Comments on: To bee, or not to bee

By: Tamar

Tamar — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 14:35:07 +0000

Kate — I’m extremely glad your brought this up, because it hadn’t even been on my radar. You’re absolutely right, both about letting bees be bees and about the possibility of pesticide residues (the danger of which, I’ve been led to believe, is pesticide-resistant mites). The foundation is for convenience, both in setting up the hive and in doing the extraction.

Now we’re thinking about getting two hives, and doing one with starter strips and one with foundation so we can compare. By tomorrow, though, we may be thinking that both should have starter strips.

Funny how quickly this beekeeping thing sucks you in. We’re already fascinated, and we don’t even have the bees yet.

By: Kate@LivingTheFrugalLife

Kate@LivingTheFrugalLife — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 12:45:04 +0000

Tamar, not to start an intractable beekeeping debate, especially between newbs, but… From my perspective, starter strips ARE more like letting the bees do their own thing than giving them foundation. Our frames all came with foundation, but I’m leaning towards removing it and putting in just little cardboard starter strips coated with wax. It’s just a way of telling the bees: “here – start building the comb here.” Some people feel (and I guess I’m leaning towards this school of thought) that foundation not only (potentially, but likely) introduces residues of pesticide into the new hive via the wax, but also guides the bees as to the cell size in the comb they draw. Some believe brood in “natural” sized comb are less susceptible to varroa. And some also claim that frames without foundation take no longer for the bees to completely fill with comb than those drawn on foundation. So why bother?

It’s so complicated sorting through the opinions, data, theory, speculation, etc. I’m mostly with you in feeling that we should let bees be bees. But I also know that these creatures are under incredible pressure from diseases and pesticides, and not faring well over all. So there is also the impulse to help them along quite a bit. Not to mention the fear of losing the monetary investment. Anyway – my two cents based on zero experience.

By: Tamar

Tamar — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 01:10:27 +0000

Kate — Embarrassing. I had no idea what starter strips were, and had to look them up. And now that I did that, I know that I’m not doing starter strips. We’re beginning with standard-issue frames, and we’ll let the bees do their thing.

In some ways, this is a repeat of the decisions we made about the chickens. We thought long and hard about electrifying the coop, and then decided that, since people have been raising chickens since way before electricity, we could do without. I’m hoping the bees just know what to do.

This could be a mistake.

By: Kate@LivingTheFrugalLife

Kate@LivingTheFrugalLife — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 23:16:00 +0000

Tamar, I’m happy to share what happens as I go along. Don’t know how much advice I’ll feel comfortable giving as a new beekeeper; I like to feel confident of my observations/experience before sharing. Unless of course it’s a failure I’m sharing, in which case I hope readers can learn from my mistakes. We shall see!

Are you going to start your bees on foundation? I’m leaning towards just starter strips.

By: Tamar

Tamar — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 22:10:52 +0000

Mimi — Luckily, colony collapse disorder doesn’t seem to have come here, so that’s one less thing to worry about.

Beth — Killer rhododendron honey doesn’t make my risk radar. Since you lived to tell the tale, I’m just not going to worry about it.

By: Beth

Beth — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:58:41 +0000

One other thing – according to Amy Stewart’s new book “Wicked Plants” it has been reported that honey made from the nectar of rhododendrons can be toxic, which I find interesting because my bees live near an area that features too many of these plants. It kind of makes sense, given that rhodies’ leaves are toxic to goats and sheep, but that was the first I ever heard about the honey. I’m still alive.

By: Mimi

Mimi — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 15:20:24 +0000

Me again Tamar – I spoke too soon – my friends with the bog already have hives in situ with no need for more. I had not checked it out and should be more cautious before offering another’s land for a hive site. Mea culpa. And yes, the cape does have ample nectar sources for all number of bees – and I am grateful there are bees there after hive collapse disease rampaging the country.

By: Tamar

Tamar — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 14:08:01 +0000

Beth — I’m not looking forward to getting stung. I’m told that, if you have a good sense of your hive (yeah, right!) and you work carefully, you seldom get stung. I’ll do my best. And thanks for the tip about the rototiller!

Mimi — Sorry to hear about your hive. Interesting about cranberry bogs, though. One of the professionals who spoke to us told us that bogs are actually not a big favorite. In fact, he told a story of one bog owner being irritated by watching the bees he paid to come pollinate his bog fly right past it to greener pastures nearby. But, as Beth pointed out, the Cape should have plenty of food sources.

By: Mimi

Mimi — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 18:41:04 +0000

Yes! I kept bees when on the Cape – a bitter/sweet event that ended badly with the bees all freezing to death during a very hard winter in the hive’s first year. I got chased into the house a few times by the little suckers too – scary!

You should get a second hive and put it on the cranberry bog of you-know-who. I read that cranberry bogs to a honey bee are like a chocolate store to a kid.

Just remember, bees get riled easily, sting a lot, and look at you as a probable threat that they must stave off en masse.

By: Beth

Beth — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 17:34:32 +0000

Tamar – given that you live on the Cape, you can’t be that far from nectar sources, we just don’t have those kinds of distances on this peninsula. I’ve never heard of honeybees not having enough nectar around here, other than when they can’t get out because of rain or if there is some other generalized issue. Just a thought.
The only drawbacks to keeping bees are getting stung by bees frequently and very heavy lifting that often leads to “beekeeper’s back.” Full deep supers can go way over 50 pounds and they’re filled with bees when you pop them off! Oh yeah – and if you rototill anywhere near your hive stands the vibration will go up into the hives and guard bees will pour out to try to kill you!