Starting a Bee colony / hive ??

[Mabouya]

When you finally get your bees, you have to name them.

The Borg.

[11.4]

Seems like a good place to as, lots of varied knowledge here, so ...

I have been thinking over the last couple of years that I want to establish a hive or colony of bees in the back yard. Give them lots of food, with my yard and the others nearby, and a safe place to do their thing.

Anyone here have any recommendations / wisdom on how to go about this?

Buy a website. Call it Velocipede Salon. Stand back.

[11.4]

The Borg.

See previous post.

[11.4]

A little more seriously, I used to live on Bainbridge Island and had hives. No, just shut up. Not that kind.

You're lucky insofar as there are many beekeeping suppliers and organizations all around Puget Sound and the Straits.

When you say "mountain desert climate" you are in Okanogan or thereabouts?

There are local and national organizations in the US and also in BC, but this one in the US is very helpful:

- Puget Sound Beekeepers Association

They have lots of people who like to help, you can work with a couple people with apiaries to learn the ropes, and they get all kinds of deals or trades on equipment and bees. You'll never have to buy bees with them around. The swarm list on their website is always intriguing, sometimes very humorous. There are a number of organizations in Spokane, Idaho, and up through the Okanogan valley.

You can also rely on these in Canada (with some local Okanogan groups):

BC Beekeeping Associations

I've gotten bees from these people before and also learned a lot about cold weather management of hives:

Kamloops Beekeepers - Kamloops Beekeepers

Here are a couple equipment and bee vendors I've used:

Betterbee

Mann Lake Ltd. | The World's Largest Supplier of Beekeeping Supplies > Mann Lake LTD

About Us

I've also used this one in Burnaby:

B.C. Bee Supply - Vancouver , B.C. - Bee Supplies , Bee Equipment .

There are many others as soon as you begin to look. Even Tractor Supply and similar farm supply places carry most of what you need for bees.

Generally there are efforts to facilitate bee transport across the Canadian border, but you can run into hassles at times. Sometimes the nicest bees are twenty miles over the border but aren't approved by your ag department for import yet. However, the Canadian government is much more helpful than the US one when it comes to beekeepers; here's the website to start with:

Bees (Apiculture) - Province of British Columbia

These guys can also be helpful:

Home - BC Honey Producers Association

Anyway, that's just for starters. Beekeepers are almost universally very friendly and helpful and you can usually get your first bees free, especially if you've worked a few times with some established beekeepers. They always have swarms or have apiaries to split, and the faster a hive is growing, the better the source it is for a new apiary. There are local differences among bees and some people have great bees, others have so so bees, so start with something raised in your own area and under your own conditions, then go abroad to look for others.

Don't forget that half of beekeeping is gardening. You want to choose your local flowering plants and have lots of them so you can choose the qualities of the honey you make.

[rwsaunders]

We ran out of honey and my aunt and uncle only live about 5 miles from me, so I stopped in late this afternoon to pick up a 2# jar...a few years ago I mentioned in this post that my uncle is a beekeeper. Neither he nor my aunt will take my money so I have to trade a couple of loaves of raisin bread and have a beer or two around his kitchen table. They keep a 1/2 dozen or so hives behind their machine shop and another 150 or so scattered in the area. He's been at it for almost 50 years with a high school friend...claims the honey and byproducts pay for his "bad habits"...boating and skiing. The bees are pretty slow right now given the cold weather and he told me that he feeds each hive a 4# sugar cake over the Winter in order to keep them active. If you ever need advice, I can connect you with him, as I have with a bunch of folks. Uncle Tom is a great guy and always ready to help out fellow beekeepers. He claims that to be a beekeeper, all that one needs is a weak mind and a strong back...

[Mabouya]

We ran out of honey and my aunt and uncle only live about 5 miles from me, so I stopped in late this afternoon to pick up a 2# jar...a few years ago I mentioned in this post that my uncle is a beekeeper.

Neat.

Just out of curiosity, why are the bricks on the lids (placed there presumably to keep them weighted down) standing on end?

You'd think that they would be more stable and less likely to topple over accidentally if they were on one of the other sides.

[rwsaunders]

Neat.

Just out of curiosity, why are the bricks on the lids (placed there presumably to keep them weighted down) standing on end?

You'd think that they would be more stable and less likely to topple over accidentally if they were on one of the other sides.

Raccoons near his shop and he’s had a few black bear issues with some of his more remote hives.

[j44ke]

I can't believe I know this (and I don't know the specific details so RW double-check with your Uncle to be sure I am not making this up) but after keeping the lid on, the position of the brick displays the condition of the hive. Mainly whether or not the hive has a queen, but I know there are other things, I just can't remember what they are.

My sister-in-law is an absentee landlord for a very successful hive of bees in her yard. Her first attempt the bees would swarm if she didn't visit them daily. This bunch, I don't think she has opened the hive in years. They seem fine with that.

[rwsaunders]

Working on an answer gents. I reached out to my kid and he told me that they weighted the lids down in the rural fields and sometimes strapped them, depending on the animal disturbance. He also said as Jorn suggested that the bricks are a marker of sorts but he didn’t recall the purpose. Text sent to Unlce Tom with the question...will reply as soon as I hear back.

[rwsaunders]

Here’s the text response that I just received...good job Jorn.

They are weights so that when animals attempt to get in or a strong wind blows the insulated covers stay on and I also use them to tell me status of the hive. Something like if the queen needs to be replaced or the hive is weak or the hive is dead or in need of further inspection or attention. Beekeeper secret signs.

[mzilliox]

My wife and I keep bees. Its fun and rewarding and we learn every year. Get a book, follow the steps, and have fun. its much easier than it seems, and the bees are much more calm than youd expect, except when they arent. your pollination in the garden will thank you, i had an insane peach year last year!
beekeeping groups are happy to help. there is always a bee nut ready to come to your house and show you around the hives.

[j44ke]

Here’s the text response that I just received...good job Jorn.

They are weights so that when animals attempt to get in or a strong wind blows the insulated covers stay on and I also use them to tell me status of the hive. Something like if the queen needs to be replaced or the hive is weak or the hive is dead or in need of further inspection or attention. Beekeeper secret signs.

Whew. I am relieved. Pulled that out of the recesses of the gray cells. Lots of cobwebs.

[Too Tall]

Nice to see this thread. I've got a special place in my heart for anyone who raises bees. That is the good work.

I'll put this out here. Anyone in USDA zones 6a,6b,7a,7b who has bees and bikes I'll trade NFS for the good stuff. I use local honey every day.