The bee keeper diaries

[Iowanian]

It's a great time to buy stock in eppy pens.

This thread is a repository for bee keepers or those interested.

A couple of years ago, a couple of friends an my brother started puttering with honey bees. I didn't buy off because, well, I've never been a big fan of bees or getting stung by them. Last summer I tagged along a couple of times to check their hives and to remove honey bees from a house, public building and an old garage.

I realized at the end of the summer when I was helping them process some, that it's actually pretty interesting, and fits into my expanding "grow my own" logic. I'm not full blown hippy but I see a lot of logic in the self sustaining food thing and I'm doing some of that too.

That said, this thread is about bees, honey bees, bee keeping and bee fighting war stories.

I'm taking the leap and plan to get 2-3 hives this spring and maybe build some bee swarm traps to make it cheaper or to make a few bucks.

Join me and I'll share the real life lessons of an ameture bee keeper. I'm sure I'm going to learn some things the hard way.

[Iowanian]

So I post what you’ve all been waiting for since 2017….where I finally get my ass kicked on video…and silence.

[Buehler445]

I enjoyed it!

I’m not sure I could eat that much shit and go back for more.

[Pennywise]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

I enjoyed it!

I’m not sure I could eat that much shit and go back for more.

Well if I did I might wear gloves and a bee protection. Iowanian is the Alex Honnold of bee keeping.

[Iowanian]

If I were smarter I would have due to weather conditions. I’ve gotten beat up a couple of times getting swarms but not usually. Besides it makes better videos when you’re in a t shirt like the real ones

I think the total was 6 stings, but the two under my eye had me lumped up like an abused spouse. The next day I had a doctor thing and that was a question they asked…..I just scratched my lumped eye and looked down. They knew better but I thought it was funny and that’s all that matters.



That said, I’m using suits more now. I am going to do a video stinging myself in the knee a few times on purpose soon….to see how it helps my aching joint. If I do t scream like a horror movie shower scene I’ll share that too

[CoMoChief]

One thing about beekeepers, is they can't stop talking about beekeeping.

My buddy is one out in Grain Valley MO, has around 20 hives/boxes, and if I ask him anything about it, it turns into a long drawn out 2hr long story. Don't wanna be rude but stfu already lol.

[wazu]

Seems like a lot lighter damage than I would have expected based on what you were doing. Well done.

[seamonster]

Have heard that people in the beekeeper industry are losing their asses right now. Massive unsustainable die offs and bankruptcies across the board.

[Iowanian]

A lot of bee keepers, including some of the huge 30k hive types lost close to 80% of their hives this winter. That’s why I’m hustling to get any swarms that come my way, rain or shine, suit or no suit.

Como is right though, bee discussions are trains. Once they get started it’s hard to stop.
I do use it as an ice breaker slot for business because people are usually interested. Once on an airplane, I taught 10 Chinese men who spoke no English when I spoke to some of them….one sees me watching videos of hive cutouts, and boom. They all speak English and surround me asking questions for a couple of hours.


Some have shown interest that I keep posting my story, or I’d be perfectly happy to keep it to myself.

[booger]

https://www.webmd.com/balance/featur...r-battered-men

[Iowanian]

On this front….i just enrolled all of my hay ground into a pollinator program for planting this fall. I upgraded to the monarch butterfly program. The seed is expensive as hell but it should look pretty cool around here surrounded by fields of flowers all year except winter. The butterflies won’t hurt my sisters photo taking business….and I’m hoping my bees will produce a couple of hundred extra pounds of honey having that Buffett all around them.


#deplorable as hell but doing more hippy earth shit than the hippies talking about earth shit

Originally Posted by Pennywise

I heard this on the radio this am. The butterflies are also disappearing.

Butterfly populations declining rapidly in U.S. with 22% disappearing in 2 decades, study finds


Butterfly populations declining rapidly in U.S. with 22% disappearing in 2 decades, study finds
By Sarah Metz

Updated on: March 6, 2025 / 8:35 PM EST / CBS News

Butterflies, known for their beauty and vital role in pollination, are vanishing from U.S. landscapes at an alarming rate. A comprehensive study, published Thursday in the journal Science, found that 22% of butterflies in the United States disappeared between 2000 and 2020.

The new research offers a stark warning about the potential future of these cherished insects.

"Losing one out of every five butterflies over 20 years should be a big wake-up call to people," said Dr. Eliza Grames, an assistant professor of biological sciences at Binghamton University and co-author of the study. "These declines are not stopping."

While butterflies are the most extensively monitored insect group in the U.S., most past studies have been limited by geography or focused on specific species, a news release on the study said. The researchers behind the Science study used data from more than 12.6 million butterflies spanning 342 individual species, drawing from 76,000 surveys across 35 nationwide monitoring programs.


https://www.cbsnews.com/news/butterf...science-study/

[ghak99]

Originally Posted by Iowanian

On this front….i just enrolled all of my hay ground into a pollinator program for planting this fall. I upgraded to the monarch butterfly program. The seed is expensive as hell but it should look pretty cool around here surrounded by fields of flowers all year except winter. The butterflies won’t hurt my sisters photo taking business….and I’m hoping my bees will produce a couple of hundred extra pounds of honey having that Buffett all around them.


#deplorable as hell but doing more hippy earth shit than the hippies talking about earth shit

I don't care what they tell you, do not spread some of those seeds unless you want narrow strips of weeds and flowers instead of even fields of weeds and flowers. I had golden strips of what looked like the drunken yellow brick road to nowhere from above.

A lot of the flowers go away after the first year or two as well. Red clover thrown on the last snow makes for an easy replacement from then on.

[crayzkirk]

Girlfriend had roommates that kept bees. They moved and took the hives with them however there's a lot of bees in the area. They aren't happy about their hive missing and it makes it almost impossible to do anything in the yard without attracting their unwanted attention.

How long do they live without the hive? Nectar and pollen for food. They are congregating on the wooden fence and where they are appears to be wet. Without a queen the hive won't survive and they can't just come up with a queen.

[Iowanian]

Did they move the hives during the day? That really dumb if so because the foragers are out and confused.
They can live a few days if it’s warm, if it gets cool enough at night Nehru going to die.

If I were you, just before dark go see where they cluster…will be near where the hive was….and spray them with raid.


Yesterday was a banger of a day. I caught 4 swarms using 4 separate methods. Two were in trees, one hanging off the eve of a lean-too shed. Thr last was on a fire hydrant in front of a hotel casino. They considered it an emergency, so I charged them $200 to set a hive beside a fire hydrant and let them walk into it. I’ll try to make a combined video to share because we did get good video of a couple of them.

I looked at 3 trees today that people want bees cut out of and have one at a cemetery. A couple of them I said I’m not a lumberjack and don’t want liability so I’ll bring suits, they get someone to cut trees down and help me load log with bees and I’ll bring them to the farm for removal. Too many people get curious.

One of the homeowners got too curious yesterday and that bunch was ornery. He got stung a few times, and the bastards got inside the bee jacket I was wearing due to their demeanor and I took 5-6 stings. One of my forearms looks like popeye today…from stings, not wiener curls.

[Buehler445]

You’ve been taking a lot of shots to the face lately.

[Iowanian]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

You’ve been taking a lot of shots to the face lately.

Snare drum joke punchline.


I have been getting stung too much the past week, and seem to be swelling more this year.

One of the swarm catches I had a photographer there so there should be some cool pics to share on that.