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New Bee from Morganton NC

7K views 19 replies 14 participants last post by  Connie1 
#1 ·
Hello All,
I'm still in my first year of beekeeping. Got my first 2 hives in June of 2011 and they have both made it through the winter. My neighbor has had 4 swarms already this year and when I went to 226 Bee Supply last Saturday to pick up a super, the owner was just getting ready to box a swarm. I got to watch the whole process and of course take a few pics! I'm looking forward to learning more and especially harvesting honey. This has been a great resource for me so far...
 
#4 ·
Welcome!
I am new as well and pretty close to ya. I hope you got to go to the state meeting last month in Morganton... lots of information and people with knowledge.
Walter at 226 is as nice of person as one could ever come by and also has many many years of experience. Plus you can't beat his prices!
 
#8 ·
I did get to go to the meeting - I was a volunteer so didn't get to go to many sessions but still learned a lot from the general sessions (while working the concession area). Burke County has a very active Bee Club so I'm learning more every month and every trip to Walter's. :)

If weather permits, I plan to do some work in the hives tomorrow...
 
#6 · (Edited)
Welcome VeesBees! My apiary is in the Eastern part of Burke county. I am in my 3rd year, be careful, this stuff is addicting. Had 1 hive the first year, 4 the second, and now I have 8 with 2 NUCS waiting for swarms or splits. I came through last year with 3 double deep hives, 2 of which I split 3/22 and the other 3/31. I am taking my hives from double deeps down to a deep/medium set-up. I also installed 2 packages on 3/26. www.hivetracks.com is a great resource to keep up with inspections too.

http://s1191.photobucket.com/albums/z480/killianphotobucket/?action=view&current=2012-04-03_17-42-26_617.mp4
 
#7 ·
Hi, I'm down the road from you outside of Lincolnton. I have around 20 hives. Been keeping bees for about 12 years and treatment free for 7. Trying to get into selling nucs and queens. Good luck. Beesource Forum is great. Check out Resources and Point of View on Beesource-lot's of great information.
 
#9 ·
Gardenside Beehives - I understand! Last year I started with 2 hives and now am waiting to pickup 4 nucs from Jeff Richie. Not sure how much I'll expand from there...After I've harvested honey we'll see. I believe I need to split one of my hives but don't yet have the confidence to do it. We've been trying to watch closely for swarms in hopes we can catch the swarm when/if it happens.
 
#15 ·
If you ever decide to try some Russian bees, give Ray Revis in Marian NC a call. He's on the board of directors of the Russian Breeders Assoc. He's a fascinating guy. I bought 2 nucs from him in July and they have done real well. Going to be interesting to see how they do during this spring's flow.
 
#17 ·
They made it through the winter... Built up like crazy starting in late February...split them too late... both swarmed...recaptured one of them and that hive is doing well. One of my Italian hives superseded and apparently the queen mated with a Russian. It is my best hive. I made a nuc from the Russians...let them start the queen. She's laying like crazy and I just put them into a 10 frame deep...they're doing great. I hope to always have Russians. They really do well... You just have to stay on top of them to keep them from swarming. How was their honey harvest? Couldn't say as they swarmed and ruined their production for the short flow we had this year. My Russian / Italian hybrid hive yielded over 80 lbs...not great but better than nothing.
How did you loose your hives?
 
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