Green Living
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Anyone keep bees?
I was curious if anyone keeps bees? We are possibly getting a hive this year or will be in the next couple of years. Last year I had low yields in my veggie garden but plenty of blossoms and I think that I have a pollination issue. We are in the process of finding out if our city allows hives. There aren't any rules against hives but we want to get the green light from the city so that we don't sink money into a hive and then a complaining neighbor has the city make us get rid of it. I am also a little bit scared about the time required and having too many bees around. We have a small lot but I am told that three feet from the hive and you won't even notice them. I have joined a bee club and am considering taking the year to educate myself properly so that next year I will be more knowledgeable and secure in the decision. Any opinions appreciated!
Re: Anyone keep bees?
The bee club I joined is not online it's a local group. I will have to look into if someone would put one of their hives on our property as a trial run, I didn't think about that.
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We sort of have bees. I say "sort of" because we had a hive, but lost them in the summer due to mites and wax moths.
We ordered a nuc hive that we'll get in the spring so we can try again.
Our yard is pretty small (about 0.2 acres) and the hive is right near our house/screened in porch. It's behind some shrubs so people can't see it easily. While there aren't any regulations against having bees in town, we don't want to make the neighbors mad or afraid. For us, having them behind the bushes is also good because when the bees leave the hive they fly up over the bushes and then continue. This means they are usually high enough that people don't really notice them. You can definitely watch them fly in & out if you are looking, though. Sometimes they also like to "hang out" on the front of the hive in the evening when it's hot. They are usually out during the day (not the entire hive, of course) and generally farther away. Ours don't seem to hang around our yard very much when it's sunny and warm. It's not problem to walk past the hive, even when they are active. If you don't agitate them, they are unlikely to bother you.
They don't need constant work, but they do need attention. You'll have to add frames & supers at different times and possibly supplement them with sugar water. You'll also need to check them for mites and moths. This is something we didn't do often enough and it caused us to lose the hive.
See if your local extension office has a beekeeper on staff. Ours does and he'll come and help you if you need it. They also offer classes for beginners. They are some good books that are helpful, too. I have to admit that I was still too timid to work with them (DH did it), but I found them fascinating to watch. I also felt like I was doing something good for the planet that was also a cool hobby.
I do recall that it seemed like we were always buying some kind of thing for them. More frames, another super, entrance restrictor, etc. We don't have a local supply store so it added up with shipping. Not to mention the few hundered for the starter kit and the bees. Once you have those things you can keep using them, though, but the start up costs are something to consider.
Best of luck!
This is a great post, I was actually thinking about bee keeping the other day, when I came across this:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/43687021/mason-bee-house
Has anyone used one before? I'm curious if this would be a good route to go just to have some bees in the yard for pollination, which is what I think I need for my gardens to be more successful this year.