Is it too late in the season to start beekeeping? I live in Oklahoma?
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Beekeeping in Alphabet City
Question by Green is the new RED!: Is it too late in the season to start beekeeping? I live in Oklahoma?
My biggest concern is that I am looking at the first part of June to get the hive/equipment & bees. I am afraid they will not have enough time to make a sufficient food supply for themselves for winter.
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4 Responses to Is it too late in the season to start beekeeping? I live in Oklahoma?
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Hi fences, I don’t think it is too late to start. I am in Oklahoma and I buy honey from a lady off the highway near okmulgee every year around July. I remember her telling me it takes a month or so to get a good batch started. Keep in mind that she has been at this for lots of years so I guess it could really depend on how many bees one has. Good luck in your endevours. Local honey is the best cure for local allergies.
Christina G
November 17, 2011 at 5:27 am
I live in southern Ohio and it is near the end of time this year for starting a new colony. Most of them start in April. If you can capture a good swarm, you might have a chance, but I’m guessing you’d be better off waiting until next year.
Bobs MonOncle
November 17, 2011 at 5:57 am
You have plenty of time to start a hive. You can start one as late as August if you don’t rob the honey.
Usually, an Apiculturist gets two crops of honey from a colony. A spring crop and a fall crop. The honey comes from the second and sometimes third story frames, the bees live in the bottom on the first story frames.
Start with a first story hive box with comb foundation on the frames. When the frames are almost full of eggs and honey, add the second story hive box full of frames with comb foundation.
The second story is your honey. If you rob the first story frames of their honey, the bees will starve to death during the winter.
Caveat, during really good summers with lots of honey flow, sometimes the colony will get so big the queen moves into the second story frames to lay eggs. If this happens, just add a third story hive box filled with frames and comb foundation.
When it gets close to winter, the queen and colony will move back down to the first frame as the eggs hatch, and the comb is reused to store honey.
ranger_co_1_75
November 17, 2011 at 6:44 am
I don’t think it’s too late. I hope to split my new hive next month. You will just have to feed them a lot of sugar. The hard part will be to find someone to ship a package of bees now. They take orders around the first of the year. It’s easy to get queens shipped all summer though.
Carl
November 17, 2011 at 7:24 am