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pollination strength question

2K views 11 replies 7 participants last post by  Ben Little 
#1 ·
What is the Pollination strengths for a double deep in your areas ?

I have a grower looking for Double Deeps with 8 frames of brood and really packed with bees for late May/early June, I couldn't find out how many frames of bees he needs though .

Ben
 
#2 ·
#5 ·
I agree that 8 frames of brood is a little high and I think it is a bit on the verge of swarming , here is the pollination standards for NS , for blueberries .
http://nsac.ca/wildblue/facts/pollination/honeybee_colonies.pdf

I have no problem doing what is best for the crop producer , but if I am going to lose a lot of bees to swarming , that is money lost for me. Don't you think so ?

Ben
 
#6 ·
I tried to push them hard early this past spring and it was just that for me -a recipe for swarming!
Our spring was abnormally cold and I thought they would build more slowly than they did, come late April a few were in the trees. On a day with 35 mph winds, maybe 50f but sunny. None of them would have made it another week without heading for the trees.
Needless to say I only made half the early splits out of that yard that I had planned to. And what a scramble to do that.
 
#9 ·
The publication you posted Ben tells you how it is. They had four frames of brood and 20,000 bees 1 queen. Basically a single. I would say adhere to that strength and both you and the grower would be fine. Grower would likely be better served with 8 frames of brood, but he is likely not willing to pay double the going rate... so what's in it for you? Unless there is a financial incentive to provide better than ministry set standards why would you? Besides I thought you were going to purchase a bunch of packages this spring. In that case you will be hard pressed to make standard strength... depending on circumstances. Will you get the bees in early April, mid April or late April? Will conditions be good for bees to build up? Will the bloom come early on the blueberry fields? It is easy to loose 20% of packages, just because. You can keep them going if you fool around with them, but they will be behind others. All things considered I would say do the best you can, and certainly do not promise to deliver above grade bees especially when first starting out. Later with more experience you will be able to make that decision and price accordingly.

Jean-Marc
 
#10 ·
If he is getting packages in April and expecting them to be pollination strength by blueberry bloom he is going to have to sock the protein patty and syrup to them something fierce. And they would have to be well established on drawn comb to have enough brood in 6 weeks to meet the criteria. Unless you have other hives with which to equalize brood and to rob honey frames.
 
#11 ·
I bet the growers are screaming for bees out there.
I think your looking at having those packages build to good sized singles by the end of May, probably four frames of sealed brood. I would not expect any stronger than that.
The grower will pay accordingly. If he wants eight frames of sealed brood, then he will have to either discount or go elsewhere.

I thought growers paid by the frames of bees, not counting brood frames. That would be very time consuming.
 
#12 ·
I have 40 other hives that I can use to equalize any hives that need resources from , even at a modest 20% loss through winter , I should be able to be at the pollination standard for growers, I have some drawn comb for them and I will be giving patties as needed and I have set aside 20-25 kg of sugar for each package.

So like anything in farming , it will depend on weather (like mentioned ) and luck :)

I am going to attend a blueberry producers meeting this November and hope to meet some good contacts there and possibly drum up some business.

Ben
 
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