Start of Blackberry 2018- Lots of Promise
The start of blackberry- and its blooming in waves upon waves of white fields on the hillsides of the valley. Slightly browned by a few rains, and a short cold snap, but still ready to go, the bees wait to burst and start collecting nectar- and we're in for a spell of hot weather after a few days of rain. I think that might be a perfect storm- in a good way, a storm of honey?
And- since last I checked- all hives are healthy and queen right and packed with bees- and stacked each with two empty supers each. Plus the 20 empty supers that I just extracted Maple from. I have no idea how its going to go, but at least it seems set up right.
And- I just extracted 40+ gallons (nearly 500 pounds) of Maple honey from 10 hives or so- maybe 15. Another 10 or so we're not big enough to produce. That's about the same amount I harvested from a few years ago, before Varroa took my hives down. But still- a hopeful sign- and promising that I might be able to sustain this and not find another hobby.
I can't account yet why Varroa is at bay right now- I have so far found none in my hives (and this is surely wrong- just a lack of testing more). But some well timed winter Oxalic Vapor treatments, and the use of Randy Oliver's blue towel method over the winter- which was a desperate move- in response to Fall varroa- must have been the main things.
In other bee activities, I have now 18 mating boxes on stands , after two rounds of grafting (and I wish I had time for more), so in the first round I got 2 mated queens out of 8, but in this last round, with more attention to nurse bees, I got 14 mated queens out of 16. So 16 total mated queens. A small success- no amazing queens probably- but I am setting up boxes to see if I can get them strong enough to make it though the winter. And- of course- be available for requeening of giving to friends who need queens.
The 14 last were from a queen that my friend Denny had, that was a queen that swarmed to him from a hive I had, that was from an amazing feral hive I had for a year and was bursting at the seams in Spring 2017. And these queens, for the most part, look like their mom- tan and black striped, and big. Like tigers.
Not being a dad of anyone, I guess that's as close as I get to get. More of a midwife I guess. How it goes from now- I don't know- I feed them, house them, and make sure they get a decent education?
Lots to know- lots to learn- lots to do differently next year. But satisfying.
And- since last I checked- all hives are healthy and queen right and packed with bees- and stacked each with two empty supers each. Plus the 20 empty supers that I just extracted Maple from. I have no idea how its going to go, but at least it seems set up right.
And- I just extracted 40+ gallons (nearly 500 pounds) of Maple honey from 10 hives or so- maybe 15. Another 10 or so we're not big enough to produce. That's about the same amount I harvested from a few years ago, before Varroa took my hives down. But still- a hopeful sign- and promising that I might be able to sustain this and not find another hobby.
I can't account yet why Varroa is at bay right now- I have so far found none in my hives (and this is surely wrong- just a lack of testing more). But some well timed winter Oxalic Vapor treatments, and the use of Randy Oliver's blue towel method over the winter- which was a desperate move- in response to Fall varroa- must have been the main things.
In other bee activities, I have now 18 mating boxes on stands , after two rounds of grafting (and I wish I had time for more), so in the first round I got 2 mated queens out of 8, but in this last round, with more attention to nurse bees, I got 14 mated queens out of 16. So 16 total mated queens. A small success- no amazing queens probably- but I am setting up boxes to see if I can get them strong enough to make it though the winter. And- of course- be available for requeening of giving to friends who need queens.
The 14 last were from a queen that my friend Denny had, that was a queen that swarmed to him from a hive I had, that was from an amazing feral hive I had for a year and was bursting at the seams in Spring 2017. And these queens, for the most part, look like their mom- tan and black striped, and big. Like tigers.
Not being a dad of anyone, I guess that's as close as I get to get. More of a midwife I guess. How it goes from now- I don't know- I feed them, house them, and make sure they get a decent education?
Lots to know- lots to learn- lots to do differently next year. But satisfying.
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