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Old June 9, 2017   #16
ako1974
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Worth1 View Post
Yes there is and they are aggressive.
Just another learning curve.
Nothing like any of the stupid crap in the movies.
Learn your bees and how to deal with them.
Bees do NOT like dark colors and the smell of fear.
Worth.
They smell a helluva more than fear! Chemical communication is their big way of communication. So scents of all kinds. I've heard they loathe the smell of horses, for example.

I hadn't thought about it prior to opening my hives, but one time I had a wonderful garlicky dinner. I didn't wear a veil when opening them and they seemed calm, but after leaning over them, examining frames up close, I noticed a lot of bees making a beeline...for my mouth. Then I realized my breath must have been offensive to them. (I go all out on garlic.)

Moral of the story: wear your veil
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Old June 9, 2017   #17
SteveP
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My BIL (RIP) lived just west of Indy and kept over 30 hives. He sold at Flea Markets, county fairs etc and would send us a quart of honey every year. I got a kick out of his label, it was a picture of his wife and said, JOHNS HONEY.
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Old June 9, 2017   #18
tarheelchick
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My daughter started keeping a hive this year. She has no fear and is learning so much! She has a very experienced mentor helping her and so far the hive is doing very well in a very urban setting. Here are a couple of photos. The second photo is just a screen shot of a short video showing the queen moving around. (it might be a little blurry).
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Old June 9, 2017   #19
Worth1
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ako1974 View Post
They smell a helluva more than fear! Chemical communication is their big way of communication. So scents of all kinds. I've heard they loathe the smell of horses, for example.

I hadn't thought about it prior to opening my hives, but one time I had a wonderful garlicky dinner. I didn't wear a veil when opening them and they seemed calm, but after leaning over them, examining frames up close, I noticed a lot of bees making a beeline...for my mouth. Then I realized my breath must have been offensive to them. (I go all out on garlic.)

Moral of the story: wear your veil
They must have been Italian bees.
Worth
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Old June 9, 2017   #20
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Last time I went up like that - sans veil - I got popped right above the eye. Woke up the next morning had a bag under my eye that looked like an egg. The area above the eye was swollen pretty good to. LOL. And, I wasn't even in the hive - just looking. With all that being said, and after the second time it happened, I now subscribe to the wear a veil if messing with the bees camp. I'll let those who don't keep on a keeping on.

That one little girl in lower right of the pic has her eyes on ya!
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Old June 9, 2017   #21
friedgreen51
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Default Love the Honeybees

My husband has been a beekeeper for years, as was his grandfather. They are great pollinators for most things in the garden, except tomatoes.
They are really working the squash and cucumbers. Here is a picture from this morning of one on a cucumber bloom
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Old June 9, 2017   #22
McGee'sX-Roads
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I started keeping bees this year! We've always had them on our farm, rented them out from beekeepers for pollination, but I decided I would try it myself finally. It's pretty neat to watch them develop in the hive and grow as a colony, amazing the progress they can make in such little time at times.

Two days ago i got stung on my ankle, now my right leg looks like i have terrible cankles! Double the size of my left ankle lol.

Today I split 2 of my hives, so we shall see what happens in the coming days. I had been busy in the tomato houses and hadn't checked on them in a couple weeks and when I went in to look around they had filled everything up for the most part and made a couple queen cells preparing to swarm. So I took the opportunity to experiment and try to split the hives. No clue if it'll work, but I'm hoping so!
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Old June 10, 2017   #23
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My brother kept bees. They were fun and a great learning experience. When their hive gets full you can try to split it if it is still early in the season or just add another super (box) so that they have more room. In fall, you can harvest the honey,but do remember to leave them 60 lbs so that they have enough food to survive the winter.

I had a honey bee tree here when I moved in. I really enjoyed it. The tree died and then after a few years fell down. Now the bees are very far and few between. I went two years without seeing a single one until some tried to move into my grill. I opened the lid and they move on.
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Old June 11, 2017   #24
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Robert, if he is really interested in beekeeping, give him my phone number and have him call. See my website http://www.selectedplants.com/ for phone numbers.

As with tomatoes, there are forums dedicated to beekeeping. He would be welcome to join. http://www.beesource.com/forums/ is one and http://forum.beemaster.com is another.

I've been a beekeeper for 47 years. There are a LOT of gotchas that he needs to be aware of before getting started. For example, if he buys all his equipment to set up 2 hives of bees plus a bee suit, smoker, and hive tool, he will need about $800. He can save a bunch by building his own boxes.

The bees in that tree are ideal for him to start with. Don't bother them, just set up a few bait hives and catch a swarm or two from them next year.

Here are some places to look at for supplies:

http://www.mannlakeltd.com/

http://kelleybee.com/

http://www.dadant.com/

http://westernbee.com/

http://betterbee.com/
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Old June 11, 2017   #25
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Fusion, my son hasn't seen what you just wrote because he works overnight. I will make sure he sees what you offer in post #24.
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Old June 18, 2017   #26
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Yard is full of clover and I noticed yesterday that it was working alive with the bigger black and yellow ones but honey bees as well. I had to mow and felt guilty but I saw this morning that the neighbor across the way has clover field as well so all is not lost. The bumble bees are the ones I always noticed in the garden.
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Old June 18, 2017   #27
Worth1
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This morning there were a few honey bees in the garden.
I hope they go back and tell the rest of the folks with the so called bee dance.
I also set some melon rinds out next to the cucumber and melon plants to help draw them in.
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Old June 18, 2017   #28
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It's the same here. Our main pollinators out in the garden are bumblebees and red wasps. The honey bees seem to be more drawn to wildflowers and sometimes to the hummingbird feeders. There are also a lot of paper wasps. The hill we live on was nicknamed, "Yellow Jacket Hill" by people in the late 1800s.
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Old June 24, 2017   #29
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Today the vines are covered in honey bees so all is well.

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Old November 24, 2017   #30
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Some other type of small wasps with stingers moved into the tree in the picture on post #1 here. There were no signs of the honeybees for the past several months.

We recycle aluminum drink cans, and yesterday, I noticed a lot of bee activity around a trash bag full of cans. It's the honeybees

I don't know where they moved to, but they're close enough to feed here at our house. I'm glad to see them again.
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