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1,317 Posts
Hello All,
I am going to try a experiment to see if my thinking is correct, on this issue. I have ststed previously that my total experience with bees are in UPstate NY. I know that climatically---things are very different. I want to see if that in early Feb I can start to encourage rapid build-up for a nectar flow that starts in March continuing through June. Then allow the bees to store honey in the upper brood chamber for the winter, but in the interm--utilized the queen in both chambers, and rotate them so as to prevent the bees from honey bounding the brood chamber. The general thinking and observation is that the Queen doesn't want to go down but go up if possible, wont cross sealed honey comb. to get to open available comb by rotating the chambers, encourages the queen natural inclinatin to go up--as she goes up, new bees will be hatching out making comb available figuring takes her about 2.5 weeks to work through a deep brood chamber. My though is to build a monster colony to have a massive workforce with more then ample honey storage available ( 2 - 3 deep or medium honey supers ) . In my perhaps distorted thinking, I think is too late to try this year--middle honey flow takes too long to manipulate the bees for what I am looking for. Thinking 45 days for the new field force to be available there abouts. Please tell me if this sounds viable for southern beekeeping ( North Florida ) I have been told that on average Northern Beekeepers will get almost twice as much honey as Southern counterparts--but the figures I see is consistant with both northern or southern beekeepers 400- 500 pounds of honey per hive If those stats are reasonably accurate wheres the doubling from the north bees? nuderstand daylight hours and all that but numbers are numbers unless made up. Besides I am not looking for a commercial venture if I sell honey all the better it's the joy of working with them seeing what I can accomplish with them. Any thoughts.
Barry.
I am going to try a experiment to see if my thinking is correct, on this issue. I have ststed previously that my total experience with bees are in UPstate NY. I know that climatically---things are very different. I want to see if that in early Feb I can start to encourage rapid build-up for a nectar flow that starts in March continuing through June. Then allow the bees to store honey in the upper brood chamber for the winter, but in the interm--utilized the queen in both chambers, and rotate them so as to prevent the bees from honey bounding the brood chamber. The general thinking and observation is that the Queen doesn't want to go down but go up if possible, wont cross sealed honey comb. to get to open available comb by rotating the chambers, encourages the queen natural inclinatin to go up--as she goes up, new bees will be hatching out making comb available figuring takes her about 2.5 weeks to work through a deep brood chamber. My though is to build a monster colony to have a massive workforce with more then ample honey storage available ( 2 - 3 deep or medium honey supers ) . In my perhaps distorted thinking, I think is too late to try this year--middle honey flow takes too long to manipulate the bees for what I am looking for. Thinking 45 days for the new field force to be available there abouts. Please tell me if this sounds viable for southern beekeeping ( North Florida ) I have been told that on average Northern Beekeepers will get almost twice as much honey as Southern counterparts--but the figures I see is consistant with both northern or southern beekeepers 400- 500 pounds of honey per hive If those stats are reasonably accurate wheres the doubling from the north bees? nuderstand daylight hours and all that but numbers are numbers unless made up. Besides I am not looking for a commercial venture if I sell honey all the better it's the joy of working with them seeing what I can accomplish with them. Any thoughts.
Barry.
