Worldwide Beekeeping
Beekeeping => Beekeeping 101 => Topic started by: Marion on July 17, 2014, 01:25:14 pm
-
Hi, just wanted to share our experiences in regards to beekeeping and maintaining health.
About 3 years ago my husband Ward had a medium sized right sided stroke. This robbed him of his left field of vision, inferencing abilities and left him with a short term memory deficiency. He is doing very well and other than having to give up driving he is pretty self sufficient.
Last fall I was worried that he did not have enough to keep his brain stimulated. I suggested he find a hobby. After careful thought he came up with raising chickens and honey bees. The unselfish person that he is, must have been thinking of something he could do for me, because I was seeking fresh eggs and raw honey from the local sources.
Well, last fall we built a chicken coop and we have 6 lovely Golden Comet hens that we raised from chicks. We are getting 3-6 eggs daily already.
In February we started learning about what is needed to raise honey bees and began ordering unassembled boxes and frames. This was just what Ward needed in the winter time to keep busy and great physical therapy.
Now we both read this blog and other sources to learn about the complex hobby of raising the bees. We have set up lawn chairs and spend many an hour watching our bees. This is great stimulation for his mind. So therapeutic.
-
Great story.
I can't imagine what I'd be doing if I hadn't stumbled across this wonderful insect. Really kept me out of trouble.
-
Marion! Nice testiment! It came at a good time for me. I have a friend on the outskirts of town, I'm helping hime start his first hive. He has suffered with depression a good part of his his life, he's also ADD (attention deficit syndrom), OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), ABC, and ZYX.
He is doing bee venom therapy for depression and has taken a liking to the bees. My hope is that he will find comfort with the healing bees.
-
It has done a world of good for Ward. We have lunch or coffee several times a day in the place where we sit in front of the bees. We discuss what we noticed about them and what we should do next.
I print out articles which become our bedtime reading material.
I was able to download a couple of resources on my Kindle that were either free or of little cost re: beekeeping. Even though he reads slowly, because of diminished vision he is able to read which he was not interested in doing the first year of his stroke.
-
Excellent choice! Not just hobbies but beneficial.
Heres a picture of the chicken fort with the hives in the background.. We have buffs, reds and barred rocks.. No clue what boots the rooster is, but he is mellow when we go in to collect eggs so I am happy with him.
(https://worldwidebeekeeping.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fs30.postimg.cc%2Fyo6i2ly6l%2FDSCF0653.jpg&hash=5cc5818b089ed291d8aecabca33d0ebf35b406a3) (http://postimg.cc/image/yo6i2ly6l/)
Lots of reading and learning is good. I am always amazed at the resource the internet has turned out to be.
Feel free to look my website over, ( http://outyard.weebly.com/ ) but don't ever take any single reference as gospel. Read up how a lot of people keep bees, and then modify the things they do to fit how YOU want to keep bees.
After many years of roundy round racing, drag racing and mud runs, and the immense amount of money, time and effort they require, it sure is nice to have bees.
-
I really liked your lead in post. It's good that the bees are working so well for both of you. But the love you two share, and obviously have shared, with each other is the real story here. It's so nice to see older folks that are just so enamored with each other. God has Blessed both of you.
-
Yes, we have been married 46 years and are enjoying retirement together.
-
UH-OH! Now I've got to ask. When is your anniversary? My bride and I have been married 46 years also.We married on March 31.
PS. Beautiful thread you started here.Thank You.
-
Our wedding date was Feb. 10, 1968. I've included a picture of our chickens for LazyBkpr.
(https://worldwidebeekeeping.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fs7.postimg.cc%2F94k15d707%2Fchickens.jpg&hash=6cbaed69e7d27494dd20a1c0bebf461315e2311b) (http://postimg.cc/image/94k15d707/)
(https://worldwidebeekeeping.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fs7.postimg.cc%2F66n2bnzcn%2Ffinished_coop.jpg&hash=ec23bf72421184632b3d95c27653d6bdcae6eadb) (http://postimg.cc/image/66n2bnzcn/)
-
You've got us beat by 1 month and 21 days. Hang in there, we have a long ways to go. ;D
-
How very nice to read your short story. They have such a nice effect on us as we sit and watch. I especially like to take a few moments and watch how they continue to go about their buisness in spite of us being in the hive and the frame separated from the others.
You will find many small tasks of frame assembly and box building..etc. to be the welcome hobby!
Wonderful to hear of the commitment and admiration!
Great to have you both on the site.
Tim
-
Lovely story. Thanks for sharing. Hobbies are so under rated. For some here in this forum, beekeeping is a hobby that got out of hand.
-
I have a question for you chicken lovers. I have a lady friend that brings me eggs. The eggs are brown, green and blue. What types of chickens lay green and blue eggs?
It seems a lot of beekeepers also keep chickens. Is there some kind of symbiotic relationship between chickens and bees, or is it just one of those if you love bees you would also like chickens things? Maybe it's a prepper thing?
This is just a curious mind thing.
-
You may find that chickens are usually the first step to self sufficiency. It was for us. We are by no means self sufficient, but it really gives a feeling of success raising your own food.
-
"Hi, just wanted to share our experiences in regards to beekeeping and maintaining health."
thank you marion for sharing your story. keeping bees is very stimulating and very therapeutic in many ways, mentally and physically, and something we can work at year round even when the sXXw is falling..... :D
-
Lazy shooter,
The chickens that lay the green and blue are Ameraucana's. They are a large very hardy bird that is very well suited for free range.
Have had them for many yrs. It is a way of more self sufficient. I also have pygmy goats, but don't use the milk. They are mostly weed control in small pasture area. Funny to see chickens on the goats backs from time to time.
-
I have a lady friend that brings me eggs. The eggs are brown, green and blue. What types of chickens lay green and blue eggs?
(https://worldwidebeekeeping.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fsparkwithct.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2014%2F02%2FGreen_eggs_and_ham.gif&hash=588e316c53f949a6b3432a258862c76a7e7049ee)
-
I have a lady friend that brings me eggs. The eggs are brown, green and blue. What types of chickens lay green and blue eggs?
(https://worldwidebeekeeping.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fsparkwithct.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2014%2F02%2FGreen_eggs_and_ham.gif&hash=588e316c53f949a6b3432a258862c76a7e7049ee)
Now that's cool slow modem.
-
for us, my wife wanted the chickens. we got 30 of them. butchered the roosters and now have 13 nice hens.
the next year, i told her if she got chickens, i got to have bees. it has worked out well. 8)
-
for us, my wife wanted the chickens. we got 30 of them. butchered the roosters and now have 13 nice hens.
the next year, i told her if she got chickens, i got to have bees. it has worked out well. 8)
Can you purchase hens only? I remember that it is difficult to "sex" baby chicks, but I thought there was a way to do it. I get free range eggs from and old lady, but she does not keep roosters.
I'm glad you got the bees out of the deal with your wife. You seem to really enjoy beekeeping.
-
We just raised them until they were big enough to butcher... Really easy to sex them then :)
And as promised my coop:
(https://worldwidebeekeeping.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.tapatalk.com%2Fd%2F14%2F08%2F05%2Fse5evu8a.jpg&hash=22385c6c2ebe446f5e61eab54aca32820f419949)
-
Forgot to mention, you can buy only hens, but you pay a lot more for them
-
Good deal!
-
I kept saltwater aquariums for years and adored anemones, but became allergic to them sometime around 2011? I had gotten my first beehive in March 2011, and I found that taking up bees made it easier for me to give away the reef, keep my brain active, and helped me quit smoking. (ever try to light up in a beesuit facing ahb?)
The bees are very enjoyable, as long as I keep it hobby.
-
Aww, Gypsi, you didn't have to quit. Just put tobacco in your smoker and blow it in through your veil. :yes: :laugh:
-
If you want only hens, buy "pullets" not "straight run".
-
We just raised them until they were big enough to butcher... Really easy to sex them then :)
And as promised my coop:
(https://worldwidebeekeeping.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.tapatalk.com%2Fd%2F14%2F08%2F05%2Fse5evu8a.jpg&hash=22385c6c2ebe446f5e61eab54aca32820f419949)
You must be going to sell quite a bit of sweet corn. The chicken house and the garden looks wonderful. The bees bring some synergy to your farm. They are a welcome addition. You're living large.
-
Really Love that rustic fence :)
-
That chicken coop have an axle under it? Move it 15 feet in the fall and plant the garden there next spring. ;D
Have a pretty good idea thats not sweet corn behind the coop, but if you catch it early it can be eaten!
-
yes that is an axel. It was an old ice fishing shack. if we leave the wheels on, we don't have to pay the fee err i mean permit for an additional standing structure without a building permit.
You are correct Lazy, it is not sweet corn. we are leasing the back 20 to a neighbor who went with corn this year. It still looks a little wierd to me as it has been a hay field the last 5 years :)
-
My bad on the sweet corn being field corn. Yep, on second look, it appears way too tall and vigorous for sweet corn. I guess the neat garden caused me to conclude that it was sweet corn.
Your place looks like a small "slice of Heaven."
-
When I lived in Maine, the law read "permanant" structure, so everyone put skids under their sheds. I even saw 24 x 40 buildings with skids under them so they would not be "permanant" Definitely looks good out there!! I haven't been Ice fishing in better than ten years.. the Auger and tip ups are gathering dust.. Have my doubts the auger will even start now.
-
Aww Iddee I had to quit, couldn't afford bees AND cigarettes.
Love the axle under the chicken coop, wish I'd have done that.
-
there is another one in the back hidden by the weeds. ;D
-
Enjoying your thread Marion :)
The reference to chicken coups reminds me of a story I heard from a local beekeeper who has one of those coups you move from place to place in the yard. He had built a very well designed and constructed portable coup and had it in service. The coup was low enough that one must stoop to get in and move around. His wife went in one day to get the eggs. While in there she came face to face with a snake. Wanting a quick and efficient exit, she realized the spring had closed the door behind her and the locking mechanism had locked her inside the coup. She could not reach that mechanism from inside. It was a funny story to hear her tell it, because, while couched and bending low without back up or cell phone, she was forced to hail the neighbor 50 yards away to regain her freedom. She had never talked to the neighbor before, as they had just moved to their 5 acre pecan orchard. Well, the newly acquainted neighbor released her, the lock was redesigned and they all lived happily ever after. Oh, the snake did not bite and it was not poisonous. :)
-
When at my De Leon home, I purchase free range eggs. The lady that sells them has two large cotton trailers, the old type four wheel trailers, and she moves her chickens from on hay patch to another. Her chickens feed on the bugs in the hay meadows. The farmers like having the chickens and she gets free range eggs. This time of year grasshoppers are more than abundant in our area. I think she keeps several hundred chickens on two or three trailers.
I wonder if anyone has ever done the same thing with bees. Where I live you could keep some hives on a trailer and move them from farm crop to farm crop. I'm too lazy for this, but I think it has some merit.
-
A guy use to use a old school bus with the windows broke out and bars welded over the windows. He would take the hives into the mountains for fire weed honey. To move he would wait till night and just drive the bus to a new location, never strapped the hives or screened the bees in.
-
Apis- "A guy use to use a old school bus with the windows broke out and bars welded over the windows. He would take the hives into the mountains for fire weed honey. To move he would wait till night and just drive the bus to a new location, never strapped the hives or screened the bees in.
I just Love That! ;D