-- "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Were these videos in the middle of an intensive flow? 

>>no, there were some wildflowers, and a bunch of very small desert flowers, but the first main flow (prickly pair, achateia(sp)) had not yet hit.

My strongest hives will get to be the equivalent 5-deep high at the end of our spring/summer honey flow...This certainly is not the case in the fall or coming out of the winter.

>>yes, this is coming out of winter.  we saw some of these hives a month previous (from the outside only...just righting tipped hives), and it was like a whole different world.  Dee leaves everything in the 3 bottom boxes (deeps) for the bees...and some hives had brood in 4+ boxes _before_ the flow.

What is the nectar flow period by Dee in Arizona?  I believe the entire Southwest has been going through a drought.  Is that still the case?

>>what we saw looked good, and yes, there has been a long drought.  the most exciting part was visiting official CCD yards, and making strong splits to make up the losses.  dee can speak better as to what she is experiencing, but it looked like a promising season to my untrained eye.

>>a couple of other observations about the aggressiveness of the bees in these videos.  we were going through about 100 hives a day, reeked of alarm scent, for the north kings video i was in front of the hive entrances the whole time...and the bees simply do not like the video camera.

>>we've got less than 20 hives ourselves, neither one of us will climb 10' up a ladder, we are relative amatures, and even chicken.  this didn't feel out of control to us.  we went through about 500 hives in 7 working days, and made up about 100 splits.  dee has everything rigged so that aside from lifting deeps that are not full of honey, nothing heavier than a frame of honey ever need be lifted.  the truck loads/unloads with walter t. kelly handtrucks and a liftgate (special video just on that coming), etc.  everything is extremely well thought out _and_ simple.

>>deknow

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