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Beekeeper here

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willaien

NewBee
Registered Member
Sep 8, 2009
21
0
0
AR
Very cool, TimV! I'd like to add a book or two about beekeeping to my reading list. Any suggestions?

I suspect Arkansas is a bit too far from San Luis county to get a honey delivery!? ;D

Arkansan here, seriously thinking about starting beekeeping next year. Central, AR, though.
 
A

andrewschwab

Guest
Guest
check for local bee clubs offering classes etc, through the winter and early spring (usually).

If there is hands on event, GO I have seen the best results from the hands on classes etc..
 

TimV

NewBee
Registered Member
Sep 9, 2009
72
0
0
No, you can harvest within 1 month, if there's a strong honey flow.
 
A

andrewschwab

Guest
Guest
Location, location, location, not sure where you are located.
Most hives are started in the spring(pending location). This time of year hives bed for winter, they follow summer and winter solstice. So they are bringing there numbers down for winter to conserve.

Read read read, check in on local clubs etc... There is "bit" more to it then putting boxes and bees out back..

As for first year honey harvest, location location location, and the weather for that year... It can be done but takes a little work and knowledge to do it...;D
 

TimV

NewBee
Registered Member
Sep 9, 2009
72
0
0
I agree about the reading, but they don't give a hoot about any solstice. They don't read calendars. The solstices have absolutely nothing to do with honey production.
 

willaien

NewBee
Registered Member
Sep 8, 2009
21
0
0
AR
I was unaware. I was under the impression that they would be too busy building the broods to be able to expand them enough to put in the supers & harvest them before fall.
 
A

andrewschwab

Guest
Guest
I agree about the reading, but they don't give a hoot about any solstice. They don't read calendars. The solstices have absolutely nothing to do with honey production.
:eek:

Really, you must be kidding! You can make nucs in the months of Nov-Jan?

You make honey all year long none stop? (also need that pollen too)

I didn't realize CA had this going for it...???
 

TimV

NewBee
Registered Member
Sep 9, 2009
72
0
0
If you want honey quick there are a few tricks. I don't have to play those games, since where I'm at our biggest harvest can be in Feb. when the eucalyptus are blooming. Then we don't get rain, so summer isn't much fun for beekeepers. We often go 180 days without rain during spring and summer.

What you can do in Arkansas etc.. is to feed the bees sugar water early in the year, so as to stimulate egg laying and the "drawing out" of new comb. The amount of feed they have available causes them to either lay more or less eggs, and the amount of sunlight doesn't have any more to do with it that sunlight cause yeast in the must to multiply (although you're right, they can foretell weather, but that's a story for another time).

So if you have lots of flowers say in April (am I guessing right for your area?) and you've fed them for 6 weeks or so before that, you should have no trouble getting 200 pounds or so the first year, provided you have a good queen, etc....

Remember, the brood only lasts for 21 days, at least the worker brood, so it's not something that you can save up from one year to the next. The bigger things are
1: make sure you have lots of bees when you have lots of flowers
2: it takes 8 pounds of honey to make one pound of wax, so try to make sure the bees have comb that's already drawn out when the "flow" ( i.e. peak production of nectar by your target flowers)

Here, if we get good rains coupled with lots of warm sunny days during the winter, I have gotten 300 pounds from good hives, and there are places in the US where beekeepers can do even better with good hives, but 100 pounds is more realistic for an average. And if you let nature take her course and just use queens the hives produce themselves, you may only get 25 pounds.
 

willaien

NewBee
Registered Member
Sep 8, 2009
21
0
0
AR
Hmm. Well, I won't be able to get the bees until march or april. I will definitely be feeding them for a while. Unfortunately, places around here don't ship until about the time that some of the good early blooms start.
 

bailey beekeeper

NewBee
Registered Member
Dec 15, 2009
10
0
0
find a local beek and see if they will sell a nuc that they are wintering over.
have the main hive equipment ready and feed the crap out of the nuc.
when the nuc is full of bees and capped sugar syrup place the nuc in the main hive body and feed feed feed!
add brood boxes after they fill the main box.
continue this until the dog woods bloom. then cut the feed off and add supers
as needed.
the supers will be where you harvest and you should be able to get a good harvest in july / august.
bailey.
 

willaien

NewBee
Registered Member
Sep 8, 2009
21
0
0
AR
I've ordered some of the equipment. Going to talk with a local beekeeper and see if I can get a nuc or 5 frames off of him... we'll see how it goes.
 
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