Bee keeping

[RAST]

If you start with 2, you have one hive you can compare with the other and if something goes wrong with one you may realize it soon enough to save it. If a queen dies in hive 1 and you realize it, you can rob a frame of eggs from hive 2, put it in and they probably will raise a new queen from it. A few factors on this, old queen from hive 1 must be dead and gone (bees will usually be meaner than normal) and they must not have supercession cells built from her last eggs or even worse going into a laying worker stage.
There's also the emotional standpoint. If a new keeper only has one hive and loses it it is far worse emotionally than if one has 1 left. You can also rebuild the lost hive from hive 2 as long as it is strong enough.
I also understand the cost factor very well.
1 other thing, use the same size boxes and frames for all, that way everything is interchangeable.

 

[Baker Farm]

Thanks Rast. Much to consider now as you've raised some very valid points.

 

[Baker Farm]

Thanks Rast. Much to consider now as you've raised some very valid points.

 

[RAST]

Do you still have to go through the Government Bee Keeping Association to buy nucs in Canada?

 

[Baker Farm]

Not as far as i know, but maybe when i pick up my nuc ill be entered into a government database... who knows, its all new to me. My local feedstore was gonna make me fill out a govt. form to order chickens so i bought mine from another local farmer so im off the radar here so far. Haha

 

[oldrooster]

Not as far as i know, but maybe when i pick up my nuc ill be entered into a government database... who knows, its all new to me. My local feedstore was gonna make me fill out a govt. form to order chickens so i bought mine from another local farmer so im off the radar here so far. Haha

really the government must be really strict in Canada.... Unless the birds where crossing the border I wouldn't know why they would want to know and even then I would have figured they could easily be quarentined at the co-op for a certain number of days if they where consearned about disease....

 

[RAST]

Don't know bout chickens, but they got extremely strict about bees in the 80's. Due to mites, thought they could keep them out, didn't work. If I remember right, they allowed them in from Australia, but not from the states. Cost shot way up. Beekeeper could keep bees on the border and of course the bees flew back and forth, but you couldn't take the hive across.

 

[Baker Farm]

As far as the chickens go, its likely a way to monitor people to be sure they are following municipal by-laws.
Ill post up when I get my nuc and let you know about the bees.

 

[Life is Good!]

Packages arriving tomorrow, Thursday, noon....I'm thrilled, but have trepidations due to impending weather.

Thursday weather - sunny, high 60's.
Thursday night - crashing to 28 degrees due to cold front moving from Colorado (blizzards there!)

Friday weather - rainy, wet, high of 40
Friday night - front moves out, 'low' of 35

Saturday weather - sunny, warmer, high near 65
Saturday night - clear and warm, near 40
Fine rest of week.

Question, would you keep bees in their package for an additional day before installing? They're coming to WI from CA, so they're already been in there a while....I'm concerned about the freezing temps on Friday - the day after installing.

This is a new Top Bar Hive with 1" foundation strips attached to top bar - but otherwise, no comb or foundation available. Will they form a good ball to keep warm? My concern is that the losses from the cold will be greater than the stress of the move.

Tips? Ideas?
Thank you!

 

[RAST]

Notice I,m in Fl. What I would do, doesn't mean it is right, is keep them inside til the 20's are past. Make sure I mist them with sugar water when I got them. They should survive the 20's by clustering, but I just told you what I would do. You know when they cluster due to cold, they vibrate their bodies to produce heat, the outside bees work their way inside the cluster keeping the queen in the middle. The problem with commercial shipped nucs is the bees never met their new queen until packaged and may not yet recognize her that quick.