beekeeping question

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I am getting 2 nucs this weekend, the proce is 45 each for 5 frame nucs. Is this a good price? As it is too late to get packages within a reasonable price I am set to obtain these. Thank you for your input. Also, it has been said that the boardman feeders is not the best to get, why? I am getting ready to set the hives in their location, built a stand to keep off the ground. Place I want is protected from the north with a wooded hill and to the west with trees (oak) and berry thicket. It has full SE exposure. Open to east and to south. The road is to the south and is kind of lower than the hive location, should I build a fence to cause the bees to go up higher? We are planting a hedge but it will take a few years for it to obtain the desired height (10'). I also have the dadant smoker fuel, is it easy to use? Thank you again for the info. Have a great day.

-- jonathan (jonathan_sz@yahoo.com), April 23, 2002

Answers

I dont think 45 is bad for nucs,, depends where your located though. Ive never used the smoker fuel,, why pay for whats free anyways,, bark, sawduct/chips, burlap,,or whatever. Boardman feeders have their pluses and minuses. BUt Ive used them with success before,, use them for now. As too the hedge,, is there a reason you want them to fly higher? neihbors or something? Is it a busy road?

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), April 23, 2002.

Stan, Thank you for answering my inquiry. Yes the road is somewhat busy, atv's, neighbors, sometimes horse riders. The hedge is also for a privacy screen as the house is almost on top of it and the garden is right on it. Also the hedges are flowering and might be a possible source of pollen ad nectar for the bees. As are most of the flowers that I am putting in now, so that by fall there will be plenty of wildflowers for honey, so they can overinter and maybe produce some surplus for us. The bees would not have a clear view of the road. Besides the dust that is raised by the speeding vehicles can be atrocious. Also it is used by a logging company and the county does road maintenance quarterly. I doubt the bees would bother most the people on the road, but I have heard that they dislike horses. Should I get a pail feeder before winter? or is it better to use the division board feeder? Also I am wanting to harvest comb honey, I have read that it is a good market for it. Do you agree? Thank you again, Have a great day.

-- jonathan (jonathan_sz@yahoo.com), April 24, 2002.

I have a difficult time finding a market for comb honey,,either cut or Ross Rounds., nut each area is differant with differant markets. You didnt say where you are,, and how the winters are,, so,,using a feeder in the winter,,I cant answer that. Where I am,, in Michigan,, you dont keep a feeder in the hive all winter,, it adds unwanted moisture inside the hive,, I have to make sure they are fedd well during the fall, so the have time to store it all for winter/spring.

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), April 24, 2002.

Jonathan, we sold our honey mostly through our orchard during apple season; tho my father also carried cases of it to work with him. Our best seller was a pint canning jar with a chuck of comb honey in it, surrounded by extracted honey. We got away from using the standard honey jars because we felt that they were less likely to be reused post-sale. We live in a rural area - the nearest recycling bin is 28 miles away now; it used to be a lot farther. Canning jars are available in a lot of sizes and shapes. We bought some of them new, but most of them I bought at rummage sales and auctions. Pints sold best, 12 oz. jelly type jars were second. Quarts didn't sell real well - people would buy 2 pints, but not a quart. Guess maybe they were buying for someone else?

BTW - sending a pan of biscuts to work with Pop, along with a case of honey was a sure fire marketing technique! He was a construction electrician, and those construction workers are likely to eat anything that isn't nailed down durning break time!

-- Polly (tigger@moultrie.com), April 24, 2002.


Polly, Do you have problems with granulation with the cut comb in honey? And what/how does one charge for such? Thank you for your input. J

-- jonathan (jonathan_sz@yhaoo.com), May 02, 2002.


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