>
> << After five years of hobby beekeeping, my young wife and I've decided
to
>  advance to "sideliner" status with a trial of 50 additional colonies to
add
>  to our current 8.  She'll be doing most of the work, but what a dynamo!
>  Anyways, were to get 'em? From time to time I've seen bees advertised in
Bee
>  Culture (which I get), but there havn't been any applicable ads in the
last
>  couple months.  American Bee Journal (which I've seen occasionally but
not a
>  recent copy, subscribing soon) has a beefier classified section.  Could
a
>  current subscriber look for me in this and last month's ABJ and tell me
if
>  there are local hives for sale?>>
 
Hi Tim
 
I to have made the decision to increase my the number of colonies I keep.
For the past several years,  the local demand for my honey has been greater
than I could supply.  The way I'm doing it is by using splits in the
spring.  I build all my own equipment except frames.  Each summer in July I
add a brood box of foundation above a queen excluder.  By feeding them
heavy, they will draw the comb out and fill it with syrup.  In the fall I
remove the queen excluder and allow the queen access to the top brood
chamber.  A good queen will fill both chambers with brood during the spring
buildup.  In the spring I put the queen and about 8 frames of brood in the
bottom chamber and use the rest to start a new colony.
 
This if a little slower than buying them all at once but you won't have so
much worry about diseases from purchased bees.  Also by going slower, I can
let my market and abilities grow together and can stop grownig at whatever
point I like.
 
Frank Humphrey
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