It occurred to me you guys who know what your are doing might get tired of answering the same old questions - - or not - - -but for us newbys, the 'discovery' phase of our beekeeping is a good part of the fun - - - . So I thought I would start this thread for the truly 'uninitiated' because it might be fun for the pros watching us new guys bumble around, it will be fun for me to have an informal record of my development as a beekeeper - - -
For instance, the first time I saw dead bees on the landing skid I was convinced my hive had the Plague! - - and (As you know) that is a normal part of hive dynamics and bee behavior - - There were three dead bees lined-up in a row on the skid this morning - - and then just 1, as the other two were carried off by their surviving sisters, and ceremonially 'dropped' some distance away from the hive. I wonder how they decide who has funeral duty? Nothing seems to happen without a purpose.
I have had to requeen my hive when it turned mean - - and meet with my neighbor (other side of the fence from the hive) whose young daughter and dog have been stung, almost certainly by bees from my hive. Fortunately, I have a very cool neighbor, who was/is interested in bees in spite of his experience with mine. He listened to my explanation of bee-life-cycle, where mean bees come from, when and why I requeened the hive, the improvement I have seen since then (10 days ago) and that we should have a steadily improving bee population as the old brood is replaced by offspring of the new Italian queen. 6 weeks from requeen would make it May 5 for a complete turnover. Our deal is, if he will give the bees until then to learn some manners if he still has problems with them on May 5 I will move the hive to my ranch, 350 miles away - - We can't have my bees chasing the neighbors out of their own back yards, after all, but I am hoping I will be able to keep the hive. - - - They seem to be calming down, but I still have a couple kamikaze pilots banging my veil - -
The big questions facing me are "when" and "what". I think I have started early enough in the season, and my first deep box is maybe six or 7 frames full of brood and some honey that I can add and mostly fill another deep brood box before adding a queen excluder and short super. The logic being that a bigger colony will fill the honey larder more quickly, and that arrangement will give me the best seasonal honey yield. In the mean time, I fuss about avoiding a swarm, and watch the 20 or thirty bees that are more or less continually taking-off and returning from foraging expeditions - - busy, busy, busy.
I would be pleased to see any war stories on new hive development & observations, and (of course) advice from the pros is always welcome - - -
Welcome to the forum. I can't predict what your bees are going to do, but I guarantee you they'll do something completely unexpected. My favorite part of beekeeping is just watching what's going on in the front of the hive. You can tell a whole lot about a hive just watching.
There is no way to know for certain that it was your bees that stung the neighbor dog and kid, but it seems that "chances are likely" it was... until you consider;
a- honey bees are not the only stinging insect in the neighborhood. Wasps and hornets, ants, etc. Did the neighbor have to remove a stinger from the child? If so, it was a bee. If not, it was something else. Most people don't know the difference!
b- hot, highly defensive colony within close proximity MIGHT have been the culprit. but you don't know for certain.. Proximity does not necessarily equal culpability.
c- If a stinger was removed, there is a near 100% chance that there are other bee colonies within 2 miles of your yard, well within foraging range. There is reasonable doubt it was your bees.
d - communication with neighbors about our hives can be a good thing or a bad thing. Telling them that you had to requeen because of a hot hive might just come back to haunt you. If you accepted responsibility for this instance, you could become the culprit for every insect bite of every variety in the neighborhood. It has happened before.
Most of my neighbors don't even know I have bees.
If you move your bees to the ranch, don't tell anyone you've moved them. Then, if someone says "your bees" stung them, you can tell them you moved the 350 miles away. A nice educational moment.
Fortunatly I live in a rural family farming community where most of the people either know you or at least know who you are or who you are related to. I'm lucky that my closest neighbors(2 within 1/4 mile)were very interested when I got my bees. They both got free honey samples when I harvested my first honey. In fact one of them is a regular customer now.
Quote from: CliveHive on April 03, 2016, 01:17:47 PM
It occurred to me you guys who know what your are doing might get tired of answering the same old questions - - or not - - -but for us newbys, the 'discovery' phase of our beekeeping is a good part of the fun - - - .
I think that even the most experienced beekeepers enjoy 'talking shop' about bees. If they didn't they wouldn't be keeping bees. I think some of it is that they can relive the excitement, confusion, thrill, amazement, and education that the new beek feels when first starting out.
Yes indeed - - - I can think of a couple neighbors I certainly would not want to tell about my bees - - -
Thinking back to my first bee sting - - -
I didn't have problems. My bees seemed content to 'live-and-let-live'. Then one day I decided to clip some grapefruit off my tree, which is about 20' from the hive and in view of the hive entrance. Before too long - - maybe 10 minutes later, I got about three 'hits'. I waited a few days - - things calmed down - - and then I went to harvest a few more grapefruit - - - and the bees didn't like it any better than the first time I tried it. Did they object to the long clipping pole? The sound of the grapefruit coming down through the branches? Me?
Reading through posts and AI Root's advice, I'm beginning to get an appreciation of the part scent plays in regulating bee behavior. Grapefruit are pungent, particularly when the skin is bruised, which makes me wonder if grapefruit scent triggered an alarm - - - . The neighbor is a big fan (and frequent user) of essential oil therapy - - he thought that might have something to do with it - - -
' - they'll do something completely unexpected'. I think you are on to something, Rurification.