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Winter Bee thoughts

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27 Dec 2022 11:09 AM

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Message # 13036527

Anonymous member (Administrator)

Not much to do on the hives now, it is what it is, at this point. Lots of planning and getting setup for next season to take care of.

I'm down 3 colonies from 16, 2 failed to requeen and 1 deadout (mite outlier). The dead colony was the club bees I bought, they swarmed with fantastic regularity so they had re-queened at least twice. Knowing what I know now that colony should have been split twice, but not a keeper blood line as they grow too fast. All my colonies got the same mite treatment and it seems only this one got hit hard. I'm wondering what the other members experience was with those bees.

My goal last season was to generate as much drawn comb as I could, so last season was a success. I have one other weak hive that may not make it, and I have no idea what is going on in the Groot hive. Any hives that make it through the winter will give me a head start this coming season.

Those will be the queens I pick from to populate my apiaries next season. I am also planning to purchase a few queens from local survivor stock, I want to try some of Steve's bees.

Syrup feeding ended with the low temps, so I took a stack of Vivaldi boards closed up the vents and insulated them to use as feeder shims with fondant. Many of my late season swarms did not have time to fill a super so they are light, I have put fondant on them to prevent a starve out. To give what survives the best chance of providing bees early, I bought a case of fondant in anticipation.

Checking the colonies at home this AM, with the freezing over all but one colony has broke cluster and is on the fondant. I need to check that colony this afternoon for signs of life. I'll make a loop today and check my outyards for any light boxes and signs of life, now that most have broke cluster I can have a peek. I'm tearing down any failed hives promptly to preserve the drawn comb and resources for the coming season.

Over the next 2 months I plan to build bottom boards and insulated lids to double my numbers at least. And I'm looking for more buyouts particularly for brood boxes, as I prefer deep boxes for the main brood box. I already have enough medium supers. I hope to be able to sell hive setups again next season as that was worthwhile and helped pay for most of my gear.

Honey sales have been good and I am looking to expand. Even though I produced no honey this season, I have developed a small market for honey and have had to buy honey for meet the demand. I've sold almost a barrel full! Looking forward to the coming season and to sell my own honey.

I have fondant in stock if anyone has a crisis, hit me up. I wish someone local stocked it to reduce the shipping costs.

Happy New Year to one and all

8 Feb 2023 4:37 PM

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Reply # 13090399 on 13036527

Anonymous member (Administrator)

6 of my 10 here at my Home yard survived!

My 2 out yards also had a majority of survivors. I have fondant on all my light boxes and the smallest one got some pollen patty yesterday. I have some dry pollen feed I am thinking of putting out to give them a little bump.

The buds on the cherry trees are swelling up and the apple is not far behind. I have a couple hundred acres of Hairy Vetch I am counting on for some of my honey crop. Please Mother Nature no late season freeze this year...

I caught 16+ swarms last year so I have a huge spread of genetics, one hive I dropped a Carniolian queen into last fall, a 5 frame deep & meduim box is busting out early. I saw pollen going in yesterday. I'm going to have to put them in a 10 frame box soon to give them some space. Another colony I have is in a dead tree and are at least 2 seasons old. (A removal from a property where the owner was allergic to bees). I cut the tree down last spring and stood it up in my yard, bees were flying yesterday, so there is another breeder candidate colony No feed no treatment and they appear strong ready to go.

My plans last year were only to generate drawn comb and get my gear and program ready to go. This year I don't fancy so much road work or balancing on top of a ladder. So my efforts in the yards will be to keep my survivors from swarming and continue selection of the best genetics. I am looking for mite tolerance and hive growth that is not explosive or overdone. It is said the largest colonies make the most honey, but they are the hardest to keep from flying away. The largest colonies also collapse the quickest. Commercial stock does not seem to have good back yard genetics.

My early start I expect will produce the best queens as they will get mated with local survivor drones before the commercial bees come back from the almonds. Send out your survivor drones to fertilize my queens! I am also going to encourage drone production in my hives to benefit the other Beek's in my neighborhood. Add a green frame to your hive or put a meduim frame in a deep box and they will build drone comb (NOTE - only do this with hives that show good genetics) and share the love.

In the mean time I am developing a fledgling honey business, I had to buy honey last year to sell. This year I expect I will have to buy some extraction gear and I will have more honey than I can sell. So I have my eye on further developing honey sales. Anyone need honey? :^) 1/2p, Pints, and Quarts. I have multiple sources and different flavors.

I expect I will at least double the number of hives I have this year, so I am preparing gear for that. I'll have saw dust in my pockets and paint on my clothes for a few weeks. This years goals are to further develop my line of bees and learning to keep them from swarming. I expect to have a number of nucs to sell as I go through my selection process, they will all be survivors or survivor offspring.

And so it begins.......

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