Top Bar Beekeeping Forum

[Gordo]

I had a good look through my two hives on Sunday and all appears to be progressing beautifully.

The new hive has comb being drawn out on three bars and Greg quickly spotted the queen hustling across the comb. I didn't see any larva, but at least she's there and appears to be healthy.

I didn't find any evidence of a new queen in the old hive, but there are still a couple of capped queen cells and the activity level is good. There's still lots of capped brood and they've busily backfilling old brood comb with honey.

They're still the most laid-back bees a guy could hope to get. Greg and I have both been leaving all of our gear in the cars when we're there and so far so good.

I harvested my single bar of honey for the year yesterday as well. The comb is that wonderful white shade and the honey itself is so light as to be almost colourless. It's certainly NOT flavourless, though.
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Gord Campbell
Geek at Large and General Pain in the Butt
http://blog.cruachan.ca

[biobee]

There is nothing in the world like fresh honey, straight from the comb.
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The Barefoot Beekeeper www.biobees.com

[Gordo]

[treynolds]

I would love to find a couple queens of that temperment to replace my two supposedly "Buckfast Bee" queens. I know I have complained several times but at times I get tired of messing with those two hives due to the agressive nature and having to stay out of the area for a couple of hours once he hive has been opened. If you have a source or connection please let me know so maybe I can make arrangements or plan for the spring. Thanks
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If it isn't...it isn't!

[Gordo]

[treynolds]

Unfortunately looks like they cannot ship mated queens outside of Canada . I will have to keep a look out for another supplier than has a gentler breed somewhere here in the US (preferably not from down south where they may have some africanized cross breeding). I am leary of purchasing any additional stock from R Weaver Apiaries. Thanks for the information.
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If it isn't...it isn't!

[rose883]

[treynolds]

Thanks for the information!
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If it isn't...it isn't!

[il volpe]

[treynolds]

That's great to know, most others are pickup only and the only Buckfasts that I can find are all being supplied by the group I got mine from. One person there acknowledges the problem/issue and the other person swears they have had zero complaints or reports of mean bees. It is R. Weaver and I was a bit suprised when I called to talk over the situation and to get more information on buying another set of queens. So much for complete honesty. Thanks again for the contact!
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If it isn't...it isn't!

[il volpe]

You'd probably have to pick up, but Co. Springs is a lot closer to you.

It sounds as if you got a little jerked around, since one person acknowledges a temperment problem. But if I was rearing queens, I probably would not be willing to absolutely guarantee good temper, because it's pretty easy for a keeper to make a hive bad-tempered by rough handling, or for it to become bad tempered because of other stuff, like teenagers or raccoons knocking it over several times. Plus all the weird mystical-seeming stuff -- requeen a hive and its temper may change instantly, in spite of the fact that it's got all the same workers. Move a hive and its temper may change. Or the advice of the very elderly beekeeper I knew as a kid, who would make all potential new-hires walk through the bee-yard, not just to see if the guy was calm around bees but to see if the bees hated him, for the old guy insisted that bees just hate some people.

I should mention that my hive that's got John's queen in it, while remaining perfectly happy to ignore me (though I've not done an extensive inspection of it yet) is now visibly showing its heritage. The majority of the bees look like those of the nuc that raised that queen, but there are also significant numbers (now that it's built up a bit again with new bees) of ones that are of two other different stripe patterns. I'm kind of tickled about this, but I expect a lot of keepers would be displeased, and I do figure I'd better make splits from my 'proven good tempered' Italians to flood my yard with drones from that lineage and lessen the chance that two supercedures from now I end up with something nasty.

[GarlyDog]

[il volpe]

More than one person has said that to me. At around the same time, the guy who ran one of the giant bee-yards that the University of Guelph keeps said he had trouble with it. He didn't get to pick the students who worked there. Most of 'em were fine, some of 'em would get stung really often for no appearant reason, and every so often he'd get one who was completely useless -- the student-worker's presence so infuriated the bees that they'd attack him and anybody attempting to work with him. Leaving the beemaster wondering what the heck he could do with an employee who couldn't do the job, but hadn't done anything wrong.

[treynolds]

Well maybe that's the problem...Those Buckfast just don't like me, must be that little bit of Irish blood I have in me . I am glad my other 5 hives of feral bees like me, because they are extremly easy to handle.
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If it isn't...it isn't!