Any tips on how best to make increase AND get a honey yield?

[gregior]

Hi folks,I have 4 strong hives on brood 1/2 national i reckon they will be thinking about swarming late April/early May and want to increase to 8 by the end of the year ideally,but i don't want to compromise too much on my honey yield if possible. Are there any clever techniques available to achieve increase without compromising honey yield?

 

[B+.]

i reckon they will be thinking about swarming late April/early May

How do you know they will swarm? Are they old queens?

 

[Millet]

Demaree

 

[alldigging]

good forage and good weather.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Buy another four colonies.

 

[Bee Bumble]

Lie down in a comfortable bed, close your eyes and dream.
Or, AS your colonies to avoid swarming then re-unite for the main flow to get your honey crop. Also, put out a lot of bait hives early and re-queen the swarms you catch with queens from a good breeder for your increase.

 

[dpearce4]

run as 2 queen hives until the end of july then do the splits.


http://www.drawhive.co.uk/twoqueen.html

 

[Millet]

Buy another four colonies.

What about nipping to ASDA and buying a pallet full of honey, that would surely be easier .

 

[dpearce4]

What about nipping to ASDA and buying a pallet full of honey, that would surely be easier .

and cheaper

 

[mbc]

Find a good source of mated queens and do the increase in waves as your production hives show signs of swarming, just take a nucs worth of bees and brood from any that start cells and introduce a queen(destroying the swarm cells first), if you havent made all the increase you need by the time the swarming urge fades just make up what you need for new nucs with bees and brood from the nucs you've already made.

 

[BeeJayBee]

run as 2 queen hives until the end of july then do the splits.

http://www.drawhive.co.uk/twoqueen.html

Make sure you have very strong hive stands.

 

[gregior]

Thanks for most of the replies i was looking for a way to both increase and preserve honey production without having to buy in any extra bees or queens.

The drawhive system suggested by dprearce sounds interesting, seems a little complicateted and some specialized kit needed,but sounds good for my hopes of maximizing cut comb production from the balsam, think i might give that a try-wish me luck!

 

[snelgrove]

Thanks for most of the replies i was looking for a way to both increase and preserve honey production without having to buy in any extra bees or queens.

The drawhive system suggested by dprearce sounds interesting, seems a little complicateted and some specialized kit needed,but sounds good for my hopes of maximizing cut comb production from the balsam, think i might give that a try-wish me luck!

Simply take a a small 3 frame nuc off when cells are found , move to a new apiary, you will probably find the the bees will build up within a week and be making swarming preparations again.

 

[Pete D]

Split the first big hive to build QC's into 4 nucs using the cells and 2/3 frames of brood and bees, add a frame of capped brood to each from your other hives (not bees). Move to another site 2-3 miles away. You will have 3 hives and 4 nucs.
A/S your other 3 as required, keep one of the splits. You will have 2 production hives, 4 nucs and 2 splits.

When making the initial split as you are brood and 1/2 obviously divide all the bees up between the splits. Any brood in the super can always go in the other hives.
Consider double brood instead of 1 1/2 in the future, its a lot easier to split.......and ........oh that's another long standing thread !
Good luck.

 

[user 6228]

Use double brood poly nucs for the splits etc.

 

[Excession]

Demaree 3 hives to get honey, make nucs off the fourth hive?

 

[Poly Hive]

You are asking if you can travel by car from London to Edinburgh with out using fuel.

Everything has a price, and the price of making increase is a DEcrease in honey take.

Over the years I have pondered long and hard over this issue and there are two answers. Get your wallet out but as near every beekeepers wallet/purse is stuck fast with propolis the only answer realistically is from the bees.

You say you nave four colonies. Run three for honey and use one for increase. Now to justify that 25% drop you want to maximise the output from the sacrificial lamb. So.

Build it up on a double brood. If you have the skills do some Queen rearing and or break it into nucs and over winter them. Say 20 nucs. There is as much increase as you can probably handle or if too much sell the survivors in 2017 to buy the kit you will need for the following season (2018) and repeat until you are at the level you are comfortable with.

Just remember there is mony a slip tween cup and lip and the biggest for us is weather. Remember the summer last year and the likelihood of better weather this summer is poor I believe due to the El Nino, and that is possible for the next few years so do keep it in mind.

PH

 

[Into the lions den]

I don't think many of the responses are completely relevant.

The OP has not told us when his main honey flow is that he is seeking. In Manchester it may actually be the balsam round all the old waterways, or he might be moving his bees late to the heather on the moors.

Timing is everything, and in the case of late season flows, early splitting MIGHT actually be the way to MAXIMISE your crop. Two colonies peaking can be a lot better than one colony coming off the back of a protracted spell of instability.

So.......more details needed......and happy to advise off forum if wanted.

Do not fuss too much about buying in a queen or two each season as suggested by others. Its not very fashionable on here to say it but it can be very good for the vigour of your stock to maintain a bit of genetic diversity.

 

[Into the lions den]

Just spotted the bit that it is for the balsam as I kind of suspected from the location........ok....then splitting is perfectly feasible to get the best overall crop. But it is best to have it done in time to allow the new queen in the split two full brood cycles prior to the flow.

 

[user 6228]

You are asking if you can travel by car from London to Edinburgh with out using fuel.

Everything has a price, and the price of making increase is a DEcrease in honey take.

Over the years I have pondered long and hard over this issue and there are two answers. Get your wallet out but as near every beekeepers wallet/purse is stuck fast with propolis the only answer realistically is from the bees.

You say you nave four colonies. Run three for honey and use one for increase. Now to justify that 25% drop you want to maximise the output from the sacrificial lamb. So.

Build it up on a double brood. If you have the skills do some Queen rearing and or break it into nucs and over winter them. Say 20 nucs. There is as much increase as you can probably handle or if too much sell the survivors in 2017 to buy the kit you will need for the following season (2018) and repeat until you are at the level you are comfortable with.

Just remember there is mony a slip tween cup and lip and the biggest for us is weather. Remember the summer last year and the likelihood of better weather this summer is poor I believe due to the El Nino, and that is possible for the next few years so do keep it in mind.

PH

In short basic thermodynamics
1st law you dont get owt for nowt.
2nd law you'll never break even.

Energy must be used in creating brood, that energy cannot go into the honey.
so all you can do is minimise losses and optimise.

However the more distinct operations you add, the more you lose in inefficiencies.