You don't have to kill your bees to find mites. You can use powdered sugar. Use the same kind of jar he has but only one jar with the top like he has. Put the bees in the jar and put some powdered sugar in with them and shake em up a little so they are powder coated and then shake the jar over a black surface and you will see the mites. The other bees will help clean up your bees that are covered in powdered sugar.
Yeah, I came to comment a method of mite check that doesn't require killing bees too. You can put vaseline or something sticky on the bottom board, making sure the board is painted white, and look for mites that have fallen off after a few days.
Great video Devan, a real eye-opener for most newbies as their often educated by the wrong people (Solomon Parker and Michael Bush to name 2) who encourage their listeners to ignore the mites and they'll go away. I've argued with these 2 individuals in particular at length, sent them several publications and papers which disprove their claims repeatedly, and yet they choose to ignore all scientific evidence in favour of their ignorant, biologically misinformed beekeeping philosophy which is based in the fantacy world, not in the real world. Everyone, who is planning on keeping bees must be aware of varroa mites, and I strongly encourage all newbies to take a course before getting into beekeeping so they can have a better shot at being successful. Losing bees to problems which are preventable is totally unexceptable in my opinion and education is never a bad thing. If an individual understands the biology of bees and varroa mites, then half their problems have been solved for them and they already know what to do when mite thresholds reach critical levels.
Pavica Dosenovic : I agree with you that one must take the « the living in la, la land approach. At the same time, the chemical approach must also be twined with other efforts so as to weaned from the chemicals. I am especially impressed by the beekeepers in Avignon France who have succeeded in this regard. Now their bees are known to be free of Verona. Maybe a study of their approach may be the way to go. Of course this is not going to help line the pockets of those chemical industries! This also is something to consider.
Super video. I am just getting started. Never thought I would love bees, but I must say it is the most fun thing I have ever tried. I'm excited to venture into this culture, not for money but for the world. I always misunderstood bees. My lifelong friend got into them a few years ago and I am infatuated. Thanks again.
Devan, I enjoy your videos very much, aside from the music volume. Can you please set it lower than your speaking volume, so viewers don't have to continually adjust our levels up and down?
Your channel is the best I personally have come across. We’re very lucky on the Isle of Man to be perhaps the only country that doesn’t suffer from mites and maintain strict controls to prevent it coming across from the UK or Ireland. Once again, great channel.
I started with bees last year and have watched 50 plus videos since then. Your video editing and knowledge are such a breath of fresh air! Thank you so much.
Lose the queen excluder. It's one more item to clean, obstructs the bees as they pass through, causes congestion in the brood nest, and reduces your honey crop. A good queen should have the run of two deep boxes in the spring, which will reduce the urge to swarm. I used to keep several four frame nuc boxes in each bee yard, and put the swarm cells and a few bees in the nuc box to hatch out, and start laying. That way you are not wasting good queen cells, and when you come across a queenless colony, you have a laying queen on hand. Take the queen from the nuc box and a couple frames with the queen between the frames, and put them right in the center of the queenless hive, and she will be surrounded with her own bees to protect her. And you have now requeened the queenless hive, with a young laying queen, with no lost time. And the best part, the queen is free. BONUS!
I totally agree Devan. I say work the heck out of your bees as a beginner ,you may not know what you're looking at or doing ,but the more you're in them, the more you see the bees doing on their own, the more you notice the more it clicks in your brain what they must be doing .And that is how you learn when you are new to beekeeping, is by observing what the bees are doing that making lots of mistakes don't be too scared to try something that's how we learn how to not do it again or maybe just a better way I learned a ton the hard way but I ain't never been scared to take risk and not to brag but now I know a ton and you will too .Good tips ,good video
I learned from an old bee keeper, 1 that if the bees bring in polen, than you have eggs, thus a queen. 2 Keep them restrained and not too spread as the queen lays eggs that risk not to be attended thus rotting in there and get sick. 3 Make sure they have food and 4 Mites... These are my basics that have worked for me and my bees.
This video was helpful as everyone has a different opinion of how often you should be in your boxes...if I had followed you view; I could have caught mite issues before it was too late and loosing one.
I am trying to crash course learn as much as possible in a short order to help save 50 hives!! This has been one of the best videos on bees I have seen o far!!! Thanks and new subscriber here
Thank you for breaking it down in a simple yet thorough way. Best bee keeping video I have seen thus far. First time bee keeper. Getting two colonies on the 14th.
Just been exposed to beekeeping videos and becoming really interested. Your videos really are very good...very understandable information provided in a good down to earth way.
The powdered sugar method has the effect of encouraging mutual grooming between the bees. « Scientifically », it has been shown that the hives with the least amount of mites are those where the nursing bees have good mutual grooming habits. So stimulating this habit can only result in a positive. Just a thought!
@@cqammaz53 There are numerous videos on RUclips showing the powdered sugar test method that leaves the tested bees alive at the end. You use a jar with a mesh top like Devan does in this video, and the technique is very similar, except you dump the powdered sugar out on a light surface to count the mites.
@@suzanneguiho4882 There's a mite TREATMENT some beeks do, using powdered sugar to encourage mutual grooming that hopefully dislodges many mites. This is different from doing a mite count using powdered sugar instead of killing the test bees with alcohol. There are numerous videos on RUclips demonstrating the powdered sugar varroa mite test.
I was suggesting another advantage to the powdered method and actually thinking more of the development in the bees the grooming element as a method of fighting the presence of the mites. as a natural way of helping to destroy the mites. This I got from a study in Germany where it was observed that bees who are vigorous habit of grooming have lower mit counts. The alcohol wash does give a more accurate mite count. The powdered method must be done two and sometimes three times to get a realistic count. So it is less efficient. However you don’t kill bees and it has the added effect of developing the grooming reflex among them. This however is not very practical for commercial beekeepers where time and effort needs to be translated into money. So I understand why it’s not popular.
Thank you so much for taking the time to make these videos for those of us who are just getting started in bee keeping. This is great information and you do a nice job of presenting it.
Devan thanks for the video. I used this technique today but should have done the additional swirl you demonstrated while flushing! Instead I added the fluid back and pulled out 2 more mites.
As a beginning beekeeper... ive watched a lot of videos. This is the most informative and condensed ive found. Thanks for sharing your knowledge! Love from ATX
Great video and presentation.I am not a bee keeper,although come in contact with bees quite often.Recently a beehive in my shed,in between walls,so checking anything is a bit problematic.And yes I'm a happy observer of a swarm ,building another hive 10 feet away-inside the wall,of course.Your bees must go on Xanax,seem to be tame and nice.Mine are a high strung variety,easy to upset even by looking from a distance.They are not of infamous African breed,as far as I know
Devan, New sub, and Beek here!! I think you have the one of the most informative beekeeping channels on YT. Not bashing, but I do agree with some of the comments about the music. I beelieve (HAHA), that music is not necessary to make you a success.
I just rescued a large swarm from a neighbor who was going to kill them. I am so new to this I can't believe how awesome this hobby could be. Thank you for such excellent educational videos. Do you have one showing how and where to find and capture the queen or even a new queen?
Wow, as a newbee I've searched out all kinds of info to help me succeed and your videos have been one of the best. So far I've watched this one, no gloves and single brood box and find them very interesting. As a smallish female I love the idea of a single brood box to handle. I went to the Nitrile gloves right away so I could grip the frames and tools better and hope with experience to go bare hands more. Question about swarming and single brood box, can just adding a honey super stop swarming? My interpretation of what I've been told is that when they want to swarm the colony growth needs more room so you either have to add a second brood box or do a split. I may have missed something. Also, you are in Canada where it gets pretty cold which make me hopeful since I'm also in cold weather area a single brood box could work. I do know a lot of hives around here were lost last winter due to varroa mites and then a second round due to terrible weather the end of February. Please continue making these videos, you do a very good job of them. Thank you!!
Right, in the video I'm just referring to giving them honey super space above the brood chamber. I never add a second brood chamber to hives. Cutting out the developing queen cells is the key to preventing them from swarming. This means finding every one, which for me usually means shaking the bees off every frame and taking a very good look. Then I make sure they have lots of open space to store honey. Come back in 7-10 days and repeat. If you don't let them raise a new queen, they won't swarm.
Yes, you can split instead of destroying all the queen cells, just be sure you don't put the old queen in the new hive. Also, don't try making a new hive for every queen cell you find, that will just give you a dozen colonies all too weak to survive. I advise against splitting any one hive more than once in a season, and that's if the hives are strong. Weaker hives you probably shouldn't split at all, but weak hives also produce queen cells. In the end, you'll have to destroy a number of queen cells every season regardless of what else you do.
Getting back into bees after 50 years ..... I definitely will switch to single Brood next season , as my largest hive has swarmed 2x , and it is ok because I collected them back , here we have about 10 month of pollen and nectar and usually have 2 harvest up to 3 when well managed . there is a way to control the mites but it is illegal in the States , most likely because the drug is coming on the market and they have several patent in both Germany and Israel
I will be getting my first package of bees. I have been studding for a couple of years and now it's time for me to put everything I've read into practice.
We use a thing in the bottom of the hive to check for the mites. They fall down and we have learnt that 3 per day is ok. So we dont have to kill bees to check...
Wilhelm Rejnus It's a good method to get an estimate of the varroa level, but not nearly as accurate as alcohol wash. Meaning you might end up over/under treating hives. Randy Oliver of Scientific Beekeeping has lots of numbers (and words!) on that topic if you're interested.
It's best to keep a record of the level of mite infestation, and also to know whether your treatments are working. You don't have to kill the bees to test for varroa mites. There is a method using powdered sugar rather than alcohol that leaves the tested bees alive. There are numerous videos on RUclips showing this method.
Great info Devan! Most of the emergency calls I get trace back to management issues: either missing swarm prep or failing to apply effective mite control. It is critical to KNOW you can see the eggs if they are there (I need reading glasses to see them as do lots of beekeepers but sometimes vanity gets in the way of using them!).
i'm sure they have their own ways to protect themselves from mites. it's call natural selection no need for human intervention but nonetheless very informative video. always been interested in everything that has to do with agriculture plants and animals.
I’m sure humans have their own ways to protect themselves from diseases. It’s called natural selection. No need for special intervention and treatments.
How do you multiply your hives if you stop the swarming behavior? Everything I have seen on RUclips is to decide the Hive and put the Queen Cells in another hive to hatch out and become the new Queen. The first to hatch will kill the other queens to make sure you have the strongest Queen working in that hive. Killing the Queen Cells stops you from deciding the hives and having more honey production.
Hi Devan great topic thank you! I do think the way you test for mites is a little disturbing isnt there another way to test with losing 300 bees? Thanks again for your videos
Please bear in mind bees live 5-6 weeks. Queen lays ~1egg/minute round the clock. Sacrificing few for the good of the colony is critical. Successful farmers must keep the big picture in mind. Best, @HoneyOnWales
Yes there is a better process called the sugar shake method which results in killing nothing except the mites themselves, and maybe a couple of dizzy bees. Haha.
@@iamlachlansupertramp No better, no worse. Just different. Alcohol is more accurate, as sugar shake doesn't always dislodge all mites. For those of us who care about the colony as a whole & earn a living farming bees, alcohol wash is the most accurate tool to assess colony health. Accuracy ensures we lose fewer colonies (1-3% annual loss). Whereas the global average is >30% annual loss by backyard beekeepers who want to "Save the Bees." Amateurs, though they're compassionate, their lack of experience & knowledge results in much destruction. The most valuable action an amateur can do is intern with a professional. You'll be amazed at what you learn!
The question was is there another way to test for varroa that doesn’t result in killing 300 bees. I responded with a method that kills hardly any bees, i never stated how accurate it is. Although it is the DPI’s approved method..
Get nice bees or use LOTS OF SMOKE (which is what I do). Also, it helps massively if you do it when the sun is directly overhead and the weather is 'nice.' (no clouds, no storms in the background, not windy...)
@@cluelessbeekeeping1322 Thank you for the hint. Turns out I get along pretty well with just a veil (don't want to drop a box full of bees because of a face sting) but I have figured out a few things they don't like. For instance, if you get into the hive in late summer with a lot of robbers in the air; everybody is pissed off and I was getting hit from both teams. 😂
Golly! I just want to feed the bees in my yard, and keep them warm in the winter. Keeping them, i.e., and a bee hive looks like a huge education I'll have to get into. Jeez!! I wonder if one of the local beekeepers would be interested in just keeping a hive at my house and maintaining it - they can keep the honey... ?! Is that a cop-out?
Hello, great video, thanks for the info. Can you do one on the topic of managing space. It seems straight forward to give more space when a broodbox is 70% full. However, what do you do for example when a hive swarmed, and the remaning part is too small for two brood chambers and a honey super? How do you take away space if there's still capped brood in both brood boxes?
As beekeepers I thought our main goal was to SAVE the bees, not purposely kill them when the powder sugar method is a safer way, and you don’t kill the bees. Liked the video up until that point.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not recommending that beekeepers make a move when varroa levels are critical, I recommend that mite levels stay at or below the 1% threshold throughout the active brood rearing season, and in fall, there should be an infestation level of 0% so those bees are good and healthy going into winter. High mite levels going into winter will only cause problems for the overwintering cluster.
You don't have to kill your bees to find mites. You can use powdered sugar. Use the same kind of jar he has but only one jar with the top like he has. Put the bees in the jar and put some powdered sugar in with them and shake em up a little so they are powder coated and then shake the jar over a black surface and you will see the mites. The other bees will help clean up your bees that are covered in powdered sugar.
Yeah, I came to comment a method of mite check that doesn't require killing bees too. You can put vaseline or something sticky on the bottom board, making sure the board is painted white, and look for mites that have fallen off after a few days.
Thank you! You’re the first video I’ve found that showed me how to see eggs and larvae and had a good camera angle to do it
Yes! I agree
Found your no nonsense approach really helpful. I'm just starting out so found really helpful. Loved the close up camera work.
Thanks for doing amazing videos. Really miss your updates. All the best!
Looking forward to your 2020 videos. Love your humble attitude and your willingness to share your knowledge and experience with us.
Love your videos, you and vino are by far the best educational beekeepers. Being raw and honest
Great video Devan, a real eye-opener for most newbies as their often educated by the wrong people (Solomon Parker and Michael Bush to name 2) who encourage their listeners to ignore the mites and they'll go away. I've argued with these 2 individuals in particular at length, sent them several publications and papers which disprove their claims repeatedly, and yet they choose to ignore all scientific evidence in favour of their ignorant, biologically misinformed beekeeping philosophy which is based in the fantacy world, not in the real world. Everyone, who is planning on keeping bees must be aware of varroa mites, and I strongly encourage all newbies to take a course before getting into beekeeping so they can have a better shot at being successful. Losing bees to problems which are preventable is totally unexceptable in my opinion and education is never a bad thing. If an individual understands the biology of bees and varroa mites, then half their problems have been solved for them and they already know what to do when mite thresholds reach critical levels.
Pavica Dosenovic : I agree with you that one must take the « the living in la, la land approach. At the same time, the chemical approach must also be twined with other efforts so as to weaned from the chemicals. I am especially impressed by the beekeepers in Avignon France who have succeeded in this regard. Now their bees are known to be free of Verona. Maybe a study of their approach may be the way to go. Of course this is not going to help line the pockets of those chemical industries! This also is something to consider.
Excellent video and great camera work Daven . Thank you so much.
Super video. I am just getting started. Never thought I would love bees, but I must say it is the most fun thing I have ever tried. I'm excited to venture into this culture, not for money but for the world. I always misunderstood bees. My lifelong friend got into them a few years ago and I am infatuated. Thanks again.
Devan, I enjoy your videos very much, aside from the music volume. Can you please set it lower than your speaking volume, so viewers don't have to continually adjust our levels up and down?
Oh I totally agree. Devan's information, knowledge and insight is the reason I came to this channel. Not the music. Thankyou....
The music is cringe.... At least lower it!
this
Your channel is the best I personally have come across. We’re very lucky on the Isle of Man to be perhaps the only country that doesn’t suffer from mites and maintain strict controls to prevent it coming across from the UK or Ireland. Once again, great channel.
Hundreds of videos and nobody gets to the focal appoint, literally. Great video. Thanks
I started with bees last year and have watched 50 plus videos since then. Your video editing and knowledge are such a breath of fresh air! Thank you so much.
Lose the queen excluder. It's one more item to clean, obstructs the bees as they pass through, causes congestion in the brood nest, and reduces your honey crop. A good queen should have the run of two deep boxes in the spring, which will reduce the urge to swarm. I used to keep several four frame nuc boxes in each bee yard, and put the swarm cells and a few bees in the nuc box to hatch out, and start laying. That way you are not wasting good queen cells, and when you come across a queenless colony, you have a laying queen on hand. Take the queen from the nuc box and a couple frames with the queen between the frames, and put them right in the center of the queenless hive, and she will be surrounded with her own bees to protect her. And you have now requeened the queenless hive, with a young laying queen, with no lost time. And the best part, the queen is free. BONUS!
Is there any chance of a queen laying some eggs in the supers even when she has 2 brood boxes, would hate to have eggs/larvae in harvested honey
Devan, you do a great job on beekeeping and making videos. I hope all is well with you. Thanks for the videos!
I totally agree Devan. I say work the heck out of your bees as a beginner ,you may not know what you're looking at or doing ,but the more you're in them, the more you see the bees doing on their own, the more you notice the more it clicks in your brain what they must be doing .And that is how you learn when you are new to beekeeping, is by observing what the bees are doing that making lots of mistakes don't be too scared to try something that's how we learn how to not do it again or maybe just a better way I learned a ton the hard way but I ain't never been scared to take risk and not to brag but now I know a ton and you will too .Good tips ,good video
I learned from an old bee keeper, 1 that if the bees bring in polen, than you have eggs, thus a queen. 2 Keep them restrained and not too spread as the queen lays eggs that risk not to be attended thus rotting in there and get sick. 3 Make sure they have food and 4 Mites... These are my basics that have worked for me and my bees.
Excellent camera work on those close-ups. Exactly what I've been looking for.
thank you
I wish you would have showed how you got rid of queen cells and how the bees reacted, but this is a great video and I appreciate the added knowledge.
This video was helpful as everyone has a different opinion of how often you should be in your boxes...if I had followed you view; I could have caught mite issues before it was too late and loosing one.
I am trying to crash course learn as much as possible in a short order to help save 50 hives!! This has been one of the best videos on bees I have seen o far!!! Thanks and new subscriber here
Thank you for breaking it down in a simple yet thorough way. Best bee keeping video I have seen thus far.
First time bee keeper. Getting two colonies on the 14th.
good luck with it 🔥
Just been exposed to beekeeping videos and becoming really interested. Your videos really are very good...very understandable information provided in a good down to earth way.
The powdered sugar method has the effect of encouraging mutual grooming between the bees. « Scientifically », it has been shown that the hives with the least amount of mites are those where the nursing bees have good mutual grooming habits. So stimulating this habit can only result in a positive. Just a thought!
How do you do the sugar powder method?
You powder the nurse bees with powdered sugar.
@@cqammaz53 There are numerous videos on RUclips showing the powdered sugar test method that leaves the tested bees alive at the end. You use a jar with a mesh top like Devan does in this video, and the technique is very similar, except you dump the powdered sugar out on a light surface to count the mites.
@@suzanneguiho4882 There's a mite TREATMENT some beeks do, using powdered sugar to encourage mutual grooming that hopefully dislodges many mites. This is different from doing a mite count using powdered sugar instead of killing the test bees with alcohol. There are numerous videos on RUclips demonstrating the powdered sugar varroa mite test.
I was suggesting another advantage to the powdered method and actually thinking more of the development in the bees the grooming element as a method of fighting the presence of the mites. as a natural way of helping to destroy the mites. This I got from a study in Germany where it was observed that bees who are vigorous habit of grooming have lower mit counts. The alcohol wash does give a more accurate mite count. The powdered method must be done two and sometimes three times to get a realistic count. So it is less efficient. However you don’t kill bees and it has the added effect of developing the grooming reflex among them. This however is not very practical for commercial beekeepers where time and effort needs to be translated into money. So I understand why it’s not popular.
Awesome documentaries! Your care for bees is evident.
You are amazing! Please keep posting. You should bee in everyone's life more!
Thank you so much for taking the time to make these videos for those of us who are just getting started in bee keeping. This is great information and you do a nice job of presenting it.
I'm late to the convo but doesn't it bother them if you're looking all the time? Smoking, opening, etc?
Hey Devon sure wish you would put More videos out there love your knowledge in the beekeeping.
Thank you for sharing as well
Good info! I got a lot of good tidbits from this. Thanks for posting!
Devan thanks for the video. I used this technique today but should have done the additional swirl you demonstrated while flushing! Instead I added the fluid back and pulled out 2 more mites.
Hi Devan
Tks for share yours point of View. It's so hekpfull. Regards from Brasil.
thank you for these helpful tips
I love the music you choose. Please add your playlists. 🎉
As a beginning beekeeper... ive watched a lot of videos. This is the most informative and condensed ive found. Thanks for sharing your knowledge! Love from ATX
Doug in Denver: Great close ups. BEST I'VE SEEN.
Those queen cells that are capped you can make a split out of each one.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge and skills with us.
Dana Nelson that is what I think to mate . Thanks David
Very cool! Thanks for taking the time to share this info. I am a fairly new beekeeper and am always looking for more to learn.
This was very informative and well presented thank you. A lot of people will have learned a lot.
This is a brilliant video I've learned a lot about the process and the pssible problems.well done young man.
Thank you for the video! I don't have bees currently. I'm considering it. Fascinating. 😊
Great video and presentation.I am not a bee keeper,although come in contact with bees quite often.Recently a beehive in my shed,in between walls,so checking anything is a bit problematic.And yes I'm a happy observer of a swarm ,building another hive 10 feet away-inside the wall,of course.Your bees must go on Xanax,seem to be tame and nice.Mine are a high strung variety,easy to upset even by looking from a distance.They are not of infamous African breed,as far as I know
Enjoyed your video and very educational
Devan,
New sub, and Beek here!!
I think you have the one of the most informative beekeeping channels on YT.
Not bashing, but I do agree with some of the comments about the music.
I beelieve (HAHA), that music is not necessary to make you a success.
Thanks for sharing.. enjoyed your video, keep up the good work...!
I just rescued a large swarm from a neighbor who was going to kill them. I am so new to this I can't believe how awesome this hobby could be. Thank you for such excellent educational videos. Do you have one showing how and where to find and capture the queen or even a new queen?
Very educational video
most brutal way to find mites ever!!!
I was wondering. How do you approach it? The sticky pads or oil under the box?
Those are super nice hives
Amazing tutorial and the man is also dynamic. May Allah azowajal guide n protect you olways
Great tips. Just getting started. This will help! Thanks,
im thinking of starting a bee hive in my garden, so much to learn, my head is buzzing
Totally interested newbie here - why would want to prevent swarming? Surely the more bees out there the better? Super interesting upload. Thank you!
Excellent video, and advice. Thank you.
My mentor uses powdered sugar. It works the same but does not kill the bees.
Wow, as a newbee I've searched out all kinds of info to help me succeed and your videos have been one of the best. So far I've watched this one, no gloves and single brood box and find them very interesting. As a smallish female I love the idea of a single brood box to handle. I went to the Nitrile gloves right away so I could grip the frames and tools better and hope with experience to go bare hands more. Question about swarming and single brood box, can just adding a honey super stop swarming? My interpretation of what I've been told is that when they want to swarm the colony growth needs more room so you either have to add a second brood box or do a split. I may have missed something. Also, you are in Canada where it gets pretty cold which make me hopeful since I'm also in cold weather area a single brood box could work. I do know a lot of hives around here were lost last winter due to varroa mites and then a second round due to terrible weather the end of February. Please continue making these videos, you do a very good job of them. Thank you!!
Devan Rawn I had the same question. In the video you say give them more space. What does that mean?
Right, in the video I'm just referring to giving them honey super space above the brood chamber. I never add a second brood chamber to hives. Cutting out the developing queen cells is the key to preventing them from swarming. This means finding every one, which for me usually means shaking the bees off every frame and taking a very good look. Then I make sure they have lots of open space to store honey. Come back in 7-10 days and repeat. If you don't let them raise a new queen, they won't swarm.
Just wondering if we can use the new queen for a new hive instead of killing them?
Yes, you can split instead of destroying all the queen cells, just be sure you don't put the old queen in the new hive. Also, don't try making a new hive for every queen cell you find, that will just give you a dozen colonies all too weak to survive. I advise against splitting any one hive more than once in a season, and that's if the hives are strong. Weaker hives you probably shouldn't split at all, but weak hives also produce queen cells. In the end, you'll have to destroy a number of queen cells every season regardless of what else you do.
Getting back into bees after 50 years ..... I definitely will switch to single Brood next season , as my largest hive has swarmed 2x , and it is ok because I collected them back , here we have about 10 month of pollen and nectar and usually have 2 harvest up to 3 when well managed . there is a way to control the mites but it is illegal in the States , most likely because the drug is coming on the market and they have several patent in both Germany and Israel
Awesome video. Hive issues with solutions. Thanks!
I will be getting my first package of bees. I have been studding for a couple of years and now it's time for me to put everything I've read into practice.
Your a great teacher! thanks for what you do!
We use a thing in the bottom of the hive to check for the mites. They fall down and we have learnt that 3 per day is ok. So we dont have to kill bees to check...
Wilhelm Rejnus It's a good method to get an estimate of the varroa level, but not nearly as accurate as alcohol wash. Meaning you might end up over/under treating hives. Randy Oliver of Scientific Beekeeping has lots of numbers (and words!) on that topic if you're interested.
100% wright
Can we just assume we have mites, and take the action, without sacrificing 300? This is not Sparta, bruh! 😭💕🤗
It's best to keep a record of the level of mite infestation, and also to know whether your treatments are working. You don't have to kill the bees to test for varroa mites. There is a method using powdered sugar rather than alcohol that leaves the tested bees alive. There are numerous videos on RUclips showing this method.
Great info Devan! Most of the emergency calls I get trace back to management issues: either missing swarm prep or failing to apply effective mite control. It is critical to KNOW you can see the eggs if they are there (I need reading glasses to see them as do lots of beekeepers but sometimes vanity gets in the way of using them!).
Thank you Devon! This video was just what I needed.
There's alot of bee keeping videos, i really enjoyed yours, clear instruction .
Informative - thanks. I’m recently retired, and am starting beekeeping as a hobby.
How many beehives do you have?
Awesome info. PLEASE, lower the volume in your editing when cutting in the music. Thank you!
Que passo
Couldn’t you get the swarm to go into another one of your boxes? Thanks
Good stuff!
i'm sure they have their own ways to protect themselves from mites. it's call natural selection no need for human intervention but nonetheless very informative video. always been interested in everything that has to do with agriculture plants and animals.
I’m sure humans have their own ways to protect themselves from diseases. It’s called natural selection. No need for special intervention and treatments.
great video, thanks
Sick musical interludes, hoss.
Thanks for sharing this video. Good info.
Love the channel - thanks for the work!
How do you multiply your hives if you stop the swarming behavior? Everything I have seen on RUclips is to decide the Hive and put the Queen Cells in another hive to hatch out and become the new Queen. The first to hatch will kill the other queens to make sure you have the strongest Queen working in that hive.
Killing the Queen Cells stops you from deciding the hives and having more honey production.
Wow good video. And thanks for not being boring why you teach.
Awesome video, thanks.
Hey Devan,, Thank you for you ideas... some great input ,,,
Hi Devan great topic thank you! I do think the way you test for mites is a little disturbing isnt there another way to test with losing 300 bees? Thanks again for your videos
Please bear in mind bees live 5-6 weeks. Queen lays ~1egg/minute round the clock. Sacrificing few for the good of the colony is critical. Successful farmers must keep the big picture in mind. Best, @HoneyOnWales
Yes there is a better process called the sugar shake method which results in killing nothing except the mites themselves, and maybe a couple of dizzy bees. Haha.
@@iamlachlansupertramp No better, no worse. Just different. Alcohol is more accurate, as sugar shake doesn't always dislodge all mites.
For those of us who care about the colony as a whole & earn a living farming bees, alcohol wash is the most accurate tool to assess colony health. Accuracy ensures we lose fewer colonies (1-3% annual loss). Whereas the global average is >30% annual loss by backyard beekeepers who want to "Save the Bees."
Amateurs, though they're compassionate, their lack of experience & knowledge results in much destruction. The most valuable action an amateur can do is intern with a professional. You'll be amazed at what you learn!
The question was is there another way to test for varroa that doesn’t result in killing 300 bees. I responded with a method that kills hardly any bees, i never stated how accurate it is. Although it is the DPI’s approved method..
If you perform the sugar shake correctly, you kill the bees.
Thank you for nice video. Best greetings from beekeepers in Ukraine!
New sub. Enjoy your videos and hope to learn a lot from you as bee keeping is my next adventure!
Such a fascinating creature...
I'm still wrapping my head around working the hive in short sleeves.
If I did that I would be experiencing 5 to 10 stings per minute.
Get nice bees or use LOTS OF SMOKE (which is what I do).
Also, it helps massively if you do it when the sun is directly overhead and the weather is 'nice.' (no clouds, no storms in the background, not windy...)
@@cluelessbeekeeping1322 Thank you for the hint. Turns out I get along pretty well with just a veil (don't want to drop a box full of bees because of a face sting) but I have figured out a few things they don't like. For instance, if you get into the hive in late summer with a lot of robbers in the air; everybody is pissed off and I was getting hit from both teams. 😂
Golly! I just want to feed the bees in my yard, and keep them warm in the winter. Keeping them, i.e., and a bee hive looks like a huge education I'll have to get into. Jeez!! I wonder if one of the local beekeepers would be interested in just keeping a hive at my house and maintaining it - they can keep the honey... ?! Is that a cop-out?
Sandee the best thing you can do is plant for the honey bees and pollinators. They need season long good food and water sources more than anything!
Thanks David I am a new sub and keen to learn all I can . Keep them coming mate .
Devan, first time watching your videos, sure do enjoy the great information that you present, again thank you very much. Ron B
could it be possible to take out that frame with the new queen cell and put it in a new brood box so they can start a new colony?
Excellent video Thankfully we don't yet have Varroa mites down here in Australia.
Great lesson! How are you able to touch all this without them stinging you ?
Wow that guy is good. Learn a lot .
Hello, great video, thanks for the info. Can you do one on the topic of managing space. It seems straight forward to give more space when a broodbox is 70% full. However, what do you do for example when a hive swarmed, and the remaning part is too small for two brood chambers and a honey super? How do you take away space if there's still capped brood in both brood boxes?
Wait out the brood to hatch and they will increase in number? What did you end up doing?
Good info. Thanks!
Noticed the DUI bag in your truck. fellow diver? This is the first video of your I came across
Thank you very much
As beekeepers I thought our main goal was to SAVE the bees, not purposely kill them when the powder sugar method is a safer way, and you don’t kill the bees. Liked the video up until that point.
You did a great job explaing.
Great video thank you!
Don't get me wrong, I'm not recommending that beekeepers make a move when varroa levels are critical, I recommend that mite levels stay at or below the 1% threshold throughout the active brood rearing season, and in fall, there should be an infestation level of 0% so those bees are good and healthy going into winter. High mite levels going into winter will only cause problems for the overwintering cluster.
Cuuuteeee ladies!
Yes, bees are cute. But there's more substance to them than just a fuzzy exterior. Thanks for the comment.