So my daughter is now a BEE keeper (round 2)

[hitbyambulance]

i admit i read this thread title as "So my daughter is now a bioweapon" for a split second

[Kraken]

i admit i read this thread title as "So my daughter is now a bioweapon" for a split second

There are shots for that.

[Jeff V]

My daughter was pointing out blooming flowers this morning and told me she "couldn't wait for her bee friends to return." I suspect when it's time to turn their playset into kindling, it might be replaced by a box of bees.

[The Meal]

Bee Arthur

You provided my submission at the very first! I'll let you know how we did.

[Jaymann]

My daughter had her first look under the hood yesterday. The bees are busy making combs on all the frames, and the queen bee has laid eggs that have hatched. All appears copacetic in beeville.

[Daehawk]

Never liked bees due to stings but always wanted an ant colony. Still kinda do. You'd be surprised how much a good one goes for online though.

The best price yet nice ones Ive seen are these. Think Ill start a thread.

https://www.ant-shack.com/collections/a ... plete-kits

[The Meal]

Winners announced.

Beeyonce

This was #1. Well done stimpy.

#2: Bumbledore
(This hive probably only flies low, close to the TERF.)

And my favorite,
#3: Notorious Bee I.G.

Thanks for playing, everyone.

[miltonite]

Never liked bees due to stings but always wanted an ant colony. Still kinda do. You'd be surprised how much a good one goes for online though.

The best price yet nice ones Ive seen are these. Think Ill start a thread.

Ants Canada also has some decently priced things. The owner also has a very informative YouTube channel.

[Jaymann]

Went out today with only a hood for protection as my daughter applied some smoke to inspect the trays. They are 1/2 to 2/3 full of comb and dripping with honey. The bees did not freak out at all.

So far the family has only experienced 2 stings. One of the kittens attacked a bee, and my granddaughter stepped on a dead one. At least we now know she is not allergic.

[em2nought]

So far the family has only experienced 2 stings. One of the kittens attacked a bee, and my granddaughter stepped on a dead one. At least we now know she is not allergic.

“Was you ever bit by a dead bee?” “Was you?” “Yeah. You know you gotta be careful of dead bees. They can sting you just as bad as live ones. Especially if they was kind of mad when they got killed.” “I feel like I was talking to myself.” “I bet I’ve been bit a hundred times that way.” “Why don’t you bite ‘em back?” “I would. Only I haven’t got a stinger.”

[Jaymann]

Well the bees flew the coop, no one is sure why. So now she is going to try her hand at raising chickens, which should help to offset egg prices. I'm not sure about zoning requirements (we are firmly in suburbia) but apparently some neighbors have some. I told her to get a heavy duty coop due to coyotes (and hawks). And no more letting cats out at night.

[dbt1949]

With bees there is a difference between "getting bit" and stung.

[hitbyambulance]

With bees there is a difference between "getting bit" and stung.

and a difference between bees and wasps (and yellow jackets and hornets)

[dbt1949]

When I was a kid we had these big 3-4" grasshopper and when they bit it hurt!

[Pyperkub]

Well the bees flew the coop, no one is sure why. So now she is going to try her hand at raising chickens, which should help to offset egg prices. I'm not sure about zoning requirements (we are firmly in suburbia) but apparently some neighbors have some. I told her to get a heavy duty coop due to coyotes (and hawks). And no more letting cats out at night.

So, I guess this would make you a... Chicken Lover?

[dbt1949]

Watch out for .....Chicken Hawks!

[Jeff V]

Well the bees flew the coop, no one is sure why. So now she is going to try her hand at raising chickens, which should help to offset egg prices. I'm not sure about zoning requirements (we are firmly in suburbia) but apparently some neighbors have some. I told her to get a heavy duty coop due to coyotes (and hawks). And no more letting cats out at night.

My wife has an egg farm in the Philippines -- it's profitable enough to pay for the house being built in Ormoc that we may retire to as soon as next year. She was not affected by bird flu...nor has she seen a massive price increase because of it.

[Kraken]

I know of two small chicken coops in our general neighborhood, which seem out of place because it's a fairly dense exurb with small houses on small lots. As I understand it there's a limit to the number of birds they can keep, and roosters are right out. Both of them are fully encased in chicken wire.

One of my uncles had a full-scale chicken coop on his farm, and I remember them being dirty, smelly birds that required a lot of attention. But they should be manageable if she only has a few birds.

[Jeff V]

A nearby neighbor (just outside the subdivision) has a chicken coop. We've bought eggs from her before (green eggs, no less). Last winter, a video was posted of a coyote running off with her favorite hen...

[dbt1949]

Around here there are so many predators it makes it really hard for chickens to survive.
We have foxes, coyotes,mink,possums,hawks,snakes, raccoons, eagles, and occasionally bears.
You know what you do when a bear eats you chickens? Tell him to help himself.

[LordMortis]

I can't imagine keeping a coop in the suburbs. They stink and take up a bit of room, much more than child's play area. Especially if your the chickens aren't free range and it's hard to imagine them as free range in a sub. At the same time you years of good egg laying ought to easily pay for the feed and the effort of feeding, cleaning, opening, and closing the coop.

OtOH, coop prefabs are expensive. My parents built their own (twice now), but even chicken wire, wood, corrugated metal/fiberglass is a few bucks.

They think about keeping chickens again, especially with egg prices what they are but they are in their sunset years and still like the idea of travel... I should offer to feed the chickens when they leave though the commute is over 90 minutes.

[em2nought]

Chickens was one of the things my Thai friend paid for in the hopes that his family would be interested in paying their own way, but they weren't. They weren't interested in a sausage cart, a restaurant, or fish either. They prefer he just keeps sending cash, but now he's bringing some of them over here so he won't have the expense of exchange rates and wire transfers anymore. Too bad his family wasn't cloned off Jeff V's wife.

[McNutt]

When I lived in Austin we had many neighbors with chickens. It seemed easy enough. However I did have to feed someone's chickens in a small farm co-op and there were lots of problems with rats. Those might not be a dangerous for chickens, but it's just nasty.

[Anonymous Bosch]

When I lived in Austin we had many neighbors with chickens. It seemed easy enough. However I did have to feed someone's chickens in a small farm co-op and there were lots of problems with rats. Those might not be a dangerous for chickens, but it's just nasty.

Indeed, rats ought to be a major concern for anyone who keeps chickens.

It's not the chickens who attract rats, though. It's the grain used to feed 'em. Rats have an extraordinary sense of smell and food is their driving force. Meaning the smell of chicken feed will invariably attract every rat for miles around. To make sure rats don't see your chicken coop as a fast-food outlet, be prepared to invest in galvanised metal bins, with bungee cords to fully secure the lid. Chicken feed must be stored in a metal container with no holes at all, not even a tiny hole for a pedal. Feed bags are nothing to a rat. One rat will gnaw a hole big enough to creep in within seconds. And plastic containers aren't much better than strong paper; it may take the rats a wee bit longer, but they will get in there.

[Jaymann]

With three cats that I know hunt lizards, any rodents will be toast.

[ImLawBoy]

With three cats that I know hunt lizards, any rodents will be toast.

Yeah, that's what people said when they released the feral cats in Chicago to try to keep the rodent population down.

[Isgrimnur]

RIP the bird population

[Pyperkub]

A nearby neighbor (just outside the subdivision) has a chicken coop. We've bought eggs from her before (green eggs, no less). Last winter, a video was posted of a coyote running off with her favorite hen...

Did you get any ham from her as well?

[em2nought]

A nearby neighbor (just outside the subdivision) has a chicken coop. We've bought eggs from her before (green eggs, no less). Last winter, a video was posted of a coyote running off with her favorite hen...

Did you get any ham from her as well?

Really? What are the odds that he likes green eggs and ham?

[Anonymous Bosch]

With three cats that I know hunt lizards, any rodents will be toast.

Heh, underestimate nature at your peril.

Cats are terrific at killing mice. And while they can kill rats, most prefer to avoiding doing so. Because rats are much bigger and nastier than mice. So taking on mean and hefty rats is an entirely different prospect than predating upon wee little mice. Dogs tend to be far more effective than cats in terms of eliminating rats, especially the terrier breeds bred with that purpose in mind. Rats also reproduce at alarming rates that will effortlessly outpace the hunting desire and capability of domestic cats to predate upon them. Rats aren't stupid, either. Even if you're fortunate enough to own a cat with the inclination and ability to effectively prey upon rats, the rats will simply change their behaviour to spend more time hiding in their burrows than roaming around outside. So in the presence of cats, you may see fewer rats. But not because cats predated upon them. In reality, the rats will have altered their behaviour and are just less visible because they hide more.

[Holman]

Our friends around the corner kept chickens and had fresh eggs every day. My younger son used to go over and feed the birds when their owners were out of town.

*Definitely* be vigilant about coop security, though. Our friends had their wooden coop inside of a wire-mesh cage (like a seven-foot cube, including a covered roof). But somehow there developed a tiny opening in the mesh, and it was enough to admit a raccoon or a fox. Our friends woke up to a grisly bloodbath.

[Jaymann]

Our friends around the corner kept chickens and had fresh eggs every day. My younger son used to go over and feed the birds when their owners were out of town.

*Definitely* be vigilant about coop security, though. Our friends had their wooden coop inside of a wire-mesh cage (like a seven-foot cube, including a covered roof). But somehow there developed a tiny opening in the mesh, and it was enough to admit a raccoon or a fox. Our friends woke up to a grisly bloodbath.

What do you think about this full wooden one?

[LordMortis]

That's more of a hutch (nesting box?) than a coop isn't it? That's tiny.

[Jaymann]

My daughter wants to build her own so I will spring for heavy duty parts.

[Holman]

Our friends around the corner kept chickens and had fresh eggs every day. My younger son used to go over and feed the birds when their owners were out of town.

*Definitely* be vigilant about coop security, though. Our friends had their wooden coop inside of a wire-mesh cage (like a seven-foot cube, including a covered roof). But somehow there developed a tiny opening in the mesh, and it was enough to admit a raccoon or a fox. Our friends woke up to a grisly bloodbath.

What do you think about this full wooden one?

Our friends had a wooden chicken coop inside of their human-scale mesh cage. This meant that the chickens could walk around a significant area (and access food and water) even when the big cage was closed.

During much of the day, the big cage was open and the chickens had the run of a fairly large yard (though this was also fenced at the edges). The important thing was that the chickens were inside their big cage at sundown, since it was intended to protect them from night-time predators.

I don't know enough to know how much roaming freedom a chicken needs, but I think my chicken-keeping friends were on top of that. Their chickens had a big yard available to them most of the day and a safe smaller space at night.

[LordMortis]

The important thing was that the chickens were inside their big cage at sundown, since it was intended to protect them from night-time predators.

This. My parents chickens would even come pecking at the door to remind those parents to come out and lock them in at night. Fox will happily carry a chicken or more off a day if the chickens wander too far and they prowl much closer at night.

[em2nought]

I'd imagine two legged predators have become more likely now too.

[dbt1949]

Velociraptors

[Pyperkub]

Velociraptors

Tastes like chicken?

[Jaymann]

Yesterday she set up a new batch after the first one flew the coop. Hopefully she learned from the previous session. She gave up on the chicken idea.