Natural Comb - Wonderful Stuff

[Joseph Clemens]

I've recently begun using more condo mating nucs, some are 3-frame and some are 2-frame. I placed only two frames in some compartments of my 3-frame mating condo's, I intended to add the third frames soon, but despite not feeding, they quickly began foraging enough they thought they needed more space:

I enjoy it greatly when the bees get ahead of me.

[brac]

Joseph, Great photo, but I gotta ask, I've seen a few pics now where guys walk a comb or frame with bees into the house (home- not honey) to take a picture. I figure it's really gonna freak the wife out when I walk in with a frame of bees. Do you have bee escapes in your windows, or is there a trick?

[Joseph Clemens]

No trick, not a single bee left that comb while I took it from the hive, walked it into the house, carefully showed it to my wife, dug my camera out of the camera bag with one hand (holding the comb in my other hand), gave the camera to my wife, showed her the comb, up close (she also is fascinated by the bees, but isn't a beekeeper), had her take about a half-dozen pics in different poses, then I walked them back out to the hive and shook them off the comb and into their condo compartment. The comb is all small-cell worker with some pollen and eggs, I will be mounting it into an empty frame.

[PoDuck]

I had my son take some drones into my ex wife's car when she came to pick him up last year. She freaked out big time. She wouldn't even get into the car for an hour to be sure all the bees got out. Needless to say, she hasn't come to my house to pick our son up since. Always sends her mother instead.

Anyway, there are good and bad things about women not being scared of bees. It's good if you want to bring bees inside and not catch hell over it from your wife, but bad if you want to keep your ex from coming to your house.

[brac]

my wife is doing pretty good with it so far, I do inspections without gear so she can see how gentle they are. I asked her to put feed on a hive the other day when I wasn't home, she did without getting stung

[kbfarms]

It would be interesting to know the ratio of male to female beekeepers. It seems that there are significanty more males than females based on the traffic I see at this site.....wonder why, being one of the probably minority females.......

[Countryboy]

It seems that there are significanty more males than females based on the traffic I see at this site.....wonder why,

Beekeeping can be physically demanding, painful work. (hard manual labor isn't part of sugar, spice, and everything nice) Many women don't have the muscles required to work heavy hives. Now that 8 frame hives and top bar hives are gaining in popularity, you see more and more women getting involved in beekeeping.

[wolfpenfarm]

I had my son take some drones into my ex wife's car when
Anyway, there are good and bad things about women not being scared of bees. It's good if you want to bring bees inside and not catch hell over it from your wife, but bad if you want to keep your ex from coming to your house.

When my ex would start the nagging and complaining, she had this habit of following me to continue the argument. Soooo I fixed that problem. I went out to play with the bees. She wouldn't come within 150 feet of the hives, and a good set of earplugs helped drown her out.

[PoDuck]

...a good set of earplugs helped drown her out.

Really? I guess I never found any earplugs that good. I could swear I could hear the yelling half way across town.

[Ted n Ms]

Nice picture of the comb. But i don't know about that guy. Better watch him.

[BeeCurious]

It seems that there are significanty more males than females based on the traffic I see at this site.....wonder why...

The women are busy stirring the sugar syrup and running out to pick up beer.

[kbfarms]

Beekeeping can be physically demanding, painful work.


That makes sense. I never thought about the physical labor part of it. I always break the boxes in half (take half the frames out before lifting and moving). But I've never ran over 10 hives so the time to do that wasn't critical. If in a hurry, I'll ask my son or husband to help with moving equipment.

[kbfarms]

The women are busy stirring the sugar syrup and running out to pick up beer.

Gotta keep them busy in the kitchen!!!

[wolfpenfarm]

really? I guess i never found any earplugs that good. I could swear i could hear the yelling half way across town.

lol

[StevenG]

Yeah, he looks like he's having waaaay too much fun!

[Joseph Clemens]

I never could have done this with the bees I was keeping just five years before this. They were mostly from splits of one original feral capture (by cutout), from under a neighbors MH. Then they were propagated by walk-away splits, where every split raised its own new queen, open mated in the same area as the parent colony. Some few additional colonies were obtained when outside swarms came and set up residence in various idle equipment.

Since I began my present importation of outside stock and open mated breeding my own queens, that easier management has become possible. Some few hives still develop behavior problems, but requeening them quickly alleviates the problem.

[Denise]

Nice pic!


A female beekeeper here

No sugar stirring or beer getting for me thank you

[MeriB]

Us odd females are certainly interesting. I also sail our boat alone and do the deckwork, and teach rifle, shotgun and oistol at the local boy scout camp. God Bless my husband!

[kbfarms]

Yep, I brought the guns into the marriage, did 28 yrs in Army (active and reserves) ......not exactly the sugar stirring, beer fetching little woman . I do believe we are a bit different breed, kinda more like the Russians than the Italian bees.......Gotta have a great husband to go down those paths......

[BeeCurious]

I also sail our boat alone and do the deckwork

Hi MeriB,

There are a few sailors here. Do you sail the Chesapeake?