# Newbie in Southwest Kansas



## FlowerPlanter (Aug 3, 2011)

If you goal is to raise bee without chemicals, packaged bees might be the last thing you want to start with. Are your SC packages treatment free?

If you are in an beekeeping isolated area I see no reason why you can't be successful at "treatment free". You might want to start with TF stock.

There are a whole bunch of treads on that exact topic, in the treatment free forum;

http://www.beesource.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?251-Treatment-Free-Beekeeping


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## rtowerbay (Jan 12, 2017)

Thank you FlowerPlanter!

Yes, the package bees I ordered are treatment free and raised on SC.

I haven't been to the TF forum yet. Headed there now...


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## AmericasBeekeeper (Jan 24, 2010)

Welcome Randy!


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## Daniel Y (Sep 12, 2011)

Welcome Randy. I was born just north of you in Syracuse. Both sides of my family are from there. I also lived in Garden City until the age of 5 then moved to Liberal until the age of 10. Pretty much was working on having you surrounded. Welcome to the group and best of luck with your bees.


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## rtowerbay (Jan 12, 2017)

Thank you, AmericasBeekeeper!


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## rtowerbay (Jan 12, 2017)

Hi Daniel!

I know all those places very well. My wife and I have both lived out here, first in Guymon, Oklahoma, then the land we live on now, our entire lives.

Looks like you moved from the near-desert of Kansas to the real thing! Is it difficult to keep bees in Reno? Seems it would go from feast to famine depending on rainfall.


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## Delta 21 (Mar 4, 2016)

Kansas beek here with family in New Mexico. Have travelled K-56 past your place for years.

The grasslands do look like a desolated area but the natural forage there is probly much better than the monocrop wasteland just to the north. If i were you I would anticipate being more than waist deep in Milkweed by the end of summer. :thumbsup:


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## rtowerbay (Jan 12, 2017)

Hi Delta 21!

I travel through your neck of the woods a lot myself. I have a telecommunications tower service business with clients all over Kansas, several with towers around Scott City, Ness City, Colby, etc. If you drove south on Hwy 27 and kept going south through the Grasslands you'd drive right past my house.

Looks like, according to your signature line, you're fairly new to bees. How are they working out for you?

Randy


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## Delta 21 (Mar 4, 2016)

I have two top bar hives with Italians that did good this year. 
http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?329530-Backyard-Hives

One got hammered with mites, (they dont go away if you ignore them) and I hope I got them treated early enough to make the winter. Even the weak hive made it thru the frigid temps and were flying the other day. They are setting fat with stores so I am enthusiastic for spring. Currently working in the shop on hive #3 and 2 nuc boxes for a spring split. 
http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?312730-Today-in-the-Apiary&p=1503048#post1503048

Milkweed is a high pollen and nectar producer. Whatcha gonna do with all that honey?


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## Daniel Y (Sep 12, 2011)

rtowerbay said:


> Hi Daniel!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## rtowerbay (Jan 12, 2017)

Delta 21 said:


> I have two top bar hives with Italians that did good this year.
> http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?329530-Backyard-Hives
> 
> Milkweed is a high pollen and nectar producer. Whatcha gonna do with all that honey?


That's some truly fine woodworking! Impressive!

I'm hoping both my hives will have sufficient stores to survive their first winter. Don't have plans to harvest any honey. But, then again, I don't know a lot right now. This year will be a big learning experience, I'm sure.


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## Delta 21 (Mar 4, 2016)

Thanks. Its a lot easier working with wood than it is with bees. I can make the wood do what I want it to. Top bar hives are easier to make and are pretty much not standard so its harder to find my mistakes, (but all my pieces and parts are interchangeable except for the roof/lid on the larger box.) And can be much more utilitarian than aesthetic. If these werent in my wife's back yard ............

If you are cultivating/encouraging a few acres of milkweed I would imagine introducing the best, natural pollinator will result in explosive growth all around. Lots of pollen and nectar means lots and lots of bees and honey.

Have an active plan for the mites. Its been challenging enough just becoming a bee keeper. 1st year precautionary feeding and OAV to keep the mites at bay so I can be a bee keeper in the spring.


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## GaryG74 (Apr 9, 2014)

Welcome to Bee Source. Did you get any of that ice storm? Looked rough from watching the news.


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## rtowerbay (Jan 12, 2017)

We were incredibly fortunate. Everything slowly iced up over three days but no wind. Trees really sagged but no broken branches. Never lost power.

But just south of us in the Oklahoma panhandle one county had 1,500 power poles go down. Just 30 miles east of us lots of downed tree limbs in Hugoton, Kansas. 60 miles east of us they declared a 'disaster zone'.

100 miles to the northeast they've set up shelters for people without power. Heard that a lot of homes would be without power for at least a week.

Counting our blessings!!

Randy


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## runner_114 (Aug 31, 2009)

welcome from Hodgeman county


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## rtowerbay (Jan 12, 2017)

Hey, thanks! Are you in the Jetmore or Hanston area? My work takes me up there a few times each year.


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## runner_114 (Aug 31, 2009)

Jetmore bees could be anywhere the clover is


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## RubeeRobin (Feb 19, 2017)

New (and completely inexperienced) member just today and you are my neighbor! I am in Baca county, just south of Pritchett CO. I am zone 6a as well but I think you get more rainfall than we do. I am encouraged to see keepers in this arid area and hope i can keep my future bees happy here. Ps. Saw 10 monarchs this summer that hung around the house together for about 3 days.


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## rtowerbay (Jan 12, 2017)

Hi RubeeRobin!

I know exactly where Sheridan Lake is. I've driven through there many times on my way to jobs. I do tower work and I think there's a tower just north of town that I've been on. Used to be a bit of water in the "Lake" but, as I recall, it was just a mud hole last time I came through.

I'll be working in Prowers County sometime in the next two or three weeks. If you'd like some Milkweed plants to try to attract and hold Monarchs this year I could bring a few with me. Just have to find a place to leave them for you to pick up or possibly meet you somewhere. (No charge... Just experimenting with them this year and would be interested to see how they do for you.)

Good luck with your bees. What kind, and where did you order them? Mine are Carnolian, Russian and Italian mix raised on 4.9 (small cell) foundation using essential oils for mite and disease control. I ordered them from Wolf Creek Apiaries. After a lot of research and questioning I've decided to try my best to continue raising them without using toxic chemicals. Wolf Creek has some very detailed essential oil treatment instructions on their website. We'll see how it works in our area.


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