Author Topic: SPRING SEASON 2018  (Read 4981 times)

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Offline riverbee

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SPRING SEASON 2018
« on: March 22, 2018, 12:14:01 am »
tuesday was the first day of spring;  the vernal equinox. okay i won't get into the scientific, meteorological or astronomical stuff about how this is defined, you all can look it up......... :D

we are still buried in snow and has snowed for the past 2 days. more snow coming by the weekend.  day temps are not much about 35 d f and night time temps in the mid 20's. at least we aren't in the subzero temps.
snow....my mail box keeps getting buried (and one day this week found it laying on the ground) and i have little red squirrels that have built tunnels in snow banks to and from the bird feeder.... :D
fun to watch them scurry in and scurry out.

we all are gearing up for our bee season.  so maybe we call this BEE EQUINOX.....
bees are on their own schedule. for some of us in warmer or southern climates the bees are already active. for northern beeks not so much.

i have some questions for everyone; we all learn from one another and this might be a good thread to share our experiences and 2018 season. we have had a number of new members join up with us, please feel free to jump in on this thread!

QUESTIONS ARE:

1.  what were your winter losses?
2.  # of hives going into winter and hives now remaining?
3.  do you know why you suffered losses?
4.  hives/nucs; how many do you have?  will you increase?
5.  what type of equipment are you using and what configuration?

6.  goals: what are your goals this season?
7.  any goals on queens/queen rearing?

8.  what do you want to learn or better yourself this season at?

9. what are the genetics of bees kept or genetics of bees and/or specific queen/s you prefer? and why?

10. mite treatments; what have you used, what do you use and what do you find that works for you?
11. for those who are also plagued by shb, what do you find works for you?

12. what did you learn last season?
13. what helps or has helped you to improve your beekeeping skills?
14. what will you do differently or what will change in your management scheme this season?

15. how did you get started in beekeeping and why do you stay with it in-spite of all the challenges?

lot's of questions......and i invite everyone to chime in and thanks in advance for sharing whatever you can to contribute to the thread!
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Offline Some Day

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Re: SPRING SEASON 2018
« Reply #1 on: March 22, 2018, 10:17:53 am »
what were your winter losses?     % loss is 12.5%

# of hives going into winter and hives now remaining?    8 Hives going into winter, 7 hives remaining

do you know why you suffered losses?

  I think it was due to a poor queen that never really built up the brood.  The small cluster could not with stand the sub zero weather to break cluster and move to food stores.

hives/nucs; how many do you have?
  7

will you increase?  Yes, I hope to increase.

what type of equipment are you using and what configuration?
 Langstroth 10 frame deeps with two brood boxes, one deep 6 frame nuc with triple boxes that over wintered.

goals: what are your goals this season? 
 I hope to increase hive/nuc numbers to around 20-24 through splits and swarm traps and maybe swarm calls that are not yellow jackets.

any goals on queens/queen rearing? 
  I will add 6 more Minnesota Hygienic queens this year.  I hope to raise between 12-24 queens from my "best" two feral queens.  I want to continue to increase with out buying package bees.

what do you want to learn or better yourself this season at?
 I want to raise my own queens and establish a number of nucs to over winter for increase of the apiary and to replace the winter losses.

what are the genetics of bees kept or genetics of bees and/or specific queen/s you prefer? and why?
 About half of my bees are feral mutts that have been cut out of old buildings, caught in swarm traps or caught as swarms.  The other half are splits from the swarms with a new Minnesota Hygienic Queen.

mite treatments; what have you used, what do you use and what do you find that works for you?
OAV very early in the year while there is little brood, followed by Apivar strips for 42 days after honey removal in the middle to late August, another round of OAV in early December.

for those who are also plagued by shb, what do you find works for you?
 Not a problem here, yet.

what did you learn last season?

 That I will never know more than I don't know about bee keeping.

what helps or has helped you to improve your beekeeping skills?
I have bought a ton of books by the old and new master bee keepers, some youtube videos, a few forums, bee keeping meetings, and an old friend that has kept bees for 50 years here in Iowa.  Plus, just plain old observation of the bees them selves.

what will you do differently or what will change in your management scheme this season?
  I am going to try to get the girls to increase the amount of drawn comb that I have on hand to help with splits, plus work on queen rearing.

how did you get started in beekeeping and why do you stay with it in-spite of all the challenges?    I wanted a hive of bees to help with the garden a few years ago.  After attending a bee keeping class I bought two packages because everyone said to have two to start.  I stayed because I am 49% Irish and we tend to be stubborn.
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Offline riverbee

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Re: SPRING SEASON 2018
« Reply #2 on: March 22, 2018, 11:18:02 am »
thanks some day for kick starting the thread, i enjoyed reading your reply.

"what did you learn last season?  That I will never know more than I don't know about bee keeping."

i think this is very true. i have always said for myself that i haven't kept bees long enough.

"I stayed because I am 49% Irish and we tend to be stubborn."

.......... :D :D :laugh:
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Offline Perry

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Re: SPRING SEASON 2018
« Reply #3 on: March 22, 2018, 11:44:35 am »

What were your winter losses? 10% of my production colonies, 4% of my nucs.

# of hives going into winter and hives now remaining? 99 Hives, 28 nucs, now at 90 hives and 27 nucs.

Do you know why you suffered losses? Old queens for the most part, that is why my nucs seem to do so well, they have young queens headed into winter. My production colonies have all ages of queens as I don't requeen, I let the bees themselves decide when to. I expect some losses for that reason alone.

Hives/nucs; how many do you have?  will you increase? No increase planned other than to make up losses. May increase nucs headed into winter though.

What type of equipment are you using and what configuration? Double deeps for production colonies, 5 over 5 for nucs.

Goals: what are your goals this season? Relax and to have fun, nothing better than working with my bees. ;)

Any goals on queens/queen rearing? No.

What do you want to learn or better yourself this season at? No more big projects, just enjoy the routine more.

What are the genetics of bees kept or genetics of bees and/or specific queen/s you prefer? and why? Mutts.

Mite treatments; what have you used, what do you use and what do you find that works for you? MAQS in fall for production colonies, Apivar or Apistan in nucs in fall. Will be incorporating OA in spring for the first time this year with the OxVap 110.

For those who are also plagued by shb, what do you find works for you? Not here yet.

What did you learn last season? I'm human and I'm fallible.

What helps or has helped you to improve your beekeeping skills? This forum and other keeps.

What will you do differently or what will change in your management scheme this season? Will be doing a spring treatment for the first time.

How did you get started in beekeeping and why do you stay with it in-spite of all the challenges?
Watched Nature on PBS and that was it, I was hooked.
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Offline riverbee

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Re: SPRING SEASON 2018
« Reply #4 on: March 23, 2018, 05:51:56 pm »
thanks perry!

would like to hear from others, anyone else?
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Offline SmokeyBee

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Re: SPRING SEASON 2018
« Reply #5 on: March 23, 2018, 08:02:01 pm »
New beek alert, haha

1.  what were your winter losses?
100% losses (all 2 of them)
2.  # of hives going into winter and hives now remaining?
 2, 0

3.  do you know why you suffered losses?
Almost positive it was varroa

4.  hives/nucs; how many do you have?  will you increase?
I have woodenware for 4-ish, no nucs. Hope to rebuild this year, I want more bees rather than honey.

5.  what type of equipment are you using and what configuration?
10-frame Lang, all mediums

7.  goals: what are your goals this season?
Catch swarms, do some splits and grow the bee yard.

8.  any goals on queens/queen rearing?
Nope, maybe next year

9.  what do you want to learn or better yourself this season at?

10. what are the genetics of bees kept or genetics of bees and/or specific queen/s you prefer? and why?
Too new to have a preference

11. mite treatments; what have you used, what do you use and what do you find that works for you?
Plan to use OA sublimation, have done a lot of reading on this...

12. for those who are also plagued by shb, what do you find works for you?
Was not a big issue for me

13. what did you learn last season?
Got to keep on top of mite counts
14. what helps or has helped you to improve your beekeeping skills?
This forum!
15. what will you do differently or what will change in your management scheme this season?
Watching mite loads

16. how did you get started in beekeeping and why do you stay with it in-spite of all the challenges?
 I stay BECAUSE of the challenge.
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Offline riverbee

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Re: SPRING SEASON 2018
« Reply #6 on: March 23, 2018, 09:07:00 pm »
thanks smokeybee! enjoyed reading your reply.

"New beek alert, haha"

...... :D 
this was a funny comment! great humor! and thanks for being here and your contributions to the forum!
we all have been new beeks at some point.  i still learn from those younger in beekeeping, for many reasons........guess i could say 'old beek alert' lol...... :D

you missed one question, # 9, (i know 16 questions... :P)

i am curious though, as a young beek, what do you want to learn or better yourself this season at?

thanks!
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Offline Jen

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Re: SPRING SEASON 2018
« Reply #7 on: March 24, 2018, 12:32:09 am »
I'm on vaca for the weekend with grandchildren. My goodness they are noisy creatures! I will fill this out when I get back home. Pretty cool survey
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Offline Sour Kraut

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Re: SPRING SEASON 2018
« Reply #8 on: March 24, 2018, 12:53:29 am »
1.  what were your winter losses?  none, out of 8

2.  # of hives going into winter and hives now remaining? 8, 8
3.  do you know why you suffered losses? n/a
4.  hives/nucs; how many do you have?  will you increase? 8 yes, to 25
5.  what type of equipment are you using and what configuration? 10-frame, double deep with a medium for winter
WHAT HAPPENED TO # 6 ??
7.  goals: what are your goals this season? increase, learn queen rearing (taking class in May)
8.  any goals on queens/queen rearing? see # 7

9.  what do you want to learn or better yourself this season at?  how to get the two grandsons to do the Grunt work

10. what are the genetics of bees kept or genetics of bees and/or specific queen/s you prefer? and why? 'mongrels' (swarms)

11. mite treatments; what have you used, what do you use and what do you find that works for you? Formic Acid Pads
12. for those who are also plagued by shb, what do you find works for you? not a problem so far

13. what did you learn last season? leave plenty of food on for over-wintering
14. what helps or has helped you to improve your beekeeping skills? a few stings helps the old arthritis
15. what will you do differently or what will change in your management scheme this season? better records

16. how did you get started in beekeeping and why do you stay with it in-spite of all the challenges? 4-H project at age 12 ( 1962) you do the math
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Offline Wandering Man

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Re: SPRING SEASON 2018
« Reply #9 on: March 24, 2018, 12:55:23 am »

QUESTIONS ARE:

1.  what were your winter losses?   None.  I gained 5 pounds :(

2.  # of hives going into winter and hives now remaining?  Three going in.  Three coming out.

3.  do you know why you suffered losses?  N/A

4.  hives/nucs; how many do you have?  will you increase?  Three Hives.  0 Nucs.

5.  what type of equipment are you using and what configuration? Two Deep supers on each hive, plus one honey super on two of the hives.  Two hives sit over Freeman Beetle Traps, one sits on a Beetle Baffle.  Right now, I'm leaning toward getting rid of the baffle.

HEY!  Where did #6 go?

7.  goals: what are your goals this season?  Maintain three hives, grow any swarms I catch into sell-able nucs.

8.  any goals on queens/queen rearing?    Buy from those who know what they are doing, hopefully in the Fall.

9.  what do you want to learn or better yourself this season at? Figuring out what a nectar flow looks like.

10. what are the genetics of bees kept or genetics of bees and/or specific queen/s you prefer? and why?  Italians that I get from a beek who imports them from California.  Because I trust him, and he is close enough for me to drive to.

11. mite treatments; what have you used, what do you use and what do you find that works for you?  Oxalic Acid Vapor, Formic Acid, alternating.  Both seem to be working, but I'll throw Apigard into the mix this year, and add a fourth month to treat, rather than the three I've been doing.

12. for those who are also plagued by shb, what do you find works for you?
  Strong hive, Diatamaceous Earth, Handiwipes, strong hive, Beetle traps with oil, strong hive, Freeman beetle boards with soapy water in the trays, and a strong hive.

13. what did you learn last season? That I should have taken Lazy Beekeepers alias from him.  I think it might fit me better  than him.  I realized I'm too lazy to put hive on someone else's property and properly take care of it. Thankfully, I figured this one out before implementing this plan.

14. what helps or has helped you to improve your beekeeping skills? Listening to other beeks, paying attention to the good folks on this forum.

15. what will you do differently or what will change in your management scheme this season?
  Stay on top of the Freeman beetle boards, and keeping the trays filled with soapy water, adding a fourth treatment for mites.

16. how did you get started in beekeeping and why do you stay with it in-spite of all the challenges?
  3Reds said she wanted bees to pollinate her garden, and we'd had a hive in the late 1980's.  Stubbornness.
Never argue with drunks or crazy people
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Offline Bakersdozen

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Re: SPRING SEASON 2018
« Reply #10 on: March 24, 2018, 08:09:04 am »
OK, MS riverbee.  It's Saturday and now I have time to answer all these ?????   ;D
1. Winter losses? 1 colony in late fall due to queen failure.  1 small late season swarm lost due to my stinkin' thinkin'.  Last month I moved them from a nuc to a 10 frame with some frames of honey.  They were robbed out because they couldn't defend their space.
2. # of colonies going into winter? 6 + 1 small swarm.  5 colonies left.
3. Why?  Yes,  see answer #2.
4. Will I increase? Yes.  Plan to do splits on 3 and have 2 packages on order.
5. Equipment? Traditional 10 frame Langstroth deeps with medium supers, wood frames with plastic foundation, telescoping lids with a brick/rock on top.  If I had it to do over, I would have started with 8 frame Langstroths because of my age.  10 frame deeps get heavier every year.
6.
7.  Goals?  Do splits.  Would like to try rearing queens, but don't feel I have the time available at the right time for queen rearing.  More beekeeping education for myself is always a goal.  I have a lot of wax that I would like to clean and melt so that I can do some projects. There is always something to learn especially in a field that is as vast as beekeeping.
8. Queen rearing goals?  See #7.
9. Self improvement goals?  Finding and pinching queens.  Also I am incorporating Growing Degree Days into my bloom record keeping.  Growing Degree Days will make me more accurate in my bloom data.
10.  Genetics? Italians and Carnolians.  This is going into my 3rd year with Carnolians and I am like them.  I have 2 packages of Carnolians on order from a couple that have an excellent source in California.  They take a horse trailer to California every year and bring back packages. 
11. Mite treatments? I try to rotate mite treatments.  Last fall I used Apiguard.  This spring I would like to use HopguardII or OA dribble.  The more I learn about mite counts the more I realize you have to keep those mite counts knocked down.  This will be the first year of treating in the spring.  I am also going to treat the package bees 7 days after installation before they seal the brood.
12. SHB? No quick solution.  Keep strong colonies, use beetle traps of some kind consistently.  This year I am using the Mann Lake beetle oil in my Beetle Jails.  I will see if it is more attractive to SHB over vegetable oil.
13. What did I learn? Lots but in the "I screwed up department"  I learned to not give the bees more space than they can care for and defend.
14. What has helped me improve my beekeeping skills?  Attending local, monthly bee club meetings.  We are always discussing what we should be doing at that time or learning important beekeeping skills.  Some times these topics tend to be geared towards the 1st and 2nd year of beekeeping.  To take it to the next level I have joined the state beekeeping club.  That is an excellent source of knowledge from other members and the wonderful speakers the state club brings in.  I enjoy meeting beekeepers from all over the state.  Some of them are really challenged
15.  Changes this year? Add a spring mite treatment, stay on top of the SHB control.  I also plan to change the name and label of my honey products.  I want to change the name to a nickname we have for a grandson. I am also going to do some community educational volunteering at a neighborhood pollinator park.
16. How did I get started in beekeeping?  I had to keep up with my bigger sister!  My older sister was given 2 colonies for her birthday or Mother's Day.  I went over and observed.  I was mesmerized.  Shortly there after, I took a continuing education class on beekeeping.  My sister and I then went to help an acquaintance pull honey.  By then, it was too late.  I was in deep and I joined the local bee club.  At the local bee club I met kindred spirits and have never looked back.  I have gotten involved with the club and have held an office for the last 6 years.  I also volunteer for planning committees.  It keeps me busy and out of trouble, especially in the spring.

Whew!!
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Offline SmokeyBee

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Re: SPRING SEASON 2018
« Reply #11 on: March 24, 2018, 09:09:42 am »
thanks smokeybee! enjoyed reading your reply.

"New beek alert, haha"

...... :D 
this was a funny comment! great humor! and thanks for being here and your contributions to the forum!


i am curious though, as a young beek, what do you want to learn or better yourself this season at?

thanks!

New, but not so young...sounds like a broken record but I need to get control of the VM problem. I follow a lot of Facebook bee pages and EVERY DAY there is another person saying they had 100% losses.

I put so much time and effort into those bees that it aggravates me that I failed to keep them alive. New season, new methods...its all good.

Offline riverbee

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Re: SPRING SEASON 2018
« Reply #12 on: March 24, 2018, 11:07:06 am »
#6.............. :D

there are only 15 questions. SOMEONE had a brain fart and incorrectly numbered the questions................. :D
and smokey bee you didn't miss any question! and thanks again!

i fixed my original post so copy and paste from that for further replies..... :-[
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Offline Wandering Man

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Re: SPRING SEASON 2018
« Reply #13 on: March 24, 2018, 11:12:41 am »
#6.............. :D

there are only 15 questions. SOMEONE had a brain fart and incorrectly numbered the questions.............. :D
and smokey bee you didn't miss any question! and thanks again!

i fixed my original post so copy and paste from that for further replies..... :-[

#6  What is your favorite lesson learned from Riverbee?  Gosh, that's a hard one.  It is either never put a hive in the back seat of your car, or maybe it is the one about not trying to wax your floors with hot beeswax.
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Offline Bakersdozen

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Re: SPRING SEASON 2018
« Reply #14 on: March 24, 2018, 11:29:31 am »



New, but not so young...sounds like a broken record but I need to get control of the VM problem. I follow a lot of Facebook bee pages and EVERY DAY there is another person saying they had 100% losses.

I put so much time and effort into those bees that it aggravates me that I failed to keep them alive. New season, new methods...its all good.

Read Randy Oliver's ongoing research at www.scientificbeekeeping.com.  He has been working with oxalic acid. 
varroa mite= public enemy #1
We have to keep our mite numbers down.
Last week I saw a local presentation on how to install a package of bees.  For the first time, I heard recommendations for treating package bees.  It was suggested to use OA dribble 7 days after releasing the queen.  That is a first and that came from local LONG TERM beekeepers that I greatly respect.
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Offline Bakersdozen

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Re: SPRING SEASON 2018
« Reply #15 on: March 24, 2018, 11:33:18 am »


#6  What is your favorite lesson learned from Riverbee?  Gosh, that's a hard one.  It is either never put a hive in the back seat of your car, or maybe it is the one about not trying to wax your floors with hot beeswax.

#6 What is your favorite lesson learned from riverbee?  Don't wax the floor with beeswax! and there's a Jeep thing going around.  ;D

Offline riverbee

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Re: SPRING SEASON 2018
« Reply #16 on: March 24, 2018, 05:23:47 pm »
"#6  What is your favorite lesson learned from Riverbee?  Gosh, that's a hard one.  It is either never put a hive in the back seat of your car, or maybe it is the one about not trying to wax your floors with hot beeswax."

"#6 What is your favorite lesson learned from riverbee?  Don't wax the floor with beeswax! and there's a Jeep thing going around.  ;D"

i have had some misadventures.....tape measure ding to the head from the hillbillies snowblower next door, maybe that's why i can't get the number thing...... :D
AND don't volunteer to chase down a rather hefty pig and load it in the back of a buick to be driven to the u of minnesota for a vet visit.

this is a great thread. i am enjoying reading all the posts here, and also the insight each post brings to the thread.  we all keep bees, but really never take the time to share with others all the material contained in the 15 questions i have asked. 

btw, the 16th question is: 
"What is your favorite lesson learned from riverbee?".......... :D
lol, just kidding, let's keep this thread rolling and you all can razz me at the end of your replies!

to simplify so members don't have to scroll to the first post and copy and paste, questions are:

1.  what were your winter losses?
2.  # of hives going into winter and hives now remaining?
3.  do you know why you suffered losses?
4.  hives/nucs; how many do you have?  will you increase?
5.  what type of equipment are you using and what configuration?
6.  goals: what are your goals this season?
7.  any goals on queens/queen rearing?
8.  what do you want to learn or better yourself this season at?
9. what are the genetics of bees kept or genetics of bees and/or specific queen/s you prefer? and why?
10. mite treatments; what have you used, what do you use and what do you find that works for you?
11. for those who are also plagued by shb, what do you find works for you?
12. what did you learn last season?
13. what helps or has helped you to improve your beekeeping skills?
14. what will you do differently or what will change in your management scheme this season?
15. how did you get started in beekeeping and why do you stay with it in-spite of all the challenges?
i keep wild things in a box..........™
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Offline SmokeyBee

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Re: SPRING SEASON 2018
« Reply #17 on: March 24, 2018, 08:01:39 pm »
Bakers dozen,

Yup, read that and that's what I'll be doing. This is also good:

https://honeybeehealthcoalition.org/varroa/

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Offline Bakersdozen

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Re: SPRING SEASON 2018
« Reply #18 on: March 25, 2018, 10:35:28 am »
That's a good link, Smokey.

Hey Jen!  If you are reading this post, you need to check out Smokey's link to the honey bee health coalition.  There is a downloadable
presentation you can present to your local bee club.

Offline rober

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Re: SPRING SEASON 2018
« Reply #19 on: March 26, 2018, 09:40:16 am »
1-3
2-15
3-usda lab report=mites
4-i do plan to increase
5-2 10 frame deeps
6-get to 25 hives
7-i do plan to rear queens
8-better control of losses
9-local mutts
10-apiguard in the fall. just used O.A. for the 1st time & as my 1st ever spring mite treatment. some vapor & some drizzle to compare results.
11-still a learning process. besides traps i'm trying wood ash & salt under hives & vacuuming.
12-to put bring checklist on my checklist
13-forums, research, comparing notes with other keepers
14-bee more vigilant with mite control
15- have used lady bugs, praying mantids, lacewings, & assassin bugs for 40 years in the garden. seemed like a logical move & I'm not right in the head.
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