Beekeeping

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Joined
Apr 12, 2017
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Location
South Coast, NSW
Hi Folks

Theres a lot of talented people on this forum who talk about all kinds of stuff. People are cooking stuff, buying stuff, making stuff and growing stuff. Something that I like doing apart from chasing yella is to chase the buzzy little yella critters. I assume that there would be a bunch of you who also keep a few bees. Its a fascinating hobby that sucks you in and takes a lot of time and effort. (Quite like another hobby that we all share) So why not start a thread for people to discuss whats happening in the world of bees. Hows your spring build up going? Many swarms in your area? Whats flowering at the moment? Would you like to share some ideas? And so it goes on.......... You may have an interest in bees and dont know where to start. This could be the place to initiate all sorts of discussions related to the sweet gold that we love to put on our toast. It may be a topic that dies within six weeks (the life of a worker bee during the warmer months) or it could be something that buzzes along for a summer long honey flow. Lets see what we can share.

Cheers

Les
 
Do a lot of Native Bee stuff, did 2 rescues today and almost killed me. dammed trees were bigger than expected and very solid. Farmer keeps burring off and these were burnt out at the base - big ironbark - and the local firewood had marked for firewood.. So we had to cut above the hive ( test holes to see where it finished) and then off at the base and haul the bugger a 150M plus across boulders and rocks in the wet.. Lot of effort for a small native hive but they are great to have on the mates farm...

Always looking for bees - Natives are first preference and Apis to stay away from..
 
I have done native bees for about 6 years and apis for about 4 years both in langstroth and African top bar. No chemicals and all cold harvested. You get lured in just like gold feaver the cadaji has started to go nuts and the mangroves have just started....mangrove my favourite
 
What a job AM, rescuing bees from logs is not fun. Love the native bees. Wish I had a couple of hives. Where I live is getting close to the southern most limit of these little beauties. In fact I saw them for the first time this season earlier today. Because of the cooler climate, they stay cuddled up for much longer in southern nsw. Ive often thought theyd be good for pollination if the European bees go bad. Could sit and watch them for hours.
 
Hi Straya,

No absolutely nothing about bees on the mangroves. Tell me more. Im on the coast and mangrove country is not far away. Info about flowering and the honey produced would be interesting.
 
Good onya AF. You know the best part about keeping bees? They are on about a 9000 acre paddock with no fences to maintain. (and the council rates are quite cheap). (Bees can travel up to about 3.5km from home to collect pollen and nectar and dont seam to recognise boundaries).
 
I've got a few hives. Keep them on a mates, dads olive grove. Bees are hard work. Honey is well worth it. Got a lot of work to do in the next few weeks, amongst harvesting some honey which will probably start tomorrow.
I cold process raw honey and sell it for a very high price. Make a few candles every now and then. Never ending cycle. I'm allergic as well and have to be extra careful.

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Hi Hardluck,

Looks like you have a good setup. I use the same press that you have but just for pressing cappings. You are right about the hard work. There is plenty to do at this time of year. Its been good to have a bit of rain. Hopefully the iron bark will produce some honey in the next month or so. Had a hive swarm a week ago. Caught be by surprise as the spring build up was slow in my area. Bee numbers have exploded in the last few days. So the real work has just begun. Will post some pics in the next couple of days.
 
Thats a Hard Luck story if ever I saw one :lol: :lol:

Seriously though, great thread Les.

If any of you apiarists are within 100 ks or so of Wang I would be very keen to come and see what you do, how you do it and happy to help if needed/able.

Have long thought about it as a hobby. A farm without fences!

Even looked into Apiary courses but they seem few and far between for a proper TAFE course or something other than a weekender course.
 
Mangrove in the hive smells a bit like ripe
Bananas. High in crude pollen, honey is super light in color and tasty. People cant get enough. But to get pure honey expect heaps of stings..... mozzies and sandies and angle deep mud.
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Right one is gum left is mangrove
 
Awesome Straya. Thanks for the photos. Ill start some research on mangrove honey. Never tried it. I know what you mean about the sandflies. Did about an hours detecting around some old workings that were actually next to some mangroves. The mistake that I made was to wear shorts and a tee shirt. The buggers got me big time. Itchy for about five days. Bit of a slow learner at times. Lol

Cheers

Les
 
Hi Northeast

Dont go anywhere near this hobby. Its addictive (just like our other hobby) Lol. I wanted a couple of hives in the beginning which has now turned to about thirty. Good fun and very rewarding. Hopefully we can learn a bit from this thread and share some ideas, techniques and compare war wounds etc. I Will post a few pics and stories over the next couple of days. Beekeepers are as bad as prospectors, we can talk for hours and tell plenty of stories. Some may even contain an element of truth.

Cheers

Les
 
Great thread Lesgold :Y: I was fortunate enough to be given some of Hard Luck's honey :sunny: thanks John it went down a treat. We've considered getting into bee's but for me I'm already short on time in the future though it'll definitely happen. Straya you've got me keen to try some mangrove once Kate hears of it I won't stop hearing it until we have :lol: :(. Had to clear a hive from my daughter's wall by removing the weather boards, I was the helping hand for my neighbour who has hives very interesting task but I wouldn't do it without the full suit not interested in the stings.
 
Oh come on RM, are you turning soft? The pain goes away.......... eventually. I reckon that mangrove honey has got to be worth a try. Ive never seen it available anywhere. You are right about removing a hive from a house. It wouldnt be fun. Last year a neighbour dropped a large gum with a hive in it. Called me in to do a rescue. There were bees and bits of tree everywhere. Wasnt sure as to how I was going to get the bees out of the rather large hollow trunk. In the end I ended up putting some bits of comb with bees attached into an empty bee box to attract more bees (the comb had young larvae in it) I then poured some nappysan mixed with warm water into a hole in the log to drive most of the bees out (the bees dont like ammonia) Left the box overnight and picked it up early the next morning. Was actually surprised by the number of bees in the box. Not sure if the queen was present but it didnt really matter. Took the bees home and added some frames and one that contained eggs from another hive. The hive is now up and pumping. You can get lucky sometimes.

RM, bees dont take much work at all if you only have two or three hives. They are not touched at all during the winter which means that the pans and detector can come out. During the spring you need to spend a bit of time on them as the swarming season approaches and obviously time is needed for extracting when there is a honey flow on. Apart from that there is the odd bit of building, painting, frame making etc that needs to occur. I generally do that when the weather is lousy.
 

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