Beekeeping it’s the bee’s knees

Splits yes let the fun start

 

My mason bees are coming to the end of their time for this season

I had a high mortality in my bee cocoons from last year so didn't start out with too many survivors so I'm quite happy that they've done pretty well to fill most of the cells in my trays

 

Had to move some hives due to a bear invasion. The fricker destroyed at least 12 colonies. Tied down 16 colonies, then I notice two that I missed. Too lazy to redo the tying so, the front seat works. "No hive gets left behind!".
The only worrying part was praying that the boxes were secure as these were still africanized bees that havent been re-queen yet......imagine a shit load of bees flying around the cab trying to kill you.

 

That sucks. I need to get the electric fencing rigged up around my hive; a FB friend posted a picture earlier this week of her wrecked bird feeder and she just lives a couple of towns over so they're definitely within range.

 

Can any of yall recommend a product that will kill bugs on my tomato plants that wont harm the bees? Ive been looking it up and I cant make heads or tails of what is safe or not. Theres so much conflicting info on the innerwebs

 

What bugs are you looking to kill? Neem oil is pretty effective on all of them, without being dangerous to pollinators if you use it correctly. Epsom salt works well on the slimy ones, as either a spray or scattered around the bases of the plants. There's a few organic pesticides out there that claim to be bee-friendly as well, but I'd be hesitant to trust the claims.

 

Thanks for the reply.

Not sure of the proper names of the bugs but it was red bugs and white flies. I did a search and neem oil was what I ended up getting. I sprayed the plants right at dark and a few days later I noticed a bunch of dead bees around he hives. After I saw them I went and read thru the booklet that was on the spray bottle and on the very last page it said extremely toxic to bees. So I watered the plants heavily to help get the neem oil off. Not sure it worked or not. I will be going back to check today and see how things are.

I did find a product called bacillus thuringiensis, Bt, for short that seems like a good product but like you said, I'm hesitant to trust the claims based on what happened the other day.

 

Did you spray the blossoms? My understanding of neem oil is that it has to be ingested to be toxic, so if you avoid spraying the blooms you should be okay.
Was there anything else for active ingredients besides the neem oil, or was it an oil-only product?

 

My dad is the one that sprayed and I didnt think to tell him to avoid the blossoms. I will have to check on the other active ingredients when I get over there this afternoon.

 

Finally got over there to check the bottle. It doesnt list any other active ingredients.

I finally found in my notes that I took at the beginners bee class that I took, what they recommended to use. It is called Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt for short. It even says on the bottle that it is safe for use around honey bees. I sprayed my mater plants last night and will check the bees this evening and see what happens

 

question- just found this thread....
i plan to buy a house in a month. id like to sub out a small honey bee set up. where should i search for people to help?

 

As in - have someone else keep a hive or two on your property? Or to get some hives to keep yourself? Either way contacting a local beekeeping club is a good place to start. Should be a local one no matter where you are and they'll probably have someone to help or be able to point you in the right direction. Could find a professional keeper or apiary nearby with a simple google search as well. Most beeks are pretty cool so it'll get less daunting fast. Would be best if you have a specific property in mind or know what yard space and geography you're looking for to help plan things out ahead of time. Mason bees and leafcutter bees are an option as well and are much simpler to keep so that could be a good start too

 

im (fingers crossed) hansville wa. i have a 1/3 acre. estabiblished landscape but im into gardening. open to farming out for bees. just curious on what to do.

 

Honeybees usually like to stay away from the area about 100 yards around their hive because that's where they go out for cleansing flights (poop and get rid of hive debris). So honey bees wouldn't be ideal to help a garden on your property but would help the neighborhood. I'd seriously look into mason and leafcutter bees. They're a lot more affordable and kinda more short range like 200 yards max. Also only need a few hours a year to keep so it'd be easy to keep them yourself
https://crownbees.com/alternative-to-honey-bees
https://crownbees.com/beebasickit.html

 

The mason bees and leaf cutters are filling up a couple tubes a day now.

 

that is awesome!

 

Pulled my honey from a couple of hives , got 52 ish lb about 4.5 gallons

 

whoah! quite the acomplishment! how long does a cycle like that take to produce?