Originally Posted By specter_actual:
i am so pissed right now we had some humers that were bing turned in not being used some afghan honey bees made a hive its been ther efor about 2 weeks i went to get a pic today to put it on here and it was destroyed someone complaned about it so it got sprayed and noked down yesterday.  Not a single person got stung and they are migratory honey bees so in a few weeks they would have been gone.

Originally Posted By specter_actual:
none of that is comb its all bees

Originally Posted By specter_actual:


from the info i could gather they dont make hives like the bees in the states they make ther combs on open cliff faces and are some what agressive but i was able to walk right up to them with no problem

Originally Posted By specter_actual:
from the info i could gather they dont make hives like the bees in the states they make ther combs on open cliff faces and are some what agressive but i was able to walk right up to them with no problem

Originally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs:


You were able to walk up to them because swarms are very tame.  They have nothing to defend.  They're all focused on finding a place to live and hanging close enough to keep up with, and defend, their queen.  If you came upon them after they'd chosen a home and started building comb and collecting honey, things might have turned out differently.

If that's the case––that these bees live on cliffs, open-faced––then they are probably some type of africanized strain, or a similar strain that is NOT africanized, but has the same aggressive habits..  IIf they are that type of bee, the only way you could encounter them and have them be gentle in this way is by encountering a swarm.  A swarm means they are moving––they've left their home and are breaking off from the main colony to form their own.  But as yet, they haven't chosen a home or started work.  They're just hanging out until the queen feels like flying again––they're waiting for the recon bees to come back and say, "hey, we've found a good place to live."  Of course, they might have decided the vehicle was a good place to live.....we'll never know, since they got sprayed.  

That type of bee has really different habits than our bees here, which are NOT native, but are normally some type of Italian or Russian cross.

I thought the abdomens looked different on those, but I'm not a bee breed expert by any means.  Interesting that you knew this info about them.

I think the different types of bees are fascinating.  Cool that you got to see this swarm.

kitties

Originally Posted By mcooper:



Are they larger or smaller than apis mellifera?  respectively they could be apis dorsata or apis cerana.   A. dorsata can be mean mothers...and they build combs on cliff faces.  Neither species has relation to the african honey bee (ETA: other than being in the same genus).

Originally Posted By mcooper:



Are they larger or smaller than apis mellifera?  respectively they could be apis dorsata or apis cerana.   A. dorsata can be mean mothers...and they build combs on cliff faces.  Neither species has relation to the african honey bee (ETA: other than being in the same genus).

Originally Posted By specter_actual:
I know that bees are not native to the USA i have read this thread a few times over and gone to alot of the links once i get home and stay home i plane on starting a hive or two.  If they did make there hive in the truck it would not have been a big deal its just going to sit here till we need parts off of it or they turn it in to the afghan army

Originally Posted By specter_actual:
if every thing goes as planed we wont need parts we are already issuing the MATV that hummer is going to sit there for at least a year befor they do anything with it.  That said i looked up bee kepping in my are and ther eis a large bee farm i dont know what you would call it not to far from were i live and they let people come out and teach them about bee keeping

Originally Posted By specter_actual:
yes back in the states i dont think it woud be a good idea to try and start here with taliban bees

Bee Versus Tree: A Seedless Showdown
Updated 5:09 AM PST, Fri, Jan 9, 2009
Farmers are demanding that the apian community minds its own beeswax.
AP

Is it trespassing when bees do what bees do in California's tangerine groves?

That is the question being weighed by state agriculture officials caught between beekeepers who prize orange blossom honey and citrus growers who blame the bees for causing otherwise seedless mandarin oranges to develop pips.

"Both sides are unwilling to give any ground, and both have valid points," said Jerry Prieto, the former Fresno County agricultural commissioner who has spent six months mediating the dispute.

The fight comes amid a worldwide consumer taste shift toward seedless grapes, watermelons and tangerines � at the same time the nation's struggling bee colonies look for winter food.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture is scheduled to issue draft regulations this month that will require beekeepers to register their locations with county agricultural commissioners by March 1 so growers can monitor hives within two miles of their groves. If bees are too close, growers can ask beekeepers to move and hope they comply.

"But they won't have to move," said Rayne Pegg, deputy secretary of legislation and policy for the CDFA.

Absent a method of resolving disputes, Prieto predicted: "This is going to end up in court."

Mega-grower Paramount Citrus has already sent letters to beekeepers near the company's Kern County clementine groves threatening legal action and promising to seek "compensation for any and all damages caused to its crops, as well as punitive damages" if seeds develop. Company officials did not return phone calls seeking comment.

The new regulations would affect Kern, Tulare, Fresno and Madera counties in the southern San Joaquin Valley, where many orange growers converted to easy-to-peel tangerines. The fruit's California acreage was expanded from 24,000 in 2005 to 31,392 in 2008 to compete with imports from Spain and the Middle East.

Tangerines and other normally seedless mandarins do not need bees to move pollen from the male to female parts of the flower in the process known as pollination. But if bees cross-pollinate the crop with the pollen of other fruit, mandarins develop undesireable seeds.

Almond trees on the west side of the valley, on the other hand, need lots of bees to pollinate. For the February pollination season, almond growers hire beekeepers from around the country to bring tens of thousands of hives to California, home to 70 percent of the world's supply.

As almond blossoms drop in late March, citrus growers say, beekeepers relocate hives to make orange blossom honey before heading to the Midwest for spring clover season.

Some growers, who by law must ban spraying for citrus mites and other pests when bees are present, say the bees are an increasing burden.

"We've coexisted with them, but we don't need them," said Joel Nelson, executive director of California Citrus Mutual, a trade association. "Now we're trying to adapt to changing consumer demands, and we're hamstrung."

Beekeepers say that, with development in the state's agricultural regions, there already are a limited number of places to take the bees for feeding.

"Our winter losses are increasing (because of colony collapse), and part of the problem is finding places to put bees where they have access to natural food, and citrus is part of that," said Gene Brandi, a Los Banos beekeeper and legislative liaison for the California State Beekeepers Association.

Chris Lange, a grower from Woodlake in Tulare County, recently converted 32 of his 1,600 acres of citrus groves on Beresford Ranches to the more profitable mandarin oranges, which he will start harvesting at the end of January.

"We already have an idea of where we'll find the seeds," said Lange, lamenting that most of his crop could wind up as juice. "You can't grow the crop for the juice market, you have to grow for the premium crop or you won't recover your costs."

During discussions seeking a compromise, beekeepers suggested that mandarin growers net their crops to keep out bees. Mandarin growers asked beekeepers to reduce hive density so bees do not have to fly far to compete for food.

Both sides said no.

"The ag industry is being forced to weigh which side should have a stronger case," said Pegg, of the agriculture department, "and that's a difficult thing for us to decide. We're just not going to make anyone happy."

Copyright Associated Press
First Published: Jan 9, 2009 4:20 AM PST

Originally Posted By CheeseSandwich:
Here's an interesting article that I read in/for my Property class. I thought of this thread and figured I'd share.

Originally Posted By mcooper:



Bees are going to win out as they account for WAY more income through pollinating crops than the citrus farmers do with their crop.  Most farmers still need bees and if the citrus guys got their way they'd put their neighbors out of business.

Originally Posted By FordGuy:
I think the bees in the pic are Apis Dorsata.  Interesting thing about this bee is that Dorsata has been known to forage on moonlit nights.  Dorsata is sometimes called a "giant bee."  

We have apis mellifera.  Similar, yet very different in behavior and appearance.  Carry on bee people.

Originally Posted By Cockatoo:
*sigh*
I just dumped out 10,000 dead bees.

Damn. Many had their heads shoved into cells.
There was quite a bit of honey stored in the super above the brood frames.
I sifted through them and saw no queen.
In fact there was no brood at all.

Originally Posted By phlat:
How many bee's should I expect to need to start a single hive?  Was looking at 3# boxes online, but 10K bee's seems a few too many for a single hive, or so I would think.   Trying to get an estimate.

Originally Posted By Cockatoo:
Ralph is gonna catch me a swarm or two.
I cleaned it out and have 2 brood boxes ready.
And I have frames with honey in the cells too so hopefully they'll move right in.

Originally Posted By DUX4LIFE:
Just got my Dadant catalog today.  I just learned that it takes about 556 workers to make a pound of honey from about 2 million flowers.  Hows that for dedicated workers???

Originally Posted By phlat:
How many bee's should I expect to need to start a single hive?  Was looking at 3# boxes online, but 10K bee's seems a few too many for a single hive, or so I would think.   Trying to get an estimate.

Originally Posted By tactical_bubba:
Newb to ARFCOM, just found the BEE thread! Last time i put my ear to my hives i still have 10 of 10. Have been keeping BEE's for 5 years on my own, learned from my grandad. He's been a keeper for 30 years, 80 years old and he still keeps 30+ hives. At least we are trying to keep them i should say, winter kill has been brutal the last two years. Last winter we both had 60% loss, and that was good for the thumb of Michigan. Other local Bee keepers i know averaged 75 to80% loss! Some do all in their power some are true minimalist,all had boxes full of dead Bees. I'm an in betweener, make sure they are healthy, disease free,and fed when needed. Will try to get back to this thread soon, love it , i can talk Bees and guns in one spot!

Originally Posted By Scout198575:
My brother and I plan on starting this out this summer. I will definately be reading through here and through the many links provided.

Originally Posted By KG5S:
Looks like my bee's wintered pretty good here , we are starting to get blooms on some wild flowers and the bee's are out in full force !

Originally Posted By DUX4LIFE:
I lost 3 of my 6 hives.  2 ran out of food and experienced rodent problems and 1 still had soe honey in the outer perimeter frames.  I suspect they got to cold to get to it.  These 3 hives were located in my back yard and were very open to a north wind.  This summer I am buying 25 bales of straw so I can build a block for them and to cover my strawberry beds.  Got caught this winter without any and couldn't find any....  The other 3 hives were doing ok and they were tucked away in a little clearing out in the country.  They had a rodent problem also but it was remedied.  I never had mouse problems when I was younger so I never used mouse guards.  A lesson learned.

ETA...Fordguy it is March and you haven't posted the monthly Beekeeping memo yet.  This is your first reminder!!!

Originally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs:







You will need to get your bees ordered immediately if you are going to order packages.  It might be too late to get packages this year, but you can always starte with swarms if you know some local beekeepers.  



Good luck with it, and let us know how it goes!

Originally Posted By Scout198575:


This isn't really a problem. We are on a very limited budget, so, we were just planning on getting as much stuff together this summer as we can, then worry about bees next year. Unless we do come across a swarm or something.
 

Originally Posted By DUX4LIFE:
I will use mouse guads in the future.  I also did use screened bottoms.

Originally Posted By tactical_bubba:
KITTIES-WITH-SIGS: The cat in your pic is a dead ringer for my Maine Coone, Mr. Edgewood. Would shoot you a pic of'em but Beekeepers are notoriusly cheap! Dont have proper eqip. to do so.  56 degrees in thumb of Michigan today,got to the bee yard in time to find one skunk and one possum nosin around. Walther P-22 to the rescue ! Three dead hives,to cold could not move to next frame of honey is my best guess.Love MI winters,lol. Cleaned them out ,lots of honey stores left,must have fizzled out early in the winter. Remaining hives are lookin real good,busy robbin the dead outs. Orderd five 3 pound pcks and two queens from Rossman Apiaries in Georgia awhile back,make a couple divides, and i should be back in biz.

Originally Posted By tactical_bubba:
As for my cat, BIG is putting it mildly,18 pounds last check up. He was astray also, sort of. Had a cat already,wife went to let  our cat in and somthin extra came in along with. The sheer size of the " extra " unexpected entry caused her to freak out and emit a blood curdling scream. I and my 1911 rushed to the scene, one look at those big green sad eyes and i was hooked. No collar under fed ,declawed nutered, i think someone droped him off or he ran away. Three years later, i think maybe they couldnt afford to feed the little pig, lol.

Originally Posted By mcooper:
I'M preparing to make a split or two from my three hives soon...drone comb is capped and as zoo. As they get the honey stores up a bit and more brood in the second deep hive body.  I'm gonna throw supers on this week as the 10acres of blueberries that my hives are next to are going to bloom within a week.