Hi all
New beek from North Carolina, hoping to learn plenty from all you experts.
Will get to the Jan Meeting of Guilford Beekeepers in 2 weeks to join up and also do the beginners course.
As a long time homebrewer , who also teaches others how to brew, I intend to ask lots of questions, read the whole Internet Smiley, visit those who will tolerate me (I can bring beer) and in time hope to pass on the same to others.
All my hobbies have taken me to high levels and are still my hobbies in almost all cases.
I live in the city but have a 64 acre farm across the road - I have access to 1 acre of it on which I grow my own Hops and hot peppers.
Happy New Year
Rick
New Beek from Greensboro NC
Our first live experience
This last Sunday Dylan and I were invited to watch hive checking and feeding
what a great experience for us
Only used a veil and no stings despite taking pics up close most of the time. We suited up the little man who was a bit apprehensive at first , but eventually he settled down and came up close to see a queen.
Saw community feeders with syrup and dry (yeast and soy)
Watched patty's being put out, saw quite a few of the queens, and mostly good solid clusters with brood and eggs
Thanks a lot guys
See the queen??
what a great experience for us
Only used a veil and no stings despite taking pics up close most of the time. We suited up the little man who was a bit apprehensive at first , but eventually he settled down and came up close to see a queen.
Saw community feeders with syrup and dry (yeast and soy)
Watched patty's being put out, saw quite a few of the queens, and mostly good solid clusters with brood and eggs
Thanks a lot guys
See the queen??
I wish they all looked like that, but Zulu posted some of the nicer shots. It's 40°F and sunny and the bees are flying. I think the stimulation feeding I have been doing is having an effect. This is the first day that the bees are hitting the water in a heavy fashion. Clearly this is not for temperature control in the hive and would indicate a ramping up of brood rearing.
This would be a good time to remind folks that if you have your hives in the city or in a place where neighbors have pools, koi ponds, etc., provide water for your bees now and keep the water available. If you get them "trained" to come to your water stations now, it lessens the chances that large numbers will go to the undesired locations. If they start off by going to those places, they may come to your water, but will not stop going to the other water sources (unless that source is made unavailable for a period of time).
This would be a good time to remind folks that if you have your hives in the city or in a place where neighbors have pools, koi ponds, etc., provide water for your bees now and keep the water available. If you get them "trained" to come to your water stations now, it lessens the chances that large numbers will go to the undesired locations. If they start off by going to those places, they may come to your water, but will not stop going to the other water sources (unless that source is made unavailable for a period of time).