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Post by northerngardener on Apr 10, 2015 14:43:24 GMT
We lost all three of our hives this winter. They were on the north east side of a building, so should have been somewhat protected, but it just got too cold. The hives still had honey, but the bees were dead in a clump in the center.
The local guy we use to get our bees from went out of business, so we've had to go to a new place this year. It looks like $110 is not an unheard of price, but it sure feels expensive.
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Post by ohiodreamer on Apr 10, 2015 18:38:07 GMT
How heart breaking! Are you part of a beekeeping club? Can you "re-load" your hives by getting on a swarm list?
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Post by northerngardener on Apr 10, 2015 22:13:11 GMT
We've paid for bees for two hives, and I'm hoping maybe we'll pick up a swarm this summer.
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Post by smokey on Apr 10, 2015 23:02:32 GMT
I'm sorry about the loss of your bees, I lost one today from what appears to be pesticides. I am glad to hear that you are sticking to it and getting more hives and I hope they do well.
Are you getting package bees? 110 bucks is not a bad price these days unfortunately.
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Post by speckledpup on Apr 11, 2015 1:30:11 GMT
northerngardener, sorry to hear about the loss of your bees
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Post by claytonpiano on Apr 11, 2015 1:44:26 GMT
We lost ours last year. It is like a kick in the gut. Sorry you lost them and yes, $100+ is what is costing here as well.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2015 4:16:33 GMT
We lost one of the two hives we got this year. Anyone out there have a breed or supplier they're having better than average results with? We're looking to replace what we've lost.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2015 23:37:51 GMT
Are you doing mite counts? Are you specifically trying to be treatment free? Your method of beekeeping will help me direct you to the best supplier for your style.
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Post by hobbitlady on Sept 30, 2015 22:31:39 GMT
We lost one of the two hives we got this year. Anyone out there have a breed or supplier they're having better than average results with? We're looking to replace what we've lost. I love Carniolans and I let mine swarm once to make a local bred queen before splitting the Next year. I'm really a believer in local bred queens even though the first time mine swarmed and that happened it was due to my inexperience. Carniolans are Said to be weather savvy,and mine overwinter and live in small clusters requiring less honey to overwinter. In 2 winters I went from one hive I thought was doomed to 3 and they All lived. Spring build up is amazing and fast and splits are needed if you want to keep all the bees with Carniolans. The thing about my enthusiasm,that may not work for you, is that Carniolans make less honey and swarm easier than Italians and if you are wanting to sell honey they may not be the best for you. I have top bar hives and one long-lang now so my experience is Not lang hive experience yet(until This overwintering). I know Carnies are tough though and local bred makes for a colony good for whatever your conditions are. I can hardly Believe the tiny colonies that kept their queens alive and boomed the next Spring for me. Every queens colony and location and needs of the Beek vary so I'm just voicing my 2 cents.......  |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2015 2:33:44 GMT
We got two hives from a ky business a few hours from us. But, ended up finding out they were from Georgia, not ky.
They're Russians in top bar hives.
One hive died. Our queen died. We ended up finding out they'd sold us an old queen. They sold me a new queen, but they still died.
Need to figure out what to do this winter. Really praying we don't lose the hive that's still alive.
A skunk has been going after the hive that's left. So, now we're working on dealing with that.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2015 15:20:37 GMT
@gibbsgirl nail 2 dozen nails through a board, all the way through it, (like a tack strip) leave it right in front of the entrance weighted down somewhat. The skunks don't like nails in their feet and will leave the hive alone.
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Post by hobbitlady on Oct 11, 2015 20:15:17 GMT
We lost all three of our hives this winter. They were on the north east side of a building, so should have been somewhat protected, but it just got too cold. The hives still had honey, but the bees were dead in a clump in the center. The local guy we use to get our bees from went out of business, so we've had to go to a new place this year. It looks like $110 is not an unheard of price, but it sure feels expensive. northerngardener- Did you get your new bees this year? How are they doing? Yeah,overwintered bees often just don't Move their cluster to where the food is and die of starvation with food right in the hive. It happens all the time. I've been fortunate to have bees that make tunnels to the next comb of food! I've read about "smart" tunnel making honey bees before and felt blessed to have them but I don't know if it's the Carniolan strain I got OR the local bred daughter and granddaughter queens doing. I put almost all my energy into establishing a new long hive this year and they are doing great but one of my 3 older top bar hives swarmed late and I don't think they are going to make it. I sure hope I can split my best hive next Spring and not have to buy bees either. My two most lively colonies right now are my previous splits from this year and last year and from the original colony that's doing the worst now.It boomed for 2 years but was so-so this year. The only way not to spend a ton of money seems to be to have plenty of hives,or at least one booming colony, for "back up" fixes. We all do our best,but I've taken chances by going natural experimentation,and not treating two of my top bars for 2 years in a row...hoping the requeening gave enough mite die-off time. I think I'm about to learn that I Need to treat for mites every-other year to avoid losses in my top bars. |
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