Tom Seeley - Darwinian Beekeeping

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subsituting it with Lidl SUGAR qualifies in that respect ? OK - I am certain your beekeeping methods in this respect are totally reprehensible.

A great philosophy, but according Darwinism best supermarket wins.

Real beekeepers squeeze honey up to supers with excluder. When they extract, they must feed hives at once that they do not starve next week.
 
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even if I sometimes poke fun at you and you are sometimes very funny !
finman is like a train, always on the track. The thing he seems to struggle with is that beekeeping in different climates requires different beekeeping methods. I wonder what it would be like to get him here in the U.S. for a summer and see how he manages bees in 42C heat. For that matter, maybe he should go to Africa with JBM and teach beekeeping. It would be in his winter time so his bees shouldn't mind. I can see JBM and finman now. :boxing_smiley:

:nono: :calmdown: :paparazzi:
 
I wonder what it would be like to get him here in the U.S. for a summer and see how he manages bees in 42C heat. :

I bet that I would myself melt down like a snow man.

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After
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The thing he seems to struggle with is that beekeeping in different climates requires different beekeeping methods.

I think that you are as simple minded as Pargyle. I do not demand to follow me in beekeeping.

Fusion, you are adult human. As much beekeeping experience as I do. Continue your brain using, stop crying and do as you like.

You are offering to me methods, which gives only 1/3 honey yield what I get now.


I show to you my saw dust heap, because you love them.

Sahajouho+109570.jpg

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I would struggle in 42° I'm sweaty mess at 25° !!

Same with me. I wait to evening that I go to hives.


I wonder what Fusion does in his green houses when inside temp is 52C.

Tomatoes start to suffer in over 25C temp.

Best of all, Fusion teaches how to over winter bees.
 
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I would struggle in 42° I'm sweaty mess at 25° !!

I have run half marathons in 40C and 100% humidity. (Singapore and South Africa). When you have a finely tuned athletic body , it's easy.

In my case (!), I had become accustomed to the heat and humidity..
 
If you set a goal to get 150 kg honey / hive, you should build in your mind, what you should arrange that it is possible.

I have this mental picture of your hive arrangement.
Do they look something like this Canadian set up?.

17boxhives.jpg
 
I have this mental picture of your hive arrangement.
Do they look something like this Canadian set up?.

That photo has to be staged. Who (in their right minds would leave that many boxes on a hive? From a safety point alone, there is a danger that he could fall or that the stack should topple over.
I guestimate 30Kg of honey per deep langstroth box. Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. Its just a rule of thumb I use (its usually 30-35Kg). This means that 150Kg would require 5 deep boxes plus 2-3 brood boxes. Now, those 5 boxes probably wouldn't be left on all season (at least not if there was OSR nearby) so, realistically, the stack should be no bigger than 4-6 boxes in total (2-3 for a large brood area plus 2-3 for honey supers).
 
That photo has to be staged. Who (in their right minds would leave that many boxes on a hive? From a safety point alone, there is a danger that he could fall or that the stack should topple over.
That's what the poles are for, propping up the hives. Taken from Eva Cranes world bee keeping history, exceptionally large colonies. I suspect they may be multi queen hives, bit no other information. If it was staged it was damn well done.
 
That photo has to be staged. Who (in their right minds would leave that many boxes on a hive? From a safety point alone, there is a danger that he could fall or that the stack should topple over.
I guestimate 30Kg of honey per deep langstroth box. Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. Its just a rule of thumb I use (its usually 30-35Kg). This means that 150Kg would require 5 deep boxes plus 2-3 brood boxes. Now, those 5 boxes probably wouldn't be left on all season (at least not if there was OSR nearby) so, realistically, the stack should be no bigger than 4-6 boxes in total (2-3 for a large brood area plus 2-3 for honey supers).

First, Langstroth box has 25 kg honey to be extracted. Medium has 15 kg. I have read, that 20% out of honey will be stay in combs after extracting (=5 kg).
Then one capped box needs 2 more boxes for nectar.

To get 150 kg you should extract the hive at least 3 times. More times is better to store nectar.

To get 150 kg, the colony must get 50 kg in June and 100 kg in July. If the colony is not strong enough in June, it cannot catch any more the missing yield in July. Every day in month cannot be good, it they are, nature will wilt.


B+: the stack should be no bigger than 4-6

That size hive is not able to store 150 kg honey into the hive, because it cannot store nectar in short blooming. The hive needs 7-8 langstroth boxes, and then, it needs very good queen on previous summer.

When rape blooms 2 weeks, and a hive can forage 5 kg a day, it is 70 kg,
My maximum yield from pure rape are 60 kg. If you do not move the hives from rape, they perhaps do not have other pastures. Fireweed pastures can give double that yield.

To get 150 kg from a hive it needs 6 weeks good weather and some day heavy short rains. If I have only 3 good weeks, the yield is then 60-80 kg.


5 kg a day is good, and 30 days x 5 = 150. Our maximum yield time is 6 weeks. Some year only 1 week.

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That photo has to be staged. Who (in their right minds would leave that many boxes on a hive?

Oh dear - aren't hives meant to look like this?

I better go and make mine smaller.

Ooops
 
That's what the poles are for, propping up the hives. Taken from Eva Cranes world bee keeping history, exceptionally large colonies. I suspect they may be multi queen hives, bit no other information. If it was staged it was damn well done.

I have seen such hives when extracted boxes have been piled and bees rob the honey.
 
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Last summer I looked at a nice hive. It had 4 langstroth boxes. 2 boxes had brood and pollen.

The hive had 40 kg honey, and I evaluated that the hive cannot forage much more. The hive should have at least 3 boxes to store new nectar flow, but the colony had no bees to occupye more boxes. Only way is to join 2 such hives.

Nice hive to handle, and no back pains when lifting boxes. But no more honey. 40 kg is not a yield. I got that 50 years ago with swarms.
 
finman is like a train, always on the track. The thing he seems to struggle with is that beekeeping in different climates requires different beekeeping methods.

He's moved a little off track in recent years - he now accepts that beekeepers should not blindly follow his doctrine and should think for themselves, he is less rude than he used to be (I know - it's difficult to imagine but he used to be REALLY rude). His sense of humour has developed considerably and he is sometimes very funny ... he has learned at least a couple of things on here so you can teach an old dog new tricks and I live in the fervent hope that I will manage to convert him to a more moderate style of beekeeping eventually - perhaps he could start by leaving his bees 10kg of honey next winter instead of 5Kg ?

He's a bit like marmite isn't he ? Bless him ... winter entertainment for us all !
 
He's moved a little off track in recent years - he now accepts that beekeepers should not blindly follow his doctrine and should think for themselves, he is less rude than he used to be (I know - it's difficult to imagine but he used to be REALLY rude). His sense of humour has developed considerably and he is sometimes very funny ... he has learned at least a couple of things on here so you can teach an old dog new tricks and I live in the fervent hope that I will manage to convert him to a more moderate style of beekeeping eventually - perhaps he could start by leaving his bees 10kg of honey next winter instead of 5Kg ?

He's a bit like marmite isn't he ? Bless him ... winter entertainment for us all !


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gROO7xSTxfY

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I would dread to think what goes on in your bedroom, the poor wife must despair with the noises you make, just like that Ass i presume..:D

Sounds like 3 bears in forest cottage and their porriage

Once upon a time there was a poor wife in bedroom. And ass made noise there.... To be continued.

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finman hopes to one day stack 17 boxes on a single colony. I would love to have reason to stack 8 on one of my square Dadant hives.

Based on his recent posts, he may have been practicing southern hemisphere dutch ovens. if you don't know what it is, google it.
 
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