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Beekeeping chit chat

Mad4simmental

Good to see this up and running. Don't have any my self but I am thinking of getting into it. My grandad had allot of them years ago on the farm. Numbers must be looking good this year??

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ganmo

Found this today.

Is it a wild bee comb or one from a maintained hive?

[Deleted User]

I would suspect wild. It's not easy to tell unless you saw the whole comb and this is just a bit.

If it was from a managed hive it would most likely be built on foundation, possibly wired, and as far as i see, the piece doesn't show that.

Was it beneath a tree where a colony might have set up a hive? Presumably its been broken up by an animal though its not destroyed as i've seen sometimes.

ganmo

it was under a tree but didn't notice any bees near it last year. What do you mean by wired?

[Deleted User]

ganmo wrote: »

What do you mean by wired?

Beekeepers usually give the bees a template (foundation) on which to build their comb. This is a thin sheet of wax with the basic impressions of honeycomb on it. It is often strengthened with a thin wire running through it to stop it collapsing.

eg
https://www.irishbeesupplies.com/National_Brood_Wired_Foundation/p1800428_11117706.aspx

In addition, it is difficult to see how comb would come from a beekeepers hive, unless the hive got overturned and opened.

new2me

so can you make a good income from bee keeping

Apiarist

new2me wrote: »

so can you make a good income from bee keeping

Not in Ireland. Honey is too cheap to be very profitable and there are no pollination contracts. You could probably make 20K a year (just my guess) by working full time from April to September. I would be glad if somebody proved me wrong though

solargain

In Germany they consider a beekeeper a hobbyist unless they have over 200 hives, as it is impossible to make a living with less

Effects

new2me wrote: »

so can you make a good income from bee keeping

No, there's very few people working at it full time here.

bpmurray

new2me wrote: »

so can you make a good income from bee keeping

If you have 200 hives, you should average at least 20kg each, i.e. that's 4tonnes of honey. You should also easily produce 50 nucs and 100 queens. That'll give you around €20000 in honey, €7500 in nucs and €3000 in queens, so I suppose you should easily make €30K. However, you'll hit bad years when winter goes on until the middle of April (this year), when it rains too much so that your queens aren't properly mated (last year), etc. So it's a small income for a large amount of work, while being subject to weather, etc.

It's not a great career, TBH.

yosemitesam1

bpmurray wrote: »

If you have 200 hives, you should average at least 20kg each, i.e. that's 4tonnes of honey. You should also easily produce 50 nucs and 100 queens. That'll give you around €20000 in honey, €7500 in nucs and €3000 in queens, so I suppose you should easily make €30K. However, you'll hit bad years when winter goes on until the middle of April (this year), when it rains too much so that your queens aren't properly mated (last year), etc. So it's a small income for a large amount of work, while being subject to weather, etc.

It's not a great career, TBH.

And that's before running costs!

Buford T. Justice XIX

https://twitter.com/backt0nature/status/985336908963287040?s=19

thelord

Everybody still feeding their bees too ?

yosemitesam1

thelord wrote: »

Everybody still feeding their bees too ?

Ye, hopefully will stop this week if the good weather comes

Effects

I've only had a feed a few hives. Didn't feed them at all in the autumn.

thelord

Yes hoping the weather will change too

bpmurray

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

https://twitter.com/backt0nature/status/985336908963287040?s=19

A really dirty jar of honey - didn't even sieve out the bees legs.

nikitahealy

anyone in the limerick area want a swarm of honey bees? have some in my kitchen ceiling that arrived day before yesterday and now all of a sudden have moved in without paying any rent. theyre in the ceiling of my kitchen and in my garage

Apiarist

nikitahealy wrote: »

anyone in the limerick area want a swarm of honey bees?

Unless somebody contacts you soon, call the Limerick's BKA's commitee:
http://www.limerickbees.net/contact_us_committee.html

nikitahealy

victor8600 wrote: »

Unless somebody contacts you soon, call the Limerick's BKA's commitee:

they sent someone out to me already and they told me to leave them there they'll die off in the winter or kill them theyre just honey bees

Apiarist

nikitahealy wrote: »

they sent someone out to me already and they told me to leave them there they'll die off in the winter or kill them theyre just honey bees

What? This is not only ridiculous, it is also factually incorrect. If the association is not helping you, go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/bees.ireland/ and ask there.

Unless the "bees" you are referring to are actually wasps. Do you have a picture? A selfie stick is a good way to get your camera closer to the bees.

thelord

perhaps he means bumble bees

[Deleted User]

Its strange, the advice given was appropriate to wasps not honey bees. Either OP has his species confused or else they decided it better not to open up the structure to remove the invaders.

Lorahart

Anybody know where in Dublin I could purchase raw honeycomb?

Looking to use it as a hay fever treatment but I just don’t how to go about getting it.

Apiarist

Lorahart wrote: »

Anybody know where in Dublin I could purchase raw honeycomb?

Probably if go to to the Facebook group "Beekeepers of Ireland BUY/SELL/SWAP/FREE" and ask there, somebody may have honey and comb for sale from Dublin.

Mad Benny

(snip)

thelord

Whats the going rate per lb for raw irish honey this year ?

yosemitesam1

€8 per 330g jar.in Dublin you should be able to get a little more

[Deleted User]

Any advice welcome

Ive made up an apidea from an extra late season emergency queen cell. All appears well as i heard the queen piping today.

The problem is that the apidea is coming under continual attack from wasps,. Ive set traps all around and am catching dozens but they continue to come. Ive reduced the entrance as much as I dare. Anything else i can do?

Apiarist

Deleted User wrote: »

The problem is that the apidea is coming under continual attack from wasps,... Anything else i can do?

1) Move it to where wasps are not a problem, or
2) Have not tried this myself -- Close the entrance completely, and slide out the floor to leave a small hole at the bottom (use an empty Apidea first to see how far the floor needs to be opened). Make it so the bees can use the hole at the bottom to enter and leave. The theory here is that wasps do not see the entrance and also are at a disadvantage if they have to land on an Apidea and walk to the hidden entrance.

bogman_bass

I'm not a Bee guy. Just wondering how the season was for bee keepers? I presume the weather was favourable or did it get too hot?