Hi Fred, your new layens hive is going to be the envy of your apiary I’m thinking there’s going to be a rush on with your bees to swarm right into this box, the art work is amazing. Thank you for sharing your vlog with us mate.
Looking forward to you getting out of the Spring snow and an update on how the insulated Layens hive has performed. While I've followed your channel for several years, I had thought that an 8 frame langstroth with a Flow super might be nice for my gal pal in Texas or myself as a California desert condo dweller. After digging deeper and following off into the ideas of the Layens philosophy, perhaps this would be a better route to take with a build of a well insulted (polystyrene core) hive with our +100 degree temperatures where the water bees would have their role to keep the colony cool in the Summer. Your channel is such a wealth of information. Thanks for your efforts to share!
you get an 'A' for effort Fred, love how you just keep trying different things. LOVE the painted scene on the backside of that hive...your talents just never end. ;-)
@@drewg2765 A "leader beekeeper" at our monthly meetings, who may (or may NOT ) know what he is talking about, claims Layens or long langstroth configuration horizontal hives are more prone to throwing swarms than vertically stacked hives....Well, my poor old 75 yr. old back, from 18 years of toting 80 pound boxes of honey, just can't heft them any longer. Should I see an indication of a swarm getting ready, I will just pull 6 frames with a bit of brood, put empty frames and the old queen into a swarm box and let the parent bunch mate a new queen. Then I can off the original momma, pull some full honey combs for another time like spring stores, throw in some empty frames and put back the pulled brood. I'd have a new queen, empty frames to draw out and all should be well for the rest of summer. Plus full combs of honey. I know, good people -- dream on, huh? I have to admit, I have no experience with Layens hive system, but all this just might work to keep a strong colony from heading for the bush. Bob ( in SW MT getting ready to mess around with the young ladies once again). Any ideas or comments from others wpuld be more than welcome. B.
After seeing a lot of bee removal videos, I got to see the ways bees tend to make their comb in whatever space they decide to colonize. I agree that the Layen's is a bee friendly hive. Bees do make tall combs when they can.
I am so glad that you are starting with the Layens hive. I have the same system and will start with bees in two weeks. Thank you so much for your informative and entertaining channel !
That’s a nice painting. Mines still white and back in the living room because of this crazy weather. Can’t wait for bees. For you and for me. ☮️🐝-Kirsten
OMG. Thanks for making a video that easily explains the horizontal hive. So many video don’t give the basic instructions. Really like your video. THANKS!!!! LIke your paintings too! OH Hinge. Good idea. The lid is a bit unwieldy.
Ha Fred great video way out of my price range, but the hive is beautiful u have grate talent that is a wonderful job with the painting. hope u are doing good every thing is good here. I have some nucs coming this week end fromn south carlonia and 10 queens coming from the beeweavers this monday so looking forward to rebuilding my apairy.. God Bless have a great week
The Layens Hive looks like it was painted by Bob Ross. Especially the side that has a bit of a Mediterranean look to it with the beehives in the field (referring to the side featured in the video thumbnail).
Sorry I haven't been able to watch your channel for a while, but would like to say that you really do a great job with your content and I appreciate what you do. Thanks 👍
Very nice!! I downloaded all his plans and built swarm boxes and frames. Haven’t built the hive yet since this is my first year and with the price of wood I figured I’d wait to see if I even catch a swarm. Got 250 lbs of sheep’s wool for a steal. Not sure what I’m going to do with it all lol! What i did for my swarm trap frames was put a block under the top bar so it was tilted then laid the wax on it, and I just used a car battery and touched the wire ends to the two wires at the bottom of the frame where the cross the wood to the nail and just watched the wax sink in. I also took your recommendation on BetterComb and put one frame of that in each swarm box figuring the queen could start laying right away. I cut the wax sheets in to 2/12” strips for starter strips and the BetterComb covers slightly less then half of the frame. Wanted to keep the impression of a lot of space since I’ve heard that is what they are looking for. You have a much better chance of getting a swarm in your box than I do so can’t wait to see how it does for you!!
This is my favorite of my 4 hives I did all foundationless with comb guides. Caught them in a layens swarm trap they drew out 9 full frames by fall last year. As far as feeding I left the other side of the divider board empty and Im using one of my small quart poultry waterer it works great. They seem to like to hang out in there instead of bearding on the front
When you use the feeder be sure to put floats on the syrup. My Minnesota Hygienic package filled my Layens last year. I am installing three Russian packages Saturday.
@@FrederickDunn just had a discussion online today about that. It was a common agreement. Loss is much greater without floats or some other enhancements.
So when I use the spur imbedder to do 20 or more frames at a time, the wheel gets clogged with wax and I have to put the tool in hot water. This also requires lubricating the wheel again. I noticed that the wires were pulled tight leaving them strait, without using a wire tensioner that leaves them crinkled, which I find helps the embedding process if heating the wires to inbed them. The spur imbedder also works on the crinkled wires.
A million years ago, when I was in art school, I made a terrible painting with Liquitex student grade acrylic paint on canvas. Later, I used that canvas as a cover for the wood pile and it really stood up to the weather. So, I would guess that that nice painting you made will last a while, assuming your base coat was also acrylic based.
I've done extensive paintings with acrylics over the years, including paintings for the Erie County Children's Zoo. Same materials and finish I've applied here, so, I'm thinking it will last a nice long time. I've also painted several farm signs.. you know, with cows on them etc... they have also handled the weather nicely. Just fun to do. :)
Nice hive stand, looks a lot better than my cement blocks and wooden subframe to keep them off of the plywood! I use their foundation also - it smells amazing. I like your method of setting the wax. I’ve always so far done a battery with wires on both ends to heat the wires but with the frame inverted at an angle - the board method is nice to hold even pressure! It can get sparky so you have to watch...BTW I did contact LEO on my condensation/moisture - he states my wool blanket was too thick and went to the floor, plus wasn’t all wool (partial synthetic). He uses a natural wool stuffed pillow. This could be why my straw topped frames didn’t have an issue. Also, I missed he recommends a 3/4” gap under your follower board after the hive gets established and especially throughout winter. That’d negate the ability to store the frames though on the other side once opened up as a gap like that (which is what I had done prior). I also might have left too much honey in there. I’m super curious to see how your Layens experiment goes! Thanks you as always for sharing your experiences. FANTASTIC paint job BTW! Did the piano hinge go on directly or did you have to add wood to it?
While everyone else is wooing over that gorgeous hive (which is absolutely stunning! 😍), I'm over here being jealous of that hive stand! I need to show this idea to someone with welding skills! 😁 The ground is very uneven where my bees are, so it would be perfect! 😀👍
If u want you can possibly catch a swarm right in that hive if you put your follower board after the 7th frame that's 40 liters then just add some lure and mabee coat the new wood inside with a little bit of beeswax the bees may move right in for you good luck and I look forward to seeing how it does for you I'm currently building some 20 frame insulated layens hives and I just finished 8 swarm traps/ starter hives for my apairy here in Michigan
I had a swarm move right into a hive like this last spring. I used full frames of wax foundation near the entrance and half frames of foundation on the rest. The bees really like the wax smell. I was installing wax into frames in my living room and the bees were following me inside from the smell.
Fred you are a jack of all trades now we know that you paint and paint pretty well as well. I have a question for you do you have bluebirds yet? Don't worry warmer weather is coming, we had your weather in Chicago yesterday. And today was a nice 60 degree day with no wind so it'll be can you within the next 24 to 48 hours
@@FrederickDunn it is not unusual for them to lose that first clutch to late cold snaps.. For some unknown reason I never get a pair of bluebirds before the month of May. And I never have more than one brood. I don't know why but it's always been that way
Nice...very nice,,, I love your videos and watching you trying different set ups for everyone to watch and learn from. would not surprise me if you did get a swarm to move into this one, all on their own.
Thank you Fred, nice!!! Um you forgot to include the price of a professional doing the murals on both the front and back of the hive. It looks like work I have seen at an art gallery.
Hey Fred another great video I would love to see you decorate one of your hives in I think it’s called lynchingberg I most likely misspelled spelled it or butchered it
fwiw, I also use the battery method to embed wires, but I added a foot pedal on the positive lead. I find that 2-3 seconds of current at a time are enough to start to set the wire. If it needs a little more, just a tap gives a little more heat. I find this much more controllable and it doesn't burn through the foundation and hit the wire in the foundation (I use hooked wire foundation).
Very nice, Fred! Are you going to reuse the long lang this year, too? I think a window screen splining tool would work to embed the wire, too. They usually have a convex side and a concaving side.
So I Googled "Doggone Spur Embedder" and linked up to three episodes of Wagon Train and one episode of Champion The Wonder Horse. Seriously though, that's a neat tool. Darnit!
Love that you are experimenting with the new hive. Excited to see how it works out for you. I’m up to 4 FlowHives this year, so probably won’t be trying a horizontal hive yet. But I’ll live vicariously through you! 🤣 Are you going to be using you Long Lang again this year, or have you retired it for the season? Thanks again for another great video Sir! Appreciate all you do!
Oh!!! And I forgot to mention that I received my Way to Bee patches! Color and black and white! Fantastic! Now I just have to decide what I want to put them on! 😂 Thanks again!
Hi Larry! Thanks for buying patches :) And yes, I'll still be working with the Long Langstroth hive, it's definitely more convenient to use than the Layens. Just waiting for mother nature to give me and the bees a break so I can get things rolling :)
Sorry....I had to laugh at the Closed Caption. I have it turned on. I won't say it here...but turn it on and forward the video to about 9:05 to 9:08 and read what it typed. LOL.
It's really great you're constantly doing these product tests, thank you! So of course there will be many questions and maybe only time will tell so here's my first one. Why no bee space between the top of the frames and lid? I'd think the bees will connect the two and lifting the lid might bee a problem? Or perhaps the angle created will crack the seal easily? And whats the story on the frame dimensions, I thought ol Lorenzo Langstroth had that all figured out?
Hi Henry, not only is there not any bee space above the frames, there is no gap between the frame top bars for the bees to pass through. So, this means they can't access or glue up the cover at all. Quite different indeed.
@@FrederickDunn the original Layens was a bit different to be honest, frames were not connected on top, it had a canvas above the frames or a layer of planks sealing the top of the hive, with bee space, much like a long langstroth.
Looks great Fred! What colony wouldn't want to make this home! Just curious, what direction are you filming when looking at the back of the hive, and the bird house is in the background? Also, thanks for the stand info!! It's exactly what I've been looking for to place my first hive (when/if I catch a swarm soon) just over the back of the property where it rolls down to the lake. It is sloped about 6 degrees and the adjustments on this will work perfect!! Thanks again!! 👍
I have watched a number of videos on this manor of hive, presenting different advantages to the bees and the backyard bee keeper as they are never going to worry about transporting the hive. One comment concerning the frames though was that if you are going to harvest honey they will not fit into any available equipment as all of that has been configured to work with the langstroth medium or deep frames. I did see a solution, though IMO it was not completely correct, but was moving in the right direction. The gentleman had slotted the bottom of his medium frames and cut an opposing dovetail along the length of the top. In that way he could join two frames. He had also made a top bar with a slot to attach to whichever would end up in the upper position of the now double medium frame. At the time of harvest he would only need to pull them apart and they could go into any spinner. I would change only one thing in that design; I would have set them up to go in the hive box vertically rather than the normal horizontal. I would do this for two reasons though it may be as I don’t keep bees, I am wrong. First as I understand it the honey comb is constructed by the bees with a slight upward canter, so there is no perfect counter to that in a spinner. Where as if they were cantered in a vertical manner, one would only need invert them to have the honey run by gravity. The other reason being that the bees seem less inclined to move from frame to frame while winter feeding, and happier just moving up or down. So, the longer the frame in that geometry logically the better the bees would tolerate a difficult time in winter months. I would also like to suggest a multi entrance if that is the name of the metal grates, I have seen on hives with numerous but smaller entrances. I am considering the newest threat to bees in the US and Canada with the arrival of the giant hornet. I am also curious if here one pest might aid with the other. Mites are an ongoing concern but maybe as the hornet is a much grander meal they may be convinced to eat at a different table. Love the paint job. best of luck with this year of bee keeping.
I haven't made one yet, but they are doing pretty good so far. If we can get another warm snap before winter, this hive is on my list for a video and full inspection :)
My stars, Fred! That expense would scare my wife to death. I built my Layens 20 frame hive for almost nothing except two bottles of Titebond 3 glue and a box of 1/4 staples. My frames cost me nothing except for the wire and wax for starter strips. Gads, over 700 bucks!!! I could spend that on garden soil and come out with change. Or better yet, buy a gold plated table saw and blades and build frames for the whole entire neighborhood. Lucky me, though, I still have my 50 year Sears table saw and 40 year old Porter Cable table router system. One would do better investing in tools and learn how to use them safely--- all tools. People now days would rather spend the $$$ to pay somebody else with simple skills that they could learn themselves. What has our society come to ??? (Sorry for the rant) Bob
People with skills, wood, and other resources can certainly build their own and as you've described, it's a big advantage. "gold plated table saw blades" ? Thanks for sharing!
I don't know - the cost of the average hive to set up isn't a whole lot more expensive - at least in my area. On another note: I'm becoming more and more convinced the 'traditional' hive bodies are not good for the bees.....I like the idea of the long hive....less stress for all.
Aside from the late start date, do you have an opinion about the horizontal hive? Seems like a good idea in theory but don’t see a lot of people adopting it. Dr. Leo is so convincing
Fred, you definitely painted a masterpiece of a bee hive! The hive stand looks very durable. Will the stand hold 2 Langstroth hives and will these frames fit into an extractor?
HI Don! No, the frames will not fit a standard extractor, but not surprised... Dr. Leo happens to sell an extractor that handles the Layens frames. Everything about the Layens hive requires special adaptations and singular equipment. One of the primary drawbacks in my opinion. The Stand would very easily support 2 Langstroth Hives, with that 1,200 capacity, the only weak point would be the wood you select and what the span is. 640 lbs would be supported by 2-2x4 pieces that are 6' apart. So the wood would be the weak consideration.
I wonder if there would be appreciable benefit to using a couple of hexacell frames, or if it would be cost prohibitive ? I see on hexacell site, you can order size as long as the width is less than 455mm: Size Product’s maximum wide: 450 mm Within this upper limit we can customize the size in accordance with your order. -Tom
You can cut them to any dimension and put them in, I opted not to in this case. But yes, that could work and the wire supports would melt right into the hexacell comb.
Equipment compatibility and availability is the primary obstacle with this hive design. From frames, to foundation, to harvesting or transporting. Not much availability.
Did you add any kind of starter strip to the foundationless frames or are they completely flat? I absolutely love your artwork, when can we expect that painting webpage to start up?
I've always just left foundationless frames unprimed and they have drawn them out fine, I expect to see that behavior in this hive also :) As for a painting page, I used to have one back in the 90's... :)
It is occupied, and currently wintering. We may have good news there come spring. It got cold on me before I could do an evaluation and video it. There are bees in it.
@@FrederickDunn Seems like following dr Leo advices its like learning how to grow a kitten from one of those raw vegans that feed their cats only veggies. You can fill frames with fondant as winter feed if needed.
I chose the 4x4 size as it's definitely stiffer, and will also dampen any vibrations a tad more than the 2x4 lumber would, plus it's a larger seating surface for the hive.
That's a lot of money highway robbery. Sometimes capitalism goes too far. It stopped a lot of people from getting into the hobby. And also stop waist.. you have one of the best educational channels on RUclips. Thank you best of luck. NYC Staten Island..?
It isn't necessarily highway robbery since we have lots of options and there are less expensive materials/equipment. Dr. Leo made observations regarding how Americans look at monetary value of everything. But he has learned that selling useful items can be profitable. It's up to use to decide what's actually "worth it". These stands will last the rest of my life. We had 70 mph wind gusts yesterday and none of the Lyson Stands moved an inch. Bonus :) But I agree, beekeeping can indeed be very expensive if someone buys every single add-on. Or it can be as simple as a bee hive on the ground. You actually just gave me an idea... with the trees that blew down during yesterday's storm, I could cut stumps flat and use them as hive stands! :)
so if you bought 4x4 for better strength and cut the ends down to 2x4 so that it would fit the stand , you basically have a 2x4. waste of money to buy the 4x4
Hi Matt, I could see why you may think that way. BUT, it's the rigidity throughout the run/span of the lumber that's reinforced by the 4x4, or 2x6, etc... it's about deflection in the middle of the span. Cutting them down at the ends to fit the bracket isn't a waste of money.
That's a beautiful painting on the hive, Fred! The bees you put in there will be the envy of the apiary.
Thank you my brother! It's basically lawn art :)
Very exspensive lawn art lol
With that kind of lawn art, it's going to create a Buzz in the neighborhood. ;)
That box art is amazing!!!!!
Three feet long, you say, Fred?
That gives a whole nuther meaning to bee yard!
Ok.. ok.. I see what you did there... (';')
Hi Fred, your new layens hive is going to be the envy of your apiary I’m thinking there’s going to be a rush on with your bees to swarm right into this box, the art work is amazing. Thank you for sharing your vlog with us mate.
Looking forward to you getting out of the Spring snow and an update on how the insulated Layens hive has performed. While I've followed your channel for several years, I had thought that an 8 frame langstroth with a Flow super might be nice for my gal pal in Texas or myself as a California desert condo dweller. After digging deeper and following off into the ideas of the Layens philosophy, perhaps this would be a better route to take with a build of a well insulted (polystyrene core) hive with our +100 degree temperatures where the water bees would have their role to keep the colony cool in the Summer. Your channel is such a wealth of information. Thanks for your efforts to share!
you get an 'A' for effort Fred, love how you just keep trying different things. LOVE the painted scene on the backside of that hive...your talents just never end. ;-)
Thanks Sean! There is a method to my madness :)
I've been interested in Layens hives for a while and I'm excited to see your experience with them.
Looked threw the videos since and don’t see a update on the layens hive. Thoughts?
@@drewg2765 A "leader beekeeper" at our monthly meetings, who may (or may NOT ) know what he is talking about, claims Layens or long langstroth configuration horizontal hives are more prone to throwing swarms than vertically stacked hives....Well, my poor old 75 yr. old back, from 18 years of toting 80 pound boxes of honey, just can't heft them any longer. Should I see an indication of a swarm getting ready, I will just pull 6 frames with a bit of brood, put empty frames and the old queen into a swarm box and let the parent bunch mate a new queen. Then I can off the original momma, pull some full honey combs for another time like spring stores, throw in some empty frames and put back the pulled brood. I'd have a new queen, empty frames to draw out and all should be well for the rest of summer. Plus full combs of honey. I know, good people -- dream on, huh? I have to admit, I have no experience with Layens hive system, but all this just might work to keep a strong colony from heading for the bush. Bob ( in SW MT getting ready to mess around with the young ladies once again). Any ideas or comments from others wpuld be more than welcome. B.
After seeing a lot of bee removal videos, I got to see the ways bees tend to make their comb in whatever space they decide to colonize. I agree that the Layen's is a bee friendly hive. Bees do make tall combs when they can.
Nice.video Fred. Will be neat to see how this hive performs.
I am so glad that you are starting with the Layens hive. I have the same system and will start with bees in two weeks.
Thank you so much for your informative and entertaining channel !
Thank you, and I hope all goes well for you!
That’s a nice painting. Mines still white and back in the living room because of this crazy weather. Can’t wait for bees. For you and for me.
☮️🐝-Kirsten
It's actively snowing right now... I can't want for a warm up that remains :)
*I was thinking about trying a Layens Hive. Thanks for sharing. Love the hive art :)*
Fred, Your so talent and the Layens hive is beautiful with your painting.
Thank you!
OMG. Thanks for making a video that easily explains the horizontal hive. So many video don’t give the basic instructions. Really like your video. THANKS!!!! LIke your paintings too! OH Hinge. Good idea. The lid is a bit unwieldy.
Yes, having a hinge on the cover is something I personally consider to be essential.
Wow, the painting is beautiful.
Thank you Christine :) they are very easy to do.
Hi Fred - I love your Bob Ross painted inspired Layens hive :)
Thanks JP!
Ha Fred great video way out of my price range, but the hive is beautiful u have grate talent that is a wonderful job with the painting. hope u are doing good every thing is good here. I have some nucs coming this week end fromn south carlonia and 10 queens coming from the beeweavers this monday so looking forward to rebuilding my apairy.. God Bless have a great week
The Layens Hive looks like it was painted by Bob Ross. Especially the side that has a bit of a Mediterranean look to it with the beehives in the field (referring to the side featured in the video thumbnail).
I did that wet on wet technique :)
Sorry I haven't been able to watch your channel for a while, but would like to say that you really do a great job with your content and I appreciate what you do. Thanks 👍
Thank you so much, and I'm so glad you've come back to watch again!
Very nice!! I downloaded all his plans and built swarm boxes and frames. Haven’t built the hive yet since this is my first year and with the price of wood I figured I’d wait to see if I even catch a swarm. Got 250 lbs of sheep’s wool for a steal. Not sure what I’m going to do with it all lol!
What i did for my swarm trap frames was put a block under the top bar so it was tilted then laid the wax on it, and I just used a car battery and touched the wire ends to the two wires at the bottom of the frame where the cross the wood to the nail and just watched the wax sink in. I also took your recommendation on BetterComb and put one frame of that in each swarm box figuring the queen could start laying right away. I cut the wax sheets in to 2/12” strips for starter strips and the BetterComb covers slightly less then half of the frame. Wanted to keep the impression of a lot of space since I’ve heard that is what they are looking for. You have a much better chance of getting a swarm in your box than I do so can’t wait to see how it does for you!!
This is my favorite of my 4 hives I did all foundationless with comb guides. Caught them in a layens swarm trap they drew out 9 full frames by fall last year. As far as feeding I left the other side of the divider board empty and Im using one of my small quart poultry waterer it works great. They seem to like to hang out in there instead of bearding on the front
When you use the feeder be sure to put floats on the syrup. My Minnesota Hygienic package filled my Layens last year. I am installing three Russian packages Saturday.
I've been thinking about that, Dr. Leo says it's not necessary... however, I don't want a pile of dead bees in there.
@@FrederickDunn just had a discussion online today about that. It was a common agreement. Loss is much greater without floats or some other enhancements.
Outstanding painting skills Fred!!
Thank you so much, it was pure fun! The Layens hive certainly offers the most artistic space :)
Can't wait to see how it works out!!! Thanks Fred!
I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes. Thanks Rodney!
So when I use the spur imbedder to do 20 or more frames at a time, the wheel gets clogged with wax and I have to put the tool in hot water. This also requires lubricating the wheel again.
I noticed that the wires were pulled tight leaving them strait, without using a wire tensioner that leaves them crinkled, which I find helps the embedding process if heating the wires to inbed them. The spur imbedder also works on the crinkled wires.
as with all your work, excellent... thank you sir.
A million years ago, when I was in art school, I made a terrible painting with Liquitex student grade acrylic paint on canvas. Later, I used that canvas as a cover for the wood pile and it really stood up to the weather. So, I would guess that that nice painting you made will last a while, assuming your base coat was also acrylic based.
I've done extensive paintings with acrylics over the years, including paintings for the Erie County Children's Zoo. Same materials and finish I've applied here, so, I'm thinking it will last a nice long time. I've also painted several farm signs.. you know, with cows on them etc... they have also handled the weather nicely. Just fun to do. :)
@@FrederickDunn Oh, you're an old hand at this stuff! For the record, I think it is better than a Bob Ross.
Nice hive stand, looks a lot better than my cement blocks and wooden subframe to keep them off of the plywood! I use their foundation also - it smells amazing. I like your method of setting the wax. I’ve always so far done a battery with wires on both ends to heat the wires but with the frame inverted at an angle - the board method is nice to hold even pressure! It can get sparky so you have to watch...BTW I did contact LEO on my condensation/moisture - he states my wool blanket was too thick and went to the floor, plus wasn’t all wool (partial synthetic). He uses a natural wool stuffed pillow. This could be why my straw topped frames didn’t have an issue. Also, I missed he recommends a 3/4” gap under your follower board after the hive gets established and especially throughout winter. That’d negate the ability to store the frames though on the other side once opened up as a gap like that (which is what I had done prior). I also might have left too much honey in there. I’m super curious to see how your Layens experiment goes! Thanks you as always for sharing your experiences. FANTASTIC paint job BTW! Did the piano hinge go on directly or did you have to add wood to it?
The piano hinge matched perfectly. 3/4" on each side.
@@FrederickDunn Lowes, here I come! Ordered that hive stand also!!
While everyone else is wooing over that gorgeous hive (which is absolutely stunning! 😍), I'm over here being jealous of that hive stand! I need to show this idea to someone with welding skills! 😁 The ground is very uneven where my bees are, so it would be perfect! 😀👍
I'm also a welder, and do appreciate the workmanship on this stand! :)
@@FrederickDunn
Yeah, it looks really well made!
Also... Is there anything you can't do?! 😂
If u want you can possibly catch a swarm right in that hive if you put your follower board after the 7th frame that's 40 liters then just add some lure and mabee coat the new wood inside with a little bit of beeswax the bees may move right in for you good luck and I look forward to seeing how it does for you I'm currently building some 20 frame insulated layens hives and I just finished 8 swarm traps/ starter hives for my apairy here in Michigan
I had a swarm move right into a hive like this last spring. I used full frames of wax foundation near the entrance and half frames of foundation on the rest. The bees really like the wax smell. I was installing wax into frames in my living room and the bees were following me inside from the smell.
Your artwork is beautiful.
Thank you, Patricia :)
Fred you are a jack of all trades now we know that you paint and paint pretty well as well. I have a question for you do you have bluebirds yet? Don't worry warmer weather is coming, we had your weather in Chicago yesterday. And today was a nice 60 degree day with no wind so it'll be can you within the next 24 to 48 hours
YES! The bluebirds have already occupied the boxes and are sitting on eggs... big gamble on their part, we'll see how it goes.
@@FrederickDunn it is not unusual for them to lose that first clutch to late cold snaps.. For some unknown reason I never get a pair of bluebirds before the month of May. And I never have more than one brood. I don't know why but it's always been that way
Great paintings
Nice...very nice,,, I love your videos and watching you trying different set ups for everyone to watch and learn from. would not surprise me if you did get a swarm to move into this one, all on their own.
Thanks 👍
It’s amazing how the synthetic mitacides still so prevalent in beeswax
Thank you Fred, nice!!!
Um you forgot to include the price of a professional doing the murals on both the front and back of the hive. It looks like work I have seen at an art gallery.
I charge whatever a new set of liquitex paint tubes sells for :)
Love your artwork.
Hey Fred another great video I would love to see you decorate one of your hives in I think it’s called lynchingberg I most likely misspelled spelled it or butchered it
Hi Robert, I'm just a free form painter when it comes to beehives :) Do you mean Lichtenberg wood burning? I've done a lot of pyrography :)
fwiw, I also use the battery method to embed wires, but I added a foot pedal on the positive lead. I find that 2-3 seconds of current at a time are enough to start to set the wire. If it needs a little more, just a tap gives a little more heat. I find this much more controllable and it doesn't burn through the foundation and hit the wire in the foundation (I use hooked wire foundation).
Classy hive. A bit pricey nice art work
To save $5 you could use a window screen rolling tool (they cost $3-$5 and look like the same roller used to seat the rubber spline around a screen)
Very nice, Fred! Are you going to reuse the long lang this year, too?
I think a window screen splining tool would work to embed the wire, too. They usually have a convex side and a concaving side.
Yes, I'm going to restock the Long Langstroth, It's still a favorite design for me.
This weather has been whacky! You make me want a layens hive. I’m curious if they would perform any differently than my horizontal hives.
Though I'm just now evaluating it, my personal preference is still with the Long Langstroth.. but we'll see how it goes.
Thank you, very interesting.
Glad you enjoyed it!
So I Googled "Doggone Spur Embedder" and linked up to three episodes of Wagon Train and one episode of Champion The Wonder Horse.
Seriously though, that's a neat tool.
Darnit!
Love that you are experimenting with the new hive. Excited to see how it works out for you.
I’m up to 4 FlowHives this year, so probably won’t be trying a horizontal hive yet. But I’ll live vicariously through you! 🤣
Are you going to be using you Long Lang again this year, or have you retired it for the season?
Thanks again for another great video Sir! Appreciate all you do!
Oh!!! And I forgot to mention that I received my Way to Bee patches! Color and black and white! Fantastic! Now I just have to decide what I want to put them on! 😂 Thanks again!
Hi Larry! Thanks for buying patches :) And yes, I'll still be working with the Long Langstroth hive, it's definitely more convenient to use than the Layens. Just waiting for mother nature to give me and the bees a break so I can get things rolling :)
Very nice I am interested thank you for sharing🙏❤
You are so welcome
Sorry....I had to laugh at the Closed Caption. I have it turned on. I won't say it here...but turn it on and forward the video to about 9:05 to 9:08 and read what it typed. LOL.
It's really great you're constantly doing these product tests, thank you! So of course there will be many questions and maybe only time will tell so here's my first one. Why no bee space between the top of the frames and lid? I'd think the bees will connect the two and lifting the lid might bee a problem? Or perhaps the angle created will crack the seal easily? And whats the story on the frame dimensions, I thought ol Lorenzo Langstroth had that all figured out?
Hi Henry, not only is there not any bee space above the frames, there is no gap between the frame top bars for the bees to pass through. So, this means they can't access or glue up the cover at all. Quite different indeed.
@@FrederickDunn the original Layens was a bit different to be honest, frames were not connected on top, it had a canvas above the frames or a layer of planks sealing the top of the hive, with bee space, much like a long langstroth.
Looks great Fred! What colony wouldn't want to make this home! Just curious, what direction are you filming when looking at the back of the hive, and the bird house is in the background?
Also, thanks for the stand info!! It's exactly what I've been looking for to place my first hive (when/if I catch a swarm soon) just over the back of the property where it rolls down to the lake. It is sloped about 6 degrees and the adjustments on this will work perfect!! Thanks again!! 👍
The hive entrance faces south by southeast, so when you see the birdhouse in the background, that's southeast :)
Thank you
You're welcome
nice paint job
Thank you.
Thanks! Love the art!
Thank you!
I have drones on the landing bord. But its to cold to do much about it yet.
BEEST Look among the Snow is that of the 3rd dimension One can -step- _Fly_ in to 'get out'. _does that confuse Bees?_ : }
I have watched a number of videos on this manor of hive, presenting different advantages to the bees and the backyard bee keeper as they are never going to worry about transporting the hive. One comment concerning the frames though was that if you are going to harvest honey they will not fit into any available equipment as all of that has been configured to work with the langstroth medium or deep frames. I did see a solution, though IMO it was not completely correct, but was moving in the right direction. The gentleman had slotted the bottom of his medium frames and cut an opposing dovetail along the length of the top. In that way he could join two frames. He had also made a top bar with a slot to attach to whichever would end up in the upper position of the now double medium frame. At the time of harvest he would only need to pull them apart and they could go into any spinner.
I would change only one thing in that design; I would have set them up to go in the hive box vertically rather than the normal horizontal. I would do this for two reasons though it may be as I don’t keep bees, I am wrong. First as I understand it the honey comb is constructed by the bees with a slight upward canter, so there is no perfect counter to that in a spinner. Where as if they were cantered in a vertical manner, one would only need invert them to have the honey run by gravity. The other reason being that the bees seem less inclined to move from frame to frame while winter feeding, and happier just moving up or down. So, the longer the frame in that geometry logically the better the bees would tolerate a difficult time in winter months.
I would also like to suggest a multi entrance if that is the name of the metal grates, I have seen on hives with numerous but smaller entrances. I am considering the newest threat to bees in the US and Canada with the arrival of the giant hornet. I am also curious if here one pest might aid with the other. Mites are an ongoing concern but maybe as the hornet is a much grander meal they may be convinced to eat at a different table.
Love the paint job. best of luck with this year of bee keeping.
Dr Leo sells a special extractor for the Layens frames... you are correct about the incompatibility of equipment.
Hey there Mr. Dunn is there any follow-up videos including the Layens Hives.
I haven't made one yet, but they are doing pretty good so far. If we can get another warm snap before winter, this hive is on my list for a video and full inspection :)
@@FrederickDunn Fantastic!
Ya might try laying the frame down first and laying the wax on top. It inbedds easily
There is never just one way.
My stars, Fred! That expense would scare my wife to death. I built my Layens 20 frame hive for almost nothing except two bottles of Titebond 3 glue and a box of 1/4 staples. My frames cost me nothing except for the wire and wax for starter strips. Gads, over 700 bucks!!! I could spend that on garden soil and come out with change. Or better yet, buy a gold plated table saw and blades and build frames for the whole entire neighborhood. Lucky me, though, I still have my 50 year Sears table saw and 40 year old Porter Cable table router system. One would do better investing in tools and learn how to use them safely--- all tools. People now days would rather spend the $$$ to pay somebody else with simple skills that they could learn themselves. What has our society come to ??? (Sorry for the rant) Bob
People with skills, wood, and other resources can certainly build their own and as you've described, it's a big advantage. "gold plated table saw blades" ? Thanks for sharing!
I don't know - the cost of the average hive to set up isn't a whole lot more expensive - at least in my area. On another note: I'm becoming more and more convinced the 'traditional' hive bodies are not good for the bees.....I like the idea of the long hive....less stress for all.
Do you have more videos on the Layans hive purchase from Dr Leo. I don’t see any additional videos with that particular hive. Thanks.
The cold weather arrived too soon for any follow ups. It's my lowest performing colony as they were late in the season.
Aside from the late start date, do you have an opinion about the horizontal hive? Seems like a good idea in theory but don’t see a lot of people adopting it. Dr. Leo is so convincing
Fred, you definitely painted a masterpiece of a bee hive! The hive stand looks very durable. Will the stand hold 2 Langstroth hives and will these frames fit into an extractor?
HI Don! No, the frames will not fit a standard extractor, but not surprised... Dr. Leo happens to sell an extractor that handles the Layens frames. Everything about the Layens hive requires special adaptations and singular equipment. One of the primary drawbacks in my opinion. The Stand would very easily support 2 Langstroth Hives, with that 1,200 capacity, the only weak point would be the wood you select and what the span is. 640 lbs would be supported by 2-2x4 pieces that are 6' apart. So the wood would be the weak consideration.
I wonder if there would be appreciable benefit to using a couple of hexacell frames, or if it would be cost prohibitive ? I see on hexacell site, you can order size as long as the width is less than 455mm: Size
Product’s maximum wide: 450 mm
Within this upper limit we can customize the size in accordance with your order.
-Tom
You can cut them to any dimension and put them in, I opted not to in this case. But yes, that could work and the wire supports would melt right into the hexacell comb.
It´s amazing. How you get this handroller for the sheets?
The roller was purchased from BetterBee.com
@@FrederickDunn Thank you very much.
That stand is a simple weld job :) Is that foundation small cell?
It is not small-cell foundation. and yes, the stand is nicely welded, single passes, nice beads :)
I searched for a video of you installing bees into the Layens but could not find one. Did you not make a video of that?
I did not make a video of that... until this past week. It's not posted yet.
I'm a new beekeeper who has read a lot about the Layens and I would love to try it but nobody sells Layens frames in Australia
Equipment compatibility and availability is the primary obstacle with this hive design. From frames, to foundation, to harvesting or transporting. Not much availability.
Sr. De cuanto x cuanto son sus bastidores ( cuadros)
Did you add any kind of starter strip to the foundationless frames or are they completely flat?
I absolutely love your artwork, when can we expect that painting webpage to start up?
I've always just left foundationless frames unprimed and they have drawn them out fine, I expect to see that behavior in this hive also :) As for a painting page, I used to have one back in the 90's... :)
Wouldn’t it be nice if a swarm just moved in on their own? 😆
It wouldn't be the first time! BUT, this being a new hive with all new equipment, my hopes for that aren't very high. :)
I watched this video last year when you uploaded it and was waiting on your analysis of the layens hive, should i assume you didnt get to populate it?
It is occupied, and currently wintering. We may have good news there come spring. It got cold on me before I could do an evaluation and video it. There are bees in it.
👍👍👍
Is there going to be a follow up video?
It's too cold now for an inspection. The hive is occupied, we'll see how it goes.
Frames look strange without spaces inbetween them .If you add sugar or fondant in winter ,how will the bees reach to it through those frames?
If you follow Dr. Leo's methods, there is no provision for feeding the bees at all, none. He also forbids any mite treatments.
@@FrederickDunn Seems like following dr Leo advices its like learning how to grow a kitten from one of those raw vegans that feed their cats only veggies.
You can fill frames with fondant as winter feed if needed.
Do you use a queen excluder? If so how is it made?
In this hive configuration, I don't, but you could construct a new divider board and have a queen excluder through the center.
Did you choose 4X4's to reduce wrap & bend?
I chose the 4x4 size as it's definitely stiffer, and will also dampen any vibrations a tad more than the 2x4 lumber would, plus it's a larger seating surface for the hive.
Didn't you say that using plywood is not advisable in hive construction?
Nope, I think you're thinking of oriented strand board. Commonly known as OSB.
@@FrederickDunn I'm probably thinking of being advised to not use plywood for a chicken coop floor.
Have You Bear tested it.
Nope... it's in an electrified fence system :) The fence you see in the background has a HOT topwire.
How would you mite treat a layens hive?
OAV through a drilled 1/4" diameter hole with a Provap, or other OAV unit that uses a tube.
@@FrederickDunn thank you very much
That's a lot of money highway robbery. Sometimes capitalism goes too far. It stopped a lot of people from getting into the hobby. And also stop waist.. you have one of the best educational channels on RUclips. Thank you best of luck. NYC Staten Island..?
It isn't necessarily highway robbery since we have lots of options and there are less expensive materials/equipment. Dr. Leo made observations regarding how Americans look at monetary value of everything. But he has learned that selling useful items can be profitable. It's up to use to decide what's actually "worth it". These stands will last the rest of my life. We had 70 mph wind gusts yesterday and none of the Lyson Stands moved an inch. Bonus :) But I agree, beekeeping can indeed be very expensive if someone buys every single add-on. Or it can be as simple as a bee hive on the ground. You actually just gave me an idea... with the trees that blew down during yesterday's storm, I could cut stumps flat and use them as hive stands! :)
@@FrederickDunn thank you fred God bless
🇱🇨👊🏿👍🏿♥️
so if you bought 4x4 for better strength and cut the ends down to 2x4 so that it would fit the stand , you basically have a 2x4. waste of
money to buy the 4x4
Hi Matt, I could see why you may think that way. BUT, it's the rigidity throughout the run/span of the lumber that's reinforced by the 4x4, or 2x6, etc... it's about deflection in the middle of the span. Cutting them down at the ends to fit the bracket isn't a waste of money.
Hate to be trolling, but doctor Leo is anti american, I’m SICK of folks trashing my country and heritage.
Who's trashing your country and heritage?