Bee Keepers??

[gloszz]

Since we are all outdoorsmen/women; how many of us are bee keepers?

I am starting to get into the hobby of bee keeping. My mom will kick me out of the house for having too many hobbies!

[Beeman3]

I am a commercial Bee Keeper from Southern Manitoba. I run 1300-1500 colonies. Busy time of of year as we are just finishing making up splits and 5 frame nucs. You will enjoy your new hobby. Just make sure you have at least 3 or 4 hives. That way you can boost the weaker ones and steal brood from the strong hives. Also if you only have hive and it dies over winter you gotta buy more bees and they are getting expensive. Good luck and enjoy all your honey from this years harvest.

[gloszz]

Originally Posted by Beeman3

I am a commercial Bee Keeper from Southern Manitoba. I run 1300-1500 colonies. Busy time of of year as we are just finishing making up splits and 5 frame nucs. You will enjoy your new hobby. Just make sure you have at least 3 or 4 hives. That way you can boost the weaker ones and steal brood from the strong hives. Also if you only have hive and it dies over winter you gotta buy more bees and they are getting expensive. Good luck and enjoy all your honey from this years harvest.

It's already sounding confusing haha. I talked to the president of the Alberta Bee keepers association and he said if I start keeping bees this year, that the soonest I will get honey is by next year. Also I assume you have the Langstroth hives?
Unfortunately all I can afford right now is one hive, hopefully it won't die...

[forestrover]

I started off with one hive years ago. Most recommend 2 but things can get tight breaking into the hobby with the ole pocket book at first.

It's a good hobby but it is also hard work. You have to check the have constantly and look for issues that may arise. The first year I got about 50lbs of honey, I'm sure you will get some out of it. The key is to leave them a fair amount to live off of in the winter. Winter is the bees worst enemy and it's really hard to keep them alive if you just have them tarped in a field.

Take your time, go to the beekeepers association meetings and you will learn a tone of knowledge. They are a great group.

[opto55]

I started 2 hives this spring and they are doing fine. One of the most interesting hobbies I have under taken. I love my bees! I will get more hives next year. If you u tube Michelle Carter she is worth watching.

[Albany]

Hi,

I grew up with bees in northern Ontario - usually 20 - 40 hives - my father was an avid bee keeper. I know have bees of my own in calgary.

[lmtada]

Sold my Apiary equipment last year. Never been a better time to sell Bee's.

[Beeman]

I have 700-800 hives. Keeps me busy this time of year for sure. I'm also the third generation to make a living at it and still learning new and interesting things about them almost every day.

[Beeman3]

I don't understand why you were told that your hive wouldn't produce honey this year. Even if it was started as a package. 2 lbs of bees and a queen, it should produce more honey than you'll be able to eat. Spring management is crucial. I hammer the hives with protein! Ultra bee dry and also feed in excess of 5000 lbs of pollen patties. It's a lot of work but the bees build fast and are ready for the honey flow well in advance. Now here we just need rain!!!!

[mudhunter]

Is it to late to start a colony this year? I don't care to much if I get much if any honey this year just want to build for next year.

What is the preferred time of year to start a colony?

[dgl1948]

Originally Posted by mudhunter

Is it to late to start a colony this year? I don't care to much if I get much if any honey this year just want to build for next year.

What is the preferred time of year to start a colony?

No, you can start now. Your harvest might be smaller depending on the amount of bees you are starting And it can vary with the type of summer and fall.

[FCLightning]

Originally Posted by gloszz

he said if I start keeping bees this year, that the soonest I will get honey is by next year.

I started two hives last spring. I extracted about 250 lbs of honey from them last fall. But if you are just going to start a hive now then I am not sure how well they would produce.

[lakebesnard]

My wife got into it last year and its a fascinating hobby. She decided to go with the new flow hive https://www.honeyflow.com/

you still need to do all the basic bee maintenance and health checks / maintenance but extracting honey is as easy as putting on a clear plastic hose, turning a special tool one turn and sit back and have a tea as clear honey flows into your jars. its more pricey than a langstroth initially but you don't have the mess of centrifuging to extract ... its worthy of consideration if you're only at the hobby level

great community of people out there to help you as well ... just remember that for every 3 bee keepers you'll get 4 opinions.

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by gloszz

It's already sounding confusing haha. I talked to the president of the Alberta Bee keepers association and he said if I start keeping bees this year, that the soonest I will get honey is by next year. Also I assume you have the Langstroth hives?
Unfortunately all I can afford right now is one hive, hopefully it won't die...

No kidding!

You can afford several trips to Texas every year but not a couple of wooden boxes!

What happened, didn't your guiding operation pay this year? Or did that black dodge dually break down?

[Stinky Buffalo]

Originally Posted by lakebesnard

My wife got into it last year and its a fascinating hobby. She decided to go with the new flow hive https://www.honeyflow.com/

That's a pretty neat system!

[Slash8]

There is a course one can take on bee keeping. We were going to get after it in the spring but we decided to hold off for a year to absorb some knowledge before we do it. I will need to look at home for the name and number of the course provider.

[Habfan]

Originally Posted by KegRiver

No kidding!

You can afford several trips to Texas every year but not a couple of wooden boxes!

What happened, didn't your guiding operation pay this year? Or did that black dodge dually break down?

I was wondering about the snow goose operation myself.

[Junglefisher]

1st year keeper here. 2 hives going strong. Amazing amount of spring blossom in our area, way too much for our bees. Already planning more hives next year.

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by Habfan

I was wondering about the snow goose operation myself.

I think he did pretty good for a first year hunter with no one to mentor him.
And considering that he is only 18 years old, that's even more impressive.

Where else but here would you find a fellow that young making videos worthy of a seasoned profesional even befor he owned his first shotgun and before he shot anything bigger then a gopher.

Now, less then a year later he is guiding hunters from all over the world, he's pro staff for an American multinational company and he's got time to take up bee keeping on top of all his other activities, like month long trips to Texas.

We should support such a bright young man. That's why I'm so concerned that his guiding may not have paid too well.

[Habfan]

Originally Posted by KegRiver

I think he did pretty good for a first year hunter with no one to mentor him.
And considering that he is only 18 years old, that's even more impressive.

Where else but here would you find a fellow that young making videos worthy of a seasoned profesional even befor he owned his first shotgun and before he shot anything bigger then a gopher.

Now, less then a year later he is guiding hunters from all over the world, he's pro staff for an American multinational company and he's got time to take up bee keeping on top of all his other activities, like month long trips to Texas.

We should support such a bright young man. That's why I'm so concerned that his guiding may not have paid too well.

I did try to help him ! I PMd him a field that I couldn't hunt, full of snows, thousands, had permission and everything. He couldn't make it, I think he was grounded. JK

[gloszz]

Originally Posted by Habfan

I did try to help him ! I PMd him a field that I couldn't hunt, full of snows, thousands, had permission and everything. He couldn't make it, I think he was grounded. JK

Please show me that message because I sure as heck never got any kind message like that.

And for the record I'm not 18, a few years older. Don't think I've been grounded since I was 12.

[Habfan]

Originally Posted by gloszz

Please show me that message because I sure as heck never got any kind message like that.

And for the record I'm not 18, a few years older. Don't think I've been grounded since I was 12.

JK, means just kidding. The joke was more towards your Mom kicking you out of the house !! Hence the being grounded comment. I'm sorry I didn't mean to offend you !

[Peter Abelard]

Originally Posted by gloszz

It's already sounding confusing haha. I talked to the president of the Alberta Bee keepers association and he said if I start keeping bees this year, that the soonest I will get honey is by next year. Also I assume you have the Langstroth hives?
Unfortunately all I can afford right now is one hive, hopefully it won't die...

If you try to do this cheap, it's going to cost you twice as much.

1) Take a bee course through Alberta Apiculture.

2) Start with two hives.

3) If you Absolutely can't start with two hives, forego a honey harvest for now, and split your first hive so you have two.

[Peter Abelard]

Originally Posted by Beeman3

I don't understand why you were told that your hive wouldn't produce honey this year. Even if it was started as a package. 2 lbs of bees and a queen, it should produce more honey than you'll be able to eat. Spring management is crucial. I hammer the hives with protein! Ultra bee dry and also feed in excess of 5000 lbs of pollen patties. It's a lot of work but the bees build fast and are ready for the honey flow well in advance. Now here we just need rain!!!!

I depends upon how much drawn comb is provided. The OP didn't say, but it's probable they're starting mostly from foundation.

[Peter Abelard]

Originally Posted by lakebesnard

My wife got into it last year and its a fascinating hobby. She decided to go with the new flow hive https://www.honeyflow.com/

you still need to do all the basic bee maintenance and health checks / maintenance but extracting honey is as easy as putting on a clear plastic hose, turning a special tool one turn and sit back and have a tea as clear honey flows into your jars. its more pricey than a langstroth initially but you don't have the mess of centrifuging to extract ... its worthy of consideration if you're only at the hobby level

great community of people out there to help you as well ... just remember that for every 3 bee keepers you'll get 4 opinions.

How many Lbs of honey did you get from your Flow hive?

How much did it cost?

[bergman]

Saw a swarm this weekend, called our bee guy and he laid out a bait trap with lemon grass oil. The swarm flew away, but in a couple hours another swarm had moved in.

I guess this time of year the hives split off and form a new 2nd colony. Good time of year to capture feral honeybees! He said a good colony could cost around 400 for a box and bees.

Very cool to see.

Once I had a feral colony of honeybees in a box of old clothes in a shed in Calgary. When we cleaned it out they had lined all the folds of clothes with honey.

[.257Weatherby]

Originally Posted by bergman

Saw a swarm this weekend, called our bee guy and he laid out a bait trap with lemon grass oil. The swarm flew away, but in a couple hours another swarm had moved in.

I guess this time of year the hives split off and form a new 2nd colony. Good time of year to capture feral honeybees! He said a good colony could cost around 400 for a box and bees.

Very cool to see.

Once I had a feral colony of honeybees in a box of old clothes in a shed in Calgary. When we cleaned it out they had lined all the folds of clothes with honey.

This just happened near me in BC on the coast.
Co-woekers have a single hive in the back yard for pollination purposes.
They have a rather large backyard with a large garden with Raspberry bushes and some Domestic Black berry as well as flowers and other things, rather nice setup.
Anyways, the hive swarmed at 330 in the afternoon and set upon a tree in the back yard about 50 feet in the air.
They didnt have a honey super if I remember thats what it was called anyways, yesterday was the earliest they could get to a Bee supply place here in Delta...
Going to call and see how they make out.
Interesting topic this morning drinking tea with ..wait for it ...honey.
Best Regards,
Rob

[Junglefisher]

One of mine tried to swarm this week, I destroyed all the queen cells. Got my honey supers on now and hoping for a good flow. Working away from home for the next few weeks though so hopefully they don't swarm when I'm not here.

[ceadog]

Just helped a bee keeping acquaintance locate a hive on top of one of our apartment buildings downtown. I gather we're the first ones to get a hive on an apartment approved in the city of Edmonton.

Helped him move a top bar hive into a langstroth - cool experience for someone like me who is a nearly total noob.

[gloszz]

For those that keep bees, how are yours doing?

I just installed a 5 frame nuc into my hive on Canada Day and I think they're doing good. Lots of brood, queen is laying great!

How is the honey flow in your areas?