.
Our climate is harsh and it gives quite few alternatives to get bees over winter. Here, in this forum, discussion is very delicate and complicated. Real beekeeping life is far from that home woven science.
- You feed hives.
- Handle varroa with some system . This takes 1 hours for 10 hives.
- Let them be in peace up to cleansing flight.
- When permanent snow comes you cover bees against win and snow and birds. This take 2 hour for 10 hives.
All other works only disturb bees.
If bees are adapted to local weather, they stand many kind of things.
If bees have no idea, what is winter, it is impossible to save them over winter.
From British and from this forum I may read awfully complicated systems to play "bees over winter game". But it not necessary at all.
Yes, I even carry my hive to sauna because I read from book that if bees are in bad trouble, you may arrange cleansing flight in sauna. OK, hive died and made quite a bleep case into sauna.
here here
What winter prep. I just moved some hives into cucumbers for pollination and gave them a jar of 50/50 syrup to keep the brood rearing going. :-D
Finsky, ha, that was funny. I bet it was in your first few years of beekeeping that you took the bees into the sauna for their cleansing flight, sure glad that you know better now :evil: :roll: Have a wonderful and beautiful day, Cindi
Quote from: Cindi on November 07, 2007, 11:04:06 PM
sure glad that you know better now :evil: :roll:
Yes I have done a lot stupid things :roll:
Finsky, ha!!! I am probably going to come in as one of the first to have done some pretty dumb things I can bet, I am such an experimenter, heee, heee :shock: ;) :) Have a wonderful and beautiful day. Cindi
Quote from: Cindi on November 07, 2007, 11:15:31 PM
to have done some pretty dumb things I can bet, I am such an experimenter, heee, heee :shock: ;) :) day. Cindi
Yeah! Salt of life. I like to do experiments but I am tired to play with bees. There is so much other life.
Now I try to raise American blueberries. It is fine plant. I bought pH-meter and I have found that it is very necessary in raising.
Quote from: pdmattox on November 07, 2007, 05:53:50 PM
What winter prep. I just moved some hives into cucumbers for pollination and gave them a jar of 50/50 syrup to keep the brood rearing going. :-D
Jep! You feed there sugar syrup all year around? How much you get honey per hive on average 8-)
I have wondered that you have varroa harms there but honey yield remains same year after year? :-P
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Finsky, you are off into a new adventure. I think you could raise beautiful American blueberries in your climate. Did you plant bushes this year, or is it a second year now? pH, such an important part of agriculture. Have a wonderful and beautiful day. Cindi
Pollination is the main game for me, honey is just a added bonus.
Quote from: Cindi on November 08, 2007, 12:41:15 AM
Finsky, you are off into a new adventure. I think you could raise beautiful American blueberries in your climate. Did you plant bushes this year, or is it a second year now? pH, such an important part of agriculture. Have a wonderful and beautiful day. Cindi
I have had 5 bushes 4 summers and I have got so good yields that I enlarged my plantation to 30 bushes.
I have something 8 different varietes:
blue crop = very good
patriot = good, but fastidious with soil
north country = seem good, tall
2 finnish = miserable small varietes
chippewa
northland
Goldtraube 71 = late
I wondered why some of my bushed died but they were in peat which had pH 6,5
Blue crop is 5 feets tall.
Quote from: Finsky on November 08, 2007, 12:34:29 AM
Quote from: Cindi on November 07, 2007, 11:15:31 PM
to have done some pretty dumb things I can bet, I am such an experimenter, heee, heee :shock: ;) :) day. Cindi
Yeah! Salt of life. I like to do experiments but I am tired to play with bees. There is so much other life.
Now I try to raise American blueberries.
Wild lowbush or highbush?
QuoteIt is fine plant. I bought pH-meter and I have found that it is very necessary in raising.
Depends on how your local conditions are. Around here the soil is so acid you can pretty much grow blueberries where you want. Our Maine home is in a pine barren, wild blueberries are literally everywhere. These blueberries are growing in our side yard, there's about a full acre of them altogether. I love to pick them and make jam out of them every year. We've purchased a DR Brush Cutter to cut them down every other year.
(http://annzoid.com/Gardens/blueberries.jpg)
Ann, whatever!!!! You say you envy my climate, but look at what you got going on there with the wild blueberries, heee, hee, :roll: :-D :), just kidding!!! YOu are lucky to have that acreage of these lovelies to pick and eat!!! I love blueberries.
Finsky, I have 10 plants of the Northland variety that you spoke of. They are in their third year coming up and man are they nice growing shrubs. They have pretty much become 1/3 again the size they were when I planted them, and they produced about 1 gallon per plant last year (the first year, nothing much to speak of). This year I anticipate lots and lots (hopefully 2 gallons per plant). With so many bees, the berries were enormous in size and wonderful. Great for your new plantation of blueberries. Get rid of the Finnish variety that you say are too miserable.
Blue Crop is a very common variety grown here too. We have the lowlands that are all being turned into blueberry fields and cranberry fields. Not enough bees for pollination around here though. If I wanted to get into pollination there would be such a high demand. But that is not my agenda, I do not want to any bee migration, my girls stay home, safe and sound, a long ways away from other beekeepers (except two that I know of that only keep a couple of hives each). Well, have great luck with you blueberry adventures, Finsky. Have a wonderful and great day in this beautiful life. Cindi
Hey Finsky.. there are warmer places to live ya know. :-D
Quote from: CBEE on November 08, 2007, 10:39:19 AM
Hey Finsky.. there are warmer places to live ya know. :-D
I pray every evening that global warming comes sooner here before I die. :-P
"I pray every evening that global warming comes sooner here before I die. :-P"
Finsky.. that had me laughing my :-X off!