Note to organic gardeners. befriend a bee

[Beekissed]

Bees use about 7lbs of honey for each pound of wax that they make. Considering that most beekeepers reuse their comb for a couple seasons and that new foundation is made from recycled wax , there is a concentration of pesticides in the wax that stays with the bees all that time. This is why I ultimately decided to go with top bar hives (bees make their own fresh comb). I am happy to have my bees for pollination and I am willing to forsake top honey production in favor of their health and sustainability.

Amen! I am building my first TBH this week and will start with my first package of bees next week. I hope to expand to four hives eventually. I can't wait to get into beekeeping as there are few honeybees here and very few beeks in this county. None are using TBHs or any kind of natural methods at all. I'm liking the Barefoot Beekeeping method of beeking...can't wait to see how it all turns out! :bee

I am planting more flowers this year and seeding my garden pathways to white and red clover to help the bees. :bee

TSL, that story brought tears to my eyes...can't get a better memorial than that, can you?

 

[KevsFarm]

This spring is my 4th season with honey bees.I've had mixed results.I have planted clover and other plants that honey bees like, but watch them leave the hive , high into flight to prefered sources of pollen and necter.I see a few around my garden,but its the bumblebee that has been pollinating my strawberries, blueberries, tomatoes and such.The honey bees do work my asparagus flowers and the autumn olives i have.
I lost allot of bees this winter and have 4 surviving hives. Most of my bees starved,although they had lots of honey not far away. I concluded that i left the girls with to much beehive space to keep warm and they couldn't get to all the honey they had to eat.So i'm building up my hives again, only giving them the space they need.
Our first major flow here on eastern long Is.,NY is the locust tree.Many people around here sadly feel the need to spray trees with God knows what.So i don't know what thier bringing back to the hive..!
Even if the girls stayed around my chem free land, theirs not enough here to sustain the bees i have.So i have no control as to where they forage.
I've only used powered sugar and pure essential oil in a insect fogger with mineral oil to battle varroa mites. I like the fogger because i don't have to break downthe hives,like i need to do wth powered sugar.Both work well to help with vorroa,but i dislike being so invasive as i need to be using the powered sugar...
I always try to let the girls do their own thing, but swarming is a problem,since i don't sell nucs.This yr i'll be removing all the swarm cells i find,in an effort to build up strong, productive hives.Last yr i didn't and caught 14 swarms from my own hives...! I only want a couple strong healthy hive, so i must be more invasive and remove the new queen cells.
I haven't tried top bars yet, that of interest to me.But am trying to regress at least one hive to small cell for natural varroa control. Sorry for the rambling, just wanting to share my experience.
I am happy that i do get enough honey for myself, friends and family. Not really into selling honey,like many i just want to do what i can to support healthy bees,I would never use chems , beekeeping...

 

[2ndtimearound]

Noirmally bumblers are nice friendly guys but if you've ever accidentally plowed into one of their underground hives you'll find they have a mean side also.
If you're plowing with a horse they will go after the horse first giving you a chance to run for it but then you have to mend all the fences the horse ran through dragging the plow behid him.

Wow that fence thing sounds like something you've been through before hoodat! I understand what you mean, though. At the last place we lived at the bumbles were just downright onery.

They would swoop you and buzz you and just had a nasty disposition all around. ( whisper: I suspect some of them were slackers with the pollination also ), but anyhow, that's why I'm so glad the guys we have now are so well-mannered. And we try real hard to stay out of their way while they are working, and yes, I do talk to them.

 

[hoodat]

The trouble with bumblers is they flit from one flower to another. To polinate intensively a bee has to stick to one type of blossom at a time and the honeybee is the only polinator that does that.
How do all the bees in the hive end up on the same fruit trees? The scout tells them where they are. This clip is short but very informative.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7ijI-g4jHg

 

[Beekissed]

Kevsfarm, I am giving you a link to a couple of sites about top bar hives and natural beekeeping you might find of interest. I really like that this fellow shows his health certificates over the years as a testimony to his methods. Nothing like this kind of proof that it really works! Note when he moves from using the powdered sugar to using nothing at all for varroa treatment....impressive results.

http://www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm

http://www.bushfarms.com/beescerts.htm

 

[hoodat]

Kevsfarm, I am giving you a link to a couple of sites about top bar hives and natural beekeeping you might find of interest. I really like that this fellow shows his health certificates over the years as a testimony to his methods. Nothing like this kind of proof that it really works! Note when he moves from using the powdered sugar to using nothing at all for varroa treatment....impressive results.

http://www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm

http://www.bushfarms.com/beescerts.htm

The more we try to control nature the more out of balance it gets. I do the same in my garden. I don't panic at the first sign of bugs. I relax and wait a bit to see if it will balance itself. Most times it does. No pests means no predators.
You know over 90% of the insects in a garden are neutral; neither good or bad for the plants. They're just there cause every bug gotta be someplace.

 

[KevsFarm]

Thanks for the links to Michael's page.I read most of his experiences and methods a couple of yrs ago actually.2yr ago i bought one of his small cell queens. She and her attendants go lost in the mail for days.( was suppose to be next day delivery via USmail) Amazingly she and attendants were very muc alive when they finally did make it to eastern LINY where i live.
They accepted water and a drop of honey right away.I don't know what happened to her after i placed her/queencage in queenless hive.I never saw her again and i still have the same mixed Italians, i had from the beginning.My first hive came from Frank LaGrant in Ware ,Mass.(yes i drove all the way up their just to get his northern hardy bees, although their plenty of bees for sale much closer).
I just never felt comfortable buying southern bees for reasons i won't discuss now.
But, yes....top bar hives, i just haven't had time to try it yet. I've stopped all varroa prevention, sugar and fogging and the bees seemed to be doing great last season.Yes, there were plenty of drones and working girls running around the ground with chewed up wings, trying to fly.However the over all health of the hives were good.
My hives normally swarm around Memorial Day weekend.I'll be checking for swarm cells again soon and removing them.
I'm kinda excited to see one of my queens laying in some small cell plastic frames i bought two seasons ago.The rest of my hives are wood frame/wax foundation and starter strips mixed..
Hopefully one day i'll have smaller ,happier bees,living in top bar hives.It's man who tinkered with nature and in his wisdom made the larger bees of today which host varroa mites so nicely.Sorry for rambling again...

 

[simple life]

If you are really interested in all natural beekeeping there is going to be a conference on it in July In Massachusetts.
Its the Northeast Chemical Free Beekeeping COnference in Leomonester, Mass.
The organizers of the conference just wrote a book on natural beekeeping.
I attended it last year and it was amazing.
Michael Bush was there and he is a real trip, funny guy.
Dee Lusby from Arizona as there, she is all about the small cell regressing.
There were tons of great people there, too many too mention and beekeepers came from all over the states and a few from other countries as well.
I had a blast meeting new people and hanging out with all these beekeepers that we read about online or in books.
So if you made the drive to pick up bees you may not mind the drive to the conference.
Its a two day conference with meals included and hotels nearby.
I live close enough that I can drive back and forth.
I'll post a link when I get a chance.

I also practice organic beekeeping. I have never used foundation or starter strips, I have foundationless frames with a beveled edge, never used powdered sugar or anything else.
Just the bees and the empty frames.
I have 6 langstroths, 3 topbar hives and one kirkhoff hive which houses two colonies.

 

[KevsFarm]

That does sound very interesting Natalie,
do send the link when you find time. I'd love to go, don't know if i would be able swing it. My money situations not as good as it was 4 yrs ago,when i traveled for my first hive.Not traveling much these days,but may be able to find the time and money to go.Then i have to find someone to care for my flock of hens,,,lol

 

[simple life]

I hear you on both the money and the hen sitting.
I am in the same boat except throw 3 kids in the mix that still need babysitters.
Luckily its summer break and the older kids are home from college so I will suck them into helping out with the younger kids and the animals. The conference is the week of my birthday so I will skip the gifts so I can go to this.

It is tough to go anywhere when you need to be able to take care of the animals.
Yesterday one of my children's teacher stopped by to buy some eggs from me and we got to talking about the chickens and goats and he told me that his uncle and grandfather both had farms when he was growing up.
Then out of the blue offered to come over and take care of my animals if I ever want to go anywhere, he said that he would actually love to do it. I am sure he wouldn't mind watering the gardens either so I am thrilled to have that as an option if I want to take the kids camping or something this summer.

There is a group of us who belong to the Beemaster website/beekeeping forums and we all live in different states but we got to meet up at the conference and had a great time hanging out in person.

This year they are offering two different conferences, one is a beginners course (they didn't have that last year) and the intermediate/advanced course which starts the day after the beginner's course ends.
You can register for one or both.
The links have all the info and the background of each speaker.
You are probably familiar with at least some of these speakers, several of them are very popular on the websites and forums.
Barring any surprises I should be going.
If you do decide to go let me know and we can meet up and I'll introduce you to some of my friends and the speakers, you'll have someone to hang out with.

http://beeuntoothers.com/2010Conference.html

http://beeuntoothers.com/