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Post by ncgarden on Feb 9, 2015 19:26:42 GMT -5
Get it? Beesiness, like business? Oh so clever....
Anyway, 2014 was a great year for bees at the Double Up Farm. We were quite surprised one day in May to see a huge swarm in the trees right next to our hives. So we ran to the store to get an "emergency" hive, dropped the swarm, and now we have four hives - I think that makes us a bee yard! We will be swapping them out once it warms up - we like to use 8 frame hives because the supers are not so heavy, but since this was an emergency, we had to use what was available, a 10 frame. Just spent the warm weekend past painting the new 8 frame.
Honey harvest should be been filmed and made into some kind of Monty Python comedy. I TOLD my husband the bees would figure out we were in the garage. But noooooooo....he set us up in the garage. We were processing about 10-12 frames of honey (we are slow - it took us several hours). And by that time, the bees had indeed found us, and we ended up fleeing the garage for the house, figuring what harm could they do. THEY TOOK BACK ALL THEIR HONEY. In the course of 12 hours or so, they took something like 2 gallons of honey, and along the way, thousands and thousands of them drowned in what was left. We ended up with only about a gallon of honey - we did leave the majority in the hive for them to use over the winter.
Santa brought me a bee suit this Christmas, because by the 5th or 6th time I was stung last year, which always results in a highly dramatic scene in which I cry and hurl myself about, my husband was afraid I would refuse to help. Helpful hint: not only can bees sting you right through your sweat pants, if they are the loose baggy kind, they will fly UP inside the pants and sting your thighs which results in having to strip your pants off in public. I think maybe the neighbors all pitched in for the bee suit after the sweat pants experience scarred their young children.
Based on the activity in the hives this weekend when we were in the 60's, everybody is doing .... well .... super. hehehehe - get it, super - a little inside bee joke if you will. hehehehe. Perhaps it is time to call it an evening....
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Post by gakaren on Feb 9, 2015 22:23:19 GMT -5
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Post by desertwoman on Feb 10, 2015 0:03:43 GMT -5
I'm laughing with tears, nc. It hash't happened with bees, but I have done the spider dance, tearing off my shirt in the yard....neighbors be dam#! Know exactly what you are talking about
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Post by brownrexx on Feb 10, 2015 10:14:42 GMT -5
NC, I'll bet you remember my posting on OG about getting a bee inside my ear while wearing hearing protectors while mowing too close to the hives (like hubby told me not to do).
I extract our honey inside of the garage with the door shut no matter how hot it gets to keep the bees out. He basically works with the bees because I don't like that part and I extract and bottle the honey which he does not like doing.
Well last year I finished my work in the garage and put the frames and sticky equipment outside for the bees to clean off. I didn't give it another thought but when hubby got home from work, he called me from his truck while sitting in the driveway. He had a few choice words for me in a raised tone of voice. Unfortunately I put the stuff too close to the house and there were thousands of bees flying all over the driveway area.
He had to make a run for the house through a cloud of bees and he was not happy about it. Only one sting I might add.
Having bees is so much fun isn't it? We also have 4 hives now.
Did you give up on your top bar hive and switch to Langstroth?
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Post by ncgarden on Feb 10, 2015 18:46:57 GMT -5
Brownrexx - EVERY time I am mowing, and mow in front of the hives I think of you. Every single time. So far, so good and they have not gotten to me while I am mowing!
I still have the top bar hive, and the other three are Langstroth. I have to confess - I kind of hate the top bar. We really mangled harvest from that hive. The bees had completely cemented the comb to the sides of the hive. In the videos they always just show people whipping those top bars and comb off - which works great - unless they have cemented the comb to the sides, in which case you pull only the top bar and about an inch of comb and leave an enormous sticky mess in the hive along with a bunch of really irritated bees. They kept the majority of their honey this year and I only took enough to package some of the comb in jars for my friends who like comb in their honey!!
This year I am bringing a hot knife to try and cut the sides free first - we'll see how it goes, I have several months before I have to worry about it!
I am planting a new bee garden this year for them - well, technically, it is an excuse to avoid mowing around the guy wires that support a telephone pole. I have hit those wires so many times with the tractor I am afraid I am going to take the whole thing down. But more on that in another post....
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Post by brownrexx on Feb 11, 2015 14:17:45 GMT -5
I think that the Langstroth hives are probably a lot easier to harvest honey from but my hubby still thinks that he really likes the top bar hives for a hobby that he does not gather honey from. He really likes them but we never got one because they are so expensive to buy, plus the fact that I think 4 hives of bees is quite enough.
I KNEW that you would remember my story NC. It was pretty traumatic but I think that it's probably one in a million chance of it ever happening again.
For those of you who have not heard this story, here it is.
About 3 years ago we had a swarm of bees and we collected them in a new hive. Hubby told me that they were acting pretty aggressive and that when I was mowing that I should stay really far from their hive. They were probably just being protective of their new home and in addition to that they did not have any food stores built up so they were probably hungry, cranky and defensive.
Well the grass was looking pretty shaggy near their new hive so I got a little too close and they came out after me. Bees do not like the vibration from gas engines like mowers, week whackers, etc. and they will fly at you to warn you away. Usually I get the hint and move away quickly but this time was different.
I was on a big riding mower and wearing hearing protectors (the ear muff type with a headband) and somehow I must have gotten a bee in my hair and when I waved my hand to get rid of it I moved the hearing protector off of my ear and the bee got INSIDE it when I put it back over my ear.
Next thing I knew I felt the bee crawling down into my ear canal. I immediately flipped out, jumped off the mower and right out of one shoe, yanked of the hearing protector and started screaming. Hubby comes running as I am yelling "there's a bee in my ear" at the top of my lungs and crying at the same time. He starts telling me to be quiet that the neighbors will hear me and there can't be a bee in my ear. Now I am not only scared but I am MAD at him for caring more about what the neighbors might think than the fact that I HAVE A BEE IN MY EAR!!!!!!
He finally looks into my ear and sees the bee trying to back out of my ear canal and he is telling me to hold still as I am yelling "get it out, get it out" .
Well the bee ending up stinging me on the outside of my ear which was not as bad as I had imagined and then I limped into the house with one shoe, no hat, no hearing protector, tears streaming down my face, the riding mower still running and mad at my husband.
It seems kind of funny now but was super traumatic at the time. My logical mind shut off and I went immediately into panic mode thinking that the bee was going to sting me on the ear drum and I would go deaf or something. Probably the bee would just have backed out of my ear by itself and no harm done after I removed the hearing protectors but if any of you tell me that you would not panic in a situation like that - I won't believe you.
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canadiyank
Blooming
Central WA, Zone 6B
Posts: 125
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Post by canadiyank on Feb 26, 2015 22:39:55 GMT -5
Oh my gosh, I would panic. I got a bee in my hair last year and I was surprised how panicked I got!
I started last year (with a TBH my FIL made me) but the colony died over the winter. :(
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Post by desertwoman on Feb 26, 2015 22:48:16 GMT -5
omg I remember that story. I'm traumatized with you, all over again, At the same time I am laughing as I read it. You have a way with words. You captured the entire feelings of it all.
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Post by ncgarden on May 11, 2015 17:32:15 GMT -5
When we were checking the bees a few weeks ago, we noticed one of the supers was completely full. So we pulled it today. Must be 60 lbs of honey, and we are very excited. Did not kill any bees, no one got stung. Too hot to do anything with it today but put it in the basement, but so exciting!
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Post by James on Jun 24, 2015 1:04:30 GMT -5
brownrexx, oh my what a story about a bee in your ear. That would drive one nuts for sure. I have been keeping bees for about 36 years. Ya, I have had some experiences, but never a bee in the ear. Thanks for sharing.
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Post by brownrexx on Jun 24, 2015 8:10:14 GMT -5
Yes, James, it was quite memorable!
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Post by lilolpeapicker on Jun 28, 2015 19:59:02 GMT -5
Reminds me of the TV series called Thriller. There was an episode where an earwig crawled into a man's ear and laid eggs. The man slowly went mad.. I was so grossed out that I think I had my hands over my eyes for the rest of the show... I woulda freaked for sure, BR!
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Post by restless on Jun 29, 2015 11:54:41 GMT -5
I love these bee threads. I want some bees!
I have a neighbor who likes to tend her flower gardens. She panics every time a bee gets near her. Full on hand waving and dancing on the spot yelling hissy fit. I was in her garden talking to her earlier this week and a bee landed in my hair. (I'm fine with this. No big deal to me. I often have bees in my hair. I always figure it will fly out again when it realizes I am not a flower and I have thus far been ok with my ignore it approach.) And I always think to myself when she has her bee waving and dancing and shrieking spells that she is more likely to get stung that way than just leaving it alone. Anyway, she starts having her hand waving dancing on the spot shrieking spell about MY head. I was certain I was about to get stung. And I just stood there calmly, preparing to get stung, because if I moved, I was sure to get slapped, and told her I would be ok. She somehow managed to wave the bee out of my hair and I did not get stung or slapped.
I have a lawn full of white and purple clover, buttercups, nettle, dock, and other flowering weeds. I also have two large clumps of goldenrod, and I let all of my herb seeds to go seed. I also plant zinnia, cosmos, alyssum, chamomile, and other flowers all types of bees love. The goldenrod has just started to bloom, and it is constantly infested with all manner of bees, large and small. My dill flowers are the same way right now. It's like a natural history museum of pollinators. The same neighbor came to investigate my garden yesterday because she smelled a fragrant flower and was trying to figure out which one was producing the fragrance she liked. I was kneeling by the goldenrod weeding the crack between the retaining wall and the driveway. She panicked and ran out of my yard when she saw the various bees flying around the goldenrod. And she warned me from a far that countless bees were swarming around my head.
I would panic if I had a bee in my ear too, brownrexx.
I have had a dramatic removal of clothing in the back yard event due to biting ants. I had been to a MINI rally in NH one June and come home to find my garden had a growth spurt during the week I was away. I had been bitten very badly by mosquitoes and black flies while in NH. Through my clothing! Through my jeans! In the hair on my head! I am one of those people to whom mosquitoes are especially attracted, it seems. I was itching all over from all the bites I got in NH. Despite the heat of the day, I decided I really needed to avoid any further mosquito bites, and had donned long pants, sneakers and socks, a long sleeved shirt with a tee shirt on top, and a hat. I was sweating like a pig in all of that clothing. Sweat running down my back. Sweat running down my legs. But I really, really, didn't want another mosquito bite, so I persevered. I was standing for a long time near one corner of the raised bed, staking and tying up tomato plants that were there. I had assumed the tickling I was feeling on my torso and on my legs was sweat running down my body and irritating the many mosquito bites I had suffered. I was wrong. It was biting ants. They all started biting at the same time. It was painful. Like sharp pinches all over me. I didn't know what was happening.
I started ripping off my clothing and I ran into the basement of our house, ripping off more clothing, and saw the ants crawling all over me. I started yelling for my fiance to help me, as I couldn't reach the ants on my back. I was hollering and screaming. We were going to have guests over in a few hours and cook on the grill. He was in the kitchen, preparing food. Unbeknownst to me, our friend Alex had stopped by early to visit and help. My fiance heard me yelling, but was elbow deep in food preparation, and sent Alex to see what I needed. Alex called to me as he was coming down the basement stairs. At this point, I was wearing very little clothing. I started freaking out and telling him to go upstairs and get my fiance. (I was behind the staircase, so thankfully Alex did not get an eyeful!) I had to wait forever for my fiance to wash his hands and arms (he was mixing up hamburger with seasoning in a large bowl, which is why he sent Alex.) When he finally got downstairs he couldn't believe all the ants on me. Most of the ones still on me were dead at this point, because I had slapped the ones I could reach. After we were sure they were all dead on me, he went upstairs to get me a robe and I went to shower while he threw my clothing in the washer on hot water to kill any ants in my clothing. Alex, banished to the upstairs, was concerned and confused about all the screaming and shouting, wondering what as going on.
So, on top of my mosquito and black fly bites, I had ant bites all over me from the neck down. I had so many ant bites on my feet and they were so swollen that I couldn't wear any of my own shoes to work the next day. I borrowed my fiance's flip flops and took them off when I got to the office and walked around barefoot. As a result of the ant bite fiasco that day, whenever I am going to be standing or kneeling in one place in my garden, I take a couple of old towels with me and fold them up to several thicknesses to kneel or stand on. They got me again a couple of years later, but not nearly as badly.
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Post by brownrexx on Jun 29, 2015 14:50:23 GMT -5
Ha, ha, ha Restless. That's as good as my bee story.
I really do not usually panic around the bees. They are not killer bees and if they get in your hair, they are usually just trying to find their way out. However after the bee in the ear incident, I usually wear a hat around them.
I have the cement top to a birdbath that sits on the ground. There is a rock in the center and I keep it filled with fresh water for the bees. They will usually be 40-50 bees around it at any one time getting a drink and when I want to fill the bowl I gently flush it out with the hose and the bees move aside while lots of them are flying around me waiting for me to fill the bowl. I have never been stung while doing this. It's kind of fun actually.
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Post by restless on Jun 29, 2015 15:29:07 GMT -5
Oh yeah. I think it's a different story to have a bee in your ear or up your nose or in your mouth or even trapped inside an article of clothing than in your hair. I figure a bee can find its way into and out of my hair pretty easily, but not necessarily if it somehow flies up a shirt sleeve or pant leg. Different story when it is in your ear or up your nose. I wouldn't want to get stung in one of those places, first of all, it seems like it would be more severe than getting stung at a fully external part of your body.
I love to watch insects and birds drink in my garden after a rain storm or watering. It's pretty cool! I don't really have space for a bird bath here, but I would love to have one someday. I really love to observe the little lives in my garden. Even the bad bugs. I enjoy seeing and identifying their eggs before I squish them. We have a pair of goldfinch that live very close to our house somewhere. They are always hanging out in the garden. They like to perch on the trellises or on the seed heads of things like orach. Last year or the year before, we were on the patio after a rain and saw a goldfinch land on one of the beet leaves in my garden to drink from the water drops. He was so light he barely bent the leaf when he landed. It was a really cool moment. It must be such a great experience for you to water your bees like that and watch them drink.
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