Do any of you keep honeybees?

Care to share and discuss?

We have 9 hives (should have bee up to 12 this year but mysteriously lost several).

This spring has brought an awesome honey flow and promises to be our biggest harvest to date. This is year 4 of keeping them.

oh you're so lucky! We have a wild hive that lives in one of our trees out back but unfortunately it's too risky to try and get honey from it. My hubby is the bee man and has had hives in the past. He bought some bee boxes and a WILD HIVE swarmed to them~! Can you believe that? He had a great honey harvest that year (it was about 6 years ago) and i think we still have beeswax left over from that hive! We meant to get another hive and boxes this year but the only place around here that sells hives has them on just ONE day a year (what a pain!) so we missed out. We'll try again next year though.
I'd love to see some pics of your boxes and bees!

Well, bees are disappearing at an alarming rate, but I give you great kudos for trying to keep active hives. We would love to but our dd is terrified at the thought. If we had a more accessible roof, we'd go for it.

fascinating.

I'd love to keep a hive, I just don't think I have a safe space. Every corner seems too close to the house I think.

What kind of yield to you get out of a single hive?

We actually have our hives in 3 locations. 3 at our home, 3 at my uncle's farm 10 miles away and 3 at my friends farm another 10 or so miles in another direction. right now dh is the beekeeper and I just make sure all our children stay out of the way. Andrew is 2 and would have a fit if I suited up for any length of time. When they are a bit older, I plan to do more. For now, I listen, learn, watch, help when I can and photograph. I will take some new pics soon and harvest is in 2 weeks!


Wow, Marlena, that is cool about the wild hive moving in. DH has an extra box sitting near the ones we have at the house in case of a swarm but it hasn't happened. We would love it though. And, talk about your pioneer beekeeping with harvesting the wild hives honey!!! That really rocks!

We actually didn't lose them to any of the typical problems: critters, mites or the CCD going on. No, they actually got scared during a freeze, huddled and starved themselves to death... Literally, most of the bees were inches from natural food. DH leaves them PLENTY of honey for the winter... It was weird and none of his old-timer friends had any answers. It was just "one of those things".

Katie, it is so hard to say what a hive will yield. It depends on pollen production and probably a lot of other factors. BUt, for discussion sake, last year, we got only about 120 pounds (the same as the year before) off of double the hives we had the year before because of a late season super-freeze that took all the blossoms off of trees and bushes and lots of farmers around here lost crops. It was a bad year, then a terrible drought. This year, we have increased hives again, but he won't take from those hives. What they have accumulated is what they will need for winter. But, dh is estimating, at least triple what we have previously harvested because of an awesome spring.

As for being scared of the bees, unless you are terribly allergic, I would say , no fears. We stand quite near them at our backyard "pond" and play all the time. As long as we don't go in front of the hives and get in the flight path, usually no problem. We have each gotten stung. 2 of my boys stepped on dead bees in the house during a spring, open the door day. I stepped on a stinger, in our bedroom, after dh came in from looking after the bees and had a stinger in his clothes. My oldest got stung while helping dh's mentor on a job and of course, dh gets stung on occasion.

Okay, thinking more on this. I don't have a fear of them. One dd seems to get stung more than any of the other children tho. She may have a strong opinion on this. lol.

Interestingly, my great-grandpa was the "town bee keeper" and they'd send out word for him to come if a wild hive appeared too close to a home or business. sometimes pulling him off his horseback mail route. lol. And, I know our city today keeps a VERY current list of keepers, just in case.

I live in the city, right next door to my church's building. A friend of ours has a hive on the roof of the church building. Urban Honey. :) Would anyone like to see pics? We have decent sized yards here, and there are lot of little gardens and one community garden. We also make it a point to plant things the bees like. The first year they got a lot of honey. Last year the hive swarmed, so they didn't produce much more than what they needed for winter. This year looks good again.

If you're interested in pics, I'll take some for you.

Jeni

Yes! I'd love to see a rooftop hive.

Although, a greenhorn keeper on a precarious roof ledge probably isn't a good idea. It would keep my husband and neighbors rolling their eyes and in stitches tho, now that the chicken fodder has worn off. :hahaha:

YES< pics!!!!!! that is really, really cool!!
Katie :lol:
I was a bit skeered to have them before they arrived and realized they are pretty harmless. If your dd doesn't like any critters buzzing around, that may be a problem. Took a couple of mine a while to adjust and they only get an occasional buzzing.

I would love to keep bees. Our back yard buts up to a hay field with lots of purple clover in it. However my biggest problem is the cost of starting up a hive. I would like a hive that has been used (if that is possible) but then a friend of mine was saying that there is a large investment in the cost of buying the harvesting materials (to get the honey). At first dh was opposed to it, but now he is all for it, lol. Someday...

I would love to keep bees. Our back yard buts up to a hay field with lots of purple clover in it. However my biggest problem is the cost of starting up a hive. I would like a hive that has been used (if that is possible) but then a friend of mine was saying that there is a large investment in the cost of buying the harvesting materials (to get the honey). At first dh was opposed to it, but now he is all for it, lol. Someday...

Hi Amy!

We inherited hives, extractors and all kinds of other equipment from dh's dad (as well as a wealth of info) and that was huge. Dh has been able to get state money for 30% of certain things to increase what we have. We were able to get a trailer for our long-distance hives as well as various other equipment. TN also has extractors that can be borrowed from the Ag. Extension offices but they are in one location, TN is a long state so if a beekeeper where very far, it would be a PITB plus having to get it, clean it to perfection and return it.
Check with your local agencies to see if there are any monetary incentives.

when we were looking @ a farm to caretake... there was a hive in the bathroom window! it was actually outside, but thre owner said he didn't want to take it down, so over winter he built it IN to the actual window frame... so the windonw IS the hive now ~ it was very cool to see it upclose like that. so the bathroom is always a buzz!~

when we were looking @ a farm to caretake... there was a hive in the bathroom window! it was actually outside, but thre owner said he didn't want to take it down, so over winter he built it IN to the actual window frame... so the windonw IS the hive now ~ it was very cool to see it upclose like that. so the bathroom is always a buzz!~

That's a really encouraging story about "just making it work" and harmony. Given a little bit of time and not being overly reactive and a solution that's palatable for everyone(thing) can be found.

I try to work it out like that in my head but I can still be too urgent and reactive....building that coop slowed me and gave me some of the patience I'm lacking. Building garden beds is testing me too. mostly amending soil,but still, the process.

That really is cool Nic! I would love to have an observation hive...
DH's father built one in a coffee table. I have no idea how he piped into it and never saw it but I am sure it was very cool, if not a bit eery to have your coffee cup sitting on a hive of bees!!