[Timber]

Ohio State University and Tri-County Beekeepers Assn

My apology on late notice, and/or if posted before.
http://www.beelab.osu.edu/tcba Wooster OH

Class for Basic Beekeeping to advance. 18 topics to choose from
Kids sessions also.

$30. There are three Workshops each with 6 sub breakouts.

It's best to pack a lunch

Timber

 

[Mike in Ohio]

Hi Timber,

I'm not going to make it to the workshops. What kind of bees and how many hives do you keep?

I currently have 21 hives with a mix of italians,russians and carnolians. I'm getting another 10 packages of carnolians this spring to start our next apiary.

How have your hives looked this spring? Mine are actually stronger than I expected.

Mike

 

[Terri]

Mike, do italians or carniolans do a better job for you? I have heard it both ways, so I figured climate had something to do with it.

I ordered italians this spring, as I wish to divide the colonies and I have heard that italians produce brood even if the nectar flow is not good.

My plan is to divide the hives after the spring honey flow each year and then feed the dickens out of the new hives until they have some built up. We have a fall honey flow from goldenrod and asters, but it is often harsh tasting so that will be for the bees.

 

[Mike in Ohio]

The italians seem to build up a bit faster but the carnolians seem to have better hygenic behavior and mite resistance. One big factor is that the carnolians (I only have 2 hives of them at the moment) seem to have a much better temperment.

I'm surprised about your comment regarding goldenrod/late honey. We have plenty of people who like the darker/stronger honey.

One thing I'll say is that you can't always count on that late flow. This past year is a good example. In NE Ohio we had an early freeze (September) that "wilted" the goldenrod. Not much honey produced after that.

I'd also consider doing your splits earlier than the spring flow. I'll probably start doing my splits in late March or in April depending on the weather. Basically, as soon as you start seeing swarm (queen) cells you should be thinking about splits.

I like to do my splits into Nucs and build them up there.

Mike

 

[ChemE]

Mike,

I first read a book "First Lessons in Beekeeping - A Dadant Publication". I then assembled 2 hives and purchased package bees from a local vendor last spring. I have since called the vendor with a ton of questions, but they guy never returns my calls.

Anyway, How do you extract your honey? Are there any other good books to read on the subject, I want to expand, just not sure how. Any books that show step by step instructions on how to split, etc. I have still never found the queens after I put them in the hive. Sorry for the rookie questions..........

 

[Mike in Ohio]

Hi ChemE,

Don't worry about asking lots of questions...that's how you learn.

The first thing to do is find your nearest beekeeping club. Lots of clubs/associations will have beginner workshops this time of year. This will also allow you to hook up with a more experienced beekeeper and spend time with them working the hives. It might even be worth paying a little money to have them work your hives with you rather than working theirs. Just a thought.

We extract our honey using a 4 frame (electric) Little Wonder extractor. It works pretty well for us but there are a few design changes I wish they would make (for example, the drain is in the side by the bottom and I would rather have it on the bottom. In our new honey house I am going to mount the extractor to a steel plate on a hinge so I can tip the whole extractor when draining or washing it out.)

Hand cranked extractors are ok until you have a bunch of frames to extract. With the electric I can be uncapping more frames while I have some extracting.

As far as telling which is the queen, that isn't always easy. One clue is to look for bees clustering around a particular bee on the frame. If you continue to have trouble you can always get marked queens. That makes it real easy to spot them. It also helps you know when to requeen a hive (each color represents a particular year).

If you are planning to expand and make a business of it I would highly recommend that you let your marketing/sales drive your expansion.

I don't really use books. I do get Bee Culture Magazine from A.I. Root.

Have to run, DW is here and we have to go get my pickup truck from the mechanic.

L8r

Mike

 

[Timber]

My apology again, too many springtime seminars/workshops last couple weeks.

Mike to answer your question. As you know NE Ohio had a tough year last year rain and honeyflow. Well, I've had a 100% winter kill. Not so bad, only had one hive. Just couldn't establish a laying queen a Hawaiian italian, then an italian from GA.. I knew I would have a loss going into the fall. One of the reasons I've made an effort to do the bee workshop.
For this year, made two five frame nuk/swarm/starter hives boxes. Dropping off these boxes this weekend with a keeper in Geauga to fill them with nuks bee packages. If all goes to plan we'll have an early jump start this year. Hopefully by end of the year up to five "working" hives.

Your carnolians, Do they perform as good as the italians?
Timber

 

[Mike in Ohio]

Timber,

To be honest, I haven't had enough experience with the carnolians to comment intelligently on production. I bought 2 packages last year so it wouldn't be reasonable to base anything on 1 year (and particularly one like last year).

Like I said, I like their temperment and hygenic behavior. Laying patterns look good.

Where abouts are you located?

Also, how were the workshops?

Mike

 

[CJ]

Not to hijack your thread... but would anyone know about bee classes, or groups in the Mansfield Missouri area?
We just ordered our 1st 2 hives and bees will be here the end of April, classes or just the voice of experience would be wonderful.

 

[Timber]

Mike I'm a weekend farm warrior in Geauga. We do beef 20 to 30 head.

The workshops sessions very informative and another was out of the world. One session on spring management speaker was Bee Culture editor Kim Flottum a very intelligent/ down to earth gentleman. Another session was out of world. We via internet interactive with beekeepers of Tennessee Beekeepers Assoc. in central Tenn. They dissemble hives for spring inspection. Answering questions as fast as we were finding them. First time they tried this, Talk about technology.
Well, I'm well well-versed, and comfortable going into this year and even doing splits.

ClemE and CJ I've started last year and wrestled with thousands of questions couldn't fine the right tailored answer in any books. The main motivation to do the workshop. It was well worth it and then some. Also join up with a local bee asso. Meeting was this evening. They played two videos one on package queens and another on mites and hive beetles.

I've bought a number of books on beekeeping, keep on garbing Gardens Way's Practical Beekeeping book Maybe It was written for the beginner. An excellent book I've just pick up sort of a study guide question and answers, What Do You Know by Clarence H. Collison. 2003 pub. by A.I. Root
CJ ...how I found my locals
http://www.beeculture.com/beeculture/who/who_2002.htm#MO
Timber

 

[CJ]

Thanks Timber, I've already tried all the listed phone numbers/emails for the local bee groups in our area, emails come back and the phone calls haven't been returned. I guess I'll try northern missouri, and see if they have a local referral. They've got a beekeeper group with an actual website up there! hehe