For those of you who have made increase in your apiaries this year, how are things turning out?
I did one split this spring and caught 5 swarms, 4 of my own and 1 that came from somewhere out in the world, thus doubling my hive count from 5 to 10. This is the most hives I've ever had, and 10 hives is the goal I've been working towards since I got my first two packages 5 years ago, which was the only time I purchased bees. I'm letting myself have one extra stand for manipulations' sake, but I don't plan on continuing to increase next year, so my management is going to significantly change (unless of course I lose a lot of hives over the winter for some odd reason, but I typically don't). All the swarms and splits got queens mated without struggle, with the exception of the fact that the parent colony that was swarming the most ended up queenless, which finally stopped them from casting swarms, so I recombined their last small swarm with them. All the colonies built up nicely except for one, which has been slow to grow all year. They may get a super on Saturday which would bring them up to 4 boxes.
I think I started out with around 40 or so that made it through the winter. With my splits and a few swarms and minimal losses from shbs, I'm around 67 on the hive count. A couple of them are still questionable. This year has been good so far. I wasn't really wanting to increase this much. I would prefer to keep around 50 hives but sometimes the bees don't cooperate. :wink:
I had planned on splitting earlier this year. I caught one swarm that ended up dying off, probably pesticide kill. Ended up adding a swarm another beekeeper couldn't house, and have one I'm moving home Tuesday night from a trapnout. The trapout and the swarm are both small in numbers and I may end up doing a combine with them unless they boom. I'll feed them both somewhat through the dearth since they're so late establishing, though I don't prefer to feed. So unless things change I'll end up with 3 this year which is good with me. I'd like to eventually have 8 or 10
Quote from: Occam on July 29, 2023, 07:07:23 PM
I had planned on splitting earlier this year. I caught one swarm that ended up dying off, probably pesticide kill. Ended up adding a swarm another beekeeper couldn't house, and have one I'm moving home Tuesday night from a trapnout. The trapout and the swarm are both small in numbers and I may end up doing a combine with them unless they boom. I'll feed them both somewhat through the dearth since they're so late establishing, though I don't prefer to feed. So unless things change I'll end up with 3 this year which is good with me. I'd like to eventually have 8 or 10
Congratulations on the catch Occam! I hope it works out for you. If the bees are healthy they should build up fine with your help of correct living space, liquid feed and pollen substitute.. Keep us updated "please". It is always interesting to hear the good news of others increases!
Phillip
These last two years I start off with around 4, then build up to 10, then sell off and reduce down to 4. Right now I am at 3, as I prepare for transitioning to Layen's hives.
But if I wasn't surrounded on all sides with close neighbors, I would keep 10-20.
Quote from: Bob Wilson on July 30, 2023, 11:14:59 PM
These last two years I start off with around 4, then build up to 10, then sell off and reduce down to 4. Right now I am at 3, as I prepare for transitioning to Layen's hives.
But if I wasn't surrounded on all sides with close neighbors, I would keep 10-20.
Love your curriculum Bob! Thumbs Up!