Differencies

[Finman]

I have read this forum a little while, and i can find some diffenrencies with method I nurse and the members do.

I have in Finland no Finnish style, because everyone nurse in different ways. Beekeepers are old, and I think that is difficulta to learn at  the age on 70 year. Everyone keeps his stubborn head and style.

But 2 things I wonder.

1) What is entrance feeder? I have not seen that. Do you feed bees all the time?

For winter we give 20 kg sugar per hive. It it tiome to give that at the end August.

3) Am I right that my have little colonies  2-3 supers?

Of course I can see on the road in Finland too those little colonies, but it is not possible to catch honey when it is a time.  

I learned my style from a man, who have worked in Canada and learned to keep been with American style: Big colonies, good queens, plenty of room , and the only measure is to get lot of honey. That man moved many American method to Finland on 1960:theen.

Another good beekeeper spoke Russian and he learned tricks from Eatern Europe.  He had good bee. When I got his queens, my medium yield rose to 60 kg/hive.  Before that my best year's medium yield  was 60 kg/hive.

My best year was 1994: 130 kg/ hi´ve honey. Last year 90 kg. It is only possible with 6 super's hive. Our real yield season is  1 month long.  bee summer is 4 month long, when they catch honey and pollen from flowers.

[Beth Kirkley]

It sounds to me that you do many things the same in your country as in ours. Actually, I've learned alot from reading the post from people in other contries.
For every country new things have been learned in beekeeping. It looks almost to me though, that American farming (including beekeeping) has changed LESS in America than other countries. Old men are the same ewerywhere - stubborn. But it seems even many of the young farmers don't want to change the way "dad always did it". Do you have that saying there? "If it works, why change it?" BUT, I think there has been more advancement in beekeeping in other countries than America.

An entrance feeder (click here) is really easy to make. All you need is three small pieces of wood, and a glass jar with a metal screw on lid. They go right at the entrance (without your entrance reducer, or make a modified entrance reducer to give the space).

Beth

[Blackbird]

We don't feed all the time. We feed when we instal a new package of bees just for the first month give or take a week. It helps the bees get started on com building until they find their own food source. Then they stop taking the syrup naturally.
Also in winter if the bees don't have enough honey we feed.

I think because we have a much longer season here we could have much larger colonies with more supers. There is more nectar to collect so the bees need more room for that. You also see here just 3 or 4 supers too.

Stacie

[Finman]

  Good Stacie !

That is logical.  I do not live at my summer cottage, where my bees are.

I pour sugar liquid direct into comb cells, if I give a little measure extra food. Or I put last year frame where is plenty of honey and pollen.

To day temperature was  11C at my summer cottage.

Wild chervil (Anthriscus sylvestris) has started to bloom. http://images.google.fi/imgres?imgurl=www.agf.gov.bc.ca/cropprot/weedguid/images/chervil1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/cropprot/weedguid/chervil.htm&h=453&w=290&sz=38&tbnid=ND86AbEBre8J:&tbnh=123&tbnw=78&start=65&prev=/images%3Fq%3DAnthriscus%2Bsylvestris%26start%3D60%26hl%3Dfi%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26sa%3DN