Bee question?

[omega50]

Nope -not another thread about BG.
Sorry
Legit question.
Neighbor announced this evening that he put a couple of hives behind his fence and said he will be bringing more in a few weeks.
This is residential Calgary.
Should I be concerned?:)
Already have skunk issues. I can't imagine that this will help:sHa_shakeshout: I have never kept bees. Should I be worried that my 4 yr old grandson plays 40 ft away from these new hives? Or is all good!

[leeaspell]

Maybe the bees will scare off the skunks.

I wonder what the legal ramifications would be off setting a swarm of bees on a burglar?

[AppleJax]

Does that mean fresh honey for the neighbours?

[Okotokian]

I'd be concerned, and calling bylaw enforcement to see if it's legal in Calgary.

An alternative would be to just pick up something like this and coat your fence in sugar water and this stuff. Good fences make good neighbours. ;)

http://www.epestsolutions.com/ecopco-d-x-dust-insecticide-10oz.html

[omega50]

Does that mean fresh honey for the neighbours?
A few years back he called me over to troubleshoot some wine he had made. All natural dandelion in a large Mason Jar- Greenish goop bubbling away-foul smelling and he was soo proud.
Remember him telling me at the time that he was going to start Mead production in his house from his own honey. I laffed it off after seeing that 1 Gallon Jar. But I guess he was serious:)

Not exactly the kind of guy that inspires confidence. Kinda like a 24yr old Red Green.:bad_boys_20:

[whammy]

Legal in Calgary. I wouldn't bee too concerned. Honey Bees are generally quite calm.

[Davey Boy]

This is a question best answered by Beeguy, seems he is AWOL.

[whammy]

This is a question best answered by Beeguy, seems he is AWOL.

Nah, Beeguy is a bee racist. He doesn't like honey bees, only the natural bees.

[Au revoir, Gopher]

It is legal in Calgary, assuming he is following all the provincial regulations.

Tell your grandson not to climb over the fence and kick the hive:)

Unless he is allergic to bee stings I wouldn't worry.

ARG

[tractor1971]

Bylaws allow it. I used to hobby 50 hives, currently have 4. Do not be concerned, it is safe. People confuse wasps and hornets with honey bees. The latter will only sting if stepped on, crushed or perhaps if you obscure their hive entrance by standing in front of it-maybe.

[Beeman]

Don't worry about it. If he kept them out of sight and didn't tell you about it you probably wouldn't even notice them. Right now I have about a hundred behive behind the shed on my farm about 40 yards away from where my kids play ages 1, 5, 9. If you are worried about stings you can ask your nieghbour not to bother the hives when the kids are typically playing outside and keep the dandelions and clover out of your lawn so bare feet don't accidentally squish some innocent bee. Almost every bee you see will mind its own business if left alone.

The last advice I have is important. If a bee gets stuck in your hair just squish it. Do not try to pull it out or you will get stung for sure. Squishing might get your finger stung but it is much better than getting one on the head.

[Robin Goodfellow]

Nope -not another thread about BG.
Sorry
Legit question.
Neighbor announced this evening that he put a couple of hives behind his fence and said he will be bringing more in a few weeks.
This is residential Calgary.
Should I be concerned?:)
Already have skunk issues. I can't imagine that this will help:sHa_shakeshout: I have never kept bees. Should I be worried that my 4 yr old grandson plays 40 ft away from these new hives? Or is all good!

I've got a neighbor that keeps bees. There have never been any problems, and he's approached the matter very respectfully with everyone around him.

It's actually turned out to be quite interesting. His hives are just across the fence, and there have never been issues... Nor for my kids, whose play can sometimes take them within 20 feet of the hives.

It's appreciated the way he bribes everyone around him with honey, and is always making sure no one is experiencing any problems.

OTOH, if he'd just informed us he was setting up a bee farm one day, and there was more to come, I don't think everyone would be so open.

Hopefully he'll be a better beekeeper than a brewer.

We have skunks around too, and my neighbor keeps his hives on pedestals to discourage the skunks.

Is he using the vertical tower type hives or the long trough type hives? What area are you in?

[Unregistered user]

Urban bee keeping is gaining in popularity, great local source of natural food. In Calgary you can have up to 4 hives on your property. I was going to do it but got lazy. The separator is a bit spendy too.

[Red Bullets]

My guess is there were honeybees flying around the neighborhood long before the neighbor got hives. If anything, a person should plant a few extra flowers and veggies in the garden. Good pollinators have moved in next door.

Bees are like snakes. No bother until provoked.

Honey and bees may be an attractor for skunks.

[dgl1948]

They can get a little upset come late fall if you around the hive. Other than that thunder and lightning can get them worked up. You will be surprised at how gentle they actually are.
If they ever give you a problem, tell your neighbour that he has to harvest his honey after dark. He will turn to buying honey instead of producing it after that.:thinking-006:

[ken]

Nope -not another thread about BG.
Sorry
Legit question.
Neighbor announced this evening that he put a couple of hives behind his fence and said he will be bringing more in a few weeks.
This is residential Calgary.
Should I be concerned?:)
Already have skunk issues. I can't imagine that this will help:sHa_shakeshout: I have never kept bees. Should I be worried that my 4 yr old grandson plays 40 ft away from these new hives? Or is all good!

I kept bees

[ken]

Nope -not another thread about BG.
Sorry
Legit question.
Neighbor announced this evening that he put a couple of hives behind his fence and said he will be bringing more in a few weeks.
This is residential Calgary.
Should I be concerned?:)
Already have skunk issues. I can't imagine that this will help:sHa_shakeshout: I have never kept bees. Should I be worried that my 4 yr old grandson plays 40 ft away from these new hives? Or is all good!

OK lets try that again - - - -
I kept bees for 22 years - up to over a hundred hives.
I would never keep bees on an average size town lot. most bees are gentle, however there a some that are ornery it seems like.
If your neighbor opens the hives on warm sunny days there should be no problem.
But if he opens them to examine frames on a cold rainy day, or when a thunder storm is aproaching, maybe your would like to stay in your house!!!
You will learn by experience over time, hopefully it will be a good experience.

[twofifty]

Ken, isn't there also the problem when from time to time a queen decides to establish a colony elsewhere and swarms off with half the hive?

[dgl1948]

When they swarm they all fill up with honey and leave happy. Ever see the picture with a fellow with a beard of bees? They are the ones that are swarming.

[omega50]

Pics of the hives- Fence boards are 1" x 6" So guessing about 18" wide.
Anybody know the bee capacity of a hive this size?

http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x471/omega505/P5091108_zpsbb87438a.jpg (http://s1183.photobucket.com/user/omega505/media/P5091108_zpsbb87438a.jpg.html)

[skelly]

My grandfather kept bees (same hives as in pic above but 4 high and 6-8 wide.) he had a huge garden every year and claimed that the bees would help with the garden by pollinating. A huge yield every year. I can remember helping to extract the honey from te frames. My grandmother was deathly allergic to bee stings. She would use the hot knife to cut the beeswas off the frame then give me the frames and I'd put them in the extractor and start spinning it. Anytime a bee would get in the house she would just get a newspaper and hold it in front of the bee and when the bee would land on it she'd take te bee back outside. My grandfather scolded me one time for stepping on a couple of bees outside. He said bee stings are good for you and without the bees he wouldn't have such a nice garden. IIRC if you are close to he hive and you kill a bee it will leave a pheromone for other bees to come. My grampy lived to 93 yrs and never had an ache or pain from arthritis and claimed it was from being stung a couple times a year while opening te hives and pulling frames. If I was you I'd take advantage of the bees. Honey bees can only sting once. The stinger will stick in you and the bee will die. The are neat to watch going from flower to flower with huge clumps of pollen attached to thier back legs.

[skelly]

And I forgot my father used to haul mail from the border and he used to say there are only two things that post men were careful with while handling packages wether it was marked fragile or not. Those were "live bees" and "paint".

[twofifty]

That's a small yard!

[alacringa]

As others have pointed out, bees are generally pretty laid-back. I would, however, question the wisdom of putting the hives right beside a basketball net.

[dgl1948]

Anybody know the bee capacity of a hive this size?


There should be about 60,000 bees in each, give or take a few thousand. These are brood supers, honey supers will go on once a flow starts. Depending on the flow there could be 3 or 4 honey supers go on. Each of the honey supers should have about 80 pounds of honey.

[roger]

I wonder what the legal ramifications would be off setting a swarm of bees on a burglar?

As long as it wasnt a weather-bee

[Beeman]

There should be about 60,000 bees in each, give or take a few thousand. These are brood supers, honey supers will go on once a flow starts. Depending on the flow there could be 3 or 4 honey supers go on. Each of the honey supers should have about 80 pounds of honey.


All true except a honey super might weigh around 80 pounds including the box and frames which add up to around 20 pounds. The heaviest I ever put on the scale grossed 92 pounds. The hive population will top out around 60, 000 bees In july but not this time of year. Probably around 10 to 20 thousand right now depending on how he established the hive but could be a bit higher.

[dgl1948]

The heaviest I ever put on the scale grossed 92 pounds.

9 or 10 frame hive?

[Beeman]

9 or 10 frame hive?

Probably an 8 frame super in a pine box. 8 frame have less bee spaces so more room for honey.

[omega50]

So the bees have been in his hive more than a week now. They seem to be ignoring the crabapple trees in full blossom in my yard and are heading out to nearby fields.
Seems strange. Why are they ignoring fruit blossoms for dandelions? Are they doing their work under bee supervision? Being directed to this place over that?:)
Are they daft?:sHa_shakeshout:

[Au revoir, Gopher]

So the bees have been in his hive more than a week now. They seem to be ignoring the crabapple trees in full blossom in my yard and are heading out to nearby fields.
Seems strange. Why are they ignoring fruit blossoms for dandelions? Are they doing their work under bee supervision? Being directed to this place over that?:)
Are they daft?:sHa_shakeshout:

We have about a dozen different types of roses in our yard; the bumblebees love them, the honeybees ignore them. Now that you mention it, I don't recall seeing any honeybees in our apple blossoms. No accounting for taste.

ARG

[Robin Goodfellow]

So the bees have been in his hive more than a week now. They seem to be ignoring the crabapple trees in full blossom in my yard and are heading out to nearby fields.
Seems strange. Why are they ignoring fruit blossoms for dandelions?

I've read that honeybees avoid foraging directly near their hives - Possibly saving the closest forage for a rainy day fund.

[Canehdianman]

I didn't read all of the thread, so I apologize if this has already been posted.

Alberta has a Bee Act, which sets out the rules and regulations for anyone keeping bees.

http://www.qp.alberta.ca/documents/acts/b02.pdf

Might be worth an investigation to see if he has complied :)

[a little redneck]

I'd be okay with a hive, or my neighbours having bee hives. There has been a serious decline in honeybees. I wouldn't be ok if my neighbor had a rooster or pigs next to my yard.