It still amazes me, that in this day and age how much hate and discontent there is! If you ask 5 beekeepers a question you will get 7 different answers. If you folks have nothing nice to say then keep it to yourself. No one wants your blather. This is a great Video with great information! Thanks for posting it!!! It’s obvious that plastic foundations are working here, his bees look great. If your plastic frames are not working, consider that maybe you’re doing something wrong. Plastic may not be the answer for some it may make all the difference for others. Don’t hate just because you don’t like it. Get a grip. Thanks again bearded bee dude for a great Video! Keep doing what your doing!
You just cannot please everyone. You will get negative people in the world that knows little and want to get involve in business they know little about. I just started this business. I listen to those that are on the same track as me, I continually do my research and practice what I think it is practical for my own development to suit my business though some may not agree. But! In all endeavors they are standardize procedures when involved in some business
@@AskTheCarExperts I saw your question hanging out there with no answer. Migratory covers are mainly used to stack hives for transportation. They are cheaper and easier to make but an inner cover and and a lid is the way to go for backyard guys.
Just binged a few of your videos. Love the content and subbed. This is my first year with my own colony and we had an unusually cold, wet spring. We started with brand new frames and they haven't been building very fast. I like the idea of checkering in undrawn frames in the busy frames to encourage building. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
I like your videos and they have been a big help. So thank you. I need advice on getting my frames drawn out. I got all my 6 colonies the the winter and they built up good this spring. I had couple that were slower but they are building good now. I am using single brood management. I had 4 out of 6 that had 6 plus frames of brood and bees so I add the second box. They built up to 3 and 4 frames of brood in the second box. Then I noticed they were back filling the brood with nectar so I added a medium super and an excluder after shaking all the bees into the bottom box. Because I just started last summer I didn't have any drawn comb. They are not drawing the super out and we are in a good flow. Should I take the super off for a while or rotate it with the top box. I don't want to feed because these were supposed to be my honey producers this year.
Great Video Brett. As we are physically not too far from one another - I would like to see your apiary one day, and compare notes on overwintering bees. Taker easy. (BTW - No Veil, No Gloves, No Smoker - man you got bigger nads than I have)
Brand new bee keeper here; I have one swarm and it has been doing well. Good queen, brood pattern, etc. I have been feeding sugar water for about 2 months. Frames are about 60% full. How long should I feed them? What is my next step. Thanks
I have one totally empty, brand new hive. My son has a thriving hive several miles away. If I take a few frames (with eggs, food, and couple hundred of his bees) from his hive and put them in mine, would that work to populate my hive? I'm unaware of any other bees in my close area; if I have a virgin queen, how close does she have to be to other bees to find a drone and mate? Thanks for your help.
I have harvested a small swarm of bee that took 5 framesi. I find they are not building the comb fast enough, no nectar, I do not see pollen, just a few covered cells, brood is it? I am going to feed them to see if they will build up the comb faster, cause it is building up, but for a week for me it takes too long. What you think? Can i.get someone advice on what to do?
I have a question, this is my first yr beekeeping and I don't have a "mentor"- only my semi-local bee supply store (2 hrs away) for questions. I checked my bees yesterday- one hive was packaged bees, and one hive I got a month later as a NUC. The NUC hive is doing great- lots of bees, honey, brood... etc, but the packaged beehive is very small. I saw a queen in it, and there are eggs and larva, but they are maybe 3 frames starting to get drawn out? Like, the frames aren't really drawn out anywhere but where they have bee larva developing. I have been feeding them both sugar syrup and a pollen patty- both of which they are eating. I guess the thing that worries me most is that when I checked the packaged bees, there are a bunch of queen cells build in the middle of the frames... one was closed and the other 3 weren't closed yet but there was definitely white milky stuff in the bottom (royal jelly?). This confuses me because there is LOTS of room in the box still, there aren't too many bees and there is plenty of food... any advice or thoughts would be helpful!
Sometimes package bees don't like their queen. Your queen sounds like a dud and they are trying to replace her. If I were you I would take a brood and bee covered frame from your nicer hive and give it to the weaker one, and seek out a new queen to install in the weaker one after the transplant of the brood/bee frame.
A sign they aren't queen-right is the loud buzzing of the entire hive which you can clearly hear in this video. A hive that is queen-right will be nearly silent.
Yes I'm in the south and I can't find anything that will get rid of sugar Ants and have tried several things including boric acid and sugar please do you have any information that could help
One of my hives was torn apart and cleaned out by a bear 9 days ago. I put them all back together because there were lots of bees still on one or two frames. I just went back in 2 days ago and I have only 1 frame that has some capped brood and larva. Can I assume that the queen lived and will they have time to catch up this year?
Susan Mitchell I would be looking for her, or for eggs. If there areno eggs I would look for a queen for sale or try to get another brood frame from another hive.
This is my second year beekeeping, but my colony’s first year. I corrected a lot of the mistakes I made with my first colony that died out their first winter. My current colony went into winter with 12-14 frames of capped honey and good mite counts. They had 5-6 frames capped honey left when I opened them today. My question is should I feed the still with that amount of honey still in the hive? I am located in SW Michigan.
Brad, this is my issue more years than not, they just don't go through the food I expected them to and are still heavy. My answer to your question is yes, feed them communally, and in a few weeks when things are really warm and moving frames around is fine, you can pull out any obstructive honey frames and leave it out to get robbed or give it to a new hive or whatever you want to do with it.
You can't really treat for nosema anymore, as you can't really diagnose it anymore. Excess poop on and in the hive isn't a sign of nosema as it used to be, because nosema ceranae has taken over in the US and dysentery isn't a symptom of it. So, when I see what looks like digestive issues, I feed the colonies as soon as I can, clean thin syrup will help out quite a bit, and I don't propagate from those colonies. If you're certain somehow that it is nosema, you can try to get some fumagilin b, but I think you need a vet to write a prescription for it now. Either way, my advice is to not worry about it, just feed them as soon as you can and make queens from your other hives this spring.
@@BKBees ...thank you Brett...I ordered that same antibiotic....but after I researched it....I came to the same conclusion that you stated....I’ve just never seen the whole front of a hive covered in poop...lol....
Great Job on your channel. I am learning. But it is August. Can i still feed them to buildup. I am central Ontario. Similar climate. Both hives are queen right but my two deeps are all they have filled. Plenty of honey below but nothing in the super added when the buildout was 80%. My concern is survival over winter. If i dont have enough bees to make it as neither of my hives are boiling over. If i feed them 1 to 1 is that converted to honey or comb. I am going natural including foundationless frames and they have done well but i am not sure when evetything slows down. Will check for eggs brood etc. Thanks
my bees are doing great. They have two boxes of honey that I will take this week, but the third box of frames are not being worked on. Any ideas why. I have checked them for two weeks now and nothing. Lots of bees on the frames, but not drawing anything out. Thinking once I extract and give them the boxes back, maybe they will just refill those. Should I drop that 3rd box down further to encourage them to work on it?
Yeah, you can consider putting that box directly above the brood nest. That will ensure more bees paying attention to it. They're probably using the incoming nectar to fill up the other boxes.
thank you. I didnt want to upset the flow of things, but will try that to see if I can get another box of filled out wax to use, if not this year, next year. Thanks so much
HI mate, Im a new beekeeper, my 5 frame nuc went in only 3 weeks ago to a 8 frame box and now there is so much honey there is hardly any room for brood. Ive added another brood box and one frame of honey to the new box. Will the bees eat the rest of the honey in the lower box to create more room from the queen to lay? Or will the queen just move up the the higher box in due time? Much thanks Stu
Know it's 7 months since question. You need to take out some of those lower honey frames (honey walls) and move them up into that added top box. Add drawn Comb into the spaces left in the lower box. The Queen won't lay when surrounded by a 'wall of honey' because their are no empty cells to lay in ! Bees will move that top honey back down if they need it, for future feeding etc. With new installations feed 1:1 Syrup to get Wax Comb built up quickly for laying purposes !!! Hope this helps ! 👍 Happy Beekeeping 2021 !!! 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
I am a first year beekeeper. Got 2 hives and 2 packages of bees in late march. One hive is doing good, lots of brood, storing pollen & nectar. I allready had to requeen my 2nd hive about a month ago and they still seem like they are slow to build up. Is it because we are in a dearth right now? Do you think that they will start rebounding when the fall nectar flow starts? Am i wanting results too fast...? Thank you for any advice. I am feeding them 2:1 sugar syrup.
Just give 'em time. Some take longer than others for a whole bunch of different reasons. Feeding them is the right thing to do. You can also consider taking a brood frame from your booming hive and giving it to them, that'll speed up the rate at which they grow.
I installed 3 nucs on 4/13/2018. I recently added the second brood box and a super on one which was doing great. My question is should I continue to feed sugar water to these here in coastal Carolina, especially after adding the super? Warm regards, Ron
Nope, I stop feeding when the nectar becomes available, or they stop taking it, or they have built up their brood area. Since you have a super on, I'd pull the feeders off.
my bee's come out of winter with a lot of honey left over , i have a deep bottom brood box that's almost full and another deep on top with 8 frames of honey ,should i pull the honey to keep them from becoming honey bound or should i leave it ?
Don't pull everything but I'd pull the surplus. Extract it and then you'll have that box for when the honey flow starts anew. Or save it until something needs food.
Had a couple of frames that I've stuck to the side and forgot about and lo and behold they got a queen and she bred and is now laying eggs. Was a very nice surprise but they're only on three frames two are brood one honey which is running out. honey flow is ending here so I'm going to have to feed them and give them pollen too, correct? I have two other hives 18 frame and 8 frame upon inspection last week notice there was no pollen in any other frames there either. Some people say feed some people say no but if I need more brood I'm going to need more pollen, I mean sugar water is easy to come by you can just make it but calling that's a different story.
Yeah, if there is no available pollen or nectar source and your bees don't have ample stores, feed 'em. It's always awesome getting into a hive you thought was queenless to find a laying queen and some brood.
For a female just getting bees next spring.. would u recommend one deep and two medium for brood or 3 medium for brood??????( im understand ill only have one box initially but im considering the big picture
I'd try to keep all of the brood frames the same size, so 3 mediums is my advice. It'll be a lot easier that way, you can trade frames between hives and brood boxes with no issues.
@@aprilbatley9265 That is a difficult task, unfortunately. Firstly, I'd recommend asking around to those nuc providers if they have any medium equipment they can sell a nuc in. Back when I used to sell nucs we always sold a few medium ones for just this occasion, so you might be able to find some. Other than that, you're looking at the main reason why my whole operation is deeps and nothing but deeps. Deeps are the industry standard. So, you can go two deeps for your brood area, that's totally fine and would allow you to get nucs from wherever, or you can try to find yourself a package of bees. Packages can be installed into whatever type of cavity you choose. If I was in your situation I'd buy a couple of packages and go the medium box route.
Thanks for always being willing to help. How often do you treat bees for mites? Do you know a good source for oxalic acid crystals? And if you have used it, how much would you use on a double deep brood chamber? Thanks again.
Britany, I monitor and am prepared to treat every month. I would recommend using a vaporizer for the oxalic acid and filling the box to the brim with vapor, regardless of the size of the colony. I get my OA crystals from Mann Lake.
There isn't a "best", necessarily, but if you're okay with lifting heavy things then I'd suggest going with 10 frame deeps. They're the industry standard and will allow you to exchange frames, and buy nucs and just be really versatile with the equipment you purchase and use. If you are weary of lifting heavy boxes, go with mediums.
My go to answer here is to move the queen to a new location, the returning foragers will bolster the queenless half and the queenright half will continue production as normal. Check out my video "How To Split Your Hive The Easy Way" for some more info on that subject. ruclips.net/video/hLbuBqfkZXw/видео.html
They used to call it simulating a Swarm. Now they call it splitting a Hive. When a Swarm occurs, the original queen leaves the hive. So when splitting the hive move the queen, then either let the hive make their own queen from the open brood or you can introduce a new queen that you buy or raise yourself.
I started my 10 frame nuc colony in mid May of this year and things are really slow the bees are not making much comb I have 2 bottom boxes and probably 8 of the frames have comb drawn out of them is there something that I could have done wrong in the process of setting up this colony?
Also I did a hive inspection a few days ago and I didn’t notice any new eggs, could the queen have died or swarmed off? If so what is the next step I could do, I haven’t been able to find the queen since I first installed the hive back in May.
I just purchased an nuc and just getting into bees I put the frames in new box and was looking for the queen that was supposed to be in there marked but did not see her but did she what looks to be a superceed cell,should I be concerned or just let it go?
Steve Shellhammer I would talk to your nuc provider about that but regardless of what he/she says I would leave the cell and let them continue doing what they are doing.
Duane Cato bees have a really great ability to regulate heat but it does take workforce and energy. Open the entrance up as wide as it will go and consider trying to add other ventilation help like a top entrance or propping up the telescoping cover.
ShinkleGunDog might want to do a couple like that because there's always a chance she won't come back. You want to wait 2 or 3 weeks waiting for a mated Queen to come back that may never come back. So do at least two nucleus hives if you can
@@ShinkleGunDog buying a queen is for not to loose about 18 days.Honey bees have a short life time they grow an operating queen about 18 days and if your hive weak it can collaps or cannot produce honey
Pete F the bees move very differently in a queenright colony. It seems more purposeful and less flighty or nervous. I guess queenless bees are agitated by the fact. They roar too that was not so easy to tell in the video if they were. A bang on the box will tell You, queenright they buzz and stop, queenless they hold the increased volume for longer.
Got my bees bout 4 weeks late ....had them 12 days now ..I was promised 5 frame nucs ...ended up with 4 frames in two hives ..the first frame on either side is just now filling out ...does this sound normal ..i am concerned about getting my hive large enough to survive the Montana winter ..thanks for your help
My nuc was late too and then I had to find out that it was queenless....what a mess. Feed them sugar water and if needed pollen substitute and treat them for mites. If there is no nectar, the queen will slow down with laying eggs, also the comb building will stop. Besides if there is a honey flow, the bees will rather gather the nectar and stop using sugar water.
Not necessarily. If there are single eggs in the center of each cell, yes, that means there's a queen. If there are lots of eggs laid haphazardly, on the walls of the cell and sometimes 2 - 4 eggs per cell, that is a sign of laying workers.
Nice informative vids, but can you work on not moving the camera around so much please? Particularly when you're looking down into the top of a box it would be good to hold still so we can see, but I find the jiggling any time to be a problem with my tendency to motion sickness and vertigo. Thank you!
Will you check in 31 days so the virgin queen isn't disturbed during her mating flights or will you look sooner. Eyeing your migratory top covers going to make a bunch for pail feeding in fall. Thanks again Johnny
john warner I normally give enough time for the cell to hatch and when I have confirmed that the cell hatched i give it another 2 weeks before checking for eggs.
I tend not to worry about ants too much. I have heard, though, that cinnamon is a good deterrent. Maybe sprinkle some around where the cinder blocks meet the ground?
Cinnamon tends to wash away with some hard rains. You can try a product called tanglefoot to create a sticky barrier on your cinder blocks. Its used in orchards to keep insects from climbing up trees. Good luck!
I got 4 bowls and I set a drinking glass in it and then I set two 4x4 treated lumber on it and then the hive body on top of it. make sure that the bowel does not tough the 4x4 and make sure there is about 1 inch or better space between bowel and glass and the 4x4. I fill the bowl with used cooking oil. The ants will not gross that oil. Some bees and other bugs will drown in it. I live on ant hill. I tried cinnamon and the bees went absurd and reacted very bad with it and if it would had not been at night i am sure that the bees would have had left the hive.
If you're not a proficient wood worker I'd suggest buying boxes in bulk for at least your first several hives so that those bees have nice tight sealed quarters. Building a box seems so simple until you start stacking them on top of each other and one is tweaked one way and the other the opposite. Poorly sealed hives are stressful on bees especially on new colonies with low numbers.
Hello, what are your black frames called and can you buy them in the UK? I've just bought my first hide this year and have bought frames with wax foundation
eBay international is probably your friend here, although idk if they'd be allowed to send them pre-waxed or if quarantine would object to that. I've only seen them in full size though. :-(
Why would they hinder their own build up unless man moved frames around and disrupted the harmony of the hive, they build comb in a specific pattern and direction and when frames are moved randomly within the hive they will be disrupted, you moved a frame from the inside to the outside, that will disrupt the hive and hinder build up
There was certainly nothing random or against the bees' natural inclinations in the way I moved these frames around. If you move frames without a plan, and completely against the bee's plans, like moving brood outside of a honey frame, or checkering in too many frames, then I agree. I disagree that checkering frames hinders buildup though, especially if you're getting them started on brand new frames.
Carl Merkey I have all types of frames but this offseason we bought 2,000 black acorn frames. No real reason. They come double waxed so that's a plus, also not having to construct anything is a benefit.
Plastic frames are the worst things to use in a hive. Bees don't like them. At best use two as dummy boards at each end. Wooden frame with wax foundation is the best.
MotionArtist3D thanks but I respectfully disagree. Bees in the mood to draw comb will draw it just about anywhere and a well waxed plastic frame has worked just as well as anything else for me. Plus there's the simplicity factor, which, isn't null in my opinion.
I work with a beekeeper with over 35 years of beekeeping and when these plastic frames came out for sale he enthusiastically bought over 500 thinking they'll save lot of time. Today he does not even use one, not even as a 'dummy board' and he won't recommend them to anyone. But I am glad to know they work for you. Happy Beekeeping!
Mine despise the plasticrap foundation, I had a hive just say no and stop drawing comb when all they had left was the plasticrap. I had was 3 different styles, all were pre waxxed. They had built all of the foundation-less frames I had offered after I found out how bad they despise the stuff. They will start drawing a small spot on occasion and quit. Two hives with queens waiting for the bees to draw something that I had to do something else with. I took the plasticrap and added wax to them to get them to wake up and then they went hammer down. They will draw like mad on empty frames and refuse to touch the plasticrap. You are absolutely the first person to say its not worse. Everyone else I know is having the exact same problem I am, the idea that you can spray them with sugar water to get them to draw is bogus, adding wax is the only way to go if you are going to use it. The best use for plasticrap is getting the bees to keep the empties they draw straight and in line. As far as the plastic frames, great spot with the deep slots in the frames for high capacity beetle motels.
If you look at my earlier videos, I cited the bending/warping and the crevices for beetles as my reasoning to why I chose wood frames. After I got more than 150 or so hives, it became clear that there was great value to simplicity. So, I purchase only one thing, pallets of double waxed, black plastic frames. I agree, they'd rather draw comb on their own, in freeform, but have done enough side by side comparisons to say that if there is any difference in the rate at which they build up, it is small and does not out-weigh the simplicity benefit.
Time will tell with my bees but the extra wax has helped so far. Maybe you have bees that are more tolerant, mine hate them so much its a pain in my rear because at least with foundation I don't have to worry about the new comb hitting the ground. That stinks. :)
Du darfst Bienen nicht als dein Lebensunterhalt versklaven, das sind von Natur aus heilige Tiere... Bitte nicht stressen.... please.. Bienen leben normalerweise frei im Wald. :((( dann habe ich lieber keinen Honig. ❤
It still amazes me, that in this day and age how much hate and discontent there is! If you ask 5 beekeepers a question you will get 7 different answers. If you folks have nothing nice to say then keep it to yourself. No one wants your blather.
This is a great Video with great information! Thanks for posting it!!!
It’s obvious that plastic foundations are working here, his bees look great. If your plastic frames are not working, consider that maybe you’re doing something wrong. Plastic may not be the answer for some it may make all the difference for others. Don’t hate just because you don’t like it. Get a grip.
Thanks again bearded bee dude for a great Video! Keep doing what your doing!
Perfect.
Haters gonna hate! Keep making great videos B&K Bees
You just cannot please everyone. You will get negative people in the world that knows little and want to get involve in business they know little about.
I just started this business. I listen to those that are on the same track as me, I continually do my research and practice what I think it is practical for my own development to suit my business though some may not agree. But! In all endeavors they are standardize procedures when involved in some business
Hi B&K, Is there a benefit to migratory covers vs telescoping covers? I saw n this video you have both styles. Thank you!
@@AskTheCarExperts I saw your question hanging out there with no answer. Migratory covers are mainly used to stack hives for transportation. They are cheaper and easier to make but an inner cover and and a lid is the way to go for backyard guys.
Thanks for all you do to help us new beeks! Very appreciative!
Just binged a few of your videos. Love the content and subbed. This is my first year with my own colony and we had an unusually cold, wet spring. We started with brand new frames and they haven't been building very fast. I like the idea of checkering in undrawn frames in the busy frames to encourage building. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
You have a beautiful bee yard sir ! Thanks for sharing your knowledge !
You are super helpful. Thankyou for sharing your knowledge. Blessings
Thank you for your experience and suggestions!
Nice video! Hope you have a great summer and your bees do well!
I like your videos and they have been a big help. So thank you. I need advice on getting my frames drawn out. I got all my 6 colonies the the winter and they built up good this spring. I had couple that were slower but they are building good now. I am using single brood management. I had 4 out of 6 that had 6 plus frames of brood and bees so I add the second box. They built up to 3 and 4 frames of brood in the second box. Then I noticed they were back filling the brood with nectar so I added a medium super and an excluder after shaking all the bees into the bottom box. Because I just started last summer I didn't have any drawn comb. They are not drawing the super out and we are in a good flow. Should I take the super off for a while or rotate it with the top box. I don't want to feed because these were supposed to be my honey producers this year.
Thanks for the videos!!! I really enjoy them!! Keep up the great work, I sure have learned alot from you!
Great Video Brett. As we are physically not too far from one another - I would like to see your apiary one day, and compare notes on overwintering bees. Taker easy. (BTW - No Veil, No Gloves, No Smoker - man you got bigger nads than I have)
he had a smoker though
Brand new bee keeper here; I have one swarm and it has been doing well. Good queen, brood pattern, etc. I have been feeding sugar water for about 2 months. Frames are about 60% full. How long should I feed them? What is my next step. Thanks
Thanks for the knowledge man
I have one totally empty, brand new hive. My son has a thriving hive several miles away. If I take a few frames (with eggs, food, and couple hundred of his bees) from his hive and put them in mine, would that work to populate my hive? I'm unaware of any other bees in my close area; if I have a virgin queen, how close does she have to be to other bees to find a drone and mate? Thanks for your help.
Great advice!!
another well-done video.....thank you!
Thanks for the video. Bee waiting on the next one.
Thanks for the video
so cool there is a bee trying to remove a piece of grass or something at 2 minute mark.
I have harvested a small swarm of bee that took 5 framesi. I find they are not building the comb fast enough, no nectar, I do not see pollen, just a few covered cells, brood is it? I am going to feed them to see if they will build up the comb faster, cause it is building up, but for a week for me it takes too long. What you think? Can i.get someone advice on what to do?
I have a spitt hive thays been around for a few months with a young queen, but the colony keeps decreasing in numbers any advice?
Really helpful video, thanks for posting.
Thanks for the info as always ✅😁👍👍🏴☠️🏴☠️
So helpful! Thank you!
How long does a queenlesd hive take to have a laying worker situation?
Thnx! Great video!
Agree great information!
I have a question, this is my first yr beekeeping and I don't have a "mentor"- only my semi-local bee supply store (2 hrs away) for questions. I checked my bees yesterday- one hive was packaged bees, and one hive I got a month later as a NUC. The NUC hive is doing great- lots of bees, honey, brood... etc, but the packaged beehive is very small. I saw a queen in it, and there are eggs and larva, but they are maybe 3 frames starting to get drawn out? Like, the frames aren't really drawn out anywhere but where they have bee larva developing. I have been feeding them both sugar syrup and a pollen patty- both of which they are eating. I guess the thing that worries me most is that when I checked the packaged bees, there are a bunch of queen cells build in the middle of the frames... one was closed and the other 3 weren't closed yet but there was definitely white milky stuff in the bottom (royal jelly?). This confuses me because there is LOTS of room in the box still, there aren't too many bees and there is plenty of food... any advice or thoughts would be helpful!
Sometimes package bees don't like their queen. Your queen sounds like a dud and they are trying to replace her. If I were you I would take a brood and bee covered frame from your nicer hive and give it to the weaker one, and seek out a new queen to install in the weaker one after the transplant of the brood/bee frame.
@@BKBees Thank you! I switched a frame of brood to the weak hive. :)
After you added a frame with open brood, are checking back in ten days or later;
Why do u use migratory covers instead of telescoping covers?
A sign they aren't queen-right is the loud buzzing of the entire hive which you can clearly hear in this video. A hive that is queen-right will be nearly silent.
put a frame of eggs and larvae and from another hive .They will make their queen
Yes I'm in the south and I can't find anything that will get rid of sugar Ants and have tried several things including boric acid and sugar please do you have any information that could help
I don't worry about them, so, I don't have a good method, sorry.
One of my hives was torn apart and cleaned out by a bear 9 days ago. I put them all back together because there were lots of bees still on one or two frames. I just went back in 2 days ago and I have only 1 frame that has some capped brood and larva. Can I assume that the queen lived and will they have time to catch up this year?
Susan Mitchell I would be looking for her, or for eggs. If there areno eggs I would look for a queen for sale or try to get another brood frame from another hive.
That was a great video that went straight to the issue . Thank you from the Blue Mountains outside Sydney Australia
Thanks, Roy!
This is my second year beekeeping, but my colony’s first year. I corrected a lot of the mistakes I made with my first colony that died out their first winter. My current colony went into winter with 12-14 frames of capped honey and good mite counts. They had 5-6 frames capped honey left when I opened them today. My question is should I feed the still with that amount of honey still in the hive? I am located in SW Michigan.
Brad, this is my issue more years than not, they just don't go through the food I expected them to and are still heavy. My answer to your question is yes, feed them communally, and in a few weeks when things are really warm and moving frames around is fine, you can pull out any obstructive honey frames and leave it out to get robbed or give it to a new hive or whatever you want to do with it.
Hey Brent....how do you treat Nozema...I’ve got one hive that’s pretty bad....I checked for a treatment...but could not find one....
You can't really treat for nosema anymore, as you can't really diagnose it anymore. Excess poop on and in the hive isn't a sign of nosema as it used to be, because nosema ceranae has taken over in the US and dysentery isn't a symptom of it. So, when I see what looks like digestive issues, I feed the colonies as soon as I can, clean thin syrup will help out quite a bit, and I don't propagate from those colonies.
If you're certain somehow that it is nosema, you can try to get some fumagilin b, but I think you need a vet to write a prescription for it now. Either way, my advice is to not worry about it, just feed them as soon as you can and make queens from your other hives this spring.
@@BKBees ...thank you Brett...I ordered that same antibiotic....but after I researched it....I came to the same conclusion that you stated....I’ve just never seen the whole front of a hive covered in poop...lol....
Great Job on your channel. I am learning. But it is August. Can i still feed them to buildup. I am central Ontario. Similar climate. Both hives are queen right but my two deeps are all they have filled. Plenty of honey below but nothing in the super added when the buildout was 80%. My concern is survival over winter. If i dont have enough bees to make it as neither of my hives are boiling over. If i feed them 1 to 1 is that converted to honey or comb. I am going natural including foundationless frames and they have done well but i am not sure when evetything slows down. Will check for eggs brood etc. Thanks
Yeah if you keep the sugar on them heavy, they will still draw out comb.
my bees are doing great. They have two boxes of honey that I will take this week, but the third box of frames are not being worked on. Any ideas why. I have checked them for two weeks now and nothing. Lots of bees on the frames, but not drawing anything out. Thinking once I extract and give them the boxes back, maybe they will just refill those. Should I drop that 3rd box down further to encourage them to work on it?
Yeah, you can consider putting that box directly above the brood nest. That will ensure more bees paying attention to it.
They're probably using the incoming nectar to fill up the other boxes.
thank you. I didnt want to upset the flow of things, but will try that to see if I can get another box of filled out wax to use, if not this year, next year. Thanks so much
HI mate, Im a new beekeeper, my 5 frame nuc went in only 3 weeks ago to a 8 frame box and now there is so much honey there is hardly any room for brood. Ive added another brood box and one frame of honey to the new box. Will the bees eat the rest of the honey in the lower box to create more room from the queen to lay? Or will the queen just move up the the higher box in due time? Much thanks Stu
Know it's 7 months since question.
You need to take out some of those lower honey frames (honey walls) and move them up into that added top box. Add drawn Comb into the spaces left in the lower box. The Queen won't lay when surrounded by a 'wall of honey' because their are no empty cells to lay in !
Bees will move that top honey back down if they need it, for future feeding etc.
With new installations feed 1:1 Syrup to get Wax Comb built up quickly for laying purposes !!!
Hope this helps ! 👍
Happy Beekeeping 2021 !!!
🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
I am a first year beekeeper. Got 2 hives and 2 packages of bees in late march. One hive is doing good, lots of brood, storing pollen & nectar. I allready had to requeen my 2nd hive about a month ago and they still seem like they are slow to build up. Is it because we are in a dearth right now? Do you think that they will start rebounding when the fall nectar flow starts? Am i wanting results too fast...? Thank you for any advice. I am feeding them 2:1 sugar syrup.
Just give 'em time. Some take longer than others for a whole bunch of different reasons. Feeding them is the right thing to do. You can also consider taking a brood frame from your booming hive and giving it to them, that'll speed up the rate at which they grow.
I installed 3 nucs on 4/13/2018. I recently added the second brood box and a super on one which was doing great. My question is should I continue to feed sugar water to these here in coastal Carolina, especially after adding the super? Warm regards, Ron
Nope, I stop feeding when the nectar becomes available, or they stop taking it, or they have built up their brood area. Since you have a super on, I'd pull the feeders off.
What brand are the frames you are using?
Do you like them
Acorn. Yes, we like them a lot.
my bee's come out of winter with a lot of honey left over , i have a deep bottom brood box that's almost full and another deep on top with 8 frames of honey ,should i pull the honey to keep them from becoming honey bound or should i leave it ?
Don't pull everything but I'd pull the surplus. Extract it and then you'll have that box for when the honey flow starts anew. Or save it until something needs food.
Had a couple of frames that I've stuck to the side and forgot about and lo and behold they got a queen and she bred and is now laying eggs. Was a very nice surprise but they're only on three frames two are brood one honey which is running out. honey flow is ending here so I'm going to have to feed them and give them pollen too, correct? I have two other hives 18 frame and 8 frame upon inspection last week notice there was no pollen in any other frames there either. Some people say feed some people say no but if I need more brood I'm going to need more pollen, I mean sugar water is easy to come by you can just make it but calling that's a different story.
Yeah, if there is no available pollen or nectar source and your bees don't have ample stores, feed 'em.
It's always awesome getting into a hive you thought was queenless to find a laying queen and some brood.
Lol sry suppose to say 10 frames not 18
For a female just getting bees next spring.. would u recommend one deep and two medium for brood or 3 medium for brood??????( im understand ill only have one box initially but im considering the big picture
I'd try to keep all of the brood frames the same size, so 3 mediums is my advice. It'll be a lot easier that way, you can trade frames between hives and brood boxes with no issues.
@@BKBees ok ty, that brings me to a new question. Nucs come in deep frames , how would i go about installing a nuc into a medium frame????
@@aprilbatley9265 That is a difficult task, unfortunately. Firstly, I'd recommend asking around to those nuc providers if they have any medium equipment they can sell a nuc in. Back when I used to sell nucs we always sold a few medium ones for just this occasion, so you might be able to find some.
Other than that, you're looking at the main reason why my whole operation is deeps and nothing but deeps. Deeps are the industry standard. So, you can go two deeps for your brood area, that's totally fine and would allow you to get nucs from wherever, or you can try to find yourself a package of bees. Packages can be installed into whatever type of cavity you choose.
If I was in your situation I'd buy a couple of packages and go the medium box route.
Wow, had to resub for this, no wonder I've not seen any notifications from you,.
Yeah, we're pretty busy.
Thanks for always being willing to help.
How often do you treat bees for mites?
Do you know a good source for oxalic acid crystals?
And if you have used it, how much would you use on a double deep brood chamber?
Thanks again.
Britany, I monitor and am prepared to treat every month.
I would recommend using a vaporizer for the oxalic acid and filling the box to the brim with vapor, regardless of the size of the colony.
I get my OA crystals from Mann Lake.
@@BKBees do you add moisture to the crystals or just heat up the vaporizer
I agree. For all around beekeeping plastic frames suck
I have a question..i am getting a package of bees in April and wondering the best size of brood box should I use when I install them?
There isn't a "best", necessarily, but if you're okay with lifting heavy things then I'd suggest going with 10 frame deeps. They're the industry standard and will allow you to exchange frames, and buy nucs and just be really versatile with the equipment you purchase and use. If you are weary of lifting heavy boxes, go with mediums.
When I make a split which hive should get the queen? New hive or established hive. Thanks for videos buddy. I’m in NC.
My go to answer here is to move the queen to a new location, the returning foragers will bolster the queenless half and the queenright half will continue production as normal.
Check out my video "How To Split Your Hive The Easy Way" for some more info on that subject. ruclips.net/video/hLbuBqfkZXw/видео.html
They used to call it simulating a Swarm. Now they call it splitting a Hive. When a Swarm occurs, the original queen leaves the hive. So when splitting the hive move the queen, then either let the hive make their own queen from the open brood or you can introduce a new queen that you buy or raise yourself.
I started my 10 frame nuc colony in mid May of this year and things are really slow the bees are not making much comb I have 2 bottom boxes and probably 8 of the frames have comb drawn out of them is there something that I could have done wrong in the process of setting up this colony?
Have them in a smaller overall space and make sure they have food. If the nectar isn't coming in, feed em.
Also I did a hive inspection a few days ago and I didn’t notice any new eggs, could the queen have died or swarmed off? If so what is the next step I could do, I haven’t been able to find the queen since I first installed the hive back in May.
I bought a Queen 4 days ago has not came out yet do I need to help her out or just wait a little more
You can open the cage and release her if you want.
What's the measurements to build a eight frame box
Where do you get those black plastic frames? I see the black foundation, but never seen the plastic frames.
Lots of places sell all plastic black frames, but, I get mine from Acorn. The reason is they sell double waxed frames that are just about perfect.
Mann Lake sells plastic frames.
what about just feeding if you have a queen right brood nest?
That'll definitely get 'em going. Just be sure you're not overfeeding so they don't clog the brood nest.
I just purchased an nuc and just getting into bees I put the frames in new box and was looking for the queen that was supposed to be in there marked but did not see her but did she what looks to be a superceed cell,should I be concerned or just let it go?
Steve Shellhammer I would talk to your nuc provider about that but regardless of what he/she says I would leave the cell and let them continue doing what they are doing.
B&K Bees will do thanks
I'm having a situation were my bees are boarding outside the box. Is the heat a big problem for them
Duane Cato bees have a really great ability to regulate heat but it does take workforce and energy. Open the entrance up as wide as it will go and consider trying to add other ventilation help like a top entrance or propping up the telescoping cover.
Thanks man I'll work on it
Already seen some comments about plastic frames and foundation. I agree plastic anything does something to bees. Go natural material. Happier bees.
So, you can just take a tray with eggs and stick it in a queenless box and they will raise a queen?
ShinkleGunDog yep.
Man that is easier than buying a queen.
It's worth noting that you lose a good few weeks doing that vs buying a queen
ShinkleGunDog might want to do a couple like that because there's always a chance she won't come back. You want to wait 2 or 3 weeks waiting for a mated Queen to come back that may never come back. So do at least two nucleus hives if you can
@@ShinkleGunDog buying a queen is for not to loose about 18 days.Honey bees have a short life time they grow an operating queen about 18 days and if your hive weak it can collaps or cannot produce honey
You can tell from the movement of the bees on every frame that they aren't queenright
Can you explain more about the movement differences please?
Pete F the bees move very differently in a queenright colony. It seems more purposeful and less flighty or nervous. I guess queenless bees are agitated by the fact. They roar too that was not so easy to tell in the video if they were. A bang on the box will tell You, queenright they buzz and stop, queenless they hold the increased volume for longer.
@@886014 If you ever catch a swarm and you dont put a queen in it you will see. They clap with wings different when there's a queen
my queen was catch in the honey super the 3 brood boxes below her are full of nectar and pollen ,what should Ido?
Patrick Pool put the queen and whatever brood you have in a box or boxes below the excluder. Make sure to remove all of the honey from the brood area.
should I leave frames on end with honey and pollen
thanks for the info,
Got my bees bout 4 weeks late ....had them 12 days now ..I was promised 5 frame nucs ...ended up with 4 frames in two hives ..the first frame on either side is just now filling out ...does this sound normal ..i am concerned about getting my hive large enough to survive the Montana winter ..thanks for your help
My nuc was late too and then I had to find out that it was queenless....what a mess.
Feed them sugar water and if needed pollen substitute and treat them for mites.
If there is no nectar, the queen will slow down with laying eggs, also the comb building will stop. Besides if there is a honey flow, the bees will rather gather the nectar and stop using sugar water.
If there's eggs in the frame, that means the queen is present?
Not necessarily. If there are single eggs in the center of each cell, yes, that means there's a queen. If there are lots of eggs laid haphazardly, on the walls of the cell and sometimes 2 - 4 eggs per cell, that is a sign of laying workers.
Cheers Brett
Nice hat and shirt!
Heck yes. Most of my clothing is Detroit sports.
Do you ever use Apivar strips?
Nope. Never have.
Nice informative vids, but can you work on not moving the camera around so much please? Particularly when you're looking down into the top of a box it would be good to hold still so we can see, but I find the jiggling any time to be a problem with my tendency to motion sickness and vertigo. Thank you!
Will you check in 31 days so the virgin queen isn't disturbed during her mating flights or will you look sooner. Eyeing your migratory top covers going to make a bunch for pail feeding in fall. Thanks again Johnny
john warner I normally give enough time for the cell to hatch and when I have confirmed that the cell hatched i give it another 2 weeks before checking for eggs.
Looks like the queen cell is at 4:03 of video in front of the right stone directly behind hive ur working
That's just some burr comb.
I'm a new beekeeper I have my hive on cinder blocks, I have really bad ants it's a brade new hive any suggestions? Thx
I tend not to worry about ants too much. I have heard, though, that cinnamon is a good deterrent. Maybe sprinkle some around where the cinder blocks meet the ground?
Cinnamon tends to wash away with some hard rains. You can try a product called tanglefoot to create a sticky barrier on your cinder blocks. Its used in orchards to keep insects from climbing up trees. Good luck!
Brendan Nichols Sticky barriers will stick bees as well.
I got 4 bowls and I set a drinking glass in it and then I set two 4x4 treated lumber on it and then the hive body on top of it. make sure that the bowel does not tough the 4x4 and make sure there is about 1 inch or better space between bowel and glass and the 4x4. I fill the bowl with used cooking oil. The ants will not gross that oil.
Some bees and other bugs will drown in it.
I live on ant hill. I tried cinnamon and the bees went absurd and reacted very bad with it and if it would had not been at night i am sure that the bees would have had left the hive.
Thanks
I am in Oklahoma
Why aren’t you wearing a bee keeper suit?
Where are you located?
West Michigan. Newaygo County.
Christian Nixon Oklahoma
You may have covered in a different video, but are these homemade hives, and do you have plans somewhere for how to build them?
Strive4impact a local Amish guy builds most of my stuff. Sorry I don't have the plans.
Sky Pup thank you!
If you're not a proficient wood worker I'd suggest buying boxes in bulk for at least your first several hives so that those bees have nice tight sealed quarters. Building a box seems so simple until you start stacking them on top of each other and one is tweaked one way and the other the opposite. Poorly sealed hives are stressful on bees especially on new colonies with low numbers.
Bees will seal cracks in no time.
Hello, what are your black frames called and can you buy them in the UK?
I've just bought my first hide this year and have bought frames with wax foundation
Craig Lancaster I'm not sure if you can get them there. They are called Acorn One Piece frames.
eBay international is probably your friend here, although idk if they'd be allowed to send them pre-waxed or if quarantine would object to that. I've only seen them in full size though. :-(
Why would they hinder their own build up unless man moved frames around and disrupted the harmony of the hive, they build comb in a specific pattern and direction and when frames are moved randomly within the hive they will be disrupted, you moved a frame from the inside to the outside, that will disrupt the hive and hinder build up
There was certainly nothing random or against the bees' natural inclinations in the way I moved these frames around. If you move frames without a plan, and completely against the bee's plans, like moving brood outside of a honey frame, or checkering in too many frames, then I agree. I disagree that checkering frames hinders buildup though, especially if you're getting them started on brand new frames.
Omg! Do you have laying workers? That would be unfortunate
I know a sign of your workers laying will be more then one egg in a cell and all the brood will be drone.
I was told bees don't like to work with plastic. Try swapping them out with wood.
sergei z I have 1000s of wood frames and don't see much of a difference if the plastic is all heavily waxed. Thanks, though!
Lol
B&K Bees start them in a five frame nuc first
I see in your videos now for awhile you have all dark frames is there a reason? Carl from Michigan Thanks
Carl Merkey I have all types of frames but this offseason we bought 2,000 black acorn frames. No real reason. They come double waxed so that's a plus, also not having to construct anything is a benefit.
Plastic frames are the worst things to use in a hive. Bees don't like them. At best use two as dummy boards at each end. Wooden frame with wax foundation is the best.
MotionArtist3D thanks but I respectfully disagree. Bees in the mood to draw comb will draw it just about anywhere and a well waxed plastic frame has worked just as well as anything else for me. Plus there's the simplicity factor, which, isn't null in my opinion.
I work with a beekeeper with over 35 years of beekeeping and when these plastic frames came out for sale he enthusiastically bought over 500 thinking they'll save lot of time. Today he does not even use one, not even as a 'dummy board' and he won't recommend them to anyone. But I am glad to know they work for you. Happy Beekeeping!
Mine despise the plasticrap foundation, I had a hive just say no and stop drawing comb when all they had left was the plasticrap. I had was 3 different styles, all were pre waxxed. They had built all of the foundation-less frames I had offered after I found out how bad they despise the stuff. They will start drawing a small spot on occasion and quit. Two hives with queens waiting for the bees to draw something that I had to do something else with. I took the plasticrap and added wax to them to get them to wake up and then they went hammer down. They will draw like mad on empty frames and refuse to touch the plasticrap. You are absolutely the first person to say its not worse. Everyone else I know is having the exact same problem I am, the idea that you can spray them with sugar water to get them to draw is bogus, adding wax is the only way to go if you are going to use it. The best use for plasticrap is getting the bees to keep the empties they draw straight and in line.
As far as the plastic frames, great spot with the deep slots in the frames for high capacity beetle motels.
If you look at my earlier videos, I cited the bending/warping and the crevices for beetles as my reasoning to why I chose wood frames. After I got more than 150 or so hives, it became clear that there was great value to simplicity. So, I purchase only one thing, pallets of double waxed, black plastic frames. I agree, they'd rather draw comb on their own, in freeform, but have done enough side by side comparisons to say that if there is any difference in the rate at which they build up, it is small and does not out-weigh the simplicity benefit.
Time will tell with my bees but the extra wax has helped so far. Maybe you have bees that are more tolerant, mine hate them so much its a pain in my rear because at least with foundation I don't have to worry about the new comb hitting the ground. That stinks. :)
Get rid of the plastic frames the bees don’t like them at all!
Du darfst Bienen nicht als dein Lebensunterhalt versklaven, das sind von Natur aus heilige Tiere... Bitte nicht stressen.... please.. Bienen leben normalerweise frei im Wald. :((( dann habe ich lieber keinen Honig. ❤
Plastic frame 🤔 wackness
osiris f your life wack
Good information ty