I am new to beekeeping, not having any actual bees at this time. I have started building my hives and will get bees in the spring. I am spending my time researching. This is by far the best information available on the internet. I have subscribed to several sites and now that I have found Kamon Reynolds, I rarely visit those other sites. Thx for your time Kamon and for the info you share.
Wow , so many comments kamon, great engagement. Scary how many folks over complicate bees / maybe life. Keep making things simple and clear, folks will work it out - hopefully. Great job on the info
Kamon , Hi from Crete - Greece. HMF stands for Hydro Methilo Furfurale. It is Overproduced when food is over heated also as time passes. It promotes the production of cancer cells for human and reduces life for bees also . I like watching your videos. We have a lot in common in the way we work and think. Be strong always.
Amazing how anyone can give these a thumbs down with all the info and the fact what Kanin does has to be working look at his success. Must be jealous! Keep em coming Lamont!
Love your videos, you keep it simple, no need to complicate things, it’s an art. Old uneducated men and women have been doing this for centuries. You use common sense, and figure it out as you go and learn from your mistakes. I have made many in beekeeping , I always look for what I did wrong,and usually figure it out then change.
Funny that you posted this right now, I made the dissension to pull more honey reduce back to single boxes and feed sugar syrup this fall, thanks for the tough topics others stay away from
Kamon, I love your videos. Thank you for the wealth of information. Did you do a video on WHEN to feed? I'm in Atlanta and I suspect on the same timeline as you.
GOOD JOB!! You ALWAYS say the same things I tell people , people are 8 up with the dumbness it seems and spread so much ignorance, Good For You For Having The Guts to Set it Straight!!!
Thank you Kamon for talking about sugar and the human body.Our whole medical world does not talk about it and that is why they are making sooooooo much money from sick people.I think this is sad and criminal.They need to talk about the Keto Diet but they won't.I see the Navy Seals are now on the keto diet.Good luck bro on your bees this season.
New beekeeper this year. Have watched a ton of your videos. Thank you for all you are doing. It has made getting started SO much easier. Question - I have 8 new hives (4 Nucs and 4 Packages). One of the hives will hardly eating syrup (Rapid Round Feeder in a super) nor patties. Another is consuming about have as fast as the other 6 which are eating well. Is that normal? Why are they so slow to feed? All the hives have 5-6 frames or more of foundation to be drawing out. All hives have about the same number of bees. Thanks in advance!
I live in the city. Crazy right. I have 1 beehive so far and I'm hoping to have a second one in the spring. (horizontal beehive ) at 66 years old Oh hell yea. Now I got my nuc late July 2019 and yes totally unprepared for this great adventure. So Thank you for all of your tips and advise on how to take care of my babies. I am giving them sugar water with Honey be healthy as we have past the high pollen season here in Bethlehem, PA. I was putting the container in front of their entrance but now I set it on top of the beehive. I have not seen any beetle yet but the previous owner told me that he treated my babies for varroa mite and I got bite by one. NOT COOL. So yes very interested in nipping these nasty mites out of my hive if possible. Thank you
Our local group suggests feeding packages from installation to Labor Day to draw out maximum comb. I’m also interested in the funny honey because I have 3 medium mediums of capped something.
Well said bro man I had the same mentality when I was beekeeping for the first 4 Years ,all my bees weak with little or no productivity then started feeding them sugar syrup and saw the magic happened, the bee army got much stronger in comparison to the others that didn’t feed Its like steroids You have to know when and how to give them Honey bee in my opinion is the most sophisticated amazing beautiful creature,they Radiate electromagnetic fields which makes you love them ,and I will be beekeeping for the rest of my life.
Kamon, I am a new beek with 2 single brood hives moving to 4 hopefully. No clue yet how to do this, in north Texas, following your model. I want to feed bcs they aren't leaving to forage now. I'm concerned about harvesting this weekend, keeping the excluder on, adding an in-hive feeder in the deep? and patties. What do I need to keep in the brood chamber and supers. I have a screened deep, excluder, deep super, medium super, inner cover and the telescoping cover. I'm going in tomorrow for a look see. What should I be striving for? When do I drop the excluder? Oh! And what in- box feeder are you using? Saw 2 on Amazon with bad reviews. When do I Apivar? Or what do I do with the food frames when treating. Gosh, too much info...sigh. Crikey! Thanks so much! I watch you . I
I agree 100% They're not stupid by any stretch, they're constantly balancing between the best nutrition intake per caloric output. Flowers may produce sucrose and or fructose, so feeding sugar is the next best thing. To become a professional beekeeper, one will by default become a hobby botanist.White and Yellow sweet clover on now, bees left the feeder for a while.
I have watched many of your videos... and until I hear "ouch! Darn it! She stung me! " squealed like a little girl. I won't believe either of you had been stung.
When the person I mentored showed up at bee club and asked if she should use organic sugar made me cringe. She had two hives in 15 acres of alfalfa that went to full bloom. Her hives swarmed over and over. Nectar FLOW heavy and she asked about feeding.
When I first started with all new equipment i bought a book at TSC said bees couldn't make wax on sugar syrup.. I thought man not good cause its April im.in Michigan.. so I bought some half gallons of local.honey .. yes they loved it and helped surely . I know bad idea bio hazard.. well later on im open feeding my bees for winter and noticed specks of wax everywhere.. no flow on .. book was clearly wrong
Kamon, when are you going to do a video with Laura (hope spelling is correct) in the video. I think that would be cool, maybe named “Life with a Beekeeper”. Anyway just put the camera on the tripod for a few minutes with her in front of the camera instead of behind the camera, then we could see her roll her eyes at you! RTR!!!
I think we need to do more research between fungi and honey bees. Fungi makes the nature go round. So many wild insects eat and use some part of fungi to survive. Fungi have been long known to produce chemicals that fight against bacteria, other fungi, and viruses. Coupled with this, bees have been observed foraging on mushroom mycelium. This suggests that honey bees have already been foraging from mushrooms to collect antimicrobial medicine to boost their collective immunity.
Kamron, Newbie keeper central Missouri, had ants get into my top feeder in one of my feeders. I think I was very careful not to spill any syrup. I cleaned both feeders and started using entrance feeders thinking ants would go away. Unfortunately the ants are staying in the one feeder. I even put peppermint oil in the top feeder box thinking it might repeal the ants, but no luck. The other feeder wasn’t bothered at all. By the way the ants are traveling up the outside of the hive and getting in between the top of the cover and top feeder. Any suggestions?
What? and give up my licorice twizzlers?! Never! (kidding...as a kid, yeah, but that was then, this is now) I got my first hive this spring, and interestingly, since then, I've been buying and trying all sorts of honey...whatever I can find, and my craving for sweets has plummeted. Not that I'm gorging myself...in fact there seems to be a built in "overload protection" when consuming honey...it doesn't take much and you're satisfied. Eat too much and it's downright disgusting. (oh...fyi: dinner has only six letters...lol!)
I've heard some beekeepers suggest mixing pollen powder into your sugar syrup to avoid hive beetles laying eggs in pollen patties. I haven't done that yet myself and was just wondering what your opinion might be on that.
Kamon, thanks so much for this video. I have seen myself that my bees sucked down the sugar syrup when they weren't finding anything but then backed off on it greatly when they had better options. My one question tho is will it make their honey weird? This is my first yr with bees and I am constantly trying to learn. They have pollen right now because I wasn't seeing any in the hive. But will sugar syrup mess up their honey production and give you something that is not really honey? I don't plan to take any this year since my main goal is to create population and prepare them for UT winter. Please let me know what your experience is with syrup fed bees and the quality of the honey????? Thanks. Susan Granger
Hi susan your feeding won't hurt your bees in any way but if you were to try to get honey in the near future it might contain a bit of sugar syrup which is called "funny honey" we don't take fall honey from our bees so if some of our feed mixes with their I don't mind a bit. We won't put honey supers on till April and by that time they will long have burned thru any sugar syrup feed and they can then fill the honey boxes with pure honey
Kamon, I saw in one of your videos where you kind of hinted that doing beekeeping without foundation is a waste of time, could you elaborate. I am doing the same for economical reasons except that I had a really bad year in terms of honey yield this year. Thanks.
Yes they can. Feeding is a skill for sure. Too little and they slow brooding and comb drawing, too much and they backfill and the queen can't lay. This sometimes causes swarming. I am looking forward to fall here! Cool days, fall flow and football!
One thing I've wondered about is what happens to the sugar syrup in the hive that the bees store and cap once a honey flow starts? (sugar syrup processed by bees is not "honey") I know bees will move stored honey around in a hive and they'll move it from within the brood nest up into the honey supers. I'm assuming they will do the same and move the stored syrup. And they do store it, I've seen them do it in my hives. Does this mean that you can't guarantee that some of the syrup you fed them in Autumn wont end up in one of the supers you harvest later in the season?
It helps keep the feed from fermenting so quickly, but it promotes robbing like crazy for me so we don't use it. I have not found that bees were healthier using it BUT I haven't gathered good data on it and we hope to devote a lot of colonies to some research on that in the future. I am very skeptical of anything that costs me money that doesn't give obvious results every time.
Hi again Kamon, I extracted some funny honey as its called due to the fact its made with 1-1 is there a way I can mix it with some UltraBee dry pollen substitute and give it back to them? I would leave out the water and sugar and just use honey ?
Little off topic, I'm a first year bee keeper. Its july 15th and My hive is thriving I am almost ready to add my first honey super. Should I treat for mites even if I don't necessarily see any before I add super? Or not to worry until spring?
Richard Marsh I would recommend a mite wash as seeing mites is a poor test. Mite washes are accurate. As one guy told me - “you may be the one beek who does not have varroa but it is expensive to find out otherwise.
Question saw you video on feeding bees in a new bee and getting as much info as possible I'm using a frame feeder and is it normal for some bees to fall in and die
It is normal no matter what you do! So many bees die everyday. On a big hive up to 1500 dead bees a day. If the bees are healthy then their should be 1000+ eggs laid a day! You can use straw in the frame feeders to help them do better if you want! Welcome to beekeeping and thanks for commenting!
At our bee association meeting, we dicussed a finding from Penn. that found that feeding your bees during the fall kept the hive from initiating the development of "winter bees", which is, apparently, brought on naturally, by the fall dearth. Have you ever heard of this or think it could be true. They suggest you feed later in the year, after those winter bees have been formed.
I am not familiar with the research but unless it is an emergency we don't feed during or after the fall flow till after the first of the year. Our main goal with summer feeding (since we are in a dearth) is to make lots of forager bees for the fall flowers in August and September. Typically they make enough off of the fall flow being so strong that they can go into winter nice and easy on the real stuff. There are always a few colonies that need fed but that is life I guess. Pretty much my opinion on feeding is if they would benefit from it give it to them. However the winter of TN and Pennsylvania are very different
There are these bees that visit me at my home in the mornings, and evenings. They wait for me to emerge from my apartment to give them some rootbeer. Is feeding the bees rootbeer okay for them to eat? They only like the all-natural rootbeer like A&W. They won't touch the artificial brands.
Syrup is better if it is warm enough for them to take it. The bees can eat it faster, store it faster, and more easily invert it - add enzymes to the syrup. Sugar bricks is a great way to emergency feed but is not as useful to the bees or the beekeeper
Gday mate as i said i am very new to this so is my hive ,my breeder told me to feed the nuc for 4 weeks sugar syrup and pollen patties which i have done as we are coming into the flow season now here in australia everything is flowering the calistomons are all out and the bees are all over them along with other gums . My nuc has expanded very well and im thinking i will put second super on this week , i dont know how you handle bees with no gloves i wear 2 pairs of nitril and still get stung on the hands anyway when the winter aproaches i will start to feed them again but for now its get ut there you bees and make me some honey hahaha.
Hi Kevin. I love the thought of helping the bees out but in my experience I haven't noticed the bees taking the syrup faster or any bee health benefits. It does help keep the syrup from fermenting as quick but it also encourages robbing in my beeyards. Like most product the research is done by the company selling the product. When you start talking to the fellas who keep bees alive for a living the vast majority don't use them. We definitely need more research into bee feeds and essential oils for certain but until I can detect some positive effects then I will save my money for what I know works.
Hi Dalesman, Bush has a lot of information like this. It is based on "natural" theories more than what works. That treatment free natural vibe resonates with a lot of people, it did with me at one time. However, trying some of Bush's advice is one of my biggest regrets in beekeeping. I lost a lot of bees and none of it ever translated into any type of success. I tried his way for a few years and killed bees and burned thru money like a man in Vegas. I now feed many tons of sugar with no acidifying ingredients and my bees are doing great. My mistake was that I was listening to Bush who is a programmer and a marketer of beekeeping information. (nothing wrong with that) but if I want to be successful I have to learn from those who are YEARLY and CLEARLY successfully keeping bees. So...... I started becoming successful when I started only taking information (and paying to get some of it) from those who made their living off of bees. So to answer your question I have yet to see any difference in my bees when I added vinegar an essential oils over just good old fashion sugar syrup. I am always open to new things but extremely wary. This study showed nectar comes in a variety of pH hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/file/index/docid/890439/filename/hal-00890439.pdf
Kamon Reynolds - Tennessee's Bees. Thank you for taking time for such a full answer. Michael Bush certainly talks a good talk but I saw a couple of videos of him in his apiary and they left a very different impression. I did find it difficult to raise new colonies here in UK, where our bees are less prolific than yours, without sugar, and I gradually introduced sugar feed as appropriate. However, the one and only hive that has never been fed is our most prolific-but that’s why it’s never been fed, not because.
The one question i have is where do all the pesticides and herbicides go in the sugar? Does most of those get processed out or do they build up in the hive? I have read they use alot of them in growing sugar cane and sugar beets, this is the part that concerns me the most. Anyone got any input on that topic, that's information i would be interested in discussing. Thx
Do you put anything in the sugar to keep it from spoiling? Whats the longest youll leave syrup in the hive before you dump it and give them fresh syrup?
With my frame feeders I only give them what they need. If they don't consume it within a week then there is something very wrong with the colony. My double deeps will consume a gallon in a day no sweat. If they are not eating it I am either over feeding a tiny colony or they are sick, (viruses or disease)
I put food on today. Lazy naaaaa bad for um naaa . It’s hurricane disaster relief . Ya I bet the wind blew off every 🌸 for miles. Ya it’s complicated . I wonder at what wind speed bee hives Belgian loosing forage.. not to mention the completeness of the soaking in water which hurts too.
ok Kamon, so what do you do with the honey the bees may with sugar syrup? Do we leave it for the bees? How do you give them back honey made from sugar syrup ? Let them open feed it?
If I do end up with too much syrup in the combs I always have splits that would benefit from frames of already condensed feed. My goal is too not add significant poundage thru summer but too maintain till the fall flow combs and that is what they will mostly over winter on.
@@kamonreynolds Hi Kamon, I have 3 colonies 2 of which are double deep 10 frames and 1 medium. The mediums are mostly honey made from sugar syrup. I wanted drawn comb so I kept feeding them and what do you think they did lol you got it stored it. The 3rd colony was a small swarm I caught back in May - They are requeening that.
it can work for sure. If you have several colonies the ones that have the most foragers will get the most out of open feeding. You also boost yellow jackets and potentially other beekeepers hives. I prefer to feed each colony as they need it. I am not a pro at it but it definitely can be done. Just like everything there are pros, and cons
@@kamonreynolds thanks Kamon..its just expensive with shipping...I'll wait a bit b4 I put it on..only feeding 1:1 swarms at the moment..maybe you can come up with a homebrew like it!..thanks for reply..do you fall/dearth feed it or splits?..tks!
Processed white is better for bees actually. Bees don't need heavy organic minerals. They just need sucrose from the sugar for energy. Refined organic might be a tad better but it can't have any minerals for sure. Cheap white sugar works very well for us!
So my medium size colony is facing a long, hard winter with very little food stores. Q. Are you saying that, FEEDING them the standard sugar syrup will just make them "Fat and Lazy"???? When my intention was to help them to survive the winter?
No, what I said is that it doesn't make them lazy. It actually makes them more productive if they are underfed. Underfed bees are not far from dead bees in my experience
I have a question that I hope that you may be able to answer Have you ever had a colony that went totally Rogue on you you? I mean a colony that was fantastic in all ways including behavior then became so ornory that they chased you for 100yds and were relentless? So mean that you couldn't sit out on the deck 300yds from the apiary without getting stung? This seems to be genetic since the usual causes of bad behavior were eliminated. A gentle and extremely productive hive became totally unmanageable. Inspection became impossible.
@@buildingwithtrees2258 sometimes if not enough sugar they won't..reason being they don't wanna go through ALOT of water to get a lil sugar, maybe not always but sometimes this is why...
Small hive beetles. It happens to us as well from time to time. The bees may need better access or the patty may need to be smaller. Are they eating it? I like to have a patty that is consumed within 5 days.
@@kamonreynolds I did a split about a week ago. Added a new paddie. I think because I have less nurse bees that they arnt consuming as much. I pulled back and removed the wax paper giving more access for the bees. They have several frames of stored pollen. Think I hold back on paddies until there's a dirth in pollen. Our Crape Myrtles have been supplying boat loads of pollen last few weeks. Thanks for info Kamon. First year using paddies.
Personally i think feeding depends on whats happening in the hive, and what you want to do, feed to get new colonies and packages strong for the flow or if you are more interested in making bees and drawing comb than honey. Also like you say in a derth or bad weather to tide them over till the flow starts again, if not a big strong colony will come down faster than a tile off a roof. If you want good honey don't feed when the flow is on, here if you are going to sell your honey you have to have it tested in a lab for sugar content, they can take a jar off the shelf anywhere any time and get it analised. Many have been caught out adding sugar syrope to honey to make more volume and hence bigger profits. China exports tons of honey but he majority of it is adulterated, ie waterd down with sugar syrope (among other things)and it shows in the tests, the can get away with it by putting " blended honey" somewhere on the label but you see the difference as it sells for about $3 a pound compared to more than double for local honey, taste it an you'll se why.
hahahaha not true at all. I am also a keto brother, but over the years I have found all natural sugar has no ill effects on my keto diet. I put honey on eggs and bacon. I don't eat more than teaspoon or 2 lol at a time. I eat a lot of fruit and berries in the summer, has no ill effect on my keto. I still have veins in my abs. I absolutely cant live without my blackberries. I consume nearly 200grams of fat some days. I try to get the bulk of my calories from fat, but I believe fruits and berries are very important. mainly blackberries and blueberries. I DO NOT CONSUME REFINED SUGAR, only sugar with fiber to regulate.
@@George-nx5lo exactly. That isnt refined sugar. Also some carbs have their place depending on your fitness goals. My big issue is that if I eat it I cannot stop. I need to work on that. I keep sugar for my bees, but not for me. I will have to be careful with my honey if I harvest.
I also eat an apple everyday, I have for years. Lots of fiber. FIBER is one of the more important things to consider when on keto. Fats are ACID, so if you are not eating lots of greens it can be over whelming for some people. I find apples and a little braggs apple cider vinegar to help with this.
Yes sugar is suppose to be 7times more addicting than cocaine, it is hard to control yourself. I find a teaspoon of honey to be really satisfying. remember we can store around 100g of sugar in a liver. So if you don't take in more than that at one time. ideally way less, but depending how how depleted your glycagen storage is you can take it more with no effect on blood sugar levels.
Up north here in Illinois the fall crop is usually goldenrod that has a high tendency to crystallize. The first time I saw it I was like wtf is going on here? It's normal.
Can someone explain to my why there so many bees at the entrance to the hive he is standing behind? I see it is three boxes stacked high. I'm guessing there is a queen bee excluder on top of the bottom box, the above boxes are honey only? Are that many bees at the entrance a sign of robbing or just the traffic due to a hive, three boxes high.
Hi LDT, this is bearding. Right now in Tennessee we have very hot weather that is also VERY humid. The bees beard like this when they need to cool the broodnest. Honeybees bodies are warmer than ours and on hot days it makes it easier to cool the broodnest with fewer bodies. A screened bottom board can help but our bees do fine with solid bottom boards. Bearding is not a sign of swarming necessarily. It can be a reminder that your colony is very strong and if they run out of room they might want to swarm.
You look so, relaxed behind that hive. My bees are getting a little crazy. Do you think that is because they might be starting to get ready for winter? These are PA. bees.
Have you watched Here are some of the best channels that are successful beekeepers I like mike Palmer Ian steppler randy Oliver UoG honey bee research centre, national honey show have you not seen any of these you should do a video on how to produce cut comb the mike Palmer way I can see lorel rolling her eyes as I’m writing this
Can you talk more on feeding sugar syrup and funny honey because looking at some of these bee group posts a lot of people think it's okay to make so-called honey from sugar syrup
Don't put Laura in front of the camera,, if she's shy have her stand behind a fence like Wilson did on Home Improvement an just peek over and you can ask her bee questions😎😎😎
Great video 👍
The best beekeeping channel on youtube, hands down.
You are too kind John thank you.
What even better than Ian steppler the Canadian beekeeper he’s pretty good kamon do you watch Ian
Ian is a great beekeeper. One of the better ones to listen too.
@@kamonreynolds first time bee keeper. 2nd year. And my bees are kicking it this year. Thankyou. Meaner too
I totally agree. Thank you both for sharing your knowledge
Ten letters. Dinner. Lol keeping it light 😂
Very informative. Keep up the good work. I've been keeping bees for over 20 years & still learning.
I am new to beekeeping, not having any actual bees at this time. I have started building my hives and will get bees in the spring. I am spending my time researching. This is by far the best information available on the internet. I have subscribed to several sites and now that I have found Kamon Reynolds, I rarely visit those other sites. Thx for your time Kamon and for the info you share.
As always a great video. Thanks
This was informative thank you. I've run into some robbing with entrance feeders next year I'll have all hive tops.
Thanks, as always great job
Wow , so many comments kamon, great engagement. Scary how many folks over complicate bees / maybe life. Keep making things simple and clear, folks will work it out - hopefully. Great job on the info
Thanks dstick, nothing like cotroversy to stir up the comments!
Kamon , Hi from Crete - Greece. HMF stands for Hydro Methilo Furfurale. It is Overproduced when food is over heated also as time passes. It promotes the production of cancer cells for human and reduces life for bees also .
I like watching your videos. We have a lot in common in the way we work and think.
Be strong always.
Hi Michail, thanks for the post. Now If I could say Hydro Methilo Furfurale 5 times fast I wouldn't stutter in my videos!
Amazing how anyone can give these a thumbs down with all the info and the fact what Kanin does has to be working look at his success. Must be jealous! Keep em coming Lamont!
Love your videos, you keep it simple, no need to complicate things, it’s an art. Old uneducated men and women have been doing this for centuries. You use common sense, and figure it out as you go and learn from your mistakes. I have made many in beekeeping , I always look for what I did wrong,and usually figure it out then change.
Funny that you posted this right now, I made the dissension to pull more honey reduce back to single boxes and feed sugar syrup this fall, thanks for the tough topics others stay away from
Really appreciate your views on this. What you said makes a lot of sense.
Great information!
Thank you much
finally TRUTH!! thanks Kamon
Kamon, I love your videos. Thank you for the wealth of information. Did you do a video on WHEN to feed? I'm in Atlanta and I suspect on the same timeline as you.
Damn Good Vid Kamon !
GOOD JOB!! You ALWAYS say the same things I tell people , people are 8 up with the dumbness it seems and spread so much ignorance, Good For You For Having The Guts to Set it Straight!!!
Thank you Kamon for talking about sugar and the human body.Our whole medical world does not talk about it and that is why they are making sooooooo much money from sick people.I think this is sad and criminal.They need to talk about the Keto Diet but they won't.I see the Navy Seals are now on the keto diet.Good luck bro on your bees this season.
Thanks !!
Speaking of Dinner, My dad had a saying: He said you can call me anytime you want just don't call me Late for Dinner!! :)
Thanks again!
New beekeeper this year. Have watched a ton of your videos. Thank you for all you are doing. It has made getting started SO much easier. Question - I have 8 new hives (4 Nucs and 4 Packages). One of the hives will hardly eating syrup (Rapid Round Feeder in a super) nor patties. Another is consuming about have as fast as the other 6 which are eating well. Is that normal? Why are they so slow to feed? All the hives have 5-6 frames or more of foundation to be drawing out. All hives have about the same number of bees. Thanks in advance!
Thanks I have never used them.
I live in the city. Crazy right. I have 1 beehive so far and I'm hoping to have a second one in the spring. (horizontal beehive ) at 66 years old Oh hell yea. Now I got my nuc late July 2019 and yes totally unprepared for this great adventure. So Thank you for all of your tips and advise on how to take care of my babies. I am giving them sugar water with Honey be healthy as we have past the high pollen season here in Bethlehem, PA. I was putting the container in front of their entrance but now I set it on top of the beehive. I have not seen any beetle yet but the previous owner told me that he treated my babies for varroa mite and I got bite by one. NOT COOL. So yes very interested in nipping these nasty mites out of my hive if possible. Thank you
Our local group suggests feeding packages from installation to Labor Day to draw out maximum comb. I’m also interested in the funny honey because I have 3 medium mediums of capped something.
Thanks
Well said bro man
I had the same mentality when I was beekeeping for the first 4 Years ,all my bees weak with little or no productivity then started feeding them sugar syrup and saw the magic happened, the bee army got much stronger in comparison to the others that didn’t feed
Its like steroids
You have to know when and how to give them
Honey bee in my opinion is the most sophisticated amazing beautiful creature,they Radiate electromagnetic fields which makes you love them ,and I will be beekeeping for the rest of my life.
Nice bro
Kamon, I am a new beek with 2 single brood hives moving to 4 hopefully. No clue yet how to do this, in north Texas, following your model. I want to feed bcs they aren't leaving to forage now. I'm concerned about harvesting this weekend, keeping the excluder on, adding an in-hive feeder in the deep? and patties. What do I need to keep in the brood chamber and supers. I have a screened deep, excluder, deep super, medium super, inner cover and the telescoping cover. I'm going in tomorrow for a look see. What should I be striving for? When do I drop the excluder? Oh! And what in- box feeder are you using? Saw 2 on Amazon with bad reviews. When do I Apivar? Or what do I do with the food frames when treating. Gosh, too much info...sigh. Crikey! Thanks so much! I watch you . I
I agree 100% They're not stupid by any stretch, they're constantly balancing between the best nutrition intake per caloric output. Flowers may produce sucrose and or fructose, so feeding sugar is the next best thing. To become a professional beekeeper, one will by default become a hobby botanist.White and Yellow sweet clover on now, bees left the feeder for a while.
I have watched many of your videos... and until I hear "ouch! Darn it! She stung me! " squealed like a little girl.
I won't believe either of you had been stung.
When the person I mentored showed up at bee club and asked if she should use organic sugar made me cringe. She had two hives in 15 acres of alfalfa that went to full bloom. Her hives swarmed over and over. Nectar FLOW heavy and she asked about feeding.
Mike Ries sounds like opportunity for more mentoring! 👍
When I first started with all new equipment i bought a book at TSC said bees couldn't make wax on sugar syrup.. I thought man not good cause its April im.in Michigan.. so I bought some half gallons of local.honey .. yes they loved it and helped surely . I know bad idea bio hazard.. well later on im open feeding my bees for winter and noticed specks of wax everywhere.. no flow on .. book was clearly wrong
What do you think about adding lemon juice and cream of tart?
I can assure you my bees aren't lazy while being fed syrup. Hardest working creatures on the planet!
Ant's is the hardest workers
@@mentaltoughness6365 Learn a little grammar "are". How's that for correcting? Troll
Kamon, when are you going to do a video with Laura (hope spelling is correct) in the video. I think that would be cool, maybe named “Life with a Beekeeper”. Anyway just put the camera on the tripod for a few minutes with her in front of the camera instead of behind the camera, then we could see her roll her eyes at you! RTR!!!
She is shy and if I made her I might not make it to Football season! I'll try!
Kamon, I would like to see you, Laura, Kathleen and Jimmy at lest as an introduction one time. Do you only have 2 children?
just 2 Don Jimmy has the eating capacity of three
I'm glad you know about sugar and good fats. I went keto and it saved my life. I'm off 3 meds and have lost 85 lbs.
That's awesome Malcolm!
I think we need to do more research between fungi and honey bees. Fungi makes the nature go round. So many wild insects eat and use some part of fungi to survive.
Fungi have been long known to produce chemicals that fight against bacteria, other fungi, and viruses. Coupled with this, bees have been observed foraging on mushroom mycelium. This suggests that honey bees have already been foraging from mushrooms to collect antimicrobial medicine to boost their collective immunity.
been feeding my small swarm sugar syrup ever since they came to me back Apr.
In Ga we are in the dearth. Feed or die.
When fall season hits they won’t touch sugar so I pull it.
Same here in Richmond, VA. Unfed is dead.
Kamon, What's your first fall flow plant in East TN? Goldenrod?
Wingstem and goldenrod
Kamron, Newbie keeper central Missouri, had ants get into my top feeder in one of my feeders. I think I was very careful not to spill any syrup. I cleaned both feeders and started using entrance feeders thinking ants would go away. Unfortunately the ants are staying in the one feeder. I even put peppermint oil in the top feeder box thinking it might repeal the ants, but no luck. The other feeder wasn’t bothered at all. By the way the ants are traveling up the outside of the hive and getting in between the top of the cover and top feeder. Any suggestions?
What? and give up my licorice twizzlers?! Never! (kidding...as a kid, yeah, but that was then, this is now) I got my first hive this spring, and interestingly, since then, I've been buying and trying all sorts of honey...whatever I can find, and my craving for sweets has plummeted. Not that I'm gorging myself...in fact there seems to be a built in "overload protection" when consuming honey...it doesn't take much and you're satisfied. Eat too much and it's downright disgusting. (oh...fyi: dinner has only six letters...lol!)
Amen too much sugar for us but not for the 🐝!!!
I've heard some beekeepers suggest mixing pollen powder into your sugar syrup to avoid hive beetles laying eggs in pollen patties. I haven't done that yet myself and was just wondering what your opinion might be on that.
Kamon, thanks so much for this video. I have seen myself that my bees sucked down the sugar syrup when they weren't finding anything but then backed off on it greatly when they had better options. My one question tho is will it make their honey weird? This is my first yr with bees and I am constantly trying to learn. They have pollen right now because I wasn't seeing any in the hive. But will sugar syrup mess up their honey production and give you something that is not really honey? I don't plan to take any this year since my main goal is to create population and prepare them for UT winter. Please let me know what your experience is with syrup fed bees and the quality of the honey????? Thanks. Susan Granger
Hi susan your feeding won't hurt your bees in any way but if you were to try to get honey in the near future it might contain a bit of sugar syrup which is called "funny honey" we don't take fall honey from our bees so if some of our feed mixes with their I don't mind a bit. We won't put honey supers on till April and by that time they will long have burned thru any sugar syrup feed and they can then fill the honey boxes with pure honey
Kamon, I saw in one of your videos where you kind of hinted that doing beekeeping without foundation is a waste of time, could you elaborate. I am doing the same for economical reasons except that I had a really bad year in terms of honey yield this year. Thanks.
Do you provide a salt source for your bees too?
Seems to me that it’s a lot like feeding hay to cattle over the winter. It’s not as good as fresh spring grass, but it’s better than starvation.
Can my bees become honey bound if fed by syrup? Keep up the great videos Kamon. Looking forward to Spring here in Australia.
Yes they can.
Yes they can. Feeding is a skill for sure. Too little and they slow brooding and comb drawing, too much and they backfill and the queen can't lay. This sometimes causes swarming. I am looking forward to fall here! Cool days, fall flow and football!
Kamon Reynolds - Tennessee's Bees if they backfill, can you stop feeding and they clean up/eat the backfill to free space?
One thing I've wondered about is what happens to the sugar syrup in the hive that the bees store and cap once a honey flow starts? (sugar syrup processed by bees is not "honey") I know bees will move stored honey around in a hive and they'll move it from within the brood nest up into the honey supers. I'm assuming they will do the same and move the stored syrup. And they do store it, I've seen them do it in my hives. Does this mean that you can't guarantee that some of the syrup you fed them in Autumn wont end up in one of the supers you harvest later in the season?
What is your opinion on the use of essential oils added to the sugar syrup?
It helps keep the feed from fermenting so quickly, but it promotes robbing like crazy for me so we don't use it. I have not found that bees were healthier using it BUT I haven't gathered good data on it and we hope to devote a lot of colonies to some research on that in the future. I am very skeptical of anything that costs me money that doesn't give obvious results every time.
Hi again Kamon, I extracted some funny honey as its called due to the fact its made with 1-1 is there a way I can mix it with some UltraBee dry pollen substitute and give it back to them? I would leave out the water and sugar and just use honey ?
I would think so JP! I would do a small batch and get the consistency right. I still would add a little vegetable oil to help it not dry out.
Do you always use protein patties !?
I only feed them for a portion of the year and to young colonies that don't have pollen coming in or combs with plenty of beebread stored away
Little off topic, I'm a first year bee keeper. Its july 15th and My hive is thriving I am almost ready to add my first honey super. Should I treat for mites even if I don't necessarily see any before I add super? Or not to worry until spring?
Richard Marsh I would recommend a mite wash as seeing mites is a poor test.
Mite washes are accurate.
As one guy told me - “you may be the one beek who does not have varroa but it is expensive to find out otherwise.
Question saw you video on feeding bees in a new bee and getting as much info as possible I'm using a frame feeder and is it normal for some bees to fall in and die
It is normal no matter what you do! So many bees die everyday. On a big hive up to 1500 dead bees a day. If the bees are healthy then their should be 1000+ eggs laid a day! You can use straw in the frame feeders to help them do better if you want!
Welcome to beekeeping and thanks for commenting!
At our bee association meeting, we dicussed a finding from Penn. that found that feeding your bees during the fall kept the hive from initiating the development of "winter bees", which is, apparently, brought on naturally, by the fall dearth. Have you ever heard of this or think it could be true. They suggest you feed later in the year, after those winter bees have been formed.
I am not familiar with the research but unless it is an emergency we don't feed during or after the fall flow till after the first of the year. Our main goal with summer feeding (since we are in a dearth) is to make lots of forager bees for the fall flowers in August and September. Typically they make enough off of the fall flow being so strong that they can go into winter nice and easy on the real stuff. There are always a few colonies that need fed but that is life I guess. Pretty much my opinion on feeding is if they would benefit from it give it to them. However the winter of TN and Pennsylvania are very different
@@kamonreynolds Thaks. I'm in Western Maryland. I think our summer may be ahead of your. It gets pretty cold here, put not as cold as PA.
Nectar 80%water 20% sugar vitamins minerals..honey %18 water..
There are these bees that visit me at my home in the mornings, and evenings. They wait for me to emerge from my apartment to give them some rootbeer. Is feeding the bees rootbeer okay for them to eat? They only like the all-natural rootbeer like A&W. They won't touch the artificial brands.
During spring summer and fall it won't hurt them.
I am not a beekeeper but I feed hummingbirds. Can I set up a simple feeder for the bees to keep them away from my hummingbird feeder?
What is your opinion on sugar bricks verses sugar syrup?
Syrup is better if it is warm enough for them to take it. The bees can eat it faster, store it faster, and more easily invert it - add enzymes to the syrup. Sugar bricks is a great way to emergency feed but is not as useful to the bees or the beekeeper
Gday mate as i said i am very new to this so is my hive ,my breeder told me to feed the nuc for 4 weeks sugar syrup and pollen patties which i have done as we are coming into the flow season now here in australia everything is flowering the calistomons are all out and the bees are all over them along with other gums . My nuc has expanded very well and im thinking i will put second super on this week , i dont know how you handle bees with no gloves i wear 2 pairs of nitril and still get stung on the hands anyway when the winter aproaches i will start to feed them again but for now its get ut there you bees and make me some honey hahaha.
How do you feel about adding honey bee healthy to sugar surp?
Hi Kevin. I love the thought of helping the bees out but in my experience I haven't noticed the bees taking the syrup faster or any bee health benefits. It does help keep the syrup from fermenting as quick but it also encourages robbing in my beeyards. Like most product the research is done by the company selling the product. When you start talking to the fellas who keep bees alive for a living the vast majority don't use them. We definitely need more research into bee feeds and essential oils for certain but until I can detect some positive effects then I will save my money for what I know works.
Any thoughts on the effect of sugar pH, as put about by Michael Bush?
Hi Dalesman, Bush has a lot of information like this. It is based on "natural" theories more than what works. That treatment free natural vibe resonates with a lot of people, it did with me at one time. However, trying some of Bush's advice is one of my biggest regrets in beekeeping. I lost a lot of bees and none of it ever translated into any type of success. I tried his way for a few years and killed bees and burned thru money like a man in Vegas.
I now feed many tons of sugar with no acidifying ingredients and my bees are doing great. My mistake was that I was listening to Bush who is a programmer and a marketer of beekeeping information. (nothing wrong with that) but if I want to be successful I have to learn from those who are YEARLY and CLEARLY successfully keeping bees. So...... I started becoming successful when I started only taking information (and paying to get some of it) from those who made their living off of bees. So to answer your question I have yet to see any difference in my bees when I added vinegar an essential oils over just good old fashion sugar syrup. I am always open to new things but extremely wary.
This study showed nectar comes in a variety of pH hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/file/index/docid/890439/filename/hal-00890439.pdf
Kamon Reynolds - Tennessee's Bees. Thank you for taking time for such a full answer. Michael Bush certainly talks a good talk but I saw a couple of videos of him in his apiary and they left a very different impression.
I did find it difficult to raise new colonies here in UK, where our bees are less prolific than yours, without sugar, and I gradually introduced sugar feed as appropriate.
However, the one and only hive that has never been fed is our most prolific-but that’s why it’s never been fed, not because.
Some bees are better at foraging than others. Sounds like a good queen to graft from!
The one question i have is where do all the pesticides and herbicides go in the sugar? Does most of those get processed out or do they build up in the hive? I have read they use alot of them in growing sugar cane and sugar beets, this is the part that concerns me the most. Anyone got any input on that topic, that's information i would be interested in discussing. Thx
same place as they do in the nectar from the flowers that get sprayed with pesticides
Do you put anything in the sugar to keep it from spoiling? Whats the longest youll leave syrup in the hive before you dump it and give them fresh syrup?
With my frame feeders I only give them what they need. If they don't consume it within a week then there is something very wrong with the colony. My double deeps will consume a gallon in a day no sweat. If they are not eating it I am either over feeding a tiny colony or they are sick, (viruses or disease)
I don't add anything to my syrup but some folks add essential oils to theirs. It promotes robbing too much for my taste and it can be pricey.
Thank you
I put food on today. Lazy naaaaa bad for um naaa . It’s hurricane disaster relief . Ya I bet the wind blew off every 🌸 for miles. Ya it’s complicated . I wonder at what wind speed bee hives Belgian loosing forage.. not to mention the completeness of the soaking in water which hurts too.
Good video.
Swedish Beekeeper
Facts don’t care about feelings.
What is ‘ruffage’ in honey?
Most times it is minerals and crystals.
ok Kamon, so what do you do with the honey the bees may with sugar syrup? Do we leave it for the bees? How do you give them back honey made from sugar syrup ? Let them open feed it?
If I do end up with too much syrup in the combs I always have splits that would benefit from frames of already condensed feed. My goal is too not add significant poundage thru summer but too maintain till the fall flow combs and that is what they will mostly over winter on.
@@kamonreynolds Hi Kamon, I have 3 colonies 2 of which are double deep 10 frames and 1 medium. The mediums are mostly honey made from sugar syrup. I wanted drawn comb so I kept feeding them and what do you think they did lol you got it stored it. The 3rd colony was a small swarm I caught back in May - They are requeening that.
Can cause energy stress and nosemoza
Hmmmm... sugar 😋
I am watching this as I am boiling up some sugar syrup....:):)
I would like to start open feeding would you recommend?
it can work for sure. If you have several colonies the ones that have the most foragers will get the most out of open feeding. You also boost yellow jackets and potentially other beekeepers hives. I prefer to feed each colony as they need it. I am not a pro at it but it definitely can be done. Just like everything there are pros, and cons
I noticed, that everytime I feed my bees sugar syrup, they go out and start forging.
How do you tell the difference between robbing and orientation flight?
Robbers try every hole to get in aggressively and a bit faster
Any thoughts on that pro sweet that mann lake sells?..I bought a bit to try on a couple colonies in the near future..thanks
I think it is one of the best syrups you can buy for them. I buy some myself!
@@kamonreynolds thanks Kamon..its just expensive with shipping...I'll wait a bit b4 I put it on..only feeding 1:1 swarms at the moment..maybe you can come up with a homebrew like it!..thanks for reply..do you fall/dearth feed it or splits?..tks!
We have a home brew will be showing when we get the time!
@@kamonreynolds awsome!..look forward to your videos..👍🏻👍🏻
Hey is organic cane sugar better than processed white sugar?
Processed white is better for bees actually. Bees don't need heavy organic minerals. They just need sucrose from the sugar for energy.
Refined organic might be a tad better but it can't have any minerals for sure. Cheap white sugar works very well for us!
@@kamonreynolds Thanks!
Sir how many beekeeper working your apiary??
Just my wife and I currently. My 7-year-old helps a pretty good bit from time to time.
So my medium size colony is facing a long, hard winter with very little food stores.
Q. Are you saying that, FEEDING them the standard sugar syrup will just make them "Fat and Lazy"????
When my intention was to help them to survive the winter?
No, what I said is that it doesn't make them lazy. It actually makes them more productive if they are underfed. Underfed bees are not far from dead bees in my experience
so are you feeding at this moment?It has been real dry here in North Ky
Yessir patties and syrup
Thanks I have been on some hives@@kamonreynolds
I have a question that I hope that you may be able to answer
Have you ever had a colony that went totally Rogue on you you? I mean a colony that was fantastic in all ways including behavior then became so ornory that they chased you for 100yds and were relentless? So mean that you couldn't sit out on the deck 300yds from the apiary without getting stung?
This seems to be genetic since the usual causes of bad behavior were eliminated.
A gentle and extremely productive hive became totally unmanageable.
Inspection became impossible.
Yikes! Sounds like you need to requeen...or you're keeping hornets by accident lol
I have a hive with a frame feeder and my bees didn't take it. The flow must be pretty strong?
Must be. Mine will take it during a strong flow. They don't take it near as fast during one. How strong is your colony?
2 deeps that ive heavily split. 6 frames capped brood bottom, 1 frame capped brood top.
@@buildingwithtrees2258 sometimes if not enough sugar they won't..reason being they don't wanna go through ALOT of water to get a lil sugar, maybe not always but sometimes this is why...
First like! First comment!
Would someone enlighten me as to what's the significance of saying "I'm first! I liked you first!!!
No significance. Usually by the time I get to a video it’s been viewed and liked thousands of times.
How do I make a really good pollen sub from scratch?
Boy what a question! Randy Oliver has some good info on that on scientificbeekeeping.com
I'm getting larvae in my pollen sub. Is this fly or wax moth larvae?
Small hive beetles. It happens to us as well from time to time. The bees may need better access or the patty may need to be smaller. Are they eating it? I like to have a patty that is consumed within 5 days.
@@kamonreynolds I did a split about a week ago. Added a new paddie. I think because I have less nurse bees that they arnt consuming as much. I pulled back and removed the wax paper giving more access for the bees. They have several frames of stored pollen. Think I hold back on paddies until there's a dirth in pollen. Our Crape Myrtles have been supplying boat loads of pollen last few weeks.
Thanks for info Kamon. First year using paddies.
Organic sugar bad. Got it.
Personally i think feeding depends on whats happening in the hive, and what you want to do, feed to get new colonies and packages strong for the flow or if you are more interested in making bees and drawing comb than honey. Also like you say in a derth or bad weather to tide them over till the flow starts again, if not a big strong colony will come down faster than a tile off a roof.
If you want good honey don't feed when the flow is on, here if you are going to sell your honey you have to have it tested in a lab for sugar content, they can take a jar off the shelf anywhere any time and get it analised. Many have been caught out adding sugar syrope to honey to make more volume and hence bigger profits.
China exports tons of honey but he majority of it is adulterated, ie waterd down with sugar syrope (among other things)and it shows in the tests, the can get away with it by putting " blended honey" somewhere on the label but you see the difference as it sells for about $3 a pound compared to more than double for local honey, taste it an you'll se why.
Kamon is a keto bro. Sugar makes you sick, but great for bees.
hahahaha not true at all. I am also a keto brother, but over the years I have found all natural sugar has no ill effects on my keto diet. I put honey on eggs and bacon. I don't eat more than teaspoon or 2 lol at a time. I eat a lot of fruit and berries in the summer, has no ill effect on my keto. I still have veins in my abs. I absolutely cant live without my blackberries. I consume nearly 200grams of fat some days. I try to get the bulk of my calories from fat, but I believe fruits and berries are very important. mainly blackberries and blueberries. I DO NOT CONSUME REFINED SUGAR, only sugar with fiber to regulate.
@@George-nx5lo exactly. That isnt refined sugar. Also some carbs have their place depending on your fitness goals. My big issue is that if I eat it I cannot stop. I need to work on that. I keep sugar for my bees, but not for me. I will have to be careful with my honey if I harvest.
I also eat an apple everyday, I have for years. Lots of fiber. FIBER is one of the more important things to consider when on keto. Fats are ACID, so if you are not eating lots of greens it can be over whelming for some people. I find apples and a little braggs apple cider vinegar to help with this.
Yes sugar is suppose to be 7times more addicting than cocaine, it is hard to control yourself. I find a teaspoon of honey to be really satisfying. remember we can store around 100g of sugar in a liver. So if you don't take in more than that at one time. ideally way less, but depending how how depleted your glycagen storage is you can take it more with no effect on blood sugar levels.
@@George-nx5lo I eat the 7-10 cups of veggies.
Completely off the subject, I noticed some of your bottom boards are cut flush with the front of the hive. By chance, do you note fewer SHB in those?
I haven't. We are going to 2 way pallets now. I built some of my bottom boards earlier cheaply. (ended up costing me)
Up north here in Illinois the fall crop is usually goldenrod that has a high tendency to crystallize.
The first time I saw it I was like wtf is going on here? It's normal.
Golden rod pollen has lost approx 50% of it's protein content since 1962 due solely to the increase in CO2 in the atmosphere.
Why the bees not stinging him?
Can someone explain to my why there so many bees at the entrance to the hive he is standing behind?
I see it is three boxes stacked high. I'm guessing there is a queen bee excluder on top of the bottom box, the above boxes are honey only?
Are that many bees at the entrance a sign of robbing or just the traffic due to a hive, three boxes high.
Hi LDT, this is bearding. Right now in Tennessee we have very hot weather that is also VERY humid. The bees beard like this when they need to cool the broodnest. Honeybees bodies are warmer than ours and on hot days it makes it easier to cool the broodnest with fewer bodies. A screened bottom board can help but our bees do fine with solid bottom boards. Bearding is not a sign of swarming necessarily. It can be a reminder that your colony is very strong and if they run out of room they might want to swarm.
You look so, relaxed behind that hive. My bees are getting a little crazy. Do you think that is because they might be starting to get ready for winter? These are PA. bees.
So, what are you feeding, surgar syrup or corn syrup?
Bees produce invertase which breaks down sucrose (sugar) into fructose and glucose just like Humans. sucrose for energy and glucose for the brain.
Sugar syrup. I don't like the fact high fructose corn syrup can build up toxins. If it is fresh they say it is no big deal but I won't be finding out.
Have you watched Here are some of the best channels that are successful beekeepers I like mike Palmer Ian steppler randy Oliver
UoG honey bee research centre, national honey show have you not seen any of these you should do a video on how to produce cut comb the mike Palmer way I can see lorel rolling her eyes as I’m writing this
Funny honey?
Yeah like the junk they sell in Walmart honey that is mixed with other syrups. We won't be pulling honey till May of next year
Can you talk more on feeding sugar syrup and funny honey because looking at some of these bee group posts a lot of people think it's okay to make so-called honey from sugar syrup
Don't put Laura in front of the camera,, if she's shy have her stand behind a fence like Wilson did on Home Improvement an just peek over and you can ask her bee questions😎😎😎
Hahaha too funny