beekeeping
 

Somebody asked me to post something on getting started in bees for anybody interested in getting started. I was trying to get something written up myself but its taking a very long time.here is some very good imformation
supplied by the Connecticut beekeepers association http://www.ctbees.com/

their imformation pages are here http://www.ctbees.com/info.htm

Im happy to answer any questions you may have

Re: beekeeping
 

My Husband keeps a few hives of Bees. Although we have had problems in past years with mites we have not seen any evidence of the Colony Collapse Disorder that is making the news. It seems to be affecting commercial hives.

Re: beekeeping
 

Where is the best place to order/purchase bee-keeping supplies and equipment? How much does it cost to get set up?

Re: beekeeping
 

two places i like and do most of my purchasing are http://www.dadant.com

and http://www.mannlakeltd.com

both are good companies and both sell beginer kits and all the supplies you need except normally the bees themselves.

this is a link to a bee and package supplier that i found on the internet i have not dealt with them in any way but it looks like they can
ship packages to east coast locations http://www.draperbee.com/


I would recommend to obtain the bees that you associate with the local beekeeping club or association they normally have good contacts for
suppliers of nucs and packages that are close to home.

A nuc is often the easier way for a begginer to get started but nucs have problems with shipping and drawbacks in that they are more likely to harbor disease and parasites but even so i would recommend a nuc if you can find one close to home from a good
supplier.

For April and even May bees you will normally need to have your order placed
and solid by the end of February.

the cost of a basic startup beginner kit is about 130 dollars the cost of the bees can be anywhere from 50 to 120 dollars

I sell and ship package bees and queens but am limited to where I can ship
to for the packages, basically above zip 51000 and I could ship package bees.
queens I can ship anywhere in the USA.

Re: beekeeping
 

Quite an interesting job/hobby. Thanks for the info, I might look into doing this someday!

Re: beekeeping
 

I like Brushy Mountain. http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/

Re: beekeeping
 

Yeah what is the latest word on CCD. I wouldn't mind setting up a colony but have been very leary. We still had enough native bees last year to pollinate, but....

SB

Alternatives to Bees
 

Here is a link to a somewhat less pessimistic article on CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder), the current state of affairs with bees, and a likely possible cause. I agree that the consequences of a loss of Apis mellifera, would be a severe blow, but there are alternatives if you farm and are prepared:

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/scienceshow...htm#transcript

One alternative, that are actually more efficient pollinators than honey bees, are Mason Bees. They actually don't produce honey, but they (the mason bees) are pollinating little machines. Some information:

Orchard Mason Bees

http://gardening.wsu.edu/library/inse006/inse006.htm

The orchard mason bee (Osmia lignaria) is a gentle beneficial insect that has potential as a pollinator of apples, cherries, and other tree fruits. It is found throughout most of North America, particularly in wooded areas but often around homes in towns and cities.

Homeowners sometimes become concerned when they see the bee entering cavities under shake siding or investigating nail holes or other cavities in wood during March through early June. These are not destructive insects, since they do not excavate holes in the wood, though they will clean out loose debris. No controls are recommended, since no damage is done. To prevent the bee from nesting, holes may be filled with caulking.

The orchard mason bee is usually slightly smaller than a honey bee and a shiny dark blue in color. The actual size of the bee depends largely upon the size of the hole in which it grew.............
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bumble Bees

http://www.bumblebee.org/economic.htm

The Economic importance of bumblebees

Bees are responsible for pollinating plants that provide much of our food; in North America it is believed that 30% of food for human consumption originates from plants pollinated by bees. Honeybees are generally thought of as the most common pollinator, and they are the most widely studied, but bumblebees are the chief pollinators of red clover, alfalfa, and in some areas cotton, raspberries, apple and plum blossom.

In Norwegian orchards honeybee pollination is usually limited by low temperatures, so bumblebees are the chief pollinators there, and in other Scandinavian countries bumblebees will forage 24 hours a day in the long days of summer. Also bumblebees will pollinate flowers that do not produce nectar, whereas honeybees will not. Just look at the photograph on the right. No other animal can pollinate "difficult" flowers like antirrhinum except big, fat, hairy bumblebees..............
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alternative Pollinators

http://www.pollinator.com/alt_pollinators.htm

Re: Alternatives to Bees
 

This is a resource for info I really like


http://www.earthfiles.com/search.php...nth=01&eDay=27

Re: beekeeping
 

A few questions,

How do you like natural cell size vs. regular sizes, are natural sizes less disease prone?

What do you think of the langstroth hive vs. the top bar hive

If using the top bar hive, how do you control the number of drones and keep them from consuming all your honey?

What do you think of Russian bees?

Do africanized bees make more honey, are they more disease resistant, does anyone raise them?

I have been planning on starting this year with bees, I read the book, How to Raise Bees and Sell Honey, by Walter T. Kelly.

Any comments? Thanks

Re: beekeeping
 

actually I dont even know what natural cell size is anymore we have been breeding
larger than usual bees for probably 100 years and I know for sure 50 years I think this is bad
I do know that smaller cell size has been proven to greatly reduce the problems with
varoa mites and are happy to see smaller bees and cell size in my own apiary (mostly notice this in top bar mating nucs)

top bar are great but are probably a little harder for the novice beekeeper
to get started in most of my mating nucs are top bar hives so they draw their own natural size foundation.

Drone production is natural and for me as a queen breeder it is much needed
so i do nothing to stop drone cell production it is normally associated with places
in the hive which are first filled with honey so as soon as they reach summer honey
production they quickly fill in the drone cells with honey and this probably helps with extraction in the langstroth hives

I consider the russian a good bee i have known a russian hive to survive for
5 seasons without treatment for mites. To anybody that keeps bees you will
apreciate this. It however was fiesty and the cluster early in the year was very
small so as to make it not very much use for early season pollination almonds or early honey flow. so if i didnt have a need for gentle early brooding bees I would go for the russians.

it just depends where you are what is the best bee for you.

Africanised bees do raise honey but this is limited by their impulse to swarm
(when a hive swarms much of the honey production is lost)

Africanised bees are much more resistant to parasites because of their agresiveness so they can probably survive where our honey bees would die.

Yes there is people working Africanised bees in Mexico and I have worked hives in
Southern California which were Africanised and believe me when I tell you
you dont want that even if they can survive the mites.

If all we could keep alive were Africanised bees we as beekeepers would lose
locations to keep bees and
would probably be sued into oblivion not enough beekeepers would risk that
liability.

Walter T Kelly is another big name in beekeeping so im sure he has some good imformation in there.

best of luck this year

Re: beekeeping
 

Thanks,

I didn't realize russians were agressive, what breed would you suggest for the Chicago area climate and for a novice beekeeper?

Should I just stick to honey production or could I also mess with queen rearing at the same time?

The reason I liked top bar hive was because I was after comb honey and the hive seems a lot easier to build.

If I have top bar hives will the hive naturally have a bunch of drones? Will they eat all my surplus honey?

Do you insulate your hives during the winter to save on honey?

Do you have any good sources of info on natural beekeeping, if the SHTF I won't have chemicals to rely on.

What do you think of bee gums, I know you have to destroy the colony to get the honey but they look simple to set up.

Any other types of hive I should look at?

Where are you located, and do you have a web site where I could order bees from you?

Thanks for all the help, if you like you can PM me with your contact info.

Re: beekeeping
 

I found your site.

Re: beekeeping
 

Do you sell honey? I would possibly be interested in 5 or 10 gallons.

Re: beekeeping
 

I would not realy describe russians as agressive just fiesty most of the time i work my italians in shorts and t shirt and without veil i probably could not get away with that with russians.

from what i understand of chicago russians may be a better bee they are conservative in how they live through the winter IE they shrink to a smaller
cluster of bees through the winter to save on food probably italians would need to be watched for food stores.

for a novice beekeepers i like and recomend the italians due to gentleness


i cant ship packages to chicago sorry

i would not worry to much about drones they are prolific in spring but the colony soon fills up the drone cells with honey which prevents to many summer drones and as soon as the weather gets cold you will see the colony kicking the
drones out to save food for the winter

for your first hive just stick with the standard langstroth hive and learn as much as you can then try moving on to top bar or small
cell foundation.

to run bees today without chemical or self reliantly make sure you use screened bottom boards as they make many non chemical
treatments for mites useable as well as making an unfavorable habitat for mites. cant recommend these enough

no i dont insulate my hives but i live in california and i have not seen below 30 degrees yet this year.

Re: beekeeping
 

My question is can I keep bees on my small lot in suburb city??

Re: beekeeping
 

Keep a pair of hinged hives near the front door. Then wire a motion detector attached to the inside of the door to energize solenoids that pull the hives open if the door is opened, hammered, or broken down without an "enter" switch being energized. A cure for the no-knock police policy...:D

Re: beekeeping
 

I know a lot of people who do but it may be against city ordinances depends
where you live.

Re: beekeeping
 

Hey Damoc, have you seen this site? http://www.beemaster.com

I would love to keep bees, but I don't think I could talk my way into finding my errant hive clumping on someone eves. Any suburban bee keeping tips?

Re: beekeeping
 

keep them out of site that goes for commercial beekeepers as well 1 or 2
hives could be easily hidden somewhere in most peoples back yard its even
possible to have them inside a garden shed with an outside entrance which
would be almost impossible for someone to find unless they were walking right
next to it.but doing something like that would make working them a little difficult.
best thing to do if you have close neighbors would be to build a large
privacy fence of some sort not only will this hide the bees from prying eyes
it will make the flight path of the bees up and over everyones head and they will never even know they were there.

that beemaster was an interesting site and it had some imfo which might help you with backyard beekeeping
http://www.beemaster.com/honeybee/bee4you.html