Honey rather than sugar

[pargyle]

as the majority of beekeepers who who would not dream of taking the bulk of their bees honey to substitute it with something inferior, do not post on here as they do not enjoy the prospect of ridicule or derision. Perfectly understandable, I guess.

There are still a few of us on here with our heads above the parapet Heidi ....

 

[Finman]

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Honey and honey. We have all kinds of nature lovers.

We have here a religious movement, whose biggest goal is to make much children. They do not use birth control and they do not look TV.

My collaque was a member of that movement. He retired and then at the age of 65 he came to work place and served coffee and cream cake. He told that now he had 58 grand childrend. When he retired 2 years before, he had 48.

Heidi rear bee swarms and release them to environment, and some rear human children and release them to environment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laestadianism

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[jenkinsbrynmair]

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We have here a religious movement, whose biggest goal is to make much children. They do not use birth control and they do not look TV.

My collaque was a member of that movement. He retired and then at the age of 65
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Like some queens, he probably ran out of......................

 

[Chris Luck]

Haven't read all the posts BUT of course it's OK to leave supers with honey on your hives overwinter if that's what you have to do or indeed if that's what you would prefer to do - it's no more and no less than they would do in a natural environment assuming your bees are where they would naturally live and survive without human assistance.

I have some colonies that I never do anything with and they do just fine on their own, same as the ones in tree hollows, house walls and roofs. In any more or less normal year they shouldn't need feeding if left with their own stores.

Hope things look up for you.

Chris

 

[Finman]

I have some colonies that I never do anything
Chris

25 years ago we had lots of those beekeepers, everywhere.
They had native German Black Bees , which no one breeded.

Varroa vanished boath idiot bees and those do nothing beekeepers. Unbreeded bees use to sting, and it is not nice.

Now there are lots of sign that Carniolan bees can live as feral on this district. Propably they live in empty rural houses. There is no hives but carniolans are everywhere. First Carniolans arrived to Finland 25 years ago.

No one keep here hives for fun. It is really expencive hobby if you sell no honey.

We live here so close to nature that we need not to pretend to be nature lovers.

After that quality of bee strains have been good and beekeeping has been pleasant work. Those wild hives made only trouple to beekeepers.
Bee breeding has brought marvellous results.

Before 20 years no one can imagine about 200 kg/hive, but nowadays iot is not rare in my district. Like my neighbour get thgis summer 170 kg average yield. You may imagine what individual hives brought.

 

[Finman]

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Another story from good old days....

My generation are mostly born in farmahouse. In the 1950's most of Finnish workers were in rural rural works. In Britain most were then in manufacturing industry. Industralization begun here after war when we must pay war compensation to Soviet/Russia.

Well, couple of my collagues told that in their farmahouse they used to keep "home pig". It was a friend of children and they put cloathes on the pig like what ever kid brother.

Then came Christmas and they ate the kid brother.


On other side of my cottage road I have a neighbour, who cannot kill animals. Farm house cats noticed that and they went to make kitten to the house. One summer there was 10 adult cats and 40 kittens.

50 cats!!! they were every when and what an odor of piss in my storehouses too.


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[Finman]

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I have been a nature lover whole my life. That is why I bought a car and summer cottage that I spend my free time near nature

I live 5 km city center of Helsinki in a beautifull part of town. You can live there if you have money. Houses are very expencive.

So, where I need money? - to buy myself such environment where I like to live.

Thanks to teaching attitudes but I feel fine with myself


Sceneries near my summer cottage

And this is my capital city home area. I have lived there 40 years and I bought my first apartment with honey money from this city isle

 

[Finman]

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Why I tell that above: I just want to say that Don't teach duck to swim





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[mbc]

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. That is an odd idea.


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Very odd, but I suppose in a country where the majority of people are from urban backgrounds and the vast majority of the food we eat is imported there is bound to be a bit of a disconnect regarding the true value of good food.
Honey is a wonderful product that we should respect and value highly IMHO

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

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I have been a nature lover whole my life. That is why I bought a car and summer cottage that I spend my free time near nature

That's why I bought a selection of shotguns, rifles and a good gas oven that I can spend my free time eating it

 

[Chris Luck]

The usual tosh and drivel that has nothing to do with anything, certainly nothing to do with the OP question.

Oh, and you forgot to mention that bees don't live in Finland naturally, may have a bearing on your attitude.

Chris

 

[Finman]

The usual tosh and drivel that has nothing to do with anything, certainly nothing to do with the OP question.

Oh, and you forgot to mention that bees don't live in Finland naturally, may have a bearing on your attitude.

Chris

yes, everything is towars arse in Finland. May long live French revolution and do nothing beekeepers.

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[Finman]

That's why I bought a selection of shotguns, rifles and a good gas oven that I can spend my free time eating it

and could it be better hobby than pouching and fishing with dynamite.
It comes tears to my eyes when I remember what all we have done in nature and in vast forests as chool boys.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

It comes tears to my eyes when I remember what all we have done in nature and in vast forests as chool boys.

I don't think this forum is the place to publish What I used to do in vast forests as a schoolboy

 

[Finman]

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funniest story has been told by my beekeeping friend.
His father was a beekeeper and very good hunter.

I told once that kerb is a ridiculous hive type.
Don't say that. It is very good place to hive pouched moose flesh.
Even if police came to their home to inpect, do they have illegal flesh there, they never looked into beehives.

He told it again, and I asked how many kerbs you had?
- not many. One was almost one cubic metre. ....That good hives.

 

[Finman]

I don't think this forum is the place to publish What I used to do in vast forests as a schoolboy

let me quess: me bee, you flower - game

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[Chris Luck]

I'll repeat this for the OP as it's being drowned out with drivel, sadly much the norm on here a lot of the time.


Haven't read all the posts BUT of course it's OK to leave supers with honey on your hives overwinter if that's what you have to do or indeed if that's what you would prefer to do - it's no more and no less than they would do in a natural environment assuming your bees are where they would naturally live and survive without human assistance.

I have some colonies that I never do anything with and they do just fine on their own, same as the ones in tree hollows, house walls and roofs. In any more or less normal year they shouldn't need feeding if left with their own stores.

Hope things look up for you and perhaps people could address the topic more often although that may require something that's lacking.

Chris

 

[Finman]

I'll repeat this...

I have some colonies that I never do anything with and they do just fine on their own,
[/I][/B]

yes, I understand. They are like weeds in the garden.


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[mbc]

I'll repeat this for the OP as it's being drowned out with drivel, sadly much the norm on here a lot of the time.


Haven't read all the posts BUT of course it's OK to leave supers with honey on your hives overwinter if that's what you have to do or indeed if that's what you would prefer to do - it's no more and no less than they would do in a natural environment assuming your bees are where they would naturally live and survive without human assistance.

I have some colonies that I never do anything with and they do just fine on their own, same as the ones in tree hollows, house walls and roofs. In any more or less normal year they shouldn't need feeding if left with their own stores.

Hope things look up for you and perhaps people could address the topic more often although that may require something that's lacking.

Chris

How very mature of you Chris
There could be a few spanners in the works though ;
-queen excluders
-frame spacing
-brood in supers rendering them forever more susceptible to wax moths
-granulated stores in the supers making them less useful for the coming season
-supers are often made of softwood, not really designed for exposure to winter weather
-unnecessarily large hive volume possibly compromising overwintering chances
-less weather proof (roofs are often designed to overlap the hive where the cluster winters)
-wasting good honey- or good comb if its later decided to melt the crystalised honey out
-taller hives are less stable in high winds
-taller hives are more noticeable to passers by
-more work to sort it all out in the spring
-less opportunity and choice for varroa treatment
-less opportunity for super maintenance

all quickly off the top of my head, I'm sure there could be loads of other reasons why it might be best to get them off before winter.
You're welcome

 

[Finman]

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And a boring job avoided: less to sell honey

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