Bee Hives Need Bees for Honey | A NUC Hive Ready
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- Опубликовано: 8 фев 2025
- Bees and beekeepers are working alike these days in many bee yards throughout the northern hemisphere, and no different here in SE Louisiana. The bees are stacking honey and I'm just trying to keep up with who is ready for the main flow and who is not. I have been combining some hives to make larger numbers for gathering honey, so I need to go out and see what they did with the queens I gave them. I also need to check a NUC to see if it's ready to be picked up. Let's take another trip out to the bee yard and see what's happening.
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Thanks for joining me in my bee yard here in Louisiana as I share how I maintain my beehives. My videos are not meant to be 'How To' videos, but simply me sharing my experiences in beekeeping as I learned it from my mentors, teachers, and studies.
#bees #beekeeping #beehive #honeybees #hiveinspection #savethebees #honey #honeycomb #beeswax #swarming #swarmtrap #backyardbeekeeping
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Privet started here today. It is 80 degrees and they are bringing it in. Between the privet, honeysuckle and wild roses it smells great here too. Nice nuc queen laying great. Looking like a nice flow year for you Mike. Good on you. Take care.
Thanks Garry! Glad we’re all seeing a strong start. Hope it continues for everyone and for you guys.
Thankyou for the explanation on your smoker lighting! You're right- a little hard on the smoker but an excellent way to light.
You are welcome! I haven’t shown that in a couple years and I guess when you watching me talk I that other video and have a torch going, it has to raise questions😁😁. Thanks so much for watching!
Hey Mike
I patched the burn holes in my smoker with steel epoxy stick. I'll keep that baby smoking as long as I can.
Cheers...
I keep blasting it with that torch, so the cracks are inevitable. But they don’t hurt. I think they actually help it ventilate to keep it going.
Hi Mike coppied your method of queen grafting and hive unmated queens ,and the idea is fantastic, no incubator needed and the hive bees do all the feeding.
Great! Glad you had success!
Hello Mike!! Enjoyed the video. I light my smoker the same way!!! Just be careful and don't melt your gloves!!! 😉 That nuc was a NUKE!!! Hope they get it in a big box quickly!!!! You win some...you lose some....and bees will be bees!!! Take care!!!
Glad you enjoyed it Keith!! I enjoy all of yours too my friend!
Mike Barry ,thank you ,thank you ,thank you!Keep on posting !Its not a how to ,just how i do!Merch please!
Thanks so much Tim!! I have tried to design a shirt or two, but just haven’t found any decent designers to make them. Maybe one day. So appreciate your support!
Great video Mike. A nice peek in on your operation! I really like the was you explain your thought process when dealing with different issues.
Thanks so much Bruce!!
we have a love/hate relationship up in NY with japaneese knotweed, its invasive, spreads everywhere, and incredibly difficult to remove, but the bees LOVE it, and it makes a very dark red honey that is a pretty bold and rich flavor to it.
Same here with privet and tallow😁😁. Both our main flies are from terribly invasive species.
Well I see Mr. Ed learned his smoker lighting techniques from you! I considered doing the same lighting technique today, but I went with the traditional, it lasted the whole inspection, it worked fine. Wood pellets is the secret for a long lasting smoker ;)
Mr. Ed copied me😁😁
Try putting the queenless boxes on top on the qr. Keep the excluder in but also give an upper entrance. Stack supers in between. Older bees will use that and stay up top. I run 2 queens like this on hundreds of colonies.
I tried that but without the excluder on two of them. And without the supers. One made it and one didn’t. I’m thinking the upper entrance might would’ve gotten me a better take on them. I’ll have to remember this Tad. Thanks for explaining. I have extra excluders laying around anyhow. Already have supers on them as well. Anything to get a better take will help. Have a great one brother!!
Thanks for the information, Mike! Before watching your video, I'd mainly only thought about combining colonies in the fall to build up for winter. Makes perfect sense to combine in preparation for the flow. Awesome video, very informative!
Well Johnny, it works ok, but only when it works😁😁😂😂. Thanks so much for the support!
Privet, tulip poplar, and just about everything else is poppin here in atlanta. Love this time of year.
It is such a great season and time of year for me. My favorite time of year.
You have a lot of tricks up your sleeves Mike. Hope you get a good harvest.
Thanks Russell. I have tricks, but they could be those stupid human tricks😁😁.
I always learn something new with every video. Moving my beekeeping skills from generalities to more subtle ways of managing things. God bless brother!
Glad you like the videos Russ!! Thanks for the support my friend!!
You should try setting up you bee stands in pairs. Super nice to work the hive.
It’s a space issue for me. Well, i guess not really space, more of a footprint issue. But I agree, I’m kind of weary with them all stacked together and working them from the back. I like working the end hives from the side.
I really appreciate your techinque of lighting the smoker because that is how I do it as well!!! Have a great week yourself!!!!
Good deal. I like the method. Quick and easy.
Thanks for the lesson on lighting a smoker, and on combining swarmed colonies with queen right colonies for production. More tools for my toolbox.😊
Glad you enjoyed it!! Thanks for watching!!
Yep, time for a new smoker, this one is on it's last legs. When you were working the bellows smoke was coming out through the crack in the side. LOL. Thanks for letting us see part of your life as a beekeeper. I think we have all been there when our fixes failed. You can only do what you think is best at the time. We don't often see that paper trick in the videos. That was the go-to method for combining hives back in the day. Thanks again, your videos always brighten my day. God Bless.
So glad you enjoy the videos Ed!! I figure as long as I still have access to newspaper, I’ll use it. I don’t use it every time, but 90% of the time I do.
Thanks for the explanation of how you manage low producing hives. With your method, you can’t lose. It is honey this year or next year. That is good management. Have a great week and thanks again.
Thanks Jim! Glad you enjoyed my friend!
NE Texas my privet lasted 2 weeks thanks again for work along. My new nuke didn't look anything like yours. Food and hoping for the best. Reading glasses and flashlight Thanks
We’re definitely seeing at least two weeks on ours. As far as the NUCs, I can’t see selling anything that’s not packed out. I want the customer to see a stout colony by the summer dearth. They shouldn’t have too work hard to get them up to speed.
God Bless you too Mike!
Thanks you Nancy!! You as well, God’s Blessings!!
When we think we have the bees figured out they throw us a curve ball. Enjoyed the video, take care.
Yes indeed they do!!
Glad the flow in your area is so much better than last years! This video helped to put things more into perspective for me, the more I watch the more I learn. Your hands on videos are very much appreciated by me for sure! Yourself, Fred and Randy are the ones I have chosen to learn from. Had a bad experience 30 years ago with a local bee club that was full of it, and I have come to know now for sure it was. It held me back for this long, I guess the internet isn't all bad, it just depends on what you expose yourself to. Thanks for the video!
Well Tommy, you said it. Internet isn’t all bad, but it can be a misused resource if not careful. What you said about finding some channels and sticking to those is gold. I have a lecture I’ll be doing on responsible viewing. Honored that you feel I’m one of them😁😁
I’m about to combine a QR nuc with a large queenless colony. Now after watching this, I’m not feeling very confident!
Nah, I wouldn’t let this video shake your confidence. That’s why I don’t do ‘how to’ videos. It is a little more tricky, and there are never guarantees, but I wouldn’t hesitate. I put a NUC on top with newspaper and it worked fine.
Thank you Mike ,enjoyed video
Glad you enjoyed it Russell. Thanks!!
Thanks 4 keeping it Real. 😊 🐝
You’re welcome and thanks for watching!!
Our autumn olive is extremely invasive, has a floral aroma that's wonderful. We are in the middle of the biggest early early spring flows I've ever seen in last 5 years. Still 3 weeks out on Tulip Poplar though!
Where are you located? I follow the ag zones to give me an idea when my area blooms. I am in the eastern panhandle of WV.
We have a sweet olive that’s similar, but it’s a shrub/tree that’s sold for landscapes. I think they’re all a type of legustrum of some variety. All are very floral. I’ve had Autumn Olive honey from ECP up in WV. Good stuff.
@@timHclem I'm located just north of Elkins WV on Randolph County/Tucker County line.
Hello Mr. Mike . I would love to
have all those privet trees . I can not keep enough privet honey my customers love it just like the mimosa honey. Both of them I can not bottle it fast enough. Well it looks like my
Bees have been talking to your again because two of those hi priced carniolan I put in were taken out. One of them the bees let her lay for a few days before they got her . I did a extra slow release on all of them I put a piece of tape over the candy with a pin hole in it but I am just going to try again . My privet here will probably take close to a week to start . I will tell you a odd one I have never saw before. My next door neighbor lives around 500’-600’ from me her holly trees bloomed a little over three weeks ago an mine are just now blooming but I am kind of down in a little hole here . Mike I hope your flow is a major one this season to add to your reduction from last year. I am going to start tomorrow pulling supers an or frames to free up supers for flow to come 🤞🤞🤞. Have a good week. Thanks
Yea, same here. Plenty of folks always ask for it. They’re excited to bet it this year for sure. Sometimes they’ll kill off the queen later, but once they are together, I only ever have seen a supersedure. What you experience with the jolly is what we experienced last year with a late freeze. We had stuff blooming in all kinds of strange times and with big intervals. The hard freezes we had this past winter helped reset everything down here. I will have a talk with my bees tomorrow and let them know to mind their own business and quit corrupting your colonies😁😁
How’s the Tallow looking down there. Not as far along in Central MS as I’m use to. Looks like Privet will finish well before Tallow is ready.
Commented before I saw the end.
Not sure why the comment didn’t show up, but I did answer. I just decided at the end time let everyone see where the tallow was this time of year.
It’s a bummer they didn’t take to the queen but it was nice to see how you combine. I have yet to do so but really wish I thought to do combines a couple of weeks ago before the flow hit but gee I have been behind on the flow. The yard is looking good there.
Yea, it would’ve been nice for all theee , but it’ll work out one way or another. In the end, just want live bees in the fall ready for winter I suppose. I stay behind this season. Been all I can do just to get to them on the weekends.
Hey Mike! I do the same with packing my smoker, but I put a bunch of long green grass (or something green) on top of the pellets. It keeps the smoke cool
Great tip! The pinestraw on top does get hot, for sure.
Mike looks as if you’re bees keep throwing out the challenges , keeping you on your toes. Stay after them
Always throwing out challenges, always. Just keeps me thinking 🤔 😁
Thanks Mike!!👍👍
You bet! And thanks for the great support!!
Dream Big brother 🙏
Thanks brother!!
Have you ever tried to use a screen cage to introduce the queens in the box, I have been using them and leaving them for 5 days before I release her. You put her over bees that are hatching with food so that as the bees hatch they will feed the queen and the others will get use to her scent.
Yeah, we always left the queen in a cage for at least 3 days, so they all knew she was the queen, before turning her loose.
I haven’t tried using screen before. I’ve seen another RUclips creator that has used screens and it worked fine for him. But he used screen boards instead of cages. I might build something for future use.
@@edmartin875 well, if it gives that extra chance, then I’ll try it. Or at least a screen board.
i HAVE BEES!! I got my 2 packages Friday. Let's say it didn't go as smoothly as planned but they are in the hives.
Good deal. As long as they’re in and they stay, all is well, regardless of how you got them in😁😁
@@MikeBarryBees I got some entrance queen excluders, I don't think they will leave without their queen.
@@theshadowoftruth7561 I use those on some swarms I catch. I like them.
Man i hated privet when i was a kid lol thats what i got disciplined with. Deserved every bit of it tho. It does smell good and we get a good flow from it most years but i dont care for the honey that much as well mike! Good stuff mike thanks
I hated it too! Grows over everything!! Thanks for watching and we’ll just keep that love-hate relationship with the privet now that we keep bees.😁😁
Yeah I’ve struggled with my nucs back filling waiting on the queen to be mated and laying 🙈 had to stay up on them to check weekly on them.
I had a BIG swarm last Sunday just as I was going to go into the hive too. Was checking once a week too and had been split the week before! They went high and we couldn’t reach them. They started to move I went to follow and as the went over the house I ran around and it was like they disappeared into thin air! I couldn’t see them at all! They weren’t on the roof or anything!
You are describing my entire season in one comment.😁😁
@@MikeBarryBees well at least I know I’m not the only one dealing with it like this 😂
Good stuff Mr.Mike, How many colonies do you maintain production wise, and do you have a battery of nucs?
No battery of NUCs. I like how Ian does that, but it’s just not practical for me with space and time, not for now anyhow. I can see that in the future. I keep about 40 hives and I like to have about 60% to 70% to be production hives.
@MikeBarryBees Thanks for the response. I'm always curious about the size of people's apiary, I currently have 8 total hives, but I want 20 production colonies with 7 or 8 nucs for resource hives......or so I think I want that workload.
here In SE coastal VA, we are full in the blackberry flow, and the privet is about to pop. The honey supers are filling fast and heavy!
Good deal!! Hope you have a bumper crop!
I had a mysterious tree pop up. Took a picture - came up Chinese Tallow or bleeding heart. Looks just like your Chinese Tallow your showed.
It grows in a more damp and dark soil. If it’s sandy soil, then you won’t usually see it. It’s especially prevalent in the south around ponds.
👍👍👍👍
Thanks neighbor!! Well, kind of neighbor if we’re talking states.
@@MikeBarryBees 😂
Mike, how many hives do you generally have?
Usually around 40 to 50.
I want to ask about the pallets. .
I’d rather you didn’t😁😁😂😂
I saw Mr. Ed light his smoker that way in one of his last videos. I’ve never seen this before.
I’ve never seen him do that. He copied me, that’s for sure. Wait till I see him….
I think Bob needs some water and some chia seeds :-)
Next video😁😁
what's good with those 2-way pallets?
Not sure yet. They just showed up…
Ok Dennis said I gotta ask!! What’s the deal with the pallets?? He said he’ll take ‘em!😉! He loves it since he switched over..he just can’t get them built fast enough..he’s building them like Brads! We’ve got 77 hives now and about 50 or so he has on pallets!!
I am wanting to build some too. What’s your opinion on them?
@@timgoodin42053 not sure. If you’re asking me or Mike but as far as we’re concerned it makes life a whole lot easier! He bought a little Kubota that he uses just for the bees and now especially that were gaining so many hives it just makes everything easier! Being able to use the tractor for moving them is great!
Thanks for your information. I have a Kioti tractor with bucket and may get a pallet fork. I don’t really move my hives that much but I can certainly see where it would be helpful.
@@timgoodin42053 actually his is a Kioti..the big one is Kubota..sorry🤦♀️and he doesn’t move them a lot either but it is helpful when he does..he also uses a pallet when he harvests the supers and then he brings the supers to the bldg with the tractor also on the pallets!
Well, don’t have anything to report on them for now. They just showed up in front of my building…
Great to see ya Mike.🤣🪴😂That is Great Mike.👍
I'll bet your girls grow great off that hedge-line.
They sure are. Thanks for the support and keep your videos rolling!
@@MikeBarryBees Blessed Days Mike.
Awh bee keep[ng is east
😂😂. Sometimes😂😂. Sometimes not😁😁
Your bees are so bad. Look at my bees
My bees are better than yours, any day of the week…thanks for watching.