Took my first honey today

[Blammer]

$7-9 per pound of honey. More if there is comb in it.

I remove bees from houses, if you need any suggestions I can help, PM me.

[BrentD]

$7-9/lb! That is awesome. I should get back in this business!

[Wolfer]

With the rain and high humidity here the girls have been slow to cap the honey this year. I'm gonna make the rounds today and see if any is ready.

Splitting a nuc off of a strong hive is as easy or easier than installing a package for me. Plus their free and they will probably survive whereas the package probably won't.
I start at least one nuc every weekend just for swarm control.

In talking to people about bees here is the biggest problem I see. Most hobby beeks want one or two hives and that's all. Since like all Gods creatures they're born looking for a place to die in a year or two or three their bees will misfire on a queen and without intervention the hive is doomed.

As soon but no sooner that the blackberries bloom in the spring I start some nucs. These will replace any bees I've lost. If not needed there is a ready market for them.

In the old days when I saw a hive going downhill I babied them along until they finally died. Not anymore. At the first sign of trouble I combine them with a strong hive and start a nuc in their equipment.

Equipment is expensive. Bees are free once you have them and you keep them reproducing.

[BrentD]

I will requeen if a hive is headed own hill (as in kill the old queen and let them make a new one, or buying a queen for some new genes). But it is easy to see if the queen is the issue usually. I've had one probably CCD dead hive over over the years, maybe 2 winterkills, and that's about it. I've not medicated at at all in the last 5 years at least, and haven't lost a single hive since. I make no effort to control or stop swarming - my bees probably swarm once or twice per year - I don't mind. It's a sign of a healthy hive.

I only have two hives, but that's enough to rescue one with the other if necessary.

[rancher1913]

wish you guys were closer and could help me learn, I do better with verbal instructions than with a book. we have several hives with attractant placed near the wild hives in hopes of catching a swarm, and one of these days I'm going to open up the walls and relocate the wild hives. I built a really nice bee vacuum that fits on top of a hive body that makes it easy to collect a swarm.

[BrentD]

rancher, you might check with your state university extension service. There is a decent chance they have someone nearby who can come out and check the health of your hives and give you advice. And there is almost certainly some local bee clubs or groups, or at least a few locals that would be happy to show you some ropes. I agree that a little bit of in-person help goes a long ways. That's how I learned - mostly.

[Wolfer]

As Winnie the pooh would say, bees will be bees and they do as they please. However I think you'll have better luck trapping a swarm if the traps are about 800/1000 yards from where the parent colony is.

As Brent said, with a little hands on experience it's pretty easy to tell when a queen is headed downhill.

You should be able to find a local beek that will let you watch while he works his hives. A guy can always use a free hand to help set off boxes etc.

[hoosierlogger]

i ate some of the honey on my buckwheat pancakes I made from some of the buckwheat I planted late last summer for the bees. It just doesn't get any better than that. The buckwheat was a lot of work to process, but man did those cakes taste good!!

[Blammer]

rancher1913, make sure the bees have a soft place to land when they arrive in the vacuum tube, make sure your vacuum tube is SMOOTH! not bumpy like NORMAL vacuum tubes.

make sure you have some means to control the suction, make it JUST enough to get the bees if they are hanging on and no more. Too much suction and you'll have 'bee gut jelly' in the bottom of the vac.

I built my bee vac too from scratch and learned a lot about what NOT to do and what works. I have a really good one now that if I vacuum up a queen 95% chance she'll live.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

snip...

Say, how much are you guys getting for your honey, if you are selling it? I used to sell at $2/lb (wholesale to a local food coop). But I imagine the price is much higher now.

I need to find a local honey supplier. Last stuff I bought in the store was beyond nasty. Think it was mostly corn syrup

My veggie farmer friend keeps bees (been doing it for over 20 years), mostly for pollination. Before the CCD hit his hives hard, he'd sell bulk for $1 per pound. Then he had about 5 years of CCD die off...they'd be GONE by sept. So he'd buy new packages every spring (for pollination). Three years ago, he bought nuks from a guy trucking them in from Texas. They haven't disappeared (CCD) yet, he did have some honey to sell the last two years, first time in over 5 years. He charged $7 per lb, that seems to be the going rate around here.

He usually extracts honey in Sept. I usually get a quart jar full from his first extractions...The "extra mild" clover honey ...His later extractions have ragweed influences and it's not as mild.

Mary, let me know if you need me to hook you up with some...if McLeod County honey is local enough for you ?
Jon

[MaryB]

I am in Yellow Medicine county... be a 150 or so mile round trip to there... Found a guy down in Luverne, has good prices... but a bit wary because he is a big commercial operation selling to all the HyVees around the 5 state area. Looking to get 8-12 1 pound jars so I have honey for the year.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I now "about" where you are, so that wasn't what I was asking...I just asked about local, as it's relative to one of the main reasons some people seek out "local" honey for the health and allergy benefits of local honey.

[MaryB]

Yep, why I would like to find someone in a 2-4 county area... I suffer from horrible allergies and need to try something besides the nasal sprays the doc pushes(they are NOT good for the nose)