Due to rampant pesticide use (roundup) in our area, my bees only function as pollinators and i leave them everything they produce during the year, hoping it get’s them thru the winter’s.
During a big study period last year i stumbled onto some articles from folks who manage bees for the bees betterment, not the beekeeper! The more geeky of that group modify large standing trees to accommodate bees as they have no intention of taking honey either. They don’t go in for all the hive inspections and common management practices that come along with Langstroth equipment.
Made me think, we may be kindred spirits cept im far lazzzy’er than these studious souls.
to that end i edge sawed some dimensional lumber and glued it all together into a “tree lookalike hive”. 2 suppers, both double the size of a deep super and no foundation on frames. Each super has top bars with a starter row of foundation that they drew out during the summer. With that much comb to build, i fed them all summer and by fall they were pretty strong. These are Carnolian’s. That whole rocket looking top provides abundant ventilation and when the insulation is peeled away the hive is a pleasant yellow color.
While on the ranch in N.Dakota i kept roughly 20 hives and usually 50% would make it thru the winter, Alaskan winters are a bit longer so mortality can be a bit higher. 30 years ago a 3lb package W/queen was $32.00.
i about croaked when purchasing my first package up here for $215.00 ea.
Time will tell. I keep two hives and if by chance both die some winter, i’ll be out of the bee business, it’s just too cost prohibitive, especially since there are enough wild bees to meet my needs.
