Our pastures

[Finman]

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I just describe our nature and bee pastures.

Raspberry is now too early. Hives are not ready but.... It started blooming now, when its normal blooming is kast week of June.

I have drived with car searhing places. Finally I found about 20 hectares cutted forest inside one square kilometre. Cutted areas are full of raspberry and fireweed.

Even if air temp dropped to 15 C, cutted openings are wind sheltered and there will be good microclimate. I believe that yield will be huge.


Raspberry is dry sentitive. Buttons drop easily off, if it is too dry.
That is why forest area must have moist soil all the time. It is same with fireweed. It does not give nectar, if soil dry up easily.

Even if I have here much free space without other beekeepers, it is difficult to find very good places.

Sometimes I have shoosen places where I got nothing.

I have 2 box hive alone in one place. When raspberry started blooming, hive was filled with nectar in 2 days. So it started to lay in swarming cells.

Yeah. It needs much work, that I get good yields, and countinuous care that they do not srart swarming in those conditions. Nothing comes with "do nothing way". Not even nothing.
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[Finman]

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Even if pastures are over 20 hectares, I put there only 5 hives. Couple of hives I move later to summer rape. It will be in July when fireweed is in bloom.

Most of summer bees forage on minimum pastures. Rasberry blooms 2 weeks. Fireweed blooms 3 weeks what to do with rest of summer?

Recommendations hives per hectare = biggest false in beekeeping. ... And the yield comes from pastures.

 

[Eyeman]

Finman

I have 2 box hive alone in one place. When raspberry started blooming, hive was filled with nectar in 2 days. So it started to lay in swarming cells.

I suspect there must be a lot of competition in Finland for these ideal pastures? How often to you find another beekeeper has got his hives there first? Do you work by the 'Gentleman's agreement' first come first served? Or is it a free for all?
I can't remember if you use queen excluders?
How often can you visit those far away pastures? If not every week then you must have to put several supers on at once?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Do you just put your hives where you find pastures or do you go looking for the landowner for permission?

 

[Finman]

Do you just put your hives where you find pastures or do you go looking for the landowner for permission?

I need landowners permission. They may do even a hole into hives with shotgun, if I do not reviele out, whon is owner, and does he accept my hives.

Often neighbours tell to me that do not go into that and that house. Many does not want hives onto their property.

 

[Finman]

Finman

I suspect there must be a lot of competition in Finland for these ideal pastures? How often to you find another beekeeper has got his hives there first? Do you work by the 'Gentleman's agreement' first come first served? Or is it a free for all?
I can't remember if you use queen excluders?
How often can you visit those far away pastures? If not every week then you must have to put several supers on at once?

We have really much space to every beekeeper here

Ideal pastures. Very few beekeeper understand meaning of pastures. They think that when the hive is busy, it brings honey ...from where, that they do not understand.

i find out other beehives, when I look flowers, do they have allready bees.

I do not use excluders

I must look hives every week for swarming.
And later, to take off honey for extracting...I hope.



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[Finman]

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Nectar flow from raspberry was exellent yesterday, when temp was 26C.
Now hivs are silent. Brilliant sun shine. Temp 15C. But nectar production is zero.

 

[Cazza]

Your pastures sound fabulous.
I think you would despair if you kept bees where I do. Dry sandy soil, no hope for your raspberries or fireweed.
Cazza

 

[Finman]

Your pastures sound fabulous.
I think you would despair if you kept bees where I do. Dry sandy soil, no hope for your raspberries or fireweed.
Cazza

I do not think so.
35 years ago I bought a summer cottage in te surgounfing what I knew that there are space to good beekeeping when Iwas in eork, I drived every weekend 150 km to cottage and then 150 km to home.

I would be desperate if I should stay weekends in capital city.

Thanks to my wife, she accepted my choice in cottage livig.


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[Finman]

Your pastures sound fabulous.
I think you would despair if you kept bees where I do. Dry sandy soil, no hope for your raspberries or fireweed.
Cazza

Propably so.

But corn fields are more bad as sand and stones.

35 years ago I bought with my wife a summer cottage in the surrounding what I knew that there are space to good beekeeping. When I was at work, I drived every weekend 150 km to cottage and then 150 km to home.

I would be desperate if I should stay weekends in capital city.

Thanks to my wife, she accepted my choice in cottage livig.

Today I found 30 hectares summer rape, which propably starts to bloom after 2 weeks.



PS: Every second family in Helsinki has own summer cottage in nature landscape.

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