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Subject: Orange County, NC Beekeepers

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  • From: Marty Hanks <marty AT justbeenc.com>
  • To: Blair Christian <blair.christian AT gmail.com>, Orange County Bees <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] Swarm catching gear...
  • Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2013 10:57:02 -0400

As usual Blair... excellent info! 

I just want to know how you get all those girls to tell you their weight? Mine tend to be like the women in my life and silent on the issue! 

marty

On Fri, Mar 29, 2013 at 10:31 AM, Blair Christian <blair.christian AT gmail.com> wrote:
Hi All,

It's swarm catching time so I thought I'd share my gear to help out anybody new
https://plus.google.com/photos/106022773068627809372/albums/5860766260679003249?authkey=CKfjnfSQ7Ii6YA
Not pictured: a little bow saw sometimes comes in handy.


Some stats from last year:
Swarm calls I answered: ~10
Actual swarms retrieved: ~5
Number that made it to last summer: 3
Number that overwintered: 0
Weights (lbs): 2.5, 2.5, 2.3, 4.3, 5
Number of times I used a ladder: 7


I had a number of "mini-swarms"-- less than 1 lb of bees + 1 queen,
which were not big enough to hive and I did various things with those
queens, mostly gave them away.
https://plus.google.com/photos/106022773068627809372/albums/5795590192521436657
I think they came from Dave (?) Frupnicht?  He has maybe 20 hives
about a mile from me, and might have some Russian bees.

My hiving plans: I put them in an appropriate sized space (2.5 lbs or
less bees into a 5 frame nuc; 2.5+ lbs of bees into a deep).  I try to
put a frame of mixed brood in, and at least a frame of drawn comb for
the queen to lay, and plenty of undrawn comb.  I put on a full top
feeder and don't go near them for a week.  I didn't have any abscond
with that strategy last year.   Some will go into supersedure almost
immediately though.

Game on,
Blair
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