Worldwide Beekeeping
Beekeeping => General Beekeeping => Topic started by: CpnObvious on March 27, 2015, 02:04:05 pm
-
I'm always planning ahead, though I didn't fully think things through when I started keeping last year... So I need to correct this situation before it gets further out of hand.
Background: Last year I planned to start with two hives, one in each of two locations. I built 2 - two hive stands so I could grow to four this year. I ended up with 3 hives last year, though I had queen issues as winter set so I had to combine down to one. I was calling them Hive ! Hive 2, Hive 3.
The Dilemma: The fault in that was that the location of H1 only had 1 hive, but room for a second, and H2 &H3 were at the second apiary... What if I got a 4th? H1 & H4 together and H2 & H3 together? What about further expansion, both in hive count and apiaries? What if I combine hives? What if I relocate hives? What about if woodenware is swapped (for any number of reasons) I've tangled myself into a webby mess!
The Resolution?: How do you identify your hives? How & where are they marked as such? What do you do if/when you relocate one? What do you do when you swap or replace woodenware? I have WAAAAY too many thoughts and ideas about this, but then a flaw in each. What do y'all do?
-
Each of my hives is painted a different color : white, Carolina blue, yellow, and mint green. That helps me keep track of the age of the woodware and is a better visual for me to remember who got split to whom, etc. I also keep a log of it. Inside the hive, I write the year that each new frame went into the hive (ex: 13 for 2013, 14, 15.... etc) on the top of one end of the frame. That way I can keep up with the age of the frames.
Of course, if I had 10's or hundreds of hives - my method wouldn't be so efficient.
-
If there's bees in it, it's alive. If not, it's available. That's enough ID for me.
-
After this winter iddee's idea is a excellent point LOL. As far as marking in better times, painted letter on lid (that way I keep track of nucs example A1 A2 etc). I found a retractable china marker at Menards (Tradesmarker I think is the brand name) for insp dates, queen timing, etc. And a set of push pins green, yellow, and red on the box for queen condition, and a white one if I'm feeding.
-
"How do you identify your hives? How & where are they marked as such? What do you do if/when you relocate one? What do you do when you swap or replace woodenware? I have WAAAAY too many thoughts and ideas about this, but then a flaw in each. What do y'all do?"
i don't. like iddee said...
"If there's bees in it, it's alive. If not, it's available. That's enough ID for me."
i used to keep some notes on what was what, mostly queens. i don't anymore, and it doesn't matter. frames? i mark the tops of any new frames i place in with a date on them. for newer beeks i think it can be helpful to record things so that you can look back on it, and have a 'learning history'.
-
Thanks for posting the question Cpn. I don't mean to steal the thread, so scold away if I do.
Next month I am giving a quick presentation on record keeping at my bee club. Since we have just had beginning beekeepers classes, I anticipate the audience to be filled with newbies. I was planning on including hive markings and identification in the presentation. I am definitely going to use the KISS method.
So if anyone has some pictures of their hive numbering system or identification system and they wouldn't mind if I used them in my power point presentation I would appreciate you posting them here. I would use them as examples of what some beekeepers do.
My main focus will be centered around that record keeping is individualized. Beginners should start setting good habits and keep records, any records, in which to learn from.
-
Bakers, I was going to put pictures of John, Paul, Ringo, and George on mine, but I haven't found the template yet :D
-
Bakers, I was going to put pictures of John, Paul, Ringo, and George on mine, but I haven't found the template yet :D
You'll need a fifth hive do you can have Pete, too. Then, when you expand to six hives, you can have Epi.
-
Very Clever Cpn ;) That's definatley some beatles history. Poor Pete sure missed out :)
-
I use cattle number ear tags screwed on front of each hives, they last fore ever. and can be moved when a hive becomes junk. Jack
-
"My main focus will be centered around that record keeping is individualized. Beginners should start setting good habits and keep records, any records, in which to learn from."
good post and advice bakers!
-
Not very imaginative, but it works. Sometimes the numbers wear off but not usually.
(ignore the numbers on the boxes, they are just beekeeper code numbers). It's the ones on the lids.
(https://worldwidebeekeeping.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fs24.postimg.cc%2Fmvtx6pxmp%2Fhome_bees_May_30_2011_002.jpg&hash=9943141d18d7245b9544001c665cfe269995f21c) (http://postimg.cc/image/mvtx6pxmp/)
-
What are the weightsyou are using there, Perry? They look like pre-stressed concrete test plugs.
-
i think i read somewhere perry gets his weights from a local fabricator of headstones?............ :D
-
I made a deal with the headstone maker in Lunenburg at the time. Those are the cores they drill out of headstones to place urns with ashes in. A jar of honey got me about 2 dozen of them. Solid granite. :)
-
OK. They are about the same dia. but half as long as the test pours on pre-stressed concrete. They make a plug, then compress it with many thousands pounds pressure, and if it doesn't break, they use that batch. They throw away the plugs after testing.
-
I've seen those concrete plugs before, I always wondered what they did with them.
-
Thanks for the pictures Perry. I will use them in my presentation. :yes:
-
I've never marked my hives as such but have marked the new frames in the same way riverbee does. But all of mine are in one place. I did start keeping a journal when I started beekeeping but just quit doing it out of laziness.
-
I draw a simple sketch in my note book, of the hives position and their orientation to each other, then label them. Last year I had two yards (front yard and back yard ;) ). The front yard hives where labeled a b c....., the back yard 1 2 3... . I used that to write my notes. One day maybe I'll make BeeKEEPER and I won't need that crutch ;D .
I annoys me greatly when I can't remember what was happening in my hives. "Was that one doing that great last week?"
-
I draw a simple sketch in my note book, of the hives position and their orientation to each other, then label them. Last year I had two yards (front yard and back yard ;) ). The front yard hives where labeled a b c....., the back yard 1 2 3... . I used that to write my notes. One day maybe I'll make BeeKEEPER and I won't need that crutch ;D .
I annoys me greatly when I can't remember what was happening in my hives. "Was that one doing that great last week?"
That's very similar to what I am doing. On index cards, I have a diagram of the city bees and the country bees. With only two apiaries, that is all that is needed. An arrow pointing North on my diagram is sufficient for me.
Instead of thinking the notes are a crutch, that could be exactly what makes you a beekeeper! Your notes will aid you learning and not to repeat the same mistakes over and over. Don't be a bee HAVER! A bee HAVER installs the bee package in the spring and expects to go back in the late summer to pull honey. :D
Can't remember from one week to the next what was happening in your hives? Join the club. Age and memory are cruel. :'(
-
I also use the cattle ear tags. I like them. You can move them around from box to box and you don't have to paint and repaint numbers on boxes.
I have also found out that by starting the number on the bottom box, it helps me realize when I have rotated brood boxes.
(https://worldwidebeekeeping.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fs1.postimg.cc%2F5c3s6qpdn%2F20150124_170939.jpg&hash=ee55940d58e83c9dc4a87e0c55ddb1b0a9d25245) (http://postimg.cc/image/5c3s6qpdn/)
-
ear tags! Never would have thought of using those. Thanks!
-
I use tags similar to the ear tags. I make my tags from semi-rigid plastic (milk or ice cream) containers and put the number on using a permanent marker. The tag goes on the back of the brood box with a push pin.
Like other members, I date mark the top of the frames, when started in the hive, with the last digit of the year date.
I use a spiral bound A5 notebook for my hive records. I use two facing pages for each hive. I start recording the date and other brief notes at the top of the LH page whenever I go into the hive. Most entries occupy a single line on a page. The series of entries run down the LH page then start again at the top of the RH page.
-
Thanks for the picture Yankee. I will use that one too.
I thought of this idea yesterday. At least I haven't heard anyone mention this before. Barbarian's comment reminded me. Colored push pins on the outside of the hive body that match the color code on the queen. At a glance, the beekeeper knows what year they installed the queen. If she has been superseded, that's a different story.