2013 Hives for Sale

I am going to be selling hives again this year.  We have a limited number of hives this year, so let me know early so we can make sure we have what you need and get you set up right.  I only sell what is called a medium box.  These boxes are 6 5/8 inches tall.  I have deep boxes (9 5/8 inches) in my operation, but for hobbyist it is best to have all the same size boxes. I am actually moving away from my deep boxes and try to avoid using them.  I prefer mediums compared to deeps for a number of reason.  The biggest reason is working with the weight.  A full deep can be around 100 lbs.  A medium typically is about 50-60 lbs.  This is pretty heavy considering the bees will use propolis to glue them together.  In my experience the bees expand into a medium more readily than a deep box.  I have also found the frames tend to last longer because they aren't holding the weight that the deep frames do.  The kits I am sell will include 5 medium boxes assembled with water resistant glue and 16 gauge staples. These boxes are built to last.  The corners are box jointed and the top joint is modified to be 1 5/8 inches vs 3/4 inches.  The top joint is the weakest joint because of the rabbit cut for the frame rest.  By making it 1 5/8 inches it now has added strength and shouldn't blow out as easy.  This is an unique box that only one company makes as far as I know.  It is made in the USA out of ponderosa pine.     

The frames are made in the USA as well and so is the foundation.  The foundation is black plastic and coated with real bees wax.  This is the best combination of frame and foundation that I have found.  The bees seem to adopt it better than anything else I have used.

The tops this year are a migratory top or a California top. I have used both the telescopic cover and the California tops and I am converting to the California top as it is just easier to work with.  You can also create a top entrance if you would like.  It just seem a lot more versatile and you don't need an inner cover with it.

The bottoms are a solid reversable bottom.  One side leaves a bee opening of 3/4 inch and the other side is 3/8 inch.  The 3/8 inch is a good size for the winter and the 3/4 works good in the summer.  These also come with an entrance reducer.

The kit also comes with a division feeder.  This is a plastic feeder that replaces two frames and has a cap and ladder cover so you don't have as many bees drown.  These feeders work really well and you can use them over and over.

Finally the kit comes with a 3lb package of bees.  This is approximately 9,000 bees and one queen. You can choose from either a Carniolan queen or Cordovan Italian queen. Both breeds work really well in Utah.  Here is a link to a prior post that explains the different breeds.  These packages come from Koehnen & Sons in California and are good quality packages.

All of this for only $275.  We will give you an introductory class when you pick up the bees and be a coach an mentor along the way.  If you want two or more, we will offer a discount.  The equipment comes unpainted.  If you would like it stained it will be an additional $30.

Starter hives will be the same as above, but will only have 3 boxes instead of 5 and will be $215.

If you want hive components or bees here are the following prices:

Medium hive boxes (assembled with frames and foundation) - $35/box
Heavy duty California top - $12
Reversible bottom w/ entrance reducer - $12
Division feeder for 6 5/8 box - $10
3lb package of bees $82

Let me know if you have any questions.  I would love to help you get started. 801-796-2114

Happy Beekeeping
 

Goals for 2013

I have thought a lot about this and there are so many things I want to try, but so little time to do it.  After such a bad year for honey last year, I would like to really focus on honey production.  We had 15 hives going into winter and many of them were pretty light.  I would like to stay at about 15 hives, but really focus on building them up in the spring.  If I have any that don't make it through the winter, I will replace them with packages.  I will try not to split any hives in the spring unless they start to prepare to swarm.  I will try to feed them pollen substitute to get them to build.  I don't think I will feed them sugar water, even though most people recommend feeding the pollen with the sugar water. I am hoping they have enough honey and wont need the sugar water. I will pay close attention to the mite counts. Hopefully through these efforts I can have healthy bees going into the nectar flows. I am also hoping this year we wont have as dry of a year. I think that is what really killed me last year.

The second thing I would like to do is sell hives again this year.  We had a lot of fun doing it last year.  I found even better quality equipment and I think we can get people set up right.  I didn't have a very good experience buying our first hive, so my goal is to make sure people feel like they are ready for bees and have someone that they can trust gave them the best shot at being successful. Goal is to sell 25 hives this year.

The third thing I would like to try is to over winter nucleus hives.  It always seems like you have a couple of week hives in the bunch.  I am thinking of splitting them up the end of June or first of July and getting them built up enough to get through winter.  We will see how it goes. Winter is the most stressful time for me, because you cannot check you bees.  You just hope they will make it through, so if I had some nucs make it I can cover any of my hive losses. 

If I can do these things 2013 should be a great year.  Happy beekeeping!   

Cordovan Queen (one of my favorite breeds of queens)

    

2012 In Review

2012 was a great year for me, but not so much for the bees.  I first apologize for not keeping the blog up as well as I should.  My wife had our third child and that made life crazy for us.  I hope to do a lot better job this year. 

As I said it was a tough year for the bees.  It was so dry that we really didn’t see any nectar flows.  We started about 5 nucs (small 5 frame hives) this year and put New World Carnolian queens in them.  I was really excited to try these queens. One trait of this breed is that it will slow down the brood rearing when there isn’t nectar flows.  Well unfortunately they were all really slow to build up because we didn’t have any nectar flows.  This is supposed to be a good trait to help them get through the winter on less honey stores, but on such a dry summer I am hoping they will have enough to get through the winter.

Honey production overall was a dismal.  We got about 80 lbs off of 15 hives.  I probably was a little aggressive in taking the honey too, thinking they may have a fall flow.  They didn’t, so we went into winter pretty lean.

Firsts for 2012:

·         Built from scratch 30 hives (I am not sure it is worth doing from scratch)

·         Helped 10 people get started with beehives

·         Found 2 queens working in a hive

·         Saw a queen lay an egg while I was observing the hive

·         Had to deal with mold in a hive

·         Purchased an extractor

·         Used a heat gun to remove the cappings

It was a fun year, but tough one on the bees.  I am anxious to see if we can get all 15 hives through the winter.