I am a newbie here as well as the bee learning. I bought a brood chamber and a small super last spring. I then purchased a Russian queen w/3# of bees and stocked it last spring.
I only harvested 2 frames of honey last summer b/cause I wanted to make sure my bees had plenty of rations over the winter.
This Spring I have gotten my wife, Liz, interested . We are in the process of expanding a little this year.
We live in south east Louisiana close to Mississippi on 2 sides.
Spring is getting ready to spring here on the north shore of Lake Ponchatrain.
We have looked in our hive twice this year on warm days .Those days there was plenty activity of bees bringing pollen back to the hive.
We ordered some honeycomb foundations from Mann lake as we don't have an extractor as of date.
My neghibor has a hive in a childs playhouse that I am in the process of obtaining later.
We are reading everything about bees we can get our hands on as we are retired and started this as a hobby.
I'll get off the soapbox for now. Jimmy
Jimmy, welcome to our forum, wonderful that your Wife is going to be involved deeply too. I love that. You were very wise to leave the bees with lots of food for winter, and not too much for yourself. That will help them so much with their spring buildup that will be bountiful. You will more than likely be able to split this colony, maybe even a couple of times. Good that you are getting another colony too, in a child's playhouse, of all the places, eh?
Ask you questions, tell us your stories of your lives with the bees. We love to hear these stories and experiences. I speak for us all. Welcome, have a wonderful and beautiful day, love this life we lead. Cindi
Spliting question 4-you. I have been told by my local mentor that I must move a split hive with a new queen 1-4 miles away. Your thoughts? Thanks Jimmy
Quote from: jimmy on March 04, 2008, 12:48:06 AM
Spliting question 4-you. I have been told by my local mentor that I must move a split hive with a new queen 1-4 miles away. Your thoughts? Thanks Jimmy
The idea of moving the hive miles away is to prevent the field force from returning to "old" location. There are ways around this. Basically you just have to get the bees to re-orient themselves, so put a branch, a plastic lawn chair, something right in front of the "new" hive so the the bees stop and reorient. Read more here:
http://www.bushfarms.com/beessplits.htm
Quote from: jimmy on March 03, 2008, 10:27:44 PM
I am a newbie here as well as the bee learning. I bought a brood chamber and a small super last spring. I then purchased a Russian queen w/3# of bees and stocked it last spring.
I only harvested 2 frames of honey last summer b/cause I wanted to make sure my bees had plenty of rations over the winter.
This Spring I have gotten my wife, Liz, interested . We are in the process of expanding a little this year.
We live in south east Louisiana close to Mississippi on 2 sides.
Spring is getting ready to spring here on the north shore of Lake Ponchatrain.
We have looked in our hive twice this year on warm days .Those days there was plenty activity of bees bringing pollen back to the hive.
We ordered some honeycomb foundations from Mann lake as we don't have an extractor as of date.
My neghibor has a hive in a childs playhouse that I am in the process of obtaining later.
We are reading everything about bees we can get our hands on as we are retired and started this as a hobby.
I'll get off the soapbox for now. Jimmy
Welcome Jimmy, we are practically neighbors, I live on the southshore just across the lake from you. Small world huh? Welcome to beekeeping, you have found a terrific forum here where you will learn about bees and other things and make new friends along the way.
Sincerely, JP
Jimmy, please take a moment and go into your profile to list your location. I know you told us in your post where you are, but for the future, people won't remember, and it's easier to give advice if you know where you're posting from.
Lucky you, you're near JP and a few other good beeks! Welcome to the forum :)
>I have been told by my local mentor that I must move a split hive with a new queen 1-4 miles away. Your thoughts?
In 34 years I've never moved them out of the yard.
http://www.bushfarms.com/beessplits.htm