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Adventures in Beekeeping

MrsKK — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 05:49:47 GMT

This is the first entry in my beekeeping journal and I warn you - it is LONG!

April 8, 2012
The Hiving of the Bees

Rachel being gone for the weekend and today being Easter, I knew I was on my own with getting the bees into the hive. I read through the instructions in Beekeeping for Dummies once more, pulled myself up by my boostraps and geared up.

Michele had warned me that the packages didn’t have the typical piece of wood stapled over the can of syrup, so I took along an old plate to cover the opening. I also took along a handful of marshmallows, knowing I would be a bit flustered and likely to drop them. I had my tote all ready to go and headed out to do the deed.

A few bees escaped when I pulled the syrup can out of the package, but I wasn’t too worried. They were buzzing around, seeming interested, but calm. I was also very comforted by my bee jacket and veil but did not have gloves on. I kept them in the tote, just in case I felt the need.

When I pulled the queen cage out of the larger package, I saw that I would regret not having my pocket knife along to pry the cork out of the end of the queen cage. The capping fork worked just fine, though. All ready to put the marshmallow in, imagine my horror when I realized that I had lost my queen! Full of regret, I took a deep breath and moved onto the next step.

I thunked the package on the ground, as instructed, but it sure didn’t seem to shift the bees by much. Oh, well, they need to get in the hive, so I poured/shook them in as best I could. About a third of them were left, so I set the package in front of the hive, hoping they’d find their way in. I put the frames I’d removed back into the hive body and used the bee brush to shoo the bees down into the frame, placed the pollen patty on top of the bars and gently slid the cover onto the hive, hoping I wasn’t smooshing any bees in the process. Poor girls, I know I lost a few.

Thinking that maybe the book would have some advice for what to do in case of the loss of the queen, I was going to pick it up to page through it when I realized that the queen was walking around on the book! I was saved! Using the packaging from some hardware (plastic box with a piece of cardboard that slides into the back), I was able to recapture the queen. I thought it best to get her into the cage as quickly as possible but as soon as I slid the cardboard open a bit, she flew off! What a dunce! How in the world can one person lose her queen bee twice?

I’d make the call tomorrow to order a new queen. So I started tidying up. Everything was sticky – at one point, the girls were getting a bit rambunctious, so I had sprayed at a few of them to get them to quit flying around. What a mess. Good thing my tote is plastic. I had everything together, ready to take back up to the house and decided to look for the queen again. Where would I go if I were a queen bee? I started by looking low, as that’s where I’d found her the first time, but all I could see were workers. Then out of the corner of my eye, I could see that there was a cluster of bees on the lattice – in a place where I knew that I hadn’t sprayed any of the syrup. Imagine my joy when I saw the queen in the midst of about 20 workers, who all seemed to be attending her, rather than attacking her as I’d come to expect them to do.

I shooed the extra bees away and captured the queen again in my plastic box. That thing was coming in handy! Deciding that the other bees flying around would make me more nervous, I decided to take her up by the house to try to get her back in her cage. A bit of coaxing and a bit of ticking her off later, and she was where she belonged. I’d lost my marshmallows by this point, so held her in with my gloved finger and had Frank fetch the bag of mini marshmallows.

So the queen is once more ensconced in her cage and it is hanging between two frames, as all should be. There were still quite a few bees in the package, but I didn’t want to disturb them anymore, so decided we should do chores and give everybody a break. An hour later, there were probably 20-30 bees on the outside of the package and a handful inside. I decided to put the package a few feet away and see if the girls would abandon the package to be near their sisters at the hive. There was quite a cloud of bees flying around the front of the hive and several walking around the front face of it, but I figured they were just getting acquainted with their new home.

After a few minutes of watching, I checked out the package. Only a couple of bees left on and in it, so I used the bee brush to get the ones off the outside and shook the inside ones out. To my surprise, the cloud of bees around the hive had thinned out quite a bit and there were just a few of them crawling around on the front – most of them near the entrance. So removing the package was the right thing to do – I think it was confusing them.

All the drama has me worn out, but pleased at the outcome.

Ostrich eggs

mmessuri — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 05:38:01 GMT

I am looking for anyone who sells ostrich eggs as I would like to buy some for eating.

I have had no luck finding anyone via google so if you know of anyone then please drop me a line.

Thanks.

Know anything about Emus?

aussieln — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 05:48:31 GMT

i am going to be getting an emu soon through a rescue agency that is in need of a home . I haven't been able to find alot of information about them online. I was wondering if anyone had advice on proper housing, fencing, feeding, and well the basics on owning one of these beauties. I live in SW TN if that helps with the housing part. It gets cold do they need to be enclosed in bad weather? If anyone has or knows anything about the care of an emu Post back Thanks Heather

Wood grain silo

JohnnyAd — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 09:38:31 GMT

Bags of feed are becoming less practical. They started out about $10/bag and are now almost $15/bag. I'm going to start buying grain a ton at a time but need to store it some place.

Commercial grain silos are far to much money so I have been looking at images of the old wood ones and am thinking about making one of those.

i can make the base out of field stone and have it slope sides to middle and back to front so the grain rolls out a shoot. I was thinking about ripping 4 x 8 sheets of plywood into 2 x 8 sheets and using 10 of them to make the walls. Not sure how big around that will be but it would be 8 feet tall.

I'm a little worried about condensation with a stone floor and wood walls though. Anyone ever tried this? Do you use something else? If so what?

Buyers for Meat Rabbits

Dgowan — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 13:48:52 GMT

ANyone know where I can find other buyers for meat rabbits?? not the meat but the rabbits, we will not do the butchering.

Thanks

Cordless Clippers

cweick — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 06:33:46 GMT

Does anyone use them on their animals and which brand do you use?

Trying to find a safer way for son to clip his show pigs.

Human pass thru's

kmw — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 15:12:36 GMT

Think I saw this in a magazine somewhere. Wonder if anyone has ever tried it. From over head the fence line and pass thru woud look something like this. --------<-------- You can tell where a person would be able to pass thru, but the angle would be to sharp for a critter to turn and get thru.

I can see how it might work for horses, but would it work with other types of live stock; cows, alpacas, any other beasts?

No Turning Back Now! Muahahaha!

Aggie-Girl — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 16:09:33 GMT

So I felt like sharing that on April 14th around 2pm I will be picking up my 75 meat birds and the week after my 3 turkeys.

I have raised meat birds every year for one of my employers but have never raised then for myself so I will see if I can at least break even. The turkeys may kill me though, I know nothing about raising turkeys other than the fact they are so much uglier than meat birds (I know, it's crazy to think there is worse looking beasts than meat birds) and that they are not good with chickens in the same pen. I have bought only 3 in hopes one will survive so I have a turkey for Xmas. We shall see......

I'm so excited!! I can't un-order them now! :)

Vetericyn

cweick — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 13:12:44 GMT

Has anyone bought this and how did you like it?

Pros and Cons of Getting an ALL NATURAL

cweick — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 06:07:40 GMT

Has anyone every received a health certificate on an all natural hog or any other species before?

How hard was it to get one?

Lease vs More Beef Cows

tater417 — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 07:51:16 GMT

I have a 14 acre farm that I lease 8 acres out to a local farmer for crops. It does not pay much, but pays enough to help with taxes and still keep it in agriculture. I also have about 4 acres in pasture, and I am raising my first two beef cows that will be ready in the spring. I was just wondering if it would be more profitable to turn some or all of the leased property into pasture and get more cows rather than lease it out. It seems like what I will make off of 1 head will be just about what I am getting for my lease. I understand the more cows….the more hay in winter plus grain to feed them out. Any thoughts?

If you could only feed one grain...

blue lotus — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 19:39:24 GMT

If you could only feed one grain to all your various herd animals/flocks (goat, pig, poultry, etc.), what would it be? And why?

Thanks!

Got into the hatching egg section of Ebay

Farmermom — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 08:52:40 GMT

And boy am I going to be in TROUBBBBBBBBBBLLLLLLLLEEEEEEE when my eggs start arriving, I just won an auction for 5 Royal Palm Turkey eggs and I'm bidding on eggs for Buff/White Sepastopols & White Sebastopols (4 to 6 eggs total).

Poor hubby isn't going to know what to do when the entry area of the livingroom becomes my incubator/brooder area until it warms up more here - it was almost 70* yesterday and snowing today . I'll get the table for the incubator set up in the next couple days and get that ready so that the middle of the week when my eggs arrive I'll be ready to go.

Last Night's Gift ?

cweick — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 09:02:33 GMT

Well this week I've been up and down with the dog a barking. Wishing I could line my sights on the male that's been watering the tires on the trucks.

But last night I went out the back door instead of the front and I was growled at. NOT a good feeling. Luckly it was a juve opossum between the trash cans (with no food) and the house with a piece of pumpkin in it's mouth. Thought hard about waking up hubby and endded up waking him to confirm my fears. You can't shoot him because he's too close to the truck, to close to the house and more importantly to close to the propain line. Needless to say all I could do was go and get the live trap and put a marshmellow in it and hope it did not have any sense at 11:00 at night.

Well this morning I did have something in the trap and it was the dog...

So with pullets refusing to go in the coop at night. Ruby getting closer to her due date and now I know WHY I've been missing a pumpkin a night for the last couple of days.

Did you know that opossum eat pumpkins? I did not know that until last night.

Life is unadventful and full of wisedom if you understand what Mother Nature gives you.

Hay

krussell — Fri, 20 May 2011 08:48:02 GMT

Because of the drought here I am having to put out hay for my cows. BUT due to the drought the hay selection is pretty bad.

I have read about people adding or injecting their round bales with molasses to make poor hay more palatable.

Have any of y’all done this?

If So, what method did you use? (I don’t have the money or the herd to justify investing in the commercial injection systems I have seen)

Does this create a huge ANT problem?

Is there any other hay supplement commercially available for this application?

Any input is greatly appreciated.

THANKS

Yet ANOTHER Problem with the Fence Charger

cweick — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 08:53:46 GMT

Just when you think you have the housing weather/critter proof. There is always something smart then you. Always on hand when we open any of them the wasp spray is in one hand and you open oh sh gently. But NEVER expected this family of gliders to be in there.

OOPS

Jasper08 — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 11:32:18 GMT

Went out and have at least one baby chick... 2ft off the ground

Ok really need help here now..should I move them now or give some time to see if the others hatch? I did put a bowl of water in the nesting box with the hen...that hopefully the chicks can get to.. It was all nice and fluffy looked good..(she let that one out so am not sure if there are more under her or not, couldn't get her to move)

Should I put a barrier between her and the other chickens for a few days? or can I just move her down to the floor in the main coop?

Dr. Naylor

cweick — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 09:34:35 GMT

Has any one used this on chickens?

What other animal have you used it on?

Water Trough ?

cweick — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 06:45:38 GMT

Looking for a water trought that holds at least 50 gallons, yet short enought for P2's two pigs to get in and out of it with easy. Do you have any recommendations on brand names or sites that I can look and purchase from?

I purchased a 50 gallon Rubbermade water trough from the co-op. Neither Ruby or Summergirl could in it, so we moved it to Choc and Chips pen. But I give them another month and they will be too big for it.

I'd purchased a $15 dollar kiddy pool, but with (1) 400# preg gilt and a (1) 275# gilt it will not make it but a month (I think).

Feeding Syringes

cweick — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 12:34:44 GMT

Looking for one that can hold liquid like SwinePrefer Iron Boost.

Does anyone know of a good brand or which brand name they had problems with?

Thanks

buying goats

ihenigman2 — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 07:38:05 GMT

im working towards starting a spanish goat herd the closest farms ive found are 2 to 3 hundred miles from me and they are asking between two and three hundred per kid im wandering if i will be able to sell my kids for that much money or if they will end up at the sale for a buck a pound

P + R = 2

cweick — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 17:07:07 GMT

"Now this is going on the 3rd time Ruby2, don't make me go and punch another hole in your halter." by P2

Breeder, sows what to do with them

Rhodenhome — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 07:16:20 GMT

Hello, we are thinking of a couple of sows to sell feeder pigs in our local area. The problem we are running into is what do we do with the sows after a couple of years and litters? Try to sell/barter them off? Slaughter for meat? We know at that point they are going to be fatty meat and probably not as good. I am thinking sell it off to another farmer. Any one have any thoughts? Would it be better to keep one or two for breeding purposes.

Thanks the Rhodens

Clipping Ducks wings

HeatherN — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 20:18:59 GMT

I want my ducks to be free range most of the time, we have th rouen ducks I was wondering if we have to clip their wings to keep them from leaving home?

Replacing the old hens tomorrow

Amy Grisak — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 17:59:53 GMT

The chicks are in at our local Big R store so tomorrow we're going to replace our old hens. We're giving the four elderly fowl back to the man who gave them to us. We didn't want to kill them because he'd be upset (and he lives just a few doors down). He was happy to take them back saying, "They can die here of old age just like all of the others." ( He has hundreds of birds.) It should be fun to to have the babies here!

On the old hen front, one of the four refuses to go into the roost. She hunkers down on top of a straw bale. She doesn't even go under the coop. We have to grab her and put her inside or I'm sure she'll freeze to death.

time to browse

ihenigman2 — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 10:22:59 GMT

southern illinois the leaves are on everything my goat is spending alot of time eating off the trees and bushes he hasnt been eating as much of his grain since spring has sprung is that normal

Hybrid Cross vs. Pure Breed

cweick — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 08:42:04 GMT

Does a hybrid cross in any breed of animal "always" grow faster then a pure breed animal?

Using Wheat Bran as a laxative

cweick — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 08:02:31 GMT

Can you purchase wheat bran from the co-op or do you have to purchase it at the G store?

Does anyone know how much you add to your sow's diet the week before and after the farrowing process?

Getting Ruby Ready

cweick — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 10:38:39 GMT

"Get behind the ears good while you at it."

Mr. Kenneth decided to come and pick her up and then we will go and get her to spilt the drive. Two sacks of feed and his pick for stud service, sounds good to me. Ruby done very well with the bath, but she wants to go back onto her earthy pen. Sorry Ruby, Summergirl has been moved to the old boar pen and yall pen has an 1/2" think layer of lime.

Why Transylvanian Chickens Have Naked Necks

cweick — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 12:23:18 GMT

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/110315-transylvanian-naked-neck-chicken-churkeys-turkens-science/

And it took them how long to find out that it's all in their genes???

New Baby on our Farm

Jasper08 — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 06:13:59 GMT

Well we had our first calf this morning, haven't gone out yet, but hubby says it looks good.. Will go out after shower. Hopefully will have a few more today!

Lost cow/calf on Monday, one of my herefords. She was fine at 12;30 and dead in the pasture at 4:30. When I left she was standing in the pasture and wasn't in distress. I had to leave and when my son came home from school she was dead.

Happy St. Patricks day.. should call it pat, but giving that honor to my nephew who is going to share his birtday...

New to Ducks

HeatherN — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 08:23:18 GMT

my husband would like to get a couple ducks to have around just for entertainment for him and my son I have a couple questions.

#1 He wants the ducks to be free range and I don't ( I don't want poop on my new lawn) can ducks be free range when we are out side and be put in a chicken tractor sort of thing?

#2 how big of a " chicken tractor" would I need for 2 ducks?

#3 what kind of special acommadations do ducks need?

#4 is my garden safe from the ducks?

#5 do I set up my brooder them same as when I had chicks?

#6 my husband wants a pretty duck I would like one that lays eggs. do all ducks lay eggs ?

I know this is alot of questions but I know nothing about ducks. this was my compromise. He wanted an ostrich and I told him how about a couple ducks instead lol :)

thank you so much

I'm HAPPY

cweick — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 13:56:20 GMT

Can you throw my stick? After 9 hrs in a dry green field, bellies are full and back into the red barn for the night. Both Ruby and Summergirl were so stiff legged that when I put them back into the field this morning they laid in the shade until 3 and are now getting thier bellies full of rye/wheat/clover.

Given their pen a rest and 300 #'s of lime, they want go back in that pen until it has time to recoop.

Cockoo Marans--Egg Color????

kycn — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 17:29:54 GMT

We bought about 15 cockoo marans from Meyer Hatchery last sept. They have started to lay a few eggs, still small, but coming on. We got them because they are the dark brown or "chocolate" eggs. The approx 8 or so we have gotten in the last say week have been the normal brown of our other eggs. I thought I had read that it depends on age and what they eat, or something like that, but I cannot find the information I had to confirm that. Anyone help????

Thanks

Baby lamb and goats

HeatherN — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 13:27:58 GMT

this spring I plan on setting up a weaning pen for my lambs and kids. I would like to see pictures of what other peoples pens look like? and what their babys play on when the mothers are away :)

Adding Ducklings to Brooder

greglamp — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 05:41:48 GMT

This is my first time raising ducklings. We purchased 4 ducklings a week ago and they are doing great. We only purchased four at the time because it is what they had, however we would like a larger flock than that. We have the opportunity to get more ducklings next Friday. My question is, can I add 4 - 8 more day old ducklings to the brooder I have set up, at that time it will have 4 2 week old ducklings?

From what I understand this would not work with chicks.

Best way to start raising cattle

JBp0ster — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 07:25:52 GMT

I want to start a small herd of beef cattle. Any suggestions on the cheapest and safest way to get started. I would like to start with about a $5k investment. I've got to start with figuring out how much pasture to fence off. I've got 50 acres but only about 25 is grass probably blue stem and fescue (and weeds). I could easily fence about 15 acres for about $2000 if I did most of the work myself.

So any recommendations about breed to start with. Or how many and is a cow calf pair best or raise bottle calves. And what minimum equipment do I need. I have a pond and small shed for shelter. Can buy hay from my neighbor if needed. Don't have any other equipment like coral or chute, etc. I've been around cattle a lot as a kid but never had my own. Just have chickens and my tractor and a garden so figured cows were a good next step. Oh btw I work full time and live in northeastern Oklahoma.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Hobby and Job combined

Jasper08 — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 21:04:00 GMT

Today, I went to a class/seminar on Modified live virus'. Actually there wasn't a lot of time devoted to that, but I found it was very informative for the hobby farmer (not having a farming background). It was put on by ND state board of animal Health. My place of employement (farm and ranch store) was required to send someone to go and I "won" by default. The first two hours I sat wondering what the heck I was doing there... I AM JUST A CASHIER! for the "job" it may not do me a whole lot of good, but as a "hobby" farmer it was excellent.

Incubating.

HeatherN — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 09:38:55 GMT

Last year I tried incubating two batches of chicks with no success. I am not sure if i am trying to hard or what but I am very frustrated. The eggs that I got did have a rooster with them does that always mean they are fertile?

I am not sure what I am asking for I just need someone who is experienced to give me some good incubating advice. both basic and advanced.

thanks

Off With Her Head!

Aggie-Girl — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 09:00:28 GMT

So I feel dumb if I call our slaughterhouse to ask how much it costs to slaughter meat birds when there is still a foot of snow on the ground so I will ask here.

How much is it a bird to slaughter and process? I have been trying to find out online and I found a man with a blog about his organic farm in Ontario and he said it cost $3.50 a bird. Which sounds so low but I don't know. I just would like to know now to have an idea how much my birds will cost.

Thanks!