The girls that sweeten my life

Yes we have a garden we call the bee garden. Laughing

For the last three years i have kept track of the plants the bees were working at the garden centers we visited. Last year when we built the new bee garden we fell back on the list of plants I had written down.
The new bee garden Question

because the old one was not so near the bee hives when we had to move them because of to much shade. It has now become the east garden, it didn't have the plant slection like the new bee garden has either.
Smile

Haven't made any candles with our surplus wax as of yet. Most of the wax we have collected so far is some really dark stuff from old comb and bridge comb they travel on and dirty.
My recmondation is starting with two colonies. It is eaiser to compare colonies that are sitting close to each other so you spot problems faster. Frames from one colony can be swapped with the second one if one is weak for some reason.
This price is based on shiping from Kentucy to Michigan the wooden ware for two colonies of bees $214.00 US funds. You can buy ready cut out wooden ware cheaper than making your own if you can avoid the shipping cost, which is climbing due to fuel cost. You will also need a smoker, 4x7 with guard $24.50. Cowhide leather gloves with arm guards $9.95. An Alexander Veil no hat required with draw string $11.95. A hive tool ( I got mine for $5.19 at a local paint store) about $6.00 at a bee supply house. And last but not least bees, By shopping you can buy nukes from $50.00 but often they avrage $64.00 so that would be times two for two colonies.
I don't recommend beginners kits as they have things you don't really need and are for only one colony.
Join a bee keeping club. I did and am so glad because whenI got some bees from Gerogia that were sick and had to bee killed to stop the spread club members gave me a second start. Also they may have an extractor to harvest your honey with. I found a big used extractor just a couple weeks ago thru a club member.

Wink

Yes Honey bees do work red clover.

Al

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Garden View Apiaries. Where the view is as sweet as the honey.

When I was looking for help to save the bees I wrote about in my blog I ran across a scotish bee keeping club. I'll look again and see if I can find it again. One doesn't need lots of land to keep bees but what land you do have has to allow the keeping of bees as there are some places with laws againest it.
Bees fly an avrage of 2 miles when forageing and up to 6 miles. A village is an idea area due to all the cottage veggie gardens and the landscaping flowers.
Here is a beekeeping fourm I belong to. It is not as fast growing as yours but there are willing people to ask questions of.
http://honeybeesonly.com/user.php

Some neat facts about honey bees.
1. How many flowers must honey bees tap to make one pound of honey? Answer

2. How far does a hive of bees fly to bring you one pound of honey? Answer

3. How much honey does the average worker honey bee make in her lifetime? Answer

4. How fast does a honey bee fly? Answer

5. How much honey would it take to fuel a bee's flight around the world? Answer

6. Why were honey bees at one time called "white man's flies"? Answer

7. What is mead? Answer

8. How long have bees been producing honey from flowering plants? Answer

9. How many sides does each honeycomb cell have? Answer

10. What is the U.S. per capita consumption of honey? Answer

11. What state is known as the beehive state? Answer

12. How many wings does a honey bee have? Answer

13. How many beekeepers are there in the United States? Answer

14. How many honey-producing colonies of bees are there in the United States? Answer

15. How many flowers does a honey bee visit during one collection trip? Answer

16. How do honey bees "communicate" with one another? Answer

17. What does "super" mean to a beekeeper? Answer

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Garden View Apiaries. Where the view is as sweet as the honey.

The girls that sweeten my life - Beekeeping