I only have my one huge Perone hive right now, but this is the second winter I've had them and they are doing great as far as I can tell. My Warre hives didn't make it. I'm going to build a couple more Perone hives to populate this spring I think. I have high hopes that the Perone hives will do really well in this climate. The first year I worry about them thriving well enough to build a good population by winter when they have those huge boxes to fill, but if they make the first winter, they should do great. Mine did well enough to send off a swarm last summer.
They are much, much larger than "normal" hives. They can hold a very large population and I would think they would be better equipped to deal with our very cold winters.
The Perone hives were "invented" by a guy in Argentina, so they should work really well in your climate too. The idea is that a much bigger hive population should be stronger and more able to survive. They are easy to build, so it may be worth trying there if it is something you are interested in.
I was working up to a pretty serious number of hives before developing an allergy. Now I only keep meliponids (stingless bees). Still love following all the honeybee stuff.
We never have wintering problems here so that is a challenge I am always interested to hear about.
Bart Wallace wrote:Any bee keepers on this forum or am I the only one.
There are beekeepers here, but this forum isn't terribly active.
For a very active beekeeping group aligned with permaculture ethos you might try the Treatment Free Beekeepers group on facebook, where we aim to breed locally adapted bees that are resistant to diseases - in particular varroa mites and associated viruses.
I'm an active beekeeper, but am not much interested in on-line discussions about beekeeping, so my primary contribution to beekeeping forums is an occasional photo of robbing honey, or hiving a swarm.
Until a couple of weeks ago I would have said me but unfortunately they have died . No sign of desease not foul brood or Nosema or anything else both my hives empty of everything apart from a little honey and pollen. I blame the pesticides on the colza / osr we have lots of it hereabouts for queen failure . I will try to catch more swarms in the future but it's a real bugger
I have a wild swarm in an old gas barbque that has not been moved in 10+ years. A swarm split off of it this spring and gathered on branch of a tree about 20 yards from the old grill and since I did not have a super built I called a local keeper to come and get it. The barbque swarm is still strong and I'm thinking I need to build a proper hive box and start collecting honey and wax and future expansion swarms.
My bees died last year. I have a new hive from a nuc and three splits from it. I know that's a lot to take from a new hive, but it got huge fast. They are still more interested in raising brood than honey. Well hopefully they'll let up now, probably about to have a dearth.
I also have a small hive from a small swarm I caught. Not one of mine. It's expanding fast but only about 8 medium frames.
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