Chickens and bees...

[chills]

wow
vandals meaning people vandals .. not a animal vandal .. sucky .. sorry!!
some day i would like to ask lots of bee questions to all of you bee people on the forum ..
the bees just cant catch a break eh? good luck with the move

 

[lesa]

Yes, I have read the branch idea. Seems like a good one. We put the hive on a 4-wheel dolly, so it is easy to move it a little at a time. I'm going to have to move it about 20 feet all at once. I'm going to try the branch idea then. Bees are the coolest creatures!!!

 

[simple life]

The dolly is an excellent idea!

 

[likes2grill]

If you move them at night when all the bees are home and put some grass or something to make them reorient

 

[Texan]

I have been toying with the idea of raising bees because I like to make mead and honey is expensive. Anyway, I found a bee forum and they said being close to chicken coops is not a problem.

 

[ninny]

If you have guineas watch out! They will eat them.

 

[lesa]

The move is complete! Bees are stowed away safely in the chicken yard. All is well. For the most part, the chickens are uninterested. I am relieved, that they are behind the fence, away from vandals!! No guineas, yet- but good to know!

 

[injunjoe]

Glad to hear your bees are safe!
I know what you mean about Vandals! it sucks you have to protect every thing these days!

Joe

 

[blondiebee181]

I know this thread is old, but I am hoping someone will chime in...my dad and my uncle both kept bees when I was younger and the honey is phenomenal. Besides, I know bees are super beneficial so I would love to have some at some point....not in the super near future, mostly because I don't have the space, but can anyone tell me a few basics about bee keeping? Can you buy a hive pre-made or must you build your own? Where do you get bees? Do they ship? Do they come as adults or as pupaes? how do you get them to stay at their hive? How do you harvest honey? How do you winter over a hive?

 

[lesa]

As with most hobbies you can buy all kinds of supplies- including bees! They sell nucs- which consist of a queen and some worker bees. The bees will stay anywhere the queen is. They live to serve her needs. So, if the queen is in the hive- all the bees will stay there. You remove some frames with honey (depending on amount) you need to keep enough honey in the hives for the bees to feed themselves in the winter. We don't really do much to overwinter our bees. We put a piece of foam insulation on the top of hive- and that is about it. Some people wrap the hives in black roofing paper, etc. There are as many different ways of taking care of bees, as there are beekeepers. I would recommend checking out your local cooperative extension- and seeing if they offer beekeeping classes. There are forums that supply tons of info, too.