Taiwan Bee Chronicles

[Pugo]

Well, I found a more or less abandon farm. It is almost perfect for apiary. So Now I have a place for the Bees.


Lots of logan trees around the farm.

[Pugo]

The house that the farmer once lived in..


The entrance to the new bee yard with my car sitting there..lol


The place were the first two hive will go.

[Pugo]

Well, The new hives hava arrived, time to feed the bees and set up the water.. Opening the hive for the first time to see what I got.



Everything seemed okay. So I started feeding them.

[Pugo]

All seemed fine so it was time to open second hive and feed them too.




Lining up to eat.. such gentle bees.

[Pugo]

So Now it is time to figure out hive stand, Think I will use some wood I have laying around the yard before it goes to waste.. And Yes still working bees without a veil and gloves. About the only time I would wear a veil is harvest time. Bees get angry when you start taking the honey.

[ande]

Hi Pugo
congrats with the new bee project.
Have you bought the farm?
Looks like it is plenty of space for a quail operation there as well

cheers

[Pugo]

No, this a farm that belonged to a retired couple, there sons aren't farmers that I know of and no one lives at the farm anymore. My land is in the Philippines. So they only pick fruit from the trees nothing really goes on there anymore, it is over grown with wild flowers and all sorts of stuff great place for a bee yard. Once I get everything going, I can collect pollen, honey, learn royal jelly production.



And as I know my wife very well, she looked very nervous. So nervous that she put on a jacket and zipped it and it was 35c outside..LOL

[Pugo]

And what was the first thing to go wrong. I swear no sooner than I got my hives. Than a Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia) scout showed up and was trying to mark my hives as a target. Grabbed a piece of wood and ended that hornet's life

[Pugo]

And this is what it looks like when they are after your bees, and honey bees are there favorite food, one hornet can kill 40 bees in a minute. It is not unusual for them to wipe an entire hive, just to feed the larva to there young.

[Pugo]

Honey bees are known to play a valuable part in the eco-system as around 1/3 of what humans eat is pollinated by bees. It is estimated that around 80% of the world's crop species are dependent on the pollination by bees to survive.

Sadly due to high pollution levels and habitat loss, the honey bee populations are rapidly declining with the honey bee being one of the few insects that is classed as being endangered and is therefore severely threatened with extinction. Human beings do not give bees the respect they deserve, as honey bees are vital to the survival of plants which are in turn vital to the survival of humans.