Natural beekeeping debates, tools, and practices

[@dcsblessedbees]

I have 1 of the ultra vented jackets, it helps a lot during those hottest days in Summer. I really like your introduction frame cage those are kind of cool. People go to far into the weeds, just do bees your way. I'll never figure out why beekeepers think they need to defend their preferred methods of keeping bees, It's their bees their way why put labels on everything. Thanks for a look into your style of beekeeping.👍

[@fiveacreshoneyfarm]

Exactly! I like to call it a beekeeper buffet-come and try some things and stick to your favorites. Do you have a name brand on your jacket? I haven’t found a jacket or bee suit that I like.

[@dcsblessedbees]

@@fiveacreshoneyfarm If I remember correctly it's a Forest Brand ultra vented jacket. Around a $100's maybe more mines is 2 years old. I think I payed $90.

[@BrianCooper901]

I prefer to cycle out come on a 3-4 year basis. We try to split our hives to sell nucs to beginners in the spring so this helps us get a lot of new comb drawn for us and also the nuc buyers. When we pull the splits I do an OA treatment. We have used Formic Pro and Apiguard before as well. They are all tools in the tool box so it's important to know when and how to use them if you are open to that type of treatment, but to each their own. I trend towards less treatments as I gain more experience and learn more about the nuances of timing the brood breaks and OA treatments to be the most effective.

[@fiveacreshoneyfarm]

That’s a smart approach to move the nucs and comb routinely. Win-win. I haven’t tried formic pro yet and have heard some horror stories of the queen leaving due to the smell/strength of the treatment.

[@BrianCooper901]

@@fiveacreshoneyfarmLast year was my first year but I didn't have any issues at all. The temperature parameters are important to follow.

[@TheWonderfield]

I like the idea of a brood break to reduce the varoa population. What's a good time of year for an intentional brood break? And would you recommend doing this to all your hives at the same time?

[@fiveacreshoneyfarm]

Brood breaks would be ideally timed around your area’s nectar flow rather than a calendar/seasonal time of the year. Some folks like to split or cage the queen just as the nectar flow starts. That way the queenless split hive won’t have 2,000 new eggs/larvae daily to feed all the honey to and will instead store it for your harvest. Others like to wait until after the nectar flow to cage, similarly for honey harvest-you can take what you need now that you see what they produced, and no new baby bees to feed for a bit. Also allows for more treatment options if you pull the honey.