I started off with a single pkg of Italians. Not too bright, you should always start 2-3.
The chances of a single pkg hive making it through the winter are significantly lower than having multiple hives. I got lucky with a mild winter.
I didn't take any honey from the hive that year.

I got 2 more pkg Italians last year, and those hives got a boost because I took some frames of capped honey and brood from the primary hive.
The same friggin day I installed those packages the primary hive swarmed. I was able to catch the swarm in a spare deep I had.
Thank god I had some spare lids and bottom boards, because it swarmed again the next day.
I caught that swarm as well. Yay me, I'm a real damn beekeeper now!!

So, that's five hives rolling now. I really went through the sugar this summer.
Feed the 2 package hives, feed the swarm hives a 1:1 sugar syrup.
I put a super on it at the beginning of the summer, but otherwise the Primary hive is own its own.
It should be strong enough and there is good forage for them.

Fast forward through the summer and both pkgs and primary look great.
Swarm hives are a little slower to draw out frames, but that's to be expected because they didn't get any drawn frames to start with.

I went on vacation for one damn week and I'm pretty sure one of the swarm hives swarmed when I was gone. I didn't immediately notice when I got back, so I think everything is ok. Everything is not ok. Wax moths have moved in and set up shop. The wax moths start doing their thing (killing the hive) for a while until I do an inspection and find hardly any bees but tons of wax moths and small hive beetle. ****, that swarm hive is a total loss. Scape off all the comb from the frames (1 deep fully drawn) and shove it in the freezer to kill the wax moth, SHB plus their eggs and larvae. I'll render the wax some day with all of the other old comb and nasty stuff.

By this time, main nectar flow is done. I go out to the apiary one day and it is full on robbing of the remaining swarm hive.
Bees are buzzing loudly as they bounce off each other and wrestle at the hive entrance. They are putting up a good fight, but it's just a matter of time before they are overrun.
The swarm hive is much weaker than the 3 pkg hives. I put on a robbing screen, but it is too late, the bees won't stop at this point.
I bite the bullet and take apart the hive. I was able to save about 8.5 frames of honey so not a total loss.

I had those 8+ frames and the full super from the primary hive to extract. I didn't take any honey from the 2 pkg hives.

I plan on doing some splits of the 2 pkg hives, and I'd bet on some more swarms as well. I just hope I have enough woodware. Shit starts adding up.

Good luck!!
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Ive bought a top bar hive and plan on buying bees this spring to try it out. Ive got a pretty good size garden, Ive built a large chicken coop and have chickens going on 3 years now and I figure it's time to start a new self sustaining project.
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I certainly wish everybody who does this the best of luck. I keep hearing stories about how bees are dying off everywhere, and that's bad news for everything else.
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The guys I'm learning from have had mixed results. One of them lost 4-5 hives at his house this winter but the rest are good in other locations. I think he is blaming the adjacent farm spraying insecticide late in the season.


I'm not a notable hippy but I do believe the bee death is a real thing. Pollinators are vital and if more guys like me try to raise a few hives it will help.

It surely won't hurt my orchard either.
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Didn't they figure out the colony collapse problem was mostly related to some kind of mites ?
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I thought if you feed them sugar water the honey will get all crystalized and nasty. Fact or fiction?
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Fiction
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Honey gets crystallized due to temperature change for the most part. Setting the honey jar in a pan of very hot water will bring it back to a liquid, you don't want to overheat the honey as that kills a lot of the good properties that folks buy local honey for. A drawback, IMO, in using sugar water is you lose the allergy-releiving properties of local honey if they aren't pollinating the flowers/weeds that are causing the allergies.
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I'd be real interested in learning more about beekeeping. We have some pasture land; I've thought about putting some hives out there. I know we'd have to fence them off real good to keep the cattle out. Just curious if there is any money in it to make it worthwhile.
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Bee numbers are definitely down. But there is a lot of factors. At gets blamed for a shitton of it but objectively nothing has changed in at to promote large scale bee death. But a neighbor spraying definitely could have nuked your local colony.

But the whole talc/seed treatment thing is a joke. Vacuum planters have been on the market forever as has seed treatment. In terms of applied insecticides, the total volume of insecticides applied is minuscule since BT corn was commercially available.

But I'd talk to your neighbors. See if you can get a courtesy call when he is flying insecticide on.
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No turning back now.

Last night I bought 3 hives and a few extra boxes from someone who didn't want to do this anymore, along with a bonafide bee hat, gloves, smoker and tools for less than half of retail...got a good deal.

For year one I play to buy 2 nucs and keep the 3rd and try to catch a swarm.


Probably a good time to invest in epi-pen stocks.
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good luck. my hive died when i bought one without a queen.
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I just finished planting a 2 acre pollinator planting on the farm. I figure I have the space and the bees and butterflies can benefit. We are converting another 11 acres from fescue to Native Warm Season Grasses for the wildlife benefits.

Guess deep down all of we farm types are pretty green...
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[QUOTE=HonestChieffan;12766022]I just finished planting a 2 acre pollinator planting on the farm. I figure I have the space and the bees and butterflies can benefit. We are converting another 11 acres from fescue to Native Warm Season Grasses for the wildlife benefits.

Guess deep down all of we farm types are pretty green...[/QUOTE

looks good on paper. get paid and never make anything. that is your pretty green.
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Looks good Iowa - love what you're doing up there
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