leave them to it

[slider955i]

a bee keeper we met says at the start of the season he basically leaves them alone with 3 supers on and returns end of season to harvest
what are your thoughts

 

[Hivemaker.]

A bee haver as opposed to a beekeeper.

 

[Polyanwood]

Well if he is a very wealthy man and keeps bees in a wilderness where the swarms don't worry anyone.....does it matter? With each swarm he loses honey crop. With each swarm he risks upsetting his neighbours. He will end up with an open mated queen and will have had no influence on her genetics.

If he gets a nasty brood disease, with all those swarms, his neighbours' bees are at risk if they collect them.


I think that unless he lives in a wilderness, his approach is selfish at best.

 

[Silly Bee]

 

[oliver90owner]

A bee haver as opposed to a beekeeper.




Perfectly alright.... except for disease control, varroa control, wasp control, swarm control, and optimising return (too cold for a good start, probably not too full at the end because of slow build-up etc).

Warre format does it as the norm, so must be OK for some (but the bees do start at the top where it is warm with a Warre!)

Regards, RAB

 

[FROGDOGDIVER]

A bee haver as opposed to a beekeeper.

Quality phrase Pete......

 

[MuswellMetro]

if i did that i would have 60lb of concrete OSR honey

 

[Brosville]

My thoughts are that it is a different approach to that used by many "conventional" beekeepers, and would be interested to learn what the chap's results are...... It would appear to work for him (or he wouldn't do it that way)

All round the world, there are many traditions of "hands off" beekeeping, and I think it would be foolish to condemn such an approach out of hand without knowing the results......... (there is a strong suggestion in certain circles that leaving the essential nest heat and atmosphere undisturbed is positively beneficial, and helps the bees deal naturally with problems themselves.......)
So, how well does it work?

 

[beebreeder]

Warre format does it as the norm, so must be OK for some (but the bees do start at the top where it is warm with a Warre!)
RAB I don't know a lot about thes hives other than our SBI was concerned about inspecting them as the frames are nailed in from what he said and also I was always tought that bees move honey upwards but in the Warre they obviously do not do Warre owners come under bee havers?

 

[gavin]

... but in the Warre they obviously do not do Warre owners come under bee havers?

Somewhere inbetween. Beekeavers or better beeheepers.

G.

 

[oliver90owner]

beebreeder,

No need to 'move honey up'.

They are started at the top of the 'obelisk' in the springtime and gradually work downwards. In the autumn you harvest, top down until you arrive at brood, I presume.

SbIs have to dismantle to inspect, so must be a right pain.

Cheese wire (to separate the used boxes?) before removal or a hoist arrangement to lift off all used boxes?

Not sure if the bees leave any bee-space between boxes, but assume they would, apart from enough comb to secure the boxes together.

Probably need to spin the honey tangentially, if not wanting to risk larval coccoons adding a (tiny) bit of flavour) as most will be used as brood comb before stores.

Considered trying one; decided against.

Regards, RAB

 

[karl moss]

Bee haver

I also keep one of my two hives with minimal interference, in fact i have only looked into the brood box twice this year i did the same last year and the year before, it may be a pure coincidence (Time will tell) this hive has not swarmed for two years as far as i can tell, and last year i took off a full super of honey, however this is the only harvest for three seasons.
The only downside to this as far as i can tell, if and when, you do open up for an inspection there is about Two tons of propolis gluing everything together which is a pain in the A**
Not Scientific in any way,just the sheer pleasure of keeping them with no interference from me.
My other Hive i treat as any other beekeeper

 

[Black Comb]

I know of someone who does this.
He says the main problem is varroa.

 

[Chris Luck]

It works for me and I find in a poor temperature spring, (oil seed rape is early here in May), I can leave what OSR honey there is for them to take back down if they want it after swarming, (also takes place in late April - early May). In a hot Spring I would have taken some of the OSR.

I haven't taken my "share" this year yet but I have hives that swarmed in May with about 35kg on them at present - that's over 75lbs I think you will find - more than enough with my hives to give me a few Euro even after paying the State a bit and without screwing around constantly with the bees that are in my care.

I hive brood boxes that haven't had frames removed for years on end and are in constant occupation with strong colonies that follow one after another......

......but, of course this is France and although I envy the prices you get for your honey, I'm oh so happy I don't have all the problems and issues you appear to have over there, talk about making life hard.

On the subject of prices, I get about €6 a kilo retail, or about €2.50 / €3 wholesale if I wanted to go that route. That's about £3.25 retail a lb. for quality, clean, no chemical honey.

So, according to the great ones on here, I'm not a bee-keeper BUT I am someone that provides and cares for them in a stress free manner.

Chris

 

[The Abbott]

Im amused that the more conventional beekeepers, whom we might refer to as "beefiddlers" regard Warre or natural beekeepers as "somewhere between beekeepers and beehavers".

Natural beekeepers actually try to allow bees to live in their hives in a very natural state. We take honey when the bees have excess and we read biology books rather than books on bee fiddling.

It is odd that when "conventional" beefiddlers and warre keepers meet, the bee fiddlers get defensive and cross, yet the natural beekeepers try to be instructive and helpful. Maybe its too much chemistry in the fiddlers bloodstream from the bee doping drugs, or maybe its the urgent desire to cut more wings off queens.

In a western world where "green", "eco", "natural" are becoming more and more significant, I cannot help but think that the beefiddling methods of the last fifty odd years are not the salvation of the bees but their murderer. "Conventional" bee fiddling is actually a modern blip and will surely fade away. For the bees sake, I hope so anyway.

The Abbott.

 

[Polyanwood]

Im amused that the more conventional beekeepers, whom we might refer to as "beefiddlers" The Abbott.

 

[johnandyrob]

What about A.F.B and E.F.B do people with warre hives Know their bees have it and do they do some thing about it or just leave it to sort its self out risking spreading it to other colonies

 

[RoofTops]

..this hive has not swarmed for two years as far as i can tell, and last year i took off a full super of honey, however this is the only harvest for three seasons.

The lack of honey suggests this colony has swarmed and probably more than once each year. I suspect swarming helps keep the varroa in check which is why colonies left to their own devices do seem to do better than might otherwise be expected.

I am tempted to try this next year in a remote apiary and will probably use a TBH surrounded by a few bait hives.

 

[Brosville]

I do get heartily cheesed off with ill-informed attacks on users of TBH and Warre hives, and libellous suggestions that they are in some way spreading diseases - here's a good explanation of the use of a Warre -
http://www.dheaf.plus.com/warrebeekeeping/heaf_replies_to_davies.pdf- which was produced in response to a frankly deeply ignorant diatribe from someone who really should have learnt the facts first..........

 

[RoofTops]

I agree, something like 95% of AFB cases are discovered by bee inspectors, not the beekeepers themselves who despite regularly inspecting their colonies simply don't have the skills to spot it.

I suspect a colony left to its own devices is if anything less likely to get unpleasant diseases than one which is opened up (disease on hive tool gloves etc.) and especially moved from crop to crop.

Of course some sites are prone to disease - near honey packing factories for example - but "natural" beekeeping should certainly not generate more disease than any other method - the only concern I have is varroa but I'll see how I get on next year.