Keeping bees.

http://www.ncbeekeepers.org/purpose.htm

* Encourage better beekeeping methodology
* Promote cooperation among the beekeepers of the state and nation
* Reach a common understanding regarding our problems and their solutions
* Maintain friendly and helpful relations among beekeeping advocates
* Develop markets for beekeeping products
* Foster closer cooperation among members of the NCSBA
* Improve purposes relating to honey bees and beekeeping exclusively for its members and the general public

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee#Bees_and_humans

"Bees figure prominently in mythology (See Bee (mythology)) and have been used by political theorists as a model for human society. Journalist Bee Wilson states that the image of a community of honey bees "occurs from ancient to modern times, in Aristotle and Plato; in Virgil and Seneca; in Erasmus and Shakespeare; Tolstoy, as well as by social theorists Bernard Mandeville and Karl Marx."<15>

Despite the honey bee's painful sting and the stereotype of insects as pests, bees are generally held in high regard. This is most likely due to their usefulness as pollinators and as producers of honey, their social nature, and their reputation for diligence. Bees are one of the few insects regularly used on advertisements, being used to illustrate honey and foods made with honey (such as Honey Nut Cheerios).
Bee larvae as food in Java.

In North America, yellowjackets and hornets, especially when encountered as flying pests, are often misidentified as bees, despite numerous differences between them - see Characteristics of common wasps and bees. Although a bee sting can be deadly to those with allergies, virtually all bee species are non-aggressive if undisturbed and many cannot sting at all. Humans are often a greater danger to bees, as bees can be affected or even harmed by encounters with toxic chemicals in the environment - see Bees and toxic chemicals."


My dad and I currently have 20 hives, and we add more each time we find a swarm we can catch. We provide local farmers with bees for pollination in order to get the honey to sell. We have a fall batch of honey and a spring batch of honey that taste different because of the different plants in bloom at the time.

Local Honey may be able to help with allergies. Some say this is just a myth.
http://health.howstuffworks.com/local-honey-for-allergies.htm

Even when they are just going about their daily business, I like watching them. They say that all our bees here in SoCal are now Africanized, but the hive that lived in the rotting base of my old apricot tree sure were a placid, easygoing bunch.

is more concerned with keeping the queen hidden in the swam than to attacking you. When they are swarming they are in process of splitting the hive and finding a new home for the new queen. Women control the insect world. Africanized bees are a whole other story. They are like repuclicans they attack first and ask questions later.

http://blogs.discovery.com/environmental/2008/05/where-will-the.html



This is a very good vid on how bee pollen is harvested.

http://renegadehealth.com/blog/2009/08/10/how-bee-pollen-is-harvested/

The last time one of our hives decided to look for a new home, they clustered on the garage roof. Hubby got up there with a bee brush and five gallon bucket and swept the cluster into it. The girls handled it with aplomb. Hub introduced them to their new hive; they said cool and sat up housekeeping.

I wish there were more of us. The only real bother is making sure you take care of any mite problems.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070426113951.htm

"The varroa mite is considered one of the most serious honey bee pests and occurs almost worldwide. Hawaii had been one of the few places where the mite was not known to occur. It is not known at this time how the mites were introduced to Oahu. So far, surveys conducted on hives in the Tantalus, UH-Manoa and Makiki area have detected varying degrees of infestation of the mite. Surveys on commercial hives on the Big Island, where several of the state’s queen bee raising operations are located, have not detected the Varroa mite.

“This bee mite poses a major threat to Hawaii’s bee industry and to feral bee populations,” said Sandra Lee Kunimoto, Chairperson of the Hawaii Board of Agriculture. “Teams of HDOA staff have been working rapidly to determine the extent of the infestation and to establish containment and control plans.”"

We have been luck also to not have any Colony collapse disorder.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_collapse_disorder

"Colony collapse disorder (CCD) or sometimes honey bee depopulation syndrome (HBDS)<1> is a phenomenon in which worker bees from a beehive or European honey bee colony abruptly disappear. While such disappearances have occurred throughout the history of apiculture, the term colony collapse disorder was first applied to a drastic rise in the number of disappearances of Western honey bee colonies in North America in late 2006.<2> Colony collapse is economically significant because many agricultural crops worldwide are pollinated by bees.
Honey bees entering a beehive.

European beekeepers observed similar phenomena in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain,<3> and initial reports have also come in from Switzerland and Germany, albeit to a lesser degree<4> while the Northern Ireland Assembly receives reports of a decline greater than 50%.<5> Possible cases of CCD have also been reported in Taiwan since April 2007.<6>

The cause or causes of the syndrome are not yet fully understood, although many authorities attribute the problem to biotic factors such as Varroa mites and insect diseases (i.e., pathogens<7> including Nosema apis and Israel acute paralysis virus).<8><9> Other proposed causes include environmental change-related stresses,<10> malnutrition and pesticides (e.g. neonicotinoids such as imidacloprid), and migratory beekeeping. More speculative possibilities have included both cell phone radiation and genetically modified (GM) crops with pest control characteristics,<11><12> though experts say no evidence exists for either assertion. It has also been suggested that it may be due to a combination of many factors and that no single factor is the cause.<13>[14"

Himself has been using it and we've had no trouble with mites -- so far, eyes to God.

Our continual headache is weather. This rainy summer has been a bust for honey production. The girls have enough to get them through the winter, but we had very little to sell.

Sorry to hear that you had a bad fall. We have had a great year In my area. We got well over 100 pounds out of our fall hives. Glad you have enough for yourselves though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varroa_destructor#Behavioral_methods

"Behavioral methods

* Powdered sugar (Dowda Method), talc or other "safe" powders with a grain size between 5 and 15 micrometres can be sprinkled on the bees. The powder does not harm the bees (and, in the case of sugar, can even become a small food source), but does interfere with the mite's ability to maintain its hold on the bee. It is also believed to increase the bees' grooming behavior. This causes a certain percentage of mites to become dislodged. Powdered sugar works best as an amplifier of the effects of a screened bottom board."

we haven't had any bees around here to speak of now for two summers.

Earlier this year I worried because I was not seeing as many bees as I had last year. I did not factor in that the early blooming plants that they liked died over the winter . Now there are other flowers blooming that they do like and there are plenty of wild bees visiting them. Only problem is that those are plants I would rather not have around the house - but I will leave them this year for the bees and plant more early and late bloomers that bees like that I would prefer for next year.

Honey bees love thyme, oregano, mint, basil. They also adore rugosa roses. If you're doing veggies - tomatoes, squash, peppers. If you have a place for it, sweet clover. Wild things - white clover, goldenrod, dandelions.

:toast:

We have those for our girls. It's delightful to watch them in the roses and thyme. They act almost drunk; they just about roll around in the roses.

We have a bunch of terraces on the south and east sides of the house and the good drainage should be good for them. I can't so roses - I am allergic to the scent. I might try vegetables - on the south side I might be able to grow the late and early, but the summer heat here in Florida could be hard on some type. Tomatoes, squash and peppers should stand up to it as long as I can keep up with the watering. But I will have to fight off the deer that munched on my caladiums and pansies and other plants.

We have sixty acres - lots of room for wild stuff, though we do have to maintain pastures. We have red and white clover growing already, goldenrod is blooming now and the bees do love it. Dandelions have come and gone. The bees are going nuts over this weed - Bidens pilosa L. hairy beggarticks:


Last year I had salvias and sages and the bees, butterflies and hummingbirds loved those. I'll probably plant many more of those. We also planted the area over the septic tank drain field in wildflowers, though the most successful ones were the blanketflowers:


But that is too far from the house for me to see if the bees are working those flowers. I suspect they have been feasting on the nectar from them all summer.

I'm looking for a "filler" evergreen something that will bloom and attract wildlife

not only for butterflies but bees as well.

But they lose their leaves in the winter here. I want something that will be green all winter around the house. So far, most of what I have found is deciduous, non-flowering or invasive. <sigh>

of a gardner myself except for vegetables. You seem to know more than me on the subject, but this list may help as a start.

http://gardening.about.com/od/attractingwildlife/a/Bee_Plants_2.htm

* Aster Aster
* Black-eyed Susan Rudbeckia
* Caltrop Kallstroemia
* Creosote bush Larrea
* Currant Ribes
* Elder Sambucus
* Goldenrod Solidago
* Huckleberry Vaccinium
* Joe-pye weed Eupatorium
* Lupine Lupinus
* Oregon grape Berberis
* Penstemon Penstemon
* Purple coneflower Echinacea
* Rabbit-brush Chrysothamnus
* Rhododendron Rhododendron
* Sage Salvia
* Scorpion-weed Phacelia
* Snowberry Symphoricarpos
* Stonecrop Sedum
* Sunflower Helianthus
* Wild buckwheat Eriogonum
* Wild-lilac Ceanothus
* Willow Salix

But not bee attracting ones. I'll add your list to the other ones for plants to consider.

I grew up with a green thumb mother and absorbed a lot of gardening info from her. But I live farther north than she does so many of the plants she grows will not survive here so she cannot help me with figuring out what to plant to make my yard as lush as hers. She is the type that won't join the gardening club because she thinks they are too regimented on what they like. ;-)

Some of the ones on that list are already under consideration here, but some are not. The verbena sounds interesting!

Thank you.

Pollen is as important as nectar. It's what the larva are fed.

Too bad about the roses, but you couldn't handle rugosas. They're intensely scented.

Try some sweet clover. It drips nectar.

at home, in my fishing box. I'm not allergic to bee stings, but I am allergic to yellowjackets.

I do not have an anphylactic reaction, just severe swelling at the location. But if the sting were at the wrong place - on the face or neck, it could get serious.

In the last thirty years, I've had four stings that were progressively worse, which is why my doctor gave me the epipen. Once he gave it, I have had a sting. Funny how that works!

I am just very cautious when and where there might be wasps or bees - I've reacted to both, worst to the bumble bee stings, but they got me three times on the same ankle.

Thanks for the recommendation, though - I might should revisit this with my new doctor.

I got stung 3 times as I ran to jump in the creek. Luckily my mom was working in the garden and she was able to get me to the Hospital in time to get a shot. I was also lucky that they only stung me on my back and legs. I was so swollen that they had to lance the areas to let out pressure. I didn't even know I was allergic to them. I had been stung before by bees and had no problems. Ever since then I always make sure to keep my shot handy. Thank goodness I've never had to use it.

And no protection. We get the yellow jack ground nests - some are huge underground, but all you see is a little hole. Step on one of those, and you can get stung dozens of times.

The time I got stung by the bumble bees, we were digging post holes about six feet from their ground nest that we did not know was there. They got pissed at the pounding and came swarming out. Hubby got hit a couple of times, but he barely got a mark. My leg got so swollen, I thought we were going to have to open the skin to let the pressure off. I was bombed on benadryl and kept the leg iced for three days.

Take care!

The one he uses to cook starter fluid.

that had clustered under the overhang of the roof of this 3 story condo bldg.

I told the manager about them and instead of calling a Beekeeper to come and collect them, they called a pest control company who killed them. He sprayed a watery, white liquid at them and almost the entire swarm fell 3 stories to the ground in 2 or 3 clumps.

I wish I had a digital camera these days cause I would have put up a post with pics of them. They were there long enough to build a little comb that still remains. One piece about as big as a spread out hand and the other half that size.

since they were on a public building I can understand the need to remove them as soon as possible. Especially if they were building comb. Not sure about your area but it can be hard to get in touch with local beekeepers to come out and catch them. We hear it from the farmers we supply with hives mostly. That would be my preferred option.

Wonder if Tom Delay had anything to do with it?

It was in a rather hard to reach spot, under the roof overhang of a 3 story building.

I'm not that brave.:wow:

:popcorn:

http://www.asylum.com/2009/07/27/couple-weds-while-covered-in-bees/
"Li Wenhua and Yan Hongxia, who've been keeping bees for over 25 years, decided to invite several thousand of their insect pals to serve as bridesmaids and groomsmen during their wedding ceremony in Ning'an City. They attracted them by planting queen bees on their clothing and waiting for the swarms to arrive."

:popcorn:

I figured I would put a shot up for the guys.

:cry:

:kick:

I remember when you were missing from DU for a long time. Hugo wiped us out hear when I was a kid. It was no picnic, and I'm sure Katrina was far worse.

http://wpln.org/?p=9172

"Moore and his men are bringing in seedlings and teaching Afghanis the details of apple production that had been forgotten.

They’re also helping Afghani women learn how to be beekeepers. Moore says a third of the crops grown in the country, including apples, depend on bees for pollination. And because the honey they produce can be sold, the hives become a source of income and independence for the women.

The bulk of the 63-member unit are security and support forces.

Moore says response from farmers varies from place to place according to the extent of Taliban influence there. Taliban members sometimes visit farms at night to discourage those men from working with Americans. They’ve also rocketed the guard unit and set explosive devices in their path."

They work hard. They mind their own business and are careful stewards of their home and hearth. They take little and give much in return. Admirable creatures.

“If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left." Albert Einstein

No idea why. I'm not allergic. I'm not afraid of spiders, snakes, lizards, or anything else -- just bees and wasps.

one insect that truly terrifies me are Japanese Hornets.



Actually now that I think about it fear isn't the right word. I believe respect is a better description.

love the pictures

:(

Beautiful photos and a very cool thing to do. However, I swell up.