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Mining Hives

8K views 44 replies 11 participants last post by  sqkcrk 
#1 ·
Today was a good day to raise brood above an excluder. Temperatures were up in the low 80s and nectar was coming in.

I went through a yard of 12 pallets of hives, 4 to a pallet. Most of the hives are a deep and a medium. I went through each hive and pulled three or four frames of brood, leaving two or three behind, replacing the removed frames w/ drawn comb. I put the frames of brood in a deep box, placed an excluder on the hive, put the box w/ brood on the excluder, and put the lid on.

Tomorrow morning I will pull the boxes of brood, taking them away to another yard on 4 way pallets, and install a queen cell in each of the 25 new hives.

All this to help replace the loss.
 
#40 · (Edited)
The Apivar strips came yesterday and today I ran up to NC to get them and installed them in most of the blueberry hives. I will finish up tomorrow. Then back to SC to go through those hives again. I was able to make 7 more nucs in the blueberries. Nectar is coming in in the blueberries.
 
#41 ·
I finished installing strips in the blueberry hives and collected the 8 nucs. My grower says the hives can probably come out in a week. A week after that I hope to be headed back to NY.

Sam, my blueberry grower, showed me some buds which still haven't opened, some frost damage, and slits in the side of flowers made by carpenter bees which honey bees use to get to the nectar. There is some question as to whether honey bees actually do pollinate blueberries because of the shape and depth of the flower. Experience shows that the absence of honey bees will result in a smaller blueberry crop.

I took the nucs back to SC and will put queens in them in the morning. Nectar is coming in here, so I supered hives that needed more room w/ deep brood supers and installed Apivar strips. Checking splits and nucs tomorrow to see which ones have queens and which ones don't.
 
#42 ·
I made three trips from SC to NC to get all of my hives and misc equip close to the blueberries for loading the semi northward bound when it was time to take bees out of the blueberries. Last night and this morning I hauled 64 pallets of hives out of the blueberry farm to the loading yd.

Those hives have put on some weight since the first of April. From what I can see w/out cracking covers there are some bees in those hives and some on the outside too. Many of them should have had another medium super on them a wk or two ago. But I don't have them here anyway and they will all be in the hives when they get to NY in a cpl days where temps are 20 to 25 degrees cooler.

It's been a good season in the blueberries. I'll be able to mine these hives again before supering up time in NY.
 
#43 ·
Got the load on, netted and strapped in about 3 hours. Departed Garland, NC at about 6PM yesterday and arrived here at home in NY 24 hours later. Slept in VA about 6 hours.

Crocuses are blooming here. Guess my bees will be getting another Spring. Gives me a chance to use those protein patties I bought 2 months ago.
 
#44 ·
Sounds like 18 hours of hard driving, also sounds like you made good time.

Matt says Ken's 18 wheeler came out of that field with no problems.... I was kinda worried.

Must be nice to sleep in your own bed, and not with all those stored vegetables... :)

Marie will miss you at the Tienda....
 
#45 ·
You'll have to eat for two Herb. :)

As far as sleeping in your pantry, I can't tell you how many years our bedroom here was also where I stored most of my honey jars. So, at least there was something edible at your place. :)
 
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