Bee Hives

[leechmann]

Has anyone had any experience with bee keeping. I mean with respect to having them around pollenating the garden etc. I've just landscaped my yard, with lots of flowerbeds. I also planted 8 apple trees and I have a large garden. I've decided to start bee keeping as a hobby and hope to benefit from the bee activity and the honey. What do you think?

[lovebigbluegills]

Is it safe to assume you live out of town? If so, find out who the local bee guy is, and if they don't put hives out within a couple miles of you already, I'm sure they'd be happy to drop some off around your place.

My neighbor (about a half mile away) gets a dozen or so hives dropped off in the spring and picked up around deer season. He gets more honey and honey products than he can use.

[leechmann]

Yep, I'm going to be the local bee guy. I have ordered enough bees for 8 hives. I live on ten acres of land and I don't think there are any bees within miles of my place. Can't wait to get going.

[lovebigbluegills]

No need for your own bees....he'll have his own. Maybe, since you've already ordered them, he'll buy them from you.

Sorry, I just read that YOU are going to be the local bee guy. As in starting your own business, hauling them down south for winters, etc?

By local bee guy, I meant if there was already somebody around your area that does it already. Seems like they're always looking for someplace to keep them for the summer.

[leechmann]

I've located some bee boxes and things are on track to get the bees the first week of May.

[paul pachowicz]

Lechman, that's really interesting. At one time I looked into doing the same thing but, after seeing how involved the science of keeping bees is, I decided against it. Hope you keep us up on how it goes.

[leechmann]

Thanks Paul, I will. I am going to purchase the hive bodies today. Bees will arrive the first week of May. It's going to be a family hobby. My wife is ready to jump in too. I hope it goes well, and I'll let you know what happens.

Take Care

Leechmann

[Pickelfarmer]

leechmann, A few things that I may be able to help you out with. I grew up in a beekeeping family and was myself a commercial beekeeper for a number of years.

1. There is a great honeybee supply store in Hackensack that if you don't already know about you should check out. They have all the supplies that you will need as well as a fairly well informed staff.

2. With beekeeping today, you will want to stay informed with all the new and past information on Beekeeping. I would recommend the American Bee Jurnal, or Bee Culture as two monthly magazine's.

3. I would highly recomend trying to find a local beekeeper that can help you out. I know alot of the people I have helped get started give up in less then 2 years simply out of frustation. It is very hard to keep bees, but on the flip side it can be very rewarding. Knowing all you can about the hobbie will increase your chances of success.

4. You will need to make sure that the equipment that you are purchasing is in good shape and fairly new. If I were in your shoes (Starting out with no equipment)I would just bite the bullet and buy all new boxes and frames.

This will insure that you start out with a disease free system.

5. Like I said before, I would start out with new equipment and there are 2 Different standard size boxes in beekeeping. 8 frame or 10 frame boxes. I myself would go with the 8 frame. If this is going to be a family endeavor than the 8 frame equipment will be easier for the wife and kids to haul around and handle in genral.

6. The only other thing I have to say is that if your going to give it a shot then please take it seriously. You will be investing alot of time and alot of money into it if you want to do it right. If you learn about disease managment as well as beekeeping in a northern climate you will go a long way with it. Best of luck and good for you for trying somthing new. 10 acers is plenty of room for 10 hives. To anybody else that reads this it doesn't matter if you live in town or not. You can still keep bees. I bet alot of folks that live in the city would be suprised at how many people in there town have a hive or two of bees.

leechmmann, If you like, send me an email with any questions, Or post them here, I may be able to answer them or at least point you in the right direction..

[email protected] (all lower case)

[leechmann]

Thanks Pickle Farmer, lots of good suggestions. I have been doing alot of research and have hooked up with some very knowledgeable bee people. I think I have things rolling. I have purchased hive bodies and am building bottom boards and covers as we speak. I am also purchasing nucs that will be here the first week in May. Things seem to be coming together very nice. Thanks for your advise.

Take Care Leechmann.

PS I have a supply book from the Mann Lake Supply. Thanks

[greg69]

Starting with new equipment is the best way to stay disease free. The bees will take a while to build wax on the new equipment and won't produce near the honey as your already started ones will the next year. Your biggest challenge will be the wintering. They will need a full deep box of honey and feeding in the spring. Colony loss usually happens in March-April.

[leechmann]

My bees will be traveling to California for the winter. I am hookin up with a professional bee keeper. He will take my bees to Cal. then return them in the spring. Then I won't have to kill the bees in the fall. I guess they just don't winter very good in this climate. The bee keeper gets to use them for pollinating and then return them to me in the spring, at no cost. I think both of us come out ahead. What do you think?

[Pickelfarmer]

I guess I would suggest that you try keep your own bees through the winter and get the full effect so to speak of beekeeping. If you are going to send them south with a migratory beekeeper then your almost better off doing as suggested before and having a beekeper put hives on your place and giveing you a 5 gallon pail of honey for rent.

Sending bees down south is a whole other aspect of beekeeping and can bring in all kinds of pests and parisites. When these guys go south and pollinate, there bee's mix and mangel with bees from several other states. This is why the bee industry is in such a bad state these days.(not saying that this practice is wrong just spreads diesease faster).

I guess if all you want is to pollinate your apple trees and garden and don't want to hassel with the bees the rest of the year this would be a good way to go. On the other hand you would in my opinion get more satisfaction out of beekeeping if you start May 1st 2009 with a hive of bees and take care of it and produce your own crop of honey, treat for mites and other diesease as needed and over winter that hive here in MN until May 1st 2010, resulting in a hive YOU have takin care of as a BEEKEEPER all year. Doing it this way, you know you don't need anyone.There is a BIG difference in a BEEKEEPER and a BEE HAVER, If you know what I mean, Just my opinion.

P.S. If you have any doubts that bees can be kept over winter in MN I invite you to come on over the 30 some miles to my place someday and check out my hives I have on my place. I started feeding yesterday with a sugar syrup mix and out of 5 hives I have 4 good hives and 1 week but managable hive. And yes its in Feb - April that hives tend to die. Now is the time to learn how to keep that from happening.

[leechmann]

It's not that I'm agianst trying to winter my bees, I've just been told by the bee people that it takes too much honey and that the suvivabilty is very poor. I am gather all the information I can, and then I'll have to decide. I have to say that you are the first person that thinks it's a good idea to try to winter them. How much honey do you leave your bees going into winter?

The only other point to be made, is that the bees I'm starting with come from Texas, so I can't be sure that I'm desease free to start with. I am getting the bees from a bee farmer that has supplied bees to my bee boss for 13 years.

I'm more than willing to listen Pickel Farmer. I like what I'm hearing. I would rather be self sufficient.

Keep talking.

Thanks Leechmann

[Pickelfarmer]

Ok here is my true opinion Leechmann, You need to keep your hives through the winter and do ALL the steps that are required to KEEP bees in MN. There are NO garinties that you will succeed in this but if you want to be self sufficent and are truly on track in that you want to be a true MN BEEMAN,than you need to work at it. Send me an Email and I'll give you my number. We can talk a little and if in the end you don't want to try over wintering them than so be it. I'm just saying to be a Beekeeper in MN it takes a little work but in the end if you get your hives to make it through the winter I KNOW you will be proud of what you have done...

[leechmann]

Looks like PM's are disabled. want me to email you?

[Pickelfarmer]

Looks like PM's are disabled. want me to email you?

Yeah go ahead.

[leechmann]

send me an email at [email protected] .

Thanks

[leechmann]

I sent you an email.

[leechmann]

I talked with pickel farmer on the phone about wintering the bees in MN. Turns out that I'm getting Italian bees and they don't winter as good in colder climates. Pickel Farmer has Russian bees. The Russian bees are a hardier, more aggressive bee and me being new at this, we decided that I should work with the mild mannered bees for the first year, and then maybe I'll get some Russian queens and cross breed them. Then I too, will be able to winter my bees here.

I build all new inner and outer hive covers and new bottom boards this week. A coat of paint and I'll be ready to go.

Thanks Pickel Farmer, I'll be in touch.

[hawkeye43]

Please keep us that are just watching up to date as I find this fun to learn about. I had a neibor who had bees for 15 years just pass away and I know it was his bees that keep my trees and flowers looking great. I like to find someone to place hives here.

[Pickelfarmer]

It was good talking with you leechmann, I got a good feeling that your going to take this bee thing into more than a hobbie!!!!. I would really like it if you came out and took a look at how my bees are wrapped up and how I winter them. As we talked on the phone, I really beleave that its the breed of bee and not the method of wintering that makes the system work for alot of none migrotory bee beekeepers. For those that would like to learn a little about bees and talk a little send me an E mail and I'll get back to you for sure, just make sure your email subject says somthing about bees.

northern beekeeping is so much fun because its a GREAT challenge. The reward is knowing that you have the right stuff and don't need southern bees. Trust me, it's a great feeling for sure. Leechmann, I can see you have that kind of mind set, and I hope you will go far with your new hobbie..

[leechmann]

I've been contacted by the bee farmer and we are looking at Friday, to be the day that my bees get here from Texas. I'll take some pictures and let you know how it goes.

[Shack]

Quote:

I'll take some pictures and let you know how it goes.

That would be cool!

Very interesting and neat thread guys!

[Pickelfarmer]

Did you get your new beehives today leechmann? Hope it all went well if you did. Good luck and have fun...

[Nate McVey]

This is a very interesting thread guys. Keep posting, I'm looking forward to it!