Been reading on here for awhile about CCD and overwintering losses etc. That got me to wondering how old your hive is. I saw on one forum where a guy had a 9 year old hive. (survived 9 winters so far.) Those are some good bees. That seems uncommon now days, but i'm a newb. I know when I was a kid we had bees in the wall of the house for years and years but there weren't the pests and pesticides we have today. So lets hear it.......how old is your oldest hive of bees ?
I have one Cypress hive body that is around 60 years old, bought it from a 78 year old commercial beek that is retiring. He said his dad kept bees and built it when he was a kid. Pretty sure its been in continous use but no tellin how many times its been restarted with a few frames of uncapped larve ect....
Quote from: beee farmer on September 12, 2010, 01:56:17 AM
I have one Cypress hive body that is around 60 years old, bought it from a 78 year old commercial beek that is retiring. He said his dad kept bees and built it when he was a kid. Pretty sure its been in continous use but no tellin how many times its been restarted with a few frames of uncapped larve ect....
I'm sure I'm not alone in saying we'd like to see some pictures of that one! :-D
My oldest is about 3 years old. My others were splits from that one made this year and they are good strong hives. 3 splits made from one. The ones that starved this past winter were about 4 years old.
My original hive from 2006 is still going strong. They just supercede the queen when they want and things continue.
Quote from: Buzzen on September 12, 2010, 01:46:19 AM
Been reading on here for awhile about CCD and overwintering losses etc. That got me to wondering how old your hive is. I saw on one forum where a guy had a 9 year old hive. (survived 9 winters so far.) Those are some good bees. That seems uncommon now days, but I'm a newb. I know when I was a kid we had bees in the wall of the house for years and years but there weren't the pests and pesticides we have today. So lets hear it.......how old is your oldest hive of bees ?
Are we asking about comb age, or just how long I have continuously used a particular hive?
In mentioning the 9 year old hive, I'm not sure under what parameters you are mentioning. Is this 9 years without beekeeper intervention in queen replacement? 9 years without treatments?
I have many hives that have been continuously used and overwintered for 10 plus years. That is not to say that I have not replaced a few queens, or the bees did the same.
If we are talking just "Hands-off" pure survival, I have a friend that started with 7 hives 5 years ago. He still has 3 going. Probably would have more if he had not removed the deadouts, since the hives could of been repopulated.
In mentioning comb age, there are MANY beekeepers using old comb. Saw plenty of it as an inspector. Had one guy show up to pick up nucs with comb that was on tin foundation. They made tin foundation during WWII. 30 year old comb is (or hopefully was) the norm for many commercial operations.
I'm just talking about bees that have survived however many winters, intervention or not. Seems to me if you get some that keep making it through you've got some good bees. Like the ones Annette has from 2006.
depends on your climate how impressive it is I guess.
Our oldest has been continually occupied by one colony for at least the last ten years - four years in our ownership and at least six that the previous owner can remember, though she had a number of hives prior to that and it's likely the colony was continuous for many years earlier.
That said, haven't seen snow here since I was seven years old, and my daddy had to lift me up on the roof of the house so I could touch it, since it was melting 10 feet up. Winter's just aren't that hard here.
There'll be hundreds or thousands of colonies in this region that have been continuous for decades. Managed and requeened for sure, but continuous nonetheless.