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Author Topic: Busy busy busy!  (Read 16632 times)

Offline asprince

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Busy busy busy!
« on: March 07, 2011, 09:30:24 pm »
I have been busy for about a week cleaning up old boxes and painting. I have 20 2lb packages coming Friday. I am concerned with the package size. I have always purchased 3lb. packages. I will give each one four frames of drawn comb and they will be placed on canola that is just starting to bloom. Anyone else started 2lb packages?

Steve
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Offline iddee

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Re: Busy busy busy!
« Reply #1 on: March 07, 2011, 09:37:47 pm »
30 years ago, 2 lb packages were the norm. Only after the mite appeared did the 3 lb ones get popular. They should be fine in your area if you can keep the SHB and fire ants out of them.
"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 beetalkin

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Re: Busy busy busy!
« Reply #2 on: March 07, 2011, 09:47:28 pm »
you might use a follower board to restrict space for the 1st week or so.

Offline Countryboy

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Re: Busy busy busy!
« Reply #3 on: March 08, 2011, 11:39:02 pm »
As long as you have drawn comb, 2 pound packages are fine.  3 pound packages are better if you are starting a package on all foundation.

I know a guy who started about 600 2 pound packages on drawn comb last year, split the strong hives to get up to 800 hives, and averaged 197 pounds of honey per hive last year.  Managed properly, 2 pound packages will work just fine.

Offline hardwood

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Re: Busy busy busy!
« Reply #4 on: March 08, 2011, 11:49:21 pm »
197lb average? Holy cow, I'd love to be able to get that!

Scott
"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...And we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

Theodore Roosevelt 1907

Offline jmblakeney

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Re: Busy busy busy!
« Reply #5 on: March 09, 2011, 12:00:46 am »
197lb average? Holy cow, I'd love to be able to get that!
Me too.   I'm just hoping they'll  have enough extra for me to get some.
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Offline rdy-b

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Re: Busy busy busy!
« Reply #6 on: March 09, 2011, 01:10:06 am »
197lb average? Holy cow, I'd love to be able to get that!

Scott
  scott the keeper he speaks of shakes all the bees at end of season -so i am sure that number includes the honey from the brood chamber -meaning nothing left behind-still a lot of honey -RDY-B

Offline Tommyt

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Re: Busy busy busy!
« Reply #7 on: March 09, 2011, 08:14:44 am »
 scott the keeper he speaks of shakes all the bees at end of season -so i am sure that number includes the honey from the brood chamber -meaning nothing left behind-still a lot of honey -RDY-B
Correct me if I am wrong
Quote
shakes all the bees at end of season
= the bees get the boots!
up in smoke,Hit the Road Jack! seeya later alligator, Ciao!


Tommyt
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Offline T Beek

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Re: Busy busy busy!
« Reply #8 on: March 09, 2011, 08:58:52 am »
 :?
"Trust those who seek the truth, doubt those who say they've found it."

Offline rdy-b

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Re: Busy busy busy!
« Reply #9 on: March 09, 2011, 06:31:00 pm »
yep you got it -the bees are shaken into someone else's equipment-then next spring they replenish with
packages -no chems and no varoa worries -that is a production strategy for 600-800 colonies -and the
keeper says he is one of Ohio's biggest honey producer-they take it all--RDY-B

Offline T Beek

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Re: Busy busy busy!
« Reply #10 on: March 09, 2011, 07:48:24 pm »
Worked for an outfit like that over 30 years ago.  Taught me all kinds of bad habits that I've had to un-learn.

thomas
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Offline Tommyt

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Re: Busy busy busy!
« Reply #11 on: March 09, 2011, 08:39:41 pm »
I wonder If I should be there and drive them to Florida
I'd have me, some bees maybe stop by JP's on the return see if he,Emil or
schawee needs a few and any one else on the south bound return
Thats a mess of bees

6 to 8 HUNDRED colonies in the wind  :shock:

Wow

Tommyt
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Offline rdy-b

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Re: Busy busy busy!
« Reply #12 on: March 09, 2011, 09:44:06 pm »
  there is a sale of the bees- :loll:-at a very reasonable price-this came about after considerably
  objection by other keepers -but a i understand it -there was a time when IN THE WIND was the
 method of choice--RDY-B

Offline hardwood

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Re: Busy busy busy!
« Reply #13 on: March 09, 2011, 10:46:48 pm »
Common practice among migratory pollinating outfits is to sell off all hives after coming back from the almonds and buy all new equipment to stock with packages. It makes sense on the books.

The bees come back from almonds weak and stressed. Why would they want to nurse them back to health when they can sell them at a good profit ($600 for a four way pallet...bees/boxes/tops/pallet) when they can buy new bees and equipment for under $500 and start fresh with less needed care to make it back to the almonds?

There's one here selling off 20,000 hives right now.

Scott
"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...And we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

Theodore Roosevelt 1907

Offline Vance G

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Re: Busy busy busy!
« Reply #14 on: March 09, 2011, 10:54:09 pm »
In  North Dakota thirty years ago, most small non migratory beekeepers got out the can of cyanide and a rose duster and killed everything at the first frost.  Many of the migratory outfits killed all that they didn't need to take south to split back to their target number.  Never seemed quite fair to me.  I gassed the ones that I knew weren't going to make the winter to save the honey.  That seemed more humane than shaking them off into a snowbank.  Times change. 

Offline rdy-b

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Re: Busy busy busy!
« Reply #15 on: March 09, 2011, 11:04:12 pm »
 some years like this one the bees are busting at the seams coming out of almonds-
 another practice that proves profitable is to sell nucs from half your bees -make honey from the other half-
 Almonds are great for early build up-but out of state keepers take a risk but they keep coming every year -
 the keeper we where speaking of dosent migrate -he runs static yards for honey and depopulates the hives for winter
 and replenishes them with packages in the spring-if he brought them to cali for almonds it would be easy 60-80 thousand
 profit after shiping-but every one has a management program-the colonies that are up for sale every year are weak from AFB-infested hives limped along with antibiotics-and many other problems-lots of out of state keepers sell them off as not to pay the cost to ship them back-and this gives them a chance to refresh there operation with clean wooden ware and bees-is the name of the outfit you speak of BELL HONEY if so i was told those bees are sold--RDY-B
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Offline Countryboy

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Re: Busy busy busy!
« Reply #16 on: March 09, 2011, 11:38:06 pm »
so i am sure that number includes the honey from the brood chamber -meaning nothing left behind-still a lot of honey

Brood combs are NOT extracted.  Only mediums and shallow supers above excluders were extracted.

Correct me if I am wrong

Wrong

= the bees get the boots!
up in smoke,Hit the Road Jack! seeya later alligator, Ciao!


As in sold to someone else - bye-bye bees.

there was a time when IN THE WIND was the
 method of choice


No, it wasn't.  It was a different method of choice, but considering the labor involved in shaking, and the lack of overwintering quality from those bees, I think the original method of choice was the correct one for that operation and those bees.

It's amusing how other people think they know more about how others operate than people doing the work there.  Who cares about facts when you have folks spreading misinformation?

Offline rdy-b

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Re: Busy busy busy!
« Reply #17 on: March 10, 2011, 01:03:40 am »
 my source of information are from Ron posts-glad your easily amused -a little over defensive but amused none the
same-im glad you are able to shed light on this as to the method and prior method of the shaking of the bees-it was Ron who used the term clean up work of the brood boxes and told of the extra profit that was made by extracting they honey
and using the frame filling machine-for next years feed-I believe that this was done perhaps after the bees where shook
or perhaps you can tell me about frames of honey that where compiled after the shake and what became of the honey frames-at any rate -the condition of the bees is something eles you have mentioned-is this a mite issue or just a issue of
 no winter bees being reared and a time frame issue-also the price for the bees i know it is carved in stone in some post but do you have first hand no-ledge -also wondered if you your self have given any thought as to obtaining these bees-or
would the winter bee to much for any success-hope you dont mind all the questions but it is a very interesting subject to me-- :) RDY-B

Offline Tommyt

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Re: Busy busy busy!
« Reply #18 on: March 10, 2011, 09:06:20 am »
OK 1 more OK a few More ?? :-D

When these bees have worked the crops they were put on they did their job(correct?)
What is it that makes them poor?
I would think that If i had a ton of bees that are hard working,
I would keep them,I know I must be missing something Large because this seems to be
known by all (excluding me) what makes them disease ridden
If its weakens that causes  disease what caused weakness
 If they want every drop of honey and that is the reason It seems you could  gain more by leaving a bit and not buying so many new bees (a offset cost)
I would think bringing the colony down to 1 full box should
not need much in $$ to get by the winter especially if they got them to a better climate
Thanks for the education

Tommyt
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Abraham Lincoln

Offline T Beek

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Re: Busy busy busy!
« Reply #19 on: March 10, 2011, 10:44:24 am »
Like it or not, as in most endeavors, there are always some whose only motivation is maximum profit, little else matters.  Wall-Street is an extreme example (most of them care little beyond the days action or who was affected by their action) but beekeeping unfortunately, is not exempted from those same extremes some find neccessary to maximize profit.  We should not be surprized by human treatment of bees (or any other lifeform we deem inferior while in the pursuit of profit) :(

thomas
"Trust those who seek the truth, doubt those who say they've found it."