"Whittling swarm cells." Making splits using swarm cells
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- Опубликовано: 15 сен 2024
- www.studiobeeproductions.com
For the past week, Good Time Charlie, along with the help of Steve Harmon from Virginia, and Garry Atkins from Oklahoma on two of those days, have been splitting our hives to prevent them from swarming.
There were several ways we went about doing our splits, and on this video I will highlight my favorite method, "whittling swarm cells." That is, using the swarm cells that are present in the hive, and adding those cells to the box that is now queen less.
I coined the phrase "whittling swarm cells" because of the method I use to detach the cell from a frame, and then using the piece of wood that the cell is attached to, embedding that and the cell into the wax that is on the frame. By the time I am finished it looks just like a superseding cell.
Then, on next weeks video I will show and talk about the other methods I use to split our hives. God's peace to all. Mr. Ed
I never realized how much you have to know about bees, You are just amazing!
Wow that queenless hive is incredible and very active to establish emergency cells, perhaps making the better honey. Loving the education. Keep up the excellent work. God bless from Ireland.
Folks don't realize, sometimes the "Old Ways" are still the best !
Nice job filleting those queen cells. I didn't see any bones! 🤣
Up in Folsom...all I could hear in my head is "I Hear The Train A-Comin'; It's Rollin' 'Round The Bend,". LOL....
Neat stuff. Don't understand some of it, but neat stuff.
Thanks. Learned so much from this video
You are very welcome, and I'm delighted to have shared the info. Thanks for watching, and I hope you will check out more of my bee wrangling/ bee rescues adventures and let me know what you think of them. By the way, I post a new video every Friday morning, and I look forward to hearing from you again soon. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
It is amazing how many cells you got from one box. Really like the way you used the knife to remove the cells with a small amount of wood as to not damage the cells. Good trick of the trade. Thanks for all the information. God bless.
The Victorinox fillet knife was on sale at Woot for $15 a couple weeks ago (normally $35-$40). If my Dad (former butcher) saw you cutting wood with it though, you might give him a stroke.
Great show.
Morning from Texas Mr. Ed.
This video is unbelievably good, definitely my favorite video so far. While you were going through the bees, you gave away information, which I loved. I believe that it is a very good thing to make content on RUclips to teach people, and that is what you have been doing, your content has been getting better everyday and I can’t wait to see what you have in store for the next videos. Amazing work.
Morning brother
Your videos are rubbing off on me now like 628 Dirt Roosters were and also making me realize that I'm going to have to learn more about my area. After 23 years of having not went to one, I hope they have changed and are closer. back then some older gentlemen were running the show and they didn't like any type of change no matter what. Now I'm 55 and almost starting from scratch, at least I know I can check with a larger group of people. About the only thing I think I know is that our hives in my area have to be more closely monitored for mites for sure. Wish me luck, if I don't get a swarm this spring, I'll be getting a Nuk.
Set the traps, and say a prayer....it works for me. God's peace Tommy.
Mr. Ed
@@JeffHorchoff Seeing what my comment looks like now seems incoherent, I was talking about bee club meetings, glad you were able to understand from what I am seeing now, I even proof read it twice. I don't know if something is going on with RUclips or my computer. Thanks for understanding what I meant to say.
Jeff
You continue to do a remarkable job with teaching and showing.
Virtually any of your videos could be used in teaching. You are an excellent communicator, and whether it’s making a bee vac, doing cutouts, splitting colonies, harvesting, or just entertainment, I can find a Mr. Ed video that covers all of the bases.
At any rate, I think it’s important to occasionally drop a word of encouragement to say that your ministry (cleverly disguised as bee wrangling) is alive and well, and every bit appreciated as much now as when I first started tuning in.
Lead on!
Mark
I really like the way you remove the queen cells and how you place them in other frames. Thanks again for another Great video !!!
Love you guys.
Thank you so much for such educational videos! I am in my first year of beekeeping and your videos have helped me learn so much! There is so much to learn, and it has been a frustrating learning experience, but also so rewarding. God bless you brother and thank you!!!
Great info!
Have a great day❤️
Jeff just wanted to drop a line and say thank you for all the videos over the years that you have created that I have been able to learn from. I never commented on videos before but since I started my own page recently, I now realize how much work and time goes into them. So, thanks again.
That was amazing to see you add the queen cells. Come to NC boys, I still have that hive in my dead white oak and I have 18 chickens with another 20 hatching in 1 week, so eggs???? Yep, I'll have them boxed and ready for you. Stay Blessed and keep on spreading those smiles. 🥰😎🐓🐥🌻
Ecclesiasticus 11:3
[3]The bee is little among such as fly; but her fruit is the chief of sweet things.
Our weather has been so cool and rainy that the comb building is slow, and there is still no sign of swarming and looks to be June before that even becomes a concern! Moving the queen just before the swarm is how I do all my splits.
Gonna order a frame holder as soon as I finish the video. Clever & handy looking.
Abbey honey sounds divine. I’d be buying it for sure if I were in The States. Good to see you are both well and happy. Another great video. Thank you.
Ed, thanks for the tip on removing cells from the frame it really helped me
Mr Ed! I saw your video on enhancing the foundations with extra wax to help the bees along so after adding a second box last week I painted the frames with melted wax. I cannot believe how quickly the bees drew out the combs! I had a quick peek today (36hrs later) and I am amazed! 4 frames have been drawn out! 36 hrs! I was so happy to see this! Your tips and advice are priceless! Thank you! 🙏
What a great video Mr Ed . I have not been able to watch your video for a while but I am back at it now . Keep up the great work and thanks. Keep your video’s coming when possible.
Lovely stuff. Thanks for this , really will help all beeks wanting to grow and increasing their hive numbers.🤩
You're STILL BRILLIANT, Guys. 🙂🙂🙂🌟🌟🌟
Great job Mr. Ed and good time Charlie god bless both of you.
Very interesting video. I don't quite understand it all but that's why you guys are the professionals and I'm not. Thanks again fellas
Ready or not I did my splits today. I shook my pissy queen in a box on top of queen excluder that only had one frame of drawn comb two weeks ago. She got pinched and her eggs and larvae went into a known queen right box. All four hives made if. Thank Jesus.
That's a cool trick whittled out a few split's last week or 2 here in NC
Charlie sounds like he has had it. another great video. THANKS FOR SHARING, KEEP ON SHARING, HOPE YOUR BE MAKING MORE, GOD BLESS.
Wow, that was an intense two hour work day!
Not bad for a couple of old guys. Thanks for watching, and I hope you will check out more of my over 450 bee wrangling/ bee rescue adventure videos and let me know what you think of them. By the way, I post a new video almost every Friday morning, and I look forward to hearing from you again soon. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
@@JeffHorchoff I'm sorry, brother, I hope you didn't get the wrong impression, I was simply trying to make a joke. I love your channel and learn a lot from you. God bless you all.
Good show thanks!
23:52 That's it Professor Ed . Awesome video; one of your best yet "
I did this method last year. A bit late on one hive. The queens were emerging in the box I was setting them in.. Yes, I had cages on hand. WHEW!
That is a tongue twister of a word. "whittling' :)
Thanks for the great information. Been watching the last two years since March 2019. I. need to split mine this weekend. This will be the very first time.
Another great video gentlemen! Thank you for taking the time to educate.
What a nice amount of bees in that first hive. Well enough to make 4 Nucs and still have enough for a new queen.
Have you thought of queen rearing and AI? Good business in that...
Rearing queens would just mean more work for me, and I have all the work I need. God's peace Nancy.
Mr. Ed
I love, love, love your kind knowledge and your willingness to share it!! XOXO
Wow, were those bees stinging through your jeans? OUCH!
Only a bunch of times. God's peace Carole.
Mr. Ed
I noticed the swarm activity is delayed here in Northern Fl as well. Usually mid-late Feb, but now it’s April and some still have not made swarm cells. I noticed years with a hard freeze, which happens every 2-3 years down here, delays them swarming about 1 month.
Thank you Jeff for these tips. 🇺🇸
In our local beekeepers club we are taught that swarm cells are on the bottom of the frame and emergency queen cells are in the center of the frame
You and Charlie are amazing 👏😍great care for 🐝🐝🐝God bless Mr ed and Charlie plus the 🐝
Awesome
Great video guys!! Thanks for sharing Mr Ed!!✅😁👍👍
I've seen people do "walk-away splits" elsewhere. Couldn't you do that in the case of the first box you inspected at St John's yard, prompting the forming of emergency cells? Where you said no swarm cells yet, hence no split. Hugely interesting topic once again!
A walk away could be done, my preference is vertical splits and I go back to check on the formation of queen cells. Glad you enjoyed the video, thanks for watching and leaving your comment. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
Thank you for anther informative video. Bee colonies are amazing with there Queen survival strategies. Mind you they have had a long time to get it right.
Aloha Good Time Charlie and Mr.Ed,
Wisdom in every breath!
Wonderful Wisdom!
Know your bees, know your area, know your nectar flow, but most of all, know what your bees are thinking. ? Honey is your goal ?
Honey must be on your bees' mind.
In my zone, Hawaii, there is no winter break to the nectar flow, but there's still the spring time splits to deal with. If yours are thinking about splitting, keep ahead of them. Timing is Everything or you loss your hive and your queen.
In the Kiawe Honey Forest, the honey comes in at a rate of 60 pounds per hive Every 2 weeks, All year long or equal to 1560 pounds per hive per year If you keep ahead of the Swarming Response.
When you wish to make more hives, you just need lazy and don't keep ahead of the flood of honey flowing to a hive and let them get 'honey bound'.
My Kiawe Forest Bees were all wild hives, Swarming all year long. Such is life in a Kiawe(Mesquite) Forest. When those wild bees take up space inside a hotel grounds, there could be trouble. Guests getting stung is not a good thing. So, you must be ahead of the 'Hive Mind' , keep them in track making Honey 🍯.
With so strong a nectar/honey flow, you Must use a Queen Excluder and 1 box of brood, 1 box for honey and come like clockwork, ever 2weeks with another prefect honey super ready to be dropped on the excluder/brood box. The full super must be walked about 10 yards away to where you have spread a bed sheet to shake the bees out of the honey super, frame by frame into a empty super with it's bottom covered and a cover for it's top. Smoking the full honey super as you go frame by frame, shaking all the bees to the ground on to the sheet and quickly placing the frame of capped honey into the covered super. This confused pile of bees , heaps up on the sheet and waits for you to finish with the super. Covered Capped Honey is now moved to your truck, the heap of bees on the sheet, is now gathered up and shake free at the front entrance of the hive they came from and you move to the next full capped honey super of the next hive.
The sheet is once again, readied for the next heap of school off bees of the next super. In 40 minutes Time, 10 hives worth of supers have been shook and placed back at their hive's door. Much less confusion and queens are not disturbed,chive mind is still in making honey, not swarming.
If you don't follow their schedule and you are and day(s) late, emergency cells abound and Must Be Cleared Away or your next visit will be to a hive that issued forth with a swarm and will not be full of honey.
The loss of that rytheme of Honey Production is costly!
Today's prices of Kiawe Honey is $18 per pound ! The price for a day or two being late? About 2 weeks of honey ! If all 20 hives went to 'thinking' about swarming = over $21,000 !!!(that's not good Beekeeping).
Thank you brother Jeff. I followed your Rapala fillet knife tip last year. Works nicely if you have a steady hand. And have a flashlight if needed.
We also keep a small pencil point butane pipe lighting torch to slightly melt the cell attachment wax. As needed.
Blessings from Minnesota, thanks again!
Here’s a funny: The type of knife…up ‘Nort’ - in MN/Knuckland it’s pronounced ‘fill-‘lay’ - I think. What’s more, Jeff, HOW CAN YOU lay those precious queen cells on a hot metal roof AND in a horizontal position?? Poor things.
@@bjggogoman4095 pronunciations are funny thing.
We have no idea what the temperature there was but no wax appeared melted.
Later horizontal? For the short time I'm sure Jeff knew what he was doing.
Wonderful video learned alot thanks again.
Hi Jeff,
We're having a real change in the Fl Keys, had one hive swarm on December 9th then one January 9th, since then no other hives of 23 only one had cups none charged and low numbers of drones per hive. I'm looking at the fast change in climate and I've live here 35 years plus 16 in the Bahamas. 🐝😎
I forgot about the 17 years in Houma Thibodaux
How could you forget about Houma? God's peace brother.
Mr. Ed
@@JeffHorchoff maybe my age of 71, lol.
Thank you Jesus!
Hiya Jeff
Was it the Rooster talking about your old asthmatic smoker a while back? I get a kick out of that every time it bubbles up. Good queen cell retrieving today and Charlie did a fine job too. Yall have a FINE weekend, and GBWYall!
I know it’s a good thing to keep you numbers stable and to use the opportunity for a better quality bees & honey in a respectful disclosure’s area’s
I take it that you don’t have to worry about bears where you are.
Thankfully we do not have bears here. God's peace James.
Mr. Ed
Time consuming job. But it must be done. Be careful. If you get too much bee venom could you get sick? I hope not. Have a blessed weekend and bee wrangling. God be with you and Charlie.
2nd! So close
You will be # 1 next week, I can feel it. God's peace Josh.
Mr. Ed
I'm curious if you put a few swarm traps near your own yards, just to hopefully catch anything you may miss.
I always have a few traps set in our yards and they will almost always catch something. Remember, bees attract bees. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
wow wonderful 👌👍️
❤
As the first hive you showed with emergency queen cells has good genetics, why didn’t you remove a few for your splits? Wouldn’t using those queen cells spread the good genes among the new colonies?
Sure Jeff will reply.
Meantime : You could, but emergency cells are a tad smaller than swarm cells. Best to 'trick' the Bees into making 'Swarm Cells, for better bigger Queens. Hope this helps.
🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
Happy Beekeeping 2022.
🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
I could have, but I keep it simple. God's peace Larry.
Mr. Ed
When the queen cells get damage, do the bees repair the damage or do they just tear it down? Because I am thinking since they queenless they would just repair the wax and add more royal jelly.
Depends on when the Cell gets damaged time wise. If its in its first few days, they still feed Royal Jelly and still drawn down the Cell. If the Cell is due to hatch either imminently, or say in the next Day, it will probably still be viable, as the Queen is already formed, and is preparing to hatch.
Any other times, the Pupae is exposed and will die from lack of protection from that wax Cell, it being Torn or Mashed, etc.
🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
Happy Beekeeping 2022.
🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
MMB had a great reply. God's peace Chris.
Mr Charlie looks like my dad's twin in this video. Hmmmm lol
Question from "Not A Be Keeper" 😊. Instead of cutting out the cell (s), why not just pull the (a) frame that has the cells attached and leave it? As long as the original queen isn't on that frame it seems to me that it would work just as well with less work and less time in the hive. Just wondering. P.S. I wanted to get started in bee keeping a could of years ago and got everything to get started except for the bees. Then my health took a turn and an just but physically (and mentally) able to do it. But I still enjoy watching the videos that you and the infamous Dirt Rooster out. Thank you!
It's a good idea.I usually take the brood with the queen cells and give to the duvision colonies .You can avoid the bees or keep the bees if needed to the colony we are dividing.For doubts you can watch my videos.
It could be done that way, I simply prefer cutting the cells out. God's peace Jim.
Mr. Ed
Salom ustoz qachon qachon chaqirasiz ish ugan gani . asal arini urgangani . Minxam kata uyalrdi kurib urgangim kilayabdi
Jeff I have a question I may have asked before but now I'm afraid.the killer bee guy RUclips channel said that the African bees are in all bees in the wild in the USA I worry about our honey bees please explane if this is true
All I can say about Africanized bees, since I know nothing about them other than their aggressive nature, is they are not in my area of Louisiana, and I am grateful for that. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
Them girls trying to get you straight for your girl.lol
Jeff, is wreck it Ralph ok? Haven't seen him in your videos for a while.
He's fine, but he has a full time job to contend with. He will be in my posting in two weeks , stay tuned. God's peace Scott.
Mr. Ed
Jeff question about your house that you are building. Has there been any updates that I may have missed,also no mention of your gf. I Hope everything is ok.
I did not post any new updates, but I should be moved in by the end of April. All is well, and thanks for asking. God's peace Jay.
Mr. Ed
Seeing your bees getting a bit hot like that, I thought the hive I cut out down in Deep South Texas might be Africanized. I’ve been in them inspecting a few times and they seem defensive. I’m a rookie so I don’t have anything to gauge by other than videos. Now I’m thinking mine are not much spicier than yours.
I guess time will tell, but my guess is they are not Africanized. If they were they would be on you ALL the time and for a half a mile away as well. God's peace Skip.
Mr. Ed
Is that a yellow tint or is it just my monitor? :) Ty, Blessed Days...
So you don't have to treat for mites?
I do not treat at all, I let the bees take care of everything. Thanks for watching, and I hope you will check out more of my over 450 bee wrangling/ bee rescue adventure videos and let me know what you think of them. By the way, I post a new video almost every Friday morning, and I look forward to hearing from you again soon. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
Do ya'll do any kinds of treatments?
No I do not, I have always been a "treatment, chemical free" apiary. Thanks for watching, and I hope you will check out more of my bee wrangling/ bee rescues adventures and let me know what you think of them. By the way, I post a new video every Friday morning, and I look forward to hearing from you again soon. God's peace Richard.
Mr. Ed
Question for you, in past years you always used double screen divider boards to make your splits why are you doing them different this year?
This year, due to the unusual circumstances in the development of our bees, I did not use the Double Screened boards at all, they would not have given me honey if i had . The number bees would not have been developed in time to get a surplus of honey. God's peace Brian.
Mr. Ed
Hey Mr. Ed. Do you find that each different yard progresses at different levels per yard? I mean all the hives at one yard progress at the same time where another yard will be behind and another yard be further along?
This was a very strange year for making splits. However, it's finished and next weeks post will show how we did it different than this video. God's peace Mary Jane.
Mr. Ed
Mr. Ed I have a question. Do you take time to kind the queen when you make your swarm cell splits? Did you add cells to bottom box assuming the queen was in the top box with swarm cells?
Sure Jeff will answer.
Meantime : It doesn't matter if you don't find the Queen before doing a Split.
Why you ask ?
1) A Hive with no Queen, will always utilise some Eggs, or Larva, to raise some 'Queen Cells', in that no Queen = no Queen Phremones in amongst the Bees !
2) If you do a Split, can't see the Queen, but you add a couple of Cells in their. The Queen Phremones are definitely there, so, they will 'rip' down, destroy, or sting kill any new emerging Virgin Queen. (You might see the odd original Queen flees as a Swarm, before the Queen Cells hatch. This usually occurs, when the Queen is a couple of years old or so, and her so called Scent of phremone is waining amongst the population, so they Swarm, to procreate, so to speak. 👀
Hope this helps.
🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
Happy Beekeeping 2022.
🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
Once again, MMB had a great reply. God's peace Thomas.
Mr. Ed
Thanks so much for stepping in, I appreciate it. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
MMB thanks for response. Still confused though. The purpose of the split is to prevent swarming.Are you saying a split with swarm cell and the queen may swarm anyway,
Thomas. More Info here:
Splits are done to :
A) Make yourself more Colonies (Hives.)
B) to reduce the Volume and Capacity of a Hive as a "Swarm Control Measure."
C) Its not a guarantee of Bees Swarming. Unless
1) You move 'the Original Queen' into a Nuc, (you place her into that new box, (she kinda swarmed !) BUT you controlled 'it'. 😉
2) Add some Frames of Bees, with Brood on it,
it acts as a magnet: the Bees 'stay to keep the baby Bees warm'. Arrrh.
3) And a Frame of Stores (Honey, Nectar, Pollen, Bee Bread.) So Queen gets to lay eggs, grows the population etc.
Tip : Split Info How-to
1) Works if you review Queen Cells in non Queen Hive, look 👀 at ALL Frames, review how many Queen Cells you have, go through all Before mashing any !
2) 》》 Choose, keep the Best One 《《 *All other QC's can be careful cut out of the Comb with a lot of wax All around them... and make little wire mesh Cage Tubes, corks or caps, top and bottom.
Wax glue those 'peanut' Cells so base of top cork/cap: they need to point Downwards ! These can be placed in a Box, at the top of the Hive... the Nurse Bees will Feed them. But do remove them in their cages, after a week. *Virgins need to be put into mini Mating nucs, to fly out and mate asap.
* You have Queens to add to mini Mating Nucs (You only need a Cup of Bees in these !) Or Give, Sell them to other Bee Club Members etc. 😎
3) Or Mash or Cut those QCs not needed. Or let the First Queen to hatch : Kill her not yet born Queen Sisters... But still check AFTER two weeks later, if Queen got "Mated" (she needs quiet privacy so no peeking before 14 days.)
Do you see Eggs, Larvae?
If yes... Well Done "you Bred your first own Queen" !👏 Or the Bees did.... 🤭
If you have to many Nucs, or Boxes or Bees you can't deal with re Equipment available.... Either Sell the Frames of Bees on. Or Get the main Queen in the Brood Box, no other Queens above her ! And unite all these other Hives together. By adding a Sheet of Newspaper, at each unite level. Add another Box of Bees on top, then another sheet of newspaper, etc etc, if next is more different Bees. They won't fight (!) As they are fare to busy chewing that paper away, and become best new Bee Buddies...
And you have a nice Strong Colony, 👍 for the pending Autumn / Fall.
Final Tip : 👀
Extra unneeded Queens :
Sell them, or dump her in a small bottle of hand alcohol : She becomes a "Bottle of Swarm Lure !" More Queens added, the stronger the lure gets. Can keep for years ! 🥳
Then you can have a Bait Box, add a few Drops of Lure on a bit of Card to pin inside a Bait box....
to catch a Swarm, if you miss it Swarming....
🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
Happy Beekeeping 2022.
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Jeff : Hope you don't mind....
Answer became a long one, oops.... 🤣
Yours, from Scotland 🏴
You have enough hives, why not build a queen builder yard? You can raise, package and sell. Just another revenue stream to think about.
It would be another revenue stream, but I'm not interested in doing the necessary work....I already have to many irons in the fire. God's peace Nancy.
Mr. Ed
I also have a lot of bees but a small bee 🇲🇨🇲🇨🇲🇨🐝
6000 lbs of honey, I would love to be at that level... In due time I guess. Will you be selling the excess splits? Seems like the best way to make that for keeping at your desired workload.
Swarm generator. Just add one cell or make 15 nucs with each cell the after swarm will keep them going.
Very happy for you
Bee are bees all around the world and they swarm lol
was the one you dropped damaged?
Yes. God's peace Gordon.
Mr. Ed
You must like aggressive bees.
+1200👍🏻🐝🇧🇷
💕👌👍
I LIKE NAPS TO CHARLIE
3:43 What are Boocoo Bees? ~
It means a "bunch" of bees. Not sure if it's Vietnamese or Korean but definitely from that side of the planet though it's in old war movies hah
@@boonesbees5485 I was wondering about that. I took a year of French. "Beaucoup" is pronounced "bow-coo" and means "very much". Thank you for the confirmation.
@@stevenscottoddballz then it's French... We both learned something!
Cajun for "lots and lots." God's peace Steven.
Mr. Ed
Can i still buy honey from you? Jas your address changed?