Top Bar Beekeeping

TCLynx

I've thought about bee keeping on a small scale but our zoning rules in Orange County Florida say no bee keeping in a residential zone (of course the zoning chart says most agricultural practices are not allowed in a residential zone but they really mean is commercial agriculture is not allowed in a residential zone, you are still allowed to harvest for domestic use.) So, how much land should one have to keep a small hive of bees without becoming a nuisance? Or should I just get a house for Mason Bees to do the pollinating and not mess with honey?

Snags

I think its 2 hives in a backyard in Melbourne
depending on Councils,I had 10 foot high fences too.

Burnsy

Well this one has got me, another small tick in the box of self sufficiency and I do love honey. Hive is underway, problem is that it is timber and I do tend to get a little carried away when I start building things with wood. The rectangular openings are for windows so my daugher can look at them building their comb, it will be covered with a flap of timber when not being looked into. This is Swan River Blackbutt that I salvaged from a tree that fell across the oval at St Bridget's College last year. Still to green for furniture but fine for this.

Hope to be able to amuse Faye with some hive removal antics in the next couple of weeks :funny1:

.

Attachment:

First fitup_BYAP.jpg [ 91.59 KiB | Viewed 1368 times ]

faye

Burnsy wrote:

Hope to be able to amuse Faye with some hive removal antics in the next couple of weeks :funny1:

.

Attachment:

First fitup_BYAP.jpg

I'll be ready with the video camera

Australias funniest home videos here we come!
By the way Mike, just how do you extract the frames to get the honey from that box, or is that just where the queen lives?

Burnsy

The box is upside down as it sits in the photo, once together and the right way up the top/roof is removable. There are no frames as such just "top bars" that bees build their own natural comb off just like nature intended - no foundation for them to follow.

I have made my design such that the top bars will be compatable with lang style hive frame widths. It is best I don't tell you anymore as you don't have time for another hobby/obsession :shifty:

himzol

I've had my hives for almost 9 months now, and am going to be doing a WEA course on basic bee keeping over the next two Sundays.. I know.. but it's the earliest I could get in.

I've got Langs but don't use foundation, just a starter strip of wax..
Haven't opened the hives during the cold part of the year, but with the few warm days we just had I have seen the girls are out and looking for forage so may need to have a look see and maybe add another box...

Honey in January/February :headbang:

followed a year later by some mead :drunken:

H

Burnsy

It's ready for bees now but I have camp next week so will have to wait till I return to try my hand at nest relocation. I sheet of laserlight sits over the top of it to keep the rain out until I get the bees in and then I will make up a nice gabled roof for it.

Some local bees have been checking it out with this warm weather about, I don't think it is swarm season yet but who knows, with it sitting there for a week empty I might get lucky and attract a swarm :dontknow:

Attachment:

ready for bees 01.jpg [ 34.72 KiB | Viewed 1271 times ]

Attachment:

ready for bees 02.jpg [ 35.79 KiB | Viewed 1272 times ]

Attachment:

Entrance.jpg [ 31.1 KiB | Viewed 1268 times ]

mikeym

I read about a beekeeper artificially inseminating queen bees in an attempt to more fully express the grooming gene in his bees so that he can come up with a more mite resistant kind of honeybee!

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2010/08/26/2994196.htm

I figured some of you might be interested in the article.

Cheers!

faye

Hey Mike, the planets may have just aligned in your favour, not as much fun but perhaps safer than scaling a 3 metre ladder to catch bees. They began to swarm this morning and I thought they were gone, however I have found them. Perfect opportunity to gather as they are close to the ground. Hurry, don't delay :wave1:

Attachment:

P9190272 (Medium).JPG [ 87.97 KiB | Viewed 1202 times ]

faye

Well it is official, Burnsy is an apiarist.
He arrived in the dead of night, well prepared with cardboard box and duct tape. The enemy had no idea what hit them, as they were caught quite by surprise. It was an extremely professional operation, barely a hum and no stings. The camera crew were ready, but nothing that would entertain a you-tube audience, I'm afraid. He then slipped away quietly in to the night to an undisclosed location in the hills.
All signed, sealed and delivered so to speak

Attachment:

P9190393 (Medium).JPG [ 88.58 KiB | Viewed 1176 times ]

Attachment:

P9190394 (Medium) (2).JPG [ 36.72 KiB | Viewed 1175 times ]

Attachment:

P9190396 (Medium).JPG [ 42.62 KiB | Viewed 1176 times ]

Burnsy

Thanks Faye :thumbright:

They are now in their new house, well 90% of them, the box a was a bit big and they were spread throughout it. Hopefully the rest will find their way within the next 12 hours. Won't know if they choose to stay or not for a few days yet.

Cheers,
Burnsy

faye

What, no photos of their new home Mike???
I waited up specially

Oh dear, goodnight :wave:

Burnsy

Sorry, hard to juggle the big box, a few thousand bees and the camera in the dark. I promise there will be photos tomorrow night - hopefully not of an empty hive!!!

himzol

Nice one...

Burnsy

At dawn this morning it was nice to see the bees still there. The bees left in the box had clumped together into three groups which was a promising sign that I had the queen in the hive and not the box. In the hive they were still just lying all over the bottom and walls like they were when I poured them in the night before. I left the box open under the hive with the expectation that the bees within the box would find the rest of the colony during the day and join them.

Attachment:

First morning 01.jpg [ 23.94 KiB | Viewed 1102 times ]

Attachment:

First Morning 02.jpg [ 22.04 KiB | Viewed 1103 times ]

Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics