Honey Bees

No activity at our hive yesterday when it was sunny and warm. I think they didn’t make it.
 
Looks like 4 of 7 made it for me. There was activity at 5 of them I'll know for sure in a couple of weeks when I open them. I don't like to break open the boxes until April, the weather is highly erratic in my area until then.
As a hobbyist who catches swarms and doesn't buy bees I don't treat for mites. Not a fan of using chemicals to kill bugs on bugs.

My survival rate has been running around 60% for the last few years
 
I lost one hive this past winter - so far. It was a swarm that showed up late summer in an old abandoned hive and never built up very strong. I am not out of the woods yet - we had off and on warm weather through the winter and bees coming out in mid winter get active and eat their food stores, start building numbers, without a good nectar flow.

I dont do anything for varroa. No chemicals in my hives. I suffer about 10 to 15% hive loss each year.

The average loss is 40% per surveys published in The American Bee Journal

Weather in East Texas has been extremely volatile(like the Dow?!)

Last week we had mid 70 highs and 25 lows

bill
 
Looks like 4 of 7 made it for me. There was activity at 5 of them I'll know for sure in a couple of weeks when I open them. I don't like to break open the boxes until April, the weather is highly erratic in my area until then.
As a hobbyist who catches swarms and doesn't buy bees I don't treat for mites. Not a fan of using chemicals to kill bugs on bugs.

My survival rate has been running around 60% for the last few years

i do the same.....catch swarms and make splits from healthy hives

The killing a bug on a bug thing bothers me as well

bill
 
I also recently discovered Beesource.com beekeeping forum

Lotta great info

The beekeepers Habitat-Talk

bill
 
Pretty much everything, he only lives a couple hours from me and I have emailed him a few times.
If you dont read anything else by him, read his Bee Math
 
Four hives, all have survived and are doing well. I don't treat for mites, I love comb honey and don't want chemicals in it. One hive started building comb in the feed shim, cleaned it up and removed them from all the hives. 20220320_131224_HDR.jpg
 
I only have 1 hive so far but it was 65 and sunny on Saturday and the Honeybees were very active. I bought a 2nd hive box last year hoping the one I have splits and fills the 2nd box this year. I don't sell it, my honey is only for personal use and to help with pollination on my property so 1 hive produces enough honey for a year.

I am just happy to see them flying this spring as I lost the hive over the 2020 winter for unknown reasons.
 
"Bees need beekeepers like fish need bicycles"
I love that! I practice this mentality and do minimal intrusions to just let them do their thing, the only time I open my hive is to harvest that liquid gold. I have been criticized for not checking for mites and not giving them the sugar water during stress periods. To each is their own and everyone that does bees has a different approach, bees have lived for millions of years before mankind and they did just fine.
 
I love that! I practice this mentality and do minimal intrusions to just let them do their thing, the only time I open my hive is to harvest that liquid gold. I have been criticized for not checking for mites and not giving them the sugar water during stress periods. To each is their own and everyone that does bees has a different approach, bees have lived for millions of years before mankind and they did just fine.
I used to really worry about my bees and fight to the death to save a weak hive. I might give them a fram or two with eggs from another hive now - but I kind of look at it now like survival of the fittest - if I have to baby them - they dont need to be here.
 
I have a bee tree in the far back corner of a small orchard plot. I noticed this morning they had survived winter and appear to be doing well. I have placed a swarm trap nearby the last couple years but have had no luck catching a swarm from them.20220328_110235_HDR.jpg20220328_110309.jpg
 
So far 14 of my 15 have made it. The one I lost was the only one I did not treat for varroa. It was just a test hive, which I do every year, to see if I can get one through the winter without treatment. 3 of my other hives are bursting at the seams and will have to be split this weekend. I normally don't treat this time of the year but as soon as supers come off in July I start hammering them. I rotate with Formic and Apivar. In the fall and winter as the brood shrinks I'll do several rounds of OA.
 
So far 14 of my 15 have made it. The one I lost was the only one I did not treat for varroa. It was just a test hive, which I do every year, to see if I can get one through the winter without treatment. 3 of my other hives are bursting at the seams and will have to be split this weekend. I normally don't treat this time of the year but as soon as supers come off in July I start hammering them. I rotate with Formic and Apivar. In the fall and winter as the brood shrinks I'll do several rounds of OA.

Do you test for mites or just empirically treat them?

bill
 
My neighbor has a couple of hives, with about 3 acres of vegetables and flowers. His bees are all over my 5 acres, enjoying all the red and white clover, and various wildflowers.

This may be a stupid question, but if I let someone else put hives on my land, would there be problems amongst the bees?
 
My neighbor has a couple of hives, with about 3 acres of vegetables and flowers. His bees are all over my 5 acres, enjoying all the red and white clover, and various wildflowers.

This may be a stupid question, but if I let someone else put hives on my land, would there be problems amongst the bees?
Not amongst the bees - but it could be with the folks in your state who control the bees. In our state, if you register your bees with the state plant board, you give permission (if you want), to any non landowner who wants to put bees within three miles of your apiary locations. They must fill out a form and send a copy to the plant board and to the owner of the registered hives for approval. If you own the land, you dont need approval - if you dont own the land - you need approval.
 
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