New Packages Arrived

[MustbeeNuts]

Hived up six new packages , went fine, good looking queens, nice and copper colored. Supposed to be a cross, of MSH and italians. there nicely colored , they all have black bums. LOL 

[adgjoan]

Hey Mustbee Nuts,  that is what my new 4 packages look like.  Maybe they are sistas.

Joan

[MustbeeNuts]

Hey Mustbee Nuts,  that is what my new 4 packages look like.  Maybe they are sistas.

Joan

Well these are from Georgia so maybe, my supplier went down and picked up a bunch.

[skflyfish]

These weren't from Larry then I presume.

[MustbeeNuts]

Well sorta , he went down and got them.

[skflyfish]

Interesting.

Two years ago when I got my first package from Larry, he said they were Italians that had overwintered in Michigan. I didn't even ask him last year when I got two packages from him. One package was 'HOT' when I installed them, and they were the hive that tanked. The other package was much calmer and they are the hive that took off and overwintered well. I know his packages arrived much later last year.

I wonder if he has lost his 'local' contact. I am trying a couple of Nucs from Jim this year.

Good luck with the new crew!

[MustbeeNuts]

good luck with them nucs, you know we have to get together for a coffee one day, being neighbors and all. I could pick your beekeeping mind for hints and stuff.

Larry has another bunch of bees coming in the end of the month also I think he said. But I don't know were there from. Maybe he has the time to go get them this year. I was looking at some down south somewere, they were like 55.00 for 3lb ers. made me drool a tad. I just don't hve the time to go south. :(

[skflyfish]

Coffee sounds good, but I know nothing of bees. I just have the hives and sometimes they make it in spite of me. ;)

It will be interesting to hear how your southern bees do.

[MustbeeNuts]

Just to update this thread, they did so well I made six splits off of them last week. They are rocking. only one split had a  queen issue , they didn't accept her. I requeened two days later and I haven't looked at them since. But if they don't take her they can bloody well make there own or get dumped into one of the other splits. :) What me worry?

[Hethen57]

So you were able to split your 6 new packages after a little over a month?  Did you halve them, or split off a nuc?  What did you do for queens?

Seems like there is some support for multiplying your colonies like that to break the mite cycle and to allow some room for winter losses.  I'd be interested to hear the details.
-Mike