"CN [log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: Mike


 What I am trying to say is, the days are over when you can send bees from a cold climate right into the almonds.In other words , get them the hell out of the snow  by mid Nov. Now that may not be convenient for you, but if you play the almond circuit, it's your best bet.

 good luck with your spring,


 Keith


Thanks Keith,
    Actually spring like weather is already here.  I have drones in all my hives now with a good number of capped and uncapped drone brood visible.  I think we are about two to three weeks ahead of schedule in the bee development side of things.  I have already been into my hives.  Found one hive that apparantly lost its queen and I moved a frame of brood and eggs into it.  After the weather clears, five days of rain forcast, I'll get back into it and see if they raised a queen, or if there is more brood present.  I'm not worried about mating if they raise a new queen.  I have the drones and we have intermittant good weather where the virgin will be able to get out and mate.  Maybe not good enough to stay the course through the year, but well enough to get the hive built up.  I'll have to requeen it anyway.  It's part of a study and I have to have a certain strain of queen in it.  I think it's one of my SMR hives.  That's one nice thing about this study, the people that are !
 running
 the test provide the queens.  It's a really nice way to get some pure SMR and Russian queens, and for no cost.  This year I plan to raise some queens for splits from the Russians and the SMR's.  I will have to requeen three of my Russian hives and with the two Russians that overwintered successfully, I will have to strains of Russians from which to draw my new queens.  May have a different strain of SMR's too, not too sure about that yet.
     About the bees from cold weather into the Almonds, you're right about that.  There's already talk about moving the bees out of the north in Oct/Nov into the south and feeding heavily to build them up for the 10 solid combs of bees that they are now wanting out in California.  I'm in a location where it would be easy to do that if I were wanting to get heavily into pollination.  NOT!  I just want to get somewhere around 300 hives going in my county and build up my honey sales.  Since all honey production would be in one county I think I can build up a specialty sales.  I've already had comments that the honey I sell tastes a lot better than the commercial variety that's sold in the stores.  I'm hoping to capitalize on that.  I'll be 65 in two years and I can have unlimited income after I turn the 65 mark.  That will be the fall that I am hoping to take around 300 colonies into the next year.  Hoping that will provide a pretty good supplement to my SS income.  And, it sho!
 uld keep
 me busy enough to stay out of trouble.  :)

Mike in LA  (Lower Alabama)


		
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