Best time to unite?

[Sutty]

I have more hives than I want, 10 Vs 5, they are all a decent size except 1 nuc possibly requeening.
So, to reduce colony numbers am I best uniting good sized colonies to make very large colonies to overwinter, or wait until spring (I'd expect most to overwinter ok) and unite them then?
Any thoughts?

 

[user 20297]

I have more hives than I want, 10 Vs 5, they are all a decent size except 1 nuc possibly requeening.
So, to reduce colony numbers am I best uniting good sized colonies to make very large colonies to overwinter, or wait until spring (I'd expect most to overwinter ok) and unite them then?
Any thoughts?

I'm in exactly the same position as you, and I'm taking them all through the winter separately. I might even sell one or two in the spring. It seems daft to kill perfectly good queens and then lower the odds of still having five colonies after the winter.

 

[Sutty]

That was one of my thoughts, the other was remembering how they exploded this year & I wouldn't have enough boxes to cope with that so early spring uniting a must if not autumn!
I have wondered about selling some too!

 

[user 20297]

That was one of my thoughts, the other was remembering how they exploded this year & I wouldn't have enough boxes to cope with that so early spring uniting a must if not autumn!
I have wondered about selling some too!

I know exactly where you're coming from; we must exchange notes in the spring.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I have more hives than I want, 10 Vs 5, they are all a decent size except 1 nuc possibly requeening.
So, to reduce colony numbers am I best uniting good sized colonies to make very large colonies to overwinter, or wait until spring (I'd expect most to overwinter ok) and unite them then?
Any thoughts?

I'm taking my surplus through the winter.
Members of my local association lose colonies over winter regularly so I'll sell them on

 

[Blunt Spike]

I am in exactly the same position, but I'm concerned that the cost of living may cause people to rethink where they spend their money over the coming year and I dont want to end up with nucs I cant sell. I have not done all my intended splits and next year will keep an eye on the market before doing any early splits too.

 

[Hachi]

I am in exactly the same position, but I'm concerned that the cost of living may cause people to rethink where they spend their money over the coming year and I dont want to end up with nucs I cant sell. I have not done all my intended splits and next year will keep an eye on the market before doing any early splits too.

You could be right, if you are you've just p****d on my chips of having a bumper year of honey and selling it on and my Queen rearing and selling surplus Queens and nucs. No wonder I'm PAYE

 

[Erichalfbee]

You could be right, if you are you've just p****d on my chips of having a bumper year of honey and selling it on and my Queen rearing and selling surplus Queens and nucs. No wonder I'm PAYE

There's always a local BKA somewhere . A lot of the members are hopeless at getting their bees through winter

 

[Blunt Spike]

You could be right, if you are you've just p****d on my chips of having a bumper year of honey and selling it on and my Queen rearing and selling surplus Queens and nucs. No wonder I'm PAYE

Sorry buddy. I have to manage risk as a day job, so I always err on the overly cautious. My Mrs hates it.

Im sure that there are plenty of folk who will look to buy bees no matter what the economy is doing. Ignore me leaking my thoughts on here.

 

[Hachi]

Sorry buddy. I have to manage risk as a day job, so I always err on the overly cautious. My Mrs hates it.

Im sure that there are plenty of folk who will look to buy bees no matter what the economy is doing. Ignore me leaking my thoughts on here.

Nah keep sharing you made me laugh

 

[Hachi]

There's always a local BKA somewhere . A lot of the members are hopeless at getting their bees through winter

True.

 

[user 20297]

True.

Not round here it isn't. I mean round here it isn't true.

 

[Hachi]

Excellent Beebe there is hope. Sadly, there are members of clubs in this part of the world who think buying in hives in spring is how to manage their bees having never managed to get a colony thro the winter. Sadly, knowing I'm selling my hard work over the previous summer months and condemning them to an almost certain death, never gets any easier.

 

[user 20297]

There is definitely hope. As long as beekeepers have enough wisdom and confidence to filter through the myriad nuances of advice available, their bees will be alright.
From what I can see, the biggest problem for newer beekeepers, particularly in respect of overwintering, is that everyone, (me included) is looking for a straightforward directive of what they must do. It takes a while to understand that there is no definite "recipe" for anything in beekeeping.
I was and I still am one of those smartarses who doesn't want a mentor even if I really need one. But I can see that for many of the people who are less obsessive than many of us here, and who try to keep bees whilst still having time for other things going on in their lives, a mentor may be an essential short-cut to working with their local conditions. That's where a local beekeeping association can really help. In my experience, there are some absolute genius beekeepers locally who are interested in bees and not interested in the politics of beekeeping.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Sadly, knowing I'm selling my hard work over the previous summer months and condemning them to an almost certain death, never gets any easier.

Needs must sometimes.
I remember losing my rag with a bloke who took a surplus queen off me ( FOC) then proceeded to have her killed in a colony he knew was queenless without a test frame.
It must happen to folk who sell queens all the time.

 

[Hachi]

Needs must sometimes.
I remember losing my rag with a bloke who took a surplus queen off me ( FOC) then proceeded to have her killed in a colony he knew was queenless without a test frame.
It must happen to folk who sell queens all the time.

Oh yes Pete Little said as much the last time I went to see him.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Oh yes Pete Little said as much the last time I went to see him.

yes, he said on here how disheartening it was - sending all his queen off knowing that many of them were going to an imminent death.

 

[Erichalfbee]

yes, he said on here how disheartening it was - sending all his queen off knowing that many of them were going to an imminent death.

AND I have lost count of the number of times I have mentioned a test frame to be met with a blank stare and the question. "what's that?"

 

[Nige.Coll]

In the evening. it saves fighting at the entrance.