🐝💗Our Backyard Beekeeping Journey!💗🐝

[R2elk]

I myself have never heard of a robbing screen.

Nor I.

 

[drstratton]

I am sure you meant running but couldn't help myself.

That's what I get for working and trying to share at the same time...lol

 

[Apis mellifera]

Thank you. That was very informative. But, I'm curious how the nuc's reduce the risks of robbing. Is it because they are smaller that they would be robbed first? Sorry if I missed it.

Because you never have weak or queenless colonies. The nucs provide extra brood, bees, and queens in the event any of the production hives have issues during flying season. By fall all of the hives are of equal strength, risk vs reward. Robbing isn't a real big issue until you get around 6 to 12 hives. If one gets weak during a dearth or late in the season it becomes a target really quick.

 

[Apis mellifera]

I myself have never heard of a robbing screen.

Invented by Dr. Harry Laidlaw "The father of honeybee genetics."
https://aggiehero.ucdavis.edu/news/harry-laidlaw-‘father-honeybee-genetics’-and-namesake-lab-dies

 

[drstratton]

Because you never have weak or queenless colonies. The nucs provide extra brood, bees, and queens in the event any of the production hives have issues during flying season. By fall all of the hives are of equal strength, risk vs reward. Robbing isn't a real big issue until you get around 6 to 12 hives. If one gets weak during a dearth or late in the season it becomes a target really quick.

Thank you very much! I'm trying to learn it all, the secret is remembering it...lol

 

[drstratton]

This picture shows the difference in color.

You can see on the edges the first honey we extracted today, it turned out much better than I anticipated, so we'll probably keep it separated. Buckwheat is quite dark.

 

[drstratton]

Waiting for the last 4 frames to finish in the extractor.

This is me...I confess!

 

[drstratton]

I was able to pull pictures together tonight.

Buckwheat. It's very dark, smells and tastes very strong. Not my favorite honey. We extracted about 7g of this and a little over 3 quarts of a lighter mix, had some buckwheat in the frames.

Looks like molasses.

Left to right.
1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th extraction. It just kept getting darker.

The first extraction is mostly from flowers, very mild, not overly sweet.

I think the darker color in the 2nd extraction could have been from our Mimosa tree & the Russian Olive trees, caramel flavor and sweeter than the 1st.

3rd, was the mix of summer foraging and some buckwheat on the same frames, slight buckwheat taste, but I can easily eat this one.

4th, buckwheat, again, not my favorite.