Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => RAPID BEEYARD GROWTH => Topic started by: fermentedhiker on December 28, 2009, 08:21:49 pm
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Well I'm commited now :). I'm expanding my hives. I have 3 at the moment, I'll have to wait and see if they make it 'til spring. I've got 10 packages coming and a farmer who wants them on his blueberries. He's going to pay me the normal rental fee for the blueberries and then allow me permanent yards elsewhere on his farm for the rest of the year. He'll get "free" pollination for his other crops(orchards, strawberries, various vegetables etc...) in exchange I get outyards which are year round with the exception of a doing blueberry duty(which I get compensated for). Now I have to figure out the best way for a guy to move hives around by himself without any heavy equipment. I'm more than a little bit nervous, but excited at the same time.
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Sounds like you've got a great thing going for you in the coming year... good for you. I wish I had a gig like that! I wish you the very best of luck!
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Thanks. My "plan" is to split all ten mid to end of July and requeen all 20 with queens sourced from local(or as near as I can find) queen breeders who focus on survivor lines. My life rarely goes the way I plan, so we'll see how the summer pans out :)
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Well I'm commited now :). I'm expanding my hives. I have 3 at the moment, I'll have to wait and see if they make it 'til spring. I've got 10 packages coming and a farmer who wants them on his blueberries. He's going to pay me the normal rental fee for the blueberries and then allow me permanent yards elsewhere on his farm for the rest of the year. He'll get "free" pollination for his other crops(orchards, strawberries, various vegetables etc...) in exchange I get outyards which are year round with the exception of a doing blueberry duty(which I get compensated for). Now I have to figure out the best way for a guy to move hives around by himself without any heavy equipment. I'm more than a little bit nervous, but excited at the same time.
Ask the farmer if he has a old wagon running gear that he don't use anymore that could be a trailer to keep them on all year. With not to much money and a little labor you could make a bee trailer with it. Then hook up and move to where you want on the property and it would not need a tag. Good Luck !!
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FermentedHiker. That is wonderful, you have great aspirations and I am sure that they will be realized. You have an outyard for your bees, even more a bonus!!! Good luck with this venture, sounds wonderful. Have that great, most awesome day, with health. Cindi
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For what it's worth, I'd make sure the 40 acres had some really fine hedges between the fields (none of this wire/post rail fencing) that produces berries you can pick - and flowers the bees will love too. Make sure that you have a good crop rotation to rest the soil and consider organic as it pays a premium too.
You don't need all singing and dancing kit for the place - perhaps hire in a combine/baler/plough for the first couple of years to help cash flow.
Ref Bees : to build up to that quantity of colonies in 1 season is asking for trouble - double maybe, treble perhaps, but 450 stong colonies is alot to manage - in the UK that's about the limit for a 1 man operation, although you are bound to loose probably 10/20% as you simply won't get round them all at peak time and then you need to consider the processing of all that honey too - you could be talking 1600 supers to extract in a good season - or more ! = a full time job for anybody !
Whatever you decide, best of luck and let us know how you get on
regards
S
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Somerford,
What are you talking about? but 450 stong colonies.
Thanks. My "plan" is to split all ten mid to end of July and requeen all 20 with queens sourced from local(or as near as I can find) queen breeders who focus on survivor lines
You must have the wrong post.
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do you know what....I did !! I clicked the 'next' button on a thread I was reading, then it went a bit off thread but I thought I had clicked it twice - then I went ahead and replied to the original thread on this one.
I think I'll keep taking the pills and retire to my padded cell !
S