Bee keeping

[SummerRain]

I've heard a lot about how bee keeping is really positive for the environment, how we don't have enough bees and pollenators are vital to the natural world.

I don't know where I stand on this because I don't understand much more about it than that. Is it helping bees? Do they get hurt? Do people think this is a good or bad thing to do?

I hope somebody knows because google is giving me little.

(I ask because a project I am interested in also has bee keeping projects so I'm trying to work out how I feel about it, I also think that if it didn't harm the bees in any way and was positive for them and the environment I might like to keep some one day... )

 

[Forster]

Bees are really positive for the environment, critical actually. Whether bee keeping is necessary is IMO up for debate. That being said many crops in North America are dependent on bee keepers moving their bees during pollination.

The big concern is the rapid decline bees have gone through. I'm not sure anyone has figured out definitely why, but IMO it is cause for concern. I googled to see if I could come up with some of the reasons, this one looked interesting. It's blaming GMO crops, whether true or not I don't know.

http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=25950

 

[mlp]

I keep bees. I'll write more later - it's not something I can address quickly.

What Forster is referring to is Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). That too is an important topic, and if it continues at its current pace, it will affect our planet in ways that most people haven't even started to realize.

ETA: Don't let me kill the discussion, please. It's going to be a day or so before I post more on this thread - had a bit of an animal health crisis, and am somewhat brain impaired ATM because of it.

 

[FortyTwo]

ETA: Don't let me kill the discussion, please. It's going to be a day or so before I post more on this thread - had a bit of an animal health crisis, and am somewhat brain impaired ATM because of it.

Good luck with that. I hope everyone is okay.

As for the bees, I think it'd be fine to start a colony as long as they weren't farmed for honey. That's the ethical problem with traditional beekeeping to me, because it's impossible to do without harming them at least a bit.

 

[mlp]

Good luck with that. I hope everyone is okay.

As for the bees, I think it'd be fine to start a colony as long as they weren't farmed for honey. That's the ethical problem with traditional beekeeping to me, because it's impossible to do without harming them at least a bit.

Well, that's the problem - they end up drowning in their own honey if you don't take some of it. But I'll describe in more detail later, when I'm less frazzled.

Yeah, Y.A.M. will be O.K. - antibiotic injections for the next week, but that should take care of it. I've just had a spate of health problems with various of the kids, and finding an abcess on Y.A.C. on top of everything else has just made me want to crawl into bed and sleep for two or three days.

 

[FortyTwo]

Well, that's the problem - they end up drowning in their own honey if you don't take some of it. But I'll describe in more detail later, when I'm less frazzled.

Yeah, Y.A.M. will be O.K. - antibiotic injections for the next week, but that should take care of it. I've just had a spate of health problems with various of the kids, and finding an abcess on Y.A.C. on top of everything else has just made me want to crawl into bed and sleep for two or three days.

Aww. I'm sorry.

 

[Freesia]

I saw someone empty a beehive once, and no bees were harmed. He used a smoker and the bees gathered in a clump. Then when he put the combs back the bees just returned to the box. He wasnt a commercial seller though, he just had a hobby beehive.

 

[Rosie1]

I've always been really curious about beekeeping, and especially since there's been a decline in the bees. I haven't read up on it much though so I'm not sure on the ethical side of it. I mostly would want to do it so they have a good environment to thrive and be taken care of. Just let them go about their business. We already get quite a few bees every year because of all the azalea bushes and other trees we have in the yard.

 

[Pickle Juice]

Well, that's the problem - they end up drowning in their own honey if you don't take some of it. But I'll describe in more detail later, when I'm less frazzled.

Does this happen to wild bees? If it does, what natural controls are there? Other animals who take the honey, like bears?

Yeah, Y.A.M. will be O.K. - antibiotic injections for the next week, but that should take care of it. I've just had a spate of health problems with various of the kids, and finding an abcess on Y.A.C. on top of everything else has just made me want to crawl into bed and sleep for two or three days.

Oh, I hope everyone is ok.


I have had some sort of a swarm of honey bees in my patio this spring, drinking, of all things, my dogs' urine. Hosing it down every day didn't stop them either. I'd never seen such a thing before. They have mostly gone now, but there are still a few who come around every day, and sip from where Daisy pees as soon as she goes out there and does it.

 

[FortyTwo]

Does this happen to wild bees? If it does, what natural controls are there? Other animals who take the honey, like bears?

I thought that bears actually invaded bees' nests to eat the bees themselves?

 

[Pickle Juice]

I think they go mostly for the honey, because they need calories, but if there are bees stuck to the honeycomb, they will eat them too.

 

[FortyTwo]

I think they go mostly for the honey, because they need calories, but if there are bees stuck to the honeycomb, they will eat them too.

Just looked it up, apparently they do both. Weird. They must be like honey badgers.

 

[Pickle Juice]

Ah they just need a lot of calories. Something like 12,000 a day I think, for the smaller ones. They do eat plenty of grubs, so I guess they wouldn't turn their noses up at bees.

 

[mlp]

Does this happen to wild bees? If it does, what natural controls are there? Other animals who take the honey, like bears?

There are all kinds of animals who take honey, from insects to rodents to raccoons to bears. I think that the premature mortality rate for bees in the wild has to be considerably higher also, and not just because of predation by larger animals such as bears, but because hives aren't as easily defended against other insects as manmade hives are, nor do they protect the colony from the elements as well. And fewer bees equals less honey, and less competition for space between the honey and the bees.

Oh, I hope everyone is ok.

Basically, yes, thank you. I have so many animals that I seem to almost always have some kind of health crisis going on. Someone on the parrot board of which I'm a member asked me how many lives I'm responsible for, and so I added them up and realized it was 69. And that was before the recent dumping here of three yearling cats and three kittens.

I have had some sort of a swarm of honey bees in my patio this spring, drinking, of all things, my dogs' urine. Hosing it down every day didn't stop them either. I'd never seen such a thing before. They have mostly gone now, but there are still a few who come around every day, and sip from where Daisy pees as soon as she goes out there and does it.

That's probably more to do with having a shallow source of liquid than the fact that it's pee. Bees need a source of water that they can easily access without risk of drowning. I happen to have a decorative bird bath that has enough raised and low spots that it works well for the bees, but a shallow dish with pebbles in it, filled only high enough that the pebbles are only partially submerged, works well.

 

[Pickle Juice]

...Someone on the parrot board of which I'm a member asked me how many lives I'm responsible for, and so I added them up and realized it was 69. And that was before the recent dumping here of three yearling cats and three kittens.

Wow.

That's probably more to do with having a shallow source of liquid than the fact that it's pee. Bees need a source of water that they can easily access without risk of drowning. I happen to have a decorative bird bath that has enough raised and low spots that it works well for the bees, but a shallow dish with pebbles in it, filled only high enough that the pebbles are only partially submerged, works well.

Ah ok. I was wondering if they were into the salt or something. We did have a very dry winter. My creek has dried up two months ahead of schedule.

 

[mlp]

Ah ok. I was wondering if they were into the salt or something. We did have a very dry winter. My creek has dried up two months ahead of schedule.

It was a dry winter and spring here too, and the summer is also turning out dry.

I suspect that very few people think about the need for water of insects and other invertebrates. I certainly didn't before I started keeping bees.

 

[Pickle Juice]

Yeah I have a bunch of tree frogs in my patio, so I hose it down every day. And the dragonflies love it when I water.

 

[beancounter]

My FIL is into beekeeping, but he's having trouble maintaining the colony.

He promised me a few gallons when the bees start producing enough. I'll use it to try my hand at making mead.

 

[shyvas]

Having read the above posts, I'm just amazed by all of your knowledge on animal/insect issues.

 

[MadamSarcastra]

Didn't know where to put this: Watch Live: The Bees Have Taken Over A Hot Dog Stand In Times Square

I had to make sure they weren't exterminated before I posted... "Update: The bees have moved to the suburbs—"

https://twitter.com/x/status/1034515764060020736