Overwintering of beekeepers

[Yankee11]

Marbees, I don't mean to steal the thread but I have one more question for Ray.

Ray, I will stick to grafting my queens as planned (on full hives) but I like your way of making the nucs.

1 more question.
When you set the nuc on top of the excluder, how do you deal with the extra space around the nuc. do you have a special
board with a hole cut out the size of the nuc?

Maybe you should start a new thread titled "simple way to start a nuc'".

[LazyBkpr]

Or use all mediums so you can switch the honey from the supers wherever you need it when you need it. If I had to lift deeps full of honey I'd be unable to keep bees.

[Ray4852]

The nuc above the excluder needs 10 frames to complete the nuc. I never tried using 5 frames. After 24 hours remove the nuc from the hive and place it on top of a new bottom board. If you don’t want to do it this way. Transfer the 5 frames to a 5 frame nuc.  No need to worry about the old queen. Shes with her own hive. You will never find a better way to make up a new nuc. Who wants to spend hours looking for a queen. Not me. I get in do my job and get out. I know I’m allergic to honeybees. You learn to be a better beekeeper. I'm leaning toward cell punching to make  a few queens. I have the tool already. I just need some guts to try it. It so easy buying mated queens. They are getting to be very expensive.

[Yankee11]

Yes Ray, I can never find her when I need to, that's why I like your way.

The day my queens hatch I can go make up the nucs "Rays Way" then the next day remove the nucs and insert the virgin queens.  Then check them in about 10 days. By that time. most if not all of the capped brood should have hatched giving the newly mated queen room to start laying. The bee population should be good by then as well.

Nice.

Still think this deserves it's own thread. It might help other keeps planning on making nucs.

[Ray4852]

You want your queen cell or mated queen to go into your nuc, the same day you take it off the mother hive. If you let the queen less nuc sit for a day. The nuc will start making emergency cells. You don’t what that. The queen less nuc is glad they have a new queen come aboard. They accept her right away. Whats nice about this way of making up nuc, hardly any drift back to the mother hive. Nurse bees stay home with the brood. Never feed with honeybee healthy. This crap rings the dinner bell to start robbing.

[Yankee11]

So I figure to make the nucs the same day the queens hatch, then 24 hrs later remove nucs and add the virgin queens.

This seems very simple and quick.

I can see where I can just go down the line, one after another and make the nucs.  I like it. :-)

I have many hives in out yards that are on soybeans-cotton-sunflowers etc. I plan to pull early nucs from those hives to sell. They will have plenty
of time to build up before mid to late summer flow, off those crops.

Leave my natural wildflower hives (yards) alone to make the early spring wildflower honey. Then split those when the spring flow is done and move them to the crop yards.

That MY plan for now, mother nature and the bees may not follow. BUT with the crops being irrigated, that's almost a guaranteed mid summer- late summer flow.

[Ray4852]

Whats nice about this way, you don’t need any phd degree to make nucs. Keep it simple. If you ever have to find the queen. I don’t look at every frame to find her. I brush off one frame at a time on top of queen excluder with an empty box. All bees will move down into the bottom hive body. You can see the queen running on top of excluder.

[lazy shooter]

You posters are not addressing the question.  The question is overwintering of beekeepers.  The question is how do you keep beekeepers in the winter.  I think lazy bkpr makes it through the winter feeding on rum.  Riverbee and Iddee will get through the winter by being forum police.  So will river rat, although river rat is a complacent enforcement officer.  Me, I'm not a beekeeper, I just own some woodware that houses mostly hostile bees.  Lborou and Tec will study over the winter, and lots of our beekeepers like Perry and others will build wood ware and put together other beekeeping paraphernalia.  Then the bulk of the keeps will be feeding in the fall and spring.   

[riverbee]

lazy, my thanks for bringing this topic back on track.......i think we do wander a little on threads especially now through the winter months.

yankee made a great suggestion ray to start a new thread...."Maybe you should start a new thread titled "simple way to start a nuc .......Still think this deserves it's own thread. It might help other keeps planning on making nucs.".

it's a great idea, ray? yankee, you could start one too on it if ray is too shy?!.........
and ps ray HBH is not crap, maybe another thread for discussion?!....

lazy, forum police?!............

i'd rather be drinking rum, or something similiar with scott!

so back to overwintering of beekeepers!

[lazy shooter]

@riverbee:

I have a friend that spends a lot of his spare time along the coast and inter coastal waters of Louisiana.  He claims to be a pirate and he too drinks rum.  I think of him when Scott posts on this forum.  He is semi retired and does some commercial fishing with his boat.  Like Scott, he is a cool guy.  Maybe rum makes for pleasant people.

[Perry]

I know it's off topic but..........................
Why do all the eastern folks like rum, and all the western folk like good stuff? (rye whisky).
I am surrounded by rum drinkers here in the maritmes, no one seems to appreciate a good whisky.

[iddee]

Lazy asked to stay on topic, and hinted the "forum police" weren't doing their job. Next post off topic goes deep six.

[LazyBkpr]

Arrr...  Davy Jones Locker, not Deep six!   Wait.. is that off topic?   I do overwinter with a little help from the rum!

[Yankee11]

I'll bee making boxes, bottom boards, tops etc.

Reading and planning for spring.

Just finished all OAV mite treatments yesterday. 73 degrees here, What a day. Even gave the bees a little treat.