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Going cold turkey, getting cold feet

12K views 33 replies 19 participants last post by  hillhousehoney 
#1 ·
I just need to post my anxiety over the possibility of letting my bees die out through the winter. I left them 3-4 boxes of stores each ( 8 frame mediums), but the rest is up to them. Mite counts were really high last week, but brood production has dropped off with the temps so perhaps that Will slow the parasites down. Fingers are crossed, but it is going to be a long anxious winter! First treatment free year jitters I suppose.
 
#2 ·
Don't sweat it, if they all die there's always next year. Catch a swarm, do a cutout, buy a package. Lots of ways to get bees. Best of luck to you though =)
 
#7 ·
3 full size hives with genetics out of Palmer's bees
I made 8 nuc splits in August to overwinter with the following queens (3 Purvis bros, 4 Russell sunkists, 1 caught swarm)
 
#13 ·
I will take one winter at a time. Next summer will see more splits (if I have hives to split from), so they will be going into their first winter in 2013. One (cold) foot in front of the other...

Thanks all for the support!
 
#15 ·
I am right there with you...this is our very 1st year of beekeeping and have used no chemicals. I did do one powdered sugar shake mid Sept. after high mite count(which dropped quite a few) but, that is it. I am surrendering to the bee universe and hoping for the best! I am determined not to give up...Our neighbor did nothing and his bees survived(call it benign neglect:)) so I am hoping the same for our bees! Best of luck and know you are not along!
 
#16 · (Edited by Moderator)
I don't think that 'low expectations' is the best mindset to have when starting treatment-free beekeeping.

I would advocate having a workable plan that falls within the norm for beekeeping.

For instance, after an initial failure and some rethinking, I restarted with a known resistant breed, VSH, and then planned to split to survive, obtaining the equipment (nucs) to do so.

Currently, I'm interested in building some 2 or 3 frame mating nucs since I feel that it would go a long way towards making splitting, and selection, easier.

I am not a fan of the "Bond, Live and Let Die" school of treatment-free beekeeping.

I do like the MDA splitter concept. It makes sense.

So, there is a difference between 'treatment-free' beekeeping and 'management-free' beekeeping.

[Edit]
 
#18 ·
That is a mighty large assumption about me based on very little information!

On the contrary I have read, watched, and listed to everything I can get my hands on since begining this adventure ~18 months ago and made what I hope is (as closely as possible) a calculated risk. My ultimate goal is treatment free, why continue with a crutch that doesn’t allow me or my bees to build their strength. My original post was only to vent a little of the anxiety I am feeling. I am sure that many, regardless of their management style, feel some amount of concern for their bees survival over the winter. I do not fool myself that I have given them an extra large hurdle to that goal. Blindly assuming I didn’t think of ever pro and con I could imagine or had been posited by others is a negative assumption by you.

I followed the link in your signature before, it seems you want to promote a helpful, positive, supportive community. How about helping in that regard instead of assuming you know my background.

Best regards,
Dan
 
#19 ·
Well, sorry about that, but I can't see any more than what you show and I didn't see any planning, just jumping in w/ both feet. If you did plan, good. What more can be said. I wish you luck. I just know from experience that the odds are against you and you should be pleased w/ one good strong hive making it thru the winter.

I'm glad you looked at the link. I fall short of the ideal all the time. Don't know anyone who doesn't. Sorry 'bout that.
 
#23 ·
Well, sorry about that, but I can't see any more than what you show and I didn't see any planning.
I tend to see it more as an issue of thinking you know more than you have seen. The OP is not responsible for what you think or post based upon your lack of information.

One very important thing to know usually is when you don't know enough.
 
#20 ·
Thank you for the apology. I know I didn't provide much information as I was mostly looking for moral support from others who have walked the path before me. One strong hive would be a blessing, although I do hope (against the odds perhaps) for a nuc or two to make it through as well.
 
#21 ·
@Dan

One of the inherent problems with BeeSource and other Internet forums is that people responding to posts have little hard information to go on. There are lots of posts by people who want to keep bees without using treatments that unfortunately are scared to open their hives and see what is in there.

It is good to know that you have thought about the potential consequences of being treatment free.

I have a state bee inspector coming here in about an hour to look over the yards here (two) - and while I will be interested to know the Nosema counts, I am much more interested if there are virus signs that I have missed. I make no pretense at knowing everything there is to know about bees and welcome additional (knowledgeable) eyes. I do hope the temp rises a bit in the next hour.

My yard without treatments was started this spring from packages from BeeWeaver. I have found them feisty on occasion - we'll see what the state inspector has to say. They look healthy enough to me but with insufficient stores to over winter successfully.
 
#26 ·
I hope to! I have dog eared Lawrence John Connor's "Queen Rearing Essentials" and "Bee Sex Essentials" over this past year reading through them multiple times. Although I am leaning towards Joseph Clemens "system" for my first attempts at grafting this coming spring rather than the start finisher Dr. Connor recomends. All this assuming I have survivors to work from of course. ;-)

I tend to think that when someone is magnanimous enough to make an apology that it benefits the general tone of the discussion for everyone to move on.
Agreed, and magnanimous is such a great word as well!
 
#25 ·
I tend to think that when someone is magnanimous enough to make an apology that it benefits the general tone of the discussion for everyone to move on.
 
#31 ·
And Sol, your website and blog is one of the many sources of intensely pratical information I have tried to glean knowledge from (although I didn't green dye the 2:1 I am feeding the nucs). I appreciate all those who are willing to help and support through direct communications, or taking the time to post websites and publish books!

Thanks Barry, I figured this is a long term project
 
#32 ·
And Sol, your website and blog is one of the many sources of intensely pratical information I have tried to glean knowledge from (although I didn't green dye the 2:1 I am feeding the nucs).
It's my pleasure to help. If you ever have any suggestions of things for me to write about, don't hesitate to tell me.

I have never found the dye in the honey that gets harvested. It's a safety factor to make sure my product is as pure as possible. Generally, the hives that need feeding are not the ones that make extra honey anyway, or at least my management style leads to that conclusion.
 
#33 ·
This is an interesting thread. Was just about to post a tongue in cheek comment about beekeeing being an annual business, meaning you purchase the bees in the spring, get the best out of them before they die and buy new ones nextspring. It can be and certainly is frutrating. I bot two nucs this spring that were supposed to be "survivor" bees resistance to mites and have lost both of them to mites. I bot two 2 pound packages of Carnies and have lost one of them. The other I treated with Hopguard. So the ones left to themselves are gone and the hopguard treated hive thrives. Really wishing I could find a way to NOT to buy bees every spring. I see a lot of talk here about nucs and splits. Going to have to bone up on that over the winter and try to get some kind of game plan together. I still love em (bees) but the frustration is endless.
 
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