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I was covered in bees today. My little boy is turning out to be a very good swarm spotter, and pointed me in the direction of a thorny rosebush in the abandoned field next to our property. Sure enough, there were bees clustering in there. I think I've got them, but not sure. I'll go out to check soon. Wish me luck.
Posts: 3141 | Registered: Apr 2000
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I've caught 3 swarms in the past 2 weeks. Now we have 10 hives. Scott, any tips on how to keep these girls from continuously swarming? I know of at least 2 swarms that we've lost in addition to the ones I've managed to capture.
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Yeah, we split, but maybe too late? And we did feed the hives. I'm wondering if we perhaps fed for too long. Thanks for the great link! I'm sorry to hear your bees had trouble in the winter. We found that feeding really helped. We have a feeder that takes up 2 frames' worth of space in the hive, and fill it with sugar water. I am amazed at how aggressively the bees swarmed this year. They seem to be done now, at least for the time being. We now have bees everywhere! I am trying to be patient for the honey. We are planning to sell at the Farm Market this year.
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We thought about selling at the Farmer's Market, but there were lots of farmers there already selling honey from South America at a rate cheaper than we could go.
What worked for us was to find a bottler who sold us these nifty bottles on the cheap-- like small vinegar bottles, very cool design, with a cork opening. We bottled the honey ourselves, and struck up a deal with the Made in Virginia store here in Fredericksburg. Because our honey was local, they could sell it as a souveneir. We put a cool tag on it, wrapped some raffia around it, and we were in business.
Posts: 14554 | Registered: Dec 1999
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Ah, we are doing better in the Midwest, then. There aren't many beekeepers selling local honey here. We did very well last year, selling on a whim, so we have Goals for this year. The cork tops sound cool. Our Farmer's Market demands locally produced products, and I happen to be friends with the Market Master!
Posts: 3141 | Registered: Apr 2000
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quote:Originally posted by Jenny Gardener: Yeah, we split, but maybe too late? And we did feed the hives. I'm wondering if we perhaps fed for too long. Thanks for the great link! I'm sorry to hear your bees had trouble in the winter. We found that feeding really helped. We have a feeder that takes up 2 frames' worth of space in the hive, and fill it with sugar water. I am amazed at how aggressively the bees swarmed this year. They seem to be done now, at least for the time being. We now have bees everywhere! I am trying to be patient for the honey. We are planning to sell at the Farm Market this year.
Scott, do you sell comb honey? I'd buy from you.
Posts: 3354 | Registered: May 2005
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We are going to start selling at the Kokomo Farmer's Market in July. The market is open every Saturday into October. So if you are interested in Dragonwood honey, and want to make a road trip, stop on by!
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Also, I lost one of my captured-swarm hives. Back to 9 hives. The rest are pretty healthy, and starting to cap honey. It's going to be a delicious year.
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