I've got Bees :D

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alison
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Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 12918
Location: North Devon

Posted: Sun Jul 23, 06 9:21 pm Post subject:
ok Here they are. The nuc box on site, having been left over night. Nuc box moved back and the new hive set in position Bees in the entrance Open the nuc Bees on the frame Checking the wax frame Frames in the new hive Feeder on the top, in a super, and balanced on a stone. Hive ready to leave, all set up.

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Sun Jul 23, 06 9:30 pm Post subject:
fascinating - why is it so high up on blocks? I bet you could just sit and watch them work all day.

Penny Outskirts

Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 23385
Location: Planet, not on the....

Posted: Sun Jul 23, 06 9:59 pm Post subject:
That does look fascinating - do you have all the outfit and everything Ali?

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42207
Location: North Devon

Posted: Sun Jul 23, 06 10:02 pm Post subject:

bodger wrote:

I'd love to get someone to keep their bees in our orchard. I think it would be a good spot. We have quite selection of food sources.
We have loads of bluebells,gorse,sycamores, blackberry brambles and we have heather about half a mile away .
I'd just hope that having honey bees around would improve the miserly cropping of my fruit trees.
They'd have to be nice bees though

You could always get some of those red mason bee nests, they're supposed to be very good pollinators and you've got to really upset them before they try to sting you.

alison
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Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 12918
Location: North Devon

Posted: Sun Jul 23, 06 10:06 pm Post subject:
Only on blocks to stop me getting a bad back! They save me bending down. We are recommended a certain height, and I found that one comfortable to work with at the apiary.

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 06 5:33 pm Post subject:

alison wrote:

Only on blocks to stop me getting a bad back! They save me bending down.

We are recommended a certain height, and I found that one comfortable to work with at the apiary.

Sounds like common sense - guess I should have though thought of that, but thought there would be some fascinating bee reason!

sally_in_wales
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Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 20809
Location: sunny wales

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 06 5:46 pm Post subject:

lovely! It all looks terribly professional. Good idea about the blocks to get the hives up to a sensible level, ours were balanced on all sorts of silly things until I managed to get them onto metal hive stands this year. Its so nice to see tidy frames, we have one hive that has long since rotted away inside but teh bees will not move out, and just stick it back together with wild comb whenever we evict them. Contrary madams.
I love bees, can't imagine life without them

Mrs Fiddlesticks

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 10460

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 06 5:52 pm Post subject:
This is still something l'd like to do, but I admit your tale of a bad reaction to a sting has worried me, Sally. How often do you get stung and Alison did you have any fears about that? I don't actually think I've ever been stung by a bee in my life, wasps yes, but not bees as far as I know.

sally_in_wales
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Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 20809
Location: sunny wales

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 06 6:04 pm Post subject:

I havent been stung since, and its been at least a year or so. I think I only had problems because it was several simultaneous face stings, and though it was a bit scary at the time, the ambulance was so clued up that as soon as they were there I really wasnt in any danger. I think as long as you make sure you have someone with you, have a really good bee suit (I didnt at that time, it was home made and very gappy) and phone access and maybe ask the doctor for an epipen (the adenaline injection) just in case, then you really don't need to worry. Even if you get stung badly, you wouldnt need the epipen unless you had a really funny turn or had trouble breathing, and its common for beekeepers to keep one in case a visitor gets stung badly as much for their own peace of mind.

Cathryn

Joined: 16 Jul 2005
Posts: 19856
Location: Ceredigion

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 06 8:59 pm Post subject:

Very jealous and very interested iin all of this - my campaign to keep bees continues. (I keep bringing home pots of local honey and they get eaten almost straight away)

I've never been stung either but my daughter gets stung at least once a year

and the first one swelled up horribly

- like instantly and straight to hospital - fortunately it was her arm. Each time since the swelling has been a little less dramatic and we now don't carry a supply of antihistamine all the time. But any school trips etc - are warned to get her straight to hospital if she is stung anwhere near her airway - 'cos this could be very serious. She hasn't tested out how severe her reaction will be this year but there's plenty of time yet

alison
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Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 12918
Location: North Devon

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 06 9:33 pm Post subject:

The epipen thing is a good idea, can I get those at the chemist, or do I need a prescription.

I have been stung a couple of times, but my tutor says we don't even need to wear gloves until we are stung 3 time in one handling session.

I was stung on my legs both times. (through the trousers!)

When I went in today I have 7 frames being drawn out well and polished up.

I think there is pollen in some of the cells, but was unable to see eggs.

Tavascarow

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall

Posted: Mon Aug 07, 06 9:20 pm Post subject:

Quote:

how many hives would I get in a 1 acre orchard with 65 fruit and nut trees and about 50 soft friut bushes?

The amount of hives you can keep in one area is dependant on the amount of food (nectar & polen) available. Bees will range comfortably up to 2 miles from the hive. If you have to many hives in one area you wont get more honey just more work. Sensibly the maximum number of hives on one site would be 15 to 20. The big commercial guys will put 50 or a 100 hives on a crop (oil seed rape/ heather etc) but move them on as soon as the flow has finished.
If you are just starting I recomend two hives. That way if you have a disaster in one you can always requeen or split from the other hive.
Good luck. They are a most fascinating subject. You are truly working with a wild animal completely undomesticated, so working with nature at its grass roots.
Steve.

mrutty

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 1578

Posted: Mon Aug 07, 06 10:29 pm Post subject:

Mrs Fiddlesticks wrote:

How often do you get stung

Every damn time I go near a bee toilet.

alison
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 12918
Location: North Devon

Posted: Mon Aug 07, 06 11:30 pm Post subject:
I've never been stung, by my bees, although I have had a couple at the apairy

sally_in_wales
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 20809
Location: sunny wales

Posted: Tue Aug 08, 06 5:24 am Post subject:

alison wrote:

Ask the Doctor for a prescription, hopefully you will never need to use it , but it could make a big difference if there was a genuine emergency.

The difficult thing is that everyone has different tolerances tos tings, so that 3 sting thing may be true for most people, but there is always the chance that someone else ony need get stung a couple of times weeks apart for their system to develop a sensitivity.

I reckon though that the best precaution is common sense, always have someone else these and know where the phone is!Just in case.

I must get over and look at mine, they probably need a last super with all this weather

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