# Newbee in Maryland amazed with all the conflicting advice :D



## mitce01 (Mar 31, 2016)

Greetings from Maryland! My wife and I recently completed our local short course. We installed our first hive from a package and are expecting our nuc to arrive in late April / early May. It's amazing how much conflicting advice is out there.. even in some of the local beekeeping organizations and online. Some say start off a new hive on 2 to 1 ratio of water and sugar. I chose to go with the more often recommended 1 to 1. Most tell me to release my package queen with a slow release.. let the bees eat through the candy plug. But I went with Bush's advice from The Practical Beekeeper.. a direct release since she has been in the package with them for several days.. and it went beautifully. When I share this it seems some beekeepers sort of shake their head.. "new guy doesn't know what he is doing". 

But the old adage is true.. ask 10 beekeepers a question and you will get 11 different answers. The best I can do is go with what makes sense to me. But I am SO looking forward to learning from everyone's advice and experiences within this forum!

Cheers,
Eric Mitchell


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## e-spice (Sep 21, 2013)

Welcome to the club.  That was one of the toughest aspects for me too - so many different opinions. The truth is though, beekeeping has been around for hundreds of years so there is a lot of different ways to accomplish something. You job is just finding the way that works for you and your situation.

You will find a lot of great advice here. I would probably have given up in my first year if not for the helpful people in the forum.


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## GaryG74 (Apr 9, 2014)

Welcome to BeeSource! Yes, everyone has at least one opinion, depending on his or her experiences. Just try to filter what you hear/read/watch and use you best judgment. Consider the source, lots of very experienced bee keepers on BeeSource, they will try to give you what has worked best for them. Also remember that beekeeping is localized. Something that works in Florida may or may not work in Montana and vice versa. Good luck with your bees!


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## Hops Brewster (Jun 17, 2014)

Answers are not only local, but also conditional. You will hear "it depends" a lot. For example, If a beek bought a package that had been put together a few days earlier, he might not hesitate to quick-release the queen. But if he knew his package had only been put together the evening before, he would likely to use the slow release method. Syrup ratio decision is often dependent on overnight temps and available nectar flow. Lighter syrup is used later in the season, thicker syrup while nights are still cold... depending on your locality, of course.


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## Stonewall (Aug 27, 2013)

I would agree Eric. I'm a sideliner in North carolina who took his beekeeping course 40 years ago. Most of the practices I employ to asure a good honey crop would be critised with by a large number of other beekeepers. As a result I do offer advise when asked but otherwise I don't discuss my cultural practices.


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## COAL REAPER (Jun 24, 2014)

check out George Imirie's PINK PAGES


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## missybee (Sep 6, 2014)

Welcome Eric!

Frederick beekeeps here, we joined the HCBA. Read a lot, absorb what you read, do what works for you. That is where we are now. Right now 8 of 8 hives alive and booming. We are already doing opening the brood nest, the hive boxes are packed tight with bees. A month ahead of last year. 

One thing I have learned, it helps to have a record of when things bloom in your area, don't trust your memory.......lol Each year is slightly different. 

We have supers on the hives already this year, last year it was mid to end of April before they needed them. But then again my ponds had 10 inch ice covering still on them at the end of March, 2015. A foot of snow covering the ground 3/25 (based on picture dates lol)

We were told not to use OAV for mite treatment, but we are and it is working great. 

Our hives, except two, are all mediums. Two still have one deep which we are rotating out. It is difficult to have a mixture of sizes. 

Good luck with your new bees! Don't over feed, our split last year swarmed............oops!


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## Riverderwent (May 23, 2013)

mitce01 said:


> It's amazing how much conflicting advice is out there.. even in some of the local beekeeping organizations and online.


Sometimes people are wrong. Sometimes there are several ways to do the same thing with different trade offs of advantages and disadvantages based on people's circumstances, rich/poor, frugal/wasteful, retired/working, experience/no experience, tools/no tools, do cutouts/don't do cutouts, children/no children, young/old, strong/weak, land/no land, fork lift/no fork lift, partner/no partner, long flows/short flows, feral bees/no feral bees, AHB area, SHB area, north/south, wet/dry, many hives/few hives, extractor/no extractor, honey house/no honey house, near lumber mill, raise queens/don't raise queens, treat/don't treat, feed/rarely feed, cedar/cypress/pine, paint/don't paint, etc. Everyone has limiting factors, and they can be different for different people. And these factors are dynamic for each individual. Going through every advantage and disadvantage in every situation is tedious. Sometimes there are methods that complement or interact with other methods in ways that work, but that we don't fully understand and don't want to risk altering carelessly. If you have ever had all the adjustments dialed in on a road bicycle so that it is comfortable for you, you probably understand.


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## Canhona (Jun 11, 2015)

Ask 5 different beekeepers about something and get 7 and a half answers! Lots of good advice on this forum though. Glean what you can. Don't get overwhelmed. You will figure out what works and doesn't as you go. The best answer is "depends...".


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## Tenbears (May 15, 2012)

Add to all the above relayed information the fact that there are thousands of people out there who have seen videos, or read information. Posted on the internet by who knows who with who knows what background. That take it as gospel without ever having evaluated the information in a real world situation. Then pass it on as though they are experts themselves. Make the problem of sorting through the multitudes of theories and suspicions, and conjecture ever more difficult. Consider experience and credentials before taking anything as gospel. Then apply a liberal dose of common sense!


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## aldenmiller (Mar 21, 2016)

Welcome Eric!

I wonder if the short course you finished was the same one I just finished at HCBA.

-Alden


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## COAL REAPER (Jun 24, 2014)

Tenbears said:


> Add to all the above relayed information the fact that there are thousands of people out there who have seen videos, or read information. Posted on the internet by who knows who with who knows what background. That take it as gospel without ever having evaluated the information in a real world situation. Then pass it on as though they are experts themselves. Make the problem of sorting through the multitudes of theories and suspicions, and conjecture ever more difficult. Consider experience and credentials before taking anything as gospel. Then apply a liberal dose of common sense!


you can generally write off any youtube videos where the person is wearing gloves or even a suit!


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## EastTnJoe (Jan 20, 2016)

COAL REAPER said:


> you can generally write off any youtube videos where the person is wearing gloves or even a suit!


Then you're left with Tim Durham Sr. I think he's hilarious!


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## Dan the bee guy (Jun 18, 2015)

:thumbsup:


EastTnJoe said:


> Then you're left with Tim Durham Sr. I think he's hilarious!


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## Dave Burrup (Jul 22, 2008)

The advisors that amaze me the most are usually the loudest and most persistant and still loose most or all of their hives year after year. I am still learning every year, but with eight seasons behind me, 10% loss for those eight seasons, 100% queen acceptance for 6 years, and frequently get told here and other places I do not know what I am talking about. Yea I am complaining, but one thing I have learned is use a real strong filter, and do not offer advice, nobody really wants to know how you keep your bees alive.


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## mitce01 (Mar 31, 2016)

It is.. HCBA is pretty awesome, we've been attending the meetings as well.. lots of great guest speakers. Hope to meet you at one of the meetings!
- Eric Mitchell


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## AmericasBeekeeper (Jan 24, 2010)

Welcome Eric!


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## Riverderwent (May 23, 2013)

EastTnJoe said:


> Then you're left with Tim Durham Sr. I think he's hilarious!


"They're gettin' me good. Ya'll can run if you want to." Tim Durham, Sr.


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## bbruff22 (Dec 24, 2013)

Welcome from NE Kansas Eric, and good luck to you! Some of the threads out here get pretty heated, but usually they stay civil and are very informing. One topic that really had some interesting threads last year was interactions with neighbors, watch out for those and enjoy, in moderation.


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## BEES4U (Oct 10, 2007)

RE: Most tell me to release my package queen with a slow release.. let the bees eat through the candy plug. But I went with Bush's advice from The Practical Beekeeper.. a direct release since she has been in the package with them for several days.. and it went beautifully. When I share this it seems some beekeepers sort of shake their head.. "new guy doesn't know what he is doing". 
As you gain experience over the years including failures that cost you the loss of a queen and trying to locate a replacement-- you might change your methods. 
Regards,
Ernie


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