I just found this site from the Countryside Forum,, so,,I'm wondering how many keep bees and where are you located? (good to know whree to get good info from),, I have BUCKFAST, ITALIANS, ALL AMERICANS, , so far,, the buckfasts are kicking the stingers off the others, so I may use all buckfast next year. Im in MICH,, about the mmiddle way up, and close to Lake Michigan on the Lower Penninsula.

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), July 24, 2001

Answers

Stan, I don't have bees yet, but I plan on getting some. Probably the year after next. I plan on building and using top bar hives - I can get a premium price for comb honey at farmers market, can't hope to compete for the extracted honey market. Also, top bar hives are less prone to disease and are conducive to more wax production. More wax production is a Bad Thing if you're trying to maximize honey for the extracted honey market, but A Good Thing if you want the wax! And I want the wax!!!! I'll get less total honey, but I'll have easier maintenance and very low startup costs, can build the hives myself, and will end up with two products - comb honey and beeswax - for which I can get high prices at market. That's assuming I don't use all the beeswax myself ... LOL!

A couple of years ago I saw a book at a farm conference, it was called something like "101 things you can make using honey" or something like that. I wrote the title down, but don't know where I put the paper I wrote it on! It was recipes for things like hand cream, etc. Has anybody ever seen this book? I'm dying to get the title so I can find a copy ...

-- Sojourner (notime4@summer.spam), July 24, 2001.

I have 2 hives. One is Italian and the other is Russian. I just requeened with the Russian queen a few weeks ago, so the jury is still out on that breed, although that queen is a productive little sucker...that hive has built up very fast! I'm debating rebuilding my hives at some point. I saw a design for a hive where the 2 deep hive bodies are side by side on the stand with the center walls removed to make one large box. The the supers are put in the center on the top with 2 short tops on each side to cover the rest of the hive bodies. This style would keep me from having to lift the top deep hivebody when it's full, which is a bit of a challenge for a small woman. (Especially trying to do it slowly and smoothly so as not to upset the girls!) Has anyone tried out this style or know anyone who has? My concern is that rain or melt would still get down the side of the supers into the hivebodies when there was a driving rain or snow (I think the telescoping lid on top of the supers would prevent runoff straight down, but rain coming sideways due to a wind could be a problem?) What are All Americans? I've never heard of that breed. The Russians are a breed developed to be mite resistant, and I've had a mite problem here from day one. I now use sumac when I smoke my hives, which is supposed to kill mites, and I grow a lot of mint and thyme which produce menthol and thymol which are supposed to kill the mites. I have to admit that since I started doing these things, my mite problems have diminished.

-- Sheryl in ME (radams@sacoriver.net), July 25, 2001.

I havnt seen that configuration for the 2 deep supers. Would seem good, except for the mentioned rain/snow. I maight have to think about that. ALl AMERICAN,, are a breed that Weaver Apiaries developed,, they are a cross breed,, Russian,, and , Italians (I think),, no mites so far,, but they arent doing very well either. They are also on the other side of the yard, cause they are a little feisty.

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), July 25, 2001.

I keep bees in Florida, near Tampa. Right now I have around 24 hives. All of my bees are Italians. I used to buy them from a local breeder but he stopped raising them last year, so I bought some package bees from Spell, in Georgia. I have been real happy with them so far. Major honey crops for me here are citrus in March/April; followed by blackberry; then Palmetto in May. The bees live off the wildflowers anf gallberry in the summer, and then at the end of Aug I may move to a brazilian pepper location for winter stores, if I get my hives mounted onto a trailer this year. Last year I moved them by hand- never again! Too hard on the bees, but also on me!

-- Elizabeth (ekfla@aol.com), August 12, 2001.