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Sunday, June 06, 2010

Queenless Hive Updates

I'm out of town, visiting my daughter in Cumberland, MD and then going to a professional conference in Roanoke, West Virginia (yes, West Virginia) for my real work instead of my love of bees.  So there won't be new pictures until I am home in Atlanta again next weekend.

I did a hive check of most of my Atlanta hives on Saturday before I left.  Here's the inventory:

1.  Blue Heron......after raising their own queen, they are getting along, but not putting up any honey for me.  They are barely putting up honey for them.  I'll be interested to hear from other beekeepers in Georgia because I think we had the shortest nectar flow EVER this year.
2.  At home the nuc I made with Don's queen is doing OK.  I dumped hive beetles out of the two AJs traps and re-oiled them....one of them actually had dried up - the oil had evaporated in the Hotlanta heat.  But I didn't see more than one beetle in the hive.  I think these girls may survive.
3.  The other hive with Don's queen is the one that killed the first queen I put in.  I saw absolutely no signs of Don's queen - no laying, no brood, no queen.  I think this hive is on its last legs and will not survive my trip.
If there are any bees left when I get home, I'll shake them into other hives.
4.  I didn't switch places with Mellona and the Easter hive because I think I'd like to move Mellona to Rabun County.   But on the other hand I may have missed the opportunity to get them up there for the sourwood flow, so when I get back, I may still switch hive positions.

Sad picture:  I don't think I'm getting any honey this year unless the Easter hive makes some or Topsy at Valerie's house makes some.  This will be my first year with NO harvest - last year was a small harvest, but nothing like what looks like this year's calamitous results.



4 comments:

  1. Hi Linda. I am a bee keeper in England. I am also having one of the worst seasons ever. Looks like I will get one super of honey from 12 hives this spring. I had a bad winter with 40% of my bees dieing out. All the flowers are at least a month late over here. Regards Chris Evans

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  2. Anonymous7:39 PM

    Last year I had 11 hives, 1 from the previous year and 10 new ones. I only harvested honey from the established hive, about 40lbs worth. Last fall we had a terrible nectar flow and the winter was harsh. I lost 10 out of 11 hives--devastating. I purchased 5 new hives this year and they're doing very well. Well enough to produce honey for me. Additionally, I have 2 nucs coming from a local beekeeper, my thinking is I'd like to incorporate local genetics into my beeyard to help with winter hardiness. Beekeeping most definitely has its highs and lows but I suppose if it was predictable most of the fun would be gone.

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  3. These posts are very sad to read. I guess I've been lucky so far. I've been a beekeeper for only one year. Last Fall I harvested 20 lbs of honey from my hive that I only had since June of last year. Now I have 2 new hives, plus the original one from last year and I already added more hive bodies and supers for the honey flow that is just tremendous this Spring. I dread the day (and most likely it will happen) when I lose a hive or all of them. I'm in California and we had a very rainy and cool Spring which accounts for all the wildflowers and pollen. Fingers crossed, this will be a great honey season.

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  4. After last season (my first) being so poor, I had almost given up hope this year, but so far my hives seem to be going good. Best of success to everyone this year.

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