First Post and introduction. My name is Doug Croll. Live in Alamo, CA. Retired.
My Grandfather was a commercial beekeeper that started in business in the late 1940's. My Father went into business with him in the 50's. All the boys in the family worked the business from the time we could wire frames at .25 a box. (BTW, new frames are 10 to a box, but when Dad took them to the field we would put 9 in a super on the bees. It was his way of getting his moneys worth out of us.)
I had about 200 hives (early 80's) while working a regular job while Dad was still in the bee business. He had just under 2000 hives that went into pollination, Seed alfalfa and almonds. My beekeeping stopped in 1990 when someone needed my equipment more than me. 175 hives with supers stolen from a seed alfalfa location... I was out of business. Dad continued until he sold everything in about 1990.
About 4 years ago my wife said that we needed a bee hive...., I said "go buy a quart of honey".... between my brother and myself we have about 20 hives now. I honestly think its harder now as a hobbyist to keep things working smoothly. It is a lot more fun though. And I'm amazed at what I remember from years ago. And more surprised at what I don't know. The learning curve is back on.
Looking forward to interacting on the forum. Doug
I few things have changed with mites and beetles, but the basics are the same and all still fun. Welcome to the forum.
Welcome to the site!
Sorry about loosing all those hives. I hope things go better for you now.
Larry
Its all in fun now. Seems like it was just AFB that was the main problem back then. My hives were more transient then as we followed the pollinated crops. Now, just the backyard and a couple of close locations for different honey flows.
Seems that I am also having a swarming problem more than I remember. And it seems that the swarmed hive has a harder time re- queening on their own. Fewer drones? Less hives in an area to provide additional drones. Weaker due to varroa?
We were taking them to the almonds in the spring and didn't get the steady buildup. We also made more nucs and kept hive population from wanting to swarm.
Thanks for the welcome. Doug
Welcome Doug. If you're ever over my way look me up.
Welcome to the site!
Hello Doug,
My name is Cappy and I am from the high desert of Southern California!
Welcome :)