Biodiverse Polyculture (USDA 8a Zone Pasture) - sounds better than "My Acres of Weeds"

[Sally PB]

I have farm fields to my immediate east and south. Corn, alfalfa, wheat, rye. I know they spray, but don't know what. Other than (probably) glyphosate to kill the alfalfa or winter rye when they return that field to corn or wheat production. A friend of mine who has had bees for decades thinks he may have lost 6 hives at his home a couple years ago due to the spray drifting onto his property. Nothing he could do about it.

My bees were all over my asparagus. Since I didn't get any honey, I can't tell you if it would have been tainted. I've never heard anyone at the club say anything about it. They talk about basswood and goldenrod honey. I can't remember what they said about basswood; they said goldenrod honey smelled like dirty socks, but tasted fine.

 

[Sally PB]

Just off the top of my head, I remember the honey bees liking borage, which readily self seeds. They liked my neighbor's ornamental grapevine, so I hope they like my grapevines.

I didn't notice that many on the fruit trees. Maybe they were there when I wasn't.

In spring, they need pollen, lots of it. They are hungry, the queen is laying lots of eggs, and they have mouths to feed. Maple trees are some of the first trees to bloom around here, and bees like them.

An arborist in the bee club told us all tree pollen is not created equal. White pine? About as nutritious for bees as sawdust.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

and the hurricanes this past year wiped out several local apiaries. I'm not paying almost $150 to have a pair of queen bees sent USPS next day when I can drive and pick them up for roughly half the price nearby.

So, I guess we put this particular experiment off till next year.

(Which gives me time to figure when I'm going to over seed w/ buckwheat and maybe get it to take, since the sorghums have done so poorly for me)

 

[Sally PB]

So, I guess we put this particular experiment off till next year.

So you have time to build/buy the woodware and read up on bees.

 

[RubelliteRose]

When I look for flowers to plant, that is one of the first things I think about now. Not just bees liking it, but specifically honey bees.

Around here, native asters are a favorite of honey bees. We left our septic field unmowed 2 years ago and it was covered in asters (S. dumosum I think). We easily had thousands of bees from the hives a couple of houses down the street. I loved to sit out there and listen to them hum

 

[Sally PB]

I have a small plot of New England Aster on one side of my garden. I'm hoping it spreads. The honey bees were all over it last August.

I kept deadheading the plants to keep them blooming.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

any brands you can recommend on 8 frame NUCs?

Also, rain the next few days in a row, should reveal what made it thru the winter and the furrowing of the back pasture. So far, can confirm (sparsely) the subterranean clover, broomsedge, what looks like a bit of St. Augustine, little bluestem, toadflax, and some low broad leaf stuff I'm going to have to look up [again] which I recall all the animals ignoring.

 

[Bawkbok]

Good deal on your rain. That should really kick things into high gear. Send some of that south please. We are so dry that as one merely walks through the yard, we are kicking up sand. I'd rather have clay. We had all clay earth up north, difficult to grow in for sure, but I had much better success there than here in this sandy mucky stuff that is a poor excuse for soil.

 

[Sally PB]

any brands you can recommend on 8 frame

Most of the "big name" places sell both 8 and 10. 10 is WAAAAAY more common.
Mann Lake
Dadant
Betterbee
These are the three I know of off the top of my head.

The boxes are not difficult to build, BUT! be very sure you make them to the standard size. The used hive we bought is slightly off, and some things just didn't fit. Like the mouse excluder: hubby had to grind a bit off on the ends. 8 frames fit in the boxes just fine, so the guy did make it "good enough." The opening of the hive is slightly short, top to bottom and an entrance feeder doesn't fit. The boxes I bought from Mann Lake (I think) are about 1/8" wider. We discovered this when we bought more boxes to add to the hive.

If you want to make your own, the joints at the corners are important. A butt joint probably won't be strong enough long term. The boxes we bought are all dovetail joints. A box full of frames full of honey gets heavy.

There are 3 sizes of boxes: Deep, Medium, and Shallow. That refers to the depth/height of the box, and the frames have to match.

A deep box of 10 frames, full of honey, can weigh 80-90 pounds. I know a guy who uses all mediums, to save his shoulder from having to lift deep boxes full of honey. That was the reason we bought medium boxes for the honey supers and use deep boxes on the bottom for the brood.

 

[Sally PB]

I just got my Mann Lake catalog.

@U_Stormcrow, how far is Winter Haven from you? ML has 5 frame nuc for sale, $160. Nucs are pick up only. Since it's 5 frames hanging in a box (like a small hive box), they are much too fragile to ship. ML (and lots of other places) do ship packages of bees, and I'm seeing $200+/- per package, depending on the type of bees.