I'm really interested in eventually keeping bees - what a buzz (!) it would be to have a hand in making something so wonderful. There is an adult ed course down here which I hope to do sometime next year, but in the meantime wonder if any one here has some experience and tips to share? Also, for interest/discussion, here is a recent article from the UK regarding the huge take up of beekeeping in urban centres https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8183425.stm
Re: Beekeeping - do you? It's a marvelous adventure that you are embarking on "bear" I have one important tip to kick off with and that is to approach everything you do with confidence as bees most of all animals, will pick up on hesitation and if they loose confidence in you then they will tend to defend themselves. Tassie is close to NZ so look out for veroa wont you. regards
Re: Beekeeping - do you? A thread here on beekeeping viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1195&p=59724&hilit=beekeeping#p59724 This am. an interesting debate on bees and beekeeping on ABC RN 1128 Varroa Destructor threatens food security listen download https://www.abc.net.au/rn/bushtelegraph/ Can we cross the European bee with the Asian or another that is resistant to Varroa Destructor?
Re: Beekeeping - do you? I have a confession to make - I love bees. Everytime I walk around our place, and see these 'little helpers' (both native and exotic) busily working away on the fruit and veg crops, I send them a little 'thank you' thought, wish them well on their journey, and think to myself just how lucky we are to have them. Apparently, the Asian honey bee - of which there are infestations occurring in the northern areas of Australia - play host to the Varroa jacobsoni mite (see: https://www.daff.gov.au/animal-plant-hea ... arroa-mite), which is now deemed to be just as much a threat to our honey/pollination/bee practices as the Varroa destructor (see: https://www.csiro.au/people/ps2dv.html). SBS Television (Australia) screened Honeybee Blues earlier this week. I managed to catch it. It is a brilliant doco, and I recommend anyone with an interest in bees check it out if you can (see: https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/showc ... ybeeblues/). Cheerio, Marko.
Re: Beekeeping - do you? I have native bees & they're fantastic - the best pets I've ever had. Cute as all heck & no problem what so ever. My brother is at Caloundra & has the ordinary bees. He's lost of lot of hives to hive beetle this year.
Re: Beekeeping - do you? I've had native bees for a year now, I just split my hive which means I now have two.. there are people that will sell them.. not cheap.. but you can split them to get more search trigona native bees or something
Re: Beekeeping - do you? I saw the doco and had one question and an observation. Q - why did someone introduce European bees to Australia? And what did that do to the native bee population? (Maybe that's 2 q's!) and I kept thinking to myself as I watched it - these guys don't get it - they are trying to support a vast monoculture of a single introduced species and then fretting because a pest wipes it all out. 2000 + hives in a small area all just to fertilize one crop of almond trees! They need someone to introduce permaculture concepts to them. Like IPM. So can you farm native bees in hives just like you do the feral ones?
No. you can't. I have hives, i do this apiary thing. Wild Bees (no sting) small populations, not comparable to European Bees, which are honey bees and farmed bees. Wild colonies of European bees are common, but can you call them wild bees? Bees are just like any other farmed animal in as much as ' if the genetics are shit, the stock is shit. For good healthy stock we re-queen with nice Italian bees. Honey as we know it, comes from nice European bee genetics. do you want eggs from an Australian native chicken?........................thought so regards, Kimbo
wild bees? as in native bees? or wild domestic bees i.e.European i think it is probably healthy to be stung a bit..........unless you are allergic,,, i suit up...full kit.... i cannot 'see' keeping wild bees,,,, the hive populations are minuscule,,, given that every drop of honey yielded, has had to be carried around on a bees tongue (for hours?) until it has lost enough water to be stored,,,,, how can a few tens of tongues compete with a few hundred tongues,,,,i use kilo's of honey,,,,i can get about 20 kg per hive, sometimes more. these so called wild bees,,,,they just got to be wild domestic bees,,,not wild as in native, surely? regards, Kimbo
I used to keep my bees on a skillion roof at my house in the burbs and would work them without kitting up. It when well for years till I made a mistake and bumped a hive in a way that made them cranky. It is difficult to decend a ladder from the roof top with a mob of angry bees all targeting the right side of your face. Apart from the lack of vision with a swarm hovering about for their turn to sting you, the pain and subsequent discomfort lasts fro some time and makes grasping the rungs of a ladder quite a challenge. I too suit up now accept that the other day I was continuing to move a small hive that swarmed into the shed back to the pond on the mandala and a diligent guard flew at me at 5 am and got me on the same right side of the face (which has become a bit sensitive over the years) I blamed the black cap I was wearing and the fact that they were waiting in ambush for the same time of day as the previous moves. I have left them alone for now and will have to decide if I will hood up for moves in the future.
