To All:
 
I have been reading the list for about three weeks now...Thanks to friend
John Taylor in SE MO for putting me on to this list (Hi John! )....and I
guess its now time for me to enter the fray! :)
 
I am a hobbyist keeper in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont with 7yrs off-on
experience.
My most beneficial experience has happened in the last three years. This
experience has been divided as follows: 1994 - Black Bears; 1995 - Swarming
(6-7 from 2 hives);
1996 - ??
 
I started the winter of 95-96 with five hives. Four made it through. I
cautiously report no sign of varroa at this time. Treating with apistan and
grease patties as recommended.
 
My hives consist of the following:
Hive #1: 2yrs old - Double Hybrid (DH) - very strong
Hive #2: 2yrs old - Italian (ITL) - adequate strength
Hive #3: 1yr old  - DH split from #1 w/new queen - weakened from winter
Hive #4: <1yr old - DH ?? hived swarm from last summer - very weak from winter
 
We seemed to have finally cleared the early spring doldrums of cold, rainy
weather.
Like the song says...we're havin a heat wave!!! Today at 80deg..last week we
couldn't break 60!
 
To date I have rotated and cleaned the brood deeps and have gone from 10
frames to nine in the bottom deep. I have scraped off drone comb and
inspected for varroa and found none. I treated with terra grease patties in
the late fall and left them on through the winter. All patties were
consumed. Bears have emerged from their dens and I haven't heard of any hive
raids so far....amazing for the winter we've had. I'll leave my bear guard
energized until June 1 anyway.
 
#1 hive is going great guns. There is brood covering 6-7 frames in 1st deep,
4-5 frames in 2nd deep. I placed a third deep with foundation on last Wed
(5-15) and will be giving them supers later this week. Bees are working at a
tremendous pace.
 
#2 hive is disappointing. There is a fair number of bees and 4-5 frames of
sealed brood.
When I rotated deeps I filled the 2nd deep w/foundation frames. As of the
15th, none of the frames had been drawn out. I'm not too concerned at this
point because these girls got started slowly last year. I'm not very
impressed with Walter Kelley Italians at this point. Bees working some
days..but not as much as #1.
 
#3 hive was started as a split from #1 last year. This hive went into winter
almost as strong as #1 & #2 but seemed to take a heavy hit from winter.
There is brood on 3-4 frames in well grouped clusters approx 4-5in in
diameter. I inspect one day and think they are coming right along...the next
time I inspect and I'm left wondering.
 
#4 hive was a captured swarm. As mentioned above, the girls gave me repeated
lessons in hive management (or lack thereof) last year. This hive was very
weak this spring but it now has a similar brood pattern as #3. Status is
about the same as #3.
 
So finally, here are my questions:
 
1.) As a method of discouraging swarming from #1 should I remove some brood
and put them     into the other three hives to build their strength?
 
2:) Should I requeen? I haven't done this with any of the hives to date. I
can't seem to
    find the queen with regularity although I am gradually getting better at
it. My         thinking has been to let the bees decide when to supercede
and only interfere when
    there is a specific problem (i.e., poor brood pattern, queenless hive,
etc.) I know
    that this is not exactly the best management policy.
 
Be advised that I don't want to reduce the number of hives by combining or
increase
the number of hives (beyond 5). 4-5 hives will yield a honey crop that I can
handle with the resources I have now. I have financial limitations that
prevent me from growing larger at this time.
 
For my commercial beekeeping friends...what information is available to
someone who wants to know more about becoming a commercial beekeeper? I have
turned the idea over in my head from time to time...but I don't have any
info to help me take the next step.
 
Thanks to all in advance.
Tim Peters, Kirby VT
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I rather be flying!