Never look in brood?

[Finman]

I could not help but read that you were mentioning hives of yours some 48 years ago.
Were you a very young Beekeeper?

i started at 15 and now I am 65 y.

Beekeeping was totally different 50 y ago here. We had even "Finland hive" but very few remember that. National bees we called mongrels, or cross blooded.

60 y ago over 50% out of our population lived in farmhouses.now only 5%.
In England at same time over 50% were in productive industry. Now only 5%.

I moved to capital city 1967.

That style that guys do not look brood, it was very normal. Result was huge swarming.
It was easy to bye swarms when I kicked up 20 hives almost from nothing. I byed all swarms and joined them to 4 kg units. Then I put Caucasian queens into them. But it took some years time to learn what to do.


I have a friend who just now nurse his hives with style "no look brood". Results are a catastrophe.
His bees just escape before main yield.


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[E1M]

I take my hat off to you (if I wore one) Finman.
Congratulations on such a long period of learning and gathering experience.
You truly are the BEES KNEES.

 

[Finman]

.
I bought my first 50 m2 apartment with honey money. i had a little bit difficulties to explainto tax collector from where I have got money.

When guys say that honey money means nothing, they do not know what it means.

I was poor then like "a rat of the church".

 

[Poly Hive]

I had the experience some years ago or taking apart a colony that was stated to have been untouched for 15 years.

It was a bit sticky to start with but apart from that quite normal.

I also remember visiting a chap who was very much a let alone beekeeper if he could be called that and there were 15 swarms on the premises, and not one container without a hole to put them in.

Admirable? No, a total menace to his community and they were starting to take legal action against him, and in my view quite rightly so

PH

 

[Brosville]

And by the same token there are people like Chris who leaves well alone, has no great problems, isn't a menace to his community, and wins prestigious prizes for his honey...

 

[Finman]

And by the same token there are people like Chris who leaves well alone, has no great problems, isn't a menace to his community, and wins prestigious prizes for his honey...

Chris has his own positive style..and my style is my style.
But it has nothing to do with "how often you look brood"

Has no great problems?
- I have allways problems. I love problems. Life is boring without problems. But I have never tried to save globe with bees or with mites.

I have not got any prize because I have not offered my honey to any competition. I do not mind about that glory.
I keep my honey quality hight that customers are satisfied and bye it next year.

And what we have talked now, it has nothing to do with honey quality.
Quality starts from flowers and pastures, to where I carry my hives.
Actual quality comes from mixture.

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[Poly Hive]

This idiot was in the middle of a village and was causing serious problems to his community. Allowing colonies to freely swarm is in my eyes not neighbour friendly and his neighbours would certainly have agreed.

PH

 

[Nose Ma]

This idiot was in the middle of a village and was causing serious problems to his community. Allowing colonies to freely swarm is in my eyes not neighbour friendly and his neighbours would certainly have agreed.

PH

^^This.

I've always seen myself as a beekeeper, not a bee abandoner or a bee exploiter. I note both Bros and Chris live away from others, which is fine, but when your bees are near civilisation one has to take responsibility and deal with swarming before it becomes a nuisance. The best method we have for dealing with swarming involves inspections. I know even the best of us have a colony do a bunk from time to time (missed queen cell, weather stops inspection, illness etc etc) but overall we have to be responsible for our charges' behaviour. Just leaving a colony to its own devices is almost guaranteed to lead to at least one swarm, and I would not wish that on anyone who lives near the hives. The last thing I'd want is to discover me bees had set up in a chimney, or wall cavity, or even caused a car crash as they swirl about waiting for the queen. Seeing an emerging swarm for the first time, or as a non bee-experienced person is bloody terrifying if you are walking your dog through it.

I'd not just let my dog walk the streets or bark all night. If I had goats or cattle I'd want to check they were safe and healthy, and not likely to storm next door's allotment. I don't have to dissect my dog to see if he's healthy, but looking at him close up in his bed, checking his teeth and sides for fat/lumps/pain gives me a much better clue than watching him walk in through the front door.

 

[madasafish]

The only trouble is ,natural beekeepers teach the naive and unknowing - who live in communities where swarming can be dangerous to others.

I have TBHs and treat for varroa because the bees have it and I have seen what happens to colonies in a cold climate where varroa is established.

A temperature of 116F kills varroa: http://www.waldeneffect.org/blog/Treating_varroa_mites_organically/

so if you live in a warm climate, treatment is by the sun!

 

[Finman]

.
These are very basic of beekeeping and nothing odd in these


WHY I open brood

after winter
- has queen normal brood
- cluster size
- foodstores
- has it too much space .....restrict?
- change bottom


start of brooding

- add pollen frames
- how big brood area compared to cluster
- space or too much food frames
- do it need dummy board ofsecond brood off
- normal brood pattern
- diseases

same a month later

amount of brood --- how fast colony is goingto grow

summer

- I use 3 brood

- how much winterfood left - mobilize
- needs to add space
- add foundations
- signs of swarming
- diseases
- amount of brood
- need to discard queens
- how old are combs, need of renewing, old up to super
- storing too much honey into brood. Lift up

swap broof


new queens

- how good layers
- normal brood patern
- need to change
- discard worst

autumn

- queen ok?
- extract honey off from brood
- move brood to lowest box
- pollen frames for winter
- old combs off
- white comb against wall - mould
- proper size of hive compared to winter cluster. One or two boxes.

From September to Marsh. Don't touch.

.

 

[Andy Duff]

It's much simpler than that Finman-
Don't bother to inspect, don't bother keeping bees, go hug a tree and save the planet and leave beekeeping to beekeepers