Bees, wonderful bees!!

[lesa]

Good luck, Chicken Mom! You are off on an exciting journey!! I see no reason to disturb bees once a week... Since I have no plans to medicate my bees- there is very little reason to disturb them. My feeling is that bees know what they are doing! That, however, is JMHO.
I like to say, if you ask 12 beekeepers a question, you'll get 13 answers!
You will develop a system that works for you and your bees. I can just about promise you, you will enjoy having them in your yard!

 

[Ga Chicken Mom]

Thanks lesa. All the recommended handling, meds, chemicals seem to be too much messing with creatures that have been doing their own thing for a long time. Your beekeeping methods are what we hope to have success with.

 

[sunjoy]

Thanks for the WELCOME - lesa & JimWWhite sorry I ran off had to get to work(the paying job)

I have been keeping bees for oh 9 years now, started with the fact that my DH was running around pollinating our garden by hand. I'm thinking wheres the bees, little did I know then about mites, varreoa and the the like.

At one point one hive turned into 10 since I started to pick up feral hives for the police dept. Now I have them in two locations but my bees at the house did not make it through the winter! I am off tommorrow to pu another package two towns over.

Can't say much about gardening other then it's in my blood, when I was a kid if I would squak about a snack my mother would send me next door to my grandfathers garden (two acres) to pick peas, she knew I wasn't comming back with any for dinner, smart women and never stopped growing them. Both the DH and I fight for garden space every year. I am in the seed swap on BYC, should be fun we have 30 some people in it!?

How bout you two I like to hear other peoples stories also!


PS I have been stung 15 times once (my bad) I was wearing a WOOL sweater when picking up a swarm the size of two basketballs that come from my hive one night afterwork and we all know what bees think of wool. Needlless to say I did not feel good the next day at all! But I don't feel stings at all anymore.

 

[sunjoy]

.
I like to say, if you ask 12 beekeepers a question, you'll get 13 answers!
You will develop a system that works for you and your bees. I can just about promise you, you will enjoy having them in your yard!

So true, So true!

 

[JimWWhite]

Teresa got her first bee sting over the weekend when one got into her sleeve that she didn't have snugged up. She felt it and tried to get it out but ended up getting stung when when she was trying to back away so she could unbutton the cuff. She must have crushed it or caused it to panic and sting. As they say, there are two kinds of beekeepers: Those who have been stung and those that will be stung... I'm in the latter group for now...

 

[vfem]

Well, we get our first bees on April 1st. You saw my post with the hive in the works. Its a small 36" top bar for now. We know he's going to expand and there will be more larger hives soon enough. We wanted to give them something natural, be we're also on a TIGHT budget. He had $100 gift card for lowe's, so that was all we had to spend right now.

The bad news is, my husband is allergic to bees and wasps! I mean really... I don't know WHY he insists on doing this when its a health issue, but he wants them so he will have them.

I'm thinking of having an epi pen on stand-by. Anyone know if that's an over the counter thing, or I have to get a prescription for him to keep them here in emergency?

With one sting, benedryl works fine... and some hydrocordizone on his sting. But he still blows up like a balloon where the sting is.

I, on the other hand, have no reaction at all. I'm also the lucky one who doesn't have a reaction to poison ivy either! Yet, I have several skin diseases... go figure!

 

[lesa]

I am allergic to wasp stings, too, vfem. Has he been stung by a honeybee? I haven't, so I am not sure what my reaction will be. I suggest that you work the bees- and leave him out of it.... Just in case. Remember, since the stinger of a bee actually breaks off in the skin- you need to get it out right away. The stinger continues to pump venom, even though the bee is gone. It is highly unlikely that he will be stung, just working in the yard. It is more likely to happen when you are messing with the hive...
Congrats on your upcoming bees! Looking forward to hearing all about them!

 

[vfem]

I am allergic to wasp stings, too, vfem. Has he been stung by a honeybee? I haven't, so I am not sure what my reaction will be. I suggest that you work the bees- and leave him out of it.... Just in case. Remember, since the stinger of a bee actually breaks off in the skin- you need to get it out right away. The stinger continues to pump venom, even though the bee is gone. It is highly unlikely that he will be stung, just working in the yard. It is more likely to happen when you are messing with the hive...
Congrats on your upcoming bees! Looking forward to hearing all about them!

Oh I wish it was that easy... but here's the kicker...

The bees are HIS! I don't want them.... well I do want them, I want them to pollinate my gardens, the #1 reason we're getting them... he wants the hobby, and he wants the honey! So he's doing all the building, and all the care. He's done the research, I have not.

I bought him the bees as a gift.

So these are mainly my concerns for him.... he acts like he doesn't care either way if he got stung or not. I just want to make sure there is a back up in case. So far, he's been working with my neighbor learning hands on with his 2 beehives he's had for years. Its been about 2 years of him learning from my neighbor, he's only around the hives once every couple of months... not often. He hasn't been stung yet, and my neighbor has only been stung twice. But he used to have 3 hives, and for some reason the 3rd hive he lost last winter were really aggressive.

We'll have the italian bees that we found, I've been told there are very calm compared to others. I almost bought some russian bees last September until I found out how aggressive they were too.

If I could get the Japanese bees.... I'd be all over them!!!

 

[lesa]

It is very likely that he can work with bees, for sometime without getting stung. But, eventually, it will happen! We have had bees for 2 years and I have not been stung. But, as Jim points out that just puts me in the "not stung, yet" group!!
If he has a Doctor he could talk to- it would be a good idea. The Epi pen is used for lung, throat, breathing involvement. It sounds like he has a systemic reaction. With your little one around, it wouldn't hurt to have an epi pen around...
Does he have a veil, gloves, etc? That would keep him safer, longer...

 

[sunjoy]

vfem - their are many beekeepers that have allergic reaction to bees, but most know better and keep the EPI pen around ALL the time. Why don't you do the research about it and get one to have around for YOUR piece of mind?! It's a small price to pay to get to work with some of the most interesting insects around and your garden will benefit tremendously!