1/1/2024 0 Comments Goldilocks principle![]() This is the term used by beekeepers to indicate an increase in colony or hive numbers … it’s always seemed to me a rather quaint or old-fashioned phrase.Which is why mentoring is so important … it speeds up the learning process and it gives the beginner confidence.Your colonies should have a reasonable level of brood in them now … upon which all those untreated Varroa are already munching. If you’re reading this in mid-February and haven’t yet treated your colonies with dribbled or vaporised oxalic acid then it’s probably too late to do this effectively.Not ‘experiment’ as in my day job (I have more hives for that), but to investigate different ways of improving my stock, alternative approaches to queen rearing and introduction, other types of mite control etc. I can produce enough honey to sell or give away and still have sufficient colonies to dabble or experiment with. Or it might be 200 … in which case you’ve got a stronger back and a bigger truck than me □įor me it’s about a dozen. They are excellent observers, skilled practitioners and really understand what’s happening in their colonies at all times of the season. There are some outstanding beekeepers I know who have a couple of colonies in a good area for forage and who consistently produce spectacular honey yields per colony. Not ‘just’ two, with the sort of dismissive implication that that’s not what being a real beekeeper is. other competing hobbies and pastimes 5, how full-time the full-time job is, your abilities as a beekeeper and the pressure others 6 put on you to take holidays mid-season □ Quite where that sweet spot is will depend upon a whole host of different factors. Too many bees and bad weather are a testing combination. Almost certainly on the day you need to do your inspections, move the grafted larvae, collect a swarm and feed the mini-nucs. Without specifically saying it, this means it will be wet. Your agenda and that of your bees is partially overlapping, but almost certainly not in sync.Īnd then there’s the weather … we live in a country where the weather report regularly uses the phrase ‘mainly dry’. You’ll get phone calls in the office asking you to retrieve a swarm from a tree/swing/classroom 4.Īnd, at the same time you’re coping with all this, it’s also the best time of the year to rear queens. Miss a late open queen cell and they’ll swarm on the next available good day. In my experience the swarm season and extremes of weather are the two most testing periods.ĭuring the peak swarming period – mid/late May to mid-June here, but earlier further South – beekeeping can be a ‘full-on’ experience. They learn how easy it is to make increase 3 using a well-timed vertical split of a vigorous, healthy colony, or by not reuniting after using the Pagden method for swarm control.Īnd then they learn to graft, to use mini-nucs, to overwinter 5 frame nucs and – before you know it – they’ve bought a truck □ But is (many) more than two, too many?Īnd then, at some point, sooner or later, it can become a bit of a chore. Colony numbers can be increased easily.įrom having too few bees they can now rapidly reach the point of having too many. ![]() These crowded colonies necessitate careful swarm prevention and control. Their colony management skills are now good enough to keep large, prolific hives. This is the point after which they will always have enough bees. It all looked so easy in the books or in that midwinter theory course.īut, assuming they don’t give up, all this time they’re gaining valuable experience – week by week, month by month and year by year.Īnd then they pass some sort of invisible inflexion point in their beekeeping ‘career’. Or they lose queens during the season, suffer an extended broodless period, and need to beg or borrow a queen from elsewhere to keep the colony together. The colonies are weaker than they should be to exploit the forage or to overwinter successfully. Sometimes they have too few bees in the hive. From too few to more than enoughīeginners often struggle in their early years of beekeeping 2. At the risk of repeating myself, it’s a no brainer. The actual inspections may take twice the time, but that’s about it.Įven then, you’ll be getting twice the practice when you do inspect, so you’ll probably get more efficient, faster, with two colonies rather than one. Most of these tasks take little or no more time if you’re dealing with two colonies rather than one. For example, travelling to and from the apiary, preparing syrup, lighting the smoker, cleaning the extractor and so on. Quite a bit of beekeeping is preparation and clearing up afterwards. Logically, the amount of work involved in managing two colonies is double that of one colony.
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