Michael Palmer:
And what about years when the weather dictates the food
stores within the hive? There are times, when it isn't the
bees fault that they are light on stores going into
winter...or at any time of the year.

Reply:
Gee glad you brought this up!... as we were technically in
our 7th year of drought this year with only 1/2 rain from
Oct 2005 to Jun 2006 and had no main flow for mesquite or
spring build up with prickly pear this year for the first
time in the history of our state.

In June and July rounds to the bees we continued to give
any honey surplus in strong hives to weaker ones of medium
strength and let the weak ones simply go. For in years like
this, and the past 7 you have your best chance to get rid
of the ones that cannot survive for in Nature they simply
die. So in our drought years we always let the lesser that
cannot build up go and keep the medium to strong ones, so
we keep getting better stock for local foraging in our
area. 

Then the rains came and we had solid rain for two months
and the most rain since back in 1954 which is over a half
century ago. Try foraging in that! But the bloom with rains
starting first part of July came starting by end of month
and we have kept members posted on the organic list where
we are. 

Our bees have had to refill completely the unlimited
broodnest they keep practically from scratch during August
and September. and now only with last flows coming on we
are hoping and waitng to see if we get our surplus finally
in the end and on the very last flows of the production
year.

But when we looked at our bees the middle of September they
had stores and were coming and overall think we have to
replace in bedding down maybe about 75 colonies thereabouts
for average of 2-3 colonies in each yard which isn't bad.

We took the boxes from the dead hives and being "no
treatments" supered them on top of the 1/3 best in each
yard to 5 deeps to hold equipment (they were all 4 deeps).
Then come bedding down and seeing where we end up, all we
have to do is take a box of bees and brood the old way and
set back down from the best and pull boxes back off and
resuper. Labor intensive, yes, but it keeps equipment and
gives boxes for making fall honey extra, and then with late
fall divides the old way you split best bees to make up
numbers. Nothing hard...........

But you follow the bees and only when full you take the
surplus. Those in our area that went with calendar and took
all honey and then fed back syrup are now working hard to
make bees, and are going to have to feed all winter now.

All we are going to do come 1 Nov is bed down, make splits
and extract until done with all our 30 yards that should
take about 2 + months to work thru and end up January
sometime.

So what about the weather dictating stores in the hive.
That is for the bees to sort out, and then with the bees
sorting out, we plan and do our work and strange though it
was and is this year we feel confident it will still end
well by following the bees and THEIR needs and not ours.
This also is what unlimited broodnest managemtnt we do is
for. Having the chance to work with the bees long-haul.

Long winded in explaining here, maybe, but in natural
management you have to learn to work with and follow the
bees.....So far they have always come thru for us!

REgards,

Dee A. Lusby

 

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