How to get honey from hives

[Finman]

I want more than 2 kilos...

Our warm spell is forecast to last for another couple of weeks...

To get honey from beehives is not easy at all.

It starts from previous year, when you ensure that you have good queens. If you do not have proper queens, even skilled beeks cannot succeed.

Then varroa, some winter losses.... and in spring you have those hives what you have. And they are in that condition as they are. Wintering is easy when you learn it. 20% losses during winter is normal and I compensate it wit spare hives (too late to cry).

Since that day when bees start to bring pollen, all depends about beekeepers skills. Many things will happen during next 2 months when the hive should be in foraging condition.

This is the first gang where I meet that good skills are forbidden and laughable thing. Should hobby be in UK unskilled way to spend time , and should the hobby beekeepers use the most misearable habits. (=real love)

To get honey there is a long way from first pollen loads to extracted supers. If a colony is big after winter, the way is shorter, but minimum 6-7 weeks. If the colony is 3-4 frames, it takes 2,5 months. Or never reaches the foraging ability. That 6-7 weeks is same in every country: Finland, Australia, USA Florida

Basic skill is that you know the bees natural habits, what they are going to do during active season. You must be smarter than they. Then you try to lead that wild bug according your will, but only inside the limits of their natural instincts.

What is best in beekeeping? Hives are not the same. They act differently and it is a challenge to learn what they do and what you do then. How it will succeed?

Of course pure love is that you wait that the hive expands. Then you thow an excluder on and super, . Then you just wait, and ups, 2 swarms escaped! What you got into your hands: pure love! (UK way to love)

How to get honey from hive: You build with your skills an hive which is ready to forage and handle the nectar flow when it happens. It takes time. If time is over and summer too, you have howver learned and you have next year. That is interesting in beekeeping. They are not hens which pick grass and make everuý morning oner egg.

Bees do not like that you take their honey stores and stop their swarming. Actually they do not love you at all.

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[Finman]

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Beekeeping= 1/3 skills, 1/3 weather and 1/3 luck.


To become a good beekeeper you need to have a stubborn mind. You do your own way, what ever the others say. It is not easy with bees.

 

[Walrus]

Finman,
Thanks for your posts to this forum - I always find them interesting and informative.

 

[Cazza]

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Beekeeping= 1/3 skills, 1/3 weather and 1/3 luck.


. You do your own way, what ever the others say. It is not easy with bees.

That is definitely something I have learnt over the years. "Plough your own furrow" as they say round here.
Cazza

 

[Jeff Buzz]

I agree (I don't always understand them) but subscribe to your philosophy on beekeeping.
Some folks seem to think its a sin to take honey from your bees.
I think that if you aim to take honey you need first to build large healthy well looked after colonies, put lots of hard work in, educate yourself, keep a open mind and aim for the healthiest bees you can get using all the tools in your armoury.

Only then will you get you honey.

 

[Susan1]

What! My bees don't love me!!!

 

[Finman]

What! My bees don't love me!!!

let them sting to you and they are happy. You has too much safe love.
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[Queens59]

My bees must really love me then - they sting at almost every opportunity

 

[Finman]

you can get using all the tools in your armoury.

Only then will you get you honey.

in long run to use different tools in nursing makes it interesting.

To me a good yield is a sign that I have succeeded.

Sometimes I have felt that I am very good, but then I heard that others got same size yield.
It was a year when my average yield was 130 kg.

I asked from old friend what he got?
- 130 kg on average
- what kind of queens you have?
- I do not know. They have mixed to each other 10 years.
I have done nothingto them.

( well. That teached much)

but you must do your job: add boxes, take off, extract in time, sell the honey, put them to winter,
requeen, take stings, wood work...

and then, 8 months in selibate and not love with them.

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[Suzi Q]

You sound happy and content Finman, I think you are having a good year!

 

[Chris Luck]

Then varroa, some winter losses.... and in spring you have those hives what you have. And they are in that condition as they are. Wintering is easy when you learn it. 20% losses during winter is normal and I compensate it wit spare hives (too late to cry)...

Are 20% winter losses really normal and considered acceptable in Finland?

Chris

 

[Finman]

Are 20% winter losses really normal and considered acceptable in Finland?

Chris

Everybody should understand that "loss" does not mean merely dead. It is a hive number which cannot reared to productive colony.

I am not Finland and neither forum members are France or UK.

To me 20% has been practical number 40 years, since my menthor teached it to me.
Which includes

- dead hives ( varroa, nosema, starve)
- too small clusters,= must be joined
- missed queen or spoiled queen, not good laying, drone layers
- angry = change queen
- don't tolerate chalkbrood = queen changing

Winter in Finland is harsh, but especially long. The final losses can be seen at the end of May

If you have 2 hives, one hive is 50%.
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[Finman]

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What are normal hive losses in Finland? 15-20% ?

I do not know. Some say that they have never lossed any
Some experienced has lossed all his 150 hives in one winter.
Some parts losses have been 50% last winter and some are silent like piss in the sock.

Varroa had become quite bad in recent years. It derives mostly from unlucky treatment.



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[Vramin]

When I did the beginners course we were advised to keep brood in 1 national brood box, and add supers over queen excluder when 8 frames were filled with brood.

However, following Finmans advice I gave my bees a second brood box under the first, on the basis that you want as many bees as possible ready to make honey when the flowers open. They ended up with 12 frames full of brood, and the rest packed with stores, including loads of pollen. There wouldn't have been room in a single BB.

I have now added a super without excluder, and rearranged the brood to be all in the top brood box, leaving the lower box for nectar storage prior to it being evaporated and moved (hopefully) into the super.

The idea of maximising brood build-up during spring and early summer was not really considered in our training course, but rather keeping the brood limited to one box, and changing the queen if she was too prolific a layer, although I suppose preemptive artificial swarming followed by reuniting later is operating on 2 boxes after a fashion.

I have found Finmans advice in this regard very useful, and a, hoping for a bumper harvest.

Thanks Finman.

 

[Finman]

I have found Finmans advice in this regard very useful, and a, hoping for a bumper harvest.

Thanks Finman.

Thanks to you for your post.

To me it is very interesting to see, what queen can do in unlimited laying space. Some uses 3 boxes, and to some one box is enough.

6 weeks later one has one box honey and one has 4 boxes. You never know what happens. 6 weeks is long time, and you do not get it back if it is missed.

Those bees which forage now has been layed at the end of May. So the colony size at late May commands, how much you have just now foragers. - And how much YOU can catch from good flow?

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[Chris Luck]

Perhaps you could consider 10 or 12 frame Dadant on Brood and half - that makes one hell of a large box Vramin...... Nationals are a bit small.

I find the loss thing quite interesting, it should of course be averaged out over at least 10 years to be meaningful and here anything that averaged out over 12% would be cause for concern;

As you know I find the varroa thing interesting as well as I don't treat but still maintain a loss rate that would be considered normal without "the mite" and is completely satisfactory on a historical basis, (11%).

The issue of production doesn't concern me, I produce more than enough in my own little way and have no desire for it to be "work" or to put with everyone else in the 300kg drums at the "cooperative" to go to the German bottling factories, I'm retired after all and just enjoying life.

Horses for courses.

Chris

 

[Finman]

The issue of production doesn't concern me, I produce more than enough in my own little way and have no desire for it to be "work" or to put with everyone else in the 300kg drums at the "cooperative" to go to the German bottling factories, I'm retired after all and just enjoying life.

Horses for courses.

Chris

I have been retired 3 years. Started beekeeping at age of 15.

I product honey and sell it. I would give up from beekeeping and then I could enjoy life and only fish carps. Bekeeping is quite boring after these years.

Just now I am a chairman in our flat council (capital city home).
We must renew our pipers in the house and outer wall cover.
To me and wife repairing cost will be 100 000 euros. The total budget to repairing is 1,5 milj euros.
If I get somewhere money, thank you so kindly.

I take all money what I get. I do not split on it. Yes, I try to enjoys life when I get that 100.000 euros loan from bank.

In our country unelpoyment jumped from 8% to 12% during last year.
They just enjoy they life. Pulp factories are closed tens here for ever.
Nokia was a huge company to Finland but now seems bad. Nokia has calved top skills to many companies. Last company was Finnair when a boss from Nokia Networks organized the flying company totally to new position.

One has happines, all has summer

What I enjoyed specially in my ordinary work? I visited 6 times in England to study how to organize municipal services with subcontract system. Yes, they were brilliant trips and I like Englishmen really. They are hard guys what I met there. 20 years ahead us. - Thanks to Mrs Thatcher!

When I first went to England, Helsinki had 16% unemployment. England had 6%. English practice was not wellcome to city with those figures. The news was that kick off half of field workers and kick off 2/3 from administration and sitting workers and put standards and computers to make "information flow qork". With that system same services can be get with half price and with better quality.

With English efficacy system we could make 30% unemployment into Capital City. Great! Isn't it!


That is my miserable life story. My first department I bought from capital city with honey money 40 years ago. I am proud about it. That is my "Cold Metal" from beekeeping. And not to mention my boy. He graduated to bone surgeon. I really enjoy for him and about my grand children.

 

[eleanor20]

Early on last year I was offended by something that Finman said to me, but carried on reading his posts with interest. After a while I realised that he was not actually insulting me but what I had done (on advice from another 2-hive owner!lol!) and so I too have decided maybe this chap does know what he's doing. I let one of my hives have a second brood box, and then a super without QE, and then another super. And now I have a lovely big hive full of bees and honey. My other hives that I continued with as before have all either swarmed or had to be split to stop them swarming, barely a few frames of honey between 4 of them. Guess how I will be keeping my bees next year?
Thank you Finman xx

 

[Chris Luck]

My points that mattered were ignored only to concentrate on the fact that I'm happy and retired and not bothered about money as long as I can get by...but I suppose I should apologise for being content with the simple things in life.

As I said, horses for courses, each to their own, à chacun son goût.

In my opinion the losses and the "mighty mite" are actually interesting as opposed to our respective life styles.

Perhaps I should also say that I'd be bored with keeping bees if I did it only for the money.

Chris

 

[Finman]

if I did it only for the money.

Chris

Eino Leino

Kell`onni on, se onnen kätkeköön,
kell` aarre on, se aarteen peittäköön,
ja olkoon onnellinen onnestaan
ja rikas riemustansa yksin vaan.

Ei onni kärsi katseit` ihmisten,
Kell`onni on, se käyköön korpehen
ja eläköhön hiljaa, hiljaa vaan
ja hiljaa iloitkohon onnestaan.