Thank you to everyone for watching and supporting our videos! If you have any questions about our videos, please check out our list of FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS on our website, which can be found at honeybee.uoguelph.ca/videos/frequently-asked-questions/
I hope I had seen your videos two years ago, so much good information! I saw you answered the tons of questions about the inner cover right away, good thinking :)
Another Fantastic video guys. I use a deep version of these with another layer on top to overwinter my last batch of queens for the year. We get a pretty good survival rate in the Northern part of the US. Keep up the great work!
Thanks Doug! That sounds like a very good system. Thanks for the tip, I might just try it. I've thought of stacking these units to winter but haven't yet. We can get some through wintered indoors as 2 way nucs by taking out the removeable partition. Last year we didn't get as much honey so had the time to use up all the last round of queens requeening. Cheers.
Yes sir,to comment on your videos,I really enjoy watching them. I feel I learn from them. I watch alot of beekeeping videos from new beekeepers. Honestly, they put out alot of bad information but with good intentions if that makes sense. Fun to watch these new guys who think they know it all. I'm a newbie, hell I make alot of mistakes. You teach the right way to do things,they work up where your at down to San Antonio where I'm at. Went long,but thank you. Chris
I like all your videos helped me out a lot I have buckfast bees now they all got though the winter lasted year made my on queen this spring got 20 hives now very good bees love them
I love your videos. With that said, could you say the date when each video is filmed. Since you are in Canada, I'm assuming you're publishing videos from last summer?
Hi Dan Nice to hear you appreciate our videos. I've tried to make a point of mentioning dates in videos but have not been consistent. You're right it would be helpful. We filmed 33 videos in 2016 and 21 in 2018. It takes awhile to get everything edited and the CC and transcripts done so we release them as possible.
A bit late to the party, but I'm loving these videos, great content, but also such a relaxed delivery of the material. I can see why you have such calm bees!! I do have a question though, why did you choose to do a 2x2 to get your 4 nucs rather than 4x1, which would mean you could use standard frames and are shown on other videos on RUclips? Do the bees really prefer being in more of a spherical/cubic space than a long thin space? Does it make much difference?
Hi Ross Welcome to the party! We appreciate your kind thoughts. I haven't worked with 4x1 nucs but of course have some thoughts about them. I know beekeepers that use these successfully and more that use 3x1. The 2x2 configuration provides a natural space. It is also less confined so it's faster for finding queens and I believe better for the bees. Long narrow spaces make seeing and catching queens more difficult, especially if she is on the walls instead of the frames. That said, there are some advantages of using standard frames. One big one being that you can unite the nucs in the fall and overwinter the united colonies.
I'm curious. Why not use 4-way Queen Castles? The frames in them are standard size Langstroff making them easier for beekeepers to keep their equipment interchangeable. Is there an advantage to smaller frames?
Yes you can do that...i did that....you end up with 4 cavities with 3 deep frames.......problems are that these nucs over crowd the space very quickly......also, removing 1 frame and replacing with foundation is rather hard to the nuc..... and this configuration is long and narrow which is not "normal".....I have over wintered these and they do work......you can rebuild these every cycle of queens which can reduce over crowding (see Mike Palmers video on making up mating nucs)...... Now the 4 way mating nuc box shown here with the separator running from front to back with a 3/16" masonite sheet that is removable allows you to have 5 half combs per cavity......you can winter these very well by removing 2 queens and joining 4 nucs into 2 with 10 half combs....or just make up small 4 half frame supers and allow each nuc to expand up for 4 nucs with 9 half combs
Hi Stephen I use small mating nucleus colonies because I can mate more queens with less bees compared with larger units. It's also quicker. There are many other good ways that suit different goals. For smaller numbers of queens full size frames may be more appropriate.
Yours are by far the best beekeeping videos on RUclips. What do you use in place of a crown board? The sheet of fabric on the top, what is it? Thank you.
Hi, I just established four four way nucs and I got some Problems. I installed bees in them, and in some of them the bees are just dead. I don't know why. In others, they are clustering on the lid and not on my frames. I mixed up bees out of honey supers for them. I gave them virgin queens.
Thanks! Hehe. I won't judge but the pheromone is easy to get here. I haven't tried going without. We would lose some nucs without Temp Queen. The bees have no queen and no brood to hold them in the nuc.
Yours are by far the best beekeeping videos on RUclips.But i have a question.can you tell me what this thing tempqueen you use and what it is made of and how can i get it?is it availabie in electronic stores for example is it known by another name? thank you for answering
2023, what is your preferred queen mating system now? I've watched the EPS mini and the 4-way mini videos, did the EPS minis not work out long-term. Pros and cons each system, or have y'all evolved to some other?
Hi Bil I like both the mini mating nucs and the 4 ways but if I was to chose one now it would be the 4 ways. They are a little more robust and can take some ups and downs in weather/forage situations. It's also nice to have 4 nucs open at a time for swapping frames.
Hi !!! I really enjoy every new video you post , so interesting , I've been in beekeeping sence ten years , I will be starring grafting next spring , so excited !!! My only question is : is everybody who works with you is immune against bees stings or some of your group have been desensitized ??? I can't believe what I see , working with no sleeves and protection. Or barely not. I'm terribly allergic to stings , i wish I could work like that too. Beekeeping is almost all my life 😍😍 Thanks for sharing all what you're doing 😁😁 Peter close to Paris France
Hi Peter Great to hear you enjoy our videos! That is encouraging. We try and get all staff used to being stung regularly and building a tolerance to venom. After that getting stung doesn't bother you much. We also breed for gentle behavior and know how to work with bees in ways that keeps them calm.... most of the time! ;)
Research has shown wearing protection like gloves, etc. that receives stings and then exposing yourself to the venom externally by post-handling actually can make you (and other members of your family that may handle same) even more allergic to stings down the road. Also, most folk crush more bees wearing gloves than they would without gloves (because you can actually feel the bees under your fingertips) which leads to stings in the gloves. Unless you wash/smoke heavily/etc. them, that smell stays on your gloves and next time the bees smell it and are ready to go round two (become defensive) before you barely get started working them. I do put on a set of surgical gloves when I work with chemicals; other wise I keep my beekeeping gloves and suit for "emergencies" only. While I did not learn this until later in life, many hobbyist beekeepers I met when I first started beekeeping 40+ years ago had to quit because they became highly allergic - and now I more fully understand why.
Hey guys, awesome video as always. Can I ask what species of bees you have? I can't believe you aren't even wearing a bee veil. My guard bees don't like me very much. I was just checking the bottom beetle tray and they come out and tell me to get lost.
Thanks Bill We do have gentle bees. They are Buckfast that originate in Denmark. We breed and raise queens but our breeder stock comes from Keld Brandstrup in Denmark. There are other gentle bees strains around.
We got these nuc boxes and frames from Lewis and Sons in Manitoba. Their contact information is in our FAQ below. honeybee.uoguelph.ca/frequently-asked-questions-3/
When I make my mating NUCs and load them with a ready to emerge queen cell, how far from the donor hive do the NUCs need to be? I'm thinking that the majority of bees in the NUC are nurse bees so it's likely they will stay with the brood. I only have a half acre to work with so, do I need to find a location far away for the NUCs?
We move them at least 3 kilometers. That way you lose very few bees. You make a good point about the age of the bees but you will definitely lose more bees if you move them from closer than 3 km. If this isn't convenient for you try it from closer and add extra bees.
Remember the 3cm to 3 Mile Rule.* If you load your Boxes with mainly Nurse Bees, add some Feed, and *Close the Hive up (but make sure they have ventilation !) Wait 3 Days or So*. The "Bees" will forget their 'original' location, and will have to reset their Stat-Nav, so to speak (!) So... Any Hive can be within 3cm to 3 Mile Rule. 😎 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝 Happy Beekeeping 2022. 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝 My Garden is not big, so my Hive area is even more limited ! So I can have several Hives and Nucs, doing above, with no problem at all. Go Split, and make Nuc Hives easily. Same applies to Queen Boxes too... 😎
Hi man, Sorry but in my country we don't use inches to measure and I can't find equivalence in cms. What size do you think it would be best to do it, supper or Langstroth, since I don't want to cut any box. Tank's
I understand that this type of mating queens utilizes a minimum amount of resources, but how does this allow you to effectively judge a queens performance.
Hi David We use a two week cycle because our summers are short. We ensure that the queen is laying eggs before caging her. A three week cycle with the same equipment allows more certainty about the queens viability.
Why not divide the box with three dividers length wise.You would have 4 compartments with openings on 4 sides? Itwould be easy to find a queen on a medium frame.You could drill holes in the lid to feed them during a dearth.laid up frames could be used to start nukes.ect.
Hi Andrei and Jeffery I normally do build what I can but a friend was ordering some of these from Lewis and sons in Manitoba so I jumped in on the order. I suspect they are available elsewhere.
Hi Jeff So far we have only fed the nucs with hive top feeders at the beginning set up stage as described. I don't have specific feeders made up for the 4 way nucs. We've removed full frames and added foundation frames where necessary. It may be different in your conditions but we do our mating during the main honey flow in these units.
Thank you. Really looking to move away from depending so much on the mini mating nucs in the styrofoam. Shaking bees in a box and distributing by the cup while trying to keep the bees out of the sugar water seems much more laborious than a natural load in by placing a 4 way nuc on a 10 frame deep. Thanks again for the feedback
Thank you to everyone for watching and supporting our videos! If you have any questions about our videos, please check out our list of FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS on our website, which can be found at honeybee.uoguelph.ca/videos/frequently-asked-questions/
Love these videos. They're so helpful for both the beginner and the experienced beekeeper. There's always something new to learn.
Hi Barabara
Cheery notes like yours are always welcome and appreciated. Thanks Barbara
I hope I had seen your videos two years ago, so much good information! I saw you answered the tons of questions about the inner cover right away, good thinking :)
Thanks Marco
That's our #1 question for sure! Thanks for your kind remarks. All the best for you and your bees.
These videos are so informative. Thank you. What an important program Guelph has!
Hi Gaye
Thanks you so much for your generous comments!
Another Fantastic video guys. I use a deep version of these with another layer on top to overwinter my last batch of queens for the year. We get a pretty good survival rate in the Northern part of the US. Keep up the great work!
Thanks Doug!
That sounds like a very good system. Thanks for the tip, I might just try it. I've thought of stacking these units to winter but haven't yet. We can get some through wintered indoors as 2 way nucs by taking out the removeable partition. Last year we didn't get as much honey so had the time to use up all the last round of queens requeening. Cheers.
Excellent I am absorbing everything I can to play with queen rearing on a trial bases this year
Hi Tom
Thanks. Have fun raising queens! You'll find it really rewarding.
I love all your videos I hope you continue to make them I’m always learning something new so nice to have you on here
Bravo pour les sous titres et les videos.
Merci Jean!
Thank you for putting out these good videos. Pleasure to watch. Wish I could buy bees from you. You raise some good stock. Thanks
You are very welcome Chris. It's our pleasure to talk about bees. I'm sure you know the feeling!
Yes sir,to comment on your videos,I really enjoy watching them. I feel I learn from them. I watch alot of beekeeping videos from new beekeepers. Honestly, they put out alot of bad information but with good intentions if that makes sense. Fun to watch these new guys who think they know it all. I'm a newbie, hell I make alot of mistakes. You teach the right way to do things,they work up where your at down to San Antonio where I'm at. Went long,but thank you. Chris
Thanks Taylor and Stephanie
They say "you're welcome"!
Just built one for this coming spring. Can't wait!
That's great Rob! Good luck using it. They are fun little hives to work with.
@@UoGHoneyBeeResearchCentre I just built one on my channel. Check it out!
I like all your videos helped me out a lot I have buckfast bees now they all got though the winter lasted year made my on queen this spring got 20 hives now very good bees love them
This is such a great idea! I'm going to take a stab at making one for this season.
Go for it! They are fun to work with.
@@UoGHoneyBeeResearchCentre Well when I do I'll be wearing my Honey Bee Research swag I purchased from your website!
I love your videos. With that said, could you say the date when each video is filmed. Since you are in Canada, I'm assuming you're publishing videos from last summer?
Hi Dan
Nice to hear you appreciate our videos. I've tried to make a point of mentioning dates in videos but have not been consistent. You're right it would be helpful. We filmed 33 videos in 2016 and 21 in 2018. It takes awhile to get everything edited and the CC and transcripts done so we release them as possible.
Very nice and easy setup.Love it!
A bit late to the party, but I'm loving these videos, great content, but also such a relaxed delivery of the material. I can see why you have such calm bees!!
I do have a question though, why did you choose to do a 2x2 to get your 4 nucs rather than 4x1, which would mean you could use standard frames and are shown on other videos on RUclips? Do the bees really prefer being in more of a spherical/cubic space than a long thin space? Does it make much difference?
Hi Ross
Welcome to the party!
We appreciate your kind thoughts.
I haven't worked with 4x1 nucs but of course have some thoughts about them. I know beekeepers that use these successfully and more that use 3x1.
The 2x2 configuration provides a natural space. It is also less confined so it's faster for finding queens and I believe better for the bees. Long narrow spaces make seeing and catching queens more difficult, especially if she is on the walls instead of the frames.
That said, there are some advantages of using standard frames. One big one being that you can unite the nucs in the fall and overwinter the united colonies.
I'm totally going to make a few of these!
Go for it!
Love all your videos mate
Thanks Justin! We enjoy making them.
I'm curious. Why not use 4-way Queen Castles? The frames in them are standard size Langstroff making them easier for beekeepers to keep their equipment interchangeable. Is there an advantage to smaller frames?
Smaller frames gives you more frames to equalize with.
Yes you can do that...i did that....you end up with 4 cavities with 3 deep frames.......problems are that these nucs over crowd the space very quickly......also, removing 1 frame and replacing with foundation is rather hard to the nuc..... and this configuration is long and narrow which is not "normal".....I have over wintered these and they do work......you can rebuild these every cycle of queens which can reduce over crowding (see Mike Palmers video on making up mating nucs)......
Now the 4 way mating nuc box shown here with the separator running from front to back with a 3/16" masonite sheet that is removable allows you to have 5 half combs per cavity......you can winter these very well by removing 2 queens and joining 4 nucs into 2 with 10 half combs....or just make up small 4 half frame supers and allow each nuc to expand up for 4 nucs with 9 half combs
Hi Stephen
I use small mating nucleus colonies because I can mate more queens with less bees compared with larger units. It's also quicker. There are many other good ways that suit different goals. For smaller numbers of queens full size frames may be more appropriate.
Yours are by far the best beekeeping videos on RUclips.
What do you use in place of a crown board? The sheet of fabric on the top, what is it?
Thank you.
He already said...
"18oz Canvas." 😉
Hello, where can I get the queen pheromone strips? Love the videos. I have learned a lot from them.
honeybee.uoguelph.ca/frequently-asked-questions-3/
Hi Herbert
Glad you enjoy our videos. Thanks! You'll see the pheromone supplier in our FAQ link I sent.
Super video
Thanks Mario.
Hi, I just established four four way nucs and I got some Problems. I installed bees in them, and in some of them the bees are just dead. I don't know why. In others, they are clustering on the lid and not on my frames. I mixed up bees out of honey supers for them. I gave them virgin queens.
I like these a lot
me too :)
Very helpful - obrigado senhor
Glad to help Carlos!
Great video! If you are cheap or can’t get ahold of the pheromone, will this method still work? I won’t indicate which one I am.
Thanks!
Hehe. I won't judge but the pheromone is easy to get here. I haven't tried going without.
We would lose some nucs without Temp Queen. The bees have no queen and no brood to hold them in the nuc.
As always... great video and content!
Thanks Shawn!
Do you think a top hive entrance would be good in britain?
Yours are by far the best beekeeping videos on RUclips.But i have a question.can you tell me what this thing tempqueen you use and what it is made of and how can i get it?is it availabie in electronic stores for example is it known by another name? thank you for answering
It's a Plastic Strip that has artificial "Queen Phremones" on it.
Search any Bee Supply Company or Site for "artifical 'Queen' strip."
😉
I love how no matter where you go, BeeKeepers just throw hive products everywhere.
What are the dimensions of your wooden hive stand? Is it treated lumber?
How do you make these and also the frames ?
We buy them from Lewis and sons in Manitoba Canada.
2023, what is your preferred queen mating system now? I've watched the EPS mini and the 4-way mini videos, did the EPS minis not work out long-term. Pros and cons each system, or have y'all evolved to some other?
Hi Bil
I like both the mini mating nucs and the 4 ways but if I was to chose one now it would be the 4 ways. They are a little more robust and can take some ups and downs in weather/forage situations. It's also nice to have 4 nucs open at a time for swapping frames.
Hi !!!
I really enjoy every new video you post , so interesting , I've been in beekeeping sence ten years , I will be starring grafting next spring , so excited !!! My only question is : is everybody who works with you is immune against bees stings or some of your group have been desensitized ??? I can't believe what I see , working with no sleeves and protection. Or barely not. I'm terribly allergic to stings , i wish I could work like that too. Beekeeping is almost all my life 😍😍
Thanks for sharing all what you're doing 😁😁
Peter
close to Paris France
Hi Peter
Great to hear you enjoy our videos! That is encouraging.
We try and get all staff used to being stung regularly and building a tolerance to venom. After that getting stung doesn't bother you much. We also breed for gentle behavior and know how to work with bees in ways that keeps them calm.... most of the time! ;)
Research has shown wearing protection like gloves, etc. that receives stings and then exposing yourself to the venom externally by post-handling actually can make you (and other members of your family that may handle same) even more allergic to stings down the road. Also, most folk crush more bees wearing gloves than they would without gloves (because you can actually feel the bees under your fingertips) which leads to stings in the gloves. Unless you wash/smoke heavily/etc. them, that smell stays on your gloves and next time the bees smell it and are ready to go round two (become defensive) before you barely get started working them. I do put on a set of surgical gloves when I work with chemicals; other wise I keep my beekeeping gloves and suit for "emergencies" only. While I did not learn this until later in life, many hobbyist beekeepers I met when I first started beekeeping 40+ years ago had to quit because they became highly allergic - and now I more fully understand why.
@@jfelty6262
Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience. I agree with everything you said. :)
I really have enjoyed all the videos you have produced. I recommend them to new beekeepers. Where did you get the half size frames?
Hi Phillip
Thanks, glad to hear you have found our videos helpful. We bought the boxes and frames from Lewis and Sons in Manitoba Canada
Thank you for your videos. They’re great! What kind of tape do you guys use that the bees can also chew through after you puncture it?
Thanks Wayne! We use painters tape. It's easy to peel off when its not needed anymore. Being a paper product, bees can chew through.
How far away must a mating yard be from the original yard to be effective?
We move the nucs at least three kilometers from the location of the parent hive.
Hey guys, awesome video as always.
Can I ask what species of bees you have? I can't believe you aren't even wearing a bee veil.
My guard bees don't like me very much. I was just checking the bottom beetle tray and they come out and tell me to get lost.
Thanks Bill
We do have gentle bees. They are Buckfast that originate in Denmark. We breed and raise queens but our breeder stock comes from Keld Brandstrup in Denmark.
There are other gentle bees strains around.
Could you help me find the supplier you use for this frame size?
We got these nuc boxes and frames from Lewis and Sons in Manitoba. Their contact information is in our FAQ below.
honeybee.uoguelph.ca/frequently-asked-questions-3/
When I make my mating NUCs and load them with a ready to emerge queen cell, how far from the donor hive do the NUCs need to be? I'm thinking that the majority of bees in the NUC are nurse bees so it's likely they will stay with the brood. I only have a half acre to work with so, do I need to find a location far away for the NUCs?
We move them at least 3 kilometers. That way you lose very few bees. You make a good point about the age of the bees but you will definitely lose more bees if you move them from closer than 3 km. If this isn't convenient for you try it from closer and add extra bees.
Remember the 3cm to
3 Mile Rule.*
If you load your Boxes with mainly Nurse Bees, add some Feed, and *Close the Hive up (but make sure they have ventilation !) Wait 3 Days or So*. The "Bees" will forget their 'original' location, and will have to reset their Stat-Nav, so to speak (!) So...
Any Hive can be within 3cm to 3 Mile Rule. 😎
🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
Happy Beekeeping 2022.
🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
My Garden is not big, so my Hive area is even more limited ! So I can have several Hives and Nucs, doing above, with no problem at all.
Go Split, and make Nuc Hives easily.
Same applies to Queen Boxes too... 😎
How many pieces can you cut one queen temp strip in to for mini nucs?
We cut them into two pieces for a four way nucs or mini nucs.
Thanks alot sir @khalid Rafeeq shb
Our pleasure!
Then do you take the queen and put in what size box ?
Hi Kenny.
You could see our video titled 'Requeening' to see how we use mated caged queens. Another one to see is 'Caring For Caged Queens' .
Hi, when you say:
These are made up with a medium depth box
What do you say exactly, Langstroth or supper ???
Thanks from Spain
Hi Juan in Spain.
They are Langstroth size in width and length but only 6 5/8 inches high. You are welcome Juan.
Hi man,
Sorry but in my country we don't use inches to measure and I can't find equivalence in cms.
What size do you think it would be best to do it, supper or Langstroth, since I don't want to cut any box.
Tank's
@@juansantandreu3833 They are 16.825 cm high. I often look up metric conversions with Google. We use both systems here.
I understand that this type of mating queens utilizes a minimum amount of resources, but how does this allow you to effectively judge a queens performance.
Hi David
We use a two week cycle because our summers are short. We ensure that the queen is laying eggs before caging her.
A three week cycle with the same equipment allows more certainty about the queens viability.
Where to find plans to make these 4way nucs?
Unfortunately we don't have plans. We purchased them from Lewis and son's in Manitoba.
Mentor taught me the same technique. What about feeding the mating boxes?
We haven't had to feed them as they start off with quite a bit of stored food the way we set them up.
You transport this box without eggs, an i right?
Yes. There are no eggs or brood until we get a mated queen.
Hi Paul do you have any plans to share?
Thank you
....
Konrad
Their stuff www.uoguelph.ca/honeybee/education-events.shtml
What is the percentage of mated widens this way?
**queens
Can you show your tool belts? Where did you get them?
Paul is making them. Here's more ruclips.net/video/Kx5iTYH102k/видео.html
Thanks guys. Here's a link to an Ontario bee supply company that ships and sells my belts dancingbeeequipment.com/products/bee-belt
Why not divide the box with three dividers length wise.You would have 4 compartments with openings on 4 sides? Itwould be easy to find a queen on a medium frame.You could drill holes in the lid to feed them during a dearth.laid up frames could be used to start nukes.ect.
That could work too!
How is it none of you are wearing bee suits or gloves?
Where do you buy these 4-way mating nukes ?
i am betting they are made in house.
Hi Andrei and Jeffery
I normally do build what I can but a friend was ordering some of these from Lewis and sons in Manitoba so I jumped in on the order. I suspect they are available elsewhere.
What kind of top feeder are you using so that all 4 chambers can access the sugar water when placed over the deep?
Hi Jeff
So far we have only fed the nucs with hive top feeders at the beginning set up stage as described. I don't have specific feeders made up for the 4 way nucs. We've removed full frames and added foundation frames where necessary. It may be different in your conditions but we do our mating during the main honey flow in these units.
Thank you. Really looking to move away from depending so much on the mini mating nucs in the styrofoam. Shaking bees in a box and distributing by the cup while trying to keep the bees out of the sugar water seems much more laborious than a natural load in by placing a 4 way nuc on a 10 frame deep. Thanks again for the feedback
If you have this type of frames why then not making it 8 way mating nucs, 5 frames in one mating nuc is kinda a lot
We like the size of these nucs. They ride through variable conditions better than smaller nucs.
Eyes!
👍👍
:) :)
Love UoG vids....not sure I agree with this configuration TBH....
Thanks Kevin! Lots of ways to do beekeeping- that keeps in interesting.