Divides - Why do them

Overcrowded hive - A swarm in the making

This year many beekeepers had over wintering success. Many colonies are packed with bees and are bringing in honey from the dandelion flow and the fruit bloom. Both of these events are about 3 weeks earlier than usual.
 As soon as these two events are over and the weather warms up, swarming will kick into high gear.
Dividing strong colonies is the only way to prevent swarming. If you think the hives are full now, by mid May there won't be room in the hive for the bees. It will be hot in there from overcrowding and they will start hanging out on the front of the hive.
Swarming hurts the bee population of a colony. When the bees swarm, most of the field bees and the queen leave the hive for new digs somewhere else. The loss of the field bees will affect the amount of honey collected this year by the colony. It may take a hive six weeks to two months to recover the population lost to swarming. Usually the main nectar flow is ebbing by this time. Missing the nectar flow, beekeepers may have to feed more for the hive to overwinter, to make up for honey uncollected by a weaker hive.
There was a tee shirt around a while ago that read "United we swarm, Divided we thrive"
The simple saying, more bees means more honey. Less bees means less honey.
Some beekeepers don't want anymore colonies. Nature's Nectar buys divides. Call me if you are interested.

Queens and divides

I am getting three shipments of queens in May. Queens will be available starting this Sat and continuing for the next three weeks to a month.
I have a link in the lower right hand corner of this page of this blog taking you to a web page of how to do a divide. Gary explains it very plainly and easy to understand.

First load beekeepers check for queen acceptance

The first load beekeepers should be looking for eggs in their colonies after one week, to make sure the queen has been accepted. No eggs means no queen.

Queens

Queens will be available in all varieties on Sat April 28th.
Marked and unmarked.

Bee Day

The Sunday bee pick up day went great. Most everyone got their bees and were on their way in very short order. The bees were in great condition. The weather couldn't have been better. Cool cloudy day made the day very nice for passing out bees.
 Monday I will be passing out bees for the rest of the beekeepers that couldn't make it. There will be no pick up schedule.
Come when you can.

The bees have arrived - Pick up today Sunday

Turn in driveway with this sign

The bees have arrived. Pick up today Sunday.
Please try to follow the pick up schedule. There are many beekeepers picking up that day. If everyone sticks with the schedule the pick ups should move quickly with minimal waiting.
There is no hurry to get them in. The best time to install package bees is after 6 pm.
Check this blog daily for updates, the schedule can change.
We will go with the first letter of your last name:
A - B............... 7 am - 8 am
C - E .............. 9 am - 10 am
F - H ............. 10 am - 11 am
I - L .............. 11 am - 12 pm
M ................ 12 - 1:00 pm
N - P.............. 1 pm - 2 pm
Q - R.............. 2 pm - 3 pm
S .................. 3 pm - 4 pm
T - Z .............. 4 pm - 5 pm
open pick up . 5 pm - 7 pm

Cages

Please clean out all cages that will be returned. Remove and discard all feeder cans and queen cages.
Remove all dead bees and debris.