1) Have you tried using a queen excluder from Blythewood to restrain swarms until you can be ready for a split? Would it work? 5:30 2) I had a hive being robbed, but it was from my Flow-Hive and I figured they could use it. I will fortify them with a frame of brood later on. Thoughts and recommendations? 11:12 3) Can I install two packages at the same time, or should I install one and wait for the other? I received a OA treated package and plan to re-treat on the 10th day. You mention OAV treatments, but don't mention repetitions? 16:13 4) Do you sugar shake your bees, or just alcohol washes when searching for varroa mites? 21:38 5) Is there way to tell if a split has a newly mated queen, or laying worker just from landing board observations? 29:30 6) I've noticed drones flying all day long, coming and going. What are they doing? 33:23 7) If I have a queen that is small, and another queen that looks better from a swarm, could I try to replace the inferior queen with the virgin from the swarm? 38:53 8) What is the best method to determine which of my hives has the defensive bees? I can't tell as they are all so close together. 43:45 9) I have been looking for a good tool to record my beekeeping activity. You mentioned Bee Keep Pal, I was excited to look into it. Are you happy with the features? 47:07
Practice on drones... BRILLIANT! Kicking myself that I didn't think of that. You keep exceeding my expectations Fred. Give yerself a pat on the back. Thanks again 👍
Hi Thank You for taking time to answer my question. I don't want to disturb my new split as weather turned wet and cold again. However as soon as I examine this hive I will write update. Regards Robert Kajor,Essex,UK
Thank you for showing how many different ways there are for beekeepers to do the same thing, ie mite counts. You demonstrate the old saying, if you ask 5 beekeepers a question you will get 10 different answers.
On the topic of the queen excluder entrance bar. The best look that I have had with keeping Swarm’s from ever leaving is to put a frame of eggs, capped brood, and honey inside the new home. They’re good parents and won’t leave.
Love listening and watching your videos. My thought about marking Queens, remember to do a test dot before you touch the queen. Sometimes especially in the heat the paint in the pens get really thin and will run out on them like water.
@@FrederickDunn Hi Fred I had some cheap harbor freight work gloves and the only way I got any attention from any hives was to shove it in the entrance. These are what I used should I get different ones ? --> www.harborfreight.com/split-leather-work-gloves-67440.html
We were taught by the owners of the commercial apiary i worked for to always !find the queen! and set her aside before scooping bees for an alcohol wash.
Fred, I installed two packages in two Layens frames yesterday with the box to entrance alignment method you mentioned - it went swimmingly, and the Mite count on the one box that had enough bees to check a good number was only 1 in a bit over a cup of bees (seems good!). Thanks for your prior Q and A statements on those things! It gave great ideas! I came up with a new idea on the Layens frame feeder cover. I used a Layens frame top bar only (removed rest of frame) with notches cut at six inches to cover the plastic feeder instead of cutting plywood (well, I cut the plywood first then came up with it after) - works very well, and I already had a couple messed up frames from last year’s bear shenanigans anyways - (made a half inch deep notch in the middle of the lower part of the top bar, about 3/4” on each side of center). I made a video on it (nothing special lol). I’ll post a video of the install with a time lapse of their march in when I get editing.
Impressed by the phone vids, I ordered the lens thru your link. BTW, when I ordered, there was a 15% discount coupon checkbox. Generally, I use a P&S camera on a 10 sec timer when I do inspections. Looking forward to using my phone.
You can do it! We don't feel too bad about harrassing drones :) it's also how I teach my Grandsons to handle bees and they get very excited about holding drones :)
Thanks, Fred. Xenvo is not available in Amazon.ca so ordered one through your link and paid for shipping and Customs. My wife was looking for one that works well as she still has a use for a good lense post retirement. There's a 15% off coupon. That doesn't hurt. Cheers Jim
Yea--- it would be great to follow how your hives are progressing with the recent warm up. I am wondering how often inspections will need to be done now that spring is exploding here in the Northeast. ~TBB
Completely depends on what I'm observing and what the hive/colony history is. Some get looked in on more than others. I follow up on my splits after 10-15 days. And again until I see evidence of eggs being produced by a mated queen. Splits need to be watched carefully.
cool i have a phoneskope case adapter,that connects to a spotting scope on a tripod ,a bluetooth remote shutter button,i use for birds and deer ,good info today on drones and queens,flying sperm made me laugh ,thanks for thinking of randy and his recovery,tons of rain heading this way ,im so tired of 🌧 thunder ⛈, stay healthy ,yeah that phone clip on lens is sweet
Thank you for your sharing your knowledge. Wondering if you would mind letting me know where you get your hive numbers. I have been looking for something that looks professional and easy to read. Thank you
Wow, that lens really works well... Did the phone autofocus because I noted the bee in the sequence went out of focus and then it refocused? Fred, I so enjoy your Q&A videos that I went interstate to visit my mum and my sister and returned and immediately sat and spent my Saturday night with you.....(well OK, I wasn’t going out so not that much of a sacrifice but I did enjoy it all).
Yes, the phone focuses on its own. I also noticed that close up, my phone achieved a better focus with the clip on lens than without it. What?! You left your family for me? :) !
Hey Fred. If you were to picked up a swarm from a person a couple miles away from your house. How long would you theoretically want to wait before replacing that queen with a bee weaver queen? And are there certain times of the year that you would hold off replacing a queen.
I just wait until they have a good amount of eggs and brood going, then remove the queen ahead of receiving the replacement. Since you're replacing the queen with a fully developed laying queen, the time of year isn't that critical. If they are producing their own replacement queen, then you want it to happen during a prime nectar flow for maximum health and nutrition for the developing queen.
@@FrederickDunn speaking of bee weaver queens. If all of your hives has bee weaver and then they are naturally replaced when each queen gets old, is the replacement queen that the bees created going to be less and less of a genetic profile of bee weaver as time goes on due to mating with drones. If that is the case then would it be a good idea to replace say every other generation of queen with e new bee weaver? I’m Asking because I like the idea of the bee weaver mite resistance and am wondering if that fades over times.
Two questions. Do bees have a memory? Do they remember you each time you are in the hive? Do you have a list somewhere of all the items you listed in your videos? Such as all the Amazon items, betterbee,etc. I have a hard time remembering what product was from what video.
Here’s a thought and/or question - if you have a hive that always has one guard be that just doesn’t seem keen on lawnmowers and weedwackers trimming up THEIR apiary, would maybe some sugar water and honey bee healthy mixture sprayed at the entrance/on the guards before hand help out at all? Anyone tried it?
I got one Queen working too hives. I think it's pretty cool but I have been told I need to separate them but I shouldn't have to worry about that until winter right to make sure both has Queen for the winter
Fred, after I split my colony that was making and charging queen cells, the queenless colony swarmed yesterday with a newly hatched virgin. I found 5 other virgins!! Why would a virgin swarm ? I thought I only left 3 cells when I made the split. There were 3-4 cells that haven’t hatched yet as well. I thought I would have prevented the swarm after splitting them. ????
You can do every single thing right, and yet your bees may swarm even with a virgin queen. The good news is that there are backup cells yet to hatch and one of those will become the resident queen. This is an important trait to add to your records for this colony. I've had colonies in the past that simply swarmed themselves down to a skeleton crew. It often has to do with the genetics of that queen. BUT, those genetics change as the new virgin queen gets mated with unknown drones.
@@FrederickDunn oh and I’m literally sitting in my car with two new nucs I just drove 3 hours to get them and I am half way back. Barrel hive bound, is one of them!!
Omg... You're killing me with the comments about how you're wife thinks you're so smart and above average due to your scientific method of checking bees. I laughed out loud and my wife just looked at me, as if I was sub par. Lol
I keep screened bottom boards because I love to check my hives by looking at the detritus on the catch tray to determine the activity and health of the colony. Varroa has not yet entered Australia, yet we need to do sugar shakes twice a year to spot it before it spreads. In between sugar shakes, is the bottom board tray a good way to detect mites? I see tray replacements that have have a grid for counting mite fall. How do I use these grids? Is a mite fall count a way to replace the sugar shake for those in varroa established areas? Again, for me, ONE mite is a serious emergency.
First attempt at Queen marking 2 days ago. Pen needs shaking, and Queen got messaged until I pushed tip a couple of times on hive. Hope she forgives me. Great tip for practicing on drones.
Fred, thinking ahead to varroa mite treatment. The vaporizer you use has a 1/4” nozzle, but is expensive. The under 100 vaporizers have a wide tray that is inserted into the hive but won’t fit thru the round entrance (layens horizontal hive). I drilled a 1/4 hole and plugged it, but can’t find an inexpensive vaporizer of the style where a hose delivers the vapor. No such thing?
Look for copies of the ProVap 110, there are a lot of beekeepers making their own versions and demonstrating how to make your own. yes, they are definitely very expensive and the Layens Hive is not designed for any treatments as they practice a more wholistic approach of no treatments, no feeding, and two inspections per year. I obviously don't agree with that approach, but this is why the hive is not set up for mite controls or auxiliary feeding.
@@FrederickDunn yes, I’ll probably make something... I guess I was attracted to the horizontal layens for the ease of maintenance, no lifting, and for the claimed better over wintering (tall frames), rather than the no-treatment aspect. When building the hive I considered erouting a 6” long 1/2” entrance, and if I had realized the dimensions of the most common design of oxalic acid vaporizers, I would have.
Fred, You will not believe the week I have had. 1. Hive swarmed. Went to tree. Went over to my friends house to check his hives. Right as I drove up a swarm left the apple tree they were in and flew out to a swamp. Missed them by 10 minutes. 2. Checked his hives, one hive had 32 queen cells and 24 completed cups. 3. Went to split his other hive cause it was packed, 4 queens hatched out in front of me. I ran out of queen clips capturing them all. 4. Three days later my other hive swarmed. Went back over to his house to check the split. One of the queens I put in there had a varroa on her back and was up on the top of the undrawn frames away from all other bees. Not sure that she just had not been cleaned off yet due to not having a retinue yet or what. But never seen a queen with varroa on it. Not been on mating flight yet.
32 Queen Cell????!!! THAT has to be some kind of record! What kind of bees are they? The queen with varroa, also surprising! You have a lot of work ahead Carlos... strange doesn't begin to describe it. Thanks for sharing!
@@FrederickDunn Yes fred. 3 frames had 7 cups each! 10 frame hive body. So much brood they only put one pollen frame and one honey. I got pictures because I couldnt believe it.
@@FrederickDunn The queen with varroa on her back was a freshly hatched Saskatraz queen. But she did not have varroa when she hatched. This was 3 days later when I was checking the split. The varroa was on her good. I couldnt get it off without making her want to take off flying so I just put her down below and will see next week what she looks like.
Do you think bees will pre-scout prior to swarming. I wondered because I have my first swarm traps out and one of the land owners sent me pictures of bees going into it which I could see looked like scouts then we got that cold weather and rain here in PA. The swarm never showed so I wondered if they could be pre-scouting or is it just more likely that they rejected the trap given that it is a new box even though I have better comb, wax starter strips and lemongrass oil in it?
@@FrederickDunn just a follow up. I think I might have caught my first swarm!! If so I have to give you some credit for your sharing of knowledge. I looked at one of my boxes after 7pm tonight and bee activity. I think they are in and not scouts since it was so late in the evening and they seemed to be flying straight into the box? Fingers crossed. Now to build my Layens hive
Right now, I just have one per colony, but may switch to two depending on the traffic levels I see, or if they seem to need more venting during a nectar flow. If i were in the south, or some other hot climate, I think I'd go with two if the bees seem to be running into congestion at the enrance.
FRED, Why i do Pollen traps here and there. I do that for when i do a cell builder i rub the pollen in frames of comb the next year and set it next to frame of cells as well as a pollen sub patty. Makes for some great cells and Queens. Every area and every person has their own ways. Some tho just fail to understand and respect that. If you see a superced cell you can if you find the old Queen pull her and put her in a Nuke with some BEEs and so on and let the new Queen come out and take over. some times yes the Queen is old and a reason but a way to make sure you still have a Queen while the new one goes out to get mated. What i did last time i seen 1 getting robbed i plugged it fast moved the hive being robbed and set a empty hive it its place. next morning i opened the one i plugged back up and all was well. The robbers didnt like the empty box lol. If you got a package once the Queen starts to lay and are established before any brood is capped do a OA on it. I do same with swarms.
@@FrederickDunn I have on packages yes and always do on swarms. Have yet to see a 0 mite drop on any of them. I myself rather not spread mites to my clean hives if i can prevent it. Thats also why being my hives are at the farm all swarms or like the tree cutouts the OA was done at my place before they where taken to the farm
I currently have a double deep 10 frame hive that is booming. Loads of pollen and resources. But it is queenless, and many full framess of drone brood. I have observed multiple laying workers in action. This hive landing board looks exactly like my other 2 strong hives, and I was completely baffled by the loads of drone brood upon the inspection. They currently have two supercedure queen cells after I donated eggs and brood from another hive., so it is all a waiting game now. I don’t have any idea if this hive will allow a queen to mate and take over. I am sure this is rare, but bees are always surprising me when I inspect.
I actually think the chances are good that the one of the new queens may be successful as she will have been attended to by resident nurse bees and has the right scent associated with her. Please keep us updated as this will be an interesting dymanic within the hive. My guess is that the laying workers will simply return to non-laying in the presence of a home-grown queen :)
@@FrederickDunn will do. I am anxious to see how they manage themselves. On another topic, only slightly related... I just watched “inside the hive” videos made by Dr. Paul Siefert. I think you would appreciate his approach, and it’s super cool.
Fred. I had a huge hive. It swarmed on me but lots of bees left. I divided the bees and 12 capped queen cells into two different boxes. Is this a mistake? Thanks
I actually think that's a great time to split them since you have the hive boxes, and just equally divide all resources and bees. See how goes as you may have averted afterswarming. Keep us posted!
I installed packages last month on the 9th they are doing well almost ready for 2nd box one hive has many drones but still has worker lots of worker brood. Also the frames stuck to the inner cover and lifted about an inch before falling can that hurt the queen?
Always try to give the box a little twist before lifting so those frames from below don't come up with your super. Regarding potentially damaging the queen, definitely a possibility when frames suddenly shift before being spread apart.
Frederick Dunn is normal tho for one package to bee having lots of drone I did put in one frame of drawn come and there was probably drone come on it I do see wormer brood as well
Ha Fed great video the weather is breaking here and the bees are just loving it. it has been cold here and raining they have not had much of a chance to get any nector the flow will be over this month so I expect to be feeding in June I am up to 42 hives now well hives and nucs I should say I am glad to be able to try raising my own queens the mail stress when u buy queens is just terrible. That was a great idea about marking the drones for practice. and the video from your cell phone was just wonderful thanks for the time u spend in doing the questions for people u could be doing things for your self any way u are great Thanks and have a blessed day
Wow, that's great progress Frances! That's more than enough bees to keep you very busy! I'm trying hard to keep my numbers down this year, so I can spend more time on individual colonies. I'm glad the video was helpful and that your bees are doing so well! It's great to get good news from beekeepers :)
Happy Friday Fred. I did my first walkaway split 3 weeks ago with some swarm cells from a strong colony trying to swarm. It was literally my first split ever and I didn't know to remove all but the best looking queen cell, actually I now remember you talking about this. Anyway there were 5 fully capped queen cells and when they started hatching I witnessed my first swarm just as they were pouring out, awesome. I had to go back to work for a few hours and when I came home there it was head high in 1 of my apple trees not far from my apiary. My first swarm, awesome! 1 split is now 2. Have you seen this all from a strong nuc? I have to split another colony next week. I don't know you but a lot of swarm cells?
Hi! I have a question regarding my new queen in her cage. After 4 days I can still see the workers surrounding the cage quite heavily, not sure if they're being aggressive or trying to keep her warm/fed. The previous new queen was balling'd and killed so I'm hesitant to let this queen out. Can you please advise me on what I should do?
first year trying bee keeping, starting out trying to capture swarming bees. I'm using 5 swarm traps in an attempt to catch swarms. Each trap has three frames of bees wax foundation, and three open frames. I'm seeing hundreds of bees around two swarm traps on warmer days over the last two weeks - is it an indicator that those traps are favorable? I see thirty or 40 bees around the other traps. is it likely that the very active traps are situated in more favorable locations and the other traps are located in less favorable locations, should I relocate the less active traps. Additional question, should the frames with foundation be closer to the entrance of the trap or should the open frames be closer to the open entrance. my traps have an entrance low on one box face and another entrance high on another face of the box, should they both be open, or is it more favorable to have just one open and if so should it be high or low? What's the ideal swarming weather conditions? Going through the highs and lows of scout activity :). Using swarm commander as an attractant. Thank you for the guidance and all your efforts with the YT pages, it's been a wonderful source of information.
Statistially, single lower entrance facing east, southeast, or south. Hive height at about 12 feet. Next to a clearing. Drawn comb is far better than foundation or foundationless. I would center the foundation frames or towards the east. Scouts will explore the entire interior and act more on space available. More scouts, more interest in that box assuming there is no syrup, honey, or other enticement. Use the swarm commander very sparingly so that you can only barely detect the scent. Too much will potentially repel future occupants. I hope that helps and I wish you the best.
I am building a Langstrom Long hive - can I easily move my current hive that are in 2 deep boxes to the new Long hive? I had planned to set up Long Hive by the 2 deep boxes.
Yes, I've thoroughly tested permacomb here in my apiary. I have nothing against the product, but won't be using it in the future. They often seal up the cells at the plastic surface, or below, making the risk of getting plastic particles in the honey all the higher.
Swarm cells are normally on the fringes of the frames. Supercedure cells are made from worker cells and are often found in the center of a normal worker brood frame.
Is there an expiration date for the BeeKeepPal discount code? I'm new at this and just caught my first swarm. I'm trying the free version but would want to sign up with a discount if I like it enough.
Is it true you get reduced honey production with a Flow Hive? Someone just told me his friend had half the honey with a Flow than with a standard langstroth. I have my doubts.
That's a great question and the answer is that Flow-Hives produce more honey than traditional Langstroth Hives when harvesting in the traditional methods. I'm doing a Cornell presentation next month about that very thing :) If someone tells you that you get "half the honey" simply ask them to explain the logistics as to why that is so? Ask how they quantified it? I think you'll find the science lacking as with many who simply make blanket statements about Flowhives without actually evaluating them. With all things being equal, bee stock, size of the colony, same location, and forage, Flow-Hive Supers interrupt the flow far less than other methods.
Correct we don’t have varroa mites here in oz. However as part of Bio Security in Australia we still have to check for them. You never know if some bees sneak in on a ship or plane from somewhere else in the world. Although now with pandemic there’s less of a chance. Which is a good thing 🐝🐝🐝🇦🇺🇦🇺🍯🍯🍯
Awesome footage Fredrick. Once again thanks for sharing, all great information. I’ll try posting my latest video on your Facebook group the way to bee. My brother has already uploaded a video on his RUclips channel Geoff Ball. Of our inspection today Saturday the 15/05/2021.🇦🇺👍👍🐝🐝🐝🍯🍯🍯
Any treatment or activity that is used with great regularity runs the risk of leaving survivor mites in the gene pool. However, OA is not currently listed as a miticide that they build resistance to. My greatest concern is the use of OA extensively and not necessarily effectively, there are other concerns apart from the mites resisting.
Fred i am a new beekeeper and i want to start trying to start grafting but i do not have too many bees,But i have a double screen board,and a few frames of nurse bees but i was wondering i want to try to prime the JZBZ CUPS with royal jelly but i mean fill it up and see what happens Any advice you can give me would be very helpful, thank's...John
Hi Fred. Ray Clark here from Steubenville, Oh. Got my package and seen my marked queen is green. Do you think this is good? Long lang I have and has 3 entrances. 2 are blocked should I open second entrance when frames pass this point. Thanks.
I would ask the seller about the queen's age. or, you've received a queen that's at the end of her useful life at 2 years old. Maybe the seller isn't familiar with years and their associated colors. I just leave the single end entrance open, if that ever gets to a large traffic jam, then open another. One entrance is all mine have needed.
Hi Fred! I just have a quick question, why is the Queen excluder larger than the boxes in both width and length? Maybe it is the brand I got but mine sticks out about a 1/8” on either side, front and back. I would think this would cause water to lay there and even seep into the hive. Should I trim it before I use it? (When I put the super on). Thank you as always for your great content!- Heather
I suppose that capillary action could draw some moisture in, but don't think it's much of a problem and the little bit of extra material will make it conspicuous which hives have queen excluders on AND, that little lip extending beyond the box makes removal during inspections easier :)
@@FrederickDunn Yeah, paying for the brand isn't my thing... 😜 I want nice things on the inside of my phone, I don't care much about the status or hype. 😁
I ordered a Beeweaver queen, which I thought was going to be shipped the week of 5/10. On 5/10 I destroyed the two swarm cells in the hive the Beeweaver queen was going to be installed in. It turns out, I was mistaken and it wasn't going to be shipped out until 5/17. So I screwed up and destroyed the swarm cells too early. Today (5/15) I got an email from the BeeWeaver people telling me they were having issue getting their orders filled due to weather. They aren't going to ship until the next week (5/24). How do I compensate for my mistake? I'm concerned I might have encouraged a laying working situation.
Laying workers need about 3 weeks of queenlessness before they kick in, or have that potential. Given that there were queen cells in the hive, they would not have begun that transition yet, so I think you're ok with that timeline :)
Thank you for the info on the macro lens. Will look into it. Question: any development or evaluation on the app for varroa mites, that you talked about last season? Thank you for sharing that tid bit about you using the kitchen for test you make on your bees. Must say though that the experience you shared with the mice and mouse traps last fall gave me the « beegees »....I would have followed up with a chlorine bleach of the kitchen. As for her thinking that you are, in intelligence, above us average Joe....I would agree. It seems hard today to even permit that such a thing exist with all this talk about the « we are all equal » ideology. We are all equal in our dignity as human beings but not in what we were endowed with at birth. We are asked to live, accept and do the best we can with whatever it is we got and have. This is a quality I discover among most beekeepers and that is why I so like the people who are involved in this field. I think you are an example of that and that is why I’m a subscriber. You are a cut above most with a dose of humility. All this is to talk about the « clipping of the wings of the queen »? I think what offends people in this is to call a spade a spade. It is the « mutilation » of animals, to accommodate our needs. People have reacted negatively to that and have un-subscribed. Well the mutilation of animals for our own accommodation is nothing to brag about, I would think. Personally, it is not a tool I want in my tool chest in bee keeping, for no other reason than that it is the mutilation of animals, a point that is most often lost in the debate. Science does not have a ♥️. But we do. We are suppose to contribute that to the rational thinking of science, which is without a soul or a heart. That is our job to do as human beings. Our heart need to be aligned with our reason! In the case of mutilating animals...don’t think that it is. My tid bit for what it is worth.
Go to Kamon Reynolds and look at his horizontal hive video. He is promoting someone who makes and ships them and he received one of theirs free for review. Lots of options regarding their configuration. That's the only one I know of.
Maybe disposable gloves not such a good idea handling new nucs. My pointer finger at the first joint is now 3 times bigger Feels like it's going to explode. I dont mind a sting dont mind pain but, takes my body over 2 weeks to recover from a sting. Anyone else take that long?
I use it on my Samsung... I don't load the app to the phone, what I do is go to the dash-board of the BeeKeepPal and save that to my phone as an icon. So when I'm clicking that, it's not an app, but rather a shortcut to the online storefront. I hope that helps :)
Thank you for addressing my concerns, much appreciated. Fred, have you experimented with smoke treatments for varroa? facebook.com/103082781936345/posts/114500247461265/?sfnsn=mo Fred, do you use broodminder or any scale, temperature/humidity monitors? Do you recommend any?
That's an old study, I don't know of any reinforcing information that supports that finding. Remember, they had to close up the bees with smoke for 60 seconds. It's more than just selecting smoker material for mite control. Long pine needles also have some benefit to the bees, but not available where I live. Thanks for sharing.
Sir, i have laying worker problem in my apice cerana queenless colony for a month, could you please give me possible solution so that i can save the colony. Thanks Birendra , Northen , india.
I'm sorry, I don't have experience with Apis ceranae, but if you are queen less and have a laying worker, you'll have to bring in a new queen to install. You can (with Apis M.) shake out all of the bees in front of the hive once the new queen is installed and the laying workers will not be capable of flying back into the hive... this is the normal practice for defeating laying workers. You can also try installing a QMP lure in the hive to see if the laying will stop. OR, if you have other hives, pull a frame of brood with eggs and young larvae and install that into the queenless colony so they can produce a new queen.
@@FrederickDunn thank you sir, for your quick responce, moreover activity of apice ceranae and apice M are almost Similar. but problem is here with me i shook them thrice in a Consequences days , i took them to 80 meter away from original hive. But still workers are laying eggs . I have one another questinon as if i install mated queen in it . , can mated queen be installed in the presence of laying workers . If yes or how many laying worker can be presence in a queenless hive. This is can be almost 1 month old queenless hive. Hoping for your responce. Thanks. Regards. Birendra. Himalayan bee keeper.
1) Have you tried using a queen excluder from Blythewood to restrain swarms until you can be ready for a split?
Would it work? 5:30
2) I had a hive being robbed, but it was from my Flow-Hive and I figured they could use it. I will fortify them with a frame of brood later on. Thoughts and recommendations? 11:12
3) Can I install two packages at the same time, or should I install one and wait for the other? I received a OA treated package and plan to re-treat on the 10th day. You mention OAV treatments, but don't mention repetitions? 16:13
4) Do you sugar shake your bees, or just alcohol washes when searching for varroa mites? 21:38
5) Is there way to tell if a split has a newly mated queen, or laying worker just from landing board observations? 29:30
6) I've noticed drones flying all day long, coming and going. What are they doing? 33:23
7) If I have a queen that is small, and another queen that looks better from a swarm, could I try to replace the inferior queen with the virgin from the swarm? 38:53
8) What is the best method to determine which of my hives has the defensive bees? I can't tell as they are all so close together. 43:45
9) I have been looking for a good tool to record my beekeeping activity. You mentioned Bee Keep Pal, I was excited to look into it. Are you happy with the features? 47:07
Fred, keep up the great work !!! I have learned so much and adopted a lot of the things you have shared, thank you !!
Thanks so much, Rodney! :)
Practice on drones... BRILLIANT! Kicking myself that I didn't think of that. You keep exceeding my expectations Fred. Give yerself a pat on the back. Thanks again 👍
Thanks Henry!
Hi
Thank You for taking time to answer my question. I don't want to disturb my new split as weather turned wet and cold again. However as soon as I examine this hive I will write update.
Regards
Robert Kajor,Essex,UK
You're welcome Robert!
Loved the bee videos attached at the end. Beautiful pics! Thanx for sharing it.
Thank you for showing how many different ways there are for beekeepers to do the same thing, ie mite counts. You demonstrate the old saying, if you ask 5 beekeepers a question you will get 10 different answers.
Love the tip on marking queens by practicing on drones...
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks again for this week’s video. They really help out 👍🐝
😂😂 The bit about his wife in the kitchen commenting on how smart he looked with the dead bugs.
Amazing pictures with just your phone!!!!! Thanks!
I was very surprised! Thanks for commenting, Rodney! :)
On the topic of the queen excluder entrance bar. The best look that I have had with keeping Swarm’s from ever leaving is to put a frame of eggs, capped brood, and honey inside the new home. They’re good parents and won’t leave.
Yes, anchor babies...
Thanks Fred for teaching us... mainly me!
Love listening and watching your videos.
My thought about marking Queens, remember to do a test dot before you touch the queen. Sometimes especially in the heat the paint in the pens get really thin and will run out on them like water.
Great tip! Yes, alway shake shake shake those pens before use! Wow, I would really hate to see that happen!
Thank you for that answer Fred - I have to look around for some leather gloves to test my hives. The temperament wasn't too bad today.
Glad to help
@@FrederickDunn Hi Fred I had some cheap harbor freight work gloves and the only way I got any attention from any hives was to shove it in the entrance. These are what I used should I get different ones ? --> www.harborfreight.com/split-leather-work-gloves-67440.html
“No one is smarter than everyone”....yes the hive mind is usually right!
Happy Friday Mr. Dunn!
We were taught by the owners of the commercial apiary i worked for to always !find the queen! and set her aside before scooping bees for an alcohol wash.
That can be a very time consuming task if the population is high in a colony. There may also be more than one queen in a hive.
@@FrederickDunn oh i assure you there was a lot of "meh.. she's not on this frame" (proceeds to shake and scoop bees)
Fred, I installed two packages in two Layens frames yesterday with the box to entrance alignment method you mentioned - it went swimmingly, and the Mite count on the one box that had enough bees to check a good number was only 1 in a bit over a cup of bees (seems good!).
Thanks for your prior Q and A statements on those things! It gave great ideas!
I came up with a new idea on the Layens frame feeder cover. I used a Layens frame top bar only (removed rest of frame) with notches cut at six inches to cover the plastic feeder instead of cutting plywood (well, I cut the plywood first then came up with it after) - works very well, and I already had a couple messed up frames from last year’s bear shenanigans anyways - (made a half inch deep notch in the middle of the lower part of the top bar, about 3/4” on each side of center). I made a video on it (nothing special lol). I’ll post a video of the install with a time lapse of their march in when I get editing.
That's awesome! I'll be using that package install method going forward, just seems so practical on many fronts.
Just found your channel! Thank you sir!
Welcome!
Impressed by the phone vids, I ordered the lens thru your link.
BTW, when I ordered, there was a 15% discount coupon checkbox.
Generally, I use a P&S camera on a 10 sec timer when I do inspections.
Looking forward to using my phone.
The closing sequences were excellent, Fred! I would like to see how buckwheat flower “traps” the bees.
I've made videos of bees trapped by milkweed, but not buckwheat.... hmmmm interesssting...
@@FrederickDunn ... my bad... Milkweed.
@@FrederickDunn Ive planted buckwheat for them. They love it. ,-)
Used your link to get that lens. Here’s to seeing!!! 🍻🍺🍻🍺
Hope you enjoy it! thanks so much for the support :) It's no secret that I enjoy gadgets :)
I LOVE the practice drone concept... I am hesitant to mark queens, and this could give me some confidence. Thanks!
You can do it! We don't feel too bad about harrassing drones :) it's also how I teach my Grandsons to handle bees and they get very excited about holding drones :)
@@FrederickDunn but... How do you grab them? By the body?
Thanks, Fred.
Xenvo is not available in Amazon.ca so ordered one through your link and paid for shipping and Customs.
My wife was looking for one that works well as she still has a use for a good lense post retirement.
There's a 15% off coupon. That doesn't hurt.
Cheers
Jim
Yea--- it would be great to follow how your hives are progressing with the recent warm up. I am wondering how often inspections will need to be done now that spring is exploding here in the Northeast. ~TBB
Completely depends on what I'm observing and what the hive/colony history is. Some get looked in on more than others. I follow up on my splits after 10-15 days. And again until I see evidence of eggs being produced by a mated queen. Splits need to be watched carefully.
I love your humor
Thanks :)
Dito! 😂
That was a rough comment Mr Fred I do know why the garbage disposal is but instead of throwing the food away I feed it to the animals.lol
i used my 2 hivegates in new 5 frame nucs, so far doing okay will be transferring to 10 frames equipment,...btw never knew about streaker bees.thanks
I appreciate your sarcasm so much, really.
:)
Lol, me too, it's right up my alley! 😂
cool i have a phoneskope case adapter,that connects to a spotting scope on a tripod ,a bluetooth remote shutter button,i use for birds and deer ,good info today on drones and queens,flying sperm made me laugh ,thanks for thinking of randy and his recovery,tons of rain heading this way ,im so tired of 🌧 thunder ⛈, stay healthy ,yeah that phone clip on lens is sweet
You're welcome Mark! WE all hope the best for Randy O.
Great info and some shots look really good
Glad you enjoyed it
Thank you for your sharing your knowledge. Wondering if you would mind letting me know where you get your hive numbers. I have been looking for something that looks professional and easy to read. Thank you
Those are Valve Tags. Solid brass and sold by many industrial plumbing supply companies. I still like them a lot.
Wow, that lens really works well... Did the phone autofocus because I noted the bee in the sequence went out of focus and then it refocused? Fred, I so enjoy your Q&A videos that I went interstate to visit my mum and my sister and returned and immediately sat and spent my Saturday night with you.....(well OK, I wasn’t going out so not that much of a sacrifice but I did enjoy it all).
Yes, the phone focuses on its own. I also noticed that close up, my phone achieved a better focus with the clip on lens than without it. What?! You left your family for me? :) !
Hey Fred. If you were to picked up a swarm from a person a couple miles away from your house. How long would you theoretically want to wait before replacing that queen with a bee weaver queen? And are there certain times of the year that you would hold off replacing a queen.
I just wait until they have a good amount of eggs and brood going, then remove the queen ahead of receiving the replacement. Since you're replacing the queen with a fully developed laying queen, the time of year isn't that critical. If they are producing their own replacement queen, then you want it to happen during a prime nectar flow for maximum health and nutrition for the developing queen.
@@FrederickDunn speaking of bee weaver queens. If all of your hives has bee weaver and then they are naturally replaced when each queen gets old, is the replacement queen that the bees created going to be less and less of a genetic profile of bee weaver as time goes on due to mating with drones. If that is the case then would it be a good idea to replace say every other generation of queen with e new bee weaver? I’m
Asking because I like the idea of the bee weaver mite resistance and am wondering if that fades over times.
Two questions. Do bees have a memory? Do they remember you each time you are in the hive? Do you have a list somewhere of all the items you listed in your videos? Such as all the Amazon items, betterbee,etc. I have a hard time remembering what product was from what video.
I don't think I have an overall product list, but may try to do that in the future on my main website. Thanks for asking.
It’s good to be above average
Here’s a thought and/or question - if you have a hive that always has one guard be that just doesn’t seem keen on lawnmowers and weedwackers trimming up THEIR apiary, would maybe some sugar water and honey bee healthy mixture sprayed at the entrance/on the guards before hand help out at all? Anyone tried it?
I got one Queen working too hives. I think it's pretty cool but I have been told I need to separate them but I shouldn't have to worry about that until winter right to make sure both has Queen for the winter
If they are functioning, I leave them alone.
I don't have a garbage disposal. Do I need to get rid of my bees?
Kidding. Obviously, I'll be putting one in this weekend.
I honestly don't see the difference between having a disposal unit or not
it's just humor doug, it doesn't matter one bit. :)
Fred, after I split my colony that was making and charging queen cells, the queenless colony swarmed yesterday with a newly hatched virgin. I found 5 other virgins!! Why would a virgin swarm ? I thought I only left 3 cells when I made the split. There were 3-4 cells that haven’t hatched yet as well. I thought I would have prevented the swarm after splitting them. ????
You can do every single thing right, and yet your bees may swarm even with a virgin queen. The good news is that there are backup cells yet to hatch and one of those will become the resident queen. This is an important trait to add to your records for this colony. I've had colonies in the past that simply swarmed themselves down to a skeleton crew. It often has to do with the genetics of that queen. BUT, those genetics change as the new virgin queen gets mated with unknown drones.
@@FrederickDunn yeah I currently have 5 splits off this one nuc and queen!!!
@@FrederickDunn oh and I’m literally sitting in my car with two new nucs I just drove 3 hours to get them and I am half way back. Barrel hive bound, is one of them!!
Omg... You're killing me with the comments about how you're wife thinks you're so smart and above average due to your scientific method of checking bees. I laughed out loud and my wife just looked at me, as if I was sub par. Lol
Wives keep us well within calibration... :)
great idea catching drones could you do a video of that? How do you get that close to the landing board?
ruclips.net/video/p_FKWzG4z84/видео.html
I keep screened bottom boards because I love to check my hives by looking at the detritus on the catch tray to determine the activity and health of the colony.
Varroa has not yet entered Australia, yet we need to do sugar shakes twice a year to spot it before it spreads.
In between sugar shakes, is the bottom board tray a good way to detect mites? I see tray replacements that have have a grid for counting mite fall. How do I use these grids? Is a mite fall count a way to replace the sugar shake for those in varroa established areas?
Again, for me, ONE mite is a serious emergency.
I'll discuss this on Friday :)
Happy Friday Mr Dunn 🇱🇨👍🏿♥️
27:17 I had to recline, it was getting a little too deep, not that I don't like humor covered with rice.😅
First attempt at Queen marking 2 days ago. Pen needs shaking, and Queen got messaged until I pushed tip a couple of times on hive. Hope she forgives me. Great tip for practicing on drones.
Fred, thinking ahead to varroa mite treatment. The vaporizer you use has a 1/4” nozzle, but is expensive. The under 100 vaporizers have a wide tray that is inserted into the hive but won’t fit thru the round entrance (layens horizontal hive). I drilled a 1/4 hole and plugged it, but can’t find an inexpensive vaporizer of the style where a hose delivers the vapor. No such thing?
Look for copies of the ProVap 110, there are a lot of beekeepers making their own versions and demonstrating how to make your own. yes, they are definitely very expensive and the Layens Hive is not designed for any treatments as they practice a more wholistic approach of no treatments, no feeding, and two inspections per year. I obviously don't agree with that approach, but this is why the hive is not set up for mite controls or auxiliary feeding.
@@FrederickDunn yes, I’ll probably make something... I guess I was attracted to the horizontal layens for the ease of maintenance, no lifting, and for the claimed better over wintering (tall frames), rather than the no-treatment aspect. When building the hive I considered erouting a 6” long 1/2” entrance, and if I had realized the dimensions of the most common design of oxalic acid vaporizers, I would have.
Fred, You will not believe the week I have had.
1. Hive swarmed. Went to tree. Went over to my friends house to check his hives. Right as I drove up a swarm left the apple tree they were in and flew out to a swamp. Missed them by 10 minutes.
2. Checked his hives, one hive had 32 queen cells and 24 completed cups.
3. Went to split his other hive cause it was packed, 4 queens hatched out in front of me. I ran out of queen clips capturing them all.
4. Three days later my other hive swarmed. Went back over to his house to check the split. One of the queens I put in there had a varroa on her back and was up on the top of the undrawn frames away from all other bees. Not sure that she just had not been cleaned off yet due to not having a retinue yet or what. But never seen a queen with varroa on it. Not been on mating flight yet.
32 Queen Cell????!!! THAT has to be some kind of record! What kind of bees are they? The queen with varroa, also surprising! You have a lot of work ahead Carlos... strange doesn't begin to describe it. Thanks for sharing!
@@FrederickDunn Yes fred. 3 frames had 7 cups each! 10 frame hive body. So much brood they only put one pollen frame and one honey. I got pictures because I couldnt believe it.
@@FrederickDunn They are a half russian half carny hygenic bee out of New York. Small cell bees. They are tiny compared to regular bees.
@@FrederickDunn The queen with varroa on her back was a freshly hatched Saskatraz queen. But she did not have varroa when she hatched. This was 3 days later when I was checking the split. The varroa was on her good. I couldnt get it off without making her want to take off flying so I just put her down below and will see next week what she looks like.
Do you think bees will pre-scout prior to swarming. I wondered because I have my first swarm traps out and one of the land owners sent me pictures of bees going into it which I could see looked like scouts then we got that cold weather and rain here in PA. The swarm never showed so I wondered if they could be pre-scouting or is it just more likely that they rejected the trap given that it is a new box even though I have better comb, wax starter strips and lemongrass oil in it?
Yes, they scout new locations a week or more prior to departing their resident hive.
@@FrederickDunn just a follow up. I think I might have caught my first swarm!! If so I have to give you some credit for your sharing of knowledge. I looked at one of my boxes after 7pm tonight and bee activity. I think they are in and not scouts since it was so late in the evening and they seemed to be flying straight into the box? Fingers crossed. Now to build my Layens hive
For those of us using the hyve gate. Are you using on or two per hive.
Right now, I just have one per colony, but may switch to two depending on the traffic levels I see, or if they seem to need more venting during a nectar flow. If i were in the south, or some other hot climate, I think I'd go with two if the bees seem to be running into congestion at the enrance.
14:30 no photos of those brood frames.
video right near end of video
I was one-handing it with the phone and frame... I'll do much better images and video when I do the inspection procedure video that 's coming up. :)
Love idea marking drones. I feel dumb what kind marker should i use
Testor's paint sticks work nice, enamel lasts a long time. Many bee suppliers sell the marking pens that work well.
FRED, Why i do Pollen traps here and there. I do that for when i do a cell builder i rub the pollen in frames of comb the next year and set it next to frame of cells as well as a pollen sub patty. Makes for some great cells and Queens. Every area and every person has their own ways. Some tho just fail to understand and respect that. If you see a superced cell you can if you find the old Queen pull her and put her in a Nuke with some BEEs and so on and let the new Queen come out and take over. some times yes the Queen is old and a reason but a way to make sure you still have a Queen while the new one goes out to get mated. What i did last time i seen 1 getting robbed i plugged it fast moved the hive being robbed and set a empty hive it its place. next morning i opened the one i plugged back up and all was well. The robbers didnt like the empty box lol. If you got a package once the Queen starts to lay and are established before any brood is capped do a OA on it. I do same with swarms.
Hi Matthew, are you doing that OA treatment without mite counting?
@@FrederickDunn I have on packages yes and always do on swarms. Have yet to see a 0 mite drop on any of them. I myself rather not spread mites to my clean hives if i can prevent it. Thats also why being my hives are at the farm all swarms or like the tree cutouts the OA was done at my place before they where taken to the farm
I currently have a double deep 10 frame hive that is booming. Loads of pollen and resources. But it is queenless, and many full framess of drone brood. I have observed multiple laying workers in action. This hive landing board looks exactly like my other 2 strong hives, and I was completely baffled by the loads of drone brood upon the inspection. They currently have two supercedure queen cells after I donated eggs and brood from another hive., so it is all a waiting game now. I don’t have any idea if this hive will allow a queen to mate and take over. I am sure this is rare, but bees are always surprising me when I inspect.
I actually think the chances are good that the one of the new queens may be successful as she will have been attended to by resident nurse bees and has the right scent associated with her. Please keep us updated as this will be an interesting dymanic within the hive. My guess is that the laying workers will simply return to non-laying in the presence of a home-grown queen :)
@@FrederickDunn will do. I am anxious to see how they manage themselves.
On another topic, only slightly related... I just watched “inside the hive” videos made by Dr. Paul Siefert. I think you would appreciate his approach, and it’s super cool.
Fred. I had a huge hive. It swarmed on me but lots of bees left. I divided the bees and 12 capped queen cells into two different boxes. Is this a mistake? Thanks
I actually think that's a great time to split them since you have the hive boxes, and just equally divide all resources and bees. See how goes as you may have averted afterswarming. Keep us posted!
How often should we wash our leather gloves and is there an oil treatment we should use on the leather after washing?
I'd just use saddle soap.
I installed packages last month on the 9th they are doing well almost ready for 2nd box one hive has many drones but still has worker lots of worker brood. Also the frames stuck to the inner cover and lifted about an inch before falling can that hurt the queen?
Always try to give the box a little twist before lifting so those frames from below don't come up with your super. Regarding potentially damaging the queen, definitely a possibility when frames suddenly shift before being spread apart.
Frederick Dunn is normal tho for one package to bee having lots of drone I did put in one frame of drawn come and there was probably drone come on it I do see wormer brood as well
Ha Fed great video the weather is breaking here and the bees are just loving it. it has been cold here and raining they have not had much of a chance to get any nector the flow will be over this month so I expect to be feeding in June I am up to 42 hives now well hives and nucs I should say I am glad to be able to try raising my own queens the mail stress when u buy queens is just terrible. That was a great idea about marking the drones for practice. and the video from your cell phone was just wonderful thanks for the time u spend in doing the questions for people u could be doing things for your self any way u are great Thanks and have a blessed day
Wow, that's great progress Frances! That's more than enough bees to keep you very busy! I'm trying hard to keep my numbers down this year, so I can spend more time on individual colonies. I'm glad the video was helpful and that your bees are doing so well! It's great to get good news from beekeepers :)
Happy Friday Fred. I did my first walkaway split 3 weeks ago with some swarm cells from a strong colony trying to swarm. It was literally my first split ever and I didn't know to remove all but the best looking queen cell, actually I now remember you talking about this. Anyway there were 5 fully capped queen cells and when they started hatching I witnessed my first swarm just as they were pouring out, awesome. I had to go back to work for a few hours and when I came home there it was head high in 1 of my apple trees not far from my apiary. My first swarm, awesome! 1 split is now 2. Have you seen this all from a strong nuc? I have to split another colony next week. I don't know you but a lot of swarm cells?
You are getting a lot of managing and learning in with all of those swarm cells and after swarms. Thanks for sharing :)
Hi! I have a question regarding my new queen in her cage. After 4 days I can still see the workers surrounding the cage quite heavily, not sure if they're being aggressive or trying to keep her warm/fed. The previous new queen was balling'd and killed so I'm hesitant to let this queen out. Can you please advise me on what I should do?
In this video, I show you waht to look for in determining their acceptance of the queen. ruclips.net/video/x_HE4DEzLUc/видео.html
first year trying bee keeping, starting out trying to capture swarming bees. I'm using 5 swarm traps in an attempt to catch swarms. Each trap has three frames of bees wax foundation, and three open frames. I'm seeing hundreds of bees around two swarm traps on warmer days over the last two weeks - is it an indicator that those traps are favorable? I see thirty or 40 bees around the other traps. is it likely that the very active traps are situated in more favorable locations and the other traps are located in less favorable locations, should I relocate the less active traps. Additional question, should the frames with foundation be closer to the entrance of the trap or should the open frames be closer to the open entrance. my traps have an entrance low on one box face and another entrance high on another face of the box, should they both be open, or is it more favorable to have just one open and if so should it be high or low? What's the ideal swarming weather conditions? Going through the highs and lows of scout activity :). Using swarm commander as an attractant. Thank you for the guidance and all your efforts with the YT pages, it's been a wonderful source of information.
Statistially, single lower entrance facing east, southeast, or south. Hive height at about 12 feet. Next to a clearing. Drawn comb is far better than foundation or foundationless. I would center the foundation frames or towards the east. Scouts will explore the entire interior and act more on space available. More scouts, more interest in that box assuming there is no syrup, honey, or other enticement. Use the swarm commander very sparingly so that you can only barely detect the scent. Too much will potentially repel future occupants. I hope that helps and I wish you the best.
I am building a Langstrom Long hive - can I easily move my current hive that are in 2 deep boxes to the new Long hive? I had planned to set up Long Hive by the 2 deep boxes.
Absolutely, that's a very easy transition to make, particularly if your Long Lang is to be placed right where your current hive is.
"she thinks I'm above average" 😂😂😂
I wonder of new-bees might not be interested in knowing about terms like vsh bees?
Fred. I know you love “bettercomb” but have you tried permacomb. The RUclips video of this stuff looks great.
Yes, I've thoroughly tested permacomb here in my apiary. I have nothing against the product, but won't be using it in the future. They often seal up the cells at the plastic surface, or below, making the risk of getting plastic particles in the honey all the higher.
Hi! What is the difference between a swarm cell and a superseder cell? How can you tell the difference looking at them?
Swarm cells are normally on the fringes of the frames. Supercedure cells are made from worker cells and are often found in the center of a normal worker brood frame.
Is there an expiration date for the BeeKeepPal discount code? I'm new at this and just caught my first swarm. I'm trying the free version but would want to sign up with a discount if I like it enough.
HI Brian, they didn't mention an expiration date, but it's only for the first year.
Is it true you get reduced honey production with a Flow Hive? Someone just told me his friend had half the honey with a Flow than with a standard langstroth. I have my doubts.
That's a great question and the answer is that Flow-Hives produce more honey than traditional Langstroth Hives when harvesting in the traditional methods. I'm doing a Cornell presentation next month about that very thing :) If someone tells you that you get "half the honey" simply ask them to explain the logistics as to why that is so? Ask how they quantified it? I think you'll find the science lacking as with many who simply make blanket statements about Flowhives without actually evaluating them. With all things being equal, bee stock, size of the colony, same location, and forage, Flow-Hive Supers interrupt the flow far less than other methods.
I’m rewatching it because my bees swarmed last week, so I’m looking for some things to do with them
The Sydney guy asking about varroa mite counts? I thought varroa mites did not exist in Aus yet! I guess he could always check.
Correct we don’t have varroa mites here in oz. However as part of Bio Security in Australia we still have to check for them. You never know if some bees sneak in on a ship or plane from somewhere else in the world. Although now with pandemic there’s less of a chance. Which is a good thing 🐝🐝🐝🇦🇺🇦🇺🍯🍯🍯
@@TrickyTrev01 ... g’d onya, m8! 🍻 Johno
Excellent response Trevor! Makes perfect sense to me :)
I've put out ultra bee pollen before, dry, and I had "drowned" bees. ?
I have no idea how that would be possible? So odd.
Edevaldo 👆
Awesome footage Fredrick. Once again thanks for sharing, all great information. I’ll try posting my latest video on your Facebook group the way to bee. My brother has already uploaded a video on his RUclips channel Geoff Ball. Of our inspection today Saturday the 15/05/2021.🇦🇺👍👍🐝🐝🐝🍯🍯🍯
Wouldn’t successive OA treatment risk raising resistant mites?
Any treatment or activity that is used with great regularity runs the risk of leaving survivor mites in the gene pool. However, OA is not currently listed as a miticide that they build resistance to. My greatest concern is the use of OA extensively and not necessarily effectively, there are other concerns apart from the mites resisting.
Fred i am a new beekeeper and i want to start trying to start grafting but i do not have too many bees,But i have a double screen board,and a few frames of nurse bees but i was wondering i want to try to prime the JZBZ CUPS with royal jelly but i mean fill it up and see what happens
Any advice you can give me would be very helpful, thank's...John
That's something I've never attempted... as in providing royal jelly to queen cups.
Hi Fred. Ray Clark here from Steubenville, Oh. Got my package and seen my marked queen is green. Do you think this is good? Long lang I have and has 3 entrances. 2 are blocked should I open second entrance when frames pass this point. Thanks.
I would ask the seller about the queen's age. or, you've received a queen that's at the end of her useful life at 2 years old. Maybe the seller isn't familiar with years and their associated colors. I just leave the single end entrance open, if that ever gets to a large traffic jam, then open another. One entrance is all mine have needed.
I just tried to get the app for iOS and the website says it is coming soon. And I cannot find it on the Apple App Store.
It's not an app yet... I just added the home page to my phone home screen, and the same on my tablet and desk top computer.
@@FrederickDunn ahh ok. I figured after I couldn’t find the app.
Hi Fred! I just have a quick question, why is the Queen excluder larger than the boxes in both width and length? Maybe it is the brand I got but mine sticks out about a 1/8” on either side, front and back. I would think this would cause water to lay there and even seep into the hive. Should I trim it before I use it? (When I put the super on). Thank you as always for your great content!- Heather
I suppose that capillary action could draw some moisture in, but don't think it's much of a problem and the little bit of extra material will make it conspicuous which hives have queen excluders on AND, that little lip extending beyond the box makes removal during inspections easier :)
@@FrederickDunn thank you!
Hey, don't say "it's JUST an android"! 😁 They can be really awesome quality gear! 💪
You're right Sara, but the price is much lower than iPhone :) But you're right there are some awesome phones out there, I don't have one of those :)
@@FrederickDunn
Yeah, paying for the brand isn't my thing... 😜 I want nice things on the inside of my phone, I don't care much about the status or hype. 😁
Does the hyfegate prevent mice from getting in.
absolutely... it does.
Hi fred i installed my package bees 15 days ago when do you install hivrgate
As soon as possible, any late afternoon would be good.
I ordered a Beeweaver queen, which I thought was going to be shipped the week of 5/10. On 5/10 I destroyed the two swarm cells in the hive the Beeweaver queen was going to be installed in. It turns out, I was mistaken and it wasn't going to be shipped out until 5/17. So I screwed up and destroyed the swarm cells too early. Today (5/15) I got an email from the BeeWeaver people telling me they were having issue getting their orders filled due to weather. They aren't going to ship until the next week (5/24). How do I compensate for my mistake? I'm concerned I might have encouraged a laying working situation.
Laying workers need about 3 weeks of queenlessness before they kick in, or have that potential. Given that there were queen cells in the hive, they would not have begun that transition yet, so I think you're ok with that timeline :)
Thank you for the info on the macro lens. Will look into it.
Question: any development or evaluation on the app for varroa mites, that you talked about last season?
Thank you for sharing that tid bit about you using the kitchen for test you make on your bees. Must say though that the experience you shared with the mice and mouse traps last fall gave me the « beegees »....I would have followed up with a chlorine bleach of the kitchen.
As for her thinking that you are, in intelligence, above us average Joe....I would agree. It seems hard today to even permit that such a thing exist with all this talk about the « we are all equal » ideology. We are all equal in our dignity as human beings but not in what we were endowed with at birth. We are asked to live, accept and do the best we can with whatever it is we got and have. This is a quality I discover among most beekeepers and that is why I so like the people who are involved in this field. I think you are an example of that and that is why I’m a subscriber. You are a cut above most with a dose of humility.
All this is to talk about the « clipping of the wings of the queen »? I think what offends people in this is to call a spade a spade. It is the « mutilation » of animals, to accommodate our needs. People have reacted negatively to that and have un-subscribed. Well the mutilation of animals for our own accommodation is nothing to brag about, I would think. Personally, it is not a tool I want in my tool chest in bee keeping, for no other reason than that it is the mutilation of animals, a point that is most often lost in the debate. Science does not have a ♥️. But we do. We are suppose to contribute that to the rational thinking of science, which is without a soul or a heart. That is our job to do as human beings. Our heart need to be aligned with our reason! In the case of mutilating animals...don’t think that it is. My tid bit for what it is worth.
Thank you so much Suzanne, for taking the time to write such a thoughtful post.
I'm first! I'm first! Oh yeah I'm first!
I received my Russian queen today wish me luck
Good luck Earl!
I've got a swarm that has been hanging on a swarm trap for 2 days. It's raining today and overnight it got to 52 degrees. Any suggestions?
Yes, hive them up! No need to wait for them to enter the trap, you can collect them and install in a hive body right away.
Well I guess I should not be keeping Bees because I don't see what's the difference between using one side of the sink or the other.
It all starts with knowing about sinks... ;) garbage disposal... so with that side :)
Fred... can you use your phone as a “hot spot” so you can use your iPad/tablet while out of WiFi range??
Possible, I just like things to be simple :) the phone is working fine :)
How can I get the grass out of my dandelions..... ? -)
you have to tolerate both :)
Fred, are you ok? Can't seem to find 111. Anyone know what's going on?
I'm good thannks! Just ran out of time and have been running around. I'll be back tomorrow! :)
Hi Mr bee guru of RUclips can you tell me where I can buy a good quality horizontal langstroth 32 frame hive?
Go to Kamon Reynolds and look at his horizontal hive video. He is promoting someone who makes and ships them and he received one of theirs free for review. Lots of options regarding their configuration. That's the only one I know of.
@@FrederickDunn Thanks for the info
Hmmm. Is the “Bee Keep Pal” android only? I don’t see it on my Apple phone
I just load the home page to my phone, I haven't installed any app.
Maybe disposable gloves not such a good idea handling new nucs. My pointer finger at the first joint is now 3 times bigger Feels like it's going to explode. I dont mind a sting dont mind pain but, takes my body over 2 weeks to recover from a sting. Anyone else take that long?
That's a very long time to recover from a sting... true, nitrile or similar gloves don't stop stings at all.
Is beekeep pal an apple only app? Samsung user here
I use it on my Samsung... I don't load the app to the phone, what I do is go to the dash-board of the BeeKeepPal and save that to my phone as an icon. So when I'm clicking that, it's not an app, but rather a shortcut to the online storefront. I hope that helps :)
That would explain why I can't find the app. Thanks!
Thank you for addressing my concerns, much appreciated.
Fred, have you experimented with smoke treatments for varroa?
facebook.com/103082781936345/posts/114500247461265/?sfnsn=mo
Fred, do you use broodminder or any scale, temperature/humidity monitors? Do you recommend any?
That's an old study, I don't know of any reinforcing information that supports that finding. Remember, they had to close up the bees with smoke for 60 seconds. It's more than just selecting smoker material for mite control. Long pine needles also have some benefit to the bees, but not available where I live. Thanks for sharing.
What's the best way to tell other people you don't build beehives for nobody but yourself
I think you said it right in your question :)
Sir, i have laying worker problem in my apice cerana queenless colony for a month, could you please give me possible solution so that i can save the colony.
Thanks
Birendra ,
Northen , india.
I'm sorry, I don't have experience with Apis ceranae, but if you are queen less and have a laying worker, you'll have to bring in a new queen to install. You can (with Apis M.) shake out all of the bees in front of the hive once the new queen is installed and the laying workers will not be capable of flying back into the hive... this is the normal practice for defeating laying workers. You can also try installing a QMP lure in the hive to see if the laying will stop. OR, if you have other hives, pull a frame of brood with eggs and young larvae and install that into the queenless colony so they can produce a new queen.
@@FrederickDunn thank you sir, for your quick responce, moreover activity of apice ceranae and apice M are almost Similar. but problem is here with me i shook them thrice in a Consequences days , i took them to 80 meter away from original hive. But still workers are laying eggs . I have one another questinon as if i install mated queen in it . , can mated queen be installed in the presence of laying workers . If yes or how many laying worker can be presence in a queenless hive. This is can be almost 1 month old queenless hive.
Hoping for your responce.
Thanks.
Regards.
Birendra.
Himalayan bee keeper.