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we have 2 hives--one which actually swarmed early last spring--oopsie--maybe that's the one you rescued? lol! We restocked it and the hive has now been fine. we keep a better eye on them..
we haven't extracted any honey -- right now they seem to be producing enough only to live on each winter. They are really new hives, and still establishing. We sorta set ourselves back by letting the first one swarm. That one had been our oldest hive--at a year old then--We have a friend (who is 97 years old!!) that keeps bees and he has been teaching my husband how to take care of them, he has the extraction equipment when it comes time. We would probably eventually try picking some up somewhere for ourselves, if we ever get more serious about actually getting honey from the hives I think. I have been toying with the idea of taking some classes actually, there are a couple courses offered thru the local bee associations etc. Seems interesting, and I WOULD like to learn more.
here are some supply houses... if you haven't already seen them? I love looking thru the catalogs, they seem expensive though.
http://www.dadant.com/catalog/
http://www.mannlakeltd.com/
and locally, we have gotten things--as in our colony, and our new queen from when the hive swarmed-- from these guys, and they are very very nice.
I can't recommend them enough.
http://www.treesnbees.com/
CR--THIS IS WHO I MEANT THAT'S LOCAL!! I was doin' a bunch of different stuff at the same time.
lol trees n' bees is local, not mann lake. shheesh.
edited by me cuz i can't multitask..