| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Lorie.Vance |
Posted - Aug 12 2012 : 10:02:21 AM
Hi everyone! Does anyone keep bees? I'd love to have a small hive or at least find someone that I could buy some honey from. I love to buy it from all over so I get different flavones. I will say that the winter variety of any flavor is my favorite.
Lorie
http://thevintagegardengirl@blogspot.com |
| 10 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| edlund33 |
Posted - Sep 04 2012 : 9:11:17 PM
Sorry to hear about your skunk bandits, Paula! They sure can wreck things in a hurry. My great uncle always had trouble with them but thankfully I haven't seen any on the family farmland in recent years. After you repair your bottom board just keep your hive set up with an entrance reducer and you might get lucky and attract a migrant colony during swarm season. That's what I did and it worked for me. Good luck!
Cheers! ~ Marilyn
Farm Girl No. 1100
http://blueskyanddaisies.blogspot.com
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. - Ralph Waldo Emerson |
| StrawHouseRanch |
Posted - Sep 04 2012 : 2:04:51 PM
Our remaining beehive got wiped out by skunks this summer. It was so heart-breaking. Everything has struggled to survive this year, even the skunks, I suppose. The mama skunk I saw this Spring had six colorful babies that trailed along behind her. It didn't surprise me to find the bottom screen ripped to shreds on the hive, comb scattered everywhere, and no bees to be found. I'm not going to try to start over with another package anytime soon, but I will re-enforce that bottom board with some strong hardware cloth and hopefully attract a passing swarm someday.
Paula
Farmgirl Sister #3090
Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery, and Today is a Gift.
"Look deep into Nature, and then you will understand everything better."--Albert Einstein
"A meal of bread, cheese and beer constitutes the perfect food." --Queen Elizabeth I
http://www.etsy.com/shop/StrawHouseDesigns |
| FarmDream |
Posted - Aug 22 2012 : 3:54:19 PM
Good luck Lorie! I had a great time taking a bee class this past January, given by the local bee keeping club. I learned the honey we usually eat is harvested in July here, and sometimes some more in the Fall. We're hoping to start some next spring.
~FarmDream is Farmgirl Sister #3069
Live Today, Cherish Yesterday, Dream Tomorrow
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http://julie-rants.blogspot.com |
| Bear5 |
Posted - Aug 14 2012 : 10:21:47 AM
Lorie, sounds like you are on top of this bee keeping adventure. Good for you. Good luck.
Marly
"It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth- and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up- that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had." Elisabeth Kurler-Ross |
| Lorie.Vance |
Posted - Aug 14 2012 : 09:57:47 AM
Hi Marilyn and Marly! Thanks for the info. I went online and found that the University of South Florida has Beekeeping workshops this fall. I'm there! I also found that they are also having a "Honey Tasting" of exotic and unusual honeys from around the world at the end of September. I'm there! I'll let you know what different kinds I find and buy. I'll also be attending a meeting at the local bee keeping club if it's not located too far out. Thanks Again!!
Lorie
http://thevintagegardengirl@blogspot.com |
| Bear5 |
Posted - Aug 14 2012 : 09:43:28 AM
Good luck with the bee keeping, Lorie, and keep us posted.
Marly
"It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth- and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up- that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had." Elisabeth Kurler-Ross |
| edlund33 |
Posted - Aug 14 2012 : 07:57:15 AM
Lorie, I'll bet in Florida you would be able to get honey within the first year of establishment since the bees are active year round. Here in western WA they have such a short season that they just don't have time to build up more comb and honey stores than what they need to make it through their first winter. Especially if they have to start out from a package on undrawn foundation.
If you do get serious about keeping bees I recommend that you order several beekeeping equipment catalogs - Betterbee, Brushy Mountain, Mann Lake, Dadant, etc before you purchase any equipment. You can learn alot from looking through catalogs at all the various kinds of equipment. Usually the "beginner kits" are assembled from the least quality items to keep the price down to attract new beekeepers, so be cautious of them. There are lots of online documents and forums like Beesource and Bush Natural Beekeeping that have great information too. And probably most important....if there are beekeeping classes or a beekeepers club near you I'd suggest looking into that too so you can network with other beekeepers and possibly find a mentor to work with you.
I checked on both of my hives yesterday. The May ladies (Honey Bear Hollow) are already storing honey in few frames of their third brood box so I put honey supers on that hive just in case. Better to have and not need them than to wish I had put them on! The July girls (The Buzz Inn)have totally filled the first brood box, so I added two more brood boxes for them to expand into. They are building comb like crazy. Woo hoo!
Cheers! ~ Marilyn
Farm Girl No. 1100
http://blueskyanddaisies.blogspot.com
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. - Ralph Waldo Emerson |
| Lorie.Vance |
Posted - Aug 13 2012 : 06:50:06 AM
Hi Marilyn! I guess you were meant to be a bee keeper...LoL! I hadn't realized it until you mentioned it, but when I lived in Gig Harbor, I never saw bees except for a few times during the summer. Here in Florida, we have bees all year long. My yard is full of them, which is why after I saw the small hive in the Williams Sonoma catalog, I thought I'd start reading up on them and consider trying this out. Here in Florida, I see several types of honey (wild flower, orange blossom, Tupelo, etc.) but I have also bought seasonal honey which is lighter (mild flavor) or darker, like winter honey (deep more intense flavor). I love winter honey for tea and for baking. I also love lavender honey, but that's hard to find. I just bought a book on bee keeping, and will do some more research. I'm guessing from your information that even if I do start a mini hive that It'll be a couple of years before I can harvest the honey, so I'm still looking for a bee source out of Florida to buy honey from, to add to my pantry collection of flavors. Thank you so much for the info.
Lorie
http://thevintagegardengirl@blogspot.com |
| edlund33 |
Posted - Aug 12 2012 : 3:55:44 PM
Hi Lorie! I keep honeybees and Marly is right, there are several other farmgirls here who do too. It's a fun hobby....honeybees are such fascinating and amazing critters! I just started my first hives two years ago with the help of a friend who mentored me for the first year. My Great Uncle had honeybees on his farm so I grew up with an abundance of fresh honey. After he passed away I missed having fresh honey and decided to try my luck at producing my own. I lost both of my hives last winter due to problems with the package queens. I didn't order new package bees this spring because several of my family members are having health issues and I didn't think I would have time to tend them this year. However, much to my surprise.....in May a swarm adopted one of my vacant hive boxes. Then, three weeks ago I was at work and noticed a huge swarm on a tree branch so I got permission to capture them. I put them in my other empty hive box and they are now very busy building new comb. Since both of these colonies got off to a late start I'm not sure I'll be able to harvest any honey this summer, but I now have two healthy hives that should be able to start doing their thing next year. First I want to make sure they have enough honey to feed on through the winter.
Being from the pacific northwest I've never heard of honey having a different flavor in the winter. Does it have something to do with the kinds of flowers the bees forage at different times of the year? I would imagine in Florida bees are active nearly year round. Here near Seattle they tend to hibernate from Nov - February except on a few sunny days when it gets warm enough for them to fly around. So our only honey harvest season is August - September.
Cheers! ~ Marilyn
Farm Girl No. 1100
http://blueskyanddaisies.blogspot.com
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. - Ralph Waldo Emerson |
| Bear5 |
Posted - Aug 12 2012 : 10:54:46 AM
Good luck. I know several of the MJF do keep bees. They'll come in and answer your questions when they see your post, I'm sure.
Marly
"It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth- and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up- that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had." Elisabeth Kurler-Ross |
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