Author Topic: My garden and bee yard  (Read 5985 times)

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Offline ledifni

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My garden and bee yard
« on: October 25, 2014, 01:36:46 pm »
Thought you guys might enjoy a few pictures :)  It still needs a lot of work, but that will all happen in time.












Last but not least...a bit of comic relief :)




Offline Jen

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Re: My garden and bee yard
« Reply #1 on: October 25, 2014, 01:51:28 pm »
Is that you cutting down that tree trunk?

Really like the naturalness of your bee yard Led, mine is getting more and more that way, and planting more and more bee food as well  :)
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Offline ledifni

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Re: My garden and bee yard
« Reply #2 on: October 25, 2014, 02:20:03 pm »
Haha no that's not me cutting down the tree.  Fortunately.  That's just a pic I randomly came across but I thought it was funny :)

Yeah I'm trying to turn my back plot into a little nature preserve.  I don't want to mess with it too much, as pretty as it is...so I'm just planting what I can and taking care of the living things that already live there.  With luck, my bees will help that pear tree in the middle start to make a nice crop :)

Offline Perry

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Re: My garden and bee yard
« Reply #3 on: October 25, 2014, 04:35:26 pm »
Awesome yard. Now those are raised beds, no bending over with those!  :goodjob:
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Gypsi

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Re: My garden and bee yard
« Reply #4 on: October 25, 2014, 04:47:44 pm »
Your neighbor on a ladder?  hmmm. 

Offline riverbee

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Re: My garden and bee yard
« Reply #5 on: October 25, 2014, 10:03:05 pm »
awesome pix and awesome yard led!  enjoyed and very cool thanks!  i always enjoy pix of where we all keep our bees!

the comic relief.....ladders and chainsaws........................................ :D
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Offline efmesch

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Re: My garden and bee yard
« Reply #6 on: October 26, 2014, 01:05:54 pm »
The way it looks, I would say you are investing a lot of time in your "back plot"----and it shows beautifully. 
Is there only one hive, or did I overlook something?   If there is only one, I would highly recommend that, come spring, you double that to two.  A second hive is a valuable insurance policy for the first.

Offline ledifni

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Re: My garden and bee yard
« Reply #7 on: October 26, 2014, 01:51:11 pm »
Yep, just the one -- this hive was rescued from a hostile homeowner who tried to get rid of them by spraying them with soapy water.  Not the ideal way to start a hive, but it was their only chance to survive the winter.  In the spring I plan to get one or two more.

Offline efmesch

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Re: My garden and bee yard
« Reply #8 on: October 26, 2014, 02:23:09 pm »
"Rescued from a hostile homeowner"---sounds like there is quite a story behind the aquisition.  ------

Offline ledifni

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Re: My garden and bee yard
« Reply #9 on: October 26, 2014, 03:11:10 pm »
Well, I wasn't around for the beginning of the story :)

I kept bees for a short time when I was a kid, but my dad didn't like it and had the hive removed.  So, lately I had been thinking I wanted to start keeping bees again.  A friend of mine (Gypsi on these forums) heard about it and told me about this hive.

They were living in a hollow tree in a residential neighborhood south of Arlington (where I live).  The homeowner wanted them gone so he got it touch with a couple of guys calling themselves beekeepers and asked them to get rid of the bees.  They came out and tried to get into the hive and couldn't figure out how to do it without getting stung, so they told him they were Africanized bees and sprayed the whole hive down with soapy water.  Of course that didn't get rid of them, but it did destroy most of their brood and stores and they would have died in the winter.

Anyway, somehow or other he got in touch with Gypsi, who closed up the hive and set up a trap-out.  After a couple of weeks they all moved into the bait hive, and in a stroke of good luck the queen moved as well.  About that time Gypsi told me about the hive and offered to let me keep this one and try to nurse them through winter.  That was in mid-September.  I got all my equipment bought and set up, we moved the nuc in, and a week later I transferred them into the hive you see in the pictures.  She also brought me a couple of brood frames with nurse bees from one of her own hives to get them started.

As it turns out, that queen is healthy and strong and she's been doing an amazing job of getting the population up.  Now if they can just store enough honey for winter, they'll do great :)

The funny thing about all that is -- those two wanna-be beekeepers said they were AHB?  These bees are extremely gentle.  I don't wear gloves to work them, and I've only been stung once, because I accidentally hit the hive tripping over a hive cover I had set on the ground.  I can't help wondering where those guys got the idea they were cut out to handle bees lol...

Offline efmesch

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Re: My garden and bee yard
« Reply #10 on: October 26, 2014, 04:57:00 pm »
ALL RIGHT THERE!!!
With Gypsi along side of you  you can't go wrong. 
It warms the heart to hear how she made you the offer----that's the true spirit of beekeeper's comraderie: not competitors but colleagues, looking out for each other's best interests.
That's the way to go. :goodjob:

Offline LazyBkpr

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Re: My garden and bee yard
« Reply #11 on: October 26, 2014, 06:47:25 pm »
ALL RIGHT THERE!!!
With Gypsi along side of you  you can't go wrong. 
It warms the heart to hear how she made you the offer----that's the true spirit of beekeeper's comraderie: not competitors but colleagues, looking out for each other's best interests.
That's the way to go. :goodjob:


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Offline riverbee

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Re: My garden and bee yard
« Reply #12 on: October 26, 2014, 08:30:37 pm »
very, very cool led!

awesome story, i remember gypsi telling us about this trap out......lot's of work went into saving these bees, i hope they do well for you and reward you and gypsi both for the effort! 
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Gypsi

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Re: My garden and bee yard
« Reply #13 on: October 27, 2014, 02:09:10 am »
Those bees are coming along well, happy to help them get going, and Ledifini is a very diligent beekeeper!

Offline hamptor

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Re: My garden and bee yard
« Reply #14 on: October 27, 2014, 01:45:46 pm »
I've got raised beds in my garden right beside my bee hives, too.   I got the most cucumbers and crowder peas I've ever had.  I also had the most black walnuts.  I'm thinking they may have pollinated them as well.  Thanks, bees!

Offline Bakersdozen

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Re: My garden and bee yard
« Reply #15 on: October 31, 2014, 09:48:08 am »
Great story, thanks for sharing.