New Hobby: Bee Keeping

[AdamJoshua]

Bee killers!!!!


You two are like the NYC of covid for bees.

[357]

Originally Posted by AdamJoshua

Bee killers!!!!


You two are like the NYC of covid for bees.

True but, it's not just us. Northern states lose 30-80% of colonies annually thanks to Varroa mites and the 2-3 dozen pathogens they introduce to the bees, not to mention the parasitic feeding itself damages them.

Northern bees hatched in October have to live until April or May before they can bring in new pollen and nectar, which is needed to raise new brood. Southern "winter" bees only have to live from Nov/Dec until Late Jan or Feb. So they suffer the same parasitic problems but their winter bees don't have to survive as long so their losses are much less. At least that's the prevailing theory.

My friend who has been keeping bees in Michigan since the 70s told me losing 1 of 20 colonies was unusual, worthy of inspecting to see if you could find out why. Once varroa mites showed up everything changed.

[357]

Hey Vin, I wanted to resurrect this thread to see if you have any bees this year. I took 2020 off then had them again for 2021 but got super busy with the prep and sale of our house. My neighbor finished things up for me, harvested what there was and still has a few of my hive boxes.

I was hoping you had bees for 2022 and might be willing to share some news/pics. Once we find a place to settle I'll be getting my hives out of storage to start up again.

[AdamJoshua]

Originally Posted by 357

Hey Vin, I wanted to resurrect this thread to see if you have any bees this year. I took 2020 off then had them again for 2021 but got super busy with the prep and sale of our house. My neighbor finished things up for me, harvested what there was and still has a few of my hive boxes.

I was hoping you had bees for 2022 and might be willing to share some news/pics. Once we find a place to settle I'll be getting my hives out of storage to start up again.

The bees started committing suicide in the truck on the way to Vin's as soon as they realized where they were heading, better to do it quick and get it over with.