where to put my energy

[@KajunHomestead]

👍👍👍

[@harrisjoubertwithsleepycre1924]

thanks

[@BlanchardsBees]

Had someone try and tell me I had poor management skills because my hives swarmed. 😂Some people are funny. Thanks for sharing friend 🐝

[@harrisjoubertwithsleepycre1924]

Rodney Middleton lets all his swarm, then he goes out and catches them. a swarmed hive wont make honey around here. we have one flow, blackberries, it is just about over, we will be in a dearth until April. then you have to worry if they re queen. I am still growing, and should split them myself to help my numbers

[@bennybeekeeper]

Thais is a great topic that is rarely discussed. I personally focus more on my best hives and leave the weak ones until last. I believe managing a very strong hive for maximum honey production without letting it swarm is a skill very few beekeepers master.

[@harrisjoubertwithsleepycre1924]

and part of it is the change in size. when I had 80 colonies, I could spend time working on the small ones and still get through the strong. at 200 it gets harder to do

[@Manuherikiabeekeeping]

Hi from central Otago southern New Zealand 👋 twenty questions 😂 How many hives do you have in this apairy? And how many are "problem" hives? Oh, and what bees are you running in these colonies? Is it brood build up you're having issues with or plenty of brood but the numbers of bees seem low all the time?

[@harrisjoubertwithsleepycre1924]

there are 100 in this apiary. there are 5 hives that are dead, or laying worker, same thing. 35 under 10 frames of bees, 50%, and growing. 35 to 40 50% - 80%, and the rest are full of bees and need split. I have a mix of bees, and they are all mutts. some build early, some later. when you have as many as I do right now there are always some going down hill. I have chalk brood in some, and that holds them back. I am trying to make queens from the good ones to re queen them

[@researcherAmateur]

In other words. I don't get into winter with weak hives and who ever comes out weak out of winter gets sorted immediately for splitting or a new queen. Those who can't keep up with the others in spring

[@harrisjoubertwithsleepycre1924]

I did a pretty good job grading last fall, we will see if I can do it again

[@researcherAmateur]

@@harrisjoubertwithsleepycre1924 yes. It comes to the thing that the equipment the frames are better used for a good hive. I was tought that at an early age. Now when I see people struggle with a weak hive.. but how can I tell a guy to give up on that... Happy beekeepers are those who can equalize everything. They work less and more productive. Like you said it's the weak that take the time.. and in the end make an unhappy beek. it's better to use those for nucks or combine in fall and get rid of a problem. I too put some on a strong ones over winter but in spring if there's no improvement they are the first to go for something else.

[@dcsblessedbees]

In my opinion you need to focus on the quality stock, focus on the ones that are acclimating well and growing. Some of the problem you are running into is you have repeatedly brought bees in so you are always playing catch up, work wise. Every few years you have brought in new stock and that's not bad genetic wise, it just makes for much more work incorporating them into your operation. Now is time to focus on the quality colonies, we have a few months left and it's time to make the splits(strong in my opinion) and focus on the colonies that are rolling forward. Remember Harris they are livestock it's time to make the difficult calls, you taught me that.

[@harrisjoubertwithsleepycre1924]

you are exactly right

[@researcherAmateur]

O yes you should. They are place takers and time spenders.. and they eat but don't produce.. and you're right you should judge them and depending on a time of year decide which one could just use a new queen.. l use the others (if it's not a disease). They get shaken all together and sprayed in a bucket so they can't fly.. and i can fill a lot of mini/baby hives for new queens. They just need to be kept in a cold dark room/place for 2-3 days in those baby boxes and they are ready for a queen breeding station. After that you can use them all spring and summer until dearth and produce a lot of queens

[@harrisjoubertwithsleepycre1924]

it is a change I need to make as I grow. I could spend more time with weaker colonies when I had 100, as the numbers grow I need to worry about the big ones more

[@researcherAmateur]

Every year I say this time I won't grow. I'll make me 100 queens to have 3 yards of 30 and that's it. Couple nucks. A couple of weeks back l had to find and cage over 200 😅. I just can't resist. With my old man's yard that should be 20 but it's 35+5 nucks and he's 83 years old. His excuse is if l can keep 20 than 30 is the same thing. And I had to make a new yard to quarantine the 21 swarms I collected from some guy who left his hive-trailer box of 50 too long here. So l have over 250 with a starting plan for 100 🤣 not counting the nucks. That's what happens when you stop commercial fishing and think how you're going to enjoy your bees "hobby". Who knows, maybe l will

[@russellkoopman3004]

Where to draw the line in the sand and say you are gone if?? What's hard is that there are so many variables to consider. Have fun figuring it out. There is no real right or wrong way it's just your way. LOL

[@harrisjoubertwithsleepycre1924]

I think its going to be if one re queen dosent work your done. they just get harder, and weaker fast after that