Just a poll more than anything. Just curious as to hive loses on first couple of years.
Do hobbieists and noobees typically see more losses their first or second year? Why?
Actually I think this is a great question.
My first year I had two hives, I lost one in the winter.
Second year I had 4 hives, three died in the winter.
Third year I had 4 hives, one died in the winter.
fourth year, I had 3 hives, one dies in winter.
This year entered with 4 hives (one was barely alive) and as of 2 weeks ago 3 were alive. (It is possible the one is still alive but I am not opening until it is warmer. I expected it to not make the winter it was so weak)
Of note, I do not treat my hives with anything.
I lost one of my two hives this past year. It was my first yera. I plan on making a split with my 2nd hive.
First year I bought 2 nucs, lost the first one within 4 weeks, queen had deformed wing virus, never made a virgin flight. The replacement hive produced 150 pounds of honey that year and made it through the winter only to be killed by the bee inspector during the summer. He was being so rough on the hive that i had to stop him and take over in the hive. Hive survived. Other nuc only had 3 frames, slow start, made 30 pounds of honey and the queen survived the next 2 winters.
Jim
What was the Bee inspector doing at your place and why was he being so rough?
We are required to register our bees so that they can inspect for disease.
That is the way he treats his bees. He was telling me to "just slap them down" I just ignored him and refused to let him back.
Jim
Hey bw,
I've met several of the inspectors from the agriculture dept on Federal drive. Good bunch of folks. If I judge them right, and if one of them pulls up in your yard and say your hives weren't registered.., they'd probably remind you to register your hives and ask if they could help you in any way.
All the ones I've met were also beekeepers. We had one speak at a meeting a year or so ago. He made the comment that he didn't have time to ride around and look for unregistered hives. Too many inspections to do.
Oh I am registered GSF but I was just curious why he was there being rough with the hive?
First year 1/1 survived. This second year so far 4/4 but it's not over yet :) The colony that is most questionable this year was a late split that built up great but got robbed pretty badly, I had a hard time trying to stop the robbing.
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I was just curious why he was there being rough with the hive
ain't no telling
Quote from: bwallace23350 on February 10, 2017, 03:06:55 PM
Oh I am registered GSF but I was just curious why he was there being rough with the hive?
If you do not dig into the brood nest it gets propolised up pretty tight. Most inspectors come from the commercial side and are use to just pulling up frames without a lot of prying. He was probably just showing his frustration.
In a way, you Florida beekeepers are lucky. In Texas, we have a chief inspector with two assistants, plus a secretary at Texas A&M. That's it for the whole state. They're all good people, but there's no way they can inspect every apiary in the state. So we're pretty much on our own. They try to get out to talk to beekeeping clubs to let us know what is expected of us and what the laws and rules are, and I'm sure they ride herd on the comercial operations and migratory operators passing through the state, but they are really spread thin.
Dallas,
That is the way were are getting.
This year they changed it to inspections every other year for hobbyist.
Jim
I talked to another bee keeper friend of mine. Been keeping for several years and he said he has not seen an inspector in 3 or so years in Alabama. We keep cutting their budget.
I feel like I am the lucky one. No registration or inspections in Mo. I hope it never changes.
gww
Quote from: bwallace23350 on February 14, 2017, 03:21:23 PM
I talked to another bee keeper friend of mine. Been keeping for several years and he said he has not seen an inspector in 3 or so years in Alabama. We keep cutting their budget.
The reason we have bee inspectors is to control AFB. Now that it is pretty rare, we really do not need them.
As Beekeepers we need to know how to spot it and if found, burn it and stop it in its trAcks.
Jim
I read up on it. They said it stinks like rotten meat. What are some other symptoms of AFB?
If you look at comb that had AFB you can see little white tongues sticking up in the empty cells. Contaminated brood filled cells are more concave then convex. If you stick a tooth pick in one of those cells and spin it around and pull it out it will be stringy if it is AFB.
JIM
Stringy as in about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch? I think I'm remembering right.
Never seen anything like that and I hope I don't ever. Do you know of anyone who has ever had it?
Alabama has a "no comb" law. Basically it's against the law to bring honeybees in (to live) on combs. Their thinking is that that has a lot to do with American foul brood. European foul brood is bad but not as bad. To answer your question, I don't think we've had any cases in quite some time.
Well that is good
Quote from: bwallace23350 on February 15, 2017, 10:07:45 AM
Never seen anything like that and I hope I don't ever. Do you know of anyone who has ever had it?
My buddy's daughter baught 3 hives from a commercial beek and 2 years later the inspector burned all of their hives. They never started back up.
Jim
This is one of the few cases of AFB that we have had in this area. My inspector says they find about one outbreak a year.
Jim
Ummm....looks like this thread has strayed from its original content and question....:)