Greetings and thank you for having me in this forum. I am a middle school teacher, part time farmer, and novice bee keeper. Looking forward to sharing and gaining more knowledge on the topic of bee keeping. I live on the island of Saipan, out in the Pacific. Our average temperature daily is about 88 degrees Fahrenheit all year long. We have two seasons here.....dry and wet. In both seasons our bees seem to be doing well. Hoping to learn more about bees and their possible diseases. My understanding is that we don't have Veroa mites or AFB or EFB here on our islands and if that is true, I'd like to learn more about how to prevent that from ever coming to our islands.
I can't offer any advice for your climate but I do want to welcome you.
Howdy!
Vic,
Welcome to Beemaster
If you don't want to have to deal with those problems, get your government to prevent bees from being imported to your island. Then they also need to keep a close watch your ports to make sure you do not get hitch hikers from coming in on cargo.
Jim
Welcome to the forum!
Thank you for the welcome. Been reading a lot of the posts on here and I'm loving it! So many people sharing their knowledge on bee keeping. Thanks again!
Welcome. Sounds like paradise. Take good care of it and keep us informed on your progress in beekeeping.
Welcome
If anyone is interested, I just posted my first hive inspection video on YouTube. You can search it up under "Pacific Bee Boyz" 1st full hive inspection top bar. It was amazing! To see how much comb they made in 2.5 weeks and they already have capped brood as well as so many eggs and larvae. happy to report the hive is doing well and I haven't had to feed them yet since there are so many flowers still in bloom.
I have planted several pots of a local variety of daisies near their hive, which the bees seems to love. I also intend on planting Russian mammoth sunflowers as well as golden rod and many other flowers being recommended. If anyone has any recommendation for other types of flowers to plant, please let me know. Also, there is a giant pond nearby, should I still provide some kind of container or water source near the hive?
"Also, there is a giant pond nearby, should I still provide some kind of container or water source near the hive?"
Vic,
With a pond nearby, your bees will probably not even use another source if you provide one. Your source will probably be pure water with little smell. Bees like a source that they can locate by smell.
Jim
Hey sawdstmakr, Thanks for the advice.
No problem. Enjoy your bees.
What is the average annual honey production with the bees working year around?
Jim
I have yet to find out. I am documenting everything as I go, I will be sharing that information as well.