Hello from Folsom CA

[GARYSHARP]

I have had up to three bee hives for 5 years in my backyard. I got them because I have 15 fruit trees and like honey. My first hive had been very strong and had swarmed 5 times and I was able to catch 2 of the swarms and that gave me 3 very strong hives giving me lots of honey. I and all the neighbors loved all the fruits and vegetables. Then last fall two hives went to zero, zip, nothing, no bees inside. Then the strong original hive swarmed two more times and they populated the two dead hives on their own. They lasted about two months. Then all three went to zero. Today I went to HomeDepot, Lowe's and OSH here in Folsom today to see what effect my lost hives might have. I have worked at both Home Depot and Lowe's and at this time of spring the thousands of flowering plants at the both stores have in the past years have been covered with (my) bees. After four hours of looking todayI found 4 FOUR bees at Lowe's and 3 THREE bees at Home Depot, none at OSH and none at Target. I have lost a lot but this CCD caused by IAPV will make the killer bee thing look like childs play.

[berkshire bee]

Welcome Gary, I would say that by joining us all here at Beesource.com, you obviously aren't giving up on beekeeping. Hopefully you can hook up with some fellow cali beekeepers.

[LtlWilli]

Yup--you'll find that bee keepers are regular paragons of patience...Hang in there. We'll help all we can, for sure.
Rick~LtlWilli

[KQ6AR]

Hi Gary,

I'm a beginner, down here in Concord. If you need bees Randy Oliver in Grass Valley is putting together some mite resistant nucs. It might pay to look him up. Heck of a nice guy.
Here's a link to his website http://scientificbeekeeping.com/

Dan

[Fred Bee]

Welcome Gary...I wish you better luck with your future beekeeping experinece. Beekeepers today certainly have greater challenges than in the past. And yep...we do battle with CCD, mites, problems from pesticides and numerous other issues. That said, beekeeping can still be a fun and enjoyable endeavor. Read up, talk to others in your area, find a mentor and get help on this board. Again, I hope things go better for you.

[bbounds]

Hi Gary.

My kids and I are newbees in El Dorado Hills. We built a top bar hive this spring. After the first package absconded (no queen excluder), the second is going gangbusters. They've built 7-8 full combs from scratch in 3 weeks. Top bar hiving is definitely simple & natural. Perhaps it will prove successful too.

Part of the reason I finally jumped in is because when we moved here 5 years ago, bees were all over our backyard. The past 2 years or so, there were barely any.

Sorry you hit the wall with your bees. Hopefully it will turn around this year.

BB