[TalonRedding]

Don't be fooled by the title. I don't really think that, but I just had to share this with you all.
I have been making splits and have had some luck at catching a few swarms this year, and my bee yards are building up quite well for the moment. I caught a swarm at my grandparents' and was telling them about the other swarms I have caught, and that is when my grandpa told me that he had told another beekeeper that I was making splits and catching swarms to make increases.
Here is where it gets good.....the beekeeper told him to tell me not to make splits, because it is not good for the hive ( for what reason I'm not sure. I always add a queen cell or queen when I make splits.) he wasn't able to say exactly why it is not good to make a split. Additionally, he said that he never catches swarms and that it would be best if I didn't either because swarms most likely originate from sick hives, and that is the reason they left the nest!
After my grandpa told me this ( grandpa knows better, but he was just repeating what this other beekeeper had said), I had to use a car jack to shut my jaw since it had fallen to the floor. To say that I was flabbergasted at this statement, by a beekeeper at that who should know that swarming is a reproductive behavior and more than likely is a sign of health than sickness, is a complete understatement!
Now, I understand that swarms late in the year don't do so well, but that's because it's late in the year. I also understand that bees will sometimes abscond a nest for various reasons. But, why in the world would someone reject a prime swarm and an after swarm during the spring of the year, during a strong nectar flow, and from a healthy hive? That beekeeper can do what he wants to, but I'll take the swarms all day long, make splits, increase my bees, and it will be my little secret!
This begs to question........where does he get his bees? I don't see how you can acquire bees without making splits or catching swarms. A package of bees is nothing but a split without comb. I wonder if others with his mentality have ever thought that through?
Anyway, I just had to share that. What do you all think?

 

[Tenbears]

Sometimes a LITTLE knowledge is a dangerous thing, I cannot imagine that this guy is even a Beekeeper, I would be willing to bet it is someone who has done a bit of reading about bees, formulated some opinions and now considers themselves a beekeeping guru. You know like those who come here professing to be absolutely newbees with no experience in bees, then 6 months later they are handing out advice as though they are seasoned veterans.

 

[Oldtimer]

Ha what you said rang some bells. For quite a few years the City Council used me to remove problem bees, this was often in a public place and would sometimes attract an audience. Quite a few times I have been reprimanded by someone who tells me their uncle / workmate / person they met in a bar used to have a hive and they said you should never do xxx and I should learn how to do my job. xxx could be anything from the clothes I'm wearing to if I'm using a smoker, not using a smoker, not spraying them with water (which I never do), or whatever.

 

[oldfordguy]

It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt.

 

[jwcarlson]

Don't be fooled by the title. I don't really think that, but I just had to share this with you all.
I have been making splits and have had some luck at catching a few swarms this year, and my bee yards are building up quite well for the moment. I caught a swarm at my grandparents' and was telling them about the other swarms I have caught, and that is when my grandpa told me that he had told another beekeeper that I was making splits and catching swarms to make increases.
Here is where it gets good.....the beekeeper told him to tell me not to make splits, because it is not good for the hive ( for what reason I'm not sure. I always add a queen cell or queen when I make splits.) he wasn't able to say exactly why it is not good to make a split. Additionally, he said that he never catches swarms and that it would be best if I didn't either because swarms most likely originate from sick hives, and that is the reason they left the nest!
After my grandpa told me this ( grandpa knows better, but he was just repeating what this other beekeeper had said), I had to use a car jack to shut my jaw since it had fallen to the floor. To say that I was flabbergasted at this statement, by a beekeeper at that who should know that swarming is a reproductive behavior and more than likely is a sign of health than sickness, is a complete understatement!
Now, I understand that swarms late in the year don't do so well, but that's because it's late in the year. I also understand that bees will sometimes abscond a nest for various reasons. But, why in the world would someone reject a prime swarm and an after swarm during the spring of the year, during a strong nectar flow, and from a healthy hive? That beekeeper can do what he wants to, but I'll take the swarms all day long, make splits, increase my bees, and it will be my little secret!
This begs to question........where does he get his bees? I don't see how you can acquire bees without making splits or catching swarms. A package of bees is nothing but a split without comb. I wonder if others with his mentality have ever thought that through?
Anyway, I just had to share that. What do you all think?

Sounds to me like maybe it's a guy who doesn't want any swarm catching/collection competition around?

 

[stan.vick]

Sounds to me like maybe it's a guy who doesn't want any swarm catching/collection competition around?

Ditto, just some guy trying to blow smoke and keep all the action for himself, and wants you to fail because he thinks he is the only real beekeeper in that area.

 

[Michael Bush]

His ideas are not that far from the mainstream.

I don't agree, but there are people who think that feral swarms are all diseased and full of pests (easy to believe if you think you have to treat your bees constantly). Of course reality is that successful hives swarm not failing ones...

There are people who believe that a walk away split will result in a poor queen. Of course it CAN result in a poor queen if it's a weak split and if there is no flow, but a strong split in a flow usually results in a good queen.

You are hearing it second hand so you don't get to hear his rationale, which I'm sure makes perfect sense to him... not to me, but to him...

 

[Teal]

I wouldn't be able to help myself. If it was me, I'd go over and talk to him, just to see what the heck he was thinking, or who the heck he got this "knowledge" from. I'd just have to!

 

[Tennessee's Bees LLC]

It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open's one mouth and remove all doubt.

Haha my thoughts exactly!


Yes Talon Redding don't catch those swarms, don't make those splits you might actually be successful and make money at beekeeping and that would be bad......

 

[beemartin]

Offer to put up bait hives and catch all of his "sick" bees! ��

 

[TalonRedding]

(Sounds to me like maybe it's a guy who doesn't want any swarm catching/collection competition around.).
I thought this as well at first until my grandpa told me he was selling a quart of honey for $18/quart!

(His ideas are not that far from the mainstream.).
Now, that's just scary!

(Yes Talon Redding don't catch those swarms, don't make those splits you might actually be successful and make money at beekeeping and that would be bad......)

I know, right? He is probably some someone who only has 10 hives or so with visions of grandeur about the enormous empire he will build with that $18/quart! The only way to keep bees is his way. What kills me is where do you get bees? They have to come from either a swarm or a split. There is just no way around it! :lpf:

(Offer to put up bait hives and catch all of his "sick" bees! )
I really should! I'd do it free of charge too!