We need a Braggarts Forum

[odfrank]

Probably my best hive this year. Palo Alto, California, suburban residential flow. Eleven mediums jam packed. It could have done more but I'm not good on a ladder and ran out of supers. And all this through a queen excluder. Swarm caught on site last year.

[Tom G. Laury]

Great photo!
That suburban beekeeping in a place like Palo Alto is a different world.
What do you think on nectar sources? Eucalyptus must be there, any others outstanding that you know of?

Honey includers work good don't they?

[odfrank]

Eucalyptus all over the place, clover on the lawns, rosemary all winter, hundreds of other types of bee feeding trees and shrubs, all irrigated. I have caught two bait swarms and two hangers at this address for two years in a row, and I don't think they are from my hives. Lots of hollow oak trees and others. Nearby I know a 3 1/2 acre site that has seven hives in oak trees. They have been dying out from (CCD?) but getting refilled in spring.

[gmcharlie]

hmm how about a misery forum also??? wet spring and summer 40 hives and don't even have 2 supers full.....

so yup, I am jealous

[Tom G. Laury]

That's why BeeSource is such a great site. All the tears beers cheers and blood.

[Tom G. Laury]

For those of you who are not aware, odfrank beekeeps in an area with nearly year round nectar and pollen availability, interrupted by periods of more and less intensive nectar/honey flows. No doubt his bees have produced honey and doubled in population during the months of January & February. The combination of climate, ornamental planting and irrigation makes for a virtual bee heaven. Not to underestimate ods abilities at all, though, these conditions require a lot of attention or else the bees just get away from you, blocking out, swarming, all those horrible problems we sometimes wish for.

od has found a really cool niche if you ask me.

[DRUR]

I am GREEEEEEEEN------------With envy. Looks great.

So happy for you, good management and good area, makes for the rest of us ducking our heads in wonder.

[odfrank]

Not to underestimate ods abilities at all,

Any idiot with a box can make honey in these conditions. What amazes me is how many bee "havers" up here never put on more than two supers. Aren't the conditons the same in any residential area in Southern California?

[alpha6]

I don't know Frank...it sure looks to me like your real hive is on the right and you wife made you take all the spare supers out of the bedroom and store them outside.

[Batman]

I don't know Frank...it sure looks to me like your real hive is on the right and you wife made you take all the spare supers out of the bedroom and store them outside.

Nice shot, made me laugh when I looked at the photo since I didn't notice the other hive in the pic originally. But on a serious note, Frank, what's your temp highs during the summer and lows during the winter? Just wondering vs my area.

[sqkcrk]

I bet the short one is for taking honey off of the tall one. Good job. Now do it w/ 20. Sure, I'm jealous.

So, what is that? Ten 6 5/8ths supers above the brood chamber? Are you going to get 300 lbs of honey from this hive?

[odfrank]

[QUOTE=Batman;453303 But on a serious note, Frank, what's your temp highs during the summer and lows during the winter? Just wondering vs my area.[/QUOTE]


[SIZE=1]San Mateo, CA[/SIZE] [SIZE=1]National Average[/SIZE] [SIZE=2]Average Winter High Temperature:[/SIZE] [SIZE=2]59.06 degrees[/SIZE] [SIZE=2]40.70 degrees[/SIZE] [SIZE=2]Average Winter Low Temperature:[/SIZE] [SIZE=2]43.45 degrees[/SIZE] [SIZE=2]19.35 degrees[/SIZE] [SIZE=2]Average Summer High Temperature:[/SIZE] [SIZE=2]77.68 degrees[/SIZE] [SIZE=2]86.40 degrees[/SIZE] [SIZE=2]Average Summer Low Temperature:[/SIZE] [SIZE=2]59.54 degrees[/SIZE] [SIZE=2]62.48 degrees[/SIZE] [SIZE=2]Average Annual Precipitation:[/SIZE] [SIZE=2]20.30 inches[/SIZE] [SIZE=2]37.69 inches[/SIZE]
We rarely go below freezing and 90 in summer is a heat wave.

[odfrank]

Ten 6 5/8ths supers above the brood chamber? Are you going to get 300 lbs of honey from this hive?

Eleven supers = about 400 pounds

[Fuzzy]

Before this year I would have found this unbelieveable. However, I have one working on super #8 and it swarmed in mid June. Missed the Privit flow on that one.

Now I am not sure of the sanity of Odfranks monument given that he lives a few feet from the great San Andreas fault line. But, he has to deal with it.

Congratulations Od... Fuzzy

[Parke County Queen]

WOW, Makes me feel like a loser beekeeper. I always hear of beekeepers with hives like this, but I have never had one. I guess soybeans & corn fields aren't the best areas. I love my bees though and don't really do it for the honey. (Although it would be nice!!)

[gmcharlie]

Queenie, not sure how long you have been at it, but this year in this area is definatly not the usual...... I am losing hives from lack of food waiting on beans to flower....

[Capricorn]

Eleven supers = about 400 pounds

How much weight can the bottom box take? At what point does it blow apart!

[odfrank]

How much weight can the bottom box take? At what point does it blow apart!

Never had an explosion in 40 years. I do have to stick a little cleat in the entrances to keep them open. I think the bottom boards bulge up from the weight on the sides and back and no bearing surface at the entrance.

[Gene Weitzel]

We have hives make similar in our area sometimes on a heavy Tallow flow, but since the arrival of the SHB, you won't see that many supers at a time stacked on one hive. Four or five at a time seem to be about the limit without risking loss to SHB. Pre-SHB the most I personally know of was 15 supers on one hive (not one of mine though). The drought here this year really cut our Tallow flow short, we had a good early blackberry flow and so I still made an average of about 100lbs per hive and had one go to 180lbs (though I think they cheated by robbing out one of their neighbors).

[Tom G. Laury]

Hey Capricorn great question! The transverse cleat underneath the bottom board under the front of the hive should extend underneath the hive body, in other words wider than the landing porch. When a lot of bees were transported via booms if they were heavy and came down hard it was possible to take a nose dive and shut off the entrance.