Mega Hive

[Chad S]

I took 8 shallow 9 frame supers off of my three hives over the last 2 days.  This is the second harvest for 2 of the hives.  One of my hives (mega coloney) has donated 12 frames of brood to other colonies, and yeilded 6 shallow 9 frame supers of honey.  I started on foundation this year, I have 2 hives that I am nursing, and three that are producing.  I anticipate 500lb. of honey when all is said, and done.  So much for "don't expect any honey in your first year".

Chad

[Finsky]

Very good that your beekeeping got good start. You have found to put enough room for bees. I think, thatyou have followed the progress of hive very keenly. Well done!

[Michael Bush]

>So much for "don't expect any honey in your first year".

There's a reason not to expect it.  It's a gift and you may or may not get it.  :)  Sometimes a package really booms and the weather is just right and the flow is awsome and you get a lot of honey.  Sometimes the package doesn't take of or the weather sucks or the flow is off and you get nothing and feed them 100 pounds of sugar.

I've gotten 200 pounds from each of my hives one year (I had four that year).  It was an awsome flow and perfect timing on the weather.  I've never gotten 200 pounds from a hive in one year since.  But then I've focused more on how many pounds of honey for the least amount of work.  :)

[Chad S]

Thanks Guys,

Finsky I wish you had mentioned the 3' or three mile rule when you suggested I space them out.  I moved two hives, and they got robbed out.  One of the hives that I am nursing will be up to two deeps by October.  The other one I moved was lost.  I will say however I learned more about bees from the hives that got robbed out.  I did more tinkering, and thinking about them.  

I fed the bees back the cappings, and let them clean out the strainers, and buckets etc.  It was a party at our place this weekend.  I started Friday night set up in the kitchen.  6am Saturday morning there were bee's buzzing outside my bedroom window.  I did put some wet suppers over the innner cover, and under the outter cover of the coloneys I am nursing.  I put wet supers on all but the mega hive figuring every one could just party at home.  I put some honey that dripped out of the supers on some ply wood near the week hives hoping they would take advantage.  Well the Bees were like the College Kids in Boston after a red sox game.  Before I new it they had cleaned off the ply wood and were all over one of the weeker hives.  I shut the hive down smoked and sprinkled the remaining revelers.  It worked I took off half the entrance reducer this morning, all is back to normal.

All this to say if I had not learned about robbing this spring I would never have figured out what was going on this Saturday nor how to fix it.  Some leasons I guess you just have to learn the hard way.

Chad