I tried feeding my bees a single slice earlier this summer and they were not interested, I think that was a sign of nectar flow still happening. As a first year beekeeper it’s fun to experiment and watch your videos. Thanks for another one.
Hey man, I’m not a beekeeper and I don’t know a huge amount but I was thinking it would be awesome to collect fruit like blueberries and feed the juice to the bees through the year in some sort of bee feeder system! Still allow them to collect nectar when the nectar is around, but during the off-season give them large amounts of different fruit juices and during the nectar season, give them a smaller amount as a supplement, I know many beekeepers do this with sugar water during the off-season or when they are fertilizing almond fields, but frankly, I think you’re gonna get way better honey with fruit juice
Well thanks! I thought it needed explained. Just finished mowing that pasture a couple days ago and I left a lot of patches of GR for the bees. I just didn't want to battle the brambles all winter long.
@a Canadian Beekeeper's Blog Two weeks in a row you have commented, I must be making halfway decent videos. lol I agree we must farm our Fields but part of me wonders if I didn't mow it if it would be better for fall grass. The heat has been pounding us recently and until the last few days very little rain. I noticed that grass is growing better in shady areas vs where there is full sun. Kinda make me wonder if the Goldenrod would act as shade and promote grass growth? What do you think?
There probably is a reason why the grass isn’t competitive enough to out grow the goldenrod. So take that into consideration. But the mow down will definitely give the grass a leg up. You might want to consider timing the mow down with rain fall. You probably do. Just a thought.
Yes, we just this week started to get rain (from hurricanes pushing north). We got 2" though which is great. I know poly stakes have been a nightmare to put in the ground. Also we are considering a fertilizer called Sea-90, ever heard of it? You can broadcast it or offer as a free choice mineral. Looks promising!
I cattle farm too... I mow after the Goldenrod Bloom my grass in the pasture still grows fine and dense afterwards... you will be surprised how much late fall growth you still get... leave more for the bees....
@ECP - EAST COAST PROSPECTING Your right to a degree, grass would still have time to grow if I left Goldenrod but the brambles, honeysuckle and wild roses bushes would have a jump start come spring and we want them to die off. So by mowing eventually the roots will will weaken and die off. Of course increasing soil fertility will also stop weeds from growing in pastures and we are considering a new fertilizer called Sea-90. I also think I will see more grass growth without the GR in the pasture than to wait for it to die off and I want as much grass growth as possible. I also have to consider timing.... If I wait until GR is done blooming to mow then I cut into the time I would be having our hay delivered and placed.
I accidentally put in on a balcony and when i came there were a lot of bees and the watermelon got a bit clumpy with like bits of brown dots and i was wondering what is it, do they just make a bit mess by bitting in it or do they leave sth?
Another thought: do an experiment where you mow strips (1/2 and 1/2) now and leave strips to mow in a couple of weeks and see if you can tell the difference next spring. How do you know if you don't experiment??
That's part of the farm life. I just got done mowing pasture right in front of my hives to increase grass growth. I can still smell the golden rod the bees are working in their hive they will find it somewhere. Throwed out some watermelon rines this yr and the bees were all over it
I liked that music vid. I shared it w my sister. We got so much respect for older ppl. My bees are hurtin. Its deadly hot here. Watermelon & apricots today ladies. Think I will make a fancy carport of shade for them today. (Made of plywood or cardboard) As long as my husband don't have to work....I get all the bees I want.
@Enjoy nature76 It will not be this year, the season being I was unable to find any Sumac in my area until this years bloom and it's not fully dried yet. Sorry, I tried hard last Fall to find some and had no luck.
Yeah, I sat and waited for the goldenrod bloom, thinking my bees MIGHT make a fall honey crop as spring was a bust. Oh...here it comes, just starting to bloom and what's that I hear? Good old farmer Chico has hired the goon with the 18 ft batwing and I sat and watched 50 acres of fall bloom turned into confetti. Yep, it belongs to him, could have sprayed it with Agent Orange if he wanted to. He could have left it for 4 more weeks and never missed a thing, he never spends a nickel on lime or fertilizer. All the blackberries are gone his mother and dad used pick and enjoy, there's no rabbits or quail either...there's no cover or feed left for anything wild and no bounty from the land, all he's got is some sorry excuse for hillside pasture to feed some cutters and canners. That half a gallon of honey destined for his table will be missing too. What goes around, comes around.
Mowing fields....at least for me...does nothing to kill the unwanted plants...and brush....it does cut off the vegetation that has grown that year...and has a cosmetic effect for the rest of this season....I raise beef cattle....and bees....I only mow after the goldenrod bloom trails off....we all make choices based on our best guess....Thanks for your videos....
@ed devault I agree, you have to mow several times before you see plants like brambles die off. After you mow enough the roots will eventually give up and die. Of course, increasing soil fertility is a huge help too. We will be bale grazing here this winter and we are about to start using something called Sea-90.
I raise beef steers for neighbors and friends for slaughter for freezer beef....a cow /calf operation was just a waste of a lot of good efforts for me....if you have a slaughter house or two close by....it is far better for $$....may start slow....but as you get known....as a good product....you will not regret the switch...I have about 120 customers ...some order every year...some order every other year....
Ed, I was finishing cattle for a few years and with our market it made sense to go cow/calf. We have a direct market in a high end store so selling beef is not an issue at all. So there is a mix of cow/calves and steers to be finished. Just this year I sold my first young bull too. We have Pharo cattle company genetics so selling my bull wasn't hard.
Some mow it down to make it look uniform and clean. You can buy hay pretty cheap so you have to figure the trade off of honey and bee health vs. a couple of bales of hay. You got to do what you got to do but I hate it when those flowers all get mowed down. Have a good week.
If you only have a couple of head to feed then hay may be cheap but the silage I will be feeding is $65 a bale and the herd eats 3 bales a day in the winter. So any grazing I can extend is a huge savings. It's crazy how when you add more of anything expenses jumper like crazy. lol
I'm glad you mentioned about the ragweed - goldenrod misunderstanding. Goldenrod pollen is way to dense (heavy) to be an allergy concern for people, but its what people see during the fall allergy season so that turns out to be the villain.
@K Wil Good to see ya here, how's your bees doing? I had to point out the ragweed because I hear so many say it's causing their allergies and I know that ain't true.
@@JCsBees Not bad at all considering apparently we now live on the face of the sun, Its been hot hot hot and dry! Is it just me or is goldenrod a little early this year, I've seen it blooming for around a month now?
@K Wil It's been like Arizona here I know and I am sick of the heat. Goldenrod is right on time for me but I have been hearing it's early for a lot of people. My bees usually pay it no attention until most of it is in bloom.
@@JCsBees That's good to know because I have quite a bit of goldenrod but have seen no bees on it..but it has just started to do its thing...so maybe they are patiently waiting..
Pfff, this is beyond efd, dèstròying precious nature and fèrcing more mámmáłs into existence which are brèédíhng in the most śínfèł ways, shouldn’t have been áłwd - flowers / grasses / trees etc are sacred and pure beings reflecting me the pure / sacred being who should have always been protected from hum’ns, plucking flowers / felling trees / mowing lawns or other plants etc are beyond śínfèł, as is the other thing, and only plant-based faux beef should be used!
some of the reason bees struggle to consume the watermelon, is the sweet sugar content is because it is locked up in the fiber of the watermelon. if you juice it a little bees will consume it all.
Hey Jason, thanks for the share... I was wondering about something, Last year you did a video on Staghorn Sumac and its effects on Varroa mites... you also said you were going to do a follow-up and a more indepth study... So, I didn't see a follow-up video and maybe I missed it, so, what did you find out? That is if you got around to doing it. Thanks and keep up the good work!
@mark dennis You are right more testing was planned but I was unable to harvest anymore sumac berries to continue testing. The area I was harvesting from did not produce many berries at all late last summer but just a couple weeks ago I noticed they are loaded now. So my plan is to harvest the berries soon and start in the spring to continue testing. Sorry plans didn't go the way I wanted.
Mr Chrisman I plan on having my first hive in the spring but my question is this I have a cattle farmer that has a pasture beside my place and I have re seen him use some kind of solid fertilizer on the pasture if the grass doesn't grow to good so is that going to stop me from having bees and will it hurt the bees and harm the honey that is made
I didn't know specifically why, but I figured there had to be a good reason for them to spend time and burn fuel. If I had really thought about it, I would probably have figured it out. I spend a lot of time at a friends large dairy farm flying models, and they plant a lot of feedstock, so there's usually not too many fields sitting fallow. They rotate strategically and usually have corn, hay, peagrass or winter wheat in them, so don't mow much. Farmers are practical, and don't do much without a good reason, so I didn't think it was malice toward the bees...
Funny that this video touches the subject of watermelons. Yesterday I was informed by a friend that National Par s of Canada is giving out dozens of watermelons to the Canadian beekeepers! The question that rose up in me is the following: « are the bees attracted to it because of the water or the sugar like the sugar syrup (carbohydrates)? » I wonder if it was ever tested in this regard. Have you come across any study on or anyone reading this? That you for your videos. They are appreciated.
Interesting! I guess I just assumed they were after it for the syrup but it could be the water also. I don't really know much about it though, sorry. I would guess if the bees were to eat enough you would see it in the supers if in deed it is the sugar their after.
lol seen Ladybug in the background there at the end. My girls will be drunk on pear wine from the pear orchard. I will be sure to cut up all left over pears to give them in the fall. Thank again Jason for a great video and the wonderful "fruits" of your labors lol pun intended.
It always bugged me how every year, just before the huge fields of goldenrod and milkweed are about to bloom, the farmers mow it down. I literally wouldn't have to feed a drop if they left it. And they don't even have cattle. If I upgrade my Tube buddy, I'll use the code. The free version doesn't really explain much.
Well bless their little cotton socks, I'll give that a try and see how the bee's like it. Your bee's are liking more than my bee's did the golden rod, quite disappointing how little they worked it. Yet their getting pollen from somewhere and at quite a rate as well nearly every other bee is loaded, so not complaining of course.
I don’t really know...I’m thinking more likely that they could sell smaller ones for almost double the price to make a good profit 😒 Anyway nice video man. 🙃
LOL, "Mmmm thats good watermelon folks,....really good watermelon,.... maybe the bees dont need both halves.." I didnt think Amish grown organic was going totally to the bees. Great video and thanks for pointing out the ironweed, my field has a ton of it and I was calling it incorrectly.
@Eric Austin I'll tell ya, it was an awesome melon to say the least. Super sweet! lol I only wished you all could have tasted it too. Glad you enjoyed the video and learned the name of the tall purple plant.....Ironweed. A little sidenote: Ironweed stems make great framing to build kites. They dry very hard and are usually straight as an arrow. Now go get busy making some kites. lol
I’m confused because I saw this Please do not cut open watermelon, peaches, pineapples or any other kind of fruit and feed it to bees. dehydration and even death. I never know what to believe.
Thanks for the information!
entertaining as always I enjoy your videos
I tried feeding my bees a single slice earlier this summer and they were not interested, I think that was a sign of nectar flow still happening. As a first year beekeeper it’s fun to experiment and watch your videos. Thanks for another one.
Hey man, I’m not a beekeeper and I don’t know a huge amount but I was thinking it would be awesome to collect fruit like blueberries and feed the juice to the bees through the year in some sort of bee feeder system! Still allow them to collect nectar when the nectar is around, but during the off-season give them large amounts of different fruit juices and during the nectar season, give them a smaller amount as a supplement, I know many beekeepers do this with sugar water during the off-season or when they are fertilizing almond fields, but frankly, I think you’re gonna get way better honey with fruit juice
They seem to love it after a few days. thanks for sharing
Kudos to ya for explaining the mowing of golden rod and leaving what ya can where ya can!
HBM
Well thanks! I thought it needed explained. Just finished mowing that pasture a couple days ago and I left a lot of patches of GR for the bees. I just didn't want to battle the brambles all winter long.
Great video Jason always love your experiments.
Excellent video. We need to farm our fields. I love how you left strips within and around the edges.
Ha ha ha “the bees better get on that” LOL
@a Canadian Beekeeper's Blog Two weeks in a row you have commented, I must be making halfway decent videos. lol I agree we must farm our Fields but part of me wonders if I didn't mow it if it would be better for fall grass. The heat has been pounding us recently and until the last few days very little rain. I noticed that grass is growing better in shady areas vs where there is full sun. Kinda make me wonder if the Goldenrod would act as shade and promote grass growth? What do you think?
There probably is a reason why the grass isn’t competitive enough to out grow the goldenrod. So take that into consideration. But the mow down will definitely give the grass a leg up. You might want to consider timing the mow down with rain fall. You probably do. Just a thought.
Yes, we just this week started to get rain (from hurricanes pushing north). We got 2" though which is great. I know poly stakes have been a nightmare to put in the ground. Also we are considering a fertilizer called Sea-90, ever heard of it? You can broadcast it or offer as a free choice mineral. Looks promising!
I cattle farm too... I mow after the Goldenrod Bloom my grass in the pasture still grows fine and dense afterwards... you will be surprised how much late fall growth you still get... leave more for the bees....
Same here
@ECP - EAST COAST PROSPECTING Your right to a degree, grass would still have time to grow if I left Goldenrod but the brambles, honeysuckle and wild roses bushes would have a jump start come spring and we want them to die off. So by mowing eventually the roots will will weaken and die off. Of course increasing soil fertility will also stop weeds from growing in pastures and we are considering a new fertilizer called Sea-90.
I also think I will see more grass growth without the GR in the pasture than to wait for it to die off and I want as much grass growth as possible. I also have to consider timing.... If I wait until GR is done blooming to mow then I cut into the time I would be having our hay delivered and placed.
Good video. I really miss your grazing channel on RUclips.
So what do you do with wear the bees but the watermelon nector
It wears the bees a lot and shortens their life a lot.Better feed sugar and invert it.
I accidentally put in on a balcony and when i came there were a lot of bees and the watermelon got a bit clumpy with like bits of brown dots and i was wondering what is it, do they just make a bit mess by bitting in it or do they leave sth?
Another thought: do an experiment where you mow strips (1/2 and 1/2) now and leave strips to mow in a couple of weeks and see if you can tell the difference next spring. How do you know if you don't experiment??
That's part of the farm life. I just got done mowing pasture right in front of my hives to increase grass growth. I can still smell the golden rod the bees are working in their hive they will find it somewhere. Throwed out some watermelon rines this yr and the bees were all over it
I liked that music vid. I shared it w my sister. We got so much respect for older ppl.
My bees are hurtin. Its deadly hot here. Watermelon & apricots today ladies. Think I will make a fancy carport of shade for them today. (Made of plywood or cardboard)
As long as my husband don't have to work....I get all the bees I want.
Hey Jason one question when are you going to continue the sumac experiment?
@Enjoy nature76 It will not be this year, the season being I was unable to find any Sumac in my area until this years bloom and it's not fully dried yet. Sorry, I tried hard last Fall to find some and had no luck.
I would’ve assumed they would’ve eaten that watermelon up much quicker
If you just put a jigger of salt on the mellon the bees would probably go crazy over it. Bees are prople to you know.
Yeah, I sat and waited for the goldenrod bloom, thinking my bees MIGHT make a fall honey crop as spring was a bust. Oh...here it comes, just starting to bloom and what's that I hear? Good old farmer Chico has hired the goon with the 18 ft batwing and I sat and watched 50 acres of fall bloom turned into confetti. Yep, it belongs to him, could have sprayed it with Agent Orange if he wanted to. He could have left it for 4 more weeks and never missed a thing, he never spends a nickel on lime or fertilizer. All the blackberries are gone his mother and dad used pick and enjoy, there's no rabbits or quail either...there's no cover or feed left for anything wild and no bounty from the land, all he's got is some sorry excuse for hillside pasture to feed some cutters and canners. That half a gallon of honey destined for his table will be missing too. What goes around, comes around.
Mowing fields....at least for me...does nothing to kill the unwanted plants...and brush....it does cut off the vegetation that has grown that year...and has a cosmetic effect for the rest of this season....I raise beef cattle....and bees....I only mow after the goldenrod bloom trails off....we all make choices based on our best guess....Thanks for your videos....
@ed devault I agree, you have to mow several times before you see plants like brambles die off. After you mow enough the roots will eventually give up and die. Of course, increasing soil fertility is a huge help too. We will be bale grazing here this winter and we are about to start using something called Sea-90.
I raise beef steers for neighbors and friends for slaughter for freezer beef....a cow /calf operation was just a waste of a lot of good efforts for me....if you have a slaughter house or two close by....it is far better for $$....may start slow....but as you get known....as a good product....you will not regret the switch...I have about 120 customers ...some order every year...some order every other year....
Ed, I was finishing cattle for a few years and with our market it made sense to go cow/calf. We have a direct market in a high end store so selling beef is not an issue at all. So there is a mix of cow/calves and steers to be finished. Just this year I sold my first young bull too. We have Pharo cattle company genetics so selling my bull wasn't hard.
Hey jason...they love overripe concord grapes off my arbor too
Did you have many yellow jackets on the watermelon?
@Ron Fults Zero! None! I seen 3 hornets over about 4 days time and a couple of huge horse flies but mostly honeybees.
@@JCsBees That's surprising, I would have guessed those nasty buggers would have been all over it.
Some mow it down to make it look uniform and clean. You can buy hay pretty cheap so you have to figure the trade off of honey and bee health vs. a couple of bales of hay. You got to do what you got to do but I hate it when those flowers all get mowed down. Have a good week.
If you only have a couple of head to feed then hay may be cheap but the silage I will be feeding is $65 a bale and the herd eats 3 bales a day in the winter. So any grazing I can extend is a huge savings. It's crazy how when you add more of anything expenses jumper like crazy. lol
I'm glad you mentioned about the ragweed - goldenrod misunderstanding. Goldenrod pollen is way to dense (heavy) to be an allergy concern for people, but its what people see during the fall allergy season so that turns out to be the villain.
@K Wil Good to see ya here, how's your bees doing? I had to point out the ragweed because I hear so many say it's causing their allergies and I know that ain't true.
@@JCsBees Not bad at all considering apparently we now live on the face of the sun, Its been hot hot hot and dry! Is it just me or is goldenrod a little early this year, I've seen it blooming for around a month now?
@K Wil It's been like Arizona here I know and I am sick of the heat. Goldenrod is right on time for me but I have been hearing it's early for a lot of people. My bees usually pay it no attention until most of it is in bloom.
@@JCsBees That's good to know because I have quite a bit of goldenrod but have seen no bees on it..but it has just started to do its thing...so maybe they are patiently waiting..
Pfff, this is beyond efd, dèstròying precious nature and fèrcing more mámmáłs into existence which are brèédíhng in the most śínfèł ways, shouldn’t have been áłwd - flowers / grasses / trees etc are sacred and pure beings reflecting me the pure / sacred being who should have always been protected from hum’ns, plucking flowers / felling trees / mowing lawns or other plants etc are beyond śínfèł, as is the other thing, and only plant-based faux beef should be used!
Got a question, a bee hive has a lot of weeds by the entrance should they be cut after dark so not to confuse the bees
No. You can clear the weeds anytime of the day. You may have to suit up though but you on't have to do it after dark.
Jason Chrisman thanks
some of the reason bees struggle to consume the watermelon, is the sweet sugar content is because it is locked up in the fiber of the watermelon. if you juice it a little bees will consume it all.
When can we come and stay?
Hey Jason, thanks for the share... I was wondering about something, Last year you did a video on Staghorn Sumac and its effects on Varroa mites... you also said you were going to do a follow-up and a more indepth study... So, I didn't see a follow-up video and maybe I missed it, so, what did you find out? That is if you got around to doing it. Thanks and keep up the good work!
@mark dennis You are right more testing was planned but I was unable to harvest anymore sumac berries to continue testing. The area I was harvesting from did not produce many berries at all late last summer but just a couple weeks ago I noticed they are loaded now. So my plan is to harvest the berries soon and start in the spring to continue testing. Sorry plans didn't go the way I wanted.
@@JCsBees NP, I just remembered it when I saw some in the field and from your initial testing, it looked promising... Thanks!!!
Made me laugh, JC.
Mr Chrisman I plan on having my first hive in the spring but my question is this I have a cattle farmer that has a pasture beside my place and I have re seen him use some kind of solid fertilizer on the pasture if the grass doesn't grow to good so is that going to stop me from having bees and will it hurt the bees and harm the honey that is made
I can't see fertilizer harming bees, that would be herbicides. You should be fine.
I didn't know specifically why, but I figured there had to be a good reason for them to spend time and burn fuel. If I had really thought about it, I would probably have figured it out. I spend a lot of time at a friends large dairy farm flying models, and they plant a lot of feedstock, so there's usually not too many fields sitting fallow. They rotate strategically and usually have corn, hay, peagrass or winter wheat in them, so don't mow much. Farmers are practical, and don't do much without a good reason, so I didn't think it was malice toward the bees...
Funny that this video touches the subject of watermelons. Yesterday I was informed by a friend that National Par s of Canada is giving out dozens of watermelons to the Canadian beekeepers! The question that rose up in me is the following: « are the bees attracted to it because of the water or the sugar like the sugar syrup (carbohydrates)? » I wonder if it was ever tested in this regard. Have you come across any study on or anyone reading this? That you for your videos. They are appreciated.
Interesting! I guess I just assumed they were after it for the syrup but it could be the water also. I don't really know much about it though, sorry. I would guess if the bees were to eat enough you would see it in the supers if in deed it is the sugar their after.
lol seen Ladybug in the background there at the end. My girls will be drunk on pear wine from the pear orchard. I will be sure to cut up all left over pears to give them in the fall. Thank again Jason for a great video and the wonderful "fruits" of your labors lol pun intended.
Thanks for the info. By the way when do you start wintering bees in Ohio ( I am in Akron). What month do you closed the boxes for winter?
I am starting to prepare for winter now by feeding them and getting the hives to weight. I won't actually close the hive up for good until November.
@@JCsBees süpper
Hi bro
How many kg honey harvest from 100 colony in year ?
Ancient Greeks feeds bees dried figs and dried grapes.Try it.
this makes sense, they’re full of great things
It always bugged me how every year, just before the huge fields of goldenrod and milkweed are about to bloom, the farmers mow it down. I literally wouldn't have to feed a drop if they left it. And they don't even have cattle. If I upgrade my Tube buddy, I'll use the code. The free version doesn't really explain much.
A watermelon split in my garden the other day. I walked by the garden only to find it swarmed with bees.
Happy bees!!!
That's how it goes when we are farming different things at the same time. Something's will have to go for some to live.
@Mike General Kinda sucks to have to mow all the Golderod but it is what it is.
@@JCsBees Yep! the bees are not happy with you right now but the cow's are. Life of a farmer 🚜.
Well bless their little cotton socks, I'll give that a try and see how the bee's like it. Your bee's are liking more than my bee's did the golden rod, quite disappointing how little they worked it. Yet their getting pollen from somewhere and at quite a rate as well nearly every other bee is loaded, so not complaining of course.
No such thing as watermelon honey?
I was just feeding my bees watermelon too!😁😁
i feed mine watermelon and cantalope
Haven’t seen a watermelon that size in 10 years here in Quebec. They keep sending us small ones
It was a nice melon and super sweet. I take it they don't grow melons there?
I don’t really know...I’m thinking more likely that they could sell smaller ones for almost double the price to make a good profit 😒
Anyway nice video man. 🙃
My bees won’t touch the watermelon.
You must have a nectar flow. Wait until there is no flow then offer one.
Should plant you some sunflowers and other wildflowers to get rid of the weeds you don’t want.
Listening to the sound of slurping the watermelon made the rest of the video a no go.
Please do a video on identifying the plants that you have in your area.
LOL, "Mmmm thats good watermelon folks,....really good watermelon,.... maybe the bees dont need both halves.." I didnt think Amish grown organic was going totally to the bees. Great video and thanks for pointing out the ironweed, my field has a ton of it and I was calling it incorrectly.
@Eric Austin I'll tell ya, it was an awesome melon to say the least. Super sweet! lol I only wished you all could have tasted it too.
Glad you enjoyed the video and learned the name of the tall purple plant.....Ironweed.
A little sidenote: Ironweed stems make great framing to build kites. They dry very hard and are usually straight as an arrow. Now go get busy making some kites. lol
I’m confused because I saw this
Please do not cut open watermelon, peaches, pineapples or any other kind of fruit and feed it to bees. dehydration and even death.
I never know what to believe.
Or they like starving their bees. 😆
Maybe because they don't like honey that smells like wet socks