Any beekeepers?

[JeffinNZ]

Hi team.

Any beekeepers here? I am becoming interested in the idea of a hive or two at home. I need another hobby. LOL.

[Blammer]

I am.

[JeffinNZ]

Righto then. How do one get started? Do I have to catch bees and train them?

[oneokie]

Righto then. How do one get started? Do I have to catch bees and train them?

Film at 11 if you do that.

[hithard]

Check with your local city services, alot of times they have people on hand to call to take care of swarms in the spring. Talk to these people about setting things up. Swarms are a great way to get your hive's, cheap. There also may be a beekeepers club around your location. Definetly try and get with a club if there is one. On top of the wealth of knowledge, they should have a spinner and iron for members to borrow to harvest your honey. If there are orchards in your area talk to the farmer and see who owns the hives he is using for pollination. As this would be a good source too.

[TCLouis]

I have little experience, but from what I have been told the hive/colony goes berserk in the presence of purple.

[Bad Water Bill]

Just saying the word PURPLE WILL bring even the queen out and in full attack mode.

[starmac]

Just use bumble bees, they don't mind purple.(any worse than any other color)

[JeffinNZ]

HITHARD: I ran into a member of the local club today so I might follow up on that in the new year. Thanks all. Just have to sell SWMBO on the idea....

[crabo]

My wife does. Her website is beegirl.biz

[Beekeeper]

Jeff,
Way back when I got started as a beekeeper I was like you (I only wanted one hive).
But beehives are like lays potato chips " you can't stop with just one".
By the time I retired I ran 1500 hives in 2 states. Finally sold to a young fellow who wanted to make his fortune.
Best advice is get with anyone who "is" a beekeeper and learn everything you can.
Read every thing that is printed. ( some of it is like gun rag stuff ) but you can glean a lot of good info.
Have a lot of extra hive suppers on hand, Sometimes the ladies work a lot of overtime and fill them up real quick.

Rome wasn't built in a day and beekeepers are not pro's the first week so expect to make mistakes!!

Most important of all and I can not stress this enough, Make sure you , your wife , and the girls are not alergic to bee stings!!
If there is any doubt at all get extra safety clothing and sting kits.

There several beekeeping magazines here in the states, not sure you can get them there in OZ but the best book I have ever found is the "ABC's" of beekeeping by Dadant.
Is kinda the bible of beekeeping.

Let me know if I can help in any way!!


beekeeper

[Wayne Smith]

Righto then. How do one get started? Do I have to catch bees and train them?

Actually, that's what Blammer does! Catch them, that is. If you live within reach of Ashville and have a swarm of bees you don't want he's the guy to call.

[Rick N Bama]

I'm not a keeper myself, but I've helped others from time to time over the years and now my daugher & Grandsons are thinking about starting up a hive in the spring.

Rick

[Leslie Sapp]

Film at 11 if you do that.

Actually, it's pretty easy to catch them if they're swarming. :smile:
It can get pretty exciting at other times, if you don't know what you're doing.

[Blacksmith]

I'm not a bee keeper but have done a little research so I thought I would see if A. I. Root's book was available on line. A.I. Root was the father of modern bee keeping because he discovered what "Bee Space" was, the dimensions that bees needed to make comb but would not seal off. Well I found his book, "ABC of Bee Culture", and a lot more. So Jeff here is some reading to get you started:
http://bees.library.cornell.edu/b/bees/browse.html

Have fun and I understand after awhile you don't notice when you get stung.

[crabo]

The BeeKeeper's Handbook by Diana Sammataro and Alphonse Avitabile and BeeKeeping for Dummies is pretty good for the beginner.

[Blammer]

catching a swarm is the easiest and cheapest way to get bees. You just have to have a hive ready for them.

sugar water in a spray bottle, a ladder, and some branch clippers and a box with holes (smallones for breathing) for transport and you're set.

Here is a picture of a nice swarm I caught in April of 2011, that's beginning of spring here.

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/blammer8mm/Beekeeping/DSCN8378.jpg

here is the beginning of one of my bee removal jobs, the Before picture

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/blammer8mm/Beekeeping/DSCN7003.jpg

the during

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/blammer8mm/Beekeeping/DSCN7024.jpg

the after, all of the painted surface was where the bees were.

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/blammer8mm/Beekeeping/DSCN7033.jpg

[Blammer]

Here's a few video's

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/blammer8mm/Video/th_April2011b.jpg (http://s54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/blammer8mm/Video/?action=view&current=April2011b.mp4)

[Blammer]

as a bonus you'll always have some beeswax to sell or trade.

[Blammer]

Actually, that's what Blammer does! Catch them, that is. If you live within reach of Ashville and have a swarm of bees you don't want he's the guy to call.

NZ is a bit of a travel :) and I'm not sure you can export honeybees, I know the USA cannot IMPORT them.

[JeffinNZ]

The honey/bee trade here is very tight. No honey or related material allowed to be imported due to the risk to the local business. We got viroa (sp) mite a few years back and that has not been good.

I have exported live bumblebees. I asked the guy shipping them if they were all sitting down when he weighted the carton......

[starmac]

The honey/bee trade here is very tight. No honey or related material allowed to be imported due to the risk to the local business. We got viroa (sp) mite a few years back and that has not been good.

I have exported live bumblebees. I asked the guy shipping them if they were all sitting down when he weighted the carton......

I Have to wonder why anyone would intentionally import bumble bees???

[10x]

Get a job with a beekeeper part time.
I spent a summer working with a beekeeper. It isn't rocket science.
One thing you will face is removing the honey and beeswax from the frames.

You can make your own hives and frames very inexpensively.
And you can overwinter bees in N.Z. easily.
And if you work with them every day they tend to ignore you and you will seldom get stung.

There have to be some professional beekeepers in N.Z. as well. They can supply you with information and point you at sources for hives, frames, and livestock...

[DIRT Farmer]

I discovered this summer that resetting a hive after some idiot kicks it over, well the bees didn't think I was doing them a favor. They were a frindly hive that I could reach in bare handed. Not so much putting things right.

[hithard]

Dirt Farmer,

I would say that's funny, but I did the same thing when I first started. I really did think I could get it back up on the stand fast enough. Nope!

You know when you smell that feramone they put out your in trouble.

[Alstep]

I started with 2 hives this spring. One hive wouldn't accept the Queen, they killed 3 of them. Long story short, they self destructed, The second hive did OK. This was a bad year around here (NY State), the spring and early summer were so dry, there was no moisture and nectar in the flowers and the bees couldn't make honey. Had to feed them with sugar water. Then the rains came, and the flowers flurished, and so did the bees. They made enough honey to hopefully get them through the winter. Didn't harvest any for myself. After over $700 invested in bees and equipment, I'm still buying honey. They are facinating creatures. Will get 2 more packages of bees next spring. Like Beekeeper said, "they are like potato chips, you can't stop with just one". An old timer around here has been beekeeping for 75 years, and even he admits he still hasn't figured them out yet. Good luck in a very interesting hoby.

[JeffinNZ]

"After over $700 invested in bees and equipment, I'm still buying honey."

Kinda like taking up reloading to save money then? :-)

[Bad Water Bill]

"After over $700 invested in bees and equipment, I'm still buying honey."

Kinda like taking up reloading to save money then? :-)

Or buying Fly tying gear so you can save money on fishing equipment so you can save money by not paying for fish.[smilie=s:

[Rick N Bama]

I've not seen the WT Kelley Bee Co. mentioned in this post. Do any of you buy from them?

https://kelleybees.com/

Rick

[Alstep]

Yea, similar situation. I hate to think about how much I've invested in reloading over the past 50 years, but at least I'm not buying ammo, just components. Got some old stuff here, still has the price tag on. Same stuff today is 5 times more, I get sticker shock whenever I price something today.
A Happy Thanksgiving to all,
Best,
Al