Re: Keeping bees

**sanderson** 3/21/2015, 5:20 pm

Bloom!

**Turan** 3/21/2015, 5:21 pm

Some of my friends here in Montana are excited about a workshop on this style/system of beekeeping. Any of you experienced bee keepers have thoughts opinions experience with this?
Natural Horizontal hives

**camprn** 3/21/2015, 5:27 pm

Today at the NH Beekeepers Association meeting in Bow, Mike Palmer gave this (similar) presentation titled, 'The Sustainable Apiary'.

The Sustainable Apiary by Mike Palmer: https://youtu.be/nznzpiWEI8A

**camprn** 3/21/2015, 5:33 pm

Mike Palmer also gave this presentation today.
Queen Rearing in the Sustainable Apiary: https://youtu.be/R7tinVIuBJ8

**sanderson** 4/4/2015, 1:44 am

Does anyone remember in which bee Topic folks discussed setting up water bowls for visiting bees? There was a photo or two with rocks, cloth, sticks ?? as safety ramps.

**camprn** 4/4/2015, 9:17 am

Oh dear I don't remember which thread. Both bee threads are pretty long now. Did you need some watering ideas? Or was there something else specific you are looking for?

**sanderson** 4/4/2015, 1:34 pm

No. It's getting hot and I thought of the bees needing safe water, and we have new members. Thinking of bumping or creating a new Topic.

Elizabeth 4/4/2015, 1:51 pm

This thread is MUCH too long for me to go through more than the most recent post.

I do not raise bees but I am totally fascinated by the entire process and science of bee keeping.

I belong to another gardening forum and one of the members is an avid bee keeper. She had some great videos of collecting swarms.

SOOO interesting. Much more involved than I ever thought possible.

Keeping bees - Page 32 3170584802

to all of you bee keepers.

**camprn** 4/4/2015, 5:15 pm

sanderson wrote:No. It's getting hot and I thought of the bees needing safe water, and we have new members. Thinking of bumping or creating a new Topic.

I will think on it. thinking

**camprn** 5/16/2015, 3:45 pm

My remaining colony that overwintered is doing very well. The package I got 2 weeks ago with the Russian queen is doing great as well. This morning I went up to Plainfield NH and picked up a overwintered nuc with 3.5 full frames of brood!!!! I'm pretty dang happy about that. Yes indeed!!! Very Happy

yolos 5/16/2015, 4:57 pm

HELP

I don't understand why the bees are not visiting my garden. There are three honey bee hives about 10 feet from the garden. I have planted about 14 Borage plants (many are flowering), about 10 cosmos plants (all are flowering), about 25 French Marigolds (just starting to flower), 12 Nasturtiums (all are flowering), 10 Four Oclocks (all are flowering), 10 sunflowers (just starting to bloom), 1 bee balm (not yet flowering), a 4 x 8 foot bed and 6 whiskey barrels full of peas blooming, 4 bolted Bok Choy and my 12 tomatoes are all flowering. The bees are not even visiting the clover. Last year I had loads of bumble bees and honey bees visiting. This year none since the kale stopped blooming.

I planted all these flowers from seed. Worked my but off to make my garden bee friendly. But I guess they don't want to be friendly so far this year. Day time temps are between 70 - 85* F.

**camprn** 5/16/2015, 5:37 pm

Well, the bees know what they need just now, so my guess is that they are off collecting nectar and pollen from a more desirable source. The girls WILL VISIT the borage when the other blooms have gone by. Have confidence that you are doing a good thing planting bee friendly plants. All is well.

**Kelejan** 5/18/2015, 12:14 am

I expect other insects are visiting this wonderful bounty of yours, yolos, and doing their job of pollinating.

I would be interested in knowing if other insects are just as important as bees.

A few more bees are visiting my garden than this time last year. Mainly the lilac and the vegetables that I left in the garden from last year that are now in bloom and also the flowers that make up my "lawn" that I cut on the highest setting of my lawnmower.

I am planting more flowers this year, hollyhocks, delphiniums, marigolds, sunflowers etc., to encourage the bees and to add colour and beauty.

NHGardener 5/18/2015, 6:46 am

Native bees that aren't honeybees do a majority of the pollinating! Absolutely they are just as important. Glad to hear you are planting pollinator plants! Wish everyone would do that. I have always thought about vegetables, but lately I've expanded into growing flowers, and my list pretty much only includes pollinator friendly plants, and they have to be perennials too because I don't want to have to do this every year. Laughing

**Kelejan** 5/18/2015, 1:43 pm

Thanks for the encouragement, NHGardener. I am purchasing perennials as well, one plant of each kind, then in a year or two I can split them and increase my stock.

Two years ago I was given some phlox and I divided them and this year I have some nice clumps of phlox that should produce a decent amount of blooms.

NHGardener 5/18/2015, 3:25 pm

Nice, Kelejan! That's one thing I love about perennials, you can often divide them. I love phlox, too.

plantoid 5/18/2015, 4:11 pm

yolos wrote:HELP

I don't understand why the bees are not visiting my garden. There are three honey bee hives about 10 feet from the garden. I have planted about 14 Borage plants (many are flowering), about 10 cosmos plants (all are flowering), about 25 French Marigolds (just starting to flower), 12 Nasturtiums (all are flowering), 10 Four Oclocks (all are flowering), 10 sunflowers (just starting to bloom), 1 bee balm (not yet flowering), a 4 x 8 foot bed and 6 whiskey barrels full of peas blooming, 4 bolted Bok Choy and my 12 tomatoes are all flowering. The bees are not even visiting the clover. Last year I had loads of bumble bees and honey bees visiting. This year none since the kale stopped blooming.

I planted all these flowers from seed. Worked my but off to make my garden bee friendly. But I guess they don't want to be friendly so far this year. Day time temps are between 70 - 85* F.

Bees like second cut flowering clover ..they go mad for it if there is a nectar flow on .

I seem to recall that it takes around a million flowers to produce one pound of honey .
Unless you have or have had ideal pollen or nectar producing weather that is humid and fairly still the bees will visit the best greater source of pollen & nectar that gives then the largest amout for the least energy expended
Russel Lupins are one very very good source of pollen & nectar for the bees as are fuchsia shrubs cut them back after flowering or give them a decent hair cut if you have good all year round weather and they will perform well for years with an occasional dressing of home made compost . Both plants give forth zillions of quality nectar & pollen producing flowers . The lupins an also be left to self seed as well .

**camprn** 5/29/2015, 6:59 pm

Just got done with inspection. The survivor colony is going gangbusters with a great queen with a very nice laying pattern. The package with the Russian queen is doing well but a little pokey. The nuc from Troy Hall is also going gangbusters and queen laying on frames end to end and bottom to top on the frames. No queen cups seen. I'm a pretty happy beekeeper, just. Now, we need more rain for good nectar.

NHGardener 5/29/2015, 8:46 pm

Ooh. I would love a Troy Hall queen someday!

My pure Russian from a queen I got in August (from upstate NY) and overwintered in a medium also got off to a pokey start, but that brood should be exploding any day now. The 2 hives that were the result of swarm cells last summer, so that they are Russians but mated with local drones, are going very strong, I split both of those hives a couple weeks ago. Looking forward to seeing if the 2 queenless hives end up hatching out queens successfully. Hope so! Won't know for a few weeks.

The dandelions have all but disappeared here. Blackberry blossoms are out. I hope there's enough moisture to keep the nectar going. Next week looks hopeful on rain. Crossing fingers. They had a great dandelion season for a while there.

**camprn** 5/29/2015, 9:05 pm

+1

Troy is cranking up the mating nucs now and hoping for a good queen rearing season.

NHGardener 5/29/2015, 9:47 pm

Gotta admit, that would be a fun job.

**camprn** 6/10/2015, 8:40 pm

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFf_WWkouoqJF3OsEGUB-PA

NHGardener 6/10/2015, 9:21 pm

Wow camprn, the bees come to you! Smile

**camprn** 6/11/2015, 4:34 pm

they're still hanging out so they must be staying. Nice!

NHGardener 6/11/2015, 4:38 pm

Cracks me up. Well, someone just gifted you $100.

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