To BEE’S or not to BEE’S. Beekeeping 101 in the Backyard Garden
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I'm first just got in from planting seed.
Well – – When I read "To BEE'S or not to BEE'S" I was totally prepared to say "Mark, Beehave."
But then I saw the color of your walls. I had to take My laptop to My living room because I was in shock.
We have the same color on our living room walls. I don't know ANYONE else who has this color.
You want to start with at least 3 hives. Bees are not as resilient as when we were kids. If one hive loses a queen or does poorly, you can generate a new queen or borrow a frame of brood from another hive to supplement the deficit. While things are still a little slow you might want to fabricate more hives and order more frames. Lots of plans at https://beesource.com/build-it-yourself/ Can use a rabbet or just a plain butt joint vs. the box joints in hives. Perhaps plywood vs. the pine boards. Might not last quite as long as box joints. With reasonable care they'll easily last 10 years. Keep an open eye for places like Craig's List. Baby boomers are getting older so it is an opportunity for some good used equipment buys (like 10 cents on the dollar?) Sometimes heirs to an estate are "stuck with working beehives" and are happy to give them away to a good home.
Hi Mark! Congratulations on your upcoming bee project! I had Italian honey bees for many years. Loved having them. Still one of my favorite signs of spring was when the first bees exited the box in search of water and nectar. Research your early blooming nectar providing flowers. I found the Acconite (Euranthus), the Red Maple, and Sugar Maple were very important early food. If you have the Sap Sucker Woodpeckers, they'll create weepy holes in the bark of certain trees…your bees will find these as well! Fruit trees are often used for weeping spots. Just a few observations from experience. Honey bee hives also are great teaching subjects for responsible farming and landscaping practices. I convinced several neighbors to not use chemicals on their properties. A gift of 1 lbs honey jar was the sweet reward for them for their participation. Can't wait for your upcoming videos! God bless.
Thank you for the review so far. I've seen those and wondered if they are well built and use quality materials.
You mentioned possibly recreating the pieces.
If you're going to assemble many frames you may wish to check out "Quick and easy beehive frame assembly jig" video by Fall Line Ridge.
I started keeping bees in the spring of 2019. I made a top bar hive and two Langstroms. I ordered one package of Italian bees and put up two swarm boxes. I caught two swarms the first week of March (Georgia). Free bees!
Keeping bees can be a money pit when you start. The biggest expense this last year was sugar.We had a drought starting the last of July and I had to feed the bees since the golden rod and the asters all dried up. I still have 3 hives and plan to catch two more swarms this spring.
Don't forget your native pollinators. Plant for your bees and also the bumble bees, hummingbirds, and solitary bees. Eden brothers in North Carolina have Maximillan sunflower seed for sale. It is a native sunflower and are perennials. And blue salvia (S. nemorosa)is a perennial that the bumble bees and solitary bees love.
Now you will have a "honey do" list!
Finally, this is a pollen source chart for USDA Zone 5:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pollen_sources
I enjoy your channel.
Thank you Mark. As a beginner, I'm learning a lot from your videos as well as all the great comments.
This is so exciting! I look forward to learning along with you.
Mark, I really like how willing u are to try new things and share it with us all. Thanks for that and God bless you!! From Nova Scotia
Very interesting, thank you for sharing.
Hi Mark that is so exciting I love bees my Dad kept them as a hobby. He use to then produce various grads of honey and that was in Africa, he also had to go and cut down a particular tree around a certain distance of his hives every 3 years because nectar from the said tree was bitter. I have always thought of keeping bees. Looking forward to your honey harvest I love seeing them in my garden because it means the fruit blossoms are being pollinated. I grow many fruit trees. Thanks for the video.
I missed this video somehow, just found it. That's a well made hive you recieved. My first one would not fit together on the joinery so ended up purchasing one already made. This is the first year it will be put to use since I was worried about getting bees last spring and not being able to manage them well enough. Lookinng forward to watching your hive become active, thanks Mark.
Love this video so I watched it again, the depletion of bees is a big problem. Three years ago I saw no signs of bees in the garden and we had very few fruit that summer.