Beekeeping

At my old work, we had man-made hives called "cubicles" mostly occupied by drones.

Yea same thing at my work. However, I believe the drones are just the males (may be wrong my job doesn't involve the bees AT ALL :shake:), and our hives have queens as well.
 
Zach, aren't you finishing up your senior year in HS? And you work with bees, too?
 
Zach, aren't you finishing up your senior year in HS? And you work with bees, too?

Yes I am. Will be graduating from my high school in May. I work on a ranch doing odd ends anywhere from construction to trenching and laying electrical line or irrigation systems. I normally don't work with the bees that's one of my coworkers jobs, but I've done it a few times when he's called in sick.
 
Yes I am. Will be graduating from my high school in May. I work on a ranch doing odd ends anywhere from construction to trenching and laying electrical line or irrigation systems. I normally don't work with the bees that's one of my coworkers jobs, but I've done it a few times when he's called in sick.

Well that must make your "whole person" score for varied life experiences buzz off the chart! (congratulations on the 4 year AROTC ride)
 
I believe it does haha. I'm been very fortunate to have a wide variety of experiences.

Thank you very much! :)
 
I have read that it is better to buy local honey. Is it possible to buy "bad" local honey? And why would it not be good? I do know that the honey sold at the local health food store sure looks different than what I can buy at the supermarket.

Supermarket honey is usually pressure filtered and heated. This removes the desired pollen etc. so you basically end up with just liquid sugar in a jar. Also they blend honeys to get the standard color they want. Or packers just buy the light honeys. They filter and heat it to keep it from crystallizing (getting solid) on the shelf. Folks think something is wrong with crystallized honey but honey never spoils. If you buy local raw honey and it crystallizes put in in a warm pan of water,water just before boiling, and turn the heat off with the lid on the jar. It may take a couple baths but it will put it back to liquid. This is a lot easier with glass instead of a plastic bear. Do not over heat the honey, it will kill the enzymes and properties. Different honeys crystallize at different rates based on source and sugar content of the source.

In the store also watch honey blends. Read the label carefully and make sure it is not a blend. A lot of companies are selling honey flavored syrup these days or honey cut with corn syrup. Also the game of packed by so and so for example say in Ohio. Laws differ from state to state. Some packers buy in a state other than their home state and label packed by their company name in their home state and the label is still legal. And another thing, illegally imported honey is a multi- million dollar enterprise. Bought in China and filtered though foreign countries to include Canada. There is a push to pass a law that raw honey has to have pollen left in it. This is because if you have pollen in the honey you can trace the country.

Different honey from different areas have different taste, depending on source. Some is smooth, some has a kick etc. Different honeys from the same area will taste different from year to year. As far as local honey, getting bad honey....if it is someone local you can track down probably not. But local honey is usually considered 40-60 miles from your location. This is to have your local pollen in the honey. Some folks buy honey from out of state and will sell it as local. So best to be familiar with the keeper and know the product.

Another thing to watch is the organic kick. Technically, no organic honey is produced in the US. It is a word and USDA definition game. There is no large track of land in the US that a bee flying radius can be covered to declare it organic as folks would like to think. Another game played is with names of type of honey. Some states have sources that can be isolated to time of year but a lot of times not. Like calling honey (strawberry) honey and have 25 acres of strawberries next to the hive. If there is any source blooming within a 3 mile radius than it is wildflower and not a specific source. Some states do have large enough tracks of clover, alfalfa or an isolated bloom of a source that they can pull and extract and isolate. But the naming of honey by a source is usually an advertising gimmick.

As far as honey and allergies, there is no medical proof, but why would the medical profession put out the $$$ to prove or disprove? I have folks tell me that local honey helps some of their symptoms and have had a few tell me they have never had another allergy shot since they started consuming local honey. Is it a placebo affect? Well either way if it helps them mental or physical, who cares.

So I will stop boring you ;) and leave with one last comment, if you ever eat raw honey from a local keeper, you will never buy that stuff in the chain store again :)
 
I don't see folks post pictures on here much. Is it because of security purposes and DA or DD remaining anonymous during the process? If it is not because of net band space I have a few neat pictures I could share if anyone is interested.
 
I don't think it is band width, more likely it is the desire to maintain anonymity for DS's and DD's.

I would love to see hive pics!
 
I've enjoyed reading this thread

I'm Glad......
I started beekeeping because I mentioned it to my DS when he was 12 yrs old and he would not let me forget about it, so we took a class together. We got two hives our first year. I used too tell him, from a wee kid till then, I was Rambo he was Sambo and he would say, no dad I am Rambo. So when we got bees my apiary name became Bee Beaus :) The logo is my avatar (The Palmetto and SC Crescent Moon). Oh I am just a hobbyist who has never had over 12-14 hives. I did work with a side-liner who had 350.

DS's beekeeping experience was short lived. That first year we needed to move the hives because of a neighbor complaints. Being inexperienced and a dumb night move we got eaten up. We were fully suited but in the bright moon night we could see the bees crawling in our unprotected places. He in particular received some strategically placed stings.... It was a disaster. He began to shy away after that, I hated that, but can't blame him.. Dumb mistake on my part and he will still tell you about it today.

Well DS's quitting was just around the corner anyway because after that came ROTC and girls...
 
Thank you for the very educational reply. One thing that I learned a couple of years back during a nursing in service, honey is very good at treating wounds also. This is not something we normally hear about because there's no money to be made. But it was given very good reviews as something effective in speeding up the healing process. And please do post pictures because I would love to see them, if possible.
 
We were fully suited but in the bright moon night we could see the bees crawling in our unprotected places. He in particular received some strategically placed stings.... It was a disaster.

Clueless, what an awful story! (stupid neighbors).
Just for clarity, if you were both "fully suited" how did the bees get to the "strategic" areas? Also, did you use smoke?
 
I am only a beekeeping want to be, but I have read a lot. First he moved the hives at night when all the bees are back from foraging and they are back in the hive for the night. Then you have thousands of angry bees all over you. It only takes a few of those to find a weak point in your suit, and there you go. Even if they are not angry they could find their way past a suit. When you leave the hive sometimes you can get "hitch hikers" that are trapped outside the suit but comes home with you. As you unsuit the bee gets angry and stings.

@Cluelessparent how did I do?
 
5 day pretty much got most of it right...

Well, with a pond across the street and pretty much water in the hollow, the bees decided to go to my neighbors bird bath. They had a begal at the time and she said the bees attack her begal. Well not exactly but the dog did get stung and she carried it to the Vet. When the bees would go to the bird bath, the dog would snip and jump at the flying bees. So dog lost a few times... so I had to move them.

Actually night is not a bad time to move bees if you are experienced and know what you are doing, for the reason listed above, they are all there and you will get them all. But best to screen them in first....duhhhhhh. The move was short and the bees had been very gentle during the day hour, and I thought a short move wold be ok.

Well it went well loading them but as we carried them about 15 yards, to their new spot, they began to boil out of the hive. We had on bee jackets, veils and jeans. Well, bees don't fly much in the dark they crawl. Get the picture..... :( We could see them crawling all over the white jackets in the moonlight. And another mistake, which I don't do in daylight now anyway, is we should have taped the gauntlet gloves to the jacket. They crawled up the sleeves, down the cuff, and well you get the picture from there. We learned a lot that night but I think it gave DS a very valid excuse to break away from the hobby. My mistake, if you are ever thinking of bees and a youth ease them in better than I did ;) That was 11 years ago...
 
Got permission to post a few pics. Not necessarily pics I took but some neat pics from a beekeeping FB site I have permission to share...
 
One of the most unique beekeeping pictures I have seen over the last 10 years. The photographer put it on a beekeeping FB site and ask for title suggestions. My favorite was :
See No Beevil, Hear No Beevil, Speak No Beevil
2mow5xc.jpg


The timing had to be perfect to catch the 3 workers (female bees) peering over the top of the super. If you look close you can see the frames in the super behind. You can also see burr comb and propolis in the background where the supers were separated to enter the chambers. Oh yea, bees have 5 eyes--- two compound eyes and 3 ocelli (simple eyes).
 
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