Adentures in Beekeeping: The bees are coming…

A few days ago, I received an email from my honeybee supplier. Towards the end of May, I’ll have my honeybees!

I was thinking that I most likely wouldn’t see them until around that time and I was correct. To be honest, I’m a bit relieved since this means that I have more time to do more things before they arrive. The good news is, that my Warre honeybee hive will be here much before that time.  Who knows by the time my honeybee arrives, I might have some chickens too.

In other news…

It’s been a busy week for my daughter (and myself) around 6:00 p.m. this evening, we finally had a chance to relax. My daughters musical was earlier today and they all did an amazing job. The children knew their lines and song beautifully. They received a standing ovation for their performance.

Adventures in Beekeeping; I purchased the Warre Hive aka ‘The People’s Hive’

Instead of purchasing the popular Langstroth hive, I’ve decided on the Warre hive. The past few weeks I’ve been doing my research and I really think that I’ll like the Warre and so I purchased my first Warre hive this morning.

Warre Bee Hive
Warre Bee Hive

My Warre Bee Hive will be similar to this, but my hive will have an observation window. Abbé Émile Warré (1867-1951) created the Warre hive, he was an apiarist and resources say he studied over 350 different hive systems before he created his own, the Warre hive aka  The People’s Hive. There was a great podcast over on Pargamatic Beekeeping that talked about top bar hives yet another great resource that helped me decide to purchase a Warre hive.

I’ve known about Warre hives for several years, but I was a bit unsure about using them since there wasn’t as much information about them as the Langstroth hives. I like that the Warre hives are smaller and they’re designed so the beekeeper doesn’t have to be in them as much. Which is perfect for me, since I want to stay out of the honeybees way… letting them do their own thing with little interaction from myself. I simply don’t want to constantly be barging in on their bee space. Checking the place where I ordered my package bees, I might not receive my honeybees until later in May… and that’s fine with me. I’ve waited years to finally get around to purchasing my own hives, a few more weeks won’t hurt.

Honey is at the bottom of my list on why I want honeybees

As I’ve mentioned many times my main reason for getting honeybees isn’t for honey, I want to include them in our yard because they’re great pollinators and I’d love to see more honeybees in our area. Over the past several years,  because of the dwindling honeybee population (also called Colony Collapse Disorder) I haven’t seen as many of one of my favorite insects until last year… Last year, I started seeing more honeybees not at the same level before I noticed a decline, but it sure was nice to see more around the house.

While some people view honeybees as pests, I know without them the some of the food that we depend upon to survive wouldn’t be available.

 

Video: Protective Daddy

Amazing the things you’ll find on the internet, right?

Yesterday, I stumbled upon this video and I couldn’t help but chuckle. I wasn’t laughing at the child’s distress but laughed at how the bird reacted after it got some of the same treatment it dealt to the child! The big scary human (I’m guessing the father) who disciplined that bird, was obviously not fine with the bird doing that to his child. And do you blame him? I may be vegan, but I’m not about to put an animal above humans. Yes, I’d have done something similar.

As a child my parents raised birds for eating; chickens, geese, ducks, guinea fowl… A few of those birds were quite territorial! I must say it was interesting to see that a few of the animals could be just as mean spirited as some people! Who would have thought that was possible, right? Listening to some folks, you think that all animals are angels. Yeah right! <sarcasm> With our birds, occasionally paybacks happened to the feathered bully, and I always got a chuckle out of that when something larger or stronger came along and shut down the birds aggressive behavior. Cowards! Those bully birds would always run away when another bird stepped up to the challenge. I think this particular bird is a rhea, and it looks like it got a dose of it’s own behavior. Sure, they’re could have been a logical reason that caused the bird to react the way it did, getting to close to its nest, babies, etc., but to be honest I’m not going to be thinking about that if my daughter is getting attacked. Momma bear mode will be in full effect, everyone (including animals) better watch out! 😉

In other news..

It’s been a bit busy and so I haven’t been online that much. Thursday one of my bank cards was compromised, and so I received a call from the issuing cards fraud department. Nothing was charged to my account, instead the charges were denied since according to the fraud department they didn’t appear to be transactions I’d made. I’m not sure how they determined that. I must say that I’m pleased since it would have been over $3500 worth of charges. I use identify theft protection, it’s an additional fee I pay monthly that attempts to block account fraud.

Thursday evening, my daughter got the stomach flu. She was very sick until Monday but the great news is she started feeling better yesterday. I still kept her home from school though. She’s looking forward to going back to school today.

Upcoming birthday; just around the corner…

It’s hard to believe that this May my daughter will be ten years old. Because she’s such a talented artist, she usually receives something craft related so she can let her imagination soar. This year she’ll be ecstatic since I’m going to give her my Brother SE400. It’s the perfect first machine since it sews and embroiders.

My daughter has asked to “borrow” this machine a few times already since I purchased the sewing/embroidery machine in January 2013. She likes that she can sew and embroider with one machine.  I’ll have to purchase a sewing table to set into her room. I must say I’m looking forward to seeing her expression when she sees the machine in her room. I purchased an extended warranty, so even if it gets “sick” she’ll be up and running with her sewing machine in no time.

Currently she’s only sewn small things, but this weekend she’s stepping it up by making a simple skirt. She’s helping me draft a pattern (might as well teach her pattern drafting) and hopefully she’ll be able to finish the skirt this weekend.

Brother PE770

Of course this means I’ll be without an embroidery machine, but I plan to upgrade to a Brother PE770. It takes a larger hoop 5×7, the Brother SE400 only takes up to a 4×4. I have a few other things planned for my daughters birthday and with the exception of one Monster High doll, the other items will either be made by myself or involve me adding to her crafting stash. I love that my daughter enjoys creating thing with her hands!

Ron Finley: Planting a food forest in South Central LA

I love seeing this, what a great way to bring fresh produce into the inner city.

I’ve met a lot of people that are trying to take back their communities. Each year we give away produce from our garden to those in need, it’s a great feeling and it provides them with fresh chemical free produce.  Depending on where you live, you might not have fresh produce available.

Occasionally I scout out grocery stores to see what they have on the shelves, I’ve noticed that in some stores fresh produce isn’t readily available.

Being an art lover you know I checked out the embroidery on one of his sleeves and the back of his denim jacket, love it! If you blink, you’ll miss it… 😉 I’m thinking this was a custom made jean jacket. You see the threads hanging from the jacket. Which makes me wonder, why in the world did the person leave those threads? 

Black beekeepers…

I find it fascinating to view beekeeping practices throughout the world


The above video is a clip about Kenyan beekeepers.

 


Facing angry bees: Bravery makes the man…

A few weeks ago, I received an email from a reader wondering if there were any “Black beekeepers”.  Perhaps they thought to ask me since I’m obviously not “White.”  Also, I have been talking about acquiring my own bees? Well, I don’t know all the “Black folks” on the planet, but  I was able to tell my reader that my father and others in his neighborhood collected wild honey from a tree located in the nearby woods. Additionally as a child, he knew someone who kept bees, and yes they were Black.

That email brought about an interesting discussion between us, they chatted about the low representation of minorities and beekeeping here in the USA. I know there are “Black beekeepers” and other minorities out there, but I have no idea how large that group would be.

I can speculate that some of them are put off by the beekeeping literature that shows pictures of a predominately White/Caucasian community, and chose to forgo beekeeping events. Also, not everyone likes attending those sorts of things. I’m used to standing out in the crowd and don’t hesitate to attend any event that interests me regardless if I’m the only one of my race being represented. Sometimes I wonder how many others are willing to attend events where they might be in the minority?

 

Treatment-free beekeeping…

Earlier this morning, I received the official confirmation of my honeybee purchase. I’d received the automated response after placing my order, so it was nice to hear directly from the beekeeper letting me know that they’d contact me when my bee packages were ready to be shipped.

I’m excited about my honeybees but there’s a hint of nervousness too. It’s a new venture after all, and I’m bound to make some mistakes but I realize that’s fine. Part of my apprehension is that many of my views about “bee management” isn’t what’s normally taught in beekeeping circles.

I pretty much want to let the honeybees do their thing, without too much intervention from myself. Normally that doesn’t bother me, since I really don’t care what people think when I’ve made up my mind.  However since I’m “new” to beekeeping I do feel at a slight disadvantage since I have no experience as a beekeeper. As a child, one of my favorite gifts that I received was a book on bees. My parents knew about my love of bees, and provided me with a book on that topic. I still have that book. Throughout the years, my love for bees have increased. However reading, is still not the same thing as being a beekeeper. I’m sure, as I progress with beekeeping some of my views will change, but I honestly don’t think I’ll ever medicate my honeybees. Also, I’m positive my focus won’t be honey production. It’s not why I’m finally getting my bees.

Do we really need to use chemicals to treat honeybees?

Several years ago, I learned about the treatments used on honeybees and  I questioned the medications used to eliminate parasites.  After all honeybees are insects. I can’t help but think that treating the unwanted bugs with a variety of chemicals might have a negative impact on the honeybees. So years before I planned on acquiring bees, I knew that I needed to look for alternative methods.

Part of my research involved venturing online and looking for others that questioned the traditional methods used with honeybees. A few years ago, I stumbled upon Craig Yerdon’s, Organically Managed Beekeeping site. I enjoyed his videos and was disappointed when he went silent. I’m hoping he starts his podcasts again, since I found them incredibly informative.It cleared up some of the cobwebs I had about beekeeping. He’s local! If he ever offers a course at his place I’d definitely make the trek to take his class.

Michael Bush: Treatment free beekeeping

Organic Beekeepers is another online discovery. It’s a  wonderful yahoo group that I stumbled upon about three or four years ago. I believe the host is Dee Lusby, who also practices treatment free beekeeping. Michael Bush, another treatment-free, beekeeper is also part of this awesome yahoo group. I’m thrilled that there are options available for those who want to try treatment-free beekeeping.

I do wish that I could find a local beekeeping group that used the treatment-free approach. I’m hoping that a few members of the Central Maryland Beekeeper’s Association, incorporate this method with their own hives.