The Treatment-Free Beekeepers' Forum

SiWolKe

This will be the start of treatment free beekeeping in middle europe, I´m sure. Norbert Dorn, my co-worker and now a dear friend, will do it, with our help, he the only one so engaged I know of, we will influence the laws and new cooperations will start this year! And we will learn to do this under ...

SiWolKe

Fully booked.

SiWolKe

.... you can see the arrangement they did central frame, the domes later were as high as half of the frames in the other hives. .. These kinds of frames (mostly empty; like the pictured) should be removed from the wintering nest completely. I hope, SiWolKe, you reduce the nest for winter. If your b...

SiWolKe

In spain these hives are called truebanos.

SiWolKe

My bees are on one deep dadant this winter, I took away the top boxes in august before they reduced bee number. Last year was two deep arrangement. They arranged the overwintering broodnest totally different than last fall. Our climate is moderate. Last year the fall broodnest looked the same asit w...

SiWolKe

I don't remember how it was explained to us as children, but we knew where our food came from and it was just another fact of life. But it doesn't have to be. I opened a chicken thread because I don´t want to eat eggs or meat from chicken who are suffering while being kept and want to talk about my...

SiWolKe

Big surprise, the small white one became a proud ( and loud) rooster. :lol: I can´t bring myself to make meat of him he is a very good one so far except that he wakes the whole neighborhood at six in the morn. But as my husband claims: who´s not awake at six is a lazybones. I tell people: no problem...

SiWolKe

I am an Austrian treatment free beekeeper. Natural selection and darwinian beekeeping are aims of my work. In some German areas treatment ist legally regulated and beekeepers are afraid to tell, that they are treatment free. I will organize a Symposium in April for treatment free beekeepers in germ...

SiWolKe

Today I extracted 40 pounds of very good dark honey from my deadout hive. Scraped out some pollen to feed too. I kept 3 deep frames of fresh comb with honey domes for the ones in need in spring. Three of the best built small cell deep combs, not very black, without dead brood patches I kept to give ...

SiWolKe

I've read about encouraging horizontal hives to swarm after their second year and every year thereafter. I think they do this by pulling excess frames going into winter and delaying expanding the hive early in the spring. This sounds like a management technique that would mimic the actions of a hea...

SiWolKe

First I want to encourage you in making all your plans come true and hopefully have your colonies surviving until spring. I too will build bait hives but for my own swarms, since I plan to follow Tom Seeley on darwinian beekeeping but will have slightly bigger hives to have them throw swarms only on...

SiWolKe

Tell us about your visions, please share!

SiWolKe

Best wishes for your birthday, Kwalt, and good luck with beekeeping!

SiWolKe

MMh, I´m just now observing two colonies which are survivors from commercial hives having swarmed and are located in stone walls in shady and cold places with so much space inside the walls to build comb which could be 5m long. Lets see what are the surviving traits but nobody will reduce space ther...

SiWolKe

Very good link!

SiWolKe

The machines are getting bigger and bigger and heavier, so they destroy the ground. Because the farmers use those cooperatively ( to expensive) everything is harvested at the same time. Meat industry needs silage to feed and exports the surplus of meat to poor countries which leads to the refugee pr...

SiWolKe

You may try to put a sugar brick on top or bottom.
I hope they make it. Sometimes there is a big surprise.

SiWolKe

Hey VA very nice, thanks for posting!
What do you feed? Honey syrup?

Those ferocious little ones! They bring pollen, very good! Good luck!
Sibylle

SiWolKe

Thanks for posting that link, moebees.

This results from the planting of energy plants and the rising of cattle numbers in Germany.

Agricultural areas are becoming more and more green deserts, always harvested, no flowers, no bird´s nests and rural areas we have not many.

SiWolKe

GregV do you ever read others posts or just view them?
I need bees not queens.

No offense meant but it makes me tired to explain again and again.

SiWolKe

It´s not the queens actually, Erik`s my friend, I will work for him as apprentice next year so probably I get them for free. The problem is the bee colonies. No colony, no introducing. No swarms available, no bee numbers. Package bees I don´t want, they are the worst. There are many sideliner though...

SiWolKe

I have drone corners cut out on every foundations 10% and they raise drones ( only the swarm with virgin was without drones, but now is one of the stronger). I have one third foundation less this season and will have more. They built sc in broodnest area. Strategie will be to expand from the survivo...

SiWolKe

I had a deadout on Saturday. This colony was made as a split in June 2017, I splitted in two strong parts because I was not able to find the queen ( supplier 16 years tf), they had 12 brood combs dadant and bursted with bees. Genetics: AMM descendants from a "resistant survivor " queen, tr...

SiWolKe

I met a person who started a project last year to promote treatment free beekeeping.
Through him it could be possible we will get a license to be tf.
Fingers crossed.

SiWolKe

What I like about the skeps is the straw with cow poke on the outside, seems to me a good thing for hive climate. Did you realize that the hives were shaded in winter so the bees are not too active? MB, they have top entrances! There are some with bottom entrance though, I believe. And a good thing,...

SiWolKe

PS: this resistance thing should co-develop along the way... natural factors will insure of it; just let it work. Not here. We have to work actively on this. There is someone who searches for wild living honeybees. I mailed to him and he will work with us.he is the first I met who wants to safe wil...

SiWolKe

Many thanks Iharder.
Such things are so valuable to know.

SiWolKe

GregV you have resistant bees if you have descendants of your actual stock left after 6 years without expansion through catched swarms. I believe Sol is now starting again with local swarms after many losses? If you are able to flood your area with your own tf stock then you will have resistant bees...

SiWolKe

winter 2015/16 I lost none. The winter was warm and they outbred the mites until I splitted. winter 2016/17 I lost 10 out of 14. 4 were varroa crashes, the other were queen issues, or what they call CCD, no one knows exactly what that is. Also they never starved, but it looks like some were isolated...

SiWolKe

If you place your hives in an area where many bees rob or are robbed by yours you are not able to evaluate if the colony is resistant if it survives, more so because you took out combs. But no problem. You do bond so no problem. If 50% survive, very good. If all die because they distribute mites by ...

SiWolKe

GregV wrote:
It is a shame, started as a very strong June swarm (though a typical treated and cultured bee, so I can see this demise coming).

Is it standing single? Perhaps I would avoid this area.

SiWolKe

I received the link to the english version now:
enjoy, Robin, they explain everything but don´t be surprised, the brood is killed and the honey harvested as crushed honey or honeycomb.
It was common practise that time ( 1978)

https://av.tib.eu/media/14378

SiWolKe

Thanks GregV.

And yes, we do need European representation here so we can talk of good old heritage hive systems, so unjustly forgotten.

Look up the skep thread!

SiWolKe

A nice video of a migrating beekeeping enterprise, using skeps, they have over 1000 skeps among them. https://av.tib.eu/media/9327 Makes me wonder if it was not a way to go into winter without mites nowadays , doing such managements before winter bee breeding as they did. Kind of IPM it would be and...

SiWolKe

Hey you have had more losses than me!

VA, we will succeed in the end. Keep up and let´s hold on together. I like your style

Bravo!

SiWolKe

I changed my mind about leaving here. I´m doing IPM now but MB said I could stay not telling about treatments, and another very nice person pm(ing) me convinced me there is still some interest in my doings in spite of using IPM. I will tell about those IPM because they are no chemical treatments unt...

SiWolKe

Once again I´m offering to press 4.9 small cell foundations of your own wax in winter time. It´s possible to send me the cleared wax to press and I send back the foundations. It will be treated separately from other peoples wax. Up to 10kg I will do it for free only shipping costs must be paid. Euro...

SiWolKe

Hi!
no I have no pure bred carnis.

SiWolKe

I´m doing my last check before closing up. I only have to feed the two weakest. The reducing to one brood box dadant size worked wonderfully, the bees are already in fall modus and reduced brood nests. Around they have stored and capped honey in domes and away from entrance. Seems to me my problems ...

SiWolKe

Kwalt wrote:They're just arbitrary titles someone came up with to reflect the number of posts you have made.

faq.php#f1r7

I see. Thanks, Kwalt.

Next I hope to be called hobbyist researcher

or professional hobbyist.....1000 posts later.

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