Bees.. beekeeping et al

romanista · **Posted:** Thu Feb 12, 2015 21:00

Although that might be true, I do wonder if pointing at an Internet forum containing that notion during a marital fight will prove to be a succesful tactic...

(sorry for the typo. 'more than honey')

TheVision · **Posted:** Fri Feb 13, 2015 9:57

I'd never even thought of keeping bees until I read this thread. Now I want a hive!

Curiosity · **Posted:** Fri Feb 13, 2015 10:44

TheVision wrote:

I'd never even thought of keeping bees until I read this thread. Now I want a hive!

Hate to say I told you so.

Mimi · **Joined:** 27th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 25588

That's the hive mind getting to you.

Bamba · **Joined:** 25th Jul, 2010 **Posts:** 11128

Mimi · **Joined:** 27th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 25588

Sorry. I've resisted for the past couple of days, but it's too much.

Bamba · **Joined:** 25th Jul, 2010 **Posts:** 11128

Mimi wrote:

Sorry. I've resisted for the past couple of days, but it's too much.

I'm impressed by your willpower, I'd have been unable to sit on that one for more than five minutes.

Cras · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 49232

I read that over and over for five minutes looking for the pun.

romanista · **Posted:** Wed Sep 23, 2015 9:09

Woohoo i passed my test at the dutch beekeepers association. 69 questions about bee behaviour, bee anatonimy and your interventions as a beekeeper.

Currently beekeeping one hive with a friend of mine at the neighbourhood garden. We had our first harvest of 8 pots of honey out of one of those hives (the second was a swarm so we didn't harvest that one)

TheVision · **Posted:** Wed Sep 23, 2015 9:12

That's amazing!

MaliA · **Posted:** Wed Sep 23, 2015 9:19

Brilliant!

Curiosity · **Posted:** Wed Sep 23, 2015 9:46

Awesome.

Do you ever get stung?

myp · **Posted:** Wed Sep 23, 2015 9:48

Curiosity wrote:

Awesome.

Do you ever get stung?

The suits are pretty pricey.

Kern · **Posted:** Wed Sep 23, 2015 9:51

Superb stuff.

Go on, test us on some of the questions.

Mimi · **Joined:** 27th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 25588

Well done, Rick! What a great achievement! Xx

romanista · **Posted:** Wed Sep 23, 2015 11:05

Kern wrote:

Go on, test us on some of the questions.

Ok, some are a bit difficult to translate (most beekeeping term are really specific dutch words, i guess because all countries have been beekeeping for thousands of years), but i'll try

- How much liquid should honey have?
A less than 21&
B less than 20%
C depends on the type of honey

- winter bees need pollen because of
a. They need the protein
b. They sit in a bunch
c.Like mimi they have to care for the babies

- if you don't see many Varroa-mites (bee's biggest enemy) in the summer it means
a. you've been combatting Varroa well
b. there aren't many drones at the time
c. the mites have creeped into the breed.

in a bee-imme (one bee-nation)
a. all workers are sisters
b. all drones are brothers
c. the queen is genetic the same as the workers

If you see Swarming cells develop in a bee hive you should
A. Do nothing.
b. Remove the queen and some bees and put them in a sub hive, and break the cells
c. Give the bees extra space.

An pre-swarm is
A. A swarm with the first young queen
B. swarm that goes before new queens have been born
C.. A small swarm of reconnaissance bees looking for a new home,,

romanista · **Posted:** Wed Sep 23, 2015 11:12

Curiosity wrote:

Do you ever get stung?

If you just checking up and working slowly you won't get stung easily.. we got trained using bare hands to get comfortable with bees walking on your hands... took some time... but now i'm quite okay with it, even though i bought some special gloves for when they don't feel good, like e.g. when they fill there will be a thunderstorm..

At one occasion i did get stung a lot.. After a swarm had left our hive, we managed to cath is.. (is easier than it sounds), but the people they left, didn't manage to breed a new queen, and got very aggressive... finally we managed to merged it with a "Nuc-people" (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuc ) to save it and be a strong nation again.. but one we approached that aggressive nation... they just came towards me.. not one of my best days

Kern · **Posted:** Wed Sep 23, 2015 11:32

romanista wrote:

Kern wrote:

Go on, test us on some of the questions.

Ok, some are a bit difficult to translate (most beekeeping term are really specific dutch words, i guess because all countries have been beekeeping for thousands of years), but i'll try

Thanks for these. Some really interesting things here - I can certainly understand why people find beekeeping fascinating.

My efforts, with no research, are below:

- How much liquid should honey have?
C depends on the type of honey

- winter bees need pollen because of
a. They need the protein

- if you don't see many Varroa-mites (bee's biggest enemy) in the summer it means
a. you've been combatting Varroa well

in a bee-imme (one bee-nation)
c. the queen is genetic the same as the workers

If you see Swarming cells develop in a bee hive you should
b. Remove the queen and some bees and put them in a sub hive, and break the cells

An pre-swarm is
C.. A small swarm of reconnaissance bees looking for a new home

Bring the honey to cottage!

romanista · **Posted:** Wed Sep 23, 2015 11:40

Well you got 2/6 I'll wait for tomorrow (maybe somebody else want to give it a try) and then give answers in spoiler tags..

Kern · **Posted:** Wed Sep 23, 2015 11:42

romanista wrote:

Well you got 2/6

I'm probably going to spend the rest of the day reading about bees now.

myp · **Posted:** Wed Sep 23, 2015 11:43

- How much liquid should honey have?
Dunno
- winter bees need pollen because of
Dunno
- if you don't see many Varroa-mites (bee's biggest enemy) in the summer it means
Dunno
in a bee-imme (one bee-nation)
Dunno
If you see Swarming cells develop in a bee hive you should
Dunno
An pre-swarm is
C.. A small swarm of reconnaissance bees looking for a new home
Dunno

Did I pass?

romanista · **Posted:** Wed Sep 23, 2015 11:43

If you want to read a good book on it, try the honeybee democracy, i linked to the pub version earlier i the thread..

Nemmie · **Joined:** 13th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 1643

I love bees.

My whole garden is planted to attract them and I have several solitary bee hotels which I am pleased to say are fully occupied for the winter.

Mimi · **Joined:** 27th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 25588

I am going to guess without research:

- How much liquid should honey have?
A less than 21&
B less than 20%
C depends on the type of honey

- winter bees need pollen because of
a. They need the protein
b. They sit in a bunch
c. Like mimi they have to care for the babies

- if you don't see many Varroa-mites (bee's biggest enemy) in the summer it means
a. you've been combatting Varroa well
b. there aren't many drones at the time
c. the mites have creeped into the breed.

in a bee-imme (one bee-nation)
a. all workers are sisters
b. all drones are brothers
c. the queen is genetic the same as the workers

If you see Swarming cells develop in a bee hive you should
A. Do nothing.
b. Remove the queen and some bees and put them in a sub hive, and break the cells
c. Give the bees extra space.

An pre-swarm is
A. A swarm with the first young queen
B. swarm that goes before new queens have been born
C.. A small swarm of reconnaissance bees looking for a new home,,

asfish · **Joined:** 5th Dec, 2010 **Posts:** 3353

My Dad used to keep bees, would love to have a hive myself, but with a 2 year old running around the garden hitting everything he sees with a stick probably not wise for now!

I have planted a lot of lavender over the last 2 years and this year the beds at the front of the house had 100's of bees on the plants, my son got his first sting picking bees up

BikNorton · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 10074

Jealous!

One day we will have space for bees*, for the pollinating of the plants and trees we will also have space for. Honey a handy by-product.

* also goats and chickens.

romanista · **Posted:** Thu Oct 01, 2015 13:29

the answers...

romanista wrote:

- How much liquid should honey have?
A less than 21&
B less than 20%
C depends on the type of honey