Beekeeping and Bees

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Beekeeping, bee gardens, bee research, bee pictures, and honey appreciation.

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Ask a beekeeper (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 years ago by SocializedHermit@lemmy.world to c/beekeeping@lemmy.world

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Hello, I am a 10 year beekeeper and bee remover. I've taught hobbyists and removers the ins and outs of beekeeping for awhile now, and I've gotten to the point that I feel there's very little that bees have left to teach me. I deal with a more southern climate, not much overwintering, and my bees are partly Africanized, like the local population. I can answer questions about hobbyist beekeeping as well as strategies for removal and relocation. Have a problem you can't quite figure out? Bees being a bit mysterious to you? Having trouble with a particular hive? Want to know more about what gear or woodenware you're working with? Hit me up here!

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[–] iso118@lemm.ee 1 points 6 days ago

I've purchased two overwinter nucs that I'm building up this year - one is extremely healthy and going great, the other has been a little sleepy from the start. I supered both at ~10 days after installing them in deeps, and I noticed sleepy hive was working on 3 supersedure cells. All were fairly fresh, only one had an egg in it. I located the queen, so I knocked them all down.

A week later I inspected for general health after a full week of rain and sleepy hive had one more queen cell, this time with a fairly developed larva in it. Found queen again so I killed the larva and crushed the cell.

The queen overwintered, so I dont think it's new hive jitters, but maybe the change in location is messing with them? Any thoughts as to why they're trying for a new queen when the current one is healthy and laying?

[–] AttackBunny@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Idk if this one’s allowed, as it’s not about keeping, specifically.

As someone who lives in an apartment, and has no control over my outdoor environment, what can I do to help bees? I’m incredibly fascinated by them, and honestly would love to keep a hive, but it’s not in the cards right now.

[–] SocializedHermit@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago

Sorry for the delay. I can see three avenues for helping bees locally. 1) Very bee friendly plants on your porch if you have one. 2) Providing a steady water source for bees. This one I think is better as most people have no knowledge that bees require water especially in a heat wave. 3) Support local beekeepers by buying local honey, like from your particular region, county or city. I used to sell honey by zip code.

If you have a porch there are a number of plants that bloom ridiculously often or even continuously, African Blue Basil is a great example, blooms constantly and doesn't produce seeds as it's a sterile hybrid. Bees are insane over it.

Watering is a bit trickier. Getting bees to recognize and interact with a stable water source long term is difficult. Often they know of a leaky water hose or A/C unit to draw water from. I've had success getting bees attracted to a water source by adding just one or two drops of lemongrass oil to freshly poured water. The lemongrass is a natural attractant and then they find the water, and tell the hive. Do this on really hot days for a best chance at attracting them. You can do this anywhere, just sneak a bowl or container around the grounds of your apartment building or get tricky and hang something from a window. If you have a porch then you are set. DON"T LET IT DRY OUT! They won't return once they have figured out another source. Consistency is best.

Buying honey from local beeks is an obvious and easy way to help.

Hope that helps!

[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 1 points 7 months ago

Where does a total beginner begin? How can I start cheaply?