Positive beekeeping plans

[ericbeaumont]

I had 4 books for Xmas I'll see if I can sweet talk SWMBO to let me get it.

£12.79, one copy left.

 

[Moobee]

Plans for this season:
Only started Beekeeping last year with one hive early June
Redesign part of the garden to accommodate more than one hive
Hopefully expand to 2 or 3....
Deciding whether to bait one hive for a swarm, go on local BKA swarm list or see if someone will give me a split
Split my current colony? They were strong last year but no idea how old the queen is ...
Build all my flat packed supers!

 

[ericbeaumont]

£12.79, one copy left.

Ebay: lowest price £11.45 post paid.

 

[Swarm]

Not so sure about that, I think if you looked hard enough you'd find it's fairly endemic, I can't recall the figures from the random apiary survey but I'm fairly certain it's quite common.
Edit; Google is your friend:
Nosema prevalent in ~50% of apiaries.

I wouldn't argue with those figures, it's how the bees react. If a colony is susceptible, better to look to those who aren't.

 

[Curly green finger's]

£12.79, one copy left.

Cheers I've paid for it
Dam!! I missed your second post

 

[Cuckmere couple]

Demaree a couple?

i should try Dani...i used it successfully for queen rearing before

 

[Parsonage Bees]

Currently find myself in the 'Pit of Disillusionment'. End of January, no plans. But thread has made me think.
Try Demarree again if required.
Try again, grafting and queen raising using Ben Harden method. Mating nucs. Successfully introduce queen.
Make pollen trap.
Find out what Cloake boards are.
Avoid messing them about too much which with 4 hives means not doing some of the above.
. . . . . Ben

Stop trying so hard with queen rearing

 

[BitterleyBee]

3 main aims.
Build a swarm trap or few.
Catch some local feral bees, have spotted a bee tree nearby.
Finish home build horizontal hive and hopefully show it to my dad who has been vertical for over 40 years! What will he say?!

 

[Boston Bees]

Try the Warre method with a stack of national poly nuc brood boxes (but updated for the 21st century, so with DN4 frames and varroa treatment).

 

[Newbeeneil]

View attachment 24123

Currently find myself in the 'Pit of Disillusionment'. End of January, no plans. But thread has made me think.
Try Demarree again if required.
Try again, grafting and queen raising using Ben Harden method. Mating nucs. Successfully introduce queen.
Make pollen trap.
Find out what Cloake boards are.
Avoid messing them about too much which with 4 hives means not doing some of the above.
. . . . . Ben

Stop trying so hard with queen rearing

I feel I'm just starting on the slope of enlightenment

 

[pargyle]

Try the Warre method with a stack of national poly nuc brood boxes (but updated for the 21st century, so with DN4 frames and varroa treatment).

That's not quite going to be a warre when you are using frames and how you will manage to lift the stack to put a new box on the bottom I'm not sure - you might need a crane. It's going to be a very tall stack if it's anything like the warres I've seen.

What is the desire to do warres ? If you are going to keep frames and stack boxes you might as well just do it with nationals and stack them rather than nucs ... would be much more stable ... of course - some purists on here would describe that as double or triple brood ... or even the Rose method

 

[happyculteur]

A Warré is just a hive , not really a method. Not any longer. It's very suitable for certain climates. As for stacks of boxes, you can super most of the time when there's a flow on, with entrances in the upper boxes. Nadiring can trap your beard.

 

[Parsonage Bees]

I feel I'm just starting on the slope of enlightenment

Hope I am.
Realized my 'best' queens are not ones I've grafted or split. But result of artificial swarms. Maybe I'll get the hang of queen rearing and produce a better queen. Maybe not.
Enlightenment?

(not really living up to the theme of this thread. A bit negative)

 

[deemann1]

Started this beekeeping lark in 2017 with a nuc This season I'll be running 40 colonies, my aims will be to have 50 nucs going into winter .. hopefully have a nice honey crop and raise as many queens as I can . I need another couple of apiarys too which shouldn't be a problem..
I have built a lot of equipment in my spare time .One thing I have realised is there is never enough time in a day at beekeeping.

 

[Boston Bees]

Nadiring can trap your beard.

What is the desire to do warres ?

In nature bees build down, not up, and I'm curious to see if they prefer it in hives too.

Regarding using nucs rather than nationals, I'm also curious to see how much they benefit from being in a hive shape that is more like a tree hollow.

I'll do it with a couple of colonies and see how it goes. The rest are run on more generic lines.

And thankfully I have no beard

 

[happyculteur]

In nature bees build down, not up, and I'm curious to see if they prefer it in hives too.

Regarding using nucs rather than nationals, I'm also curious to see how much they benefit from being in a hive shape that is more like a tree hollow.

I'll do it with a couple of colonies and see how it goes. The rest are run on more generic lines.

And thankfully I have no beard

They will build downwards, though sometimes it's not obvious for crossing the top bars of the hive below. The problem is, that when there is a big flow, the speed of building down can be too slow to stop them feeling cramped and so they swarm. I now put boxes on top at these moments with drawn comb and get some honey for me as well. Two great things about a Warré. One is that the bees overwinter really well on 2 or 3 boxes. The second is that 2 boxes make a broood box, one box a super or a nuc. Splits can be done using boxes rather than messing about with moving frames. If you can separate the beekeeping from going barefooted, then you can really enjoy yourself.

 

[Curly green finger's]

They will build downwards, though sometimes it's not obvious for crossing the top bars of the hive below. The problem is, that when there is a big flow, the speed of building down can be too slow to stop them feeling cramped and so they swarm. I now put boxes on top at these moments with drawn comb and get some honey for me as well. Two great things about a Warré. One is that the bees overwinter really well on 2 or 3 boxes. The second is that 2 boxes make a broood box, one box a super or a nuc. Splits can be done using boxes rather than messing about with moving frames. If you can separate the beekeeping from going barefooted, then you can really enjoy yourself.

Box reversals when there's a flow on keeps a fresh box above, newly or brood to emerge gets nadired, this constantly gives the queen space, if needs be I will take a nuc from a deap brood box.
Ow I'm talking about a three box system.

 

[Swarm]

In nature bees build down, not up, and I'm curious to see if they prefer it in hives too.

Regarding using nucs rather than nationals, I'm also curious to see how much they benefit from being in a hive shape that is more like a tree hollow.

I'll do it with a couple of colonies and see how it goes. The rest are run on more generic lines.

And thankfully I have no beard

They love the configuration, I have colonies over wintering in three boxes. Once they go taller, they need support.
I use nationals dummied to nine frames, similar principle but more stable and the bees still love it.

 

[Apple]

View attachment 24123

Currently find myself in the 'Pit of Disillusionment'. End of January, no plans. But thread has made me think.
Try Demarree again if required.
Try again, grafting and queen raising using Ben Harden method. Mating nucs. Successfully introduce queen.
Make pollen trap.
Find out what Cloake boards are.
Avoid messing them about too much which with 4 hives means not doing some of the above.
. . . . . Ben

Stop trying so hard with queen rearing

OMG I have been in the "Pit of Disillusionment" for the past 30 years!

 

[rolande]

Cheers I've paid for it
Dam!! I missed your second post

I'm sure you'll enjoy it, it's a good read if you like bee books but remember that it's not all necessary right or suitable to your individual needs. I'd seriously recommend getting your hands on a copy of John Rawson's 'world of a beefarmer' which, while rather expensive for what it is will give you more of an insight into Manley's success than his own books will...

edit: I feel as if I've stood myself against the wall ready to be shot!