Author Topic: What are your goals for this year?  (Read 34821 times)

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Offline JanO

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What are your goals for this year?
« on: January 23, 2014, 11:01:39 am »
I just think it would be fun to ask what goals everyone has made for their bee yards this year.  Being new to this I was just hoping to get a couple of strong hives started while I learn what I'm doing, but now I'm thinking that I'd like to go into next winter with at least 5 hives.   


Offline Perry

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Re: What are your goals for this year?
« Reply #1 on: January 23, 2014, 11:33:20 am »
Finish my honey shack and have the entire line set up.
Sell more nucs, and really develop this area.
Improve my harvest, keeping in mind the nucs I have to pull.
Maybe pollination, but only for the right contract, no more goat path mountain trails 3 hrs. away like last year.
Keep my bees as happy and healthy as I can.
"It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor."      
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Offline Jen

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Re: What are your goals for this year?
« Reply #2 on: January 23, 2014, 01:44:27 pm »
Perry- Like your plan, especially the last line.
There Is Peace In The Queendom

Offline Jen

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Re: What are your goals for this year?
« Reply #3 on: January 23, 2014, 01:48:47 pm »
Will make my first split this spring
Buying my first queen for the second split
Keeping after the varroa, It Is Not An Option
Planting more in my area for bee pollination
There Is Peace In The Queendom

Offline lazy shooter

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Re: What are your goals for this year?
« Reply #4 on: January 23, 2014, 02:49:13 pm »
I want to harvest 150 pounds of honey and make a couple of splits.  I want to grow my apiary into eight to ten winter units.

Offline crazy8days

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Re: What are your goals for this year?
« Reply #5 on: January 23, 2014, 04:00:04 pm »
My goal this year is to be a better steward to the bees and to the land.

Would like to double my apiary. 
“It's wonderful to me that bees have this simple, age-old thing going on.” -Peter Fonda

Offline Irwin

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Re: What are your goals for this year?
« Reply #6 on: January 23, 2014, 05:05:43 pm »
To keep what Bees i have alive. Almost lost every thing.

Offline tecumseh

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Re: What are your goals for this year?
« Reply #7 on: January 23, 2014, 06:35:55 pm »
make a bit of honey crop and produce and sell a few nucs and queens.  not sure of what expectations are at the bee lab yet... all that is still in the planning stages.

Offline Woody Roberts

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Re: What are your goals for this year?
« Reply #8 on: January 23, 2014, 07:16:16 pm »
I would like to have a little honey to sell, maybe a couple nucs to sell. Certainly plan on expanding a little, but no goals. I'll just see where it goes. Woody

Offline Marbees

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Re: What are your goals for this year?
« Reply #9 on: January 23, 2014, 07:49:59 pm »
Start my fourth apiary, split all surviving hives, go to 30 - 40 colonies, sell some nucs..
How realistic is this? I will know at the dandelions time.
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Offline Edward

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Re: What are your goals for this year?
« Reply #10 on: January 23, 2014, 09:48:47 pm »
Get all my pollen 40 traps out harvest 200kg dry pollen 440 pounds

expand to 70-80 hives

Mate 60+ Queens

Start an Island mating station with pedigree Queens

Learn how to work smarter

Put my propolis traps on my hives.

have fun  8)



mvh Edward  :P
"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best-" and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were.

Offline pistolpete

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Re: What are your goals for this year?
« Reply #11 on: January 24, 2014, 01:24:14 am »
If all my hives make it through the winter I will go from my current 3 hives to 4.   My main priority is to prevent swarming, because my bees are just across the lane from a playground.  I don't want to get in trouble.
I hope to harvest around 300 lbs. of honey and perhaps sell one nuc.   I also want to try producing some chunk honey. 

Mother nature will dictate the course of events, a good year around here is 200lbs/hive.   Last year I had one wintered hive and two nucs which produced a total of 220 Lbs.

My real goal is to try and work a little less and spend a little more time with the kids.  Here they are "assisting" with last year's harvest:
My advice: worth price charged :)

Offline lazy shooter

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Re: What are your goals for this year?
« Reply #12 on: January 24, 2014, 08:06:05 am »
@pistolpete:

I remember the precious little girls from the last forum.  Gee whiz, they are beautiful.  It is my wish that you are able to spend more time with your children.  My wife and I have sons and grandsons, with no granddaughters in sight.  My wife is a girly girl, and I hate to think what three little girls would cost me in terms of money.

Three or four well managed hives will provide you a lot of honey and enjoyment.  Good goals.

Offline Jacobs

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Re: What are your goals for this year?
« Reply #13 on: January 24, 2014, 08:34:39 am »
My goals have shifted from making splits and adding hives to 4 locations to rebuilding the bee populations that survive.  The cool, wet summer led to weaker hives going into winter, and these brutal blasts of cold air have finished the job on a number of hives.  Hives that would probably have survived our normal winters are now deadouts.  My goal is to be more brutal in early fall and be much more aggressive about combining hives.

Offline skydiver

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Re: What are your goals for this year?
« Reply #14 on: January 24, 2014, 10:49:08 am »
Get my 8 nucs and 6 full size hives through winter. Graft from my survivors make a few splits to get me up to 20 full size hives before July. Then graft enough queens to make 20 more nucs to go into next winter with.
skydivers do not want to jump to a conclusion!

Offline Jen

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Re: What are your goals for this year?
« Reply #15 on: January 24, 2014, 12:09:27 pm »
Wow! I am impressed with all the ambition in this thread. After 3 years of casualties and no honey, I would like to put away enough honey from my own hive to enjoy for one year. After that goal has been met, I'll rethink my plan ~
There Is Peace In The Queendom

Offline Edward

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Re: What are your goals for this year?
« Reply #16 on: January 24, 2014, 01:14:27 pm »
After 3 years of casualties and no honey, I would like to put away enough honey from my own hive to enjoy for one year.

 :'(

What has happened? why didn't they make it ?

Is there any way we can help you help your bees?


mvh Edward  :P
"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best-" and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were.

Offline blueblood

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Re: What are your goals for this year?
« Reply #17 on: January 24, 2014, 01:46:09 pm »
Increase from 15 to 20 hives.  I hope for most of those five extra hives to be tbh.  It depends on how well my two tbhs winter over.  Other than that, I would like to have a large honey crop.

Offline JanO

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Re: What are your goals for this year?
« Reply #18 on: January 24, 2014, 05:26:53 pm »
Wow! I am impressed with all the ambition in this thread. After 3 years of casualties and no honey, I would like to put away enough honey from my own hive to enjoy for one year. After that goal has been met, I'll rethink my plan ~

Jen I was thinking the same thing. 

I'm curious though, what has been the problem with your hives?  Hope it all works out better for you this year.

Offline ablanton

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Re: What are your goals for this year?
« Reply #19 on: January 24, 2014, 08:47:21 pm »
In the shop, I hope to build a bee vac and an observation hive.

In the bee yard, I hope to try my hand at raising a few queens and try to expand to 20 or 25 hives.
Andy