bee keeping

just_a_tree_guy

just_a_tree_guy

Location
pitts pa
i am very interested in bee keeping and did not know if any of you guys may be . i am a total newbie . what do i need to do to get started on the right foot ? i would like to get honey bees . i am blessed to live on a 130 acre farm i got at the end of last year.i dont see as many bees as i saw growing up as a young boy . i have alot of plans for this place as i am also interested in farming as well . i am going to start farmimg pumpkins and garlic . part of the land i lease to other farmers who grow soybeans .i know how important bees are to our own survival . plus you get honey out of the deal to . i was also thinking of planting fruit trees so when they flower the bees can enjoy them . by having fruit trees for the bees you can get different flavored honey right ?
 
You need to make sure your other farmers are not using genetically modified seeds for their soybeans. They are known to really mess up bee hives. Also you want to get the hives in spring or summer if not wait till the following year.
 
ABC of bee keeping is the "book" to get.

Also you can contact various beekeeper supply shops for catalogs.

Contact your county extension service for local supplier as well as the names of people that sell bees..Most people in the northeast get bee from a southern supply house and there is usually someone that goes down south to pick up the packages.. you can get packages of bees (bees and a queen in a cage) or Nucs ( bees and a queen with frames as well with eggs and some honey). as a beginner I would recommend the Nucs over the Packaged bees.
You can buy the hives unassembled and put them together yourself, but you should be moving along to do this ASAP so your hives will get the spring nectar and build up nicely...


hope this helps.
 
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the farmers are using genetic modified seeds , very disappointing . i plan on farming totally organic non genetic modified seeds . does this mean i am screwed ?

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In general, we're all screwed, but the bees aren't about to talk about it. We have gm seeds and gm trees, and gm babies thanks to various lusts for revenues. Subtle unexpected consequences screw everything.

Having said that, get some advice, get some bees, and marvel in their magic and "complicated/simplicity." Honey isn't anywhere as GM as Splenda. Hey, go for it !


Glucose Bob



PS: Using jomoco's reference, here's an excerpt discussing a natural GM intervention. They're even more of a marvel.

Royal jelly is a milky-white cream, strongly acid, rich in protein, sugars, vitamins, RNA, DNA, and fatty acids.

How the jelly creates queens is connected with the production of an insect hormone. "Apparently royal jelly does its work through its effect on juvenile hormone," says Camazine. This amazing hormone can, for example, keep caterpillars in the larval stage and prevent them from developing into adults. It puts them into an 'eternal youth' state and keeps them there.

It's likely that lots of royal jelly changes juvenile hormone levels in maturing larvae so females fully develop their egg-producing organs, says Camazine. The jelly seems to influence hormone level so that workers (who don't get enough of jelly) fall into an 'eternal youth' state but queens (who get plenty) don't and therefore mature.

No other bees are immediately affected by feeding jelly to the queen larvae. The nurses are jelly-producers and feeders as a normal part of all worker bee development. These nurse bees are young workers, about 3 to 10 days old. They make royal jelly in glands near their mouthparts.

What happens if the royal-jelly feeding is interrupted or stopped? "This never happens in nature," says Camazine. We tinker with such phenomena in the laboratory to better understand what's going on. We know that feeding more jelly to worker larvae results in a bee that's something in between (intercaste) — neither queen nor worker. Probably the same thing happens if we were to stop feeding jelly to a queen.

By the way, ancient Egyptians kept honeybees over 5,500 years ago.
 
Unexpected consequences Bob?

Monsanto engineered these GMO crops to put off sterile seeds specifically so the farmers would be dependent on them for their next crop's seeds.

Much like a heroin dealer getting his customers dependent on him to maintain their highs.

Much like Wal Mart putting their small fry mom and pop rivals out of business by under selling them with cheap communist slave labor produced goods.

Welcome to the world of corporate global consolidation into the hands of the few at the expense of the many.

Get them hooked but good, then raise the price incrementally but inexorably.

You are no longer a citizen, just a consumer in your milking stall.

Jomoco
 
thank for all your help guys . bob very interesting . it stinks that this is how it is these days . why do we have to be ruled by the almighty dollar . i want to make money to but i will always keep my intrigity first . i have people here that are always wanting there trees topped . i try to educate them some will listen others will not so i tell them if you want your trees topped i am not your guy . i am learning about how to keep bees first before i keep them . if i have to wait till next year to start then i will if it is better to get them in early spring . i have no problem with that as it is in the best interest in the bees not mine . which is how i feel about everything i do, what is best for what you are doing not what is best for you . thanks guys i am honored to be able to have your imput . take care .
smile.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
Unexpected consequences Bob?

Monsanto engineered these GMO crops to put off sterile seeds specifically so the farmers would be dependent on them for their next crop's seeds.

Much like a heroin dealer getting his customers dependent on him to maintain their highs.

Much like Wal Mart putting their small fry mom and pop rivals out of business by under selling them with cheap communist slave labor produced goods.

Welcome to the world of corporate global consolidation into the hands of the few at the expense of the many. Get them hooked but good, then raise the price incrementally but inexorably.

You are no longer a citizen, just a consumer in your milking stall.

Jomoco

[/ QUOTE ]


Such a mooving perspective.
smile.gif


Unexpected for us. They all knew; their corrupted scientists knew; their management knew; and likely the regulators were suspicious. We're all collateral damage while their apologists whine that "there's no proof or scientific evidence."

They turn a gene sideways, then sterilize the seeds so the farmer can't steal some from the crop; then they sue the farmer whose land has been found with other's seeds--under the assumption that the farmer did it intentionally. Can't wait for speed cameras to catch motorists driving too fast and disturbing Rounup Ready quiet zones.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/04/business/energy-environment/04weed.html?pagewanted=all


The general game plan is: Get it out as quickly as possible; market it (lie); build a big cash cushion; and settle judiciously with what's been amassed. Oh yes, and get a no guilt clause... boilerplate from the feds and others that that prevents other suits.




Leave me Alonowicz
 
I was reading the other day that monsanto is joining up with a major bee institute to try and Engineer BEES so that they are resistant to what is killing them. I see another corporate take over next, new rules and regs so they can farther have complete control.
 
Hey there. I got into bees last year with 2 colonies. I knew nothing when I started and so far I know just a little. Getting bees is probably the coolest thing to have they are just so fun to watch. But for the most part they take care of them selves. You need to watch for swarming, mites and disease, and taking to much honey before the winter so they don't starve.
This is only a hobby for me at the moment but I might get into it in a hard way in the near future.
I got a lot of information from local hobby bee keepers, as well as the joining the local Beekeepers Association, and beesource.com a forum like here.
"The Practical Beekeeper, beekeeping naturally by Michael Bush" this is a good read.
As for the location, on my parents front lawn, on our farm. we grow a lot of alfalfa and have all kinds of wildflowers in the pasture fields and along the creek. This year were going to plant a few acres of buckwheat and see how that goes.
 

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There is a guy in NJ that is very good Bob Hughs if you would like to contact him let me know.He comes up to the farm the on the weekends..
 
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