Beekeeping

[lsgreg]

I "manage" my bees much more than you do, @CloverKnollFarms. Especially for swarm prevention and varroa control.

I am glad your methods work for you!

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Yeah, I don't do anything except catch swarms and collect honey in October. I am not normal.

 

[ponytug]

Yeah, I don't do anything except catch swarms and collect honey in October. I am not normal.

I think that if it works for you and your bees, that is really the bottom line. Your approach to bee genetics seems very rational to me.

I'm not a beekeeper, but looking in from the outside, it is hard not to look at the mainstream beekeeping practices, and the issues that they are dealing with, and wonder if there aren't changes that could be made to help bees. I do recognize that practices like almond pollination are complex for everyone.

I love watching bee swarms. We used to have bee swarms come through here regularly and then drought, CCD, varroa, and who knows what else all happened. I haven't seen one here in eight or ten years. At the local onset of CCD, I saw a few forlorn bees circling our outside light (infrared on, not normally activated), and on closer examination they had varroaon them. Sad. The bumble bees, native leaf cutter, and mason bees seem to be doing ok.

I love the posts!

All the best,

Peter

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Some bees can live with varroa. Some can't. If they can't, I don't really want to help them spread their genetics. Only the fit survive here. The rest are culled.

Purdue University actually does a lot of research and breeding of varroa resistant bees. Neat stuff

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

These ladies are still waiting to pop! Every day the group gets larger.

 

[Torvy]

How close can you get with the mower? Asking for a friend.

 

[tulenutn2o]

Contact your local extension office. You may need permits in your area. I don't know about your area.

The extension office, if like mine, has a wealth of information and probably can assist you from the local to state level with resources and points-of-contact.

My state has quite a lot of resources available, including hive lotteries for those starting out or expanding their hobby or business.

Good luck.

Permits? We don‘t Need no stinking permits.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

How close can you get with the mower? Asking for a friend.

With a suit, as close as I want. . Back when we had a couple colonies, I didn't wear anything. As we accumulated more colonies, we had a lot of different personalities in the apiary. And at different times of the year, they act differently.
Heck, the swarm that moved in a couple weeks ago, was NASTY for a week or so. Today I moved them frame by frame to a permanent hive, and they didnt even leave the frames. Completely calm.
We have too many bees out there now to now what they are going to be like on a given day. Some days its complete chaos

 

[ponytug]

Some bees can live with varroa. Some can't. If they can't, I don't really want to help them spread their genetics. Only the fit survive here. The rest are culled.

Purdue University actually does a lot of research and breeding of varroa resistant bees. Neat stuff

I've been reading the Purdue publications for a long time. It does seem like the sustainable approach.

To me it is a straight parallel to what we do with crops; select for desired traits, and check for resistance to x, y, or z. (Drought, cutworm, fungus...) I think it is actually a lot easier in bees, although "living with varroa" and "thriving in the presence of varroa" aren't quite the same thing. You seem to have selected for colonies that are thriving in the presence of varroa, which is great, at least in my view.

All the best,

Peter

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Here we go.