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Login to post Forums » Off-topic discussion » I haz a buzz

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March 8, 2009 10:02 p.m. EastCoastMojo Dork

OK, well, not yet, but I anticipate that I will have some buzzing soon. I am going to become a beekeeper this year.

This week I finished building my hives, this is a pic before prep and paint.

Italian bees are on order and should be ready for pickup the 1st week of April. I am so excited. This is my first bee experience but I have been wanting to do this for a long time.

I don't care too much about extracting honey, although that will be a nice bonus. I am doing this to help the population of honeybees and I could see renting them out to local farms for pollination. Also, it gave me a very convenient excuse to buy a pneumatic nailer on Craigslist so, BONUS!
March 8, 2009 10:16 p.m. alex Reader

Good on ya.

Relatedly, what's the current theory on the disappearance of the honeybees?
March 8, 2009 10:28 p.m. MitchellC HalfDork

Very cool. My question is, why wouldn't you extract the honey? Sweet, sweet nectar...
March 8, 2009 10:34 p.m. EastCoastMojo Dork

Thanks!

Honey bees have a lot of problems right now, including Colony Collapse Disorder, which does not have one definitive cause.

In addition to mites, the honey bee is also plagued by viruses, fungi and bacteria, as well as other pests such as the wax moth and beetles. A weak colony can succumb to multiple pests and diseases, making it hard to track down a specific reason for it's demise.
March 8, 2009 10:36 p.m. EastCoastMojo Dork

MitchellC wrote:

Very cool. My question is, why wouldn't you extract the honey? Sweet, sweet nectar...

Other than the fact that a honey extractor is mucho expensive, no real reason. If I join the local bee club I can rent theirs, so I'll probably do that. I probably won't extract any this first year, just to make sure they have enough to make it through the winter. If they are producing like crazy, I will reconsider this fall.
March 8, 2009 11:14 p.m. Josh Reader

You need to go full circle on your thread title and brew yourself some mead :D

Meadmaking FAQ
March 8, 2009 11:31 p.m. Lesley SuperDork

That's really cool, good luck! I was in Bisbee Arizona last year - and bought some honey from a tiny shop owned by a guy who keeps killer bees. Really odd dude - he had one hive with a tunnel thingy hooked up to an emptied out console tv... inside his house
March 9, 2009 12:44 a.m. joey48442 SuperDork

A good friend keeps bees for honey. I eat about half a pound a week. It is seriously the best tasting vomit in the world. I can't get enough of it. So much better than the big retail store stuff. That stuff is not only barf, it tastes like barf too!

Joey
March 9, 2009 6:48 a.m. John Brown MegaDork

EastCoastMojo wrote: Italian bees are on order and should be ready for pickup the 1st week of April. I am so excited. This is my first bee experience but I have been wanting to do this for a long time.

Are Italian bees high strung and unreliable?
March 9, 2009 6:52 a.m. Gearhead_42 Dork

alex wrote:

Relatedly, what's the current theory on the disappearance of the honeybees?

They're returning to their home planet.
March 9, 2009 8:07 a.m. carzan New Reader

Wow! Those hives look really sharp. Can you build me a new house?
March 9, 2009 8:11 a.m. pete240z Dork

joey48442 wrote:

A good friend keeps bees for honey. I eat about half a pound a week. It is seriously the best tasting vomit in the world. I can't get enough of it.

Jeoy,

My wife is convinced that eating local honey is good if you suffer from allergies related to pollen in the area.

We buy it from my in-laws neighbor and love it. I use it to sweeten my coffee rather than sugar.
March 9, 2009 8:39 a.m. spitfirebill HalfDork

John Brown wrote:

EastCoastMojo wrote: Italian bees are on order and should be ready for pickup the 1st week of April. I am so excited. This is my first bee experience but I have been wanting to do this for a long time.

Are Italian bees high strung and unreliable?

Not at all, it's the African bees that are so mean.
March 9, 2009 8:41 a.m. spitfirebill HalfDork

I took a beekeeping course in college and loved it. I actually considered going into the business many years ago. i still want to try it a bit and brew up some mead. 'Nectar of the gods' and the source of the term "honeymoon".
March 9, 2009 9:52 a.m. EastCoastMojo Dork

John Brown wrote:

EastCoastMojo wrote: Italian bees are on order and should be ready for pickup the 1st week of April. I am so excited. This is my first bee experience but I have been wanting to do this for a long time.

Are Italian bees high strung and unreliable?

Actually they are quite the opposite. I chose them because they are fairly docile and good honey producers.

carzan wrote:

Wow! Those hives look really sharp. Can you build me a new house?

Thanks! These were kits, so they were really easy to assemble. I would love to take full credit for their awesomeness but all I really did was drive nails.

spitfirebill wrote:

I took a beekeeping course in college and loved it. I actually considered going into the business many years ago. i still want to try it a bit and brew up some mead. 'Nectar of the gods' and the source of the term "honeymoon".

I am taking an eight week beekeeping course and I am loving it too! I would not have had the confidence to go through with it if I had not taken this course.

Bees are so awesome.
March 9, 2009 10:01 a.m. Duke Dork

An amateur apiarist. Awesome!
March 9, 2009 11:19 a.m. joey48442 SuperDork

Duke wrote:

An amateur apiarist. Awesome!

What did you call her!?!

Seriously, though. You should make some honey mead...Its good. Wine for those of us who dont like wine...

Joey
March 9, 2009 11:21 a.m. Trans_Maro Reader

It's just called mead.

Calling it honey mead is redundant.

I'm going to go drive my car automobile.

Shawn
March 9, 2009 11:30 a.m. EastCoastMojo Dork

joey48442 wrote:

What did you call her!?!

LOL. Every time I hear that word 'apiarist' I think, "I'm not keeping apes"
March 9, 2009 11:46 a.m. maroon92 SuperDork

Eddie Izzard said:
I want to be a beekeeper! I wanna keep bees! Don't wanna let them get away; I wanna keep them! They have too much freedom … I want bees on elastic, so when they get pollen, they come back here! My father was a beekeeper before me, his father was a beekeeper before him; I wanna walk in their footsteps … and their footsteps were like this: AAAAAHHHH! I'M COVERED IN BEES!!
March 9, 2009 1:34 p.m. 4cylndrfury Reader

pete240z wrote:

My wife is convinced that eating local honey is good if you suffer from allergies related to pollen in the area.

truth!!!
March 9, 2009 1:55 p.m. porksboy HalfDork

4cylndrfury wrote:

pete240z wrote:

My wife is convinced that eating local honey is good if you suffer from allergies related to pollen in the area.

truth!!!

My wife tried it and only a tablesoon a day made her mucho sick. Those that have tried it did you take it all year long
March 9, 2009 2:00 p.m. 4cylndrfury Reader

i have been doing it for 9 months. We bought a house that backs up to a small field, and at first we (wife and I) were both dying of allergies. After about 2 months of the honey treatment, it got a bit better. I know right now its pretty cold and there arent any flowers and so theres not much pollen out there, but so far so good, no allergy symptoms for the last 6 months or so. Plus all the anitoxidants are good for ya!
March 9, 2009 2:07 p.m. EastCoastMojo Dork

So I wonder, if you are allergic to cats would licking one every day help with that?
March 9, 2009 2:09 p.m. Wally UltraDork

It certainly couldn't hurt

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