tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7237633934633144064.post217230385945705237..comments2024-03-26T10:01:18.135-04:00Comments on Living the Frugal Life: Honey Bees Are Coming SoonKatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18017959421018964001noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7237633934633144064.post-59788898976868340252010-06-15T08:05:33.465-04:002010-06-15T08:05:33.465-04:00Hello! Thanks for posting this, this is a big help...Hello! Thanks for posting this, this is a big help for a beginner beekeeper! :)Honey Beeshttp://www.beekeepingsuccess.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7237633934633144064.post-34650151536870498322010-04-01T07:48:01.775-04:002010-04-01T07:48:01.775-04:00Sonja, thanks for the encouragement! I am pretty ...Sonja, thanks for the encouragement! I am pretty near done with all preparations and eagerly waiting to see if my packages show up this weekend. I know the bees will be the source of many posts this year, and I hope for years to come as well. Thanks again!Katehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18017959421018964001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7237633934633144064.post-57420482753373360792010-03-23T10:33:17.750-04:002010-03-23T10:33:17.750-04:00Kate - I just found your blog; it's excellent!...Kate - I just found your blog; it's excellent! We're entering our second year as beekeepers (in Seattle) and boy has it been an adventure! My mom and I do it together and while we had our fair share of ups and downs (swarm, laying workers, etc), I wouldn't trade it for anything. Plus the honey and beeswax (lip balm, candles, etc) is great. We went the more conventional beekeeping route (with frames and foundation) but I'm very curious to see how your bees do with comb building. I think you'll find that they're pretty good about throwing up comb pretty quickly. Anyway, BEST OF LUCK and can't wait to hear more. <br /><br />Regards, <br /><br />SonjaSonjahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07991225701647192076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7237633934633144064.post-42662442312268065142010-03-09T11:00:55.397-05:002010-03-09T11:00:55.397-05:00Masha, hello. I will definitely be posting regula...Masha, hello. I will definitely be posting regularly on my honey bees during my first year out. I hope it goes well, but will report failures just as faithfully. Wish me luck!Katehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18017959421018964001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7237633934633144064.post-69584566792747089332010-03-09T03:50:28.777-05:002010-03-09T03:50:28.777-05:00I hope you keep updates on how this goes! I want t...I hope you keep updates on how this goes! I want to keep bees someday, and your ways seem right up my alley; I'd love to know how well they'd work out.Mashahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14854943210859789380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7237633934633144064.post-59226322631166004612010-03-03T12:33:49.149-05:002010-03-03T12:33:49.149-05:00Tamar, and I've got 40 frames that need starte...Tamar, and I've got 40 frames that need starter strips asap, then 40 more as soon as can be managed. Your wait and see approach is probably the wiser course. I just don't think I'm constitutionally capable of *not* trying to get it all figured out in advance. I look forward to comparing notes with you and other beginners. I just hope there aren't so many variables that we can't help each other.<br /><br />Sonya, congratulations to you and thanks for stopping by. I hope you get better weather for your bees very soon.Katehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18017959421018964001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7237633934633144064.post-27393686649653631132010-03-02T15:35:33.290-05:002010-03-02T15:35:33.290-05:00Congratulations, we got our first (four) hives jus...Congratulations, we got our first (four) hives just last week. Unfortunately, it's rained heavily every day since. Good luck with them, SonyaSonyahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14083230049055990017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7237633934633144064.post-72725163350038946112010-03-01T14:37:32.601-05:002010-03-01T14:37:32.601-05:00Kate -- I can't tell you how glad I am that yo...Kate -- I can't tell you how glad I am that you're undertaking bees at the same time I am. To have another novice -- and a thoughtful, well-informed novice you seem to be -- with whom to compare notes and ideas is a great thing.<br /><br />I'm going into it making as few decisions in advance as possible. I've found that all my other agricultural endeavors have been a series of compromises, and I don't expect this to be different. Gardening-wise, I prefer not to use chemical pesticides, but I also prefer not to lose my crop to pests. And while the earth's tolerance for potent pesticides (both organic and non) certainly isn't infinite, neither is it zero. <br /><br />I don't think of chemicals per se as the enemy. (I have a congenital heart disease and would probably be dead if it weren't for one particular chemical.) I certainly don't want to encourage the evolution of resistant strains of mites or bacteria, but I'd also like to do everything I can to protect my hives from threats. I think it's sometimes very hard to know which you're doing -- or which is more important, if you're doing both.<br /><br />Your posts on bees have been a boon to me -- they make me think carefully about how to work my own hives. <br /><br />Right now, the only thinig I know for sure is that I have 80 frames to assemble!Tamar@StarvingofftheLandhttp://www.starvingofftheland.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7237633934633144064.post-87275919046875563072010-02-28T10:43:28.065-05:002010-02-28T10:43:28.065-05:00"Linda, I'm sure you'll get your bees...<i>"Linda, I'm sure you'll get your bees sooner or later. I have a one new species per year rule. This year it's honey bees for us."</i> <br /><br />Yes that has been my goal all along. I once tried to do it all, all at once - BIG mistake and one I don't want to repeat!Linda Foleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16875718412873470143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7237633934633144064.post-73421761640478645282010-02-28T08:17:02.004-05:002010-02-28T08:17:02.004-05:00Momma Pajama, welcome! Our property is 2/3 acre. ...Momma Pajama, welcome! Our property is 2/3 acre. So considerably larger than yours, but still not huge by any means. You have the advantage of a milder climate than I enjoy. You've probably already seen them, but the Dervaeses in Pasadena produce thousands of pounds of food each year on a lot the same size as yours. Their house occupies half of a 1/5 acre lot, leaving them 1/10 acre to "farm."<br /><br />Sandy, I did, yes. Let's hope they can reschedule as I was looking forward to it. We'll meet sooner or later, I'm sure.<br /><br />Linda, I'm sure you'll get your bees sooner or later. I have a one new species per year rule. This year it's honey bees for us. <br /><br />Number32, I'm not sure whether we're rural or suburban either. Sort of half-way in between I'd say. It doesn't look like a suburb, and it was rural not so long ago. But I can't fairly say I live in the country either. Our area has a characteristic type of low-density development that doesn't fit neatly into either category. Glad to hear you've gotten your seeds started. With two young cats I rather fear for my indoor seedlings this year.<br /><br />Raven, thank you. I do hope I enjoy them too. And I hope never to develop serious allergies to them, something which can apparently happen to beekeepers as they are repeatedly exposed to venom.<br /><br />Anon, I did hear about that "oracle." I'm always a skeptic. But we'll see what March 7th brings, won't we?<br /><br />Lee, yes I've heard that debate too, about how fast the comb gets drawn out. I too am interested in the harvest of wax. We are interested in making our own candles, eventually. If you haven't seen it yet, I recommend the magazine Bee Culture. Once you've read at least one introductory book, or attended a beginner's class, most of what's published in this magazine will be accessible. And it constantly talks about the latest research, while also keeping up with what work a beekeeper should be doing for the bees from season to season. Good reminders.<br /><br />Aimee, it seems like half the bloggers I "know" are starting bees this year. It's some kinda zeitgeist or something. And it's all good. Good luck with your hives this year!<br /><br />Thanks, Daharja. I'm sure the bees will be a steady source of posts here. I just hope to have good news to report.<br /><br />Mus, lovely story, thanks for sharing it. I do find it a bit sad that "conservative" and "green" are apparently opposites in today's thought. Conservation - conserving what we inherit from one generation to the next - is deeply green, in my opinion.<br /><br />Ivy, thanks. I'll try to make your vicarious beekeeping experience as richly textured as possible.<br /><br />James, thanks for the vote of confidence and the suggested link. I'll check it out.Katehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18017959421018964001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7237633934633144064.post-71674452189654039282010-02-26T18:15:46.310-05:002010-02-26T18:15:46.310-05:00I have 2 top bar hives and this will be my 3rd yea...I have 2 top bar hives and this will be my 3rd year of keeping bees. It is really easy to do if you let the bees do what they need to do. You seem to have the drive to make it happen, and I have every confidence in you. Keep on reading and studying youtube - that is where I learned what to do and not to do.<br />Also, if you haven't already check out http://bushfarms.com/bees.htmJameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00400867120560796938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7237633934633144064.post-1174553954278162562010-02-26T10:32:20.890-05:002010-02-26T10:32:20.890-05:00Exciting! I'm looking forward to hearing about...Exciting! I'm looking forward to hearing about this...I want to have bees so badly but it's not in the cards unless/until I move. So I'm living vicariously!Ivyhttp://www.quirkyknitgirl.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7237633934633144064.post-66425330038193696222010-02-26T01:07:27.803-05:002010-02-26T01:07:27.803-05:00Hi, I just found your blog recently and wanted to ...Hi, I just found your blog recently and wanted to say hi. I love your bee post! My grandfather used to keep a few hives when I was little, but they were wiped out in what I think was the first major epidemic of Varroa mites in Europe. He essentially did exactly what you do (except he used a queen excluder- didn't want to "kill all the brood", and he had a centrifuge for honey extraction). But I doubt that he thought of it as organic, or green (in fact, he might have felt insulted by the terms, he was on the conservative side). It was just how bees were kept in the countryside.<br />He loved to go out there in the afternoon every day and sit with his bees for a glass of port. He lived to the age of 96. I'm sure habits like this have something to do with it.mushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01389408122398368873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7237633934633144064.post-40661025794065996582010-02-25T21:57:12.240-05:002010-02-25T21:57:12.240-05:00I'm really keen to see how you do with this, s...I'm really keen to see how you do with this, so please post regular updates if you can. I'd like to keep bees, but am still in the learning stages, so it will be a couple of years yet - and any advice/tips/learning I can get are a real help.<br /><br />Good luck, and may your bees be healthy and happy :-)Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15497683565965322222noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7237633934633144064.post-13175261945118493402010-02-25T20:03:02.071-05:002010-02-25T20:03:02.071-05:00fascinating... I am also starting bees this year b...fascinating... I am also starting bees this year but alas, I just don't have time (with kids, milk goats, pigs, chickens, a job, etc etc... all of which you probably have too....) to do as much in depth studying as you seem to have done. I bought used hives and have decided to put my new bees in and let them use the drawn out comb. I have a neighbor-mentor, and I hope things go well.<br />I'm looking forward to hearing about your bee-adventures!Aimeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06358194304460170717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7237633934633144064.post-91807551601708659282010-02-25T20:02:45.702-05:002010-02-25T20:02:45.702-05:00Lee, I like the idea of the Warre Hive. I am going...Lee, I like the idea of the Warre Hive. I am going to check into it further... thanks!Linda Foleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16875718412873470143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7237633934633144064.post-56363105506478887182010-02-25T19:53:26.918-05:002010-02-25T19:53:26.918-05:00Wow, how exciting! You are just a couple steps ah...Wow, how exciting! You are just a couple steps ahead of us in the beekeeping enterprise. We've joined our local beekeeping association, signed up for their yearly class, and been gathering information. I haven't taken the next step to start preparing equipment.<br /><br />I wouldn't worry too much about the "cost" to the bees of the foundationless frames. I've read that bees actually draw out comb much faster when they don't have a foundation to work from, and the rule that you hear tossed around that you lose 8 pounds of honey for every 1 pound of wax is decidedly suspect. a.) It was based on a single experiment using fed bees, not bees actively collecting b.) That one pound of wax will hold 22 pounds of honey c.) Wax is a useful product in it's own right (more interesting, to me, than the honey) and d.) There is less risk of infections/pests on clean wax. You can find more details <a href="http://www.bushfarms.com/beesharvest.htm" rel="nofollow">here</a>.<br /><br />I'm actually going to try to go the build-it-yourself route for most equipment and collect wild swarms. I'm debating between building a Kenyan Top Bar Hive or a Warre Hive .. I might just build one of each. That way, if my bees swarm or have a disease/mite problem I'll feel less financially invested in trying to save them (which usually means resorting to chemicals), when for the sake of genetic strength we would all be better off to let weak hives die.<br /><br />This is another argument for having several hives I suppose ...Leehttp://www.farmfolly.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7237633934633144064.post-80760717694513620912010-02-25T19:21:41.295-05:002010-02-25T19:21:41.295-05:00Snow - Thought you might enjoy the following. If ...Snow - Thought you might enjoy the following. If Lester gets the March 7th storm right I am going to buy his Almanac. <br /><br />http://www.wfmz.com/news/22552439/detail.html<br />The above site has a video included. Also check out – http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=195835. This site gives more of his history.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7237633934633144064.post-26777555465823061522010-02-25T13:29:58.333-05:002010-02-25T13:29:58.333-05:00I am soo jelous, I am fatally allergic to bees so ...I am soo jelous, I am fatally allergic to bees so I cannot have a hive. I do love them though they are wonderful creatures, I hope you enjoy them.Raven_Nightwindhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01354043017488272453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7237633934633144064.post-75804918789838783562010-02-25T12:22:56.654-05:002010-02-25T12:22:56.654-05:00I know you have a bigger plot size than we have in...I know you have a bigger plot size than we have in the UK, but I'm not sure if you are suburban or rural. Here it seems that bees kept in cities are doing better than rural ones, so it looks likely that colony collapse disorder is due to agricultural pesticides and the like.<br /><br />On the food from gardens topic, I have decided to sow a few tentative seeds indoors this weekend. Not many but a selection to give a head start if spring is on the way.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7237633934633144064.post-87193653129153374792010-02-25T11:07:07.875-05:002010-02-25T11:07:07.875-05:00How exciting! Ah I want bees sometime in the futur...How exciting! Ah I want bees sometime in the future as well, but for me I want top bar hives. One day I will get them and be making a post about them too! Someday...Linda Foleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16875718412873470143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7237633934633144064.post-2265850254722262612010-02-25T10:15:10.874-05:002010-02-25T10:15:10.874-05:00Hi Kate! I guess you saw that the PASA dinner is p...Hi Kate! I guess you saw that the PASA dinner is postponed because of the snow. Darn it! I was hoping to meet you! We have beehives at Flint Hill too, but I'm haven't been involved with them. Fascinating little critters, aren't they? I look forward to reading about your experiences.Sandyhttp://www.whosgotyourgoat.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7237633934633144064.post-3335041572994105152010-02-25T09:40:54.159-05:002010-02-25T09:40:54.159-05:00Hello! I just found your blog today (when I google...Hello! I just found your blog today (when I googled Joan Dye Gussaw garden) and I fully intend on reading it all! Until then though, I'm curious, how big is your property? I am on 1/5 acre in a neighborhood north of Seattle. If you'd like, you can see on my blog that I am turning my yard into a garden.Paula Adams Perezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13802776515098037155noreply@blogger.com