Anyone ordering bees this year?

forgeblast · Dec 3, 2014

Brushy Mountain Bee Farm type in zip and you can find an association close to you, I have used busy mountain for a lot of supplies (crush and drain honey filters etc).

300UGUY · Dec 3, 2014

I've gotten chicks by mail, but not bees. The local post office called me at 5am to come pick them up. I was told they had just arrived, and they wanted them gone asap! Still, pretty good service.

Bird · Dec 4, 2014

300UGUY said:
I've gotten chicks by mail, but not bees. The local post office called me at 5am to come pick them up. I was told they had just arrived, and they wanted them gone asap! Still, pretty good service.

Sounds like that's something that hasn't changed in more than 60 years. I don't think my Dad and Granddad ever ordered baby chicks, but when chicks arrived at the Ardmore post office, if they couldn't be delivered very promptly, the postmaster sold them quickly and cheap. So that's how we got a hundred or so every Spring.

Of course my Granddad had the contract to haul the mail between the post office and the train station (8 trains a day in the 40s and 50s) so he saw everything that arrived in Ardmore, knew when it arrived, and naturally he knew the postmaster and how long it would be before the chicks were sold if not delivered.

EddieWalker · Dec 4, 2014

Thank you for the links and advice. We, and I mean my wife, is serious about this and will be doing most of the research.

Eddie

mddorange · Dec 4, 2014

I still get baby chicks by mail and yes they want them picked up ASAP. When I get there the girls are happy to see me as they say they can't put up with the chirping any longer.

300UGUY · Dec 4, 2014

EddieWalker said:
Thank you for the links and advice. We, and I mean my wife, is serious about this and will be doing most of the research.

Eddie

Better get that stuff straight mister!! You are committed now!!

300UGUY · Dec 4, 2014

EddieWalker said:
Thank you for the links and advice. We, and I mean my wife, is serious about this and will be doing most of the research.

Eddie

Better get that stuff straight mister!! You are committed now!!

troutsqueezer · Dec 5, 2014

I posted on Beesource for many years. It's an OK place to learn things from but the problem is... You ask the same question of ten beekeepers you will get eleven different answers. It's hard to know which way to go if you are just beginning. Some people there will tell you that top bar is the only way to go or that small cell combs are the natural state of beehives, eliminating the need for varroa mite control. Wear gloves, don't wear gloves. Feed, don't feed. It goes on and on.

My advice: Start with the book "Beekeeping For Dummies". Buy the hive and tools that your local beekeeping store recommends. Order the bees from them as well. Then later, as you learn more, you can switch things around according to the methods that you agree with in principal. Also later, you will increase the size of your apiary by splitting the hives instead of buying bees or nucs.

Bees don't all behave the same. What works for one beekeeper may not work for the next. Part of the fun, finding what works for you.

KiotiJason · Dec 6, 2014

troutsqueezer said:
I posted on Beesource for many years. It's an OK place to learn things from but the problem is... You ask the same question of ten beekeepers you will get eleven different answers. It's hard to know which way to go if you are just beginning. Some people there will tell you that top bar is the only way to go or that small cell combs are the natural state of beehives, eliminating the need for varroa mite control. Wear gloves, don't wear gloves. Feed, don't feed. It goes on and on.

My advice: Start with the book "Beekeeping For Dummies". Buy the hive and tools that your local beekeeping store recommends. Order the bees from them as well. Then later, as you learn more, you can switch things around according to the methods that you agree with in principal. Also later, you will increase the size of your apiary by splitting the hives instead of buying bees or nucs.

Bees don't all behave the same. What works for one beekeeper may not work for the next. Part of the fun, finding what works for you.

I run a few hives in Australia, I suggest you read and the read some more however if you know anyone go a visit them when they are working on their hives. You will learn pretty quick. Verroa mite isn't in Australia yet so a lot of the bees you guys are getting are imported from Australia. It really is a pleasure to have them, just keep a good quiet strain and re-queen every 1 -2 seasons (years). Lately I've been running two brood chambers to lessonthe chance of swarming. This works well, you just need to pack them down to one box over the winter. Make sure you leave the bees some honey for the winter, they have put in a lot of work for you. They really are an amazing creatures and the more you learn the more you will marvel how intelligent they are.