Nathanael Szobody

Mike Barkley wrote:Do you have varroa mites, hive beetles, or any other bee pests or diseases common in your area? Any reason to think something might be wrong? Do you know how to deal with any of those potential problems? It's hard to give a good answer to your question from so far away & not knowing your particular situation. My guess is it's probably best to leave them alone.

Alright, I'll go with leaving them alone for now. Honey bees here are native and ubiquitous. I doubt there's a problem.

My one concern is the heat. Naturally they occupy hollow trees where temperatures are pretty stable. A plywood hive is not the same, and temps get really hot here in March-May. In this season temps are in the mere 90's F, and they already are pretty inactive midday. So I put a pile of corn stalks on top of the lid and covered that with a cloth. I think that will mitigate direct heating of the hive by the sun, but ambient temperature is still going to be a challenge I think. I know Europeans traditionally covered their woven hives in cow dung for insulation. I could try something like that eventually...Thoughts?

Well, Ambitious 28 Year Old, care for a trip to Africa? Cuz you'll learn skillz...

It's been about a month now since the swarm settled in their hive. Any reason I should open the hive and check on them or just leave them be?

Nice work. Sounds like you have an interesting process. I'm surprised that you boil the cassava first; I would be concerned that it modifies the starch structure and would change the behavior of the flour.

Here in Africa the fresh root is fermented in water for three days. It gets mushy and the rest of the process is just like you do it. This way it is a raw starch.

Joylynn Hardesty wrote:Oh, good! No need for emergency feeding of sugar. Here, a newly started hive might starve over winter without help. Sugar isnt a good solution, but dead bees is a terrible outcome.

Yikes. This is swarming season here though, so I would trust there's a natural way to sustainability that behavior in the local ecology.

It's funny though because I'd prefer not to feed them sugar. My mom is intolerant to sugar, and she reacts even if honey isn't 100% nectar. She's a living honey purity tester!

Joylynn Hardesty wrote:Is your weather turning into spring or fall?

We're turning to "fall", which here is just the end of rainy season. There are some fruit trees that produce in the middle of dry season "winter", like mangos. So I think nectar will still be available.

They were super busy the first couple days; I saw a lot of pollen going in. Then the third day I thought they had absconded again because the entrance was deserted. But I put my ear up to it and there was quite a humming going on. Making comb I presume? Now, few days later,  there's low activity at the entrance. A bee leaves or enters maybe every 20 seconds or so.

I'm a beekeeper again. A swarm moved in and they are busy busy. This time I'm taking the do-absolutely-nothing-for-quite-awhile strategy.

I purchase fresh milk from local nomads (i live in Africa). The pasteurized it before selling,  but all their containers are inoculation with yogurt bacteria. So when I bring it home I just let it sit out on the counter and get world's best yogurt in a couple hours.

I'm thinking all one would have to do to replicate this situation is to avoid washing containers with soap; just rinse well.

I once planted three varieties of heirloom potatoes in my mother- in-law's garden and she's been harvesting them for four years now. She leaves them grow where they sprout and has plenty to eat.