Comments for Honey Run Apiaries-A Beekeeper's Blog

Comment on Rothenbuhler Bee Lab Closed? by William

William — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:59:01 +0000

I couldn’t agree more.

Comment on Requeen your hives! by Tim Arheit

Tim Arheit — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 11:47:32 +0000

It probably wouldn’t work because the bees naturally store the honey above the brood nest and are reluctant to store below the nest. You could try it but I suspect they’ll plug the brood area with honey and either swarm or simply get week because of the small brood area.

I’ve seen an attempt where the honey supers are supported on a stand and the brood boxes are slid underneath like drawers of a file cabinet. Interesting idea, but not practical either because the bees will have everything stuck together with propolis and burr comb in fairly short order.

Comment on Requeen your hives! by Bill McLaughlin

Bill McLaughlin — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 21:49:54 +0000

You mention the effort to remove the honey supers to get to the brood chamber… Now this is just an idea but…
How about putting the honey suppers on the bottom, then a queen excluder, then the brood chamber, then the hive cover. That way you only have to lift the brood chamber to add addtional honey suppers. Would this work?

Comment on First Inspection of the Season by Tim Arheit

Tim Arheit — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 12:27:58 +0000

I’ve been told commercial beekeepers in the states have complained of too many bees in the winter requiring excessive amounts of feeding at times. They typically overwinter in the warmer southern states so the weather would be closer to what yours is. While the winters are warm, there still is often a period of time with no significant flow and hives need fed or they can starve.

I don’t know what you can do from a management point of view, but I’ve been told some commercial operators use a hybrid bee. The Italians tend to brood up resulting in large hives over the winter months requiring lots of feeding, but the commercial operators also weren’t happy with the carniolans due to their smaller nest and refusal to build up in size until pollen is coming in. The solution in this case was to use a cross between the two resulting in a bee with larger clusters that was still somewhat responsive to the incoming resources (pollen and nectar)

Comment on Heat Wave by Tim Arheit

Tim Arheit — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 12:19:39 +0000

We are fortunate not to have bears where I live in Ohio, so I really don’t any any experience with bees.

Comment on First Inspection of the Season by Costas Eleftheriou

Costas Eleftheriou — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 13:04:25 +0000

Dear friend ,before a few days i meet you in internet and i found in your site lot of useful things.What do you do and you have too many bees in your hives in the winter . I am from Marathon -Greece with no cold winters and my hives has 8 or10 frames . Any way , your all work in website is very nice and i learn from you .

Comment on Heat Wave by hillary_h8r_22

hillary_h8r_22 — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 08:40:11 +0000

I am an employee of the Federal Government of Macedonia. Our government has been having severe problems with bears of late, and recent legislation has been largely ineffective. What is your advice?

Comment on Heat Wave by Ernest

Ernest — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 08:39:45 +0000

The weather had been hot. Also, it had been windy. The bees were active. Some did not make it.

Comment on Heat Wave by Mikey

Mikey — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 08:35:08 +0000

I feel bad for the bees that were robbed. My house was robbed once and the bad guys took my Battletoads.

Comment on Heat Wave by gentleman_gym_357

gentleman_gym_357 — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 08:29:54 +0000

I strongly agree with your opinions, both about the weather, and about the reactions of the bees to the weather.