Author Topic: Riverbee's Journey (Read 86838 times)

riverbee · « **Reply #220 on:** March 17, 2015, 09:55:30 pm »

"How exciting to hear your last colony still is a tickin'!
Sounds like your bees were desperately foraging for anything!"

thank you bakers, yes, incredible, amazing to me that these bees have relatively gone untouched for 3 years. i did do some minimal management this past summer when released, but out of fear did not dwelve to deeply in the hive other than to see the queen was laying and laying well, good honey production, and no signs of varroa infestation. make sure they had honey stores for winter and fed them back frames of honey to get weight up. to be honest, this is one of the first years in many years, (thought last year was the worst), i thought i might loose this hive. all winter long hefting that hive, listening for life. i am overjoyed. she will make a good divide i hope.

the bees were on a mission to forage, not much to forage on. the willows have buds on them, soon that pollen will be available. another cold snap this week, but now after a quick check, i am confident they will do alright!

for me, hard to explain how happy i am to still have this hive.........

Bakersdozen · « **Reply #221 on:** March 17, 2015, 10:16:42 pm »

So river, after 3 years of being untouched, surely they have successfully re-queened themselves by now? Queens, given the best circumstances don't make it much past 3 years.

Jen · « **Reply #222 on:** March 17, 2015, 11:12:16 pm »

"inner cover with a cut out of 2 1/2 "

I like this idea! think I'll be doing some inner cover surgery this spring

Love the fourth paragraph that speaks of nature and ends in a brew

riverbee · « **Reply #223 on:** March 18, 2015, 10:34:38 am »

"So river, after 3 years of being untouched, surely they have successfully re-queened themselves by now? Queens, given the best circumstances don't make it much past 3 years."

i am unsure bakers, it's very possible, but i also think that it's possible she could be the original queen. wishful thinking.

riverbee · « **Reply #224 on:** April 02, 2015, 11:34:37 pm »

received my 6 weeks injections last friday, march 27th.
not sure what's going on, i think my shot doc mixed up what shots went into what arm. normally the honey bee goes in the left arm (the one i react to the most), the wasp and mixed vespid injection goes in the right arm. wasp, i may get a little reaction from.
i try to pay attention to what they are doing, (i shouldn't have to, but do), make sure the shot doc epi washes the needles for the 3 venom/shots, and i get the shots, honey bee in the left, wasp and mixed vespid in the right arm. we get to yammering....i forget to watch what venom she is injecting me with in what arm, really shouldn't have to, it's in my records. i think she shot me in the right arm with the honey bee and wasp in the same arm cuz my right upper arm swelled up pretty good with a reaction.
i go through months/injections with no reactions, then the last couple injections i suffer reactions? unsure why? i have a checkup with my allergist/immunologist doc in may.

my last standing hive is doing well, amazingly well............checked on monday, temp was maybe 50. i have seen the bees bringing in some pollen, probably from the willows along the river, could be maples or elms, but thinking it's from the willows..........

Jen · « **Reply #225 on:** April 03, 2015, 12:40:53 am »

Beeeautiful pic of your bees Riv

Happy for you

iddee · « **Reply #226 on:** April 03, 2015, 07:25:14 pm »

Even without sound on my computer, I can hear those bees saying, "com'n, mama, let's get going."

riverbee · « **Reply #227 on:** April 03, 2015, 11:47:15 pm »

very true iddee, the picture....you can 'hear' them!!!

i continue to be amazed at this hive and queen. i have never seen this many bees in a russian/russian mutt hive this time of year. it was so cool when i gently lifted the lid, (in full gear and gloves.....don't like all the gear) barely any sound from them, gentle and calm. no bees flying into the veil or at my gloves. i stood and looked in disbelief at how many bees covered the frames and the bees clustering from the underside of the inner cover, (guessing the queen was in the middle of it). i stood with the lid open for a little and really enjoyed.

these shims work well, and the bees really seem to like the extra space, and easy to place extra feed in if need be. i had a half winter patty(bee pro i think) left in there, so placed another half patty in. it is still too cold here to feed any syrup, and if need be syrup will go on if they need it and when temps warm up.

forgot to mention we turned the solar fencer back on a couple weeks ago, seems the bears around here are out and about from hibernation.

LazyBkpr · « **Reply #228 on:** April 04, 2015, 12:31:06 am »

Those are sweet bees you have Mrs. Riv.. If I was you, I would buy a couple (dozen) packages and get them started well, then pull all the package queens. Wait 4 days and destroy all the queen cells and give them eggs from your survivor queen.. Bonanza!!

Zweefer · « **Reply #229 on:** April 04, 2015, 12:42:25 am »

I'd buy / barter for some of those!

riverbee · « **Reply #230 on:** April 13, 2015, 10:23:33 pm »

"Those are sweet bees you have Mrs. Riv.. If I was you, I would buy a couple (dozen) packages and get them started well, then pull all the package queens. Wait 4 days and destroy all the queen cells and give them eggs from your survivor queen.. Bonanza!!"

great minds think alike scott................

they are sweet bees.......i didn't plan on having this hive make it through winter. i was gifted with 5 nuc hives at christmas.....

(pickup in june) barring any reactions from stings or trips to the e/r. anyway, she made it, so i started thinking on it and want the genetics from this queen. i have a trip coming up to alaska, i needed to think about timing, and how many hives i want to immerse myself in and manage. if i didn't have any nucs coming, i would have purchased the packages, pinch the queens (if they hadn't already started supercedure or superceded) and introduced eggs from my survivor hive. what i am going to do is, make up one or two nucs to begin with, i will start with and utilize swarm cells from her. coming up soon! maybe one or two before the flow starts here with swarm cells (if they look good), and maybe one or two after the flow with eggs.......still mulling this over and a wait and see thing. this hive would probably be a good honey maker, but i am willing to trade that to keep the genetics going.

zweefer, no need to buy/barter......a gift if things turn out alright for me and this hive. wait........how well do you fix fences, run a chainsaw, and clear trails............

oh wait, maybe i need to add to the list?............

they are sweet bees, this past weekend was in the 60's, although very windy. i took a long trail ride on the 4 wheeler along the river, very sad the river. the water is so very low; lack of winter moisture. i am concerned about going into a drought, and some say we are already in a drought for wisconsin. i had some of my bees flying just over me coming from the willows and collecting water along the river. i checked the bees, just weight, need for feed, observe, etc..... i removed the winter wrap and took off the entrance reducer to clear the dead bees away again. my bees were very jammed up at the top entrance bringing in all sorts of pollen. they were light on stores. i added a pail of 1:1 syrup. daytime temps are alright, nighttime temps still dipping down somewhat here and there into the 30's a bit. the bees were very gentle.
if next weekend is warmer, i plan on taking a closer look at what's going on, and exchange the crusty bottom board out which hasn't been changed out in about 3 years. the bees probably don't care, cuz they usually clean it up pretty good, but i do....

jb63 · « **Reply #231 on:** April 15, 2015, 10:15:07 pm »

Your bees look good River.

Zweefer · « **Reply #232 on:** April 16, 2015, 07:33:15 am »

I'm pretty handy with a chainsaw. What kind of fence?

riverbee · « **Reply #233 on:** June 22, 2015, 12:14:00 am »

long time since updating my thread. spring and early summer has kept me preoccupied with many things going on in my life, my family, gardening, land maintenance and my life with the bees. oh and a trip to alaska!

injections. they continue to go well, had a set of three injections friday morning and 6 weeks ago with a full checkup with the allergy doc. i always get welts from the honeybee, and sometimes from the wasp injections, but it's normal, except on friday. new shot nurse; i suspect she won't be around long. the injections were painful and i developed huge welts on both arms within 5 minutes that extended just below the elbow. my doc had me stay extra time, but i was alright minus the abnormal swelling and itching from improper injections.

i was hoping my doc would move my 3 injections up to every 8 weeks instead of every 6 weeks. maybe sometime in the future, but i am okay with it.

i picked up 10 russian nucs early last saturday morning in cresco, iowa. forecast said no rain. it was raining and rained pretty much all day. drove back to el paso and managed to hive the nucs in between cloud bursts. 4 were mine and the rest were for two friends and a guy the two of us are helping get started. i was to get 5, but passed on one. 5 hives for me is enough right now.
btw.......do NOT wear a really nice dark blue MILWAUKEE BREWERS jacket to pick up bees that have been cooped up and managed to find some small space to fly out of the nucs while loading. those orange poop spots sure stood out on it.........

when we unloaded and hived the nucs, about 3 hours later, we both realized (after unloading) i had no protective gear on, and really, had no fear? all the protective gear went on when we hived the bees. it went great. queens look good, and the bees were a joy to watch as they oriented to their new home. absent minded, i turned the solar fencer back on before closing the gate, (about 13,000 volts)and inadvertently touched the wires. i was sitting on my backside in a short hurry...

update on a brother, and another brother.........
many of you know about my younger brother who suffered an unfortunate, severe accident and near amputation of the leg below the knee. his nickname is 'ozzy' but i call him 'oz'. he is doing well, although he will probably never be able to return to the logging industry/forest service he is going into business for himself. thanks iddee, and thanks ef and thanks all for your prayers and well wishes for his recovery. perhaps i will post a pic or two of him.

i flew home (montana) recently on a short trip. another younger brother, JB (nickname 'smurf') (a logging truck driver) suffered an unfortunate logging accident. he was getting into the cab of his truck, when the loader either dropped, or rolled a log into him as he was stepping up into the cab. broke his right leg and ankle up pretty good. surgery went well, and he is doing alright. he was planning and is still planning on going to the 75th anniversary of sturgis. he has a nice custom built harley he has done all the work on. it's a pretty work of art! he told me this morning he's going, one way or the other, and i know he will. guess he will have to get a sidecar. btw jack, jb is a short little squirt like me......

going to alaska on wednesday. the 25th is my birthday.
guess me and my two brothers had some good laughs about being gimps........
for my 60th year, i will be getting new hips and sockets. sort of a shell shocker for me. i was recently diagnosed with advanced osteo-arthritis in both hips/sockets (wear and tear). there is no cartilage left in either and it's bone on bone, and no space left in between. i will be scheduling surgery for hip replacements sometime after i return from alaska.
my ortho/surgeon told me to look on the bright side, (knowing my adventurous history) and knowing i was not happy about it so he said:
" you had fun wearing them out, now you will have a new set to start wearing out"........

that i will....

when he showed me the prosthetic's for the hip replacements, i had one question:
"doc, are you going to give me an official card that says i weigh 10 pounds more than i really do from these titanium, ceramic coated big marbles you are putting in"
............

he ordered up and i received cortisone shots to both hips last monday to ease the pain and muscular inflammation.
i was given a really styling pair of purty blue paper shorts to put on.....not sure why, they cut them up anyway. and just because....i had to ask if there was a front and back on these.........there's no tags!...........

the radiologist is from minot north dakota, and his father kept bees. we had lots to yak about in an hour. he asked me what i was doing the rest of the day (some restrictions) shot up with lidocaine and feeling no pain, i said i was going on a 20 mile bicycle ride.......

thank you to my team mates, the leaders of this forum , who have given me support and encouragement since the diagnosis. thank you. pride sometimes clouds reality and rational thinking......but then again, what beekeeper is rational?

i will enjoy my trip to alaska, and i will post some pix if and when i can. the cortisone shots will get me through relatively pain free; maybe some minor discomfort but not what it was.

if i fall in an alaskan river while fishing at least i will be dinging the guides fly reel up, not mine....................

efmesch · « **Reply #234 on:** June 22, 2015, 02:22:03 am »

Riverbee, if I were to give air to all the thoughts your post inspired in me, I'd have to change the title of the thread---and I don't want to do that. So I'll restrict myself to just a few comments.
Hip replacements: You'll love them and keep asking yourself why you didn't do it sooner. My wife had a replacement several years ago and is as good as new. No pains no joint problems. It's just that she sets off the security metal detectors and when flying has to undergo a physical check-up at security to prove that she's legit. The card she has from the hospital isn't enough for them in ssecurity.
Alaska: You'll love it. In June 2010 my wife and I went across Alaska on a one month trip. No words to describe how wonderful it was. But June is too early for the salmon runs. Enjoy the long days and see if you can get above the arctic circle. I saw no honey bees there---Maybe there are some beeks, but in the wild they just can't pull through the winter.
Prayers are still coming for your brother's complete recovery.

lazy shooter · « **Reply #235 on:** June 22, 2015, 07:00:35 am »

River:

Amen to what Ef said about metal detectors. My two knee replacements set off the alarms, and no, the security people don't even want you to pull out your medical card showing you have knee prostheses. Apparently, those cards are easy to forge.

River, I am sorry to hear about the arthritis, but we all have to take what we are given. Thanks again for updating one more time the longest thread ever on a social forum. It has been a wonderful educational tool for all of its readers.

Also, I'm sorry to hear of the other brother's broken leg and ankle. Logging is a dangerous business with lots of heavy equipment, saws and heavy logs to handle. I will pray for his complete recovery.

I don't care squat for motorcycles, but they are a mechanical marvel. There is a lot of physics and math attached to the engineering and construction of a motorcycle. Some of the newer ones are significant engineering feats.

It seems your injections are continuing to slowly, grudgingly improving your immune system. As always, keep on keeping on and have fun.

Lazy

Zweefer · « **Reply #236 on:** June 22, 2015, 08:27:09 am »

Glad to hear things are going well! How long will you be gone, and do you have someone to keep an eye on the hives in your absence? If not, I know a keep on the other side of Menomonie who would make the trip

brooksbeefarm · « **Reply #237 on:** June 22, 2015, 09:54:08 am »

Sounds like you and your family need all the well wishes and prayers you can get

(you've got mine) If you see bears in Alaska while your fishing? remember there Hungry

but being a squirt they may not think it would be worth the trouble.

All kidding behind, have a great trip, you've earned it. Jack

tbonekel · « **Reply #238 on:** June 22, 2015, 04:20:20 pm »

I really hope you have a worry free trip. I've always wanted to go to Alaska. Thanks for the update!

riverbee · « **Reply #239 on:** June 22, 2015, 11:38:22 pm »

ef,
please feel free to give air to all comments and thoughts by you! i so enjoy your posts!

this thread really is a journey now of all sorts and somewhat of a sharing of my personal life and not just about what brought me to start it. if i spoke only of injections, i think all would get truly bored with this?..........

will i keep bees or not? for now i will, until that changes for me. an emergency room visit will most likely end any future beekeeping endeavors by me, but i am staying positive, and i will cross that bridge when the rough water flows under or over it, and not until it does.
i would like to meet many of you, maybe someday i will......i think sometimes we would like to 'get to know' another member, or having some 'insight', albeit through a thread like this. i hope no one minds my ramblings. i also enjoy all of the posts and comments that follow and getting to know others from a distance and a keyboard.

zweef, i think we have it covered. thank you! the nucs were put in deeps right away, left them alone for a week. one of the hives is a bit snarky, and is busting and boiling with bees, and the queen was laying everywhere she could. i put an extra deep on her in my absence. the others will be fine. the one established hive i have is going good, a good honey year. i placed an extra super on (3 now, 1st one filled and capped, 2nd one filled not all capped, 3rd one empty drawn comb) just in case they get ahead of me.....

i have a good friend down the road from me, she recently lost her husband. i helped get them started in keeping bees. she offered to check on them, and a beek friend 1 hour away also offered to check on them. i like to get ahead of things in an absence, it doesn't hurt. worst would be is they wind up in the trees, or plastering honey and comb from the underneath of the inside cover when no extra super is on........

i am not going to fiddly fart around with the hip thing..........the surgeries will get done, one first then the other 4-6 weeks later. i am not looking forward to it, but i am not going to wait, and i don't want additional cortisone shots as a band-aid fix to put it off.

jack, bears? they don't like squirts, i read that somewhere...........

thanks all for your well wishes and prayers!