All good stuff , I don't have bees but am learning a lot from so many good bee keepers here on the RUclips . I also hear that the Canadian Government may start allowing the sale of Bees from the States into Canada , that would be fantastic !!!
I’m so excited for spring because I’m starting beekeeping for the first time! Your videos are amazing and I’ve used your channel to learn what I need to. Thanks for the videos from Albert from eastern Kentucky!
Thanks David, valuable information, you have helped me tremendously, my hives are now in the best shape since I started bee keeping, keep up be good work all us new bee keepers need your input and advice, I am more interested in my bees than ever before Thanks to you.
Hi Dave...there is a bee colonie in a brick wall, next to my house..is been there for years..that a wild colonie, no doubt....there is no way to tear down that wall , is not my building..the owner is against taking down bricks of that wall....I dream to have that colonie in a box...sometimes I take a chair and sit next to them, watching...they are big bees, strong...
Thanks for you keeping us abreast of conditions and what to watch for as the year progresses. Its my first year with bees so I am following along with interest.
We have multiple wild caught swarms. One of ours was actually a trap out from a tree in a pasture here locally. There are very few bee keepers in our area all are about 10 miles or more away. Love your videos! Thank you for all you do. (Mid-Missouri)
With the people saying the guardians don't work, I wonder if this is one of those things where people think too much in absolutes and not performance? Like for example, book theory might say a guardian trap should eliminate 100% of all vermin, but in real terms maybe it did eliminate let's say 80%, but maybe people just see that 20% or 10% or whatever and think it didn't work? (And maybe a climate is so perfect for insects that eliminating the last 1% of them is impossible?) I am not taking any sides, but wondered if this could be the case? I also wanted to ask you about hive stands. I see a lot of people in videos putting the hives on two by fours, resting on cinder blocks. I wanted to ask how much weight you can have on cinder blocks with hives and not wake up with it having collapsed etc? What do you think about this also?
My strongest hive had 1 side of 2 frames that got slimmed by beetles. The beetle population isn't out of control but we did do a split to prevent a swarm from happening so that might have played a factor.
Thanks for another very informative video David. I always enjoy watching... And reading some of the better comments. Some ya just roll your eyes and move on.. lol. Stay safe my friend.
In dearth here in Central Ky., funny got 3 acres of white clover in full bloom, bee hive within a couple of feet of the clover, do not seem to be interested at all, but other insects are loving it. Bees seem to say thats it for now.
Love your channels! You made a comment on theres no wild or feral bees! I have 17 hives at present time I started with 6 this spring and every bee that I have are from wild bee populations! I have never caught a swarm from someone else's bees! The closes beekeeper to me is 15 to 20 miles! Keep the great content coming!
The person I bought my bees from rolled his eyes at the sentiment of "save the bees" He thinks its silly. He said the bees are doing just fine, meaning bees in the wild. I miss the beeker meetings.
I am so glad you addressed the open feeders, I only have 4 hives and I'm in a dearth right now and wanted to help keep my bees alive. I posted my chicken water feeder on a Facebook group and was met with nasty comments that it will promote mites afb or efb or other diseases, I actually agree all the bees food is not clean and yes they will find sugar products anywhere and it's best if you can keep them in the yard as much as possible
I agree about the lack of wild colonies. The hyper growth and mass development of the suburbs since my childhood have eliminated so many older trees, snags and other habitats. That is why so many swarms end up inside ceilings and walls...and so many extraction videos.
I love your vids! Thank you for sharing all the good information and knowledge that you have with us. I'm a new beek this year and was wondering how I'd be able to tell if there was a dearth. I noticed that my bees were trying to get sugar water from my hummingbird feeder about a week ago, which they never have done. So I set out a dish of 1:1 syrup and they devoured it. After a few more of those were sucked down within an hour, I set a feeder outside and another one inside their hive. They've been enjoying it immensely and have started building comb again in their hive, which they seemed to have put on "pause" the last few weeks. We're all trying to observe our bees and do the best we can for them, so it's very helpful to have a little help to recognize all the messages our bees are trying to give us. Thanks!
just got 2 of the beetle blasters for 2 8 frame hives i put at a friends. easy to install i have never had any serious issues with beetles but possibly because its so heavily wooded i dont know but i have NEVER!!! seen so many beetles we use the top traps bottom barns and now the entrance blaster, i will see in another week how much difference they make
I was watching my backyard hives this morning and was noticing they were bringing in various colors of pollen. I'm not certain what they are gathering from now but it coming in.
Starting to see some bees behind my hives so I think even South Florida is having a bit of a dearth. My bees are still working so there has to be something out there. This is my first year so I’m not sure if we even get a full dearth here. Thanks for all the info!
In Katy myself. Luckily there is a pond close to my hives. Did a cutout last weekend, they had no honey stores. Put them in a NUC and started feeding them immediately.
Hey David, I am a backyard beekeeper with 4 hives 2 strong and 2 weak. I don't have 100 yards to open feed from but have a shed and a 10 foot space between the shed and the fence and the hives are opposite that. If i put a feeder behind the shed it would be only 50 to 75 feet from my hives. Can i open feed behind the shed or no? Thanks.
Been looking through your videos but you don’t have a follow up on the fogger for mites. Did it work? Asking because if it works I would like to do it. Please let me know if it does or not. Thanks
Yes it works, but use mineral oil instead of the 190 proof alcohol. The 190 alcohol is hard to find, and precision has to be exact in the mixing. But the best option is oxalic acid vaporizer.
When your open feeding do you still feed your weaker colonies in the hive? I recently made some splits and just wondering if I should continue feeding them even though I’m open feeding?
First year bee keeper having trouble with my bees. I have 9 of the 10 frame.hives and 3 6frame nuc's. My bees are being very aggressive as far as my chickens and bitties.they have stung 3 of my bitties which did die from that. I feed them with open feeder I made. They have went through 10 gallon of sugar water and a 1lb bottle of pollen in 3 day's. What can I do to get them to leave My bittie feed alone so much
the areas have to have feral bees. if not. you are out of luck. dearth is the best time to learn if your area have bees or not. just by open feed somewhere with 1:1 sugarwater. a plus if there lemongrass or Honeybee healthy mix with.
Question I got a bunch o bees out of a tree today. Brought home 2, 5 gallon buckets of honey. Dumped first one into trash bag. Second still in bucket. Brought trash bag in house an bucket left outside. When I came back in house there was a gas smell in house. Can I dump it outside an let my other hives have at it or not. what should I do with it? Hopefully I’ll hear from ya soon. Thanks.
I have learned a hard lesson this week on feeding during dearth. Trying to feed a weak hive with an internal feeder and ALL the neighborhood bullies showed up. Put a robbing screen on but after a while they figured it out. I'm afraid I'm gonna lose this hive. Sad
Dave I love your videos and have learned learned learned so much. Heard something on today’s video and wanted to ask, you said keep them 100yds away...curious what the purpose of that is?
All good stuff , I don't have bees but am learning a lot from so many good bee keepers here on the RUclips . I also hear that the Canadian Government may start allowing the sale of Bees from the States into Canada , that would be fantastic !!!
I’m so excited for spring because I’m starting beekeeping for the first time! Your videos are amazing and I’ve used your channel to learn what I need to.
Thanks for the videos from Albert from eastern Kentucky!
Thanks David, valuable information, you have helped me tremendously, my hives are now in the best shape since I started bee keeping, keep up be good work all us new bee keepers need your input and advice, I am more interested in my bees than ever before Thanks to you.
Hi Dave...there is a bee colonie in a brick wall, next to my house..is been there for years..that a wild colonie, no doubt....there is no way to tear down that wall , is not my building..the owner is against taking down bricks of that wall....I dream to have that colonie in a box...sometimes I take a chair and sit next to them, watching...they are big bees, strong...
Thanks for you keeping us abreast of conditions and what to watch for as the year progresses. Its my first year with bees so I am following along with interest.
My bees are dying and have no idea why. Pollen galore here. Learning so much from your videos.
We have multiple wild caught swarms. One of ours was actually a trap out from a tree in a pasture here locally. There are very few bee keepers in our area all are about 10 miles or more away. Love your videos! Thank you for all you do. (Mid-Missouri)
Another great video, thank you for helping keeping the bee population alive and the beekeepers informed on hive management!
With the people saying the guardians don't work, I wonder if this is one of those things where people think too much in absolutes and not performance? Like for example, book theory might say a guardian trap should eliminate 100% of all vermin, but in real terms maybe it did eliminate let's say 80%, but maybe people just see that 20% or 10% or whatever and think it didn't work? (And maybe a climate is so perfect for insects that eliminating the last 1% of them is impossible?)
I am not taking any sides, but wondered if this could be the case?
I also wanted to ask you about hive stands. I see a lot of people in videos putting the hives on two by fours, resting on cinder blocks. I wanted to ask how much weight you can have on cinder blocks with hives and not wake up with it having collapsed etc? What do you think about this also?
another great video, the beetle entrances do work. thanks for feeding info change during dearth.
You do a great job Dave!!!! Thank you...been watching for years!! I'm a Fatbee Man fan!!! LOT'S of luck with your business!!! God Bless!!!!!!
My strongest hive had 1 side of 2 frames that got slimmed by beetles. The beetle population isn't out of control but we did do a split to prevent a swarm from happening so that might have played a factor.
Thanks for another very informative video David. I always enjoy watching... And reading some of the better comments. Some ya just roll your eyes and move on.. lol.
Stay safe my friend.
In dearth here in Central Ky., funny got 3 acres of white clover in full bloom, bee hive within a couple of feet of the clover, do not seem to be interested at all, but other insects are loving it. Bees seem to say thats it for now.
Love your channels! You made a comment on theres no wild or feral bees! I have 17 hives at present time I started with 6 this spring and every bee that I have are from wild bee populations! I have never caught a swarm from someone else's bees! The closes beekeeper to me is 15 to 20 miles! Keep the great content coming!
The person I bought my bees from rolled his eyes at the sentiment of "save the bees"
He thinks its silly. He said the bees are doing just fine, meaning bees in the wild.
I miss the beeker meetings.
I am so glad you addressed the open feeders, I only have 4 hives and I'm in a dearth right now and wanted to help keep my bees alive. I posted my chicken water feeder on a Facebook group and was met with nasty comments that it will promote mites afb or efb or other diseases, I actually agree all the bees food is not clean and yes they will find sugar products anywhere and it's best if you can keep them in the yard as much as possible
Yep, that's exactly right!!!
Love your content David! 🐝
I appreciate that!
BARNYARD BEES
Hi David, I’m in Melbourne Australia in the middle of winter and couldn’t believe the amount of pollen the bees were bringing in
I agree about the lack of wild colonies. The hyper growth and mass development of the suburbs since my childhood have eliminated so many older trees, snags and other habitats. That is why so many swarms end up inside ceilings and walls...and so many extraction videos.
I love your vids! Thank you for sharing all the good information and knowledge that you have with us. I'm a new beek this year and was wondering how I'd be able to tell if there was a dearth. I noticed that my bees were trying to get sugar water from my hummingbird feeder about a week ago, which they never have done. So I set out a dish of 1:1 syrup and they devoured it. After a few more of those were sucked down within an hour, I set a feeder outside and another one inside their hive. They've been enjoying it immensely and have started building comb again in their hive, which they seemed to have put on "pause" the last few weeks. We're all trying to observe our bees and do the best we can for them, so it's very helpful to have a little help to recognize all the messages our bees are trying to give us. Thanks!
just got 2 of the beetle blasters for 2 8 frame hives i put at a friends. easy to install i have never had any serious issues with beetles but possibly because its so heavily wooded i dont know but i have NEVER!!! seen so many beetles we use the top traps bottom barns and now the entrance blaster, i will see in another week how much difference they make
I was watching my backyard hives this morning and was noticing they were bringing in various colors of pollen. I'm not certain what they are gathering from now but it coming in.
Well said bee keeping is hard come summer
You should try live Q & A type vids for fellow beekeepers and beginners, thatd be cool
Informative Video. Thanks
Thank you for the knowledge. Looking forward to the video of traps.
Starting to see some bees behind my hives so I think even South Florida is having a bit of a dearth. My bees are still working so there has to be something out there. This is my first year so I’m not sure if we even get a full dearth here. Thanks for all the info!
You are quite welcome Randy...
Great info right here! Thanks!
Please make a video on how to do drone colonies and how to maintain it. From 5 frame colonies. Thank you
7 weeks no rain hoping hurricane today will give us some Dearth is on!!! hour North of Houston appreciate the video
In Katy myself. Luckily there is a pond close to my hives. Did a cutout last weekend, they had no honey stores. Put them in a NUC and started feeding them immediately.
Not so bad. I have you
Hey David, I am a backyard beekeeper with 4 hives 2 strong and 2 weak. I don't have 100 yards to open feed from but have a shed and a 10 foot space between the shed and the fence and the hives are opposite that. If i put a feeder behind the shed it would be only 50 to 75 feet from my hives. Can i open feed behind the shed or no? Thanks.
Been looking through your videos but you don’t have a follow up on the fogger for mites. Did it work? Asking because if it works I would like to do it. Please let me know if it does or not. Thanks
Yes it works, but use mineral oil instead of the 190 proof alcohol. The 190 alcohol is hard to find, and precision has to be exact in the mixing. But the best option is oxalic acid vaporizer.
Thanks I
good infor
Hey what's the minimum recommended distance from the hives for it to be safe for open feeding? I have about 60 yards available where I can set one up.
When your open feeding do you still feed your weaker colonies in the hive? I recently made some splits and just wondering if I should continue feeding them even though I’m open feeding?
My are so good
Hey David? Can small hive beatles get through number 8 hardwire cloth? Thanks
Yes, the small ones can.
First year bee keeper having trouble with my bees. I have 9 of the 10 frame.hives and 3 6frame nuc's. My bees are being very aggressive as far as my chickens and bitties.they have stung 3 of my bitties which did die from that. I feed them with open feeder I made. They have went through 10 gallon of sugar water and a 1lb bottle of pollen in 3 day's.
What can I do to get them to leave
My bittie feed alone so much
Lots to talk about.
I just set out a swarm trap...wondering how long I should expect to wait till a swarm goes into it?
I suppose it might be variable on the environment
the areas have to have feral bees. if not. you are out of luck. dearth is the best time to learn if your area have bees or not. just by open feed somewhere with 1:1 sugarwater. a plus if there lemongrass or Honeybee healthy mix with.
very nice.
Is it possible to save the hive at this point?
Do I take the supers off before feeding the syrup in the dearth?
Yes
Do you add minerals etc to the sugar water?
A product called honey b healthy some add it some don’t. It’s not necessary though.
Question
I got a bunch o bees out of a tree today. Brought home 2, 5 gallon buckets of honey. Dumped first one into trash bag. Second still in bucket. Brought trash bag in house an bucket left outside. When I came back in house there was a gas smell in house. Can I dump it outside an let my other hives have at it or not. what should I do with it? Hopefully I’ll hear from ya soon. Thanks.
Great video Dave! I'm concerned about the reduced entrance with the beetle blaster on a strong hive. Can I put two on a ten frame hive?
If you're referring to the Guardian entrance, yes, you can use two on a hive.
I have learned a hard lesson this week on feeding during dearth. Trying to feed a weak hive with an internal feeder and ALL the neighborhood bullies showed up. Put a robbing screen on but after a while they figured it out. I'm afraid I'm gonna lose this hive. Sad
move it miles away...
Where can I buy 1/8 hardware cloth on a roll can u point me in the right direction
Try Amazon. It's not available anywhere locally where I live!
I bought a roll from Home Depot on line.
Ok thanks
Dave I love your videos and have learned learned learned so much. Heard something on today’s video and wanted to ask, you said keep them 100yds away...curious what the purpose of that is?
#🐝