[thoseguys26]

Alright! We got our first honey!! Soo delicious. We just love chewing on chunks of it, wax and all. I'm not sure how much will come out of the 10 frames in the shallow super but we'll see soon. I might just try to make a simple extractor that'll hold two frames and powered by a power drill.

Any tips from you experts out there would be greatful. I have them all sitting in an air conditioned room until I can get to them tomorrow. I'll make sure to put them in the hot garage for a half day before trying to extract them.  These frames have plastic dividers, not wax.

These are the full frames being put away until tomorrow. Yes, my neoprene waders came in handy today.

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• thoseguys26
• Jul 23, 2013

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• thoseguys26
• Jul 23, 2013

 

[daveomak]

Boy O Boy that honey looks nice and clean....    and delish.....  

Dave