# Canola Flow in Dakotas?



## LeeHoney (Feb 13, 2014)

One of the locals has gotten in with a beek from up that way willing to sharecrop.. I'm hearing they have no problem making 100 +lbs per hive was wondering if anyone on here had any knowledge... Also even if not I'm looking for another crop to share-crop or a pollination crop between maybe Mid June-Aug if anybody has has luc with anything else..
Thanks I advance


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## Heintz88 (Feb 26, 2012)

I also heard there are two beeks in flordia not even bothering moving hives to the Dakotas. Couldn't make enough honey to cover expenses. Decided to chase
Flows down there. How long till corn and soy beans take over the Dakotas? I'm sure there working on some strains that will flurish there. What happens to all the big beeks that go there?


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## busy bee apiary (Aug 7, 2010)

Haha......yep, sounds like the saying "there's so much honey in nd that the rivers flow honey".
Take a look at the ten year nd and sd state honey yields I don't think you'll see a year it's above a 100lbs. Allot of years are closer to half.


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## Brian Suchan (Apr 6, 2005)

3-4 issues back abj printed a map of registered nd beeyards.


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## Mbeck (Apr 27, 2011)

http://www.nd.gov/ndda/files/resource/2014BeeList.pdf

Here are a few phone numbers. Feel free to tell them I sent you :lookout:


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## cybrew (May 29, 2014)

Every year around the beginning of June to Nov. We migrate the bees 40 miles on ND-2 north of Lakota, ND. The Canola is fantastic, That clear honey just jumps in the drum. We took 5500-6500 strong hives, left there with 1000/ 55gal drums of honey. Golden Heritage gets our honey, and they pay about $1200 a drum that's good money. If I remember correctly we made a 200lb crop... I could be wrong its late.


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## jean-marc (Jan 13, 2005)

I think your math is off. Suppose you took 6000 hives. That means it took 6 hives to make a drum. A drum is 620-650 pounds. Basically a little better than 100 pounds per hive. Reasonable money... with the price from last year perhaps $200/hive. $ not pounds. I am sure it was worth the effort.

Jean-Marc


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

Easy honey drum math to calculate a 100 lb. avg. 
Drop the zero from your hive numbers then add another half. 
Soooooo.
6000 hives then becomes 600+300=900 drums. This equates to a 99lb. average if the drums average a 660lb. net. 
To calculate 200 lbs. (actually 198 lbs. at 660 per drum) either (obviously) double your 100
lb. number or drop the zero from your hives and triple. (600 x 3=1800)


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## Allen Martens (Jan 13, 2007)

cybrew said:


> If I remember correctly we made a 200lb crop... I could be wrong its late.


I may be wrong here but I don't think this comment was meant to be taken at face value. Perhaps needs a smiley of sorts was needed. I could be wrong its early. :lpf:


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## babybee (Mar 23, 2012)

I know a guy that runs nd canola. He says that they don't use permanent bee yards, but instead wait to see where the canola is planted and then pay the farmers 500 bucks to put 200 hives down on around 2 acres of the field. He sets down 10000 plus hives.


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## sharpdog (Jun 6, 2012)

jim lyon said:


> Easy honey drum math to calculate a 100 lb. avg.
> Drop the zero from your hive numbers then add another half.
> Soooooo.
> 6000 hives then becomes 600+300=900 drums. This equates to a 99lb. average if the drums average a 660lb. net.
> ...


Neat trick


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## cybrew (May 29, 2014)

June 1st, last year we took 6500 hives to North Dakota, Lawton over on hwy 2 to be more specific. That was my first time for the Canola flow. I have a tendency to rattle-on for ever, let me just say this... With around 6500=/_ hives, 10-12 guys, and a tremendous amount of work, man no joke. June 1st. till I climbed in the tractor headed for the Bishop rabbit-brush in mid November we made 8 drums of high quality pollen, extracted 1000 55gal drums that we sent to Golden-Heritage. man we made 1,000,000 bucks on just the flipping sweet-stuff, that's a good paycheck in my book. Great fishing, ladies were a bit challenged in the looks department!

Any way that's what I got for ya, enjoy your day...

-Stephen


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## LeeHoney (Feb 13, 2014)

cybrew said:


> June 1st, last year we took 6500 hives to North Dakota, Lawton over on hwy 2 to be more specific. That was my first time for the Canola flow. I have a tendency to rattle-on for ever, let me just say this... With around 6500=/_ hives, 10-12 guys, and a tremendous amount of work, ****-the-bed man no joke. June 1st. till I climbed in the tractor headed for the Bishop rabbit-brush in mid November we made 8 drums of high quality pollen, extracted 1000 55gal drums that we sent to Golden-Heritage. **** man we made 1,000,000 bucks on just the flipping sweet-stuff, that's a good paycheck in my book. Great fishing, ladies were a bit challenged in the looks department!
> 
> Any way that's what I got for ya, enjoy your day...
> 
> -Stephen


Thanks for the replies folks.. Stephen I appreciate the info I have been hearing numbers much like you stated.


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