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Friday, April 27, 2012

Animals Beekeeping 101

Posted by Gillian Anderson on Fri, Apr 27, 2012 at 3:45 PM

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Suited up, ready for action

On Sunday, we picked up our bees and took them home. Our hives are set up on a second-floor deck, which gives them good access to warm sun and a clear flight path.

The queen comes in a separate cage inside the travel box, and she must be put into the hive first—her presence there tells the other bees they’re in the right place. To begin, you are supposed to whack the box and knock the bees down to the bottom before you open it. Unfortunately, I forgot this part, so when I opened the box and went to pull out the queen cage, tons of bees flew out and were spazzing out. I wanted to check if the queen was alive and well, but I couldn’t even see her because of all the bees clinging onto her cage (they’re very loyal). Once I attached the queen cage to a frame inside, I quickly dumped the other thousands of (confused) bees in as a big clump. Very satisfying. Then we put all the frames back in the hive and closed it up quickly so the bees could settle in.

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Home sweet home

We also gave them some delicious sugar water and pollen patties to eat until they get going and the pollen high season starts rolling. I’m getting ready to plant some bee-friendly stuff in my yard.

Bee fact: A honeybee can fly up to six miles and as fast as 15 miles per hour.

A few more photos after the jump.

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Bees ready for pickup at Ballard Bee

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Dumping the bees into the hive

The closed hives with the travel boxes in front so the stragglers can get out

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The closed hives with the travel boxes in front so the stragglers can get out

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Comments (16) RSS

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@14: Dude, Halo 2 has been out for years now.

Posted by Greg on April 28, 2012 at 10:30 PM

Yay for bees! I bet the honey will be very, very good (hint, hint).

Posted by Bethany Jean Clement on April 28, 2012 at 12:49 PM

I <3 bees.

Posted by Cascadian Bacon on April 28, 2012 at 11:16 AM

Mount Vernon High School has installed a bee hive on campus! http://www.goskagit.com/youtube_af3864b8…
The buzz on campus isn't just from the bees!

Posted by catherineku on April 28, 2012 at 10:38 AM

Congrats, Gillian. I've always had the deepest admiration for people who know how to keep bees. Where I lived in Vancouver - about three houses down in the front yard - there was a homemade stand with a slot to drop in $4 and a few jars of honey there to take. Totally the honor system. Wouldn't dream of stealing honey from someone so trusting, eh? Anyway, I loved that. And I love beekeepers. It's right there on my bucket list with learning how to forage wild mushrooms.

Have you gotten stung yet?

Posted by Bauhaus I on April 28, 2012 at 9:24 AM

From 9:
"Make sure you keep sugar syrup on them until the blackberry bloom happens in June. Otherwise, you will starve your bees. We have a nectar dearth that lasts from about now (maples) to the blackberry. Bees need the sugar to raise young and they will starve out without it. Starving a new colony from a package is the most common mistake for new beekeepers."

Posted by Sandiai on April 27, 2012 at 10:10 PM

As long as they're being fed, they're easy to medicate. Fumagillin, the standard treatment for nosema disease, can be administered in syrup, and should be used preventatively due to how common nosema is.
Also, put a brick or similarly heavy object on top of the outer cover. All it takes is for one raccoon to get at your hive and start pulling out frames...

Posted by venomlash on April 27, 2012 at 9:29 PM

Make sure you keep sugar syrup on them until the blackberry bloom happens in June. Otherwise, you will starve your bees. We have a nectar dearth that lasts from about now (maples) to the blackberry. Bees need the sugar to raise young and they will starve out without it. Starving a new colony from a package is the most common mistake for new beekeepers.

Posted by Beeman on April 27, 2012 at 7:50 PM

I hope your bee-happiness-making plants include borage. It is super easy to grow, reseeds like a weed and bees go totally wild for it. Bonus! Its beautiful flowers are the old-school, original garnish for a Pimm's Cup!

Posted by teamcanada on April 27, 2012 at 6:47 PM

I haven't been stung. The bees can feel my goodwill.

Posted by Gillian Anderson on April 27, 2012 at 5:40 PM

While I am a consumer of honey (yum!) and surely appreciate the ecological roles that bees play and the stately, dignified profession of beekeeping, you, and all beekeepers, are INSANE.

I NO WANNA GET STUNG.

Posted by Cephalodude on April 27, 2012 at 5:34 PM

Thanks for all the good info rob!

Posted by ItsAllOverNow

on April 27, 2012 at 5:10 PM

In prepping my house for painting, I replaced a lot of old trim and ratty railings, and found plenty of evidence of leafcutter bees in the vertical gaps between the window-trim nailers and the siding, as well as orchard bees nesting in the empty screw holes during the procrastination gap between prep and actual painting.

Posted by rob!

on April 27, 2012 at 5:08 PM

What prompt said @2, plus the advice that you vary the hole size to attract different species of native bees:

http://baynature.org/articles/web-only-a…

http://buzzybeegirl.wordpress.com/2008/0…

http://cagardenweb.ucdavis.edu/?blogtag=…

http://www.catalystmagazine.net/index.ph…

http://www.chicagobotanic.org/plantinfo/…

Posted by rob!

on April 27, 2012 at 4:59 PM

Again, I'll put in my word for native leafcutter and mason bees, which you can have in your yard with only a block of wood with holes drilled in it.

Posted by prompt on April 27, 2012 at 4:44 PM

OH COOOOOLLLLLL!!!!!!

Posted by Nugget

on April 27, 2012 at 3:56 PM