Goose Wood Bees

[Dexter's Shed]

so I popped in to check on the bees yesterday, and realised it was a much smaller cast swarm than I first thought, so popped back today to make the hive smaller and to give them a feed to help whilst building comb

http://youtu.be/kt9U6rVG4Tw


I have another two small nucs at home, with only a few hundred bees in each, once we can confirm we have laying queens, I'll keep the queen that's from my strain of bees, remove the other two and combine all three colonies together, to make a stronger colony to over winter, my queens are very docile angels, so only right to keep the strain going.

I'm probably letting my imagination run away with me, but as a lot of woodland owners seem to make a few pennies from their woods, bees seem a way for me to do it too, or am I counting my bees before they hatch, so to speak.
I can see a few hives in the next year or two, all with wax starter frames, meaning cut comb, simpler to harvest, yet sometimes commands a higher price than a jar of honey
as del boy would say, this time next year, I'll be a millionaire

[Bearwood]

Sounds like you're capitalising (quite rightly) on this year's bounty of swarms. If the woods prove conducive to overwintering your bees, you'll probably get a good price for overwintered colonies next year.

Considering I set out with one colony in March/April, I now have three; one from an artificial swarm that I performed, and one from a swarm I was called out to today by my woodland neighbour. One of the biggest swarms I've seen, and this was my first attempt at capturing one!

[SimonFisher]

An interesting series "Wonder of Bees" (four half-hour programmes) on BBC TV recently, now available to watch on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXbzZKeY_5E.

[smojo]

Bees have always fascinated me and many years ago I toyed with the idea of keeping some. I don't think I'd go down that route now because it would be another big learning curve and expense to kit out but I had wondered about allowing someone else to keep them in my wood when I get it but I guess that would be difficult to organise as they would need key access to the main gate and we only get one and no copies allowed. Also I wondered just how much nectar there is for them in a typical woodland. Probably more than appears at first sight. Spring should be productive when trees are in blossom but then what? Of course I know nothing much about actual beekeeping - just wondered how attractive a proposition it would be to a beekeeper looking to expand his bee empire.

[SimonFisher]

Bees have always fascinated me and many years ago I toyed with the idea of keeping some. I don't think I'd go down that route now because it would be another big learning curve and expense to kit out ...

How about some putting up some nesting tubes for solitary mason bees? They play an increasingly significant part in pollination.

[Mod 2]

**** Moderator note: Posts on restrictions on access, cutting keys etc, split to another topic ****

[Dexter's Shed]

Bees have always fascinated me and many years ago I toyed with the idea of keeping some. I don't think I'd go down that route now because it would be another big learning curve and expense to kit out but I had wondered about allowing someone else to keep them in my wood when I get it but I guess that would be difficult to organise as they would need key access to the main gate and we only get one and no copies allowed. Also I wondered just how much nectar there is for them in a typical woodland. Probably more than appears at first sight. Spring should be productive when trees are in blossom but then what? Of course I know nothing much about actual beekeeping - just wondered how attractive a proposition it would be to a beekeeper looking to expand his bee empire.

hi smojo, Im sure offering someone the use of your woods would benefit everyone, inspections of the hives, can be once every week or two, depending on the type of hive they use, my approach to beekeeping is less hands on, they know whats best, I'm sure you could find yourself a woodland helper?? offering bee hive space in exchange for a days help, that way you could arrive together and solve the entry problem, you'd also most likely get free honey/cut comb etc.
bees have approx a 3 mile flying range from the hive, so unless your woods is 3 miles in diameter, they will find pollen in other places, although there is lots within the woods, they have a sense of smell much better than a dog, they are even used in usa to sniff out drugs, try gooling it

[Lincswood]

**** Moderator edited to correct quoting ****

Bees have always fascinated me and many years ago I toyed with the idea of keeping some. I don't think I'd go down that route now because it would be another big learning curve and expense to kit out ...

How about some putting up some nesting tubes for solitary mason bees? They play an increasingly significant part in pollination.

Nesting tubes and mason bees? Tell me more please. Would love to see bees in my woods but travel quite a bit with work so can't guarantee to be there that often. Would this be a 'low maintenance' route in?

[Dexter's Shed]

Nesting tubes and mason bees? Tell me more please. Would love to see bees in my woods but travel quite a bit with work so can't guarantee to be there that often. Would this be a 'low maintenance' route in?

a simple case of putting up bee nesting boxes I would have thought, so about as low maintenance as you can get

[oldclaypaws]

If you search for 'mason bee nest' on Fleabay, theres quite a few to buy off the shelf, but they look pretty easy to make as shown here;

http://www.foxleas.com/bee_house.htm

I know they like to be under cover, I often get them nesting in my kiln shed in the gaps of my stack of spare kiln bricks.