I want bees also. I think I am a bit afraid to keep them, but the more I see people keeping them I realize my fears must be all in my head. How hard is it to get the honey out of the hive, then out of the comb? How much honey do you get from a hive? How many bees are in each of those boxes?
@JMTKMS: Good questions...I have bees all around all the time...but no hive I have seen or found. They sometimes try to drink wine with me while I sit outside...I just explain to them that it is mine and the eventually fly away. Bees are not like wasp...If a bee stings it dies and so it would rather avoid stinging if possible. I think both wasp (also good for the garden) and bees don't go looking for people to sting. Most of the time they sting when trapped or someone panics and starts swinging at them. :)
@JMTKMS: Bees are kinda like pets. My husband is the one who tends the hives. They get used to the person they see all of the time, but still wear your suit, don't get me wrong. I have to be a little more careful when by them. The honey is made on something called frames that are inside the boxes you see. You can take a few frames out of the hive and put them into a honey extractor. The extractor forces the honey out of the comb. Sometimes we just set one frame into a large bowl to let it drip out. As for the bee quantity, it ranges. We started with 5,000 last spring and ended up with 70,000 by fall. It was our 1st year. As for this spring there are probably 30,000 that survived the winter. That's the count that is in all of the boxes put together. They don't live in all of the boxes, some just have honey in it or pollen, or isn't used at all for now. I think we got one quart of honey from one frame last year. We kept most of the frames in the freezer for food for the bees during the winter. This year we can start using more for ourselves and maybe even sell it. Buy a few used boxes & supplies on Craig's List, do a little research, and there you go. Awesome experience! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beekeeping
@Clenram: Exactly right. I had my camera only inches away from the bee on the apricot blossom... and he did'nt care about stinging me. On the other hand when you are by their hives they get a little more protective.
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