Thread: Bee's

Send BigC a pm.

He’s the bee whisperer.

I wanted to get into beekeeping a couple of years ago. Well now I'm glad I didn't.
I watched a lot of Utube videos and read read a lot about it.

It's not that hard. My dad had 8-10 hives when I was a kid

Originally Posted by DonDon

It's not that hard. My dad had 8-10 hives when I was a kid

That's likely before the varroa mite... It ain't so easy any more.

To the OP, I'd suggest taking 10-$100 bills outside. Roll them up and burn them. Just chalk that up to experience. It will be cheaper. LOL

I kept bees for 6 years. Just got out this spring. I had built up to 25 hives. After losing 30-60% of my hives every year to mites I finally started treating with a chemical miticide in 2016. After finally getting a foot hold on that, in 2017 I had 3 hives get American Foulbrood. Had to burn those 3 and 3 more. My apiary was quarantined. I couldn't sell any bees and didn't make any honey because I had to treat all non effected hives with antibiotics during the honey flow. I completely got rid of the foul brood, much to the surprise of the local bee inspector. Finally in October of 2017 the quarantine was lifted and I was given the go ahead to sell bees in 2018. All my hives looked great coming out of the winter, with only 2 losses out of 25 hives. I had customers lined up to start buying nucs, then a tornado literally went right through our back yard and scattered out 14 or 17 hives all across the pasture behind the house. I saved most of them, but it took a whole lot of effort and I had to push off my customers a month because I had to make sure the hives were okay before selling.

After selling the nucs that I had committed to sell, one of those buyers came back and wanted to buy them all. I made his day and he made mine.

I really enjoy keeping bees, it’s a lot of work but enjoyable. I’ve lost hives but I try to learn from it. Your right all the pests that we have to deal with is unbelievable but also a challenge. I hope to keep bees the rest of my life and if I can encourage someone else to be a beekeeper im always willing.


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Originally Posted by FurFlyin

That's likely before the varroa mite... It ain't so easy any more.

To the OP, I'd suggest taking 10-$100 bills outside. Roll them up and burn them. Just chalk that up to experience. It will be cheaper. LOL

I kept bees for 6 years. Just got out this spring. I had built up to 25 hives. After losing 30-60% of my hives every year to mites I finally started treating with a chemical miticide in 2016. After finally getting a foot hold on that, in 2017 I had 3 hives get American Foulbrood. Had to burn those 3 and 3 more. My apiary was quarantined. I couldn't sell any bees and didn't make any honey because I had to treat all non effected hives with antibiotics during the honey flow. I completely got rid of the foul brood, much to the surprise of the local bee inspector. Finally in October of 2017 the quarantine was lifted and I was given the go ahead to sell bees in 2018. All my hives looked great coming out of the winter, with only 2 losses out of 25 hives. I had customers lined up to start buying nucs, then a tornado literally went right through our back yard and scattered out 14 or 17 hives all across the pasture behind the house. I saved most of them, but it took a whole lot of effort and I had to push off my customers a month because I had to make sure the hives were okay before selling.

After selling the nucs that I had committed to sell, one of those buyers came back and wanted to buy them all. I made his day and he made mine.

Lol Thank goodness for bad luck. Right?

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My son had bees in his barn, was ready to spray them out. I contacted some keepers and removers. None of the keepers wanted to mess with them. The removers wanted $300 to $1500 in hand before removing them. I placed an ad in craigslist, "Got bees in a barn, come get them before we kill them." A young guy replied within 30 minutes, got directions and was on his way. We laid out 800 ft of extension cords so he could use his vac. He removed the last few boards to get to the hive. Gathered everything and was ready to leave in an hour.
I built a vac with 2 holding boxes. A box for the combs, haven't built the frames yet. Bought a suit, gloves and smoker, still new in box. Just to be ready for the next invasion.
An auction friend said he sat down in his recliner, noticed something on the arm. Looked up at a 14" grey spot on the ceiling. It cost $11,000 to remove the bees and repairs.