# It is time



## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

It is time you should be ordering you package(s) of bees for the 2016 season. Not a bad Idea to also order nucs if that is the way you want to go.

 Al


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## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

Great reminder! I am already receiving orders though I have not been advertising.

This is also a great time of the year to order trees and plants. I ordered peegee hydrangeas through the arbor day foundation this week that will be delivered when it is time to plant them in my zone. I looked for these last summer and couldn't find any. I'll be ordering asparagus crowns some time this week as well. 

If anyone knows of somewhere to order bee bee tree seedlings at a good price let me know.


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## marusempai (Sep 16, 2007)

TxMex said:


> If anyone knows of somewhere to order bee bee tree seedlings at a good price let me know.


I don't know about seedlings, but if anybody wants some, I can go see if there are any seeds left from ours, which I will gladly send you.


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## Michael W. Smith (Jun 2, 2002)

alleyyooper said:


> It is time you should be ordering your package(s) of bees for the 2016 season. Not a bad Idea to also order nucs if that is the way you want to go. Al


I have ordered a total of 2 bee packages in my 5 or so years of beekeeping. Both packages ended up not overwintering.

For those of us here in the Northern part of the U.S., you would be better served buying a nuc from a local beekeeper. The packages of bees that are delivered all over the U.S. in the Spring, come from down South - where winters are mild. I just don't think most packages will survive the winters.

I currently have a total of 15 hives. They are all splits I made myself from local swarms I picked up in previous years, or swarms I caught in 2015.

Heck, for close to $100.00 in buying a package, you would be better off setting up a hive, putting some lemon grass oil in it to catch a swarm yourself, or put the word out that you will gladly capture any bee swarms.


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## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

I agree. Shipped bees aren't the greatest way to start a hive. A nucleus hive is a much better option. 

Marusempei thank you for the generous offer and I'm sure someone will take you up on it. I have some seeds already that I've had in the refrigerator for over a year now. What I don't have is time in the spring to actually get them planted. Full time beekeeping has been danged rough on gardening in the spring.


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## Iddee (Sep 25, 2005)

Marusempei, if you have some available, I would love some. Please PM me if you do have, and I will send you my info and whatever you charge.

Tex, I was given some about 8 years ago and started them in a flower pot. I got 3 up about 6 inches and planted one in my yard and gave 2 away. The one in my yard is now 15 feet, but has never bloomed. I don't know if they come as males and females, or what. If you can get some seeds, start them inside and set them out next fall.


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## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

Iddee you might try planting pee gee hydrangea(grandiflora). It is a summer through fall bloomer that the bees go crazy about too. I just bought a bunch from the Arbor Day Foundation. It is a large shrub or a shrubby tree. It should flower within a year or two.


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## marusempai (Sep 16, 2007)

Iddee, I'll go have a look in the morning. Hopefully it will have stopped raining by then.


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

It is indeed time!

Today I re-joined the Northeast Kansas Beekeeping Association. If I am going to get back into bees again this year I will need a few things, and they always had stuff for sale at the back of the newsletter. I don't know if he still does it, but a gent used to drive South every Spring and bring back a trailer full of packaged bees. 

So, this winter I will take inventory of what I still have, and order what I need.


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## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

Now is indeed the time. I have been swamped with orders over the last week...and as I said before....I haven't even been advertising. I expect to sell out of the number of reserve hives I have planned for this year pretty quickly. I only take deposits on about half of the hives I plan to raise just in case we have a year like we did last year where the weather was horrible.


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## tom j (Apr 3, 2009)

got my girls ordered ,, going to get three others in to bees in the spring ,, funny none of them have any idea what there getting into ,, and no I had nothing to do with talking them in to it ,, they would ask me things and I tell them the answer , one I have never talked to


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## marusempai (Sep 16, 2007)

...I'm pretty sure the bees are still alive in there so we don't need any new ones this year (hopefully).  WOO! Next "warm" day we'll get them some more sugar just in case, but I think we did ok. Got a bunch of new woodenware so we can (hopefully) make a split this year.


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

I left a message with a gent who sells bees, but he has not returned my call, yet. During the winter he takes orders, and then in April he makes a trip down south and buys a bunch to deliver to the folks who gave him the orders. I have ordered from him before: because he goes directly down and back his bees tend to arrive in good condition. 

I lost my bees to an illness a few years back: at least I was TOLD they were probably ill! They never made a proper ball when winter came: instead they were scattered and in 3 balls, and they died just 2 inches away from the honey. Someone on-line said that can happen when they were ill. At any rate my younger child moved out last week, and so I will have more time and energy for my own pursuits. So, I will be ordering 2 nucs. 

Just to be safe, I burned my old hive but I have extra boxes and such so I can make up more. Heck, for Christmas this year I even ordered a fancy modern vented suit!

And, a friend of my husbands asked me about bees: I have told him what I know and this spring I intend to coach him though bee installing! I remember installing my first 2 packages: I was clumsy and when I went to release the queens a couple of days later they both flew away! Folks on-line said they would probably come back because they could smell the hive, and both of them did as when I opened the hives a couple of days later everything was fine.


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## Iddee (Sep 25, 2005)

marusempai, did Jonah make it quit raining? 

How bad did you get hit with the snow?


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Never guess or take the word of a layman about why your bees died.
There is a sticky above on how and where to send a sample to the bee lab in Maryland. It only cost a bit for postage to send the sample and then you will know the real story why your bees died.

 Al


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

alleyyooper said:


> Never guess or take the word of a layman about why your bees died.
> There is a sticky above on how and where to send a sample to the bee lab in Maryland. It only cost a bit for postage to send the sample and then you will know the real story why your bees died.
> 
> Al


That had occurred to me, but it was my only hive left. I had allowed my apiary to dwindle while the kids were at their most turbulent. 

I burned the hive and let it be. 

Bee prices have gone up! I am paying about $140 per 3 pound package! I cannot really complain: the man goes down South in person to pick up the bees and makes a mad dash to get them up before the bees get too stressed. And, I have seen him set aside packages he considers weak for his own use: he only gives his customers strong packages. When folks buy from this man they are pretty much assured strong bees.


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## marusempai (Sep 16, 2007)

Iddee said:


> marusempai, did Jonah make it quit raining?
> 
> How bad did you get hit with the snow?


Jonah? I'm not sure what you're asking me. 

We got about a foot and a half of snow - the drifts were pretty high and even the ducks refused to go outside for a couple of days, but it's melting down to a reasonable level quick enough. If today is like yesterday I might even be able to get the car to the house.  The kids have been enjoying it though, haven't had a full day of school since a week ago Tuesday.


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## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

Terri said:


> That had occurred to me, but it was my only hive left. I had allowed my apiary to dwindle while the kids were at their most turbulent.
> 
> I burned the hive and let it be.
> 
> Bee prices have gone up! I am paying about $140 per 3 pound package! I cannot really complain: the man goes down South in person to pick up the bees and makes a mad dash to get them up before the bees get too stressed. And, I have seen him set aside packages he considers weak for his own use: he only gives his customers strong packages. When folks buy from this man they are pretty much assured strong bees.


Have you looked around for someone selling nucs? Nucs are averaging around $150.


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## Iddee (Sep 25, 2005)

""Iddee, I'll go have a look in the morning. Hopefully it will have stopped raining by then.""

Just teasing you a bit after the snow storm you had in Virginia.


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

TxMex said:


> Have you looked around for someone selling nucs? Nucs are averaging around $150.


I have, but I wanted to have a hive established before "Blackberry winter", and I do not think that nucs would be available In the early spring. Not in this area. (Blackberry Winter: after the blackberries bloom there is a period of time when there are few flowers for the bees to dine from)

Midwestern winters can be hard on bees: by the time spring rolls around some of the hives will be weak, some will be strong, and most beekeepers loose the odd hive entirely. By the time brood is given to the weak hives there is not necessarily any extra bees to sell. 

And, to have very many hives would mean having your bees a fair distance away: cities in this area allow hives but most restrict how many hives a person can have. So, until just recently there was nobody else selling bees that I know of, and to get back into bees I decided to go with somebody I knew would give me strong and healthy bees.

I have considered selling bees myself: I think most beekeepers have! And, since I am no longer interested in selling honey at a Farmer's Market during the hottest part of the year, perhaps I can sell the odd nuc. Strong hives will always need dividing or they will swarm, and while nobody would care if the bees went West they would be a horrible nuisance if they went East! That is where the developed area is. So, in order to keep my bees down to the 2 hives I am allowed I might just have to sell a few of the little darlins'

I could live with that.


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## marusempai (Sep 16, 2007)

Oh. 

It did stop raining, and I did look... but they seem to be all gone. I thought I had written you but it must have been somebody else who was asking about them. The things make about a bazillion seeds every year though, I'm going to bag some up and post everywhere next time I have them. They're good trees and everyone seems to want some.


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