![\"500honey-extraction_0231\"](\"http:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/500honey-extraction_0231-224x300.jpg\" "\\"500honey-extraction_0231\\"")
the new packages takes place as soon as possible after I pick up the bees from Nature’s Nectary outside Stillwater.\u00a0 They may wait a day, but not more.<\/p>\nSpring\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Waning Bloodroot Moon<\/p>\n
All three colonies are dead.\u00a0 I rechecked them last weekend.\u00a0 I have ordered three packages of bees, the larger 3 pounds boxes, that will arrive in early April, perhaps April 9th.\u00a0 Hiving the new packages takes place as soon as possible after I pick up the bees from Nature’s Nectary outside Stillwater.\u00a0 They may wait a day, but not more.<\/p>\n
I’m weighing whether to take the route of several beekeepers I know who buy new packages each season and harvest all the honey that’s made, rather than trying to overwinter the colonies.\u00a0 If I do decide to go that route, we’ll have to sell the honey to recoup the costs, perhaps show a little profit.<\/p>\n
There are arguments for and against this method.\u00a0 Obviously it gives the bees only a season of a life, that’s a definite mark against it.\u00a0 On the other hand, if colonies die anyhow, then there’s really no change except the certainty of their death.<\/p>\n
This does allow harvesting the maximum from a colony’s first year, which would have added about 100 pounds of honey last year, or maybe 12 gallons to the five we collected.\u00a0 On the other hand, it doesn’t allow for maximum production because an over-wintered colony produces more, since it already has its stores and will proceed to fill honey supers right away.<\/p>\n
Another positive would be holding diseases down since they would have not have the overwintered, weakened condition that allows some diseases to take hold.<\/p>\n
As I write this, I can see the argument for only one season of the bees.\u00a0 Still not sure which say I’ll swing.<\/p>\n
This will be the third season at Artemis Hives and I have a few new management ideas in addition to the one I’m considering above.\u00a0 Instead\u00a0 of a third hive box, I will use two honey supers instead.\u00a0 This gives the same volume as a hive box, but in lighter by half units.\u00a0 This will also make retrieving all the the honey easier if I decide to go with one season only for all ![\"400_honey-extraction_0225\"](\"http:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/400_honey-extraction_0225-300x225.jpg\" "\\"400_honey-extraction_0225\\"")
the colonies.\u00a0 I’m also going to check out better ways to have a bee proof environment in which to extract honey.\u00a0 It was pretty bad last year.<\/p>\n
In spite of the cold weather projected now through June according to Paul Douglas, we will hive the bees in early April and begin to plant cold weather crops as soon as the soil becomes friable.\u00a0 Early April through early October is a major season here at Artemis Gardens and Hives.<\/p>\n
At the end of it Kate and I will pack our bags and sail away to South America.\u00a0 We’ll greet October 28th, 2011 somewhere in Ecuador.\u00a0 That’s the time the world changes according to one understanding of the Mayan calendar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Spring\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Waning Bloodroot Moon All three colonies are dead.\u00a0 I rechecked them last weekend.\u00a0 I have ordered three packages of bees, the larger 3 pounds boxes, that will arrive in early April, perhaps April 9th.\u00a0 Hiving the new packages takes place as soon as possible after I pick up the bees from Nature’s Nectary outside … Continue reading Bee Diary March 26, 2011<\/span>