Bee Dummy About PDF links: If you just left click it, the link will open but it will replace the PDF. To bring it back (back button), the PDF will have to reload. This can take awhile. Ctrl click will open the link in a new tab so you have both open at once. You can also right click and select Open in new tab or window. You may get this warning but don t worry. It won t cause a flat tire on your car or your toilet to be stopped up. Howdy folks. When I first did this PDF, my wife had our camera (out of country) and I couldn t finish it. She s back so now it s done. I love my bees but I m a dummy about them. I have two locations. One is in Texas (500+ ft. above sea level) and one in New Mexico (9000 ft. above sea level). As you see here, I m not in business nor do I care about the honey. I just like the little folks and, of course, they are good for my gardens.
I ve always wanted to have bees (my grandfather was a beekeeper). What I had in Texas WAS, a possum house (I ll build them a new one).
And woo be it for poor mama possum, (but good for me) the bees took over her house.
But now winter is coming and I m worried about everybody...mama possum and bees. I m finding dead bees that don t seem to have anything wrong with them and maybe the cold is getting them. I ve tried bringing them in the house to revive them but no luck.
Last winter, Dallas. I will build mama a new house, and because it looks like they re running out of room, I m going to build a bigger (and nicer) one for the bees right below this one.
Hey John, I need a new house. So I need any advice that anyone can offer about a new bee house.
Mom s old house is in a tree; on a stump.
My wife is in Japan right now, and has our camera so I can t take a current picture. But there is another stump right below possum house (now bee house), and this is where I m going to put the new bee house. Picture of box for new house missing. It is 15 ½" square (exterior). The walls are probably about ¾" to 1" thick plywood. It is sealed/covered in plastic Formica like material. It was probably a little end table or a kid s toy found it on the street. I will cut holes in it for their door; add a roof and I m sure it will probably need some ventilation. I need help to understand what kind of holes to make in the box for the
entrance (bee door) e.g. square, slots or multiple slots, rectangle etc. And, where and what kind of holes to make for ventilation e.g. small drill, round or bigger hole saw, cut with saw, back, sides, top, bottom etc. I don t care about harvesting honey. I just want them to have a nice home..hot tub, nursery, recreation room etc. I will continue with this PDF when my wife returns and I can take pictures. But I need help now.
I just found some Bee pictures on Facebook that are related to my bee situation. Too many bees like in my possum house. What do these little folks do about winter? Seems like they would have it figured out by now but I m finding the dead bees and don t know who s in charge (hive boss) to contact about arranging their funerals. Does the queen handle this?
In the picture above, you see a lot of vegetation e.g. ferns, vines below their house. This is a pond/patio area.
In winter I cover it all with a Frame and plastic.
It s on top of this that I m finding the dead bees. I ve tried bringing them in the house but no luck. They re just dead. Does anyone speak Bee? I ve since been getting some advice from a bee guy who told me to wait until spring to do the new house. Oh goodie, another chore that I can (mostly) put off a few months. He says I can feed them sugar. I guess I ll put a shelf for this on the tree stump right below, where I plan to put their new house. They really like Root Beer. It has no caffeine so I wonder if it can harm them: http://geriatricgourmet.com/garden_2.html For now, I d like to start with the box, so I need advice about the holes.
My wife came back with the camera so I ve added the stuff below: I m also very worried about this: https://goo.gl/org3ar
My wife has returned with our camera so I can resume. This is the box. I have various options for cutting the entrance and ventilation holes. The walls of the box look to be about ½ " thick.
I also have two options for where I will mount the new box. This one is just below the hive (ex-possum house).
This one is down at the base of the tree. In my 70s, and did a lot of growing up in the woods. All my life, I ve seen bee hives in trees (Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, California, Canada and Europe). And I know they don t care about cosmetics. The looks of the yellow box won t matter to them any more than did those of the possum house. But, even though the tree hives weren't fancy, I think a house with ventilation, proper entrance/exit and maybe other holes/features, would be better for them. So I m back to my primary question: Where, and what kind and size of holes should I cut for the entrance and ventilation e.g. rectangle, circle (what is in the possum house), slots or multiple slots etc.? Can someone please tell me what kind of holes to cut? And any other suggestions e.g.
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