Re: Keeping Bees
Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 4:36 pm
I ordered another package of Bees this morning. I figured I would give it a Go as they say in England. Turns outs Bees are available for purchase from many places. Found a guy in North west Pa about an hour and 1/2 from me who has a family farm and raises Bees. He has been doing this for over 25 years. He gets his bees from Mann Lake [ a large company with dealers around the country ] I think his dealership helps to pay for his hobby, and maybe a bit more. I believe the bees are bred in California. I ordered Carniolan Bees this time instead of Italian Bees. They are from Northern Europe, so I am hoping a little more cold hardy, they tend to increase the size of the brood quickly when there is a nectar flow, and they reduce the size of the hive for winter so you are not trying to feed a large bunch of bees all winter. The only down side I know about is that they tend to swarm quickly and swarm a lot. Since my experience with Italian Bees was less than stellar I figured I would try a different variety, and see how that works for me. To be honest, I do not think that the type of bees I was trying to keep was the problem, I think it was me.