What did you learn this year?

L Daxon · December 31, 2010, 10:57:00 AM

I took up beekeeping again in 2010 after a 20 year hiatus. Man have things changed. Here are some of the things I learned this year, much of it thanks to this site. I learned:

How to catch a swarm(s)
How to do a newspaper combine
How to make grease patties
How to keep my smoker going for more than 2 minutes
How to go foundationless
How to do a mite count with a sticky board
How to do a powdered sugar shake
How convenient going all 8 frame mediums is verses the 10 frame deeps and shallow supers I used to run
How to deal with serious robbing
Why you shouldn't feed sugar syrup when supers are on
Why I shouldn't rip out queen cells
What varroa mites and small hive beetles are and what serious problems they can cause and various ways to fight them
What a slatted bottom board is and how much it cuts down on bearding
What a nuc is and why it can be handy to have one around
And, what a great resource this board is and what knowledgeable and fun people hang out here.

Thanks to you all for making 2010 the best beekeeping year of my life.

Linda D

Robo · December 31, 2010, 11:01:27 AM

Linda,

Sounds like you had a busy year, and hopefully enjoyable. Best of luck in 2011! :-D

D Coates · January 03, 2011, 05:20:24 PM

How to be a better grafter, but I need to do it earlier in 2011 for practice and in case of difficulties.

How to keep records better. (I still have room for improvement but definately made improvement in 2010)

How to find and mark queens more effectively.

I need to get more serious about making comb honey.

I'm not as smart as I'd like to think...

BrentX · January 03, 2011, 09:24:06 PM

I started a package late in the year and learned that it is very difficult for a colony to build up after the flow has ended.

I learned a little about varroa and small hive beetles. I learned that my my natural cell hive needs more than than natural cell to stay ahead of varroa.

I spent many hours of holiday down time cruising the forum learning from this group. I am glad to be a part of this hive.

I learned to build nucs.

Keith13 · January 03, 2011, 09:40:51 PM

I learned they have beekeepers in Iraq.
Didn't really get a chance to work my hives this year

Keith

AllenF · January 03, 2011, 09:47:49 PM

I still like your beekeepers suit (profile pic) that you had in Iraq.

beewitch · January 04, 2011, 02:39:40 PM

First year beek...
1) Beekeeping is harder than I expected. SO friggin much to know.
2) I love it more than I ever thought possible.
3) I REALLY need a mentor who lives near-by. (But this site has helped tremendously).
4) The short courses I took need to cover more actual beekeeping. Ditch the plant biology lesson, etc.
5) My neighbors were more interested than I anticipated.
6) EVERYONE was disappointed I had no honey. Me, especially.
7) Most beekeepers are nice and helpful. Others, not so much...
8) It's not for sissies.
9) Just when I thought I something figured out, I figured out I didn't.
10) The best - watching the afternoon sun glint off the girls as they wrapped up their busy summer day.

Yuleluder · January 04, 2011, 03:19:01 PM

The biggest thing I learned while raising queens for sale is not to put all your cells into one box. By this I mean graft into multiple cell builders, especially if you are on the road during the week. Now I use at least three cell builders. Its best to have too many cells then none at all.

Michael Bush · January 04, 2011, 09:55:55 PM

>Its best to have too many cells then none at all.

This is the commercial queen breeders mantra... you can never have too many cells... :)

vmmartin · January 04, 2011, 10:50:22 PM

First year with bees. Learned too much to list. But I did learn not to put too much comb from a cutout into a hive. To only put what the bees can cover. SHB will destroy 6 hours worth of blood sweat and tears in no time. I also learned that there is an abundance of info, advice and friends on beemaster. Thanks for all the help, past and future.