Beekeeping > Beekeeping 101

My limited experience so far

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Noise Maker:
About July or so last year, I built a bee trap and put it about 12 feet or so in a tree at the back of our property at the edge of a patch of woods. A bit late in the season I learned but you have to start sometime. A year later I happened to look at it real early September of this year lo and behold I had bees coming and going  :) My wife was thrilled, I was thrilled as she though it would never work. Now any normal person would have bought or built a hive and purchased some basic equipment, but not me :no: The guy who got me going to the beekeeper meetings periodically helped me get it down, and said that since it was late in the season the chances of them surviving the winter wasn't good as they wouldn't have much time to build up supplies and the combs were so crossed it would be a pain to get them into a hive.

So I spent a frantic weekend building a top bar hive with plans that could be better put together. It called for two bottom entrances, of which I only put one as the swarm was so small, my reckoning being they would not fill up that much space in such a short time, and it would be that much less space for the cold to get into. Hey I can add one in the spring right :yes:

Getting the frames out of the trap and into the hive was easy and great as it was the first time I had actually done anything directly with bees. The hive is situated only a few feet from the tree and fence where the trap was, and the next day when I walked down to look they were back to work bringing in the pollen. I opened the hive three times about 10 days apart just to see their progress and mainly to observe. They had built some more come and had a lot more honey than when they moved in.

I started feeding them at the end of September with 2:1 sugar water in the upsidedown jar entrance feeder. The feeder would not stay in the entrance for very long so I sit it on top of the hive and the bees work it when the days are warm enough. I learned to keep the part that should go into the entrance hanging over the edge so that when the temps change the flow drips over the edge and not on the roof of the hive. The dogs, horses, deer, coyotes and other critters don't mess with it thank god. On my daily walks to the hive to see if the jar is empty and to observe any activity, I put my ear to the hive to listen to the activity levels which to date are good. After three months they are still bringing pollen back. Lots of it two days ago. Where they are getting it who knows. My wife keeps water in a bird bath where we can see the bees collecting water from the kitchen window. We also have a horse watering station that is heated enough so it wont freeze, both about 200 yards or so from the hive. There are also two ponds for cattle real close to our property.

I know winter will set in at some point in the next several weeks and that will determine if I am a beehaver or a beekeeper. Either way, I've already started working on a new hive for the spring, hoping that they will make it and I can split it or I catch another swarm. By building my hive, and figuring out a few modifications I want to make, I have learned more about them, than I would have buying one. Also by just sitting next to the hive watching my bees, they are teaching me what questions I need to ask when I go to meetings and now here on the forum. For now, since the bees know best on what needs to be done, I fight the urge to open the hive and let them do there thing. Will feed them when the weather permits and let nature take its course. They are such a joy to experience just watching them. Plus the dogs enjoy the walk. I look at the bees they tear into the woods to chase deer or their other dog pals on the other side of the woods.

Bakersdozen:
It's good to hear you are going to plan on attending a local bee club meetings.  Relying on a friend that goes to meetings occasionally can be risky.  (Misinformation, people get busy, etc.) Most local bee clubs are very inexpensive to join, in my experience.
This winter, when there is little to see at the hives, will be a good opportunity to read.  Check out the Book section on this forum.
Welcome!  Glad you decided to join.

Perry:
It is plain to see you have been "bitten" by this thing that collectively binds us together as beekeepers. Your interest and passion are clearly evident in your first couple of posts. The beauty of this thing we do is that you will never really know it all, there is always something new to be learned, we would probably get bored otherwise. Thinking you might actually have the bees figured out is usually one of the biggest mistakes a keep can make (I speak from embarrassing experience here).

Noise Maker:
Thank you for the replies. My friend who told me about the meetings is a regular attender. Once in a while he misses a meeting or two. My wife and I attended periodically, until we had the bees in the trap. Now We make it a point to get to each one. Plus the pot luck dinner is great, and my wife loves to cook. I agree miss-information can be costly. I try to research up on information given to evaluate it for myself. Luckily I have another friend who I have known a lot longer who has been keeping bees since he was eight or nine with 40 plus years behind him who is a phone call away.

Yeah Perry I was bitten pretty hard. Inspired more the word for it, and have been blessed with a small swarm, and plenty of room to keep bees. I know I have made mistakes already, and have learned a lot from them. None of them are good enough to turn into a good yarn though!

neillsayers:
Welcome to this crazy world, noisemaker! Hope your little colony does very well. :)

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