Re: New Hobby: Bee Keeping
 

Wish your bees would carry my pollen balls.....

Re: New Hobby: Bee Keeping
 

Nice work Vin, the bees owe you and Grace both!

Re: New Hobby: Bee Keeping
 

Noticed the bees working around the flower pots on our front stoop, and they weren't interested in the flowers as much as they were focused on the droplets and small puddles of water in the pots. Apparently they're thirsty.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4415/...d82b1193db.jpg

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4354/...83f5fd429f.jpg

I put out a shallow bowl with water near the hive to give them another drinking source. Filled the bowl with some extra crushed stone we had laying around to give the bees some surface area to land on.

Re: New Hobby: Bee Keeping
 

Never new bees were so cool, Vin! One of these days a I need to go visit a bee farm.

Re: New Hobby: Bee Keeping
 

I bee thirsty too. Please leave a not so shallow bowl of Guinness near the hive, with a non-crushed lounge chair for me to land on. :)

Re: New Hobby: Bee Keeping
 

You are the bestest bee Mom, Vin :tu

Re: New Hobby: Bee Keeping
 

Re: New Hobby: Bee Keeping
 

Got the hive wrapped for the winter last week now that the overnight temps are dropping lower. I used roofing felt which provides a bit of a wind break as well as helping to warm the hive by absorbing solar gain in direct sunlight.

The entrance to the hive remains open as does the notch in the top board to allow for circulation and air flow.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4462/...943c59b4b4.jpg

Re: New Hobby: Bee Keeping
 

Those bees are going to be pretty cozy!

Re: New Hobby: Bee Keeping
 

You mean the notch covered by the giant f'ing rock? :sh

Re: New Hobby: Bee Keeping
 

Technicalities counselor, technicalities... :noon

Re: New Hobby: Bee Keeping
 

The notch is actually in the top board which is beneath the hive cover.

The hive cover is a little larger than the hive boxes which allows for a bee-sized gap between it and the top board. In a pinch, the bees can enter/exit from the top of the hive if necessary although I've never seen them do it in my hive.

To be clear, there's nothing under the rock except the metal wrapping over the hive cover. The rock's just there to help keep the cover in place when the wind blows. :D

Re: New Hobby: Bee Keeping
 

Hey Vin, looks good. How's the food supply going into winter?

Re: New Hobby: Bee Keeping
 

I have wanted to get into this but the kids are terrified of bee's. We even have a local company here in Cincy that will let you house hives (4) and get the first batch of honey for them for free. Then eventually if you like it you can purchase the hives from them.
Maybe after the kids grow up a bit....

Re: New Hobby: Bee Keeping
 

The frames are packed in pretty good with honey. Very little brood - which panicked me at first, but as I understand it, that's normal for this time of year.

Hoping for a mild winter, or at least one with some intermittent warm-ups over the course of the season.

Re: New Hobby: Bee Keeping
 

Vin - have you heard about this hive?

https://www.honeyflow.com/

Re: New Hobby: Bee Keeping
 

Mr. Mark - have you heard about this flow?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKQU8j8lzRg

Re: New Hobby: Bee Keeping
 

Should have stayed out of Vegas, I told him, he wouldn't listen to his homey jew.


Hive looks awesome, Vin, do you check on them during the winter like open the hive and see what's going on, or do you basically leave it sealed up and trust that they know what they are doing and will be okay?

Re: New Hobby: Bee Keeping
 

If you're cold, they're cold, bring them inside :r:r:r

Re: New Hobby: Bee Keeping
 

Yes, but I wanted to go old school for the sake of experience