Keeping Hives to a Minimum?

[DayValleyDahlias]

Hi All...This beeking thing is really something else...I am catching on a little...I have learned a lot from everyone here and am grateful for all the advice...My mentor has a different style of keeping than many here, so I try to blend my newfound knowledge.

Here is another question.  The one hive I have now is like bees on steroids.  It is extremely strong.  Started from a nuc in May.  We took off 5 pounds of wildflower honey, with plenty of surplus for the bees to have in Winter ( pollen & nectar ).

My mentor mentioned dividing this hive would have been a possibilty, but it is kinds late in the year & I would have to take them 5 miles away for a month or so?  I would have to find a person with a place to keep them...I decided against that, and that this was my learning hive so I wanted to go it slowly.

Okay back to the question, hahaha...

Is it possible to maintain no more than 4 hives in a reasonable healthy manner? OR do I have to keep adding hives...it was intimated to me today, that if I only wanted 4 hives, that I would have a surplus of bees, and might want to sell the extras.

What do y'all think about that?

Many thanks...Sharon

Wow, I actually got honey from the bees, amazing!

[rdy-b]

for some reason unknown to me I think you would enjoy a top bar hive. the more hives you have you get to a piont when you start to lose the art form of it. bring the colony through winter or have you got a full season under your belt. how are you treating for varoa natural cell size tbh is cool for you RDY-B

[Kathyp]

i don't see why you'd have to have more.  you could pay for your hobby by selling bees, but see what you have in the spring.  they may not all make it.  there are some major advantages to having several.  you can do all kinds of manipulations for different reasons if you have more.  not all years will be good honey years.  i got lots of honey from one great hive last year, and so far no honey from 3 hives + split this year.

[doak]

Well, this is how I look at it. If I want only so many hives, I might try to go with one more than that through the winter. If you happen to loose one, then you are back to what you want. If you are lucky and don't loose any, but have a week hive in the spring. Combine it with a strong one. If none are week, sell  a split off it and use it for extra brood, raise queens, etc.

Now, Get on a swarm prevention program. If a colony looks like it is going to burst with bees, give it that extra brood space. If you have to rotate the brood boxes,"I know", some say don't because it sets them back. If you take early inspections, 9 times out of 10 you can spot the queens that don't like going back down. Remember, the bees are just like us, no two will do every thing the same.
If they did and we did this forum would not be here.

What works best for you and your bees for the location your in is what you need to work toward.
The first 2 inspections will tell plenty about what kind of queen you have.

If they do get ahead and build swarm cells, if they are well on the way, don't cut them out.
Have some nuc boxes handy and raise that years queens. After your through with that just recombine
and have strong colonies going into the winter.

thats all for now folks.
doak

[DayValleyDahlias]

Thanks, All

I really do not want a huge beeyard..I only just want no more than 4...and I understand that not each year will be the same, and that I may loose some over Winter and all...

[Scadsobees]

Are you insane?  Why only 4?? :-D (just kidding!!, i'm limited to about 6, thankfully)

Yup, swarm prevention.  Keep a few extra boxes around so that if you do have a situation you can deal with it, but then combine them back togather if needed.  Have extra bees?  Just combine them back togather for a really boomer hive, and keep plenty of supers on them.

Rick

[DayValleyDahlias]

Right on Scads, that is the answer I was looking for.  I can be done, and I did keep my bees from swarming this year thatnk goodness...nary a Queen cell...thanks for the excellent advice!

[KONASDAD]

You are likely to fluctuate between the four you want, and one or two more or less depending on your fortunes. My goal was also four. I now have two full hives, and three nucs I expanded last week to one deep. If they all make it through winter, I already found a home for one hive. An old timer at a fruit stand said to me he misses the bees and his garden suffers. I said I keep bees and would be happy to place a hive at his house. He was more excited than a child on christmas eve. Made me feel good. I will get him a hive some way or the other. Another friend also said I could leave a hive or tweo on their property. Dont sweat the details, you'll find the right balance.

[DayValleyDahlias]

Konasdad, That is great news and encouraging news. Thank you so much!

[Moonshae]

You could always use a queen excluder and make two-queen hives...go upward instead of outward, so to speak.

[Michael Bush]

Any year, combining just before the flow will get you a bumper crop of honey.  You can do combines every year to undo the splits you've done along the way.

You just trade bees for honey.  :)

Of course you can always sell the excess to the local beekeepers who are always having to buy them from somewhere.

[DayValleyDahlias]

Thank you Michael Bush~

This is all good news to me...