Yesterday we got to Hives of Bees so thats over 50,000 Bees in each hive my dad said, going to have a look in them next weekend sometime so will tell you about that then.
i ment 2 not To.
veg gardener said:
Yesterday we got to Hives of Bees so thats over 50,000 Bees in each hive my dad said, going to have a look in them next weekend sometime so will tell you about that then.
Goodness, I didn’t realize so many bees could fit in such a small space…sometimes we see hives that have been placed to “harvest” the blooms (e.g. gum trees) and there would be at least 10, the smallest colony of hives…geez that’s a lot of beez…
veg gardener said:
i ment 2 not To.
No worries Veg…
yeah it is alot and they fly 3 miles so 4.89kms from the hive and when the Young Hatch they are Guards frist and there are workers who just work inside the hive and ones who collect the nectar from the flowers and they only live for 3 weeks.
veg gardener said:
Yesterday we got to Hives of Bees so thats over 50,000 Bees in each hive my dad said, going to have a look in them next weekend sometime so will tell you about that then.
holy smoke! – can you check 50,000 please. these must be good hives.
veg gardener said:
yeah it is alot and they fly 3 miles so 4.89kms from the hive and when the Young Hatch they are Guards frist and there are workers who just work inside the hive and ones who collect the nectar from the flowers and they only live for 3 weeks.
apparently there are air conditioning bees – who go and collect water and then fan their wings like crazy to evapouratively cool the hive.
pepe said:
veg gardener said:
Yesterday we got to Hives of Bees so thats over 50,000 Bees in each hive my dad said, going to have a look in them next weekend sometime so will tell you about that then.
holy smoke! – can you check 50,000 please. these must be good hives.
thats we we got told that a good hive could have plus most of them are out all day.
pepe said:
veg gardener said:
yeah it is alot and they fly 3 miles so 4.89kms from the hive and when the Young Hatch they are Guards frist and there are workers who just work inside the hive and ones who collect the nectar from the flowers and they only live for 3 weeks.
apparently there are air conditioning bees – who go and collect water and then fan their wings like crazy to evapouratively cool the hive.
Depends on how many supers you have on the hive.. what the flowers are like and whether the queen has enough room to move.
roughbarked said:
Depends on how many supers you have on the hive.. what the flowers are like and whether the queen has enough room to move.
are you a beekeeper as well RB?
pepe said:
roughbarked said:
Depends on how many supers you have on the hive.. what the flowers are like and whether the queen has enough room to move.
are you a beekeeper as well RB?
I do have bees yes. ;)
roughbarked said:
pepe said:
roughbarked said:
Depends on how many supers you have on the hive.. what the flowers are like and whether the queen has enough room to move.
are you a beekeeper as well RB?
I do have bees yes. ;)
well i’ll be reading this thread with interest then.
what’s a super?
OK a Hive is made up of a brood chamber(bottom box) and every box above the queen excluder is known as a super. Some may be stacked five or six high.
A queen excluder keeps the queen underneath it. So that all the supers are removable to harvest the honey from.
The brood chamber may be expanded and contracted by adding or removing boxes under the queen excluder(with care to ensure that the queen isn’t in the box you remove).
Truthfully wherever you live. One of the best books to have is Beekeeping in Victoria ..
<quote> The book is essential! It doesn’t really matter which book it is, so long as it tells how to maintain a bee hive. For my part a publication by the Department of Agriculture in Victoria titled ‘Bee Keeping in Victoria’ is my bee keeping bible. But be warned – bee books written by experienced bee keepers are masters of understatement. ‘Catching a swarm is easy’, this practical text suggests. ‘Just place a large box under the swarm and tap the top of the swarm with a stick – all the bees will fall into the box’. What the book doesn’t tell you is that you will probably need a 50 foot ladder to get up above the swarm in a rural area and that falling that far is not on for the bees who will all take flight and focus their attention on you!
</quote>
roughbarked said:
But be warned – bee books written by experienced bee keepers are masters of understatement. ‘Catching a swarm is easy’, this practical text suggests. ‘Just place a large box under the swarm and tap the top of the swarm with a stick – all the bees will fall into the box’. What the book doesn’t tell you is that you will probably need a 50 foot ladder to get up above the swarm in a rural area and that falling that far is not on for the bees who will all take flight and focus their attention on you!
</quote>
he, he! :D
The Bees Have helped with Pollentation on my veggies, got the first Pumpkin for the season. my Pumpkins when in a bit late i think same time as my tomatoes which were late but have had a good crop from them.
veg gardener said:
The Bees Have helped with Pollentation on my veggies, got the first Pumpkin for the season. my Pumpkins when in a bit late i think same time as my tomatoes which were late but have had a good crop from them.
earning their keep already :)
bluegreen said:
veg gardener said:
The Bees Have helped with Pollentation on my veggies, got the first Pumpkin for the season. my Pumpkins when in a bit late i think same time as my tomatoes which were late but have had a good crop from them.
earning their keep already :)
Yep, there good little pets.
Got stung by a bee Yesterday arvo it was my fault but.
veg gardener said:
Got stung by a bee Yesterday arvo it was my fault but.
tried to play chasings with it, did you?
bluegreen said:
veg gardener said:
Got stung by a bee Yesterday arvo it was my fault but.
tried to play chasings with it, did you?
nope, i was cleaning up the water on the convabelt with a brush and got stung on the leg.
Looked in both hives today, dad had his mobile phone on talking to his mate about the bees we worked out we aren’t got to rob any honey till after winter but we may if it fills up just on frame but, i said to dad could we try something feed one hive and not the other.
veg gardener said:
Looked in both hives today, dad had his mobile phone on talking to his mate about the bees we worked out we aren’t got to rob any honey till after winter but we may if it fills up just on frame but, i said to dad could we try something feed one hive and not the other.
great project VG and dad.
i’m waiting for your first taste of honey too.
pepe said:
veg gardener said:
Looked in both hives today, dad had his mobile phone on talking to his mate about the bees we worked out we aren’t got to rob any honey till after winter but we may if it fills up just on frame but, i said to dad could we try something feed one hive and not the other.
great project VG and dad.
i’m waiting for your first taste of honey too.
same we have had home made honey before from dads friends hive, tasted Yummy.
veg gardener said:
Looked in both hives today, dad had his mobile phone on talking to his mate about the bees we worked out we aren’t got to rob any honey till after winter but we may if it fills up just on frame but, i said to dad could we try something feed one hive and not the other.
Hives may have trouble surviving the winter if there is no pollen about.
However in Australia this isn’t generally such a problem and also depends on how cold your winters are and if there are any winter flowering plants in your area. Many beekeepers feed their bees during winter but this is a practice that care must be taken with. It is all in the book I mentioned above. You don’t want to over feed your bes and yes you don’t want to underfeed. It is wise to assess just what is flowering within a couple of Km from your hives. Keep a calendar of flowers.roughbarked said:
veg gardener said:
Looked in both hives today, dad had his mobile phone on talking to his mate about the bees we worked out we aren’t got to rob any honey till after winter but we may if it fills up just on frame but, i said to dad could we try something feed one hive and not the other.
Hives may have trouble surviving the winter if there is no pollen about.
However in Australia this isn’t generally such a problem and also depends on how cold your winters are and if there are any winter flowering plants in your area. Many beekeepers feed their bees during winter but this is a practice that care must be taken with. It is all in the book I mentioned above. You don’t want to over feed your bes and yes you don’t want to underfeed. It is wise to assess just what is flowering within a couple of Km from your hives. Keep a calendar of flowers.
most of the trees around here are in flower in winter and that, dads mate is helping us learning all about this. Rough you may be able to help us a bit as well.
Know the flowers your bees want. Namely anything in the cruciferae group will be flowering from now through to spring.. allow some of your radish or broccoli to flower. http://www.flickr.com/photos/67449903@N00/2851439109/
Eremophila will flower most o the year.. onion flowers, a whole range of things Banksia for example.. It isn’t always necessary to feed bees.
Remember that in Europe there were no Eucalypts when Apis mellifera evolved. In their natural environment they forage at no more than 2 metres above the ground in general until the trees blossom in spring but for most of the year it would be clover lucerne mustard weed etc. In Australaia many native trees flower when stimulated by rain rather than by season. The mighty Eucalypt has proven to be the best bee food ever.
roughbarked said:
Know the flowers your bees want. Namely anything in the cruciferae group will be flowering from now through to spring.. allow some of your radish or broccoli to flower. http://www.flickr.com/photos/67449903@N00/2851439109/Eremophila will flower most o the year.. onion flowers, a whole range of things Banksia for example.. It isn’t always necessary to feed bees.
Remember that in Europe there were no Eucalypts when Apis mellifera evolved. In their natural environment they forage at no more than 2 metres above the ground in general until the trees blossom in spring but for most of the year it would be clover lucerne mustard weed etc. In Australaia many native trees flower when stimulated by rain rather than by season. The mighty Eucalypt has proven to be the best bee food ever.
we have a few Banksias around here
there is a wattle for every day of the year.
vegie, make sure you take care with the bees. I have been told that Bee toxin is accumulative and although you may not have an allergic reaction to a sting, subsequent stings can cause a reaction. Make sure you have anti-histamines and even adrenalin in the house or nearby shed.
It can be the case that you may not show any sign of reaction for 11 stings and the 12th is the one that gets you.
Also stings on digits will tend to show some localised swelling because the toxin takes time to escape from these tight locations whereas a sting to a large muscle area will enable the toxin and subsequent swelling to be dispersed over a wider area.
If you and your Dad are the main players in the Bee game, make sure your Mum is well trained in first aid procedures. A first aid course could mean all the difference.
yes it is true that some bee keepers can no longer go near their bees after a while.
you can enter detox programs for bee toxin or so I have been told.
Getting a 2 frame Honey Extractor this arvo for $50 well i wont be going to get it as i am going out this arvo.