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Author Topic: Hoping to ask a Fraser Valley British Columbia beekeeper  (Read 1219 times)

Offline Bobbee

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Hoping to ask a Fraser Valley British Columbia beekeeper
« on: July 28, 2020, 12:47:58 pm »
At the store where I get my bee supplies the lady behind the counter said it has been a terrible year for bees. And that with all the wet weather we had this year many beekeepers are wondering If they will get honey at all.
This has got me thinking "how well are my bees doing?" and how much of my thinking "they are doing great" Is the wishful thinking of a new and enthused beekeeper. It didn't take a lot of thought to realize I have nothing to compare the bees progress to and don't know either where they should be right now or even how much in the way of honey stores they will need for winter. If there is someone from the valley who could help me answer the questions I have and let me know what I should be doing at this point my bees would be very grateful. So would I. :smile:

Offline beesonhay465

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Re: Hoping to ask a Fraser Valley British Columbia beekeeper
« Reply #1 on: July 29, 2020, 09:01:32 am »
im certainly not in BC im in north east ks. I see that you you don't have supers on. if the brood box is 80%. full I would super the hives.and if the super is not full or close to full feed this fall til they wont take any more. i fed the hive that moved in memorial day 1 year ago 32 lb of sugar as syrup. they came through the winter booming. swarmed 3 times. caught 2 , now I have 3 hives. we had the same weather you describe last year in the spring and summer. our winters here can get below 0 .   my 2 cents from a neophyte. :smile:

Offline Mamm7215

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Re: Hoping to ask a Fraser Valley British Columbia beekeeper
« Reply #2 on: July 29, 2020, 01:48:50 pm »
I'm in South Surrey, B.C.  Pretty much White Rock, south of Vancouver on the B.C.-Washington border.  I've got 90lbs out of my one hive and split it twice, started the year with one, now have 3.  Last year was my first year with bees, overwintered successfully.  The start of spring was early and warm and mostly sunny.  Was lousy in June and early July but things were well underway by then.  Varroa is showing up now so I'm about to OAV treat but overall I'd say it's been a pretty great year for my bees and a honey crop.  I have 2 neighbors on my street with bees also, they're doing well too.

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Hoping to ask a Fraser Valley British Columbia beekeeper
« Reply #3 on: July 30, 2020, 12:33:14 am »
You can tell how well your bees are doing by the weight of the hive. I have my stands setup so that the front edge of the boxes are lined up with the base and the back edge is hanging over the back of base by about one inch. This allows you to lift the back a little and quickly feel the weight of your hives. Lift them when they are empty as a reference and then on a regular basis and you will know when they have enough food.
Jim Altmiller
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline TheHoneyPump

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Hoping to ask a Fraser Valley British Columbia beekeeper
« Reply #4 on: July 30, 2020, 04:44:22 pm »
It was a hard winter, lots of winter kill, many hives lost.
Followed by a wet cool spring that challenged the population buildup period of the hives that did survive.
It has been a great summer (so far) for them though.  Colonies that survived the winter and made it through a tough spring should be really booming and pushing the lids up by now.
When the lid goes back on, the bees will spend the next 3 days undoing most of what the beekeeper just did to them.

Offline Bobbee

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Re: Hoping to ask a Fraser Valley British Columbia beekeeper
« Reply #5 on: August 01, 2020, 03:26:58 pm »
Ty all for the responses
I?m thinking I should just leave them alone at the moment. What i need to do though is get a local beekeeper to have a look at the hives as I don?t have any experience to draw on. Are there any beekeepers on who are in the area of King George and Highway 10 who might be willing to have a look? I did an inspection on Wednesday and a fair bit of drone comb and I?m not sure if the amount is normal or not. I can hire a consultant for $80 per hour but it?s a fair bit to be paying when I don?t know how long it will take 

Offline Bob Wilson

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Re: Hoping to ask a Fraser Valley British Columbia beekeeper
« Reply #6 on: August 02, 2020, 11:14:38 pm »
Bobbee.
Is there a local bee association you can join for a small yearly membership fee?
I would think one of those beeks would be glad to help you out with a quick inspection.
Meanwhile, take some close up pictures with your phone. Use an app to crop/resize the photo to 200kb, and post the photo and questions here.

Offline Bobbee

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Re: Hoping to ask a Fraser Valley British Columbia beekeeper
« Reply #7 on: August 04, 2020, 12:47:06 pm »
Problem solved
I managed to find, someone, to check my hives and he showed up yesterday. As it turned out he was the president of the Surrey Beekeepers Association and I ended up joining. He said the bees were doing quite well. He did recommend to feed the bees as we are entering a dearth atm. All in all, things are good. The bees will have enough stores to make it through winter despite a wet June (the month I installed the nucs) I have made no critical mistakes. I am already planning for next year.  :happy:

 

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