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| Listed
below is the name of the company that specializes in delivering bees to
YOUR HOME weekly for use in Bee Venom Therapy. Please contact them for
details and pricing. There may be a beekeeper in your local area who may
be willing to provide bees for you. You may have to pick them up. Check
with your local County Extension Service for Beekeepers. You will need
the Bee Condo BEFORE you order any bees, as they need fed and watered EVERYDAY
to remain strong for your BVT treatments. We strongly recommend that you
purchase Pat Wagner's book "How
Well Are You Willing To BEE" and the video "Sting
Therapy for MS" and study these carefully BEFORE you order any bees.
check out our Bee Condo.
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| We have designed our bee hotel to make feeding the bees and retrieving bees for therapy easy to do. The clear lid allows you to view the bees as well as feed them sugar water through the tube in the top without letting any bees out. Honey Bees are gentle bees. They do not fly out of the box and attack you like a hornet or a yellow jacket. If a bee gets out of the cage and is flying around, just remain calm and DO NOT swat at it, simply move your hand slowing to direct her away from you and generally they will fly off. If you swat at them they become angry and will attempt to sting you so just try to stay calm and turn all the lights off except one and they will go to the light if at night. During the day you can open the curtains and they will fly to a window. They are short lived (about 5 weeks) most of the bees you will receive are about 2 weeks old, so they will only live at the most 2-3 weeks once you receive them. Winter bees cluster (semi hibernate) and are older bees they do not live as long as bees you will receive in the spring. If you are receiving your first bees in the winter and they don't seem to live very long you will know that it isn't your fault. As the weather warms up and the bees become stronger your bees will live longer. | ||
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| Bees like the temperature between 68 and 80 degrees, about the same temperature level that you want for normal room temperature. Fresh air is needed to extend their life. If the bees buzz in a high-pitched sound they may be telling you that they are cold and they are creating their own body heat. This wears them out and consumes more feed to provide energy. A good place to keep your bees in the winter is on top of the refrigerator where some warm air from the compressor will keep them comfortable. It is necessary to keep them out of drafts and they prefer it dark, so you can simply place a dark towel over them leaving some room around the screened area for ventilation you can also put them on a shelf in a closet and leave the door open a little for ventilation. It won't be long and you will have a special place picked out for your bees. The hotel does have a hasp so that you can put a small padlock on it if you have young children who may become curious and want to play with the bees!!! | ||
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| Proper feeding is very important, they will need to be fed sugar water everyday. Bees use water both internally and externally for cooling. Simply mix equal amounts of sugar and cold water ( water should be bottled or well water not chlorinated) and stir to dissolve the sugar then put some down the tube using the small funnel included so that it fills the cap in the cage about 1/4 full, you do not want to overflow the cap as bees are very sensitive to moisture, just put in a small amount that they can clean up quickly, it won't be but a couple of days and you will have good idea of how much they will need. Watch this closely as they need the sugar water to survive, so it is necessary to make sure they do not run out. | ||
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| The paper roll in the bottom of the hotel allows the bees a place to cluster and stay warm. Listen to your bees. If they are singing in a low soothing hum, everything is okay. If something is wrong they will call out to you in a high-pitched loud buzz. Think of your bees as if caring for a baby. The bees will cry out if hungry, too hot, too cold or wet!! | ||
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| To retrieve bees for Bee Venom Therapy simply swing the clear door on the front or the back up and then take tweezers and go through the slits in the plastic covering the openings on the front and back of the hotel. You want to catch them just behind the head if you can, but anywhere around the upper part of the body is good. If you have problems catching a bee, you may want to darken the room and let a few bees out (they will go to a window or to a source of light and it may be easier to catch they there). Another method is to put the bees in the refrigerator (not the freezer) for about 5-10 minutes (don't forget them or you won't have any bees!!!) the cooler temperature will slow them down considerably making it easier to catch one. You can also keep a spray bottle full of water close by and (after lightly hitting the hotel on a counter to knock the bees to the bottom) you can open the lid of the hotel and lightly spray the bees with water, they can't fly with wet wings. But don't use too much water or they will drown. | ||
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| With in a few days even the beginner will be catching bees like an expert. I have a Korean gentleman in California who does BVT and he catches the bees with Chop Sticks!!! Now that would be amazing to see!!! | ||
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| We have some people who let their bees out of the hotel to go on a cleansing flight. You can only do this when the outside temperature is above 65 degrees and no rain. After the bees are in the hotel for a few days receiving feed, this becomes “Home” to them, they consider it their “Hive” so you can take the hotel outside in the evening before dark and sit it somewhere safe near a bush where no one will move it after the bees have flown out (leave the lid open) They will come back to the hotel after they have gone on a cleansing flight (meaning they can defecate) this will keep your bees healthy and they will live longer. They will return to the hotel as it gets dark and you can go out and bring them in after dark. You most leave the hotel right where it was when you let the bees out so they will be able to find it when they are ready to come in for the night. If you move it even two feet this can really confuse them. If you live in a hot climate where the temperature in the evenings does not drop down below 55 degrees, I do not recommend this procedure as sometimes the bees will stay out all night and they may not come back to the hotel if they find a new source of feed. | ||
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| Each time you receive a new batch of bees clean the hotel with warm water. Bees are VERY sensitive to moisture so be absolutely sure that you allow it to dry thoroughly BEFORE you put more bees in it. Just a good cleaning with warm water is all that is necessary do not use household cleaners as bees are very sensitive to chemicals, put in a new paper roll. A few of the main reasons for your bees dying in a short time are first of all, to much moisture in the cage or spraying them with too much water in order to slow them down to make them easier to catch, it only takes one quick squirt to wet their wings enough to slow them down. The next thing is not enough feed, and too much heat or cold drafts, just keep in mind that they function in the same temperature range that humans do, don't set them in front of the air conditioner or on top of a heater!!!! And you should do just fine with keeping bees. | ||
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| Now for the sad part…after you use a bee for BVT they will die, unfortunately they do not die instantly and as beekeepers we don't want to see our bees suffer, especially when they have given their life provided healing powers to our patients. So to dispose of the bee humanely just have a small jar or cup sitting by your BVT area, fill it about half full with soapy water and when you are done with the bee just put her in the soapy solution and she will drown quickly with no suffering. We use soapy water because it has penetrating powers that kill the bee quickly, whereas in just plain water a bee can live for some time and suffer a good deal before death. Lets BEE kind and spare them the suffering. This is good to keep in mind if you should ever need to dispose of a cage of bees or have yellow jackets and such that you want to dispose of, just hose them down with soapy water, it is humane and inexpensive. | ||
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| Should you have any
questions we are always here to help? Please feel free to call 1-541-922-3174.
You can also Bee-Mail us at dancingbz@hughes.net. |
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