Honey Bee Hive

zman308

zman308

Joined
Sep 3, 2007
Messages
831
Took a hike today along Lake Erie and found this hive in a Wood Duck box. Honey would be a great addition to supplement your survival rations. You could also use the wax to make candles. This box was high off the ground but I am sure you could figure a way to smoke out the bees.

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I'm deathly afraid of bees. I get a nasty reaction when stung that has landed me in the hospital. My allergist says I'm not allergic, but still get a nasty reaction... So I won't be attempting this anytime soon.

I'd agree that honey would be a nice pick-me-up in a survival situation. I've never had fresh honey out of the comb like that. Did you get any?

Good thinking!
 
Shame unless that box is a lot bigger than it looks or the hive extends into the tree somehow I'd be suprised if it lived the winter.

Best way to actually get something like that would be to remove the box and put it inside an empty hive body. Then on top of that put a hive body fully of frames of foundation and let the bees move up into it.

The only problem with that is it's the wrong time of year for it. They need a lot of raw materials to draw the foundation out and store honey.

That box looks small and the hive is partially exposed. I'd be suprised if it didn't starve out or freeze because the colony was too small to maintain an internal temp in the cold part of winter.
 
This time of year if you are some place cold it is pretty easy bees don't/can't fly under about 45 degrees.
May be I should put some wine yeast in my survival stuff that would store well as mead:D. For medicinal purposes of coarse:D
Roy
 
Wood Duck boxes are usually 10 X 10 X 24, so it is a big hive. I didn't bother the box because it was in a state park.
 
zman308 said:
Wood Duck boxes are usually 10 X 10 X 24, so it is a big hive. I didn't bother the box because it was in a state park.
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Your tax dollars paid for that box. Even better reason to get it. :)

Just kidding (kind of)...

On the topic of smoking bees out, at what point do you know that you have sufficiently smoked them and can go in to get some honeycomb? Do they all fly away when you smoke them, or do they just go into a lethargic state? Seems like an iffy way to get some honey if you do not have the proper protection. I guess it's a good thing I carry an Epi-Pen with me in the woods.
 
With the topic on Bees and honey. Here in LA if you go to one of those fancy coffee shops and get some tea, Ask them for honey. They would give you those honey sticks that are great to carry with you. On hiking and backpacking trips as energy bosters. So now i asked everyone i know that when they go, to ask for the honey sticks. The honey in the sticks is actualy good honey.

Sasha
 
Oh guys dont go after the honey hives unless you realy have too. We are having a crisis with many of then die. We like it or not but they make everything else grow.. I love Bees even that i got stung more then any one should ever get stung. Now when i get stung it puts a smile on my face remembering the good times as a kid.. No im not normal.

Sasha
 
storl said:
Your tax dollars paid for that box. Even better reason to get it. :)

Just kidding (kind of)...

On the topic of smoking bees out, at what point do you know that you have sufficiently smoked them and can go in to get some honeycomb? Do they all fly away when you smoke them, or do they just go into a lethargic state? Seems like an iffy way to get some honey if you do not have the proper protection. I guess it's a good thing I carry an Epi-Pen with me in the woods.
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The smoke only renders them somewhat docile. It doesn't look like there's any honey on the comb on the outside, or very little.

You'd have to bust up the box then and take some of the comb with the honey. Even with protective gear on and smoke you'd likely piss them off and get stung a few times.

IMO I'd leave it alone. If I wanted it I'd wait till winter when they were inside take a long stick and knock that comb off the outside and keep it for the wax and forget about the honey.

I used to have a hive that was so wicked even with smoke when I'd get into them they'd boil out of the hive and go all over me trying to sting me. They can sting thru your clothes and it sucks when they go up your pant legs:D One time one got under my veil. I could feel it crawling on my neck. It finally nailed me on my adams apple;)

But anyway this one bad hive once you pissed them off they were on GUARD. I'd have to stay in for an hour or so. One time I was watching out my window after getting into them and my old dog walked across the yard and he started getting ass because they spotted him and were stingng him.

I've had other hives though you could get into them and brush them off the comb back into the hive and not get stung at all though. Just depends on the strain. Also they say if the queen is getting old and she stops producing as much of the "Queen Substance" that it makes the hive really cross.
 
sasha said:
Oh guys dont go after the honey hives unless you realy have too. We are having a crisis with many of then die. We like it or not but they make everything else grow.. I love Bees even that i got stung more then any one should ever get stung. Now when i get stung it puts a smile on my face remembering the good times as a kid.. No im not normal.
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Oh, don't worry, I have zero intentions of going after honey that is not already in a jar. I was just wondering what to do if I were ever in a situation where I actually needed the honey in a live nest.
 
man, I must have missed this one.

The smoke is used to mask the alarm pheromone. It is quick acting, and usually the response calms down after about ten minutes. The smoke also makes the bees think that their hive is on fire, so they go and gorge on the honey to leave in mass.


That hive is going to die. Come back and get the wax later. It probably won't make it past the first few days of freeze, and if it does, it will get mites and crash eventually. That wax is new. Keep checking on it after the freeze.
 
sasha said:
Oh guys dont go after the honey hives unless you realy have too. We are having a crisis with many of then die.
Click to expand...

Has anyone made bee houses like this...

http://crawford.tardigrade.net/bugs/BugofMonth36.html

...and do they work. We're thinking about building a few of these and placing them around the backyard to help try to bring the population back.

Also, does anyone know the distribution of orchard mason bees, do they live in NY? I found this tutorial to make a bee house for them...

http://www.nwf.org/backyard/beehouse.cfm
 
On a normal hive that you "raise", there is a foundation on the bottom (larger section) and then a queen extruder to keep the queen from going up in the "super" or top sections and laying eggs in with the honey. In the wild she would go wherever she wants to and lay eggs.
We had 22 hives in the backyard when I was a little hillbilly. I used to help my father tend them.
 
wintermute said:
Has anyone made bee houses like this...

http://crawford.tardigrade.net/bugs/BugofMonth36.html

...and do they work. We're thinking about building a few of these and placing them around the backyard to help try to bring the population back.

Also, does anyone know the distribution of orchard mason bees, do they live in NY? I found this tutorial to make a bee house for them...

http://www.nwf.org/backyard/beehouse.cfm
Click to expand...


man o man! This is great timing! I just made about 75 of these last thursday. And do you know what I did friday? Mason bees, thats right! 12 of those bloody blocks with 8 inch 5/16 holes there. You want to use 8 inch cause the 6 inch only gets males.

And yes the osmia are in NY! Thanks for that!

Joe
 
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