Bees, wonderful bees!!

[JimWWhite]

For me this is exactly why you don't want to go with the top bar hive setup. The standard 8 or 10 frame hive with a hive body for the brood and supers stacked on top of that for honey storage works and requires very little work when you go to inspect or harvest. What we do is to have a 10 frame deep hive body sitting on a bottom board with a 10 frame medium super on top of that. They can use the medium super as an addition to the hive body plus store honey and pollen in it. Then we add a queen excluder and then two 9 frame shallow supers on that. This is where we take our honey from in the spring and fall. On top of the shallow we put a 2-inch spacer which we add a feeder tray that we pour in sugar water when we need to. Finally comes the top inner cover and then the telescoping top cover.

When you have to go in to inspect the hives it's a lot easier to move smaller components to work your way down than it is to have to deal with one big component. The same is true for harvesting your honey. Dead simple: just smoke 'em, remove the top and feeding tray/spacer, remove the two shallows and put the tops, etc. back in place. Then you can remove the frames away from your bees once you brush off any that are in or on the shallows.

When I was looking to set up our first hive I wanted to go with the Top Bar setup until I went over to my friend's place and helped him harvest. Way too much work and way too heavy. It was a struggle to say the least.

Of course, this is just my humble opinion...

 

[lesa]

I couldn't agree more, Jim. I know there are lots of fans of the top bar- but the Lang, just seems so much less intrusive to the bees- and a lot easier for the humans!

 

[JimWWhite]

Lisa, well said. I was thinking of adding something about being less stressful on the bees but 'intrusive' was the word I was really looking for.

 

[algopurple]

What method do yall use to keep the beetles at bay? I plan on getting back into bees as soon as my 3yo and baby on the way are old enough to work with me or at least not get too close and get stung.

 

[lesa]

I expect they are more of a problem, for you folks in the south. The one good thing about winter, is it kills a lot of things!! I have seen a vegetable oil tray set up- that I think I will try in the spring. It goes in as a "bottom board" and the beetles fall into it. I'll make a post when I have it done, with a pic.

 

[Amyh]

vfem, he is so talented with all that beautiful wood working- let him have at it! I would recommend building the hive boxes and purchasing the frames...They are very tedious to build (though not impossible...) Have you tried a "wanted" listing on Craigslist? I bet your bees would fly year round, with your beautiful weather...

I'm on craigslist all the time. Most people have hives with bees that are ready to go for over $200. I don't have that kind of money right now. I figured we'd start small and grow by introducing our own hive.

My complicated husband wants to build a Warre Hive!

I am also in North Carolina and I've looked into bee keeping for some time now. I am anxious to take the bee keepers course at the local community college (Alamance County). They offer it every January and I couldn't take it this year because of my newborn... anyway... my point...

The course in Alamance County states that there is a give-a-way of 30 hives and bees per year (2 hives to 15 different people). I'm not sure if the give-a-way is only for people taking the course, or for people who live in Alamance County... I haven't looked into it further because I want to take the course before I get any bees anyhow.

Just thought it's something to look into. You can't beat FREE!!

 

[JimWWhite]

They've got this new beetle trap which is a small device that clips to the top of the frame and you fill it with cooking oil. The beetles can go in but the bees cannot and they eat the oil and it kills them. I'm going to buy several of these when we go to pick up our bees. They're sold by Brushy Mountain Bee Farm in N. Wilkesboro, NC. If you go online and to their site you'll find them there.

 

[KevsFarm]

Ariel301...you mentioned your bees seemed aggressive, buzzing about your face when near the hive.As mentioned. its possible they are or have become Africanized. Arizona is a state noted to have the invasive bee.I've had Italian for over 5 yrs, which i just discovered today , starved to death...how sad to see.I live in NY and its been a tough winter.They used up there winter stores faster than i anticpated.
Anyway, i'm now looking for new bees...!
Someone mentioned honeybees and pre-school children. Be very careful people...! As mentioned honeybees do NOT like what they consider funny smells.A man congnue or a womam perfume.They do not like loud noise such as lawn mowers or trctors near their hives.Don't even think about passing gas near them...! Even the so called mellow Italian will let you know what they think..! When dealing with honeybees it best to have a clean shower and clothes, leave the smelly stuff home.
Its natural for honeybees to defend their home/hive, what set them offis different with different strains of bees.Requeening may be needed for a agressive hive.Always move slowey and carefully when working a hive.I once caught 15 stings, which is nothing really, for just standing in front of one of my Italian hives.My point. one never knows, always treat a hive of bees with respect and caution.It doesn't take much to piss them off..! A rainy day, no necter or pollen around, a preceived attack. Honeybees are beautiful cretures of God, but be careful and learn to read there messages to you.If they are butting your head,they are warning you, to get back...!Just my two cents, I love honeybees, but know what they can do to peopl if not careful, even if not Africanized....

 

[Ariel301]

Ariel301...you mentioned your bees seemed aggressive, buzzing about your face when near the hive.As mentioned. its possible they are or have become Africanized. Arizona is a state noted to have the invasive bee.

That is our concern, that they may be Africanized, since they were caught as a wild swarm in Las Vegas. We're going to re-queen if they don't settle down in the spring. I'm also going to have the previous owner of the hive come work them with me one day and see what he thinks of them, he said they were very "polite" when he had them, so it is also possible that the aggression is a combination of being moved to a colder climate, not having enough food stores, and my clumsy beginner handling of them. They are spending a lot of time in my milking area right now because they are wanting the molasses out of the animals' grain, and they are very gentle in that area, I can put my hand into the grain bin with a few hundred of them around and there's no problem. They're only nasty around their hive.

That's too bad about your bees, what a loss. Ours had a rough winter too, they were a pretty small hive to begin with and we had a colder than normal winter. I'm feeding them now and they're coming back around.

 

[hoodat]

Don't pass gas near your bees? How rude. I've never heard that one before.