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Author Topic: It's ya'lls fault!!!  (Read 9012 times)

Offline Intheswamp

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It's ya'lls fault!!!
« on: October 14, 2011, 06:37:21 pm »
Just a few months ago I was an innocent guy minding my own business.  Then one evening after church I decided to run a few dirt roads over and pick up some local honey from a longtime bee keeper.  Turning into his long driveway there were beehive after beehive lining the drive on one side.  "Interesting", I thought.

Then it happened, I got a little interested (just a little, mind you) in honeybees so checked out a couple of honey bee forums.  Innocent enough...right?

Well, casual reading turns into a little more time spent reading and surfing the web.  Then, while nobody was looking I started ordering books from different sources.  Only a short time later I found myself at a bee club meeting...just out of curiosity, mind you, just to see what was going on.  I left the meeting with some vitex negundo in the back of the jeep (I kept waiting to get stopped by a deputy sheriff for hauling marijuana plants) and a bit deeper thoughts going on about this honey bee thing.  But, I was just curious, nothing serious, though the beek at the meeting had told me he was selling established hives...

The books I ordered arrived.  I find myself reading three at one time (rather complex operation there!).  I'm digging into Imirie, Walt, Tew, Taylor, etc., on the internet.  Then, yes, then...I order some catalogs from some bee supply companies! 

I try to retain my composure and convince myself that it's just a passing thing.  But, suddenly I find myself calling the beek I got the honey from over close to where my church is....and telling him I'd like to come over and talk about keeping bees.  I go over and talk with him a while.  Towards the end of our conversation he tells me that he'll sell me a couple of hives if I want them and that he'll overwinter them for me since it was late in the season.  Then we go out and open up a hive...a single deep, a swarm he had caught this past spring.  I think I was hypnotized by them.  I picked that hive on the spot and still have one to pick.  Ok, so how bad can this be...a couple of hives behind the house, nothing big time, no, just a couple of small hives behind the house, that's all, just a .....

Then, last weekend I find myself and my wife at the Alabama Bee Keeper Association's annual meeting...had some great speakers...Tew, Flottum, Collison, and a bunch of experienced beeks holding break-out classes.  It was great!  I also, had to load the backend of our Expedition up with orders from Kelleys and Rossmans that I had placed.  Ok, so maybe I decided to have a couple more hives than the initial two.  No biggie.

But, during all of this I got to watching videos of swarms being captured.  I saw the crazies, er, I mean, beeks doing cut-outs...JP and Shawee among others comes to mind.  I saw the masses of bees and wonderful comb in those easy/hard to get to places.  I watched as the queens were spotted and secured.  I watched as comb was rubberbanded into frames, bees marching ten, twenty, thirty(?) abreast as they marched like an army into a hive where there queen awaited.  AMAZING!!!!

No, that's not for me, that's insane!  I don't even have bees at my house yet, I've still got frames to put together, boxes to build, a life to live....

But, did I mention that I suddenly have nine different feral hives located and I'm planning on a trapline of bait hives for the spring?  Some of these will be trap outs, hopefully a few will be cut outs.  Did I mention I was sitting at the back of a barn a couple of days ago...on top of a walk-in cooler with no easy exit from the area and pulling some boxes out of the way to expose a couple of hundred honey bees from a feral hive below me?  And working with them got stung several times....and enjoyed it (not getting stung, but messing with the bees!).

Oh, and I've already got two 5-frame double medium nucs out as swarm traps...I've been trying for a late season swarm but I think it's over with now. :(  I'll be taking them down next weekend.  Oh...and I'm learning names of wildflowers and noting bloom dates and which ones the ladies like to frequent.  I'm also always on the look out for honey bees foraging...sadly they are few and far between around here...but I hope to change that around my house. :) 

All of you sharing your experiences with swarm catching, trap outs, cut outs,...the videos (ohhh, the videos!!!) are addicting to watch.  The talk of survivor genes, the "dark" bees, the small bees, the gentle bees, the hot(eek!) bees, all of that....it's mesmerizing.  It's your fault!

Yeah, it's all your fault.  I use to be normal, now I get strange looks when I try talking to the average joe about honey bees...they think I'm nuts.  I steadily telling folks if they run up on honey bees to call me...some get excited, but all give me this "that boy ain't right" look...at least fleetingly. ;)

Anyhow...."Hello?....Honey Bee Anonymous....I need some help."

Ed
(Dreaming of catching that first swarm this spring and doing a cut out on a nice colony...come on spring!!!...I know, we just got into autumn... :( )
www.beeweather.com 
American blood spilled to protect the freedom and peace of people all over the world.  320,000 USA casualties in WWI, 1,076,000 USA casualties in WWII, 128,000 USA casualties in the Korean War, 211,000 casualties in the Vietnam "conflict", 57,000 USA casualties in "War on Terror".  Benghazi, Libya, 13 USA casualties. These figures don't include 70,000 MIA.  But, the leaders of one political party of the United States of America continue to make the statement..."What difference does it make?".

"We can't expect the American People to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism."..."The press is our chief ideological weapon." - Nikita Khrushchev

"Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they wont come to yours." - Yogi Berra

Offline BlueBee

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Re: It's ya'lls fault!!!
« Reply #1 on: October 14, 2011, 06:47:17 pm »
I use to be normal, now I get strange looks when I try talking to the average joe about honey bees...they think I'm nuts. 
Wait until you go into Walmart and head to the cashier with 200 lbs of sugar for the girls….

It only gets worse when you get your first hives!

Offline Intheswamp

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Re: It's ya'lls fault!!!
« Reply #2 on: October 14, 2011, 07:32:31 pm »
Oh no!!!  Around here they'll probably call the local sheriff..."some guy's buying 200 pounds of sugar...he must be making moonshine...."

So now they not only think I'm not "right" but now the sheriff's gonna be watching me...

Where will it all end???!!!   
www.beeweather.com 
American blood spilled to protect the freedom and peace of people all over the world.  320,000 USA casualties in WWI, 1,076,000 USA casualties in WWII, 128,000 USA casualties in the Korean War, 211,000 casualties in the Vietnam "conflict", 57,000 USA casualties in "War on Terror".  Benghazi, Libya, 13 USA casualties. These figures don't include 70,000 MIA.  But, the leaders of one political party of the United States of America continue to make the statement..."What difference does it make?".

"We can't expect the American People to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism."..."The press is our chief ideological weapon." - Nikita Khrushchev

"Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they wont come to yours." - Yogi Berra

Offline BlueBee

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Re: It's ya'lls fault!!!
« Reply #3 on: October 14, 2011, 08:07:28 pm »
Let’s see…..buying 200 lbs of sugar from Walmart at midnight and growing plants that look like marijuana?

Hope they have Internet in your local jailhouse :jail:

Offline JP

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Re: It's ya'lls fault!!!
« Reply #4 on: October 14, 2011, 08:46:43 pm »
Yep, sounds like you got it bad! And that's not necessarily a bad thing, no!  :-D

Please continue to enjoy your journey.


...JP
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Offline schawee

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Re: It's ya'lls fault!!!
« Reply #5 on: October 14, 2011, 10:06:41 pm »
yep, he got the honeybee itch.
BEEKEEPER OF THE SWAMP

Offline annette

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Re: It's ya'lls fault!!!
« Reply #6 on: October 14, 2011, 11:12:53 pm »
Don't worry, it gets better each passing year. :-D

I was totally obsessed about beekeeping the first year and could not stop talking about it, reading about it, etc. etc. Now I more or less keep it to myself as my own secret pleasure. No one knows why I am staring at a flowering bush with a happy grin on my face. How long can a person stare at a bush?? As long as those little furry creatures are bouncing from flower to flower and giving me so much happiness.

I had a dream last night that I was covered in honey bees and they never stung me. I was in complete ecstasy and woke up feeling so happy.

Enjoy your new passion!!

Annette

Offline Michael Bush

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Re: It's ya'lls fault!!!
« Reply #7 on: October 14, 2011, 11:49:33 pm »
I think it's too late for you.  It's a chronic condition and is incurable once you get too far into it.  "Bee Fever" has been documented for several centuries and no one has come up with a cure.
My website:  bushfarms.com/bees.htm en espanol: bushfarms.com/es_bees.htm  auf deutsche: bushfarms.com/de_bees.htm  em portugues:  bushfarms.com/pt_bees.htm
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Offline beee farmer

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Re: It's ya'lls fault!!!
« Reply #8 on: October 15, 2011, 12:54:40 am »
I use to be normal, now I get strange looks when I try talking to the average joe about honey bees...they think I'm nuts. 
Wait until you go into Walmart and head to the cashier with 200 lbs of sugar for the girls….

It only gets worse when you get your first hives!

Yep, once I started keeping bees I had to disassemble my still as I noticed an airplane following my truck loaded with sugar from walmart back to the barn. :jail: :rant:
"Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do"  Benjamin Franklin

Offline Slowmodem

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Re: It's ya'lls fault!!!
« Reply #9 on: October 15, 2011, 01:04:57 am »
Yep, once I started keeping bees I had to disassemble my still as I noticed an airplane following my truck loaded with sugar from walmart back to the barn. :jail: :rant:

Ironically, in the past week, there have been two moonshine stills busted within 100 miles of here.  The sheriff at one still in TN said that he'd only seen them in history books until this week.  There was another one busted in northern AL.  Very strange. :?
Greg Whitehead
Euchee, TN

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Offline bee-nuts

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Re: It's ya'lls fault!!!
« Reply #10 on: October 15, 2011, 01:45:49 am »
I am just as bee-nuts now as I was my first year.  I have good reason to like that and to regret it.  I no longer go to the tavern because I am board out of my mind and wake up with a head ache every other week.  Now I am lucky if I have time or the energy to go out twice a year.

The bad thing is I am always broke, and I never have the time or money to do anything else.  I am slowing down this round of 2012.  I am going to only grow some, and I am going to force the bees to pay their own way from here on out.  That said, I know I will still grow faster than I wish, and I will still have more things to do than I have time for.  Thats just beekeeping I guess.
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Offline Intheswamp

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Re: It's ya'lls fault!!!
« Reply #11 on: October 15, 2011, 02:12:47 am »
Now ya'll are a fine lot.  I can almost sense your approval of my growing addiction...  I ain't kiddin'...all I went for was a jar of honey for my sweet wife and here I find myself seeking things that can (and probably will) sting me!!!

And this evening after work I drove 30 miles one way for box nails and a gallon of glue...but, hey, I also got some light bulbs so it wasn't all bee stuff that I went for...see, I'm not that bad off.

Oh no!!!  The way it goes for me I'll see myself getting raided on Tru-TV for buying "large quantities" of sugar.  I can envision mothers shielding their children from me saying "Don't look!  That's that man that ain't right and keeps them bees and makes moonshine whiskey".<sigh>  Oh, the anguish of it all!!!!!!  I just gotta remember...it's for the bees, it's for the bees, it's for the bees....and the honey. ;)

Annette...covered in bees???  :shock: I think for now I'll leave that one for you...the bees that landed on me the other day weren't to happy with me.   I can see now why Michael referred to it as "bee fever".  :-D  But, Annette, I know what you mean about watching for the bees.  My wife was telling me about some flowers that my daughter has planted at her house.  I didn't inquire about their color, if they were pretty, or anything...just asked her if she saw any honey bees on them. :)  Where I live I've seen very few honey bees this year...some during the peak crape myrtle bloom and a few during the goldenrod/tarweed bloom.  Of course during the privet hedge bloom I wasn't looking for honey bees then...I hadn't caught the fever yet!

Well, it's sounding like I'm chronic....oh well, I've been Ed for years, I guess I can be known as chronic, too!  But Michael, do you think anyone has really looked for a cure??  

Shawee...how'd you know I was itching?  I figure tomorrow will be the third day after the stings so hopefully the itching will be about gone.  

Man, I really need to fix the lawnmower tomorrow, the grass is getting kind of high...but I need to check those swarm traps and put together some more frames and I got those box nails for the boxes.  Hmmm...I can still see my dog running in the grass (well, I can see the grass moving anyhow...I know he's there) so I can probably put off fixing the lawnmower....again.  Priorities, ya know! ;)

Ed

 

www.beeweather.com 
American blood spilled to protect the freedom and peace of people all over the world.  320,000 USA casualties in WWI, 1,076,000 USA casualties in WWII, 128,000 USA casualties in the Korean War, 211,000 casualties in the Vietnam "conflict", 57,000 USA casualties in "War on Terror".  Benghazi, Libya, 13 USA casualties. These figures don't include 70,000 MIA.  But, the leaders of one political party of the United States of America continue to make the statement..."What difference does it make?".

"We can't expect the American People to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism."..."The press is our chief ideological weapon." - Nikita Khrushchev

"Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they wont come to yours." - Yogi Berra

Offline lenape13

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Re: It's ya'lls fault!!!
« Reply #12 on: October 15, 2011, 02:25:57 am »
What else is there except the bees?  I currently have a meager 26 hives, and that's not nearly enough.  I place them at homes and places I visit regularly.  It serves a two-fold purpose.  It makes me get out and see people, AND gives me a chance to be surrounded by my girls whereever I go....  My own sick, twisted reality.....LOL

Offline Michael Bush

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Re: It's ya'lls fault!!!
« Reply #13 on: October 15, 2011, 05:29:32 am »
>do you think anyone has really looked for a cure?? 

Spouses, doctors, friends, sure...
My website:  bushfarms.com/bees.htm en espanol: bushfarms.com/es_bees.htm  auf deutsche: bushfarms.com/de_bees.htm  em portugues:  bushfarms.com/pt_bees.htm
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Offline lenape13

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Re: It's ya'lls fault!!!
« Reply #14 on: October 15, 2011, 05:58:37 am »
>do you think anyone has really looked for a cure?? 

Spouses, doctors, friends, sure...



Hmmm, if they REALLY cared for you, would those people look for a cure????

Offline Intheswamp

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Re: It's ya'lls fault!!!
« Reply #15 on: October 15, 2011, 09:14:16 am »
>do you think anyone has really looked for a cure?? 

Spouses, doctors, friends, sure...



Hmmm, if they REALLY cared for you, would those people look for a cure????
I think they care, I just think those folks don't understand.  Way back in the 12th century B.C., Platipus the Squatter (the ancient scholar who originally created the first "loins cloth" when a rabid boar hog got after him and ripped his robe almost completely off of him leaving only a small scrap of it (he also ended up being the first recorded eunuch courtesy of this incident) but anyhow, Platipus the Squatter is attributed to coining the phrase "Nobody understands me!" when he began risking life to gather honey from the local black bees.  I'm sure his family cared about him (afterall, the honey *was* good and nobody else dared to try to rob it)...they just didn't understand him nor his insatiable desire for roast pork.

lenape13, only 26 hives?  I'm sure by the end of next summer you'll be able to double that, don't despair!!  A half ton of sugar oughta get you by...when you go through checkout with the sugar be sure to inquire as to whether they sell 50# bags of corn...rye would work, too! ;)

Ed
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American blood spilled to protect the freedom and peace of people all over the world.  320,000 USA casualties in WWI, 1,076,000 USA casualties in WWII, 128,000 USA casualties in the Korean War, 211,000 casualties in the Vietnam "conflict", 57,000 USA casualties in "War on Terror".  Benghazi, Libya, 13 USA casualties. These figures don't include 70,000 MIA.  But, the leaders of one political party of the United States of America continue to make the statement..."What difference does it make?".

"We can't expect the American People to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism."..."The press is our chief ideological weapon." - Nikita Khrushchev

"Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they wont come to yours." - Yogi Berra

Offline lenape13

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Re: It's ya'lls fault!!!
« Reply #16 on: October 15, 2011, 09:33:36 am »
The local Wally-World is quite used to me buying cartloads of sugar, just like the employees at Lowe's paint department are used to seeing my browse the mistinted paints.  (One guy actually set a can of a pretty green under the counter until I got there to see it.)

Offline D Semple

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Re: It's ya'lls fault!!!
« Reply #17 on: October 15, 2011, 10:52:52 am »
 

Hmmm...I can still see my dog running in the grass (well, I can see the grass moving anyhow...I know he's there) so I can probably put off fixing the lawnmower....again.  Priorities, ya know! ;)

Ed


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Offline VolunteerK9

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Re: It's ya'lls fault!!!
« Reply #18 on: October 15, 2011, 11:08:56 am »

Where will it all end???!!!   

Tis only the beegining my friend, tis only the beeginning. This is only my second year with them, but I wished I had done this 20 years ago. (Cuz if you split 10 hives twice a year x 20 years) Wa ha ha

Offline bulldog

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Re: It's ya'lls fault!!!
« Reply #19 on: October 15, 2011, 11:48:16 pm »
i can relate. it all started innocently enough for me as well. i just wanted some bees to pollinate my orchard, but i had to do some reading. i wanted to know what i was doing ( i still don't, but i'm getting there ) i wanted to make sure they could survive the winter and get themselves established. then i bought another package, just in case the first hive didn't make it. i've since made two splits and i'm up to four.i've built all the hives myself. i enjoy building things too, so i think that factors into my addiction. i've also got about a half dozen or so nucs built and i'm thinking about raising some queens. the only thing keeping my addiction under control is the lack of funds, i think.

i just wanted some apples, pears, peaches, apricots and plums and now look at me.
Confucius say "He who stand on toilet is high on pot"