More On Bees

Introduction to practical beekeeping:

Equipment you need:

        Bee suit - covers your entire body except your hands

        Gloves - vented with sealable gauntlets 

        Veil - some have helmet inside; others you need a helmet with

I suggest purchasing these at LA Honey where you can try them on and get items that fit you. If I had purchased these items online, I would not have gotten the correct size.

Smoker

Hive tool

Rags (some wet) (honey is sticky!)

Flashlight

Epi pen

Hive box(es) and frames

Couple of good books and a mentor

Resources;

http://www.backwardsbeekeepers.com/

http://honeylove.org/

Los Angeles Honey Co

Address: 1559 Fishburn Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90063

Phone:(323) 264-2383

I am about half way through Rob and Chelsea's beekeeping book, Save The Bees with Natural Backyard Hives, and it is stellar.  Written in a very readable style and loaded with good data, it is now my #1 pick for anyone's first beekeeping book!   

We touched on this in class last week, and this is further proof in recent days.

david

November 15th and 22nd

We have a schedule change to accommodate our guest speaker.

The 15th will be beekeeping.  As we have discussed, I do not have a live hive to show you, but I collected some links for you to examine before the 15th.

I want us all to observe the day as though we really do have a live hive.  Working with bees, things like scented hair spray or perfumes and the like are all bad ideas.  It is also not advisable to resemble anything like their most common enemy, a bear.  Avoid dark clothing, stick to white or light colors.

The most common hive in America is the Langstroth hive.



The hive I use is pretty much the same, although I've hybridized it with what is called a "nuc."  It is the same principle but a smaller hive with fewer moving parts.  Mine are built from scrap lumber by a friend of mine.

Here is a video describing the arrangement of a Langstroth hive - slightly different from above and he explains why he uses each component. Many folks find that a 10 frame box filled with honey is heavier than they can comfortably deal with, 8 frame hives are getting to be more popular.  This a different view and I like her presentation and "no drama!"

This guy does three package installs of bees.  I usually do not buy bees but capture local feral hives which I feel have superior genetics.

Even if we don't ever experiment with these different hives (I'll address some of the most popular hive arrangements in class, these are not them!) this site features some wonderful video of bees in a hive, it gives you a rather real sense of what it's like to look in at ten thousand bees in one small confined space with nothing between you and them.  Scroll down to see several different videos.

The 22nd we will be treated with the presence of Sheri Powell speaking to us on raising chickens and the soil food web.  Wikipedia introduces the matter here.

Food on the 15th will feature honey.

Food on the 22nd will feature eggs. From chickens.    

We have several things to catch up - so we will be up and around getting a few things done.  It looks to be quite cool and blustery on Saturday, so be prepared!  

david  

Notes for Bees

1:00 Learning Garden – intro lecture

2:00 Bee Field trip

3:00 Snack time

3:20 Gardening

5:00 Dismissed  

Why are bees important to us?

Honey

Pollination – 3 out of every 5 bites

Honey bees are not native to the Americas

Mason Orchard bee

Africanized Bees – African genes are spread throughout the population of all wild bees in the warmer portions of the US – however, these genes are not all bad... they can be more aggressive, but they are also harder workers and more productive – all bees can be aggressive

Colony Collapse Disorder - since at least 2006Why?

Varroa mite

pesticides

GMOs

Industrial beekeeping

Shipping bees for pollinators

Or we just don't know...

Bee Losses from CCD

Future of the honey bee

Urban beekeeping

Introduction to practical beekeeping:

Equipment you need:

        Bee suit - covers your entire body except your hands

        Gloves - vented with sealable gauntlets 

        Veil - some have helmet inside; others you need a helmet with

I suggest purchasing these at LA Honey where you can try them on and get items that fit you. If I had purchased these items online, I would not have gotten the correct size.

Smoker

Hive tool

Rags (some wet) (honey is sticky!)

Flashlight

Epi pen

Hive box(es) and frames

Couple of good books and a mentor

Resources;

http://www.backwardsbeekeepers.com/

http://honeylove.org/

Los Angeles Honey Co

Address: 1559 Fishburn Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90063

Phone:(323) 264-2383