All Things Habitat - Lets talk.....
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Honey Bees
- Thread starter Peeps
- Start date
cavey
5 year old buck +
So Cool! I cant wait till we get a chance to do the same.....I'm hoping we will get to pull a little bit of honey this year... everything got off to a late start. I have one hive that is going crazy building comb (added another deep) and my second is a bit behind. I'm jealous of you guys that have supers on and can take some honey. I will have to say this is one of the coolest things I have done - it is simply amazing!
H20fwler
5 year old buck +
Agree 100% ^^^^^^^
The bee hive thing has turned out way past my best expectations, the whole family is into it now. My wife is all about giving honey from our farm as gifts to family and friends now and I am pleased with the benefit the bees are to about everything growing on the farm. The whole bee thing is just neat, to think people have ben doing it for thousands of years plus is amazing, it's literally biblical.
The bee hive thing has turned out way past my best expectations, the whole family is into it now. My wife is all about giving honey from our farm as gifts to family and friends now and I am pleased with the benefit the bees are to about everything growing on the farm. The whole bee thing is just neat, to think people have ben doing it for thousands of years plus is amazing, it's literally biblical.
Turkey Creek
5 year old buck +
Checked my one hive today that I put a honey super on about 2 weeks ago. 2 full frames of capped honey and 3 or 4 more frames in the works. Looks like I should get a taste this year!
Turkey Creek
5 year old buck +
Looks like my bees will probably swarm in the 1 hive I have. Humidity felt like "SwampCat" land yesterday and this morning. 95 degrees with no wind which is pretty rare here. Yesterday was by far the most miserable summer day we have had this summer. Bees were bearding badly on the side of the top brood box and hanging under the bottom box. I dont have enough hardware. I had read prior to getting hives this year that you shouldnt expect much the 1st year, by the 2nd year your hives will really take off. "DONT BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ ON THE INTERNET", Abraham Lincoln 1863. Lesson for beginning bee keepers always have more hardware than you think you will need. It comes in handy for a variety of things.
Shannon Hall
A good 3 year old buck
I’ve read throug the pages and haven’t seen the answer to this question (I could have missed it).
We are planning on raising bees once we are at our farm full time. I currently have 1.3 acres of pristine clover that I’m hoping the bees are able to take full advantage of. That said, I usually spray the fields twice a year with cleth (or raptor or basagran) just depending on what I’m fighting. Will those sprays negatively affect the bees?
I’m scared to invest a bunch of money in bees and then kill em the first time I spray.
Thoughts, experiences???
Thanks in advance for your replies.
We are planning on raising bees once we are at our farm full time. I currently have 1.3 acres of pristine clover that I’m hoping the bees are able to take full advantage of. That said, I usually spray the fields twice a year with cleth (or raptor or basagran) just depending on what I’m fighting. Will those sprays negatively affect the bees?
I’m scared to invest a bunch of money in bees and then kill em the first time I spray.
Thoughts, experiences???
Thanks in advance for your replies.
H20fwler
5 year old buck +
I would try and spray pre-bloom and do it late in the evening or early in morning so chance of contact would be minimal.
Peeps
5 year old buck +
This above or spray after a mowing when there are no blossoms left on the clover.
Shannon Hall
A good 3 year old buck
Great advice!! I appreciate you guys taking the time to respond. I definitely want bees, but I wouldn't choose them over food plot work. This year's fields have required less spray than previous seasons, but it's still an important part of the maintenance phase. I bought this farm and it had been wildly mismanaged for years. I'm not a huge fan of chemicals, but they were (and will be for a while) necessary in order to reclaim my fields.
Thanks again!
I have 25 hives and I spray cleth on clover and sunflowers. Pretty easy to time that spraying so it doesnt affect the bees. Spray early in year before clover flowers - as others have said. My bees dont really work my white deer clovers very much. Now white sweet clover - that is a different story.
Turkey Creek
5 year old buck +
What variety of white sweet clover? Have more details on it. We have a native, yellow sweet clover here, but I have never heard of white sweet clover.
White sweet clover brought here for bee pasture. Bees supposedly can make make 200 lbs honey per acre off this.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melilotus_albus
This may be what you have - but not native to the US:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melilotus_officinalis
Plant both in combination and get six to seven weeks of flowering. Deer like it and a great soil builder.
Then there is Hubam clover - same as white sweet clover - but an annual instead of a perrenial. These clovers make a highly prized, very light honey. I have seen no other plant utilized by bees like these sweet clovers. They get six feet tall.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melilotus_albus
This may be what you have - but not native to the US:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melilotus_officinalis
Plant both in combination and get six to seven weeks of flowering. Deer like it and a great soil builder.
Then there is Hubam clover - same as white sweet clover - but an annual instead of a perrenial. These clovers make a highly prized, very light honey. I have seen no other plant utilized by bees like these sweet clovers. They get six feet tall.
Turkey Creek
5 year old buck +
Yes that is the yellow clover we have here, made the assumption that it was native as you see it everywhere here and its not considered invasive or a noxious weed. Good deal sounds like the white might grow as well here, though I see the yellow handles drier conditions better which describes my location. Worth a small trial though.
Shannon Hall
A good 3 year old buck
This is encouraging in regards to the spray. I'm surprised that you don't see a lot of action in your white clover but I'm guessing it's because you have other options. All I have is ladino and both plots are full of pollinators all the time (including wild honey bees). I'm wondering if I see so many because I'm in the woods and the small plots are the only game in town??
I'd be willing to add additional varieties of clover to my fields for the sake of bees. My main focus is deer of course, but if they will eat the variety mentioned above and the bees burn it up, I'd be willing to sow the sweet clover into my ladino. Think that would work?
The white and yellow sweet clover would take away your ability to manage your ladino - you couldnt mow your ladino because the sweet clovers get so tall. Sweet clovers are great for planting on sites where other plants dont do well - drier, poor quality soils.
My bees only occassionally work my ladino clover. I even planted it in my front yard next to two hives and they did not work it heavily. My property backs up to 29,000 acres of a watery swamp - water lilies, water lotus, alligator weed - a plethora of aquatic plants unaffected by drought - and I see thousands of bees working those plants whenever I am fishing
Turkey Creek
5 year old buck +
Native bees like undisturbed soil, but some exposed dirt. Many native bees are ground nesters. Also leave dead hollow snags that are not a hazard, hollow trees are good nesting sites for feral honey bees. Planting native blooming plants that cover a longer portion of the growing season is a plus as well.
Shannon Hall
A good 3 year old buck
Makes sense.....Maybe I'll do a pollinator zone and include some sweet clovers as mowing has been a crucial part of the plan for the ladino.
