How do people afford multiple hives?

[Eyeman]

That works out at £4/lb...where are you getting that wholesale?

Local Deli. We get £4.60 wholesale or £2.30 for 1/2lb jars. Jars/labels for 1/2lb jars works out at 30p per jar.

 

[Eyeman]

An interesting question in that some suggest that more hives = more honey, which is obvious....means more work. Other suggest that quality queens and less hives mean same amount of honey less work...although same amount of time for extraction of honey.
Beekeepers choice.

I'd add that depending on your circumstance, quality time with less hives means more honey per hive.

 

[SDM]

Look and see what other beefarmers are doing in your area....

t.

Perhaps you should have.
I don't have bee farmers stats for for Cornwall's relatively Mediterranean climate, but perhaps you can explain why the vast majority of bees farmed in Scotland are buckfast and Carnies .

 

[B+.]

I move because I get double yield with moving. Then I collect all hives to home yard where they are 9 months.

For me, its not just about maximizing yields. The performance of a colony is tied to the location upon which they obtain it i.e. genetic + environmental influence. If I moved the test group to another site, it would increase the assessment work I'd have to do (weighing the yield at the second site) and provide little gain.

 

[B+.]

I struggle to keep my bees in double brood 14 x 12, wall to wall.

I use double Langstroths for brood and mine will draw/fill 3-4 deeps (https://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/album.php?albumid=751&pictureid=3832).
We have quite a short season here so the bees need to expand rapidly to make the most of it. A colony that never expands out of a single National can't really do that.

 

[Finman]

For me, its not just about maximizing yields. The performance of a colony is tied to the location upon which they obtain it i.e. genetic + environmental influence. If I moved the test group to another site, it would increase the assessment work I'd have to do (weighing the yield at the second site) and provide little gain.

However you are proud if you get good yields.

I have no rules how I keep my bees. Only rule is: Be greedy!

.

 

[B+.]

However you are proud if you get good yields.

Yield is one of the traits I assess, so, it is good to see a colony that does well. However, it has to be the yield of that colony in the same environment for the information to mean anything. I don't supplement the colony or move it around chasing yields as this would distort the figures

 

[wightbees]

But yield can only be based on the present year surely? There are so many things that can change the following season.

 

[B+.]

But yield can only be based on the present year surely? There are so many things that can change the following season.

The forage available changes year to year and region to region. This is why you have to test groups of sister queens mated to the same group of drones (i.e. from the same mothers which are, themselves, all daughters of a single tested queen). The variation in forage is effectively cancelled out

See: https://www.apidologie.org/articles/apido/pdf/2007/01/m6058.pdf

 

[mazzamazda]

I use double Langstroths for brood and mine will draw/fill 3-4 deeps (https://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/album.php?albumid=751&pictureid=3832).
We have quite a short season here so the bees need to expand rapidly to make the most of it. A colony that never expands out of a single National can't really do that.

Now that is what I call a production colony. Well done.

A very well respected forum member on here PM'd me a few years ago that local mongrals/black bees dont produce, a good buckfast or Carniolan will outperform them everytime. How right he is. I am lucky in the way I have flows all year round, my best one is November to March but the difference in quality queens/bees is just night and day.

I'd still like to try your queens for lower temps here, next time hopefully.

 

[B+.]

Now that is what I call a production colony. Well done.

A very well respected forum member on here PM'd me a few years ago that local mongrals/black bees dont produce, a good buckfast or Carniolan will outperform them everytime. How right he is. I am lucky in the way I have flows all year round, my best one is November to March but the difference in quality queens/bees is just night and day.

I'd still like to try your queens for lower temps here, next time hopefully.

That is one of the test group from I.B. Celle. It produced the most but I was unhappy with the behavior this year so I have cancelled my order. So, 2018 will be the last group of IB Celle queens I test. I will still test NL Line and C-VSH which are much better behaved.
I also joined AGT (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Toleranzzucht) - the German Varroa Tolerance working group - so I may include stock from this group in future.

 

[mazzamazda]

That is one of the test group from I.B. Celle. It produced the most but I was unhappy with the behavior this year so I have cancelled my order. So, 2018 will be the last group of IB Celle queens I test. I will still test NL Line and C-VSH which are much better behaved.
I also joined AGT (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Toleranzzucht) - the German Varroa Tolerance working group - so I may include stock from this group in future.

Yes there are those other two factors to consider with queens, resistance to disease and calmness two qualities the Iberica certainly dont have. I do find hives do get more grumpy the bigger it gets though?

 

[B+.]

Yes there are those other two factors to consider with queens, resistance to disease and calmness two qualities the Iberica certainly dont have. I do find hives do get more grumpy the bigger it gets though?

There is a BeeBreed group in Portugal working under the "SmartBees" initiative that works with A.m. iberiensis. Have you tried contacting them?

 

[B+.]

I do find hives do get more grumpy the bigger it gets though?

If the colony becomes "grumpy" once it acheives a certain size, I would suspect they may not be control mated and selected for docile behavior. It shouldn't matter how big the colony gets. If they are calm bees, they are calm bees, no matter how big the colony gets. This video clip was taken back in April (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGZ0ZmN-W8M). The only difference in the colony was that the number of bees increased. They are still just as calm now. They don't run around on the comb or fly up. They are the calmest bees I have seen in over 30 years beekeeping. All year, they have scored the maximum 4 points both in calmness on the comb and lack of aggression during examination. I only hope she survives the winter!

 

[mazzamazda]

There is a BeeBreed group in Portugal working under the "SmartBees" initiative that works with A.m. iberiensis. Have you tried contacting them?

I think they have some work on their hands. In all honesty I have given up on Ibericas, I buy in all my queens now. I have heard a little about them and have a friend who does go to some meetings with one of the doctors. They have questionable ideas of dealing with Asian hornets. I think their version of calm is very different to mine and feel they will do anything to preserve one of the most vicious breed of bee. It is almost brainwashing in my eyes.

 

[mazzamazda]

If the colony becomes "grumpy" once it acheives a certain size, I would suspect they may not be control mated and selected for docile behavior. It shouldn't matter how big the colony gets. If they are calm bees, they are calm bees, no matter how big the colony gets. This video clip was taken back in April (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGZ0ZmN-W8M). The only difference in the colony was that the number of bees increased. They are still just as calm now. They don't run around on the comb or fly up. They are the calmest bees I have seen in over 30 years beekeeping. All year, they have scored the maximum 4 points both in calmness on the comb and lack of aggression during examination. I only hope she survives the winter!

Interesting, it is a bad time of year for being grumpy and it is my first year with Buckfasts so will see later in the flows.

 

[B+.]

I think they have some work on their hands. In all honesty I have given up on Ibericas, I buy in all my queens now. I have heard a little about them and have a friend who does go to some meetings with one of the doctors. They have questionable ideas of dealing with Asian hornets. I think their version of calm is very different to mine and feel they will do anything to preserve one of the most vicious breed of bee. It is almost brainwashing in my eyes.

I don't know anything about the group. I just noticed it in the database (www.beebreed.eu).
The categories used for aggressive behavior are shown on Coloss (http://coloss.org/beebook/I/queen-rearing/3/3/2). It may be that they are working from a considerably more aggressive population, but, the scores are fixed. Otherwise, it would be impossible to compare anything.

 

[mazzamazda]

I don't know anything about the group. I just noticed it in the database (www.beebreed.eu).
The categories used for aggressive behavior are shown on Coloss (http://coloss.org/beebook/I/queen-rearing/3/3/2). It may be that they are working from a considerably more aggressive population, but, the scores are fixed. Otherwise, it would be impossible to compare anything.

Its interesting, thank you. One thing you can be sure of if honesty is involved over here and going by what I have seen those scores will be fiddled.

 

[Beefriendly]

but, the scores are fixed. Otherwise, it would be impossible to compare anything.

The scores may be fixed but one beekeepers 2 might be another's 4. You would need the same beekeeper to assess the tempers in all the colonies for the results to have consistency.

I've been shown some beekeepers "gentle" local bees that I would have classified as plain nasty.

 

[B+.]

The scores may be fixed but one beekeepers 2 might be another's 4. You would need the same beekeeper to assess the tempers in all the colonies for the results to have consistency.

I've been shown some beekeepers "gentle" local bees that I would have classified as plain nasty.

Yes. I agree with you that a lot can depend on how gentle the colonies you've previously seen are. However, within each group, there are training sessions to ensure consistency.
The supervisor is usually very knowledgeable and able to spot non-compliant scores. I had a visit from Prof Brascamp a couple of years ago (https://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/album.php?albumid=751&pictureid=3734) to audit my stock/records.

If you look at the description on Coloss (http://coloss.org/beebook/I/queen-rearing/3/3/2), there should be no confusion. If you have to use smoke at all, you can't score a colony as a 4.
This is all described in much more detail in "Selektion bei der Honigbiene" (http://fmraster.de/?product=selektion-bei-der-honigbiene)