Thanks for another great episode of turning flowers into cash lol. I truly appreciate every episode. I'm right in the middle of clover and soybeans are late so they are just starting here in central Illinois USA
That balance of how many hives I want to manage and how much I want to pour into capital has been the major question of the year! Hearing that you have to work through those same questions and scaling is encouraging. Same problem different scale.
Ian another great video. I grow four acres of wildflowers in my main bee yard. It blooms all year round and the bees always have great forage available to them.
Hi, Ian. As you know I find your discussions of the business aspects of your operation fascinating. As beekeepers we get all wrapped up in the particulates of beekeeping. As a business person I am reminded that, at a higher level, you faces the same kind of issues and considerations as any other business. Resources, investment vs profit, etc etc. At the same time it is clearly more than just business for you, with you love for and excitement about bees and beekeeping and your desire to offset the decline of a diverse environment. Thanks for sharing a different perspective. Stu
I absolutly just love your passion! I do agree about that one need to do those small things to help wildlife, and in the extension, one help oneself that way. I sow a lot of different flowers to help out, phacelia, buckweat, canola, clover, lucern, sunflower, sallows, orpine, mint, willowherb, and I plant berrybushes alongside the fields, also hazel, linden, Maple, chestnut, fruittrees etc. All wildlife benefit from this. Keep up the good job! Thanks for all inspiration! Lot's of love from Sweden!
I enjoy your simple approach to using land for something instead of just leaving it bare. If more people would do the same no matter how large or small I think it would be a huge surprise.
Excellent job with the pollinator crop. I’ve never been so aware of what’s in bloom and what different plants are then since I’ve had bees. They’ve made a difference in the wildflower population around our farm... and now I’m trying to introduce more for the bees like you’re doing!
I feel you with the damn deer. I have one that thinks my garden is its own personal buffet. I watched the trailcam footage of it walking down a row, eating the heads off the okra seedlings, then moving to another bed and eating the squash starts. Better fence is coming, though. Your girls are busy as, well, bees. Can't wait to see the harvest.
We have a pollinator space project in my state that puts flowering plants in the highway medians and cloverleafs instead of mowing them. It's pretty small scale right now but there is a lot of land that is using state resources to maintain when it could be producing with only the cost of planting.
What I found frustrating was taking a load of boxes to a miles away bee yard and not having enough. It's sometimes hard to predict what the honey flow will be from year to year.
A box of brand new frames, by end of the season, will be a box of partially drawn frames if you stick it on top. Box of empty drawn comb will be a box of honey thru the spring flow, and another box of honey on the later flow. I think the biggest mistake a lot of folks make, they count colonies in the spring to try predict honey crop. I count how many boxes of empty comb we have to go above excluders, that's a better indicator of where the honey numbers will end up by end of the season....
Which is why I'm stocking up. I run too many with too little but can extract quickly and replace supers for refills. Have hives working on 6th and 7th medium supers. It's a juggling act
Grew Phacelia here for the hives. Bees and other pollinators are all over it. I remember your "clover clover clover" rant last year. Small things matter.
looks like your having another good year. Here in North Carolina I'm getting less than half the honey I get every year. I pull on the 4th but now will wait till the end of the Month.
Not sure what you mean, I use sugar syrup in the fall and add sugar on top in the winter every year. Sometimes I add some syrup in Feb to make sure they have food.
We grow phacillia too...in this year we have 30 hectares of this plants... and will look how much honey we will have)))... and I want to tell you,Ian- Thank you for sharing your videos!!!I watch all... and all is helpful!!! Thank you,Ian!!!So much!!!
I need better yard I got top notch fall flow,but spring flows by the time they get honey frames full the flow starts tapering off and then u better be quick or they'll eat it cause dearth hits right behind full frames,my bees aren't the best at clearing the Broodnest either, they hoard alot
If the bee's work harder when they think they have no honey wouldn't it be better to take the honey off instead of stacking boxes on top. If you just had one or two on top at a time the box shortage would be solved and they would provide more honey.
Yes, but other factors are involved Space space space helps decrease the swarm impulse. Also the volumes that come in between hives is different, so we stack to have the honey cure together
@@carriemartindale-wetherup5243 thatd amazing I couldnt imagine how busy this keeps everyone I have 7 atm and plan on 300 over 3 farms over next 5 years
Ian I notice while you are explaining procedures you often have gloves on and then bare hands when working the bees. Every professional beekeeper I have talked has said don’t wear gloves so I assume you are the same. Bee stings to the hands are not painful or seldom happen I am guessing, but the bees do seem to want to land on my hands!. Yet another of those rites of passage.
I use nitrile gloves. I don't get all slimy with propolis and just throw them away. Yes I can get stung through the gloves but the bees don't like the plastic feel/taste.
Oh I don’t follow that philosophy, I wear gloves all the time. Right of passage my ass, life is too short to get stung all day long, I wear work gloves while fixing machinery, wear chemical gloves while mixing chemicals, wear gloves when feeding cows at -35C, wear a baseball glove while playing catch, I wear gloves working bees
People dont wear gloves on video to show expertise in handling bees and thats fine, but they do wear them in all other occasions because you just work faster when you dont mind your hands so much. Also different genetics of bees in different countries switch their aggression depending on incoming weather, noise, queen health, room for brood and honey etc.
@@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog lol, that is funny, very good point; if one has 1-2 hives, that can move at as slow as they want to be able to afford not to get stung constant, but anything else than that, wearing gloves insure you move at ta lightning speed thru your hives and get the job done; nicely put on your part.
Thanks for another great episode of turning flowers into cash lol.
I truly appreciate every episode.
I'm right in the middle of clover and soybeans are late so they are just starting here in central Illinois USA
Every morning when you wake up thank God for those fields of gold you are blessed with. You are the envy of every bee keeper watching this.
I hear many beekeepers call this “utility” honey
@@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog I don't know about them, but I would do a jig if I ever got five deeps of "utility Honey" :)
That balance of how many hives I want to manage and how much I want to pour into capital has been the major question of the year! Hearing that you have to work through those same questions and scaling is encouraging. Same problem different scale.
You are so helpful to me. We are usually 2 weeks behind you so I am able to keep up with our growing apiary by watching your videos.👍👍 Thanks so much.
Ian another great video. I grow four acres of wildflowers in my main bee yard. It blooms all year round and the bees always have great forage available to them.
Hi, Ian. As you know I find your discussions of the business aspects of your operation fascinating. As beekeepers we get all wrapped up in the particulates of beekeeping. As a business person I am reminded that, at a higher level, you faces the same kind of issues and considerations as any other business. Resources, investment vs profit, etc etc. At the same time it is clearly more than just business for you, with you love for and excitement about bees and beekeeping and your desire to offset the decline of a diverse environment. Thanks for sharing a different perspective. Stu
I absolutly just love your passion! I do agree about that one need to do those small things to help wildlife, and in the extension, one help oneself that way. I sow a lot of different flowers to help out, phacelia, buckweat, canola, clover, lucern, sunflower, sallows, orpine, mint, willowherb, and I plant berrybushes alongside the fields, also hazel, linden, Maple, chestnut, fruittrees etc. All wildlife benefit from this.
Keep up the good job! Thanks for all inspiration! Lot's of love from Sweden!
I enjoy your simple approach to using land for something instead of just leaving it bare. If more people would do the same no matter how large or small I think it would be a huge surprise.
Excellent job with the pollinator crop. I’ve never been so aware of what’s in bloom and what different plants are then since I’ve had bees. They’ve made a difference in the wildflower population around our farm... and now I’m trying to introduce more for the bees like you’re doing!
Its nice how fast they are filling thoes boxes
I feel you with the damn deer. I have one that thinks my garden is its own personal buffet. I watched the trailcam footage of it walking down a row, eating the heads off the okra seedlings, then moving to another bed and eating the squash starts. Better fence is coming, though.
Your girls are busy as, well, bees. Can't wait to see the harvest.
"Every beekeepers most precious resources besides his bees is his honey boxes!!!! Yes sir for sure!!!
Just bought 50 supers. Seems like not a lot but when filled is almost a ton of honey. expanding without trying.
The deer always get my sunflowers heads too... doh! Nice honey flow on Ian!
Thank you for sharing the wisdom!!!
We have a pollinator space project in my state that puts flowering plants in the highway medians and cloverleafs instead of mowing them. It's pretty small scale right now but there is a lot of land that is using state resources to maintain when it could be producing with only the cost of planting.
I would still like a episode of your employees training and how you hire.
What I found frustrating was taking a load of boxes to a miles away bee yard and not having enough. It's sometimes hard to predict what the honey flow will be from year to year.
In the UK we have pollination highways that are only cut twice a year.
A box of brand new frames, by end of the season, will be a box of partially drawn frames if you stick it on top. Box of empty drawn comb will be a box of honey thru the spring flow, and another box of honey on the later flow.
I think the biggest mistake a lot of folks make, they count colonies in the spring to try predict honey crop. I count how many boxes of empty comb we have to go above excluders, that's a better indicator of where the honey numbers will end up by end of the season....
Which is why I'm stocking up.
I run too many with too little but can extract quickly and replace supers for refills. Have hives working on 6th and 7th medium supers. It's a juggling act
It is fairly amazing. Mid winter losses. Were do I store this equipment? Mid summer expansion. I need more boxes!
Tomatoes love them some water and they have flowers for bees and fruit /veggie for your family
Grew Phacelia here for the hives. Bees and other pollinators are all over it. I remember your "clover clover clover" rant last year. Small things matter.
and individual efforts add up, this is something we can actually do to help
Thanks for your teaching.
thanks for sharing can not wait till i get this point just added my second box
looks like your having another good year. Here in North Carolina I'm getting less than half the honey I get every year. I pull on the 4th but now will wait till the end of the Month.
Use syrup like he and you will have each yr very good 😉
One week at a time
Not sure what you mean, I use sugar syrup in the fall and add sugar on top in the winter every year. Sometimes I add some syrup in Feb to make sure they have food.
Camp Davidson feed syrup in the spring and stop when you put honey supers on. They can feed and build up at night and in bad weather.
@@larrytornetta9764 I would be worried feeding in the spring the sugar water would make it into the honey supers. That would be a mess
Ian on your video on the wet spots you plant canola ,sunflower and what is the other here on the east coast I don't think we grow it
Phacillia
We grow phacillia too...in this year we have 30 hectares of this plants... and will look how much honey we will have)))... and I want to tell you,Ian- Thank you for sharing your videos!!!I watch all... and all is helpful!!! Thank you,Ian!!!So much!!!
Great work i hope that i can visit you
I need better yard I got top notch fall flow,but spring flows by the time they get honey frames full the flow starts tapering off and then u better be quick or they'll eat it cause dearth hits right behind full frames,my bees aren't the best at clearing the Broodnest either, they hoard alot
Follow the flow,
“
Follow the flow, grasshopper”
@@paulchristu996 lol I gotta take what I can get, prepping for the fall Flows coming now though..I'm too busy to be very mobile
Random question Ian; do you ever directly treat for nosema (such as fum-B)?
Not anymore
Did you say you have 1500 hives? And you farm? Do you do it alone ? 😮
Deer? Bullets? 🤣 Hey Ian, you probably addressed this long ago but why no entrance holes in supers?
Only one exit for my girls
Are your boxes made from pine or ceder? Cheers from England
Pine
@@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog thank you Ian, much appreciated mate.
Wax coated?
Apparently in my country there is no nectar. Im straight jelaous seeing those honey boxes 😂
And that is the second year in the row my friend
When you say you can do 500 hive a week is that 500 colonies or honey supers
Colonies, 275-300 boxes extracted per day
@@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog thank you
If the bee's work harder when they think they have no honey wouldn't it be better to take the honey off instead of stacking boxes on top. If you just had one or two on top at a time the box shortage would be solved and they would provide more honey.
Yes, but other factors are involved
Space space space helps decrease the swarm impulse. Also the volumes that come in between hives is different, so we stack to have the honey cure together
1500 hives!!! How many people you have working for you?
5-6 workers
@@carriemartindale-wetherup5243 thatd amazing I couldnt imagine how busy this keeps everyone I have 7 atm and plan on 300 over 3 farms over next 5 years
I thought I had my hands full dealing
with three hives...
"requires a little bit more box inventory" HAHA
Ian, What is the name of the flower that you planted?
Phacillia
Ian I notice while you are explaining procedures you often have gloves on and then bare hands when working the bees. Every professional beekeeper I have talked has said don’t wear gloves so I assume you are the same. Bee stings to the hands are not painful or seldom happen I am guessing, but the bees do seem to want to land on my hands!. Yet another of those rites of passage.
I use nitrile gloves. I don't get all slimy with propolis and just throw them away. Yes I can get stung through the gloves but the bees don't like the plastic feel/taste.
Oh I don’t follow that philosophy, I wear gloves all the time. Right of passage my ass, life is too short to get stung all day long,
I wear work gloves while fixing machinery, wear chemical gloves while mixing chemicals, wear gloves when feeding cows at -35C, wear a baseball glove while playing catch,
I wear gloves working bees
Thanks I feel better about that information.
People dont wear gloves on video to show expertise in handling bees and thats fine, but they do wear them in all other occasions because you just work faster when you dont mind your hands so much. Also different genetics of bees in different countries switch their aggression depending on incoming weather, noise, queen health, room for brood and honey etc.
@@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog lol, that is funny, very good point; if one has 1-2 hives, that can move at as slow as they want to be able to afford not to get stung constant, but anything else than that, wearing gloves insure you move at ta lightning speed thru your hives and get the job done; nicely put on your part.
Why do you have your hives right up next to each other
They are on pallets
Thanks now I can look it up
I planted an acre of sunflowers and the deer have eaten the tops of every plant.
8:56 the hive so strong look the door haha a lot bees, they not going swarm? lol forget me Ian haha
Maybe, but they are working
It’s also 29degreesC hot humid
@@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog great
Put dehumidifiers in your honey house and you can pull some uncapped honey.
Yes, but then the boxes are tied up waiting when they could be filling
Here we are able to wait
You know if you get the rifle you can eliminate some of that sunflower eating not much but some
Who builds 1300 boxes?
www.lewisandsons.ca
"im gonna get some value out of this wet spot"... and thats how life happens kids.
🤩
Just let me know your rate and I'll come work on your deer problem for you.
👍
Tomatoes seeds will soak up all that water
👌💯🐝🐝🐝🐝
Flower Power in 2020