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Author Topic: trapouts this time of year  (Read 1891 times)

Offline rober

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trapouts this time of year
« on: August 28, 2013, 06:40:23 pm »
i just got a call for a trapout. i'd think that this late the bees would have a hard time building up once they were trapped. last year i talked 2 people into postponing til spring.

Offline capt44

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Re: trapouts this time of year
« Reply #1 on: August 28, 2013, 06:42:21 pm »
I'm still doing trap outs but wind up merging them with another hive.
It is getting late.
Richard Vardaman (capt44)

Offline iddee

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Re: trapouts this time of year
« Reply #2 on: August 28, 2013, 07:36:53 pm »
Trapouts now are only good for boosting other hives.

Capt., no need to merge. Just use the weak hive as the trap box. It works well without fighting.
"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me . . . Anything can happen, child. Anything can be"

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Offline hiram.ga.bee.man

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Re: trapouts this time of year
« Reply #3 on: August 28, 2013, 11:59:23 pm »
IMO it takes to much babying of the hive (my time) to be worthwhile. I also would give the hive about a generous 3% chance of overwintering.
You ever notice that prices are inflating, but wages are deflating?

Offline rober

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Re: trapouts this time of year
« Reply #4 on: August 29, 2013, 10:31:18 am »
last year i talked 3 people into waiting til spring. 2 of those hives did not overwinter. the removal i just finished was in a split open tree. this was a large colony. they had no stores at all. i found absolutely no honey. we are having drought conditions here which is making the dearth even worse.i'll try talking them into waiting til spring.

Offline D Coates

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Re: trapouts this time of year
« Reply #5 on: August 29, 2013, 11:46:32 am »
Excellent call.  I would do the same in your shoes.
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Offline iddee

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Re: trapouts this time of year
« Reply #6 on: August 29, 2013, 11:52:07 am »
As stated above, if you have a weak hive or nuc, you can use it for the catch box and fill it with bees quickly. It may give it the ability to overwinter where it would die otherwise. If you think the bees will perish anyway, I would try to boost my hives with them rather than let them die over winter.
"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me . . . Anything can happen, child. Anything can be"

*Shel Silverstein*

Offline rober

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Re: trapouts this time of year
« Reply #7 on: August 29, 2013, 12:03:09 pm »
i'll check my hives & see if any need some help. when i checked my last trapout in a bdlg they had made queen cells & were bringing in lots of honey.that was 2 weeks ago. i'm leaving that trap until the hive is queen-right. i may winter them in a 2 story nuc. if they could use a boost i might trap this new call now. i also just got off the phone with the homeowner. she's agreeable with waiting til spring so now i guess it depends on the bees 'kneeds'.