Some bees moved in to my property this week. What does /diy/ know about making skeps the traditional European way?

Read "hive and the honeybee" by langstroth, and don't be a hobbyist beekeeper, because they're disease breeders.

>>2912302 (OP)
>What does /diy/ know about making skeps the traditional European way?
Some info on "bee gums" in these books, can't remember which one specifically though

>>2912302 (OP)
It's illegal in most states because they spread disease. If you do make one then separate the top section for the queen so you can inspect the hive. You have to destroy the honeycomb in the skep to get the honey.

>>2912302 (OP)
>What does /diy/ know about making skeps the traditional European way?
They suck. It's basically straw rope (rye straw - wheat and barley are too short to work properly) rolled into shape and sewn together with split willow, then covered in a mixture of cow dung (for the short fibers, horse or sheep could also work), lay (for the binder) and a small amount of burnt chalk (to stop rot).
Main problem is that you can't adjust the size. You either make them way to big, which increases the risk of your bees freezing in winter, or they'll be too small during summer and you'll have swarms pretty much every day. Modern bees are just bred to way too high performance.
Working with them is also a pain. You either need twice as many as you have colonies, "drumming" the bees into a new skep whenever you want o harvest honey (and killing the colony if they were just raising a new queen), or you need to use a L-shaped blade to cut off just the honey part of the comb (which is a pain to do, as the bees will attack you the whole time).
I started with a trad hive, and haven't regretted changing to a modern design even once.

>>2912327
>don't be a hobbyist beekeeper, because they're disease breeders.
>t. honeyjew
Half the "professional" large-scale beekeepers I know refuse to treat for varroa at all bcs muhexpenses, and constantly have to deal with fungal brood diseases. None of the hobbyists have those problems.
Also, Langstroth worked with movable frames, like modern hives have, but did so in such a terrible manner that his work was outdated within a few years. Half the chemicals he uses are impossible to get nowadays (not that you really need them - smoke and water suffice), and his hive setup massively increases the risk of accidentally crushing the queen compared to both more modern designs and traditional (= non-moveable comb) hives.

>>2912463
>lay (for the binder)
*clay
Sorry, my keyboard is bugging out.

>>2912463
>They suck.
I am not doing it for max production like some industrial farm.

>>2912440
If I can learn to make a skep I will just make more and hopefully a swarm will move into the new one.

>>2912524
They will eventually, but again, you should really check your local laws and make sure that the skep is designed to separate the queen. The bees will rebuild the destroyed honeycomb, but it's the only option for harvesting. Usually people would keep multiple skeps and harvest them one at a time as they needed. Utah has a skep on their state flag and ironically it's illegal to keep skeps in Utah.

>>2912533
>you should really check your local laws
Kill a judge and then yourself.

>>2912588
You just want honey bees to go extinct

>>2912302 (OP)
straw is thin traps air and molds easily, i might use a hollowed out log i figure the greater the fall distance the longer it takes for the mites to crawl back up, bees terminal velocity is not deadly and creating a location for those shits to die/succumb to poison away from the hive is ideal while not being able to inspect frames makes this an illegal venture i think a replication of nature is a stronger choices for hive futures.
humans do not live near their dead nor do ants Langston hives keep the dead dozens of bee length away. In nature the dead fall many hundreds of times the bees length away until carted off by ants.
most if not animals have an instinct to keep away from their dead crows monkies elephants will investigate to insure it won't happen again, bees do not give a shit. the catholic church as it went around the world institute a buried dead for 3-4 years before removal because of concerns about proximity to the dead this forced ideology came at the price of blood because it was so important. todays apiarist are heavily restricted to prevent colony disease i think because of rampant insurance fraud, but it has stifled improvement.

Skeps? No. Just no.
Don't fuck with wild bees unless you know what you are doing. The chance of killing the queen is high.
Everybody has their opinions. Langstroth hives work and are easily available. Their downsides can be overcome.
>>2912463
>Modern bees are just bred to way too high performance.
True. And tge commercial guys do not allow tgem a decent seasonal normal shut down cycle.

While I appreciate your desire to LARP, we live in a modern world, sadly. Neighbors will raise a stink, depending how close you are to them.

You might try using a modern wooden hive first, and learn what you need to with that for a year or two, then experiment with the LARP one. You could try mix-matching designs and materials, and see what happens. Like, have a hole cut in the side of a wooden hive, and make the skep cover the hole, sticking out like a boob. That way, if there's a problem, the bees can stay in the wooden box area.

>Bees attacking you
If you're gentle with them and respectful, they shouldn't.

>>2912463
>You either make them way to big, which increases the risk of your bees freezing in winter,

Make a little box of bricks around it, sealed with mud, for heat insulation.

>>2912463
>"drumming" the bees into a new skep whenever you want o harvest honey (and killing the colony if they were just raising a new queen
So don't harvest the honey if they're raising a new queen, if you're too late. Lol. Don't kill your allies.

>>2912463
>Crushing queen
What if you just let the hive sit for a year or two or more, don't harvest honey or wax, let the bees move on to a new one when they're ready, then just harvest the old wax?

Wow, I am really cringing watching this video. He's smashing the hive on the ground, in order to get the honeycombs out. Chill dude, let Nature do its thing. You're hurting/killing the bees because you are impatient. There has to be a way to do it without hurting bees.

>>2914983
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ3IMo7kO88

>>2912302 (OP)
read up on warré hives. they combine a more natural hive setup with better possibilities to do inspections and harvest. they also are very easy to DIY for low cost and you need a few hundred bugs at most to start a couple hives instead of thousands with a langstroth setup
>>2912327
ah yes yes, the commercial beekeepers trucking thousands of hives from one side of the continent to the other are not a problem. its the hobbyists that spread diseases

>>2914983
He's taken every comb they've spent months building! How selfish!

>>2914990
The term hobbyist implies hands-off approach, it's a side thing that you can invest minimal time and effort into. That's not how Nature works. You're taking care of living beings, they need a lot of attention, sometimes at critical times, and if you don't care for them, they will die. Yes, commercial industrial monocrop agriculture is very bad but you can't half-ass it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xijs5qsxIM

>>2914992
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxU3mvS7e38
>The bees are angry

>>2914993
hobbyist implies someone doing it for fun without depending on it financially
you can keep bees as a hobby and take very good care of them
and you can take good care of bees with very little work and materials
you do need to pay attention and know what to do of cause

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iswU2kfmVOM
>Top third of comb is never harvested
I'd let the whole thing just sit for a few years until they move on to a new place before harvesting. Help them when needed.

>>2914998
Tomato tomato

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxOU79SoEQI
>Protect boxes with paint
>Covered with dung and ash to prevent rot
From whence is the water getting into the fibers? Surely they built a roof over it to keep rain off. It will get humid and moisture will get in from the air, obviously... Why would you need paint.

Which would you choose?
>Modern cuck box
>Large penis medieval log hive

>>2912302 (OP)
Didn't they drown the hive to harvest from a skep?

>>2915287
IS that baldness or a legitimate sixhead?

No. 2915287
Can m'lday join the ethnostate?
>>2915288
Idk lol

>>2915029
I dont know about drowning, but one method was to fumigate the hive with sulphur and then shake out the dead bees and cut the comb

I found a bee suit on craigslist for $15.

they are attracted to basil and oregano. you could buy 1000 seeds for $1

>>2914990
That was honey, dumbass
>>2912463
>t. Retard

Apparently there are beekeeping classes. The guy I bought the bee suit from was learning about it at a local university.

>>2916762

thats the cleanest it will ever be

how do i attract wild bees so i can harvest free honey

If I buy a used bee hive and put some bees in there will they move into the old honey comb or do I clean it all out?

>>2919236

keep the comb if its in good shape

worth its weight in gold for a beginner

I'm trying to decide on whether to paint, or oil my beehive. I'm debating between linseed oil, tung oil, or using a latex paint. Ideally I'd get the box wax dipped. Any advice for a first time beekeeper?

>>2920998
Use tung oil. Paint is full of microplastics and other oils are not naturally drying and have metal salts added to them to make them dry.

>>2920998
I've been debating what to get for my first hive. I ended up ordering one that was dipped in bees wax.

>>2920998
outdoor latex or acrylic paint on exterior surfaces. no questions about it. oils take too long to dry and will stick together in the heat of the summer

your bees wont know the difference as the inside will still be raw wood

Got my bee hive today. Still need to get frames.

>>2922132
Forgot the pic.

>>2912302 (OP)
I need like 500lbs of beeswax for a project I'm working on. Is this something a medium scale beekeeper would be able to get me? What's a good bulk price? Will they keep it off the record if I pay cash?

>>2922522
Probably better off buying it from China.

>>2922522
whatcha doin anon?

>>2922157
>>2922132

that needs to be further back from the hedge, you need to be able to walk behind it for inspections

>>2922522
>Will they keep it off the record if I pay cash?
That's a weird fucking question.

>>2922534
Butt stuff

>>2922812
Not strictly true but not a bad idea, quality of life improvement. I do all my inspections from the side.

I am still waiting for my local bee place to get frames next week. How much should unassembled frame be? I think i can get them for around a $1.30 but I have to put them together.

>>2923389
BEE

>>2923942

buy them assembled, putting them together is a pain in the dick

>>2924080
You're right, I better just go to the store and buy honey too.

>>2924132
i mean, cow's milk.

>>2922157
Are you using an acid pad for the cover?

>>2924566
No?

>>2914993
>That's not how Nature works. You're taking care of living beings, they need a lot of attention, sometimes at critical times, and if you don't care for them, they will die.
How retarded are you to believe that the ecological system would not work without human hands on everything?
You are a fucking fool.

You don't need to do anything if the spot is suitable for them. If honeybees dies it's eugenics making those that live adapt to it's surrounding environment.

Modern humans are so retarded and weak.

>>2925352
>eugenics
Stop posting and go back to your ancient era when phrenology was relevant

I picked up some frames today. Now I have to figure out how to strap the wild comb in there. I read I could use rubber bands.

I picked up some frames today. Now I have to figure out how to strap the wild comb in there. I read I could use rubber bands.

>>2927111
Use rubber band, loke a piñata

>>2927111
Decent rubber bands, they'll chew through them and the comb will fall if they haven't glued it back together before they chew through the bands.

also
>cut-outs fucking suck major donkey balls
If I do one per year that's too many.

i am such a god damned fucking retard
accidentally spilled 50kg honey on my lawn
i was able to scoop up most of it but half i poured back into the same bucket i turned over
had a sieve on the bucket though so i hope it caught all the grass and dirt
hope its still safe to eat, the lawn is pretty clean after a week of rain but im afraid it will start to ferment
do i just feed it back to the bees or what
50kg is like €1000 for me

>>2920998
i would apply a mix of 1:1 oil and beeswax
linseed or tung is fine

I moved my wild hive into a beehive today. The weather was hot and the comb fell off the thing it was attached to right away. Then it was too big for the frame so I had to cut and honey and squished bees made a mess. Now the ants are getting into the hive so I put the legs of the hive stand in water.

It was fun to scoop up lots of bees in my hands. They buzz like electricity.

>>2928298
eh, most of the detritus should float to the top, that's what happens with wax and bee parts that come with honey extracting process. If you could have a container with a tap at the bottom, let it sit for a good week or two then decant it from the bottom. If it starts smelling fermented then you might as well make mead out of it. Don't feed it back to the bees.

also
>spilled 50kg on the lawn
>scooped up most of it
Yikes

Bees are gay.

>>2928376
They're all female, and sterile except for the queen. The males only purpose is to fuck the queen, and they die in the process.

>>2928369
ive skimmed from the top of the bucket two days in a row now and sure enough its full of dirt that passed the filter cloth
the bucket does have a tap on the bottom
in a week ill pour some and see if there is dirt in it i guess
thanks anon, this is reassuring

>>2927549
>Decent rubber bands, they'll chew through them
I should have used metal wire. they are already taking off the rubber bands.

>>2927549
>Decent rubber bands, they'll chew through them
I should have used metal wire. they are already taking off the rubber bands.

>>2928451
Make mead out of it to drown your honey sorrows.

How do you give bees water without them drowning in a dish?

>>2929763
Put rocks, wine corks, polystyrene etc in the water for them to climb on.

>>2919251
NTA but why save old comb? Won't the bees just make a new one?

>>2928334
Update. These guy don't need the rubber bands anymore. They managed to glue their honey comb into the frame already

>>2931008
Nicely done! They look pretty good. In my experience they attach the comb pretty well within a few days. Watch out for cross comb at this stage, they might be tempted to fill the open voids with comb at 90 degrees to what you want and join multiple frames together.

Bees need special "math bees" to rebuild their hive’s comb properly. These bees are educated in the advanced geometry required to create the perfectly structured hexagonal cells that make up the comb. This education comes from the University of Beekeeper Geometry, where bees learn about efficiency, angles, and space optimization, ensuring that each cell is perfectly sized for honey storage and brood. Without these trained bees, the comb would be poorly constructed and inefficient, leading to wasted resources like wax and space.

Old comb is valuable because it already contains this optimized structure. Bees can build on top of the old comb, saving time and energy. Rebuilding from scratch would require the bees to have to "re-learn" all the math behind proper comb design, which could be a major setback. By preserving the old comb, beekeepers ensure that bees don't need to start from zero every time they rebuild their hive. In fact, the more experienced a hive is, the better it can reuse and adapt the old comb.

Without math bees, the hive would lose its ability to produce efficient comb, impacting the entire colony's productivity. So, keeping old comb is essential for maintaining a healthy, efficient hive. It’s not just about reusing wax—it’s about holding onto the intricate, mathematically optimized design that allows bees to thrive.

>>2930627
>>2931781

>>2931781
Where I live it's against regulation to re-use old comb to reduce disease risk. Which doesn't matter one single fuck since I've seen a hive in peak season completely draw out a fresh 10 frame deep box in less than a fortnight.

>>2931781
Interesting, I had no idea there were "math bees". It makes sense, I know bees already had specialized tasks but it never occurred to me there would be specialized construction bees. Two followup questions:
If you go a long time with the same comb does the hive stop producing math bees? So if there's an accident and the comb gets destroyed there's no bees left that can build the structure anymore?
I learned how you don't take all the honey from a hive. Just some from a certain area that's like overflow or extra honey, letting the bees keep the majority. If I were interested in getting beeswax as well as honey would it be bad to save the wax from that same overflow area or would that be bad for the hive?

There is a yellow jacket nest on my neighbor's electrical box, how do I get rid of it? When I first saw it I was hoping it was bees so I could larp as a bee keeper but they aren't hairy like bees. Would a bee suit still help against wasps?

>>2912302 (OP)
I know this question is a longshot, but has anyone here kept Mexican honey wasps?

>>2933356
Mexicans?

>>2932761
Sevin dust in a water bottle with 3 holes on the cap. Squeeze a few times to dust at entrance at night. Wait. That's yellowjackets. Out at night again with one of those distance raid sprayers and a flashlight