September 1st, 2015 status update
26 hives under the Rausch family jurisdiction
(19 Warre, 5 Langstroth, 1 Top Bar, 1 Bee Gum Log)
Survival rates:
90% (9 of 10) summer survival of overwintered colonies
90% (18 of 20) summer survival of swarms collected in 2015
Reasons for decrease in 2015:
1 overwintered hive died in April
2 new swarms have died since spring
3 hives sold from 2015 swarms
5 swarms sold/gifted away
3 hives combined into others (2 splits + 1 swarm)
Sources of increase Since March 2015:
28 swarms collected (20 kept + 8 sold)
2 splits
Other notes:
1 hive purged from my notes–it was never really mine
9 overwintered hives are still in my apiary
Of the swarms that were placed in my apiary, 10 of them were from known sources of overwintered treatment free colonies. The rest were of unknown or unproven sources.
Reconciliation:
11 hives at March 2015
+30 hive increase
-14 decreases
– 1 purged from my books (still alive)
———–
26 colonies in the Rausch apiary on September 1st, 2015