Bees! Any other beekeepers?

@LonleyCheese  They just turn up when the bushes are in flower and then a few days later they all disappear. It so noisy! I am amazed at  the loud Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Listening - One Step At A Time! - Written with no AI!

@MistyMagic There are a few important steps we as beekeepers can take to give them a chance, yes. It's important to make sure they're facing away from cold winds, and to put up a windbreak, usually made of a tarp. It's also very important to put a "mouseguard" over the opening to the hive, and it has to be metal. If you use plastic, the mice will still get in. Honestly, a beehive is an ideal place to overwinter for a mouse- it's warm, and there's food. So put up a mouseguard to keep them out (:

You gotta make sure that the bottom panel of the hive is returned, because sometimes it should be removed for hot weather or mites, just make sure to return it by winter. 

Theoretically, you could combine two weaker hives to form a stronger hive.

Don't take too much honey from them during harvest season. (this depends on where you live- the harsher the climate, the more honey they need.)

But yeah, once you take the right steps, it's all up to the bees and the weather to see if the girls survive. All we can do is hope, and be there to support them come spring, because they'll need it.

@MistyMagic oh also, some beekeepers (especially commercial beekeepers) take their hives to a new and warmer place during the winter

@slowdecline48 so, the flavor of the honey that the bees produce actually isn't based on what kind of bee you have, but rather the flowers nearby. most is simply wildflower honey and varies by where you live, but if someone had a beehive near, say, an orchard of some sort, then you could get honey with fruit tones! Some kinds of bees do make more honey than others, and some bees are better at defending against diseases and hive-robbers. Some kinds of bee are very gentle, and others are more agressive. I'm pretty sure that carnolians are a rather gentle breed, and russian bees are more agressive. However, this agression may be a stereotype because I've heard mixed things. Also, it keeps them safe from hive-robbers like wasps, as they can defend themselves better. I also believe the're a fairly hardy breed too, less likely to have diseases and more likely to survive the winter. I gotta check though. As for carnolians, i think their honey production is pretty good, and they're considered a good beginner breed, so they're probably pretty gentle, which has it's pros and cons. I picked up the order form recently and russians are not available, so i will either be getting italian bees or carnolians (: 

@LonleyCheese. The bee 🐝 keepers son was accused of a crime against a trans person, followed by the legal case. She spoke a lot about her beekeeping. The trans character went into her life history as well.

@MistyMagic no, i am not in italy lol. Yep! Italian is just the breed of bee they are. they're a pretty common breed, with good honey production and gentleness. Different breeds have different prominent desirable traits, such as their honey production, gentleness, disease resistance, overwintering, and swaming tendency that beekeepers will look at when deciding on which bee to keep. Beekeepers can also breed their queens specifically to higlight and combine traits, but this did accidentally make africanized bees (also known as killer bees) and that was and is kinda horrible so gotta be careful, haha

@LonleyCheese "Bee Box" sounds like something you buy to record your shows like a DVR, "put it on the hoppa", back when memory was limited, and people used cable. But that's cool though, girl power, flower power, amazing being so small that they contain the chemical energy to buzz for miles. Hey I hope that's a blast, avoid those stingers! Easy to get stung when we're socializing with the beezies. Easy breezy coverbee.