Ooh, I have a jar of what was unripened honey (pulled out out of a beehive before ready-- which happens sometimes) and it's fermenting itself into alcohol. Natural yeasts apparently are converting it into mead. Wonder how it tastes. 🤔 #beekeeping#mead
@pmonks Smart move. We once had canned beets do the same thing (bubbled out of the bottles months after canning) and I didn't even open them, they went straight to the trash in a plastic bag.
Checked out a beehive today that went from 4 frames on April 21st to 10 extra full frames today.. they are in growth mode right now here in my part of Southern California. Producing honey, too. #bees#beekeeping
@johnefrancis Bee keeping is great! MrsD and I used to do it in Yorkshire. Unfortunately MrsD is now highly allergic to bee stings. Don't let the girls get you, just in case!
My backyard bee swarm countdown has restarted. Removed a captured swarm from behind my shed. Last swarm took 1.5 weeks to show up due to the marine layer. The prior swarm it was 2 days from removal of the prior hive. I already lost count of how many bee swarms from the backyard this year... at least 7... #beekeeping
@MsMerope Oh, all the captured swarms we visit. All are happy (except maybe one of them... might have to overthrow the queen in THAT hive... A wee bit angry)
Had a visit with the 15,000 to 20,000 bees that showed up in my backyard yesterday. Moved them into a bigger box. They seemed friendly enough (did this without smoke, and they were fine with it). 4.5 frames worth of bees, which is big. Going to have to move them offsite here quickly since there are so many (we are essentially catching/moving/catching/moving swarms every week here from out back). #beekeeping
@MsMerope Most certainly. Plus, as soon as we move a hive off property another one shows up within a couple of warm days. (they don't fly in cold/dark)
A bee swarm portal has opened up here,
Causing neighbors confusion, anger, and fear
How it appeared there, I just don't know
But the swarms, they continue to show
A few last week, and one today
This is their place, I must say
However, it's not my fault, I'll have to state
They were here before us, not one that we did create
As for me, well, you won't see ME weeping
We've just taken up lots of beekeeping
Approaching the annual "running out of beekeeping equipment" date. 😬
(Bees follow the rule of exponential growth and decay: you either have WAY TOO MANY BEES or NOT NEARLY ENOUGH BEES -- in spring they grow by the power of two or more, but they also tend to drop in half in winter). #beekeeping
Hmm, left an empty nuc (small box) at a property with a beehive and a swarm flew into it and moved in yesterday or today, LOL. Had bees scouting my bag, so left an Amazon box baited with a single frame, in case there are others around... #beekeeping
Hmm, they mention using pheromones and a swarm of bees as a "radical idea" to attack enemies for the military in "The Men Who Stare At Goats", LOL. (It would work, but you can't cart around beehives, really) #beekeeping#movies
@ai6yr The best-funded militaries did take the bee swarm threat seriously: today they all have CBRN (chemical/bee/radiological/nuclear) suits and vehicles available.
@brianb Well, the problem is we're in the suburbs, and with frames that have any wax/honey on them we alarm the bee hating neighbors when all the bees come rob the wax/honey. The birds are not great with the foraging directly off frames...