Back into the bee shed today to sweep up some bees, some things are not quite right, and it is my own fault as I had planned to remedy them last year but didn’t get around to it. The Canadian Winter is nearly through… I hope, and I am optimistically looking forward.
Swept out the bee shed today. Weighed and calculated the honey bee attrition rate to date. Wondering what is normal. What are you seeing?
The forecast looks like winter, time to move the bees inside. Kayla and I moved the bees into the wintering shed.
Testing Honey Moisture Content
Here is the link to where I purchased the refractometer, it is pricey but very convenient:
https://www.itm.com/product/atago-pal-22s-digital-handheld-honey-refractometer?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIpuC-s9Hf4wIVjpOzCh1zZwOyEAYYAiABEgKfS_D_BwE
I have had a bear of a time getting the Styrofoam mating nucs going in early spring with the cool weather, cut and assembled these mini nucs so I can multi level them, they are half length medium frames.
The plan is that with brood already in them, I can split them back to single depth to get a head start on early queen rearing.
I think there are about 75 of them, the plan is to sell local queen in larger numbers than we have been, with more consistency next season.
In this video I identify a double nuc where one queen has failed, and show/discuss how we deal with the remaining colony.
We run our double nucs through the honey season to maximize growth and honey production in our beekeeping operation. I love this method, and for the past 7 years have run 85-90% of my colonies in similar configuration, over time identifying ways to maximize growth and honey profits at the same time, while building my awareness on how these units grow and react to our climate, and location.
I would love to hear your ways of maximizing sideliner operation growth and profits at the same time!