... this one got away on me 220, apols for the time between ;-)
Yep, SA can get wet winters, much to the haymakers chagrin, but even in the Far North winters are
dry, usually. And yes, is usually the time the bush bursts into major flows. A "stay at home" BK these
days I look but do not leap.
The "Panhandle" reference is likely a poor choice, you'd have to ask someone local but anywhere
severe frost and/or above 3,000 feet should have BKs packing down colonies into single deeps for
winter.
Beats me why this setup (attached) seems to be largely adopted as it does not lend itself to allowing
bees to do what they do in setting a whole brood cluster... way too much open space and timber
as hurdles, in my assessment.
https://beemaster.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=50375.0;attach=2340A quiet word in yer lug..?.. resist allowing us ol'furtz to set some magical mirage of knowledge
in your headspace. Sure it takes time to proof out some basics as being the only route that
works - like try as one might no amount of manipulation will stop bees going "drone mode", all that
can be done is managing numbers and bee happy with that - yet even in a backyard the
fundamentals could be driven home inside of a year with some book reading and observation.
That done, moving forward into managing crisis points could be as short as a couple of years
_IF_ one does not create the crisis... as I read elsewhere many entrants do do.
Experience really boils down to what a BK does with apiaries, do no more than run a dozen or so
colonies on a vacant lot and - after 20years - no more "experience" is gained beyond the first
five years. Yet take on tasks as migratory pollination or honey production, and throw in many
colony rebuilds from feral bees captured and it gets a little exciting, at times.
As Joe Public is largely in awe - or fright - of the honeybee it is very easy for some to slip into some
magical social status among peers. I have found this rampant amongst our bee clubs, together with
some rudimentry "one world order" in poo-poohing alternatives as Trigona, as an option, and more
recently bringing the topic of topbar hives into discussion.
I quickly worked out the attitude came from these 'gurus' not owning any experience with such things
and so deflected enquiry.
I could list many such examples, but just one was "the combs in topbar fall apart, don't waste your
time". Now early days as it is - I am learning something totally new in all my experience - I am
astounded by the takeup rate of comb build in the few variations of of TBH frame design I have used.
Six months ago this grey haired ol' furt would have looked at a Kenyan TBH to mutter...."hippy hive"...
..... not today!
THAT is "experience" ;-)
Cheerio....
Bill