I continue to blast posts into this blog today in an effort to catch up...
Over the first weekend in March (March 2 and 3, 2013), I took the University of Minnesota's Beekeeping Short Course. This was very interesting, but I had learned a lot of it from books, YouTube, and other sources. But, they also had vendors, honey-tasting, product demos, etc. I joined the Minnesota Hobby Beekeepers Association (MHBA), and they gave me a free hive tool! We also won some pollen patties.
On the second day of the course, I ordered two packages of bees. For many reasons, I had decided to start with two hives. The main reason was that I wanted two hives is to be able to compare them. If I have one hive, I might not know if the bee activity (or lack thereof) is normal behavior. With two hives, ideally, I ought to be able to notice if there is a difference of behavior between the two.
Of course, 4 - 6 hives would be an even better number. However, upon suggesting to the powers-that-be that I start with a handful of hives, the gnashing of teeth that I heard and the profanity that was hurled at me... Well, let's just say that I was lucky to get two hives past the household approval board.
Once I was done with the U of MN course, I was confident in what I was going to order. I decided that I would use all mediums for my hives. No deeps for the bodies and shallows for the supers. This would make for some more work in maintaining the brood nest (the bottom three deeps or the bottom five mediums), especially during box rotations. But, each box would be lighter. Also, if ever needed, I could use frames from the supers interchangeably with frames from the brood nest.
When I ordered the bees, there were two options--Carniolans and Italians. I ordered one of each. As a novice beekeeper, I'm not sure that I'll be able to tell the difference. But, I certainly wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between them if they were the exact same subspecies, so one of each it is.
I thought about going to the UMN beekeeping course last year but decided against it, mostly due to the cost. I'm not sure the content would be worthwhile for me either as I'm doing natural beekeeping in top bar (Warre right now, Kenyan later) hives, and I've heard the course deals mostly with Lang hives and various treatment options. Do you think the information provided in the course would be worth it if I'm doing top bar hives, or should I just keep reading books and blogs?
ReplyDeleteI've also considered joining the MHBA. How has your experience been with that organization?
Thanks!
Matt N
topbarbeesmn.blogspot.com
Regarding the MHBA, I've only been a member since March. I joined them at the U of MN course (I got a free hive tool!). They have a forum, but it's not very active, from what I've seen. They have a monthly e-newsletter that I've enjoyed so far. I think that it was a pretty low annual dues, $20 perhaps? I forget...
ReplyDeleteI think that it did get me on a mailing list that so far has been helpful.
Regarding the U of MN course, you could probably do without it. They have a specific way of doing bees that they recommend. It includes re-queening each hive with a new--purchased, usually--queen every other year. I did take a lot of information away, but it was information that I had seen elsewhere.
They over-winter in three deeps or five mediums. They also showed the powdered sugar roll method for checking mite counts. I might try to do that this coming w/e and videotape it and post it.