Decided to try Beekeeping and the TBH this year.

crisnpropa said:

I am curious what is the typical price range that you charge to remove a swarm?

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If the swarm is in a structure, like in a wall, we charge by the hour, so maybe in the end between $60-$100 ball park. If the swarm is outside, on a tree branch or on the side of a shed in someones yard we typical don't charge anything, the swarm is our payment.
One time a truck pulling a trailer full of bee packages was going too fast and the trailer jackknifed and flipped on the highway near me. All of the packages broke open and they had to close the highway, two highway patrol officers had to go to ER. They used a road plow to push all the bees and ruble off the road, so when we got there there was just a huge pile of EXTREMELY angry bees all mixed together.
There were queens still trapped in their cages everywhere, we dug through the wreckage and saved as many as we could.

HighLowGrow said:

@Funkentelechy Lots of good info. Thanks. Regarding the entrance. A couple months ago I was reading some Bush stuff and ran across some Q and As. Here is a piece.

Question: Some people say a top entrance lets the heat out. How do you do your entrances?

Answer: In any hive (top bar or otherwise) I think a top entrance in the winter is always a good plan. It lets out the moisture and cuts down on condensation. Heat is seldom the problem, condensation is the problem in winter. A top entrance will let it out. Mine are all JUST top entrances. The reason I went with them was the skunks. My first TBH have a bottom entrance and the skunks were a serious problem. After going to the top entrances they have ceased being a problem. My entrances are simply the gap at the front of the hive between the first bar and the front wall. No holes to drill.

Question: Don't I need a landing board on the entrance?

Answer: No. Have you ever seen a bee tree with a landing board? Landing boards just give mice a place to jump on to get in the hive. It's not needed at all for the bees and is, in my opinion, counterproductive because of mice.


About the feeding. Dunno yet. Probably.

I've read so much stuff and have seen so many different ideas and styles. Thanks for your input for sure.

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Yeah that sounds right to me in regards to moisture being a bigger issue than heat loss, I would definitely defer to Micheal Bush on that one.

I have stopped building landings on my hives as well, the bees don't seem to mind. I had some raccoon issues, I would come out and see a little worn out area in the dirt in front of the hive and a little pile of just the bees exoskeletons on the ground. When it's cold if you mess with bees they will slowly crawl out single-file in a little line. So the raccoons would go out at night and scratch at the landing until the bees would come crawling out, then they would scoop them up crush them in their mouths and essentially suck all the guts and juicy bits out of the bees, then spit the exoskeletons out.
Now I don't do landings and I've upped my electric fence game and I haven't had any issues with raccoons for a while now.

The last couple of top-bars we've built we have built with top entrances and that's when I've seen the slight issue that I mentioned with the bees building a hole through a few of the combs thereby slightly reducing the amount of comb area available. The bees don't like having to make a 90 degree turn after they enter the hive, they like a straight shot and will chew a hole in the comb to maintain a straight trajectory. I still haven't figured it out myself. A top entrance in the side of a top bar may be the ticket, the bees could enter between frames and have a straight shot into hive, no immediate 90 degree tuns.

Making a top entrance in a langstroth like Micheal Bush uses is different/easier, if you notice the bees would enter a space on top of the frames and then make their way through the gaps between frames(there are gaps between of every bar/frame on top in a langstroth), no 90 degree turn required:

You probably know this but Kenyan top-bar hives use entrances like you were thinking of using(essentially a gap before the first bar) so that could be a smart solution. I've been afraid to try it because, it is so much warmer in Kenya, but I'm probably over thinking it, and I do agree moisture is worse than cold, might be worth a try.

My most successful hive, the hive that survived the longest so far without needing re-queening was a top-bar with a bottom entrance(the hive with the feeder a few comments back), so go figure, it could be a "six of one, half dozen of the other" type of situation.

Did you build your own bars HighLowGrow? If so good job.

Funkentelechy said:

Did you build your own bars HighLowGrow? If so good job.

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I built the whole hive out of scrap wood I had laying around including the top bars.

Well not all of it. I had to buy a pc of 1”x12”x10’, a few bolts, and the wood “rods” cut down the middle.

I thought cutting 45 degree pcs for the top bar comb attachment was going to be easy with the table saw. I tried different ways for two days. Gave up and went to Lowe’s and bought 4 10’ers of wood rods/dowels already cut down the center.

Just got a call today to come pick up my bees on April 4th.

Yeehaw!!

@Funkentelechy I drew this up real quick in open office. Nothing is to scale. What do you think?

RIU wouldn't do pdf so I did a snip of my screen

I like that a lot, especially the feeder setup. Seems like it would reduce or eliminate robbing from other bees, when you have a lot of robbing your bees have to spend extra energy defending the feeder instead of spending that energy on foraging.
Cutting the angles for the bars is difficult, after trying a few different designs now we just cut a grove lengthwise down a wooden slat cut to the right length and melt a 1 inch width strip of wax foundation into the groove.

Funkentelechy said:

I like that a lot, especially the feeder setup. Seems like it would reduce or eliminate robbing from other bees, when you have a lot of robbing your bees have to spend extra energy defending the feeder instead of spending that energy on foraging.
Cutting the angles for the bars is difficult, after trying a few different designs now we just cut a grove lengthwise down a wooden slat cut to the right length and melt a 1 inch width strip of wax foundation into the groove.

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All I was trying to show you was the feeder section. I should have mentioned that.

I need to get moving on a few things.

1. Need to make another follower.
2. Need some kind of wind break. (middle of 5 acres). The bee location is roughly 15’ north of a nice size oak tree. Perfect shade all summer. My problem is the wind coming from the west.
3. Need to make the feed area.

Looks like we are going to get rain in Sunny Northern CA this weekend. I know what I will be doing this weekend.

Does it matter if I put 1, 2, or 3 holes in the follower?

HighLowGrow said:

Looks like we are going to get rain in Sunny Northern CA this weekend. I know what I will be doing this weekend.

Does it matter if I put 1, 2, or 3 holes in the follower?

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I'm in Northern California too(Sierra Nevada). Who are you getting the bees from, just out of curiosity if you don't mind me asking?

I would probably do two holes(or three), depending on the size hole. Bees often like to establish separate openings for in and out, or opposite sides on a long gap entrance like yours will be. You will notice your bees generally entering on one side of the entrance and exiting from the other, they're very organized that way.

I would recommend a good hive tool(sort of like a pry bar) and a frame rack/holder https://www.dadant.com/catalog/m00319-frame-holder-each . Frame/bar racks are super useful when inspecting your hive because you can pull a bar out and hang it on the rack, allowing you more room to work, the bars can get tight and it's a pain to work them without pulling one out first.

Smokers, they can be useful and some people love them, I use one maybe once or twice a year. I always have big fat joint going when I'm working the bees, keeps me calm, keeps the bees calm and it's less harsh than the smoker fuel they sell which is generally cotton or sawdust.

Alternatively you can use a spray bottle with sugar water to lightly spritz the bees, they love sugar water and they will stop what they were doing, i.e. trying to sting you, to clean the sugar water off of themselves and each other. Just go light, your not trying to soak them.

Smokers, they can be useful and some people love them, I use one maybe once or twice a year. I always have big fat joint going when I'm working the bees, keeps me calm, keeps the bees calm and it's less harsh than the smoker fuel they sell which is generally cotton or sawdust.

LMAO. I bought a smoker. Still need a pry tool. And these are coming today. Perfect. Guess I’m set.



I’m in Calaveras county. Bought the bees from The Bee Box in Sac.

You can also use shake or old bud for smoker fuel, works fairly well but it doesn't stay lit as long, you have to pump the bellows a little more often.

Calaveras county is cool, I'm in Plumas county.

Interesting never heard of Bee box, are you going with the Carniolan or the Italian bees from them?

I like to do a mix of both, I've also done Saskatraz and I'm currently running a couple hives of survivor stock from Old Sol apiaries, which are a mix of "Russians, Caucasians, VSH breeders, Minnesota Hygienics, and of course, a pinch of Carniolan, Italian, and feral genetics". They raise and breed them without chemical treatment, the goal being for only colonies with a natural genetic resistance to varroa and such to survive and breed, and hopefully in the end create stronger bee genetics so the industry isn't as dependent on chemical treatments.

You mentioned an Oak tree on your site, we sent some of our 2018 honey in to have it analyzed for pollen content and received a report listing 3.1% Oak pollen at one site and 1.9% at the other, not a huge amount percentage wise but I hadn't realized that they even collected oak pollen.
The report also listed 3.9% Poison Oak, 4.4% Mistletoe, which I found interesting, as well as some Spruce, Maple, and Elderberry pollen.

I went with Italian. Only because I read over and over that they are “gentle”. Hahaha

That’s quite the mix. I looked over the website. Very interesting.

I'll bug you at some point for the name of the place you used to have the honey analyzed. Not quite ready for it. That would be cool to get.

I like Italians, good bees.

Got the feeder figured out I think. Give me the bees.

Looks great man! Feeder looks awesome and I love your roof design, these are going to be some high class bees.

I wouldn't bother using any kind of glue or sealant on your wood joints. The bees will seal every joint when they get in there with propolis, they're really good at it and they will probably either chew the glue out or cover it up with propolis anyways. Some bees, like Caucasian bees, produce huge amounts of propolis and they will coat the entire inside surface of the hive with it like paint. I don't know if you've ever had any experience with propolis, but it's trippy, like wood glue, it's one of the main reasons you need a hive tool to manage bees.


Did you get some snow last night?

No snow just rain. Low only got down to 40. I’m only at 300’. Bet you got some though. Thanks for the compliments.

That’s interesting about the propolis coating the whole inside. I didn’t know they went to that extent. I was trying to do everything I could before the bees get here. Plugging holes. Screws and glue. Drilling holes. Since this is my first go around, I thought I would do everything in my power not to bug the shit out of them unnecessarily when they get here, and to give me the highest chances of them sticking around.

Well I just learned not to glue things unnecessarily. If I enjoy this, maybe I’ll make another one next year.

Everything I’ve learned I’ve watched on YouTube and on the web in general. 5-6 years ago, I bought a few books. DUMMIES is one of them. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. And guess what, you are now my mentor. hahahah Just fuckin with ya.

I think I'm ready for the install. Well I don't really have a choice. 20 more days.

Yup, got some snow.

Picked up and installed the bees today. Everything went really well. And I beat the rain by an hour. I’ll take the EZup down on Tuesday when I check on the queen.
Thanks for all the help @Funkentelechy

HighLowGrow said:

Picked up and installed the bees today. Everything went really well. And I beat the rain by an hour. I’ll take the EZup down on Tuesday when I check on the queen.
Thanks for all the help @Funkentelechy

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Pretty cool man i'm allergic to the little bastards but they are still cool it's the Mud Wasp's i really afraid of.

I like my bees but once I see yellow jackets I start running all of them are aggressive as all hell and I got one in my grow one time was not fun..

badass man! i been wanting to do this for years myself....