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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: A General Hive Question
« Last post by Ben Framed on Today at 09:17:38 pm »👍🏻
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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: Canadian beekeeper
« Last post by beehappy1950 on Today at 08:23:44 pm »I am within a hundred and fifty miles of him so I am a member of his blog . He makes at least 5 something a month from me. 
. I have changed my way of beekeeping on account of him. I now run all singles. Now I am getting ready to build his escape boards. He is a pretty good beekeeper.
. I have changed my way of beekeeping on account of him. I now run all singles. Now I am getting ready to build his escape boards. He is a pretty good beekeeper.3
GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: AFB in NZ
« Last post by Jim134 on Today at 08:19:07 pm » I know about twenty years ago.. There was a Gamma facilty.. About an hour and fifty minutes from my house.. It was very competitive about the first five years.. For about the last fifteen years. This inflation has killed it.. The price of everything going up.. And bee equipment did not go off nearly as much.. Cheaper, just to buy new and start over again... When all the costs are considered.
BEE HAPPY Jim134.
BEE HAPPY Jim134.
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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: A General Hive Question
« Last post by Terri Yaki on Today at 07:10:29 pm »Good discussion in that thread, Ben. Thanks. For now, I'll concentrate on getting the hive strong, try to catch a swarm and if and when I have a lot of brood, I'll consider it.
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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: A General Hive Question
« Last post by Ben Framed on Today at 06:50:51 pm »6
GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: AFB in NZ
« Last post by Terri Yaki on Today at 06:41:24 pm »That is sad and unfortunate.
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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / AFB in NZ
« Last post by max2 on Today at 06:35:12 pm »This would break my heart:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/516930/beekeeper-steven-brown-furious-over-destruction-of-2m-honey-crop
In Australia we do have access to heat treatment ( I send all my deadouts to a bloke who has an approved set-up - just in case)
We also have a Gamma facilty but it is expensive.
It appears NZ does not have such a facility.
This looks like gear in good condition.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/516930/beekeeper-steven-brown-furious-over-destruction-of-2m-honey-crop
In Australia we do have access to heat treatment ( I send all my deadouts to a bloke who has an approved set-up - just in case)
We also have a Gamma facilty but it is expensive.
It appears NZ does not have such a facility.
This looks like gear in good condition.
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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: A General Hive Question
« Last post by beesnweeds on Today at 06:11:23 pm »Can I just split this colony?At the end of the day there's only 2 ways to make a split. You can purchase a queen or allow the split to make its own which in your case will be an emergency queen. When I make splits, they either have charged swarm cells, or I have mated queens ready. Emergency queens can sometimes be poor quality. If you make the split now it will be around 30 days until the new queen is laying and another 12 days for bees the best age to produce wax. You might be able to pull it off but once August comes around wax production gets harder. Honestly you should focus on getting your new hive strong for winter and learn about mite/honeybee life cycle and biology. Your bees could produce honey this year and make splits next year.
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FARMING & COUNTRY LIFE / Re: Not all pollen is the same
« Last post by Occam on Today at 02:34:24 pm »Occam - is this related?
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs_press_releases/2022/20220831.htm
I couldn't say, I was referencing allergies and illness not death itself. My "death by a million cuts" comment was a figure of speech. That said illness and disease, especially chronic, can and do lead to death. It does behoove us to be circumspect about what we're doing in our personal lives, reducing our use of plastics, growing our own food sources, living and working with nature as much as possible instead of trying to control or subdue it. We're pretty short lived and weak beings if we're honest with ourselves, nature will always outlast us and wear us out with its relentless force. We would do well to do all we can to come alongside nature, learn from nature, mimic nature, and we would find ourselves healthier, more satisfied, and more fulfilled in life. Building our houses and offices to be sealed off, growing our food in labs, separating ourselves in as many ways as we can, and then expecting that our bodies wouldn't react to an outside force like pollen is completely asinine and insane of us to think. Climate change isnt the issue, it's us. Even if climate change (and climate always changes, always has always will with or without us) is increasing the pollen around us, if we spent the majority of our time outdoors, or in an environment with free airflow from outside to inside like 100 years ago this wouldn't be a conversation because our bodies would be adapting to the slight (relatively speaking) change in pollen versus what we now encounter when we leave our sealed off, filtered, and sanitized environments
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GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. / Re: A General Hive Question
« Last post by The15thMember on Today at 12:28:57 pm »There are so, so many ways to make a split, depending on the time of year, the goal of the split, and the equipment you have at your disposal. I'm bad with the terminology surrounding different types of splits, because there are just so many ways to do it, and I prefer to just think through the process logically each time. The thing to ask yourself when you split a hive is this: what is each half now lacking, and how do I make sure they can manage well until they have it again?
Here is what I typically do, but again, there are 100 ways to skin this cat. When I split for increase, I try to mimic a swarm, so I'll move the frame with the queen into the new hive. I make sure there are drawn blanks for her to lay in, some capped brood, and plenty of stores, because this side of the split will be lacking foragers, and therefore won't have food coming in until the bees that emerge in the new hive begin foraging (which they will do early, in the absence of older bees). All the current flying bees that I have incidentally moved are oriented to the original colony's location, and when they leave the new hive to go forage, they will return back to the old hive.
In the original location, they are now lacking a queen, so in order to make one they will need frames with eggs and also plenty of nurse bees, so I ensure the original colony also has capped brood, since nursing is the job of the young bees. If I'm expecting a big flow, I'll also be sure the original colony has the supers they need, because I don't want to disturb that colony until the new queen has mated.
In your case, Terri, the question is going to be if the hive is really big enough to split down the middle yet. If not, making a nuc off of the hive may be better, but that nuc will have gotten a very late start. Or, you could do something like Phillip described, and wait and make a nuc off your hive later in the season, if you don't catch a swarm. You will then have to overwinter that nuc, but one strong colony and one nuc might be preferable to 2 weaker colonies going into winter. It's just a matter of preference and proper timing in your situation.
Here is what I typically do, but again, there are 100 ways to skin this cat. When I split for increase, I try to mimic a swarm, so I'll move the frame with the queen into the new hive. I make sure there are drawn blanks for her to lay in, some capped brood, and plenty of stores, because this side of the split will be lacking foragers, and therefore won't have food coming in until the bees that emerge in the new hive begin foraging (which they will do early, in the absence of older bees). All the current flying bees that I have incidentally moved are oriented to the original colony's location, and when they leave the new hive to go forage, they will return back to the old hive.
In the original location, they are now lacking a queen, so in order to make one they will need frames with eggs and also plenty of nurse bees, so I ensure the original colony also has capped brood, since nursing is the job of the young bees. If I'm expecting a big flow, I'll also be sure the original colony has the supers they need, because I don't want to disturb that colony until the new queen has mated.
In your case, Terri, the question is going to be if the hive is really big enough to split down the middle yet. If not, making a nuc off of the hive may be better, but that nuc will have gotten a very late start. Or, you could do something like Phillip described, and wait and make a nuc off your hive later in the season, if you don't catch a swarm. You will then have to overwinter that nuc, but one strong colony and one nuc might be preferable to 2 weaker colonies going into winter. It's just a matter of preference and proper timing in your situation.