Author Topic: 52 Hives from 13 hives in two years?  (Read 5269 times)

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Offline Some Day

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Re: 52 Hives from 13 hives in two years?
« Reply #20 on: August 20, 2018, 05:09:50 pm »
Ted,

Ellen Bell from Bell Farms near Runnells, Iowa may have some queens.  It is late in the year though.  She raises her queens locally.  I would consider them survivor mutts.  Andy Joseph told me about her this spring.  She went into winter of 2017 with 44 hives and had 42 survive to spring of 2018.  I think she is doing something right for our Iowa climate.

Offline tedh

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Re: 52 Hives from 13 hives in two years?
« Reply #21 on: August 20, 2018, 06:18:46 pm »
Thanks for the heads up!
Share that which you have an abundance of.  In doing so both the giver and receiver are enriched.

Offline Some Day

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Re: 52 Hives from 13 hives in two years?
« Reply #22 on: August 20, 2018, 06:45:37 pm »
Ted,

Ellen Bell just posted on FaceBook a couple of minutes ago saying she still has queens available.

Offline tedh

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Re: 52 Hives from 13 hives in two years?
« Reply #23 on: August 20, 2018, 08:01:38 pm »
We need to check a few hives so I'll talk to Josh tomorrow.  Thanks!
Share that which you have an abundance of.  In doing so both the giver and receiver are enriched.

Offline CBT

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Re: 52 Hives from 13 hives in two years?
« Reply #24 on: August 20, 2018, 09:53:29 pm »
That varroa mite can be easily kept in check with a plan to wash or roll them on a regular schedule. There are treatments when needed that won’t slow down production and probiotics to keep them healthy.

Offline Mikey N.C.

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Re: 52 Hives from 13 hives in two years?
« Reply #25 on: August 30, 2018, 01:34:57 pm »
Some Day,
In my 3 yrs. I read an learned as much as possible and thought I had a pretty good concept of keeping bees, how dead wrong I was. I talked to many experienced beeks but didn't ask the rite questions ( alot of questions) . Didn't ask what is considered strong going into winter , i thought hive is strong all summer come winter no problem (wrong). 2 yr. Purchased 2 nucs. installed in 5 frames in ten deep with other 5 frames of drawn comb then added another ten on top with all drawn comb. Went to Fl. for work 2 1/2 weeks (wrong). By time i got home bees wete already in swarm mode. Ended up with 6 swarm catches (lucky). Started swarms in 5 fr. nuc boxes when they filled them , moved them in 10 deep boxes (wrong). Thought they were doing good (wrong). 3yr. I managed to overwinter 1 hive. So I've come to the conclusion,  until i can master overwintering at least 4 hives. No expansion for me.