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Author Topic: Bad Luck?  (Read 10134 times)

Offline Bobbee

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Bad Luck?
« on: September 22, 2021, 03:38:35 pm »
At lest as far as I can tell. The first year covid stopped me from getting to the hives as often as i needed to. I had started with two local 5 frame nucs and I lost both to varroa. This year I waited too long order a nuc  was forced to get a package.. lost that one to tracheal mites. I scraped up some money and managed to buy a 4 frame nuc of local bees and when I went to install it found out that it had a severe case of chalk brood. Some of the frames were as bad as 50%. I re queened but the queen failed or was not accepted.
 For the second year I am going in to winter with no bees. I cant quit but am wondering what it will take.

Offline Bob Wilson

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Re: Bad Luck?
« Reply #1 on: September 22, 2021, 03:59:33 pm »
Good grief, Bobbee.
That sounds terrible. I encourage you in the fact that many, many beekeepers are all around us, and if they can keep bees, then so can you.
If I were you, I would make 3 or 4 swarm/bait boxes and set them out early spring around your town, plus keep your own empty hives in your yard baited starting in early spring. What you catch will be free, and locally adapted, and healthy enough that they swarmed.
With easy permission, I even set boxes out in a cemetery and on a local middle school campus. However, I seem to always catch feral swarms in my own yard, now that I think about it.

 

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