Question on Depopulation

[rbees]

So How is it done? Do you cage the quuen say 23 days prior to their demise to prevent brood remaining in the frames?

Do you spin out ALL of the honey or do you leave some sealed for future packages?

What do you do to store the frames such that mold doesn't set in?

Details...details?

Oh, have you ever considered offering your bulk bees to those who want to boost their weak hives?

It sounds interesting to the point were I COULD be convinced to try the procedure, except for the fact I'd have to reduce to only two deeps

[Thom]

I was going to offer the bees to others, but these bees have not been medicated and it's too late to medicate them now so any takers would be introducing unmedicated bees into their medicated hives, not a good idea. Also adding more bees now will put a burden on the hives winter reservers. The queens have already had a full season and would need to be replaced in the spring. The point is that they have kicked out all the drones, the queen will need to be replaced, and the winter cluster is only a few thousand bees who will die as soon as spring comes along any way.

I am going to do several hives tonight, but for now I am going to leave two hives that I will not touch.

What I do is I pour a couple of pails of soapy water into a 40 gallon horse watering container. I open the hive and tap one frame after the other the rim of the container. The bees fall in and die right away. I extract all the honey. After extraction I put the frames out for the two remaining hives to clean up and then I store the comb for next year. Next week I will do one of the remaining hives, and after that is cleaned up I will do the final hive and let a neighbors bees clean the final bits of comb.

As far as being cost effective, a new package in the spring will cost $40. Since I am able to take the extra 60 pounds of honey from each hive that I would have left for winter food, and I sell honey for $6 per pound (yes, and no one bats an eye at the price) I am grossing an extra $360 from each hive.

Also realize that I don't have to pay for medications. All I buy is bees and jars.

If you are selling your honey in bulk and if you depend on early pollination this is not the way to go. But if your main business it to jar and sell your own honey, people will pay $6 per pound for a chemical free honey. Beside the lable I have a hang tag that reads like a manafesto on chemical free production. I sold 7 gallons in one pound jars in two days. Now I have a waiting list of people who want to buy the next batch. The quantity they have on order right now is 96lbs, though I'm sure I can easily sell 500 lbs by mid November.

There is a whole marketing thing going on as well. I have attractive jars, and a $6 stocking stuffer is within the reach of most people.