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Ramjet

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After watching my fruit tree's and garden produce much less than they should have , a ~20ft tall Santa Rosa plum tree didn't produce a single plum , squash had to be hand pollinated or it withered on the vine , same with watermelon & cucumbers.

Realizing part of the problem is a lack of pollinators , I'm considering a bee hive or two.

Thing is , I live in the middle of a human ant colony and don't have a whole lot of space. The human ant pile is a big reason why I don't see many bee's as there are few bee keepers and feral colonies get exterminated. Not to mention their decline due to pesticides in recent years.

Anyone here keep bee's ?? Any advice on what type of hive , where to locate it within my postage stamp yard.

How to keep the kids & dogs safe?? The kids don't really use the back yard as we live in a cul de sac but the dogs do. I'm not allergic , been stung dozens of times in the past , neither is my wife .... Not sure about the kids. Probably no way to know without being stung ....
 
You will need to check local ordinances, sometimes bees are restricted.

Pigs and bees are the only animals strictly outlawed in my city, and everything else has requirements that must be met.

__________ Mon Jul 28, 2014 3:41 pm __________

Don't just ask around though, see if you can find the laws clearly posted. People will say anything.

We took a trip to our local courthouse and had them print up a list of the ordinances for us, so that we have it in writing to show anyone who questions the legality of our animals.

__________ Mon Jul 28, 2014 3:47 pm __________

If bees are restricted, or you are worried about stings, you might want to consider black soldier flies for pollination. They are sometimes kept as composters, but have an added benefit of being pollinators as adults.

http://mvprogress.com/2013/07/10/soldie ... llinators/

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/galv ... er_fly.htm

https://www.google.com/search?q=black+s ... US&spell=1

And this guy has a super easy-to-make looking homemade one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gF5NMYB_x0
 
Ordinances is the one thing I haven't been able to confirm .... Cant find a thing on the county web site (I'm outside the city limits so no problem there).
 
Ramjet":3weo1ett said:
Anyone here keep bee's ??
Click to expand...

Why, yes. That would be Beekeeper10. ;) You might want to PM him- he hasn't been on much lately, but did pop by for his birthday- happy-birthday-beekeeper10-t22099.html

I was fortunate enough to speak to him when I caught a wild swarm and he is a wealth of information on bees! :)

Ramjet":3weo1ett said:
Ordinances is the one thing I haven't been able to confirm
Click to expand...

If you can't keep bees, you can still attract lots of pollinators. Plants that have tiny flowers (like many herbs) or garden plants (like lettuce) that are allowed to bolt will attract them.

http://www.grow-it-organically.com/attr ... sects.html
 
:yeahthat:

Honey bees were introduced from Europe in the 1600's there a LOTS of native pollinators and ways to attract them to your yard and provide a habitat for them.
 
Instead of going for honeybees-- which, incidently, are not native to the US- encourage bumblebees and mason bees-- My sunflowers attract a lot of both, and making housing for them to nest in is quite simple and unobtrusive. I also found out, the mason bees are MUCH more effective than honey bees- by 100xs!!! I really like my Bee Bed n Breakfast--I find bees tucked in every morning-- I keep the mason Bee housing on a horizontal srface of my mobile home, and do need to figure out a place for the bumble bee nest- but there is time for that!
 
MamaSheepdog":17anw8ym said:
Why, yes. That would be Beekeeper10. ;) You might want to PM him- he hasn't been on much lately, but did pop by for his birthday- happy-birthday-beekeeper10-t22099.html

I was fortunate enough to speak to him when I caught a wild swarm and he is a wealth of information on bees! :)
Click to expand...

Thanks , I'll PM him ..... I musta missed that thread somehow.

MamaSheepdog":17anw8ym said:
If you can't keep bees, you can still attract lots of pollinators. Plants that have tiny flowers (like many herbs) or garden plants (like lettuce) that are allowed to bolt will attract them.

http://www.grow-it-organically.com/attr ... sects.html
Click to expand...

Its not a matter of attracting them , its a matter of them being virtually nonexistent ....

There just aren't many bee's / pollinators in the area to begin with .... I'm surrounded by urban sprawl , feral colonies tend to be eliminated. I haven't seen a single bee on my place at all this year ..... and I have tens of thousands of blooms with 8 fruit tree's on the property along with a few ornamentals that flower heavily as well as the garden. I should be seeing lots of bee's while those blooms are on.

Last year my lemon tree had several hundred pounds of lemons .... this year it has only a few lemons. The difference - No bees.
There was a guy about 3/4 mile from here who had ~half a dozen or so hives , they have been removed and a business now occupies the location.

Between feral hives being removed , urban sprawl & pesticides there just aren't many pollinators in the area .... which is why I am considering a hive or two.

According to an article I read on the Houston Chronicle's website , there are no ordinances against the keeping of bee's in Houston. I'm just outside the city limits and would be under county jurisdiction .... The article doesn't mention anything about that and the county website doesn't list anything either.
I considered just going ahead .... what they don't see , they cant tell me about one way or the other. Thing is , if someone gets hurt .... I could be in a world of trouble which makes me hesitant.
I did find a local beekeepers association , I'm going to poke them for some answers to the local laws & regulations before moving forward.

Still lots of other questions aside from the regulations.
 
MamaSheepdog":1dhzfh4e said:
Certain breeds of bees are more docile than others. Beekeeper will know which ones are best for you.
Click to expand...
I've been doing a lot of reading on the subject .... There is just so much to know / learn about bees. Where better to get that info than from someone who has been there & done that ?!


You can buy lacewings and bumble bees here:

http://www.arbico-organics.com/category ... linators/a
Click to expand...

The bumble bee hive might be a viable alternative .... but damn they are expensive and only good for 8-10 weeks ?! (Gonna have to research this , if I have to re-hive yearly its not economically viable),
 
There has been a drastic decline in bees, butterfiies and moths in our part of Ontario these past two years. I've seen maybe a dozen butterflies so far and a handful of bumblebees, but that's about it. It's very alarming. Last year I was hoping it was just one bad year but now I'm beginning to think that the situation may be permanent.
 
Funny you all should mention this:

I just had someone mention to me that Walmart sells plants that have pesticides that kill bees, so decline in bee population may be from purchased plants?

Strangely, with the restrictions of being in the city, with a permit I can keep a bee hive. There seems to be a hive on the property anyway, I get very large mason/carpenter bees swarming around my front porch around late June. I think they like the forsythias.
 
If you can't get a hold of beekeeper 10, I'd be happy to help with what little I know. This is my 2nd year keeping bees. From the sounds of it I think you'd benefit best from a top bar hive. They are fairly small numbered hive in comparison to your typical Langstroth hive, so less chance of having too many extra around to cause problems with the neighbors.

At sky: what your hearing about is neonicatinoid pesticides. They are a systemic pesticide that slowly builds up in the bees system and is believed to cause disorientation and a weakened immune system. Many commercial growers use systemics as they are supposed to not need applied as often since they for wear off as fast, but since they don't wear off as fast the bees are constantly coming Into contact with it, causing it to build up in their system. Unfortunately, they are also for sale to the general public, and many people don't read the guide lines caused over use of the product with adverse affects.

I really should know more with as large of an effort my bosses are putting up in order to educate people about the harms these sorts of pesticides can do, but I've been slacking on my reading... :oops: <br /><br /> __________ Mon Jul 28, 2014 7:28 pm __________ <br /><br /> A good documentary to watch that helps explain this problem is 'The vanishing of the bees'. It explains it much better than I can.
 
PSFAngoras":2sghkqf9 said:
If you can't get a hold of beekeeper 10, I'd be happy to help with what little I know. This is my 2nd year keeping bees. From the sounds of it I think you'd benefit best from a top bar hive. They are fairly small numbered hive in comparison to your typical Langstroth hive, so less chance of having too many extra around to cause problems with the neighbors.
Click to expand...

I was considering an 8 frame Langstroth ... with two deep brood supers , a queen excluder and 2 mediums (added after they got established).

Don't want to go with too small a hive and have to deal with swarms or micromanage them because the growing season here is quite long when compared to the rest of the country - I'm right on the coast & temps will remain above 70 ~10 months out of the year. ( I wonder if I'll have any trouble at all overwintering with the climate here )



At sky: what your hearing about is neonicatinoid pesticides. They are a systemic pesticide that slowly builds up in the bees system and is believed to cause disorientation and a weakened immune system. Many commercial growers use systemics as they are supposed to not need applied as often since they for wear off as fast, but since they don't wear off as fast the bees are constantly coming Into contact with it, causing it to build up in their system. Unfortunately, they are also for sale to the general public, and many people don't read the guide lines caused over use of the product with adverse affects.
Click to expand...


I've read about CCD (colony collapse disorder) with even many commercial beekeepers losing from 30-90% of their hives in recent years ..... with no known reason. The assumption is pesticides and I'd tend to agree with that.

Add CCD into the equation in my area where there are few / no beekeepers , few places for feral hives because of the urban sprawl of more than 4 million people and those that come in contact with humans are eradicated .... what you end up with is a dead zone for bee's.


Man I hate it here in this damn human ant pile ..... Anyone out in the country want to adopt me ?!
 
Too bars are actually a bit easier to manage I think, so long as you keep cross combing in check. I keep both, and so far I enjoy the fact that I don't have to buy equipment for the top bar, just make it when I need things.(the two eight frame Langstroth hives are property of the farm I work at, but I manage them, so I don't technically have the expense. But I do know the expense that goes I to them, and it's pretty extensive compared to the $60 I spent to build my top bar hive.) also, you won't have to rent or buy a honey extractor when it comes time to harvest.

If you have a long season where things are in bloom, your bees should take the few months of colder weather fine if you don't over harvest the honey and allow them first choice of their stores. If your nectar flow season is relatively short, you might have a bit of a harder time. We have a fairly decent season, with seed crops on the far that bloom constantly from about may until October, but we have fairly warm winters with nothing for the bees to forage. This causes the to go lookin for food on the warmer days., using up their stores without being able to replenish them. I had to feed them this spring to help them through.

As far as swarm management, I'd be happy to let you know what my findings are after next spring as far as the top bar hive, but it hadsnt been easy with the Langstroth without the hives building up fairly quickly. I intentlded to keep the hives only at 3-4 boxes, and both are at five boxes now, and very strong hives. Only about two boxes are actively brood, and that's without a queen excluder, but they still have a strong work force in order to bring in enough honey. In our climate it's estimated that each frame of brood will go through about a frame and a half of honey in a winter, if they don't forage too much, so two frames of brood will need three boxes of honey. Still a fairly large and noticeable size in an urban area. By default, top bars do require a bit more management, but can't house as strong of a population, and are quite small in size.

Just a thought...
 
Ramjet, my suggestion to you would be to try and get in touch with the beekeeper that had bees near by. He lost that location and I bet would love to put bees on your property.
You need a mentor and that beekeeper knows the area and can help you get started.
If I can help you in any way, PM me and I will give you my cell #.
Beekeeping is more of a craft or art so to speak instead of a science. You need a mentor to teach you hands on.
 

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