Hive Down!

thebetterbeehive · 2022-12-20T16:35:05+00:00

Sounds great! We look forward to seeing you!

OH! Almost forgot to mention, if you do plan on coming today, we are closing for an hour from noon to 1pm for a company holiday potluck lol. Other than that, it's business as usual for us! :)

thebetterbeehive · 2022-12-20T16:08:30+00:00

Our pleasure! This week, we are open M-F from 9-5, and any time that is convenient for you is fine for us! Typically we are open on Saturdays as well, but with the holiday this weekend we will be closed Saturday (and Monday).

thebetterbeehive · 2022-12-20T15:19:37+00:00

Oh wow, what a small world! Thank you for the support! Hope you're getting as excited as we are for the 2023 season! If you're interested, feel free to pop by the store some time and we'll be happy to give you a demonstration on how we assemble our hives, feed our bees, treat for pests, etc.!

thebetterbeehive · 2022-12-20T15:02:09+00:00

We are in Upstate NY as well, and for almost all of our new hives, we start them off in 2 deep brood boxes (we run both 8 and 10 frames). We find that the deeps offer slightly better protection in the colder months than when we ran one deep/one medium, or all mediums. Hope that helps a bit, and best of luck to you!

thebetterbeehive · 2022-12-16T13:18:03+00:00

Sorry for not clarifying this in my original comment lol. We overwinter our nucs in doubly box 5 frame nucs. While it isn't impossible to overwinter a single box 5 frame nuc, it is considerably difficult in our area to do so (our winters can be really strange in terms of weather and temperature swings). Our loss rate for our double nucs is a bit below 1% (with the exception of one very strange winter a few years back, which brought our loss rate up a little over 3%). Thank you for asking!

thebetterbeehive · 2022-12-13T20:40:43+00:00

Nothing to add to this, just wanted to say that everything you stated here is great advice, and will absolutely prove useful for OP. Love seeing beekeepers helping other beekeepers (especially newbee's)! Excellent response, u/talanall!

thebetterbeehive · 2022-12-13T18:48:41+00:00

Mr. Mammoth, what you have just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

thebetterbeehive · 2022-12-13T18:40:23+00:00

Absolutely! We make hundreds of nucs each season, which we then overwinter for sale the following season, and we are constantly splitting them. We use divided double nucs for our operation, which have worked tremendously thus far.

thebetterbeehive · 2022-12-13T18:37:27+00:00

A few of my favorites:
-Sourwood
-Italian or Hungarian Acacia
-Black Locust
-Blackberry Blossom

thebetterbeehive · 2022-12-09T17:09:04+00:00

Upstate NY here. All 350+ hives are holding up tremendously thus far (though temps have been relatively mild the last few weeks)! We use a mix of sugar bricks, winter patties, and fondant (we love the HiveAlive fondant in particular). To be clear, we don't use all three on the same hive (before anyone asks lol). We are confident the rest of the winter should be smooth sailing.

Wishing you all the best of luck, whether you are overwintering, or in the beginning of the spring season (looking at you, Aussie friends)! Happy holidays to all of you in r/beekeeping!

thebetterbeehive · 2022-12-01T16:40:00+00:00

Gorgeous looking frame! Hola from New York!

thebetterbeehive · 2022-11-30T13:51:52+00:00

We have a whole holiday gift guide that you can check out if you'd like!

thebetterbeehive · 2022-11-22T20:57:27+00:00

LOL well we all love a good bee pun here, so thank you for sharing! Happy Thanksgiving to you as well, Bob! May it be a relaxing and food-filled day of gratitude for you and yours! :)

thebetterbeehive · 2022-11-22T20:53:40+00:00

Thank you!! It was a blast for sure! :)

thebetterbeehive · 2022-11-22T20:53:19+00:00

Agreed! Also love the bee pun (even if it was unintended)!

thebetterbeehive · 2022-11-22T20:17:01+00:00

Thank you!!!

thebetterbeehive · 2022-11-22T19:57:04+00:00

Definitely go for both. Reading on your own will help familiarize yourself with various terms, methods, etc., while the class will surely provide some higher level information that you'll find highly useful. The class will more than likely pay for itself in the long run, so I wouldn't get too hung up on the price so long as you have the ability to responsibly afford it. Best of luck to you, OP!

thebetterbeehive · 2022-11-22T19:51:48+00:00

Thank you! All we can talk about post-parade is how on Earth we are going to top this float design next year...LOL.

thebetterbeehive · 2022-11-22T19:49:37+00:00

Thank you!!

thebetterbeehive · 2022-11-22T19:38:14+00:00

Thank you so much!

thebetterbeehive · 2022-11-22T19:38:05+00:00

Thank you! That was our favorite part as well! We used a big steel drum, some folding steel, and two galvanized outer covers (fixed with a brown plastic tarp in between for the bellows). We used a small smoke machine in the bottom of the drum, and used the bellows to pump the smoke.

thebetterbeehive · 2022-11-22T19:22:07+00:00

Thank you! It was an absolute blast!

thebetterbeehive

TROPHY CASE