Monday 20 May 2013

Harbouring Bees




Oh my.  I attended a workshop last night on harbouring bees.  Let me tell you, it seems rather complex!  After 4 hours, any prior confidence was totally shattered.   My how hard can it be?  attitude was humbly transformed into "what have I got myself into?" by the end of class.

Whoa.

I suppose like anything, once you get going, you learn "on the fly".  My first task in this journey is to read more - a lot more!  I've got PLENTY on my plate this year with my course and the developments to our property, so I'm thinking that next year would be BEE year.  I'd like to have more plantings in place to support the bees and that IS going to take some time.

I'm appealing to my readers for advice today - if you've kept bees, could you recommend books for me?  Also, I'm particularly interested in holistic/natural disease prevention/management.  It would seem to me that there are an awful lot of diseases and pests that affect bees and I'm not thrilled about using the recommended poisons/chemicals to treat.

Hit me with your best tips and resources!




10 comments:

  1. We have yet to get into this area as well, but my neighbor mentioned a guy in town who will set up a hive and manage the bees, and then give us half the honey just for the use of our land! It sounds so great and something I'm going to look into. Maybe there's someone in your area who does that, too?
    -Jaime

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  2. I don't know anything about keeping bees. I do know there is someone in my area that does it "big time". I buy his honey. I saw a lot of bees this week end, buzzing in the blooms of the cacti. I'm impressed with your efforts to learn, especially while taking care of your family.

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    1. Thanks, Meggie :) I'd love to have honey for my family but also I'd like to have better pollination and stronger biodiversity on our land. Bees seem to be a really good way to do that...

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  3. Friends of ours in Calgary have two hives in their backyard (legal in Calgary but not legal in Edmonton, apparently) and they said it was reasonably easy to do. Yes, there can be problems but you can learn as you go (they say). Good luck with this--I think it is a great idea.

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    1. Thanks, Bob :) Yes, it IS still illegal in Edmonton, but I know of people who have them anyway. I live rurally so it's not an issue for me. My main concern is that there is canola grown near me (GMO). I'm not crazy about GMO canola honey which is why I want to REALLY boost the plantings on our property to provide a lasting and diverse amount of pollen for them (that's NOT from genetically altered plants and trees).

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  4. I bought three hives last year...only one survived. Learning curve. I am trying to keep my bees as naturally as I possibly can. The bees have been doing their thing for thousands of years before man started keeping them. I figure they know how to do what they do. Since I also keep livestock,we don't believe in giving antibiotics to our animals, why would I give it to my bees?! You will have to be careful in what books and advice you get. Alot of commercial beekeepers believe in taking all the honey in the fall and than feeding sugar to the bees all winter. I leave the honey for the bees. I took two frames of honey this spring. What they make between now and the fall is theirs to feed off of through out the winter. Of all the books out there, there is one I highly recommend. Practical Beekeeper by Michael Bush. He also has a website http://www.bushfarms.com/ This is where I would start. I hope this helps you out.

    Cheryl

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    1. Thank you - YES - that's good advice! The class I took was taught by someone who learned from a commercial beekeeper. Her methods seemed to revolve around a lot of intervention and feeding/treating. I want to keep bees as naturally as possible so YES, I'll read that book - thank you for the recommendation :)

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  5. What about starting with mason bees ?

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    1. Great idea, Jen. I've been looking up plans to make houses for them :)

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