Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

MEMBER BULLETIN BOARD => GREETINGS/TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF => Topic started by: woodsstalker on March 05, 2013, 02:38:09 am

Title: Hi y'all from central NC
Post by: woodsstalker on March 05, 2013, 02:38:09 am
I used to keep bees. Several years ago but due to various moves had to sell my equipment.

Been settled here in central NC for several years and over the course of the past three or four years have noticed a drastic decline in pollinators in my garden and fruit trees. 2012 I saw none!

So decided that I had better do something about it and get a few of my own honey bees. Starting out with three hives and see how it goes.

So, basically, I am in it for the pollinators rather than honey production but will enjoy any I do get.
Title: Re: Hi y'all from central NC
Post by: BeeMaster2 on March 05, 2013, 06:52:02 am
Welcome to the forum, Woodstalker.
Jim
Title: Re: Hi y'all from central NC
Post by: BabcockFarms on March 05, 2013, 07:54:28 am
Welcome!
Title: Re: Hi y'all from central NC
Post by: tefer2 on March 05, 2013, 09:38:06 am
Welcome to the forum woodsstalker.
Title: Re: Hi y'all from central NC
Post by: Intheswamp on March 05, 2013, 09:49:57 am
ws, welcome to the forum.  You know that since you're not in it for the honey that you'll probably end up making some record-breaking honey crops, don't ya?  ...while the rest of us struggle to squeeze a pint from our hives.   :-D

Ed
Title: Re: Hi y'all from central NC
Post by: Joe D on March 05, 2013, 11:12:37 am
Welcome to the forum and back to beek.  Good luck to you




Joe
Title: Re: Hi y'all from central NC
Post by: woodsstalker on March 05, 2013, 12:38:25 pm
Thanks Guys for the warm welcome. And your probably right - record breaking honey production every year!!

I am looking forward to getting back into the hobby. I used to do a lot of experimenting and will probably get into that aspect again.

Unfortunately, as the date for the arrival of my bees draws near it is beginning to bear on me just how rusty my skills and knowledge has become.

All part of the fun.
Title: Re: Hi y'all from central NC
Post by: AllenF on March 05, 2013, 09:20:36 pm
Time to jump back in the saddle.   Welcome to the forum.
Title: Re: Hi y'all from central NC
Post by: buzzbee on March 05, 2013, 09:32:40 pm
Welcome to Beemaster.
Title: Re: Hi y'all from central NC
Post by: BeeMaster2 on March 06, 2013, 12:37:23 am
Thanks Guys for the warm welcome. And your probably right - record breaking honey production every year!!

I am looking forward to getting back into the hobby. I used to do a lot of experimenting and will probably get into that aspect again.

Unfortunately, as the date for the arrival of my bees draws near it is beginning to bear on me just how rusty my skills and knowledge has become.

All part of the fun.

It is just like riding a bike. You will be fine.
Jim
Title: Re: Hi y'all from central NC
Post by: Georgia Boy on March 06, 2013, 12:58:24 am
Welcome back and good luck.

David
Title: Re: Hi y'all from central NC
Post by: JPBEEGETTER on March 06, 2013, 01:57:38 pm
Don't worry most of it will come back to you, even beekeeping has changed some in the last ten years. Don't freel bad about asking for help in here , you can get some good , some bad . Just ask and weed out the rest.  welcome from another NC beekeeper. JPP. 
Title: Re: Hi y'all from central NC
Post by: woodsstalker on March 08, 2013, 03:33:55 am
Thanks again to everyone for the warm welcome.

My packages will be here on the 22nd and I still have lots to do. Tho all the boxes and frames are assembled, I have yet to install the eyelets, wires and foundation which I should be able to do in a couple of days.

Today was spent building some stands for the hives to sit on and a platform made of 2 x 8's which will sit on cinder blocks which I hope will keep the hives off the ground and high enough for this old back. Then got all painted.

I have a nice place picked out in the pasture, up against the south east side of a  barn which should block the wind pretty good which will be fenced in with a gate.

So, I feel comfortable in that all seems to be going pretty good so something is wrong!!

I have been reading some of these other posts and it appears that I have found the right place to hang out as there seems to be a good number of knowledgeable bee keepers hanging out here. Looking forward to the following months.

Another question for any NC bee keepers - ae we suppose to register out hives with the county?
Title: Re: Hi y'all from central NC
Post by: Intheswamp on March 08, 2013, 08:51:58 am
ws, a couple of things from a newbee here.

Those little chinese screwdriver sets that have from several to a dozen little screwdrivers in them have one or two screwdrivers that are good for inserting the eyelets.  I can load up eight eyelets on the little screwdriver that I use that takes care of two of my mediums.  I tried using the little tool you get from the beekeeping stores that is simply a metal rod with the tip machined down to size but I guess mine wasn't finished out well and the eyelets would get stuck on it (even after polishing it down).  The screwdriver works great!

I bought the little wire dispenser from Kelleys, it makes life much easier when wiring.   I nailed mine down to a 1x8 board and nailed in the frame-holder nails (which help with tension)  about a foot on down the board.  This setup makes wiring much easier for me and is a simple setup.

Foundation....I use a piece of plywood glued to another piece.  Top piece is smaller and cut to the size of the interior of my frames (all medium).  This lets frame and foundation rest on wires.  I use an old, rusty battery charger to heat my wires up...just a touch or two does it.  I tried the small wall warts (several of them) to start with but they simply did not work for me, others may have had better results.  I'm not sure how the newer "smart" chargers work being as I've only used this old one...maybe yard sales or Goodwill stores?

Against the barn...did you leave room to come up behind the hives rather than having to walk in front of them in the bees flight paths?

Best wishes, sounds like you're having fun already! :)
Ed
Title: Re: Hi y'all from central NC
Post by: woodsstalker on March 09, 2013, 01:09:58 am


Against the barn...did you leave room to come up behind the hives rather than having to walk in front of them in the bees flight paths?

Best wishes, sounds like you're having fun already! :)
Ed

All good ideas - will try the screwdriver. But, oh yeah, thought of that space behind the hives and have off set them from the barn about four feet.

thanks for the feed back.
Title: Re: Hi y'all from central NC
Post by: Georgia Boy on March 09, 2013, 06:48:44 am
I am a total new bee however I have decided to use fishing line instead of wire. That way I don't have to worry about cutting through wire if I have to or want to cut the comb. Just a thought. :)

David
Title: Re: Hi y'all from central NC
Post by: woodsstalker on March 09, 2013, 09:47:16 am
Neat idea. I never thought of that. However, if it's cut comb you want, they do make a box especially set up for that with the dividers, etc, right down to the covers for the end product. At an extras cost to be true, however, as it is with all bee keeping equipment, once you get past the initial cost it's all gravy.

As a retail item, I'm not sure how well cut comb would be received with today's crowd.

Perhaps we have some more experienced bee keepers out there that could shed some light on this.
Title: Re: Hi y'all from central NC
Post by: Georgia Boy on March 09, 2013, 09:20:21 pm
When talking about cutting the comb I was referring to maybe Queen cells, cutting out wax moths or just cutting out bad sections.
Hopefully by the time you need to cut the bees will have connected the comb on all sides and the fishing line isn't needed anymore.

As to the Ross rounds I have heard of them going for as much as $10 to $12 a round.

David

PS. Seems like I saw a video where they were putting cut comb in squares cases like the ross rounds. So the finished product is the same.
Title: Re: Hi y'all from central NC
Post by: woodsstalker on March 12, 2013, 12:38:13 pm
WOW!! $10 - 12.00!! Need to check into that. Wouldn't need all that extracting equipment.
Title: Re: Hi y'all from central NC
Post by: woodsstalker on March 22, 2013, 05:07:54 pm
Ok, yesterday I took the bee boxes out to the bee yard and got them all set up so that today when I got back with the bees it was a simple chore of getting them uncrated and into their new homes.

About an hour afterwards I took a stroll out thee to just take a look - some of the bees are have returned to the shipping boxes - don't understand that. One hive has a bunch of bees clustered over and around the reduced entrance.

Other than these two issues, all seems to be in proper order.

The uncrateing went fine until one of the little ladies apparently thought I looked a bit lonely in that veil and decided to join me. A quick trip outside the bee yard and a few yards away I removed the veil and flushed her out. 

Other than that incident, all went well. I made it a point to maintain a constant monologue in event theior memory is better than mine.
Title: Re: Hi y'all from central NC
Post by: woodsstalker on March 24, 2013, 12:03:53 am
I did a walk by inspection today and was thrilled to see a lot of activity around each hive. looks like I am back in the bee keeping hobby!

(http://s14.postimg.org/b2s0drmzx/Bee_2.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/b2s0drmzx/)

(http://s23.postimg.org/lqti59v2f/Bees_3.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/lqti59v2f/)
Title: Re: Hi y'all from central NC
Post by: Georgia Boy on March 24, 2013, 01:22:40 am
SWEET!!!!!
 X:X X:X X:X X:X X:X X:X X:X X:X X:X

David
Title: Re: Hi y'all from central NC
Post by: buzzbee on March 24, 2013, 09:19:37 am
Woodstalker,
The bees that were hanging around the package box were stillattracted to the queen scent in the box. It looks like they have found "home" now though.
Your on your way back!
Title: Re: Hi y'all from central NC
Post by: woodsstalker on March 24, 2013, 12:10:46 pm
Thanks Guys. It feels good. I had forgotten how sweet wax foundation smelled!!