Any Beekeepers?

[!Xabbu]

Now is the time to get swarm trap boxes ready to set out. I've started using a '3 boxes per sheet of plywood' design and 9 new ones so far.

[M_ray]

Tagging ... I want to do this.

[jackelope]

Now is the time to get swarm trap boxes ready to set out. I've started using a '3 boxes per sheet of plywood' design and 9 new ones so far.

I had bees for a few years. Couldn't keep them alive. Probably the most interesting pain in the ass thing I've ever done. They were a lot of fun and very interesting but I couldn't keep them alive. First year we were doing good, had nice strong healthy hives and a bear went through them at the end of summer and that was that. Then the varrao mites got them last year and I assume this year too. Tried not treating them because I didn't want to introduce a bunch of chemicals into the hive. Don't have a place for them at the new house and don't feel like spending more money on them only to have to drive all over to take care of them. I'm throwing in the towel.

@Born2late  and @Whitpirate  have bees and I know there are more. I just can't remember offhand who.

Swarm season around here seems to be April-July it seems.

[!Xabbu]

Varroa destructor mites are probably the biggest problem of colony collapse, there are other things but those little buggers are rampant.

We have a club and one of our members is artificially inseminating queens, an absolutely fascinating process. The stock is a mix of varroa resistant stock, provided by WSU out of their breeding program and local drones from strong local survivor hives.

I do treat my bees with OA. I don't mind treating but also I'd rather not import more California (or elsewhere) bees.

[!Xabbu]

Swarm season around here seems to be April-July it seems.

That's only 2 -3 months.  I'm building boxes and planning locations now.

[jackelope]

Varroa destructor mites are probably the biggest problem of colony collapse, there are other things but those little buggers are rampant.

We have a club and one of our members is artificially inseminating queens, an absolutely fascinating process. The stock is a mix of varroa resistant stock, provided by WSU out of their breeding program and local drones from strong local survivor hives.

I do treat my bees with OA. I don't mind treating but also I'd rather not import more California (or elsewhere) bees.

I tried some locally WA raised bees last year that were supposed to be mite resistant. We tried 2 nuc's, neither survived. Neither were treated. Probably should have OA treated them in hindsight. It's not a really bad chemical and I think it occurs in nature.

Mostly for me it comes to time. Trying to simplify and make more time to spend hunting and fishing and doing things I love to do. Turns out the bees weren't one of those things.

[!Xabbu]

My bee yard is fairly close to my house and I'm a hands-on kind of keeper; I'm always out there messing with the girls on way or another. None of mine aren't very aggressive either and I usually don't wear a veil, not unless I'm doing something like messing with brood box frames. I almost constantly feed them sugar water, I'm not totally about the production of honey though it's nice, I want bigger populations for stronger hives, splitting, and queen grafting.

I have 2 teenage daughters that like to mess with them too. Beekeeping and swarm hunting are fun for the fam.

[Born2late]

In my experience the biggest thing i lose hives to is the moisture inside the hives.I have made sugar blocks to over winter them and had mixed success,They do cut down on the moisture some.I don't treat at all.Never have had a problem with mites or anything else.My hives that produce,usually will put out 75-100 pounds of honey. The weaker ones usually get 25 pounds.What kind of honey does everybody get.I get mainly blackberry and knotweed.
Love catching swarms,especially when they are my brothers .
I have done a few cutouts, The biggest one i did was in a old farm house in silvana.It had a dead space between the two roof angles in the wall.It took me and my son all day to remove the darn thing,Never thought they could get that big around here.

[outdooraddict]

I am super interested in bees. I have tented books at the library and done a fair amount of research. I really want to find a me tor though. Anyone on the eastside do bees, that would take me under their wing.

[!Xabbu]

There is a club in Spokane. I'm the mentor-mentee coordinator for our club and I think they do the same.

[lokidog]

In my experience the biggest thing i lose hives to is the moisture inside the hives.I have made sugar blocks to over winter them and had mixed success,They do cut down on the moisture some.I don't treat at all.Never have had a problem with mites or anything else.My hives that produce,usually will put out 75-100 pounds of honey. The weaker ones usually get 25 pounds.What kind of honey does everybody get.I get mainly blackberry and knotweed.
Love catching swarms,especially when they are my brothers .
I have done a few cutouts, The biggest one i did was in a old farm house in silvana.It had a dead space between the two roof angles in the wall.It took me and my son all day to remove the darn thing,Never thought they could get that big around here.

I've thought about bees, one more hobby I probably should not get into. I tried Maple honey last Fall, that was amazing, quite unique. I wasn't real thrilled with the knotweed honey I tried.  I never realized how different honeys tasted. I'd like to make a batch of mead again, it's been quite a few years.

[JimmyHoffa]

I've been building a few more traps and hives, but I can't get to the places I've found feral bees until the gates open in May.  The biggest things that have got me so far are yellow jackets, hives robbing each other and killing queens, moisture and varroa. 
One problem is with work, I'm not around during the 'warm' part of the day to go in and inspect.  Then it is cold and dark out when I can go in....but they don't bother me then and the yellow jackets have gone home.

[jackelope]

There's a guy in Duvall that is doing a bulk nuc order from down south somewhere. He's going to drive down and pick them up. Snohomish Bee Company is selling nucs and 3# packages that usually show up around April. I think down south by you, Lori Miller isn't selling anymore. @Come Get Some  ??
You could reach out to the WA Beekeepers. I'm sure they could point you somewhere.
https://wasba.org/

[boneaddict]

@Idabooner

[Skyvalhunter]

My friend in the Methow ran about 25 hives this past year. He lost a lot to mites over half.