Hot tips from experience

[thepliedes]

Hi, anyone any hot tips not found in books to help a beekeeper? Anything to do with anything?!

 

[VEG]

yep listen to the answers then work out what works best for you as in beekeeping there is more than one way to get the same result. If I told you a way of doing something that works foe someone will come along and say its the wrong way.

 

[region2]

In my experience the string is about 8" long... ;-)

R2

 

[the beehive lodge]

day before you are to clear your bees for extracting clean each super by scraping (with the larges width i have one that can scrape four in one go)top bars and bottom bar whilst the super is on its side All frames still in place best do with two beek one on top and one on bottom
Why
gets rid of brace comb and the bees will clean them 24 before you have to end result let the bees do it for you and it saves time when uncapping and less messy

 

[scuttlefish]

In my experience the string is about 8" long... ;-)

R2

Wrong wrong wrong. 204mm.

Length-related double entendres deliberately avoided...

 

[scuttlefish]

Hi, anyone any hot tips not found in books to help a beekeeper? Anything to do with anything?!

Possibly in a book, but I heard it off an older beek - when you're putting supers on, don't use all new foundation (if possible), put a couple of frames of drawn comb at either end & new foundation in the middle. The bees'll be quicker to move up into the super & drawn fresh comb.

 

[Luminos]

Bin bags aren't wax-moth proof

 

[Adie]

After extracting wash out the extractor with cold water first; this stops any bits of wax which are left from melting.
Use honey washings to make fizzy lemonade/mead/wine.
Only feed bees sugar solution in the evening (if you have neighbours).

 

[Poly Hive]

Queens love to go up.

A very useful trait if you have a colony with wild comb. Put a normal hive on top then when she is up pop in an excluder.

PH

 

[fincaazul]

In my experience the string is about 8" long... ;-)

R2

Found in a '70s beekeeping magazine, "a bee's sting is one sixteenth of an inch long and it's temperature is the same as that of the air surrounding it. The extra six inches and five hundred degrees are in the imagination."

 

[Frisbee]

Never assume anything when dealing with people who have no beekeeping experience at all!

I had a call last week from a farmer to say he had a swarm hanging in a low tree. I turned up with all my gear including a spare suit and said he could put it on and give me a hand, he did (and the gloves) I wanted him to hold the box under the swarm.....he did and I dropped it in and them took it off him and put it down on the stand, he said 'Should this bee be inside the veil?'

Although the zips on the suits are pretty obvious to see, he didn't and thought it would be okay to just put the veil over his head and all would be well. I got the bee out and then spent a few minutes under his car port, ridding him of other bees and the suit and hoping his wife wasn't watching and wondering why I was undressing her husband.........

Frisbee

 

[Andy Duff]

bee-keeping is a cheap and easy way to obtain loads of honey

 

[mbc]

Hot tip from experience :
Dont hold your smoker between your knees if your flies are undone

 

[Meg]

The trouble with Honey is it is silent....

In theory that means you will never leave a honey tap unattended ever again, but....

 

[DorsetB]

1) Try and remember to turn off the electric fencing **before** sticking your leg over it while wearing shorts and carrying two full supers you have just taken off an angry hive,

2) Always light your smoker, even if you think you're not going to need it, however brief the operation you are going to undertake,

3) Always wear a veil of some sort, even if it's just a head veil and not a full suit if you don't want your last words to be: "just popping out to put the extracted supers back on the hives",

4) Unplug the phone and turn off your mobile when carrying out any sort of honey activity,

5) Remember to zip up your bee suit, not just put it on,

6) Don't wear Burt's Bees honey lip balm when inspecting your hives,

7) Handle your big plastic honey buckets with respect after filling: put them down too hard, and the bottom can split, causing honey to ooze out very slowly without you noticing before the dog does.

 

[Mart_got_hives]

Bees can sting through jeans

 

[meidel]

puff smoke on your hands/gloved hands before picking up the frames when inspecting, the bees usually get out of your way and you're less likely to squash any.

if bees start pinging on your suit, puff smoke on yourself to get them off.

 

[Jeff Buzz]

In my experience the string is about 8" long... ;-)

R2

Sorry but you are wrong its more like 10"

 

[oliver90owner]

Or as Woeski would answer - 42?

 

[thedeaddiplomat]

It's usually better to take your time and get it right at the first go.

And - the cardinal rule for me - if all else fails: think!