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51

GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Allow bees in and out whilst excluding butterflies?

« Last post by The15thMember on March 18, 2023, 09:01:24 pm »

Providing a shallow tray, half covered in pebbles and half with dirt, topped up with water to half cover the pebbles and keep the dirt/mud moist is no problem and covers the water/nesting materials (for mason bees at least. Presumable leaf cutter bees would find enough material in a veg patch for their needs?).

I imagine that would be fine.  Some masons and leafcutters are particular about their materials, but many are less so, and I imagine most would be able to adapt to whatever you provide.  Leafcutters sometimes prefer material that is a little bit thicker, which is why they love rose petals.  I have a ground cover called Creeping Jenny that my leafcutters hole punch all summer!    Some masons will only use native dirt, or prefer a particular consistency of mud, so there could be a little bit of trial and error figuring out what they like, but I can't imagine they'd be picky enough for the whole thing to fail if you didn't have it exactly right. 

That leaves food. Before and after the crops provide sufficient pollen and nectar for the bees; would a shallow container of sugar water (what ratio?) provide food for the rest if the year?

Keep in mind that solitary bees are usually not active as long as honey bees or bumble bees are.  Since the adults only live for one season, and aren't living in a large, temperature controlled hive, many are not active deep into fall, and many species are only active for a few weeks in the spring or summer, when their favorite flowers are blooming.  Put your first tubes out when your first garden flowers are blooming, and leave them up for as long as you have flowers in your garden, because you want to be sure you are catching bees that are active when your flowers are.  Definitely plant extra forage crops in your garden (and we can help you with recommendations for good nectar and pollen plants), so there isn't too much competition and you have a little bit of a buffer around your bloom times.  Just like with honey bees, sugar is a good emergency feed, if something doesn't go as planned, but it's far better for the bees nutritionally to have real nectar.  There isn't a lot of information about feeding other bees sugar water, so I'd be hesitant to do it, but it would be better than having them starve.     

52

GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: How many hives do you plan to keep for honey this season?

« Last post by Ben Framed on March 18, 2023, 08:22:05 pm »

Good luck with your sales Oldbeavo. I would suppose with all the trouble in NSW with the invasion of the varroa mite and a need to replace the lost hives, the demand of good bees will be high when the proper time is right which is a good thing for you and Karen, your fellow beekeepers there, and your country?

Phillip

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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Allow bees in and out whilst excluding butterflies?

« Last post by Buk on March 18, 2023, 08:08:18 pm »

As long as they were provided with everything they need (food, water, nesting material), I don't see why not.  And that camera sounds like a great idea! 

Providing a shallow tray, half covered in pebbles and half with dirt, topped up with water to half cover the pebbles and keep the dirt/mud moist is no problem and covers the water/nesting materials (for mason bees at least. Presumable leaf cutter bees would find enough material in a veg patch for their needs?).

That leaves food. Before and after the crops provide sufficient pollen and nectar for the bees; would a shallow container of sugar water (what ratio?) provide food for the rest if the year?

54

GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: How many hives do you plan to keep for honey this season?

« Last post by Oldbeavo on March 18, 2023, 07:37:33 pm »

We are at 180 at present but would like to sell 80 this Autumn to get back to a part time level of 100.
This is part of our semi retirement.

55

CRAFTING CORNER / Beeswax Deodorant/Antiperspirant

« Last post by The15thMember on March 18, 2023, 07:25:29 pm »

I'm working on perfecting a homemade deodorant/antiperspirant recipe right now.  I made a batch a few weeks ago, but I didn't like having the deodorant in a jar instead of a stick; it was too messy.  I also wanted it to be a little less creamy and more powdery.  So I bought some empty deodorant tubes from Amazon, and I added more beeswax and more starch to the recipe.  I tried it out today, and I'm pleased so far, although a 40F day isn't much of a test.    Anyone else ever tried making deodorant? 

56

GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Allow bees in and out whilst excluding butterflies?

« Last post by The15thMember on March 18, 2023, 07:06:07 pm »

(I also do not have the where-withall to purchase/build a hive; purchase a colony; learn to take care of them.)

Update: I guess a behive with two entrance slots one inside and one outside would work. But still, learning beekeeping in order to avoid tickling bean flowers with a paintbrush is a big commitment of time and dwindling grey matter :)

Thank you for being responsible enough to recognize that.  A lot of people don't view a hive of bees as having the same level of sentiency as they would, say, a puppy.  It leads to a lot of mismanagement and a lot of dead bees, because people just slap them in a box and leave them to fend for themselves. 

Put a hive close to the cage and run a pipe through the netting.  Keep an entrance to the outside so the bees can still forage outside the net.

Wouldn't previous discussion mean that any bees going through the pipe to the cage would be unlikely to find their way back, and thus die?

Bees are oriented to return to their hive entrance by the shortest, straight-line route (a beeline).  If the mesh is intersecting and blocking that beeline, the bees don't know how to go find a way around it, they will just butt their heads into it until they exhaust themselves.  However, if the hive had one entrance that was a pipe leading into your cage, the bees in the cage would return to the pipe, since their beeline would be entirely contained within the netting.  Does that make sense?  Good idea, Ace.   

Just be sure that you pay attention and do a little bit of research on what bees are nesting in your tubes. 

I have a minature (20mm cube) motion activated video camera (bought for another purpose that now sits idle) that will record 2 hours of video in 2 minute bursts. Mounted close to the entrance, to avoid it detecting wind induced motion, it might give me a good record of what was visiting.

Also, if I hang a second bee hotel inside the cage in the second year, the new hatchings from the first year would have somewhere to nest without leaving the cage, and maybe I get a self-perpetuating solution?

As long as they were provided with everything they need (food, water, nesting material), I don't see why not.  And that camera sounds like a great idea! 

57

GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Allow bees in and out whilst excluding butterflies?

« Last post by Buk on March 18, 2023, 07:02:01 pm »

Just be sure that you pay attention and do a little bit of research on what bees are nesting in your tubes. 

I have a minature (20mm cube) motion activated video camera (bought for another purpose that now sits idle) that will record 2 hours of video in 2 minute bursts. Mounted close to the entrance, to avoid it detecting wind induced motion, it might give me a good record of what was visiting.

Also, if I hang a second bee hotel inside the cage in the second year, the new hatchings from the first year would have somewhere to nest without leaving the cage, and maybe I get a self-perpetuating solution?

58

GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Allow bees in and out whilst excluding butterflies?

« Last post by Buk on March 18, 2023, 06:47:02 pm »

Put a hive close to the cage and run a pipe through the netting.  Keep an entrance to the outside so the bees can still forage outside the net.

Wouldn't previous discussion mean that any bees going through the pipe to the cage would be unlikely to find their way back, and thus die?

(I also do not have the where-withall to purchase/build a hive; purchase a colony; learn to take care of them.)

Update: I guess a behive with two entrance slots one inside and one outside would work. But still, learning beekeeping in order to avoid tickling bean flowers with a paintbrush is a big commitment of time and dwindling grey matter :)

59

GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Allow bees in and out whilst excluding butterflies?

« Last post by Acebird on March 18, 2023, 06:25:53 pm »

Can I ask why the cage is necessary?

to exclude pidgeons and other birds, deer, rabbits etc.

Put a hive close to the cage and run a pipe through the netting.  Keep an entrance to the outside so the bees can still forage outside the net.

60

FARMING & COUNTRY LIFE / Re: Baby Goats on the Way!

« Last post by The15thMember on March 18, 2023, 04:49:00 pm »

Mr Moon reminds me of a goat on a Car type video channel, "Sleeperdude" which features a nice family from Texas who is 'sort of homesteading' and reminds me of your family Reagan from what you post. The goat is 'ALWAYS' right in the thick of things. He seems to think he is one of the family! (and seems to be accepted as such)     lol 

Phillip

  My sister brings all the babies in the house to get their coccidia prevention, but she has brought little Moonie in just for fun, since he always cries at the gate when she leaves.  But your description fits my others sister's favorite chicken better.  My younger sister has a chicken named Beaky who will come in the house and just hang out with the little kids while they are doing their chores or watching TV.  My sister even made her a special nest box so she can lay eggs in the house, and now Beaky always asks to come inside to lay eggs instead of laying them in the barn.