/diy/ - Do It Yourself

>>658315
i do some bee keeping

what do you want

>>658321
not op but where can i find a queen bee?

>>658324
with a hive

it's not in the hives best interest to not have a queen.

if you're asking where you can procure one
check craigslist, people sometimes sell their hives for a couple hundred (100+) dollars

or make a hive trap, with some lemon grass oil inside.

or if you're asking where in the hive, in the center, it's one of the bigger ones

there's a couple of PDFs out there that can help with the care and maintenance of bees

>>658331
thanks, I just reread my question and realized how dumb it was. I was asking about procuring one and you answered that so thanks.

>>658315
There area couple of guys around that are Apiarists, You need to put up the Bee sign and get to the Bee Mobile!

>>658315
patrick j gaines is a beekeeper and jew enabler

I have a hive got last year, rad about what type of hive you want and how you want to raise your bees. I wan't to keep them healthy and don't midn not getting as much honey so I went with a Kenyan Top Bar Hive. Langstroth or imperial or warre are some others.

I literally read, asked questions to other beekeepers through email like Micheal Bush at the bush bees website. Then I told peopel I want bees a neighbor alerted me to some, I went and got them myself and putem in my hive.

They turned a year old on June 22nd and are going strong.

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

>>658315
How effective are those suits for actually keeping out bees? Scares the shit out of me worse than sharks does bee keeping

>>660138
Keeps them out almost 100% although it depends on how you seal where the pants end, where you put on the helmet etc.

Personally I work on my bee hives in a t-shirt and shorts...yes you might get a sting but at least they don't swell anymore since I have gotten sort of used to it

>>660138
My uncle made his own impenetrable suit.
I think he used old bed covers (really thick) and put a zipper in front.
He also sewn a pair of plastic boots and two layers of heavy duty gloves onto it.
For a helmet he used his old bike helmet and sealed it with a few extra layers of cloth.
(It actually looked pretty cool for a diy beekeeper suit.)

We always called him an "astronaut" jokingly.

When I was a bit older my parents told me he was allergic to bee stings.
A beekeeper allergic to bee stings.
He died because he was stung in the neck by a hornet while working in the field. They were nesting in nearby bushes.

>>659946
>>659946

>I literally read, asked questions to other beekeepers through email like Micheal Bush at the bush bees website. Then I told peopel I want bees a neighbor alerted me to some, I went and got them myself and putem in my hive.
this, for a few months, till you get the information down, where you don't need to research it too much, then acquire the hive.

there's nothing worse than getting into a project and messing up.

>>660153
>around_wasps_never_relax.jpg

... I knew I should have finished the beekeeping FAQ I started working on last summer when the last influx of wanna-bee-apiarists were asking questions... anyhow, here's a quick recap. go check out beesource.com

Assume that you're in the USA, you're fighting the clock, and unless you get really lucky, you'll probably lose. There's an old beekeeper's adage:

A swarm of bees in May, is worth a bale of hay
A swarm of bees in June is worth a silver spoon
A swarm of bees in July, isn't worth a fly

At this point, any new hive doesn't really have enough time to get established to raise new brood, draw comb, and pack away stores to overwinter. A hive needs to have 40-60lbs of stores to have a reasonable chance of overwintering successfully.

I'm in the northeast, and my hives swarmed ~ 4-6 weeks ago. This is the easiest way to get a queen and start a new hive. Otherwise, you're looking at purchasing a 3-pound package from a supplier, or a Nuc (Hive Nucleus = 1 queen, several thousand worker bees, 1 frame of brood, 1 frame of stores, 1 frame drawn comb for the queen to lay in) for $100-$175. In my area, packages and nucs for this year were 'sold out' by last thanksgiving. We were expecting packaged bees to be delivered mid-april, but they were delayed into mid-may by weather. YMMV.

My general advice to people looking to get into beekeeping at this time of year, is to start your research now, order woodenware and a 3# package/Nuc for next season (~$100-150), and JOIN YOUR LOCAL BEEKEEPER ASSOCIATION, and plan on going to a bee-school in your area next spring (if possible). If you can't find a LBA, then plan on spending a lot of time reading on sites like beesource.com or similar.

For the hive itself, you can either go DIY and make a top-bar (Kenyan) hive or purchase a Langsthroth (standard) beehive (assembled or as a kit). Expect to spend 250-350 for a starter kit (woodenware, basic tools, protective gear, but NO BEES), and I'd really suggest going this route.

If you buy just the basics, including bees, then you can expect to invest $300-500 to get started. If you make your own hive-bodies and capture a swarm, or get lucky and are given a starter colony, then you will be able to reduce your start-up costs significantly.

Don't bother buying an extractor at this point, you won't be able to harvest honey until the 2nd year, and you can often find another beekeeper who will let you use theirs, or borrow one from your LBA... assuming your hives survive their first winter.

Beekeeping is a wonderful hobby, I could rant for hours about the amazing super-organism of a beehive. 50k+ little silly bugs that are willing to sacrifice themselves for the good of the whole, surviving in the wild, and in domestication for thousands of years. My girls fill the air and spin summer's sun into autumn's sweet gold for me, occasionally chastising me with their bitter sting when I fail to understand what they're trying to tell me.

If you've got any simple questions, let me know. But I may well just reply with links to appropriate articles from beesource.com which is truely the new-bee's best friend.

>>659946
congrats on your girls' 1st birthday! I hope you're able to harvest some honey this year, it makes all the sweating in the sun worthwhile to be able to spread it on toast during the cold winter.

>>658315
/me keeps bees. One hive, split into a hive and a Nuc last week. Hive is 8 3 frame mediums. I built a top bar hive but want the nuc to get stronger before I move it in.

I wear a white short sleeve t-shirt, jeans, aa veil, and calfskin gloves that come up to my elbows when working the bees. So far this year I've been stung once when a bee flew up my leg. It stung my inner thigh when I started walking away from the hive. ouch.

Tennessee, USA

>>661315
>A swarm of bees in May, is worth a bale of hay
>A swarm of bees in June is worth a silver spoon
>A swarm of bees in July, isn't worth a fly
somewhat true

a got a swarm in november, they set up camp in my wall

i fed them sugar suryp (water sugar and apple cider vinegar heated up to a syrup) and they survived the winter

i took them out of the wall recently, and they are still alive and well

they love it here.

all it takes is a little bit of work

but they're worth it.

>>662136
Where do you live that you had swarm activity in November? I'm in the New England area, and my hives start ejecting the drones in late September, and they're pretty much gone by mid Oct. Glad to hear that you were able to save them and give them a good home!

>>658315
I once had a huge ass Jatai Bee colony to grow on my old house metal gate. Their honey is delicious and they have no stings. Brazilian bees are cool.

>>658315
My family had 2 hives, they never stung any one and produced good honey. Bear came and fucked up the hives. We put up an electric fence and it still didn't stop him. Now only about half a hive remains.