| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| harmonyfarm |
Posted - Jun 25 2009 : 12:58:47 PM
I'm so excited!
For Christmas I bought my DH a brand new bee suit with hat, veil smoker, gloves and hive tool. He didn't see that coming and it caught him totally off guard. See, we lost our 5 colonies of bees about 10 years ago when the Trachial Mites tore through our state. He missed taking care of his bees so much, I thought if I got him new equipment he would try raising bees again. Well, if ya haven't noticed the American Honeybees are declining in their populations. The waiting list at the Bee supply company for bees is nearly two years long now. But alas, we found a man who is selling all his hives and moving to another state soon. So we bought two hives and DH is a very happy man now. Hopefully we'll be able to extract honey this fall and bee back in business....
just wanted to share the joy......
Debbie
"If you can't find the time to do it right...how will you find the time to do it over" |
| 16 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Alee |
Posted - Jul 28 2009 : 8:02:56 PM
Oh that is too sad Debbie! Sorry you didn't get hives this year. I hope you get some next year!
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
www.allergyjourneys.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
| harmonyfarm |
Posted - Jul 28 2009 : 7:13:00 PM
Guess we counted the bees before they hatched. Our neighbor lucked out and got 10 of the hives that were for sale. We went to get our two and the man decided not to sell any more and donated his hives to a research lab to help find out what is causing Colony Collapse Disorder. So sad "our bees" are going for research. But scientists are saying if the bees and other polinating bugs keep disappearing at the rate they are now, there won't be any left by 2035. Then we'll all be eating gruel or polinating our veggies ourselves. But our "lucky" neighbor said when he divides his hives next year, we can buy two of his. So all is not lost yet.
Say a prayer for the honeybees!
Debbie
"If you can't find the time to do it right...how will you find the time to do it over" |
| Diane B Carter |
Posted - Jun 28 2009 : 3:51:42 PM
I just love honey bee's. I would love to raise them but I'm allergic to them. My DH doesn't want them around but he knows when your in my yard the bee's come first. Enjoy them!!
Hope all your days are Sunnydays.
dianebcarterhotmailcom.blogspot.com |
| Alee |
Posted - Jun 28 2009 : 1:08:25 PM
When we have our own place I want to get some hives as well. I agree Belle! Honey is VERY expensive. I can't hardly stand to use the stuff I did buy because it is so expensive. I know some people in my home town that have a HUGE apiary so I am going to see how much it would be to buy a big bucket of honey from them. They are very reasonable for their beeswax prices so I am sure their honey is more reasonable as well. We used to live down the road from them and I remember summer smelling on honey :D
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
www.allergyjourneys.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
| Bellepepper |
Posted - Jun 28 2009 : 11:16:58 AM
I love honey and it is getting so expensive. We used to have several bee keepers around here but none anymore. I would like to have bees but like Cherry, hub says no. He is soooo allergic to bee stings. Let me know if anyone has honey for sale and if they ship. Can't bring myself to buy it at the grocery store. |
| harmonyfarm |
Posted - Jun 28 2009 : 10:25:52 AM
I heard someone say that if the honeybees disappear altogether, that the human race will disappear 4 years later....that's kinda scary to put so much faith in a little flying bug..huh? I worry about the bees in the southern states. They are cross breeding with the mexican killer bees and that isn't good! I'm sorry to say that that huge hive in the Cypress tree will be there forever as bees winter over where they live no matter what the climate. I would imagine a hive that huge has swarmed a few times already if it is that big and sent a new queen and some workers with her. If you have the proper equipment, bee keeping is a wonderful hobby and the rewards are so nice. We used to extract 60 pounds of honey from 5 hives and that was a years supply for us. Honey is flavored by whatever flowers are growing in a 3 mile radius of the colony. That's how far they fly. Our honey is usually wild clover honey. And yes, I do love catching my hubby of guard. Since I only have a part time job, it took me nearly 6 months to buy that equipment in bits and pieces, but I pulled it off!
Debbie
"If you can't find the time to do it right...how will you find the time to do it over" |
| Calicogirl |
Posted - Jun 26 2009 : 05:44:31 AM
How awesome Debbie! I'm sure he is happy :) Don't you just love catching your husband off guard with a gift you know he will love but never expect? :)
I don't know if I could ever raise bees. I get nervous around them. I try not to but when I was a little girl I kicked a mound of dirt and there were ground bees there. Needless to say, I got stung quite a few times :(
~Sharon
By His Grace, For His Glory
http://merryheartjournal.blogspot.com/ |
| Alee |
Posted - Jun 25 2009 : 7:27:14 PM
Teresa- that is so great to have so many wild hives!
We had plenty of bees pollinating our apple tree- it was amazing. The whole tree hummed!
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
www.allergyjourneys.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
| peapicker |
Posted - Jun 25 2009 : 6:13:38 PM
I'm excited for you both Debbie. We would like to have some bees one of these days. Hope you gets lots of honey. What kind of honey will it be?
Sharlet |
| 1badmamawolf |
Posted - Jun 25 2009 : 4:25:34 PM
I had 4 wild hives removed off my ranch last year, a local bee keeper came and got them, he was really happy about it. I have 4 livestock barns, and 3 of them had hives, (hard to milk with testy bees there), and my poultry house had the 4th one. Just too dangerous to let them stay, the keeper just lives about 15 miles away, he will keep them contained until they aclimate to his place, so he says anyway, and I hope they don't come back this year, I hate getting stung, and so do the animals.
"Treat the earth well, it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children" |
| Contrary Wife |
Posted - Jun 25 2009 : 3:49:16 PM
Good for you and the hubbs Debbie, I always like to see more beekeepers. I'm waiting to move and get settled and then I'm going to get me some hives.
Teresa Sue
Farmgirl Sister #316
Planting Zone 4
"Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly." The Dalai Lama |
| CherryMeDarlin |
Posted - Jun 25 2009 : 3:30:09 PM
Oh, Debbie, how wonderful! I want terribly to have some bee hives, but the hubs has repeatedly said I couldn't. Marly, I'd come get those in the cypress tree if I could. Continue to send them love! They actually feel it! Bees are just so awesome!
~~Cherry~~
http://cherrymedarlin.blogspot.com
"A thing is as simple or as complicated as you make it." --TT Murphy |
| Bear5 |
Posted - Jun 25 2009 : 1:54:56 PM
Debbie:
I don't know about the state of Louisiana, but here where I live, Southwest Louisiana, we have plenty bees. In fact, there is a lake behind my house, and in the lake are cypress trees. There is one cypress tree in the lake and about half way up there is a super big bee hive. Super big!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Your husband can surely come get the hive if he is able to get in the lake, climb up the tree and get the hive. There is no one that will come to get the bees. Will these bees fly away in the fall? I hope so. I am just so afraid to upset them. I don't want all those bees coming after me. When I mow in the back yard, I repeadedly send my love to the bees.
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 |
| Tidy Aprons |
Posted - Jun 25 2009 : 1:16:09 PM
Oh I agree with Alee! Hang in there with the bees! We need bees so very much!
~Oney~
"There's something a little holy in taking care of the places we inhabit, in summoning sheen. And there's a power in watching over our spaces, the rooms we move within, the sets where our life stories unfold." ~Lori Hall Steele |
| Alee |
Posted - Jun 25 2009 : 1:09:49 PM
That is wonderful! Hopefully your husband can be one of the ones that is influential in helping bring back the honey bee population! Can each hive produce a new queen and young swarm each year or is it only every couple of years?
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
www.allergyjourneys.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
| 1930sgirl |
Posted - Jun 25 2009 : 1:07:19 PM
Oh Debbie...how nice!
I would love to try bee keeping, someday.:) Nothing gives me more pleasure than watching hubby and kids enjoying themselves.
Joyce |
