# new hobby



## sgcsalsero (Sep 7, 2008)

I don't know if this neatly fits into the 'Green Room' but I got my 1st colony last night.  I've been mulling it over for a year and a half and the clincher was I met an experienced beekeeper a couple months ago; he's only 4 miles away and keeps about 50 hives.  I'm a little giddy about it actually, the hive is on my roof (back addition) approx. 15' off the ground and facing SE.


----------



## mbcijim (Sep 7, 2008)

Congratulations!  That seems fun.  How much did it cost to get started?  I've thought about it too.  I suppose I need to meet a beekeeper too.


----------



## WILDSOURDOUGH (Sep 8, 2008)

A hobby- and it pays a sweet dividend. That's a winner !
You are lucky to have an experienced beekeeper to show you the ropes.
Best of Luck.

(I love comb honey)


----------



## sgcsalsero (Sep 8, 2008)

mbcijim said:
			
		

> Congratulations!  That seems fun.  How much did it cost to get started?  I've thought about it too.  I suppose I need to meet a beekeeper too.



Yes, I'm fortunate to have a local guy & couple really strong associations (Medina Cty for one) that talk to university folks on a regular basis.  I would suggest Kim Flottum's Backyard Beekeeper book (President of Medina Cty Assoc.) as a start.  I think $200 is a reasonable no. to keep in mind.  Reading up thru winter and starting early Spring is preferable (unlike my timing), there are adult nite classes offered in Spring, beekepping asso. may also do this for a very reasonable fee ($20).  Penn State Main may be a good resource, they are very involved with researching current disorder problems.

PM me if you would like further.


----------



## Adios Pantalones (Sep 8, 2008)

I have wantd to do this for several years.  My wife is allergic, but more important- phobic -of bees, so it aint a gonna go down like dat yo.  Congrats, and let us know how it goes for you!!


----------



## lecomte38 (Sep 8, 2008)

I have 2 hives down back.  Great hobby but it can be heart breaking when you get a warm Feb day and you look inside only to find dead bees.  Last year I took 140 lbs off three hives ( notice I lost 1 hive over the winter ) I haven't pulled the supers yet but it looks like about 70 lbs this year.  In New England we expect 25% winter loss even without the CCD problems.
And to keep it on topic, You can always burn the hives for heat if you run out of wood.
Good luck with your girls.  It is late in the season to start a hive.  Feed them with all the sugar water you can to help build up winter stores.


----------



## sgcsalsero (Sep 8, 2008)

lecomte38 said:
			
		

> I have 2 hives down back.  Great hobby but it can be heart breaking when you get a warm Feb day and you look inside only to find dead bees.  Last year I took 140 lbs off three hives ( notice I lost 1 hive over the winter ) I haven't pulled the supers yet but it looks like about 70 lbs this year.  In New England we expect 25% winter loss even without the CCD problems.
> And to keep it on topic, You can always burn the hives for heat if you run out of wood.
> Good luck with your girls.  It is late in the season to start a hive.  Feed them with all the sugar water you can to help build up winter stores.



Thanks, the articles I've read on CCD are scary, can you imagine being a business owner and losing 75% of your employees mysteriously.  10-4 on starting late, was at a local bee store couple hours ago peppering them with questions on syrup & overwintering.  I have a few things going in my favor overall, the hive will be close to the house and benefit from warmth and wind break.


----------



## mbcijim (Sep 8, 2008)

Is it a lot of work?  Do you have to tend to it often?  Can you put them indoors for the winter?


----------



## sgcsalsero (Sep 8, 2008)

mbcijim said:
			
		

> Is it a lot of work?  Do you have to tend to it often?  Can you put them indoors for the winter?



Umm, can only speculate here as I'm a beginner. . . No it's not a lot of work for a couple hives, the less you mess with bees the better, although you do have to inspect them for differernt things (e.g. left to it's devices, the hive will crowd its self out, another queen will be raised, and then 1/2 the hive will leave in a swarm with the old queen).  Indoors?  I think some may do that, maybe in an old outbuilding for cover  Bees can tolerate the cold but not moisture, if there is condensation on the inside they'll get wet and that is way bad news.  The book I referenced is excellent, easy read and great photos, I highly recommend getting from library.


----------



## lecomte38 (Sep 8, 2008)

They won't freeze.  Moisture IS the problem. (condensation from their breath) The new thought is to leave a screened bottom on the hive for better ventilation.   More info then most want:  They form a "cluster", a softball size group with the queen in the middle.  The outer ones vibrate creating heat until tired then they rotate into the ball and new ones come to the surface to vibrate.  In cold weather they will not break the ball to go out into the hive for nourishment.  The ball moves vertically thru the hive for food and if it reaches the top they will starve with ample honey just inches away.  Internal temps in the cluster never drop below 70 and once the queen starts laying for spring they bring the temp up to 92 to raise the new brood.

Shameless plug: The Worcester County Bee Keepers have an 8 week course every spring at U Mass Hospital., Worcester, MA. Great for the beginners.
http://www.honeybeeclub.org


----------



## mbcijim (Sep 9, 2008)

My wife is going to kill me but I ordered that book!  

I realize everyone here is beginners, but how often do you check the hive?  Once a day, week, month?

How much work is involved?  I really don't need another hobby, but I like the idea.


----------



## sgcsalsero (Sep 9, 2008)

mbcijim said:
			
		

> My wife is going to kill me but I ordered that book!
> 
> I realize everyone here is beginners, but how often do you check the hive?  Once a day, week, month?
> 
> How much work is involved?  I really don't need another hobby, but I like the idea.



Approx 2-3 times a month, that book will lay it out for you, it is not a big investment of time at all, figure 1 hour at most 2 hours per month.  If you find a place to harvest the honey for you even better (if that is what you want to get out of it).  Fortunately, I don't have to invest in extraction equipment, and I'm not really that interested in getting a big bounty of honey.  The biggest obstacle for people I think is getting stung.  I have more yellow jackets than anything, I'm way more afraid of them, especially since they may be in the ground.  Honey bees have been bred for gentility, they will actually 'bump' you to let you know if they are agitated, basically they will give you the hint that "today is not a good day to check on us, come back another day".


----------



## Poult (Sep 18, 2008)

I've got hives on my land that a beekeeper left off this spring.  There was 80 hives over there in the beginning and I think he left off some more last month.  He's not local, but from down in PA.  The bees travel up and down the East Coast from FL to ME and over to NY and then back down south again for the winter.  I'd like to talk to the guy about bees but he's usually in a hurry.  

I found a wild nest of honey bees in one of my hayfields and was thinking about trying to save them somehow, but from what folks have told me, it seems like a little beyond an amateur.  I hate to have them die over the winter, though.  I'm pretty sure they came from the hives that the bee keeper left off as the only kind of bees I see around here in the wild are bumble bees.
Maybe I should be getting that book, too!


----------



## mbcijim (Sep 18, 2008)

My book came today!


----------



## Tfin (Sep 18, 2008)

I do love honey, but have to admit to a bee phobia myself since I was first stung as a kid.

I wish you luck though.


----------



## Adios Pantalones (Sep 18, 2008)

Poult said:
			
		

> I've got hives on my land that a beekeeper left off this spring.  There was 80 hives over there in the beginning and I think he left off some more last month.  He's not local, but from down in PA.  The bees travel up and down the East Coast from FL to ME and over to NY and then back down south again for the winter.  I'd like to talk to the guy about bees but he's usually in a hurry.
> 
> I found a wild nest of honey bees in one of my hayfields and was thinking about trying to save them somehow, but from what folks have told me, it seems like a little beyond an amateur.  I hate to have them die over the winter, though.  I'm pretty sure they came from the hives that the bee keeper left off as the only kind of bees I see around here in the wild are bumble bees.
> Maybe I should be getting that book, too!



Many people speculate that this travel is one of the prime problems with beehives.  They spread or pick up disease and get really stressed.

I dunno, but it is a common practice.  In some places they rent the hives to pollenate.


----------



## Poult (Sep 18, 2008)

Yes, I've read it's against the law in some states to capture feral bees because of the disease problems.  I dunno, do they get colds or something?    Kind of fun to think about bees, anyway.


----------



## Adios Pantalones (Sep 18, 2008)

Read back up the thread here about bees dying off in huge numbers.  They have parasites (like thorax mites) and other known diseases as well.

One of my students was the apiary inspector for W. MA for a while when I was in grad school.


----------



## lecomte38 (Sep 18, 2008)

Bees are a lot of fun.  They have temperaments; some are calm hives, others aggressive, and different moods at different times.  You don't have to go in to the hives very often.  As a matter of fact it agitates them for a few days after you do an internal inspection.  It is very entertaining to watch their cycle of build up in the spring and shutting down in fall.  When the honey "flow" hits it is amazing how fast they fill a super (collection box a little smaller then the main hive boxes)  If you sell your honey you should more then break even on costs.  If you give it away like I do, you make friends and enjoy playing with the girls.  I just spun off 65 lbs of honey from my 2 hives.  

More info then most of you need:  The drones (males) do nothing in the hive.  Their only function is mating.  They have no stinger or means to collect nectar and are thrown out of the hive in the fall to die - no need for an extra mouth to feed.


----------



## sgcsalsero (Sep 18, 2008)

lecomte38 said:
			
		

> More info then most of you need:  The drones (males) do nothing in the hive.  Their only function is mating.  They have no stinger or means to collect nectar and are thrown out of the hive in the fall to die - no need for an extra mouth to feed.



Brutal and true, once they mate they die, once cold weather comes they are tossed out.  Drones are also useful for inspecting for varroa mites, prick open a cell (I think there is an uncapping tool that can be used) and inspect the drone larva for this common pest.


----------



## sgcsalsero (Sep 18, 2008)

Poult said:
			
		

> I've got hives on my land that a beekeeper left off this spring.  There was 80 hives over there in the beginning and I think he left off some more last month.  He's not local, but from down in PA.  The bees travel up and down the East Coast from FL to ME and over to NY and then back down south again for the winter.  I'd like to talk to the guy about bees but he's usually in a hurry.
> 
> I found a wild nest of honey bees in one of my hayfields and was thinking about trying to save them somehow, but from what folks have told me, it seems like a little beyond an amateur.  I hate to have them die over the winter, though.  I'm pretty sure they came from the hives that the bee keeper left off as the only kind of bees I see around here in the wild are bumble bees.
> Maybe I should be getting that book, too!



Swarms are valuable, maybe your beekeeper should put a couple bait hives around to see if he can get a freebie or two.  With the price of everything, a hive that swarms and loses 1/2 it's bees to the wild is a waste.  Plus who knows if the new queen that remains is going to be a good egg layer like the old queen (who produced so much that the hive swarmed).  I'm thinking there are clear signs of swarming behavior without having to look into the hive, might be worth asking a question especially if you are there on property regularly and getting benefits from the hives (free honey, pollination, etc.).  Just my .02, I wish I had a big piece of property to improve the fauna and flora possibilities.


----------



## renewablejohn (Sep 25, 2008)

In the UK we have serious bee losses to the extent that they may become extinct. I lost my hive two winters ago and have not replaced as yet due to the threat of disease. 
I always kept a spare hive next to the live hive so that a swarm had an easy home move option.


----------



## sgcsalsero (Sep 29, 2008)

renewablejohn said:
			
		

> In the UK we have serious bee losses to the extent that they may become extinct. I lost my hive two winters ago and have not replaced as yet due to the threat of disease.
> I always kept a spare hive next to the live hive so that a swarm had an easy home move option.



I'm taking the problem pretty seriously as a total newbie.  My hive has a new 'ohio queen'.  It is not from the Southern U.S., has shown good egg laying habits, and seems to be very healthy.  I already talked to the guy who sold me the hive about building up the colony and then dividing the hive a few times next year with the hopes of taking a hive or two for myself and then parceling out the other(s) to folks who lost hives.  I'm secondarily interested in the honey, I just want to propagate more healthy bees (which probably requires an experienced beekeeper to help with, but not totally out of the question for a newbie to pull off).

I'm also going to look into an orchard mason colony, apparently the 'pig pens' of the bee world which is awesome for flowers since they apparently are just covered 'head to toe' with pollen when looking around for nectar.


----------



## begreen (Sep 30, 2008)

I miss our bees. I gave up after multiple years of colony collapse and then our friend with the extraction equipment moved away. But I do miss them and am happy to see we still have honey bees around. I don't mow the fields now so that they have plenty of wildflowers for food. Beekeeping is very educational, they're fascinating creatures. Good luck with your colonies churchie.


----------



## jghall (Oct 11, 2008)

Very interesting topic.. I am gald it started because I have been thinking about getting a hive or 2 for myself... Being an organic gardener, I was thinking of getting hives more for helping pollinate my garden and fruit trees more than anything... Although I do love honey, nothing like it as a final glaze for teh chicken after a few hours on the BBQ....


----------



## sgcsalsero (Oct 13, 2008)

JHall said:
			
		

> Very interesting topic.. I am gald it started because I have been thinking about getting a hive or 2 for myself... Being an organic gardener, I was thinking of getting hives more for helping pollinate my garden and fruit trees more than anything... Although I do love honey, nothing like it as a final glaze for teh chicken after a few hours on the BBQ....



Check out setting up 'houses' for orchard or bumble bees if you are solely interested in pollination . ...something I plan on doing next year in Spring


----------



## sergio (Oct 25, 2008)

Don't be afraid of the bees. If the hive is not real close to the house then you won't even notice much difference in the bee population around you. The bees are busy in and out of the hive but disperse fairly widely within a short distance of the hive. They are busy on the flowers not the air.
My son kept his bees in the back yard and the only time I really noticed more bees was when I was picking the raspberries about 6 to 10 feet from the hive.
Has anyone tried a solar air heater on the south side of the hive box to keep them warm and help them move about more on sunny days? It might reduce starvation when there is still honey in the hive.


----------

