Two Years of Lessons Learned

I recently had the honor of becoming the VP of our local beekeeping club. One of the opportunities this presents is the chance to help teach this year's class of new beekeepers–the first class being what equipment they should purchase. Naturally, this makes me think about my original purchasing decisions and what I would do differently if I was starting fresh today. This chapter looks back at what I think I did right and wrong with my equipment choices. The findings are based solely on my experiences and do not reflect the results others may have had.

If you have been a reader of this blog, you are aware I chose to have 2 Beemax polystyrene hives (2 deeps and 3 mediums ea) with Pierco large cell frames in one and Mann Lake small cell plastic frames in the other. I also purchased 2 Beemax polystyrene top feeders and 2 packages of bees shipped from GA. While the Beemax hives have been excellent and my bees continue to survive the last 2 winters, I wish I had never bought the plastic frames. Compared to the wood and wax foundation I have used since then, I can only say that my bees prefer drawing comb on wax, not plastic. While plastic has several benefits over wax, i.e. easier to use and definitely more durable, I have never been able to get my bees to draw out all of the frames in a hive body. While I know other beeks who have great success with plastic, this Spring I will be moving all of my bees to wax. Besides, it makes better candles!

My primary mistake with the hives was to mix deeps and mediums. Michael Bush is spot on. While this is a traditional configuration for Langstoth hives, I have found during the past 2 years that I seem to always have honey, brood or comb on the wrong size frame for the task I need to address immediately. By this I mean I have extra medium frames of honey when I really need deeps–like last Fall. Earlier in the year, the exact opposite was true. To make my life easier and to be able to respond to whatever the bees needs are I am moving all of my hive bodies to mediums. This way I will always have the right size frame available as everything in my apiary will be consistent. Plus, the days of lifting 90 pound deeps are over, allowing me to continue beekeeping well into retirement. The only caveat is to keep my honey frames separate from the brood frames so that the honey can remain cleaner.

Speaking of frames and foundation, I believe there is something to be said for natural cell/small cell foundation. Two of my hives and the nuc are small cell while the other 2 hives are large. Too confusing... While I have not done a mite drop comparison to prove that small cell is better in my apiary, I believe it is from my inspections and I've decided to regress my 2 large cell hives to natural starting this Spring.

As for the feeders, in my apiary hundreds of bees have drowned in the polystyrene feeders over the past 2 years and I have quit using them. I really like the dual plastic tray feeders from Rossman Apiaries (G56 Hive Top Feeder). The screen the bees use for support is immensely safer for them to traverse as they feed vs the plastic sheet provided with the polystyrene. While I still have had bees drown using my new feeders, it is less than 2 dozen vs hundreds.

As I have mentioned above, the Beemax hives have performed well but, in reality, so has my wooden hive. As I get older I find more joy in working with natural materials and even tho' the Beemax have proven themselves, I will only be adding wooden hives to my apiary this year. Now that I have a complete woodworking shop I can easily make my own hives at the quality level I prefer. I'll still keep using the Beemax mediums until they give out.

A comment about "starter" kits–those kits provided by the sellers that contain "everything you need to start raising bees". Today, I would avoid purchasing starter kits and buy exactly what I need, not what a marketing/sales person wants to sell me. Why? First off, I NEVER use the beekeeper's gloves they provide. Being respectful to the bees while working their hive requires manual dexterity. On a scale of 1-10, those gloves reduce my dexterity to a 3. I only let visitors who are not going to be in the hives wear them so they feel protected. Secondly, I have not found a starter kit that allows me to just buy mediums. Third, the veil, the included book, the queen excluder and the feeder are useless to me. I would rather spend my dollars on an extra hive tool, a good veil/jacket combo and a feeder that works better. As for the book, buy the new edition of Kim Flottum's Backyard Beekeeper. It's the best book I've read for newbies.

Lastly, the bees. If you look at my early postings you will see that the first year I lost both queens and had to purchase a nuc to combine with Hive 1 so it would survive. The best way to start a a hive is from a nuc. A nuc from a reputable breeder has a laying queen that is already well accepted by the colony, a couple of frames of brood and, most often, has been raised locally and is suitable for your climate. I know so many beeks that have had the same distress I had the first year that I simply cannot recommend buying a package of bees that has been shipped 800 miles, been chemically treated and has a queen that may not even be the same race of bee. The trouble is that is what is most available to us and the way most new beeks have to start. It's actually how I will populate my top bar hive this year. Hopefully, it will be the last package I ever buy. Smart beekeeping means to be prepared in advance and know where you can purchase a local queen should yours come to an early demise.

So how did I do 2 years ago? Not that well. I spent the last half of my first season fighting to keep my hives alive, I spent a lot of money on things I did not ever need or use, bought hive bodies the wrong size and now have to replace them as well as all of my original frames. Meanwhile, my bees still did fine tho' possibly would have done better if I had not tried so many variables. The right things I did was buying a solar powered bear fence, reading, reading, reading and joining www.beesource.com. The absolute best part is I still have never chemically treated my bees and my hives continue to survive (said with crossed fingers which makes it really hard to type). I have learned what my bees seem to prefer and I have the wherewithal and desire to correct my mistakes. The top of this blog states that you will see the things I try and learn of my successes and failures. You've just met my failures. Meanwhile, I know other beeks who have had great success and swear by many the things I am changing. May their bees continue to prosper as I know my bees now will too.