I go to ohio state and through work study i have a job as an assitant bee keeper i was just curious if any one else works with bees

 

My dad used to have some, I can't remember how long he had them, but I do remember they all flew away one day! I remember the wax they made was perfect for hockey sticks though...

 

I was a bee keeper back home at the farm. They got after my father one day, and he is highly alergic. So after a gallon of gas and a match, they were KEPT on the ground. I hated those things anyway.

We did get some use out of them in Watermelon season. They help pollenate the melon plants.

Everything would have been fine...but noooooo, they had to mess with the boss.

 

We've had them at home for pretty much my whole life. Only thing I dont like about it is tht the suit is too dang hot for Florida.

 

i guess the ones we work with here have been bred to be very docile so thus the boss doesnt let us wear a suit or glves we just get the veils. another thing they have done here is artificial insemination on the bees. Thats a pain in the butt i rather stick to AI ing the cows at home

 

I kept bees for years, but got wiped out by floul brood. I had to burn all the hives I built by hand. That was a sad day. Never got back into it.

 

I don't see the connection. Wax and hockey sticks?

 

WHACKEY?

 

I feed them....

That's all I do with them....

I take a 45 gallon drum filled to the first rung with water, add electric boat motor and 265 lbs of sugar (to the second rung) after it has mixed, pour in to two 45 gallon drums that are tipped on an angle with straw floating on top.


One of the most impressive sights I have seen is a swarm of the things empty two drums on a warm day. You couldn't see the barrels for all the bees.

 

My granddad always kept LOTS of bees for his cotton crop pollenation... Almost NEVER wore a veil... bare hands almost always.. Frequently he would be hoeing in the fields and would take a break from his weeding and go over and open up a few hives and check on how well they were filling up the supers. (He said he didn't rob the bees, he says he just collected "rent" from them )
I kept bees for a few years(pre-african). It wasn't as enjoyable as he made it look as I invariably made them just a little too mad at me.. I must not have smelled like a cotton farmer.
Someone knocked over my hives while I was on a business trip and it weakened the colonies and they died not long after that. Then shortly after the bees were no more, someone stole my hives, effectively putting me out of the buzzy bee business.
If we move back to the country, I might try it again.... Fascinating creatures...
Education of the neighbors, and liability keep me from doing it in the city.

K.

 

I have 6 hives and live in Mansfield Ohio a little north of OSU and my daughter attends the Ohio State branch in Mansfield . This winter my hives came through a lot better than the last 2 years but I sure can't see how anyone could make any money raising the things . I have been in the red since I started and unless honey prices tripled I don't think I will ever make money with them . I guess you need to look at the whole picture because my garden has produced a lot better since I got the bees . I also have a illness similir to MS and do bee sting therapy that has improved the feeling in my legs cosiderable . Do you know Joe Ringler our Jesse Dotter down there they both were bee guys and good friends of the family .

 

There is a new member in the first gen section who is a bee keeper. I think this mane is Death Dealer. At least in his first post he said he was a bee keeper.