# American Honeybee Farmer



## rocky1 (Apr 3, 2017)

Rather than get the "What'd You Do In Your Shop" thread way off track, we'll simply start a new thread, because this one is gonna get busy shortly. For those of you already in the loop and aware I'm a commercial beekeeper, a little beekeeping entertainment for you. For the rest of you guys, yeah I play with bugs for a living.

And... Yep! This is what it's all about, should any of you guys ever think you might want to be a beekeeper!

Reactions: Like 3 | Great Post 1 | Way Cool 6


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## ripjack13 (Apr 3, 2017)

@Don Ratcliff

Reactions: Funny 1


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## ripjack13 (Apr 3, 2017)

I thought that it was a video on you doing the beekeepin, not a song video. Cool none the less.


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## rocky1 (Apr 3, 2017)

Got our sign in the front yard at 3:06, get name mentioned at 4:20, and one badly in need of paint bee box at 4:21. Georgia Beekeepers' Association did this, and we aren't quite in Georgia, although we're close, and know all those names they rattled off at the end.

Reactions: Like 3


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## rocky1 (Apr 3, 2017)

No... no videos of us doin the beekeeping!

They did an excellent job on the video; if you aren't familiar with the business a lot of it doesn't have the impact, but all of that is pretty much day to day life in the bee business. As mentioned previously Dad pollinates for a produce farm way down there on the other end of the state by Lee, that one's a 5 hour drive one way, and that's stopping for a quick bite to eat, and driving like hell. I can make it back empty in about 4 1/2, barring any traffic jams, or wrecks along the way. But that's crowding 80 mph non-stop for 350 miles.

Nephew I was working for has locations clear over in Port St. Joe, just east of Panama City in the panhandle. Had locations scattered coast to coast on the orange groves a couple years, from Fort Pierce to Parrish, which is about an hour south of Tampa. You see a lot of windshield time, break downs in far away places, get stuck frequently, run into a lot of grumpy bees. Trying to pull bees out of the orange, you'll see 18 - 20 hour days, shower, sleep 4 hours, grab a bite to eat, and do it all over again. About the third trip in 3 days, you take one truck so one guy can sleep going down, and the other one can sleep coming home.

Reactions: Like 2


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## rocky1 (Apr 3, 2017)

Aside from that, winter the bees over in the Palatka/St. Augustine area. Locations from Hastings back up to Picolotta on the east side of the river. Old man pollinates for farmers in Boynton Beach, Hastings, Interlachen, Newberry, Branford, Trenton, Chiefland, Bell, Madison, Lake City, Jasper, even had a bunch on Blueberries up in Argyle, GA this year. 

Keep losing more and more territory on the gallberry around here. Timber companies have gone to herbicide management, and raking pine straw for all the do gooders flower beds down state in the cities, that believe in the back to nature and reserve everything routine.


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## woodtickgreg (Apr 3, 2017)

That was a very cool video, explains a little of the good and bad of it. But most people really don't understand the important role that bee's have in the ecosystem. It is an amazing thing apiaries. It is a job or hobby that I could never do, I have always been allergic to honey bee stings, and now other wasp and hornets that didn't used to cause a reaction are now. Everytime I get stung by a honey bee the reaction is getting more sever. But I do love me some all natural honey and bee's wax for my wood working passion. I am a commercial truck driver, traveled the east coast mostly, but I can't drive teams because I can't sleep when the truck is moving. So I drive solo, just a way of saying I understand that part of it too. Could I haul bee's? Nope, it could kill me. There is a long history to bee keeping, and it has changed over time to where it is today. But our bee's are in danger, and that's sad and scary, nature needs the bee's, and farmers need the bee's. They are amazing creatures.


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## rocky1 (Apr 3, 2017)

Bee sting allergies are kinda weird. Not sure what sets them off, something in the body chemistry. Have had several kids worked for us over the years that had a reaction, went and got the shots, came back to work, and never had a problem again. One had worked for us for 2 - 3 years, never even had an issue with swelling. He and I had late night one morning, walked out of the Honey House headed to lunch and one popped him in the throat. In a matter of just a couple minutes standing there talking, he was red in the face, broke out in hives, was breathing a little funny. Simply told him to go get in the truck, he wasn't going to lunch. Came back to work after sleeping about 18 hours straight, worked for dad 4 years after that, and never had a problem.

Sometimes it's something in the immediate environment. Ex-brother-in-law used to have a reaction to deer fly bites at Lake Audubon. Only lived 15 miles from the lake, worked on the farm and got bit all the time. Same soil and water in the area, same slough grass, but there was something around that lake that they got into that caused him grief. Happened 2 - 3 times, but the last time he really didn't look good. I made one screaming trip to the ER, my Ex and him both telling me I didn't have to drive so fast. And, he did get better on the way in, but... When the doctor gave him the little ER Allergy Speech after checking him out, he came out and said, "You knew didn't you?" I just kinda smiled, and said, "Yeah, but I wasn't about to tell you what I knew, because I didn't need you stressing, I was stressing enough for both of us!"

While robbing bee trees goes back a LONG LONG WAY, the Egyptians are believed to have been the first to have kept bees in a domestic environment. They've unearthed Egyptian ruins and found the remains of the old straw skeps where they were kept indoors so the hive was shaded and out of the weather. Have actually found honey in the Egyptian tombs and it was still perfectly edible from a health perspective.

And, yes... the state of things on the bee front is not good. Between invasive species, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and viruses it's really tough to keep them alive anymore.

Reactions: Great Post 1 | Informative 2


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## barry richardson (Apr 4, 2017)

Neat thread Rocky! Where does most of your profit come from, selling the honey? I assume the growers pay for the use of the bees too?


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## woodtickgreg (Apr 4, 2017)

Funny thing about bee sting allergies. I have always been alergic to honey bee stings, I think part of that is just the sheer volume of venom they inject into you because when a honey bee stings you it has a barbed stinger that gets ripped out of the bee with the venom sac and the muscles that pump the venom. Even after it is ripped out of the bee and it flys away and dies, the stinger continues to pump venom into you. I ran a lawn business for many years, you name it and I have been stung by it, wasp, yellow jackets, bumble bee's, hornets, etc. never had a really bad reaction from any of them except the honey bee, until recently, got stung by a bald faced hornet again and had a reaction from that. of to the er, get some steroid shots and everything returns to normal. The docs say I have become more alergic over the years and because of the amount of stings, they want me to carry an epi pen just in case even though I have never had any breathing problems. But the wonderful little honey bee that I love has always been the worst for me, get stung by one of those I just head for the er to get my shots.


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## Schroedc (Apr 4, 2017)

Way cool. When they were rattling off names, one of them is located a few miles from us up here in Minnesota. The Metz family. We've bought their honey for years, now they also have gotten into cheese making.

Reactions: Like 1


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## CWS (Apr 4, 2017)

Great video Rocky. I have a few friends who keep bees. I think the one guy has 13 hives. Wild bees are getting scares around here mostly due to pesticides. Without bees the world would be a hungry place.


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## rocky1 (Apr 4, 2017)

Barry... Income in the business is derived from sales of honey and wax, and pollination fees. Crops like blueberries and watermelons typically pay $50 - $60 a hive, the almond crop which demands a substantial portion of the commercial bees in the country pay 2 -3 times that.

Reactions: Informative 4


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## rocky1 (Apr 4, 2017)

Understood Greg some folks do have serious problems with it but doctors like to scare everyone to death with it when they see them in the ER. And, the reality of it is the fear they push is responsible for a lot of repeat episodes. Those who've worked for us that came back to work without fear, never had a second episode. I had one that quit, made her kids quit too, and there is no doubt in my mind that she will be back in the hospital if she ever gets bee stung again. Her reaction to the sting that put her in the ER the first time was purely emotionally driven. She wigged out because the bee was flopping in front of her eye, and having been stung hundreds of times previously with no reaction, that one sent her over the edge.


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## woodtickgreg (Apr 4, 2017)

I swell up like a balloon. First thing I do is pop a couple of benadryl, seems to slow it down. But it won't stop it anymore, it used to. I think it's really the only thing that I am allergic to..........well ok, spring time pollen allergies but I have no idea from what, just non stop sneasing, lol.


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## rocky1 (Apr 4, 2017)

Had one kid working for us, was a yo-yo. We tell them all when they start, if you're in the bee yard, and a bee gets in your veil, do NOT snatch it off. Simply reach inside and mash him against the screen. Even if he does sting you in the head, there's one inside there's millions of them outside. What's he do? Snatches his veil off, and starts swatting at bees, got stung 4 - 5 times in the face, before the nephew could reach him. He no doubt, being new to all of this, swole up pretty good!! 

Goes home at the end of the day, mom about goes into cardiac arrest, dad too, (_neither of them were wrapped real tight, mom was in fact certifiable_), they throw him in the car and rush him to the hospital, and the folks at the hospital gave him a shot of Benadryl. Turns out the kid's allergic to Benadryl!!!!!!!

That poor kid's head swole up the size of a volleyball!! About the same shape too! Perfectly round!! Had two little slits he could open with his fingers to see out of, barely had a discernable nose, lips were so swollen he couldn't talk. Mom and Dad thought he was saved, finally decided after 24 hours of swelling not going down, and stopping by the shop and us telling them, that should have gone away already, something isn't right. Carried him back to the hospital... They went into cardiac arrest at the hospital! Admitted him for 2 days.

It wasn't good!


Something you may want to try is take the Benadryl and a couple Zantac. Yes, an antacid. Heartburn is caused by histamines as well, and Zantac is a histamine blocker. There are actually two types of histamines H1 and H2; Benadryl addresses one, while the Zantac addresses the other. Topical costeroid ointments, such as cortisone cream, applied in the affected area, also help fight the spread of the venom throughout the system. 

Pretty good read on it all here: http://www.alamoasthma.com/beesting.shtml

Reactions: Informative 3


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## rocky1 (Apr 6, 2017)

@Heff


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## Mike Hill (Apr 11, 2017)

Miss my girls. Had a few hives - made me feel like a tiny little cowboy watching herd over my livestock. Stung hundreds of times with no problem - had one grumpy hive until I requeened it. Even worked them sometimes without gloves. Until one day while mowing grass one popped me on the temple and another popped me on the cheek. Went in and took a couple liquid Benadryls, but throat started tightening, rash, itchy palms, sweaty, the whole gamut. Scared me. Gave them to a friend who lived out in the country. You make me hopeful, I can get back into the hobby. However, now that I can't eat the honey, why? :0)


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## rocky1 (Apr 11, 2017)

Yeah, if you can't eat honey, there's not much sense in it on a hobbyist scale. Know a beekeeper or two that carry Epi pens in their vehicles, having had reactions previously, but they get satisfaction out of earning a living from it.


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## woodtickgreg (Apr 11, 2017)

It's weird that I can eat the crap outa the honey but have the allergies to the stings.


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## rocky1 (Apr 11, 2017)

Opposite ends of the bee!

Reactions: Funny 2


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## Mike Hill (Apr 11, 2017)

I had to stop eating honey, not because of reactions but drives my blood sugar levels to crazy heights. Sopapillas and honey were one of my weaknesses! oh yeh, and butter, don't forget the buttah!

Reactions: Like 1


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## rocky1 (Apr 12, 2017)

Actually if you research it Mike, there are certain types of honey that may get you back into your sopapillas.

http://healthywithhoney.com/can-diabetics-eat-honey/

Don't hold your breath while looking for Tupelo, been hard to come by the last 3 years, and they are charging some really really ridiculous prices for it. As in $8+/lb. wholesale. The article above points out others that you may have closer to home.


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## Mike Hill (Apr 12, 2017)

Hmmm. Never heard anything about all this. After the Dr. appointment in 2 weeks - going to experiment. 

First time my girls brought in a lot of fall aster, I panicked and called my mentor and told him I need his help as I had foulbrood. My yard stank, but he laughed and said calm down!

Reactions: Funny 2


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## drycreek (Apr 19, 2017)

rocky1 worked for Horace Bell years ago out of Deland, Fl the bee industry is a very interesting business.


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## rocky1 (Apr 19, 2017)

I personally have never met Horace, but he's a well known name in the industry. Dad knows him, has had a few business dealings with him. Horace sort of went out of the business a few years ago, sold off a bunch of goodies, I think he quit migrating, has gone almost exclusively into growing bees to sell from what I understand. Lots of folks looking to get into the business anymore, lot of people contracting pollination in California and coming up short of bees at the last minute. Horace has sold a bunch of bees!

Yeah, it's always been kind of interesting, anymore it's a battle just to keep them alive. Slowly figuring all of the pieces out, but every time you think you have it figured out, some damn something else comes along. Very frustrating at times.

Where you at in SE Alabama Larry? Get up through Dothan, Montgomery, Tuscaloosa, occasionally Birmingham if it's a Sunday. Have in-laws up in NE Mississippi we go to see fairly often.


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## drycreek (Apr 20, 2017)

I'm in Foley, Al a great place to retire. Yeah I knew Horace had scaled back we've been friends for years. Horace is like me getting to be a young man.

Reactions: Like 1


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