Recent content by rtaylor

I tried Apivar this year for mite treatment and what a mistake. I've lost 30% of my colonies. Yesterday my active colonies got a small pollen patty so hopefully they will brood up early and I can make early splits.

No one knows. That's why day trading and speculating never pay off over the long term. It's basically gambling.

I do both. I'll do random checks on my bees with an alcohol wash in late summer. Typically, I already know what the numbers will be but I do it anyways out of curiosity. Whether they test high or low will determine how hard I go after them but they all have mites all the time.

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...

I would actually look into learning how to set a foot hold trap for coyotes. Let the owner know that you have multiple traps and you'll probably end up catching coyotes and maybe eventually his dog. If you have the option to put a cell camera close to your trap you could get by with not...

Weekend was in the 50's so we popped the top and added pollen patties. Hopefully they will brood up early and I can make splits twice.

I watched the deer eating my buckwheat and the flowers last weekend. They had brassicas, wheat and clover they could have been eating but they chose the buckwheat.

I treated during a cooler week in July after my supers were off with Formic Pro. I did a mite wash a month ago and only had 2 mites. I did 2 rounds of OA a couple of weeks ago and then did another mite test on Saturday. Even after my Formic during the summer and 2 rounds of OA I had up to 15...

Yes you can request with any type of queen. I would put a frame of older brood in with them and then buy a mated queen. I wouldn’t try to make your own this time of the year.

I pulled some supers last week and bottled 378 lbs. I could have been more but we split our over wintered hives pretty hard in the spring. My buckwheat is bloomed really good so I'm hoping they will still have a trickle of nectar coming in until the goldenrod bloom.

So I've done an experiment on no till buckwheat. One field I sowed and bushhogged. Second field I sprayed then ran my box blade over to expose dirt and sowed. Last field I sprayed, sowed and bushhogged. We received zero rain for a week and a half after sowing but then have had rain about 5...

So I am doing some testing. I've got 3 sections that I put seed down. First plot was really high weeds and grasses. I didn't spray. I broadcast the buckwheat and then bush hogged it down. My next plot I sprayed and then ran the teeth of my box blade through to get some dirt showing. My...

Sorry I should have mentioned that part also.

The buckwheat for me has another purpose. I am planting it for my bees to have a good nectar source this summer after most everything else has bloomed.

I am really wanting to give this throw and mow method a try considering my ground is pretty rough. I find so much info on using buckwheat to use as a cover crop and then terminating the buckwheat and using it for thatch for my fall food plot. The problem I keep running into is no one shows how...