Apimaye Ergo Plus Bee Hive, My thoughts, and some interesting swarm dynamics that have me thinking.
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- Опубликовано: 3 сен 2022
- In this video I give my first impressions of the Apimaye ERGOplus Award Winning Bee Hive. :)
Also there are some curious observations I've been making regarding honey bees when swarming. Other hives just may be losing some of their own foragers when a nearby colony swarms.
UPDATE:
Based on valuable viewer feedback, the divider board I demonstrated in this video was intended for the super, and there is another divider board for the brood box that does go to the bottom and facilitates a nucleus size or double-colony box.
Thank you!
If you want to know more about the Apimay Hive lineup, I invite you to visit their website: apimaye-usa.com/
If you want a battery-operated hand-held vac that is easy on the bees and allows you to collect them for later release, here's the link to what I use: amzn.to/3RDZoyf
The Butterfly NET I use is right here: amzn.to/3RG0qK7
If you can sew well, I suggest getting a long-handled bass net and making your own deep fabric/pillowcase style net from un-bleached muslin cloth.
I thank Apimaye for their generosity and interest in my opinion.
We'll see how things pan out this winter. I will produce updates on this Apimaye hive configuration over the next 12 months.
UPDATE: 20 September, the swarm did not remain and they generated a partial new swarm leaving gees and some resources behind with a much reduced compliment of workers: • Apimaye Ergo Bee Hive ...
UPDATE: Many thanks to my viewers who pointed out that there are TWO divider boards and I had the super divider in rather than the other Brood divider. So there is another one included and they are different heights. Thank you for pointing that out and all is well. You can indeed put a divider board in that reaches the bottom and completely divides the brood box.
Really nice video. But let me be alittle of a critic here. You love yourself talking; You are in love with ypur voice.
PLEASE at least remind HALF of this EMPTY TALKING and your videos will be many times more and intereting.
@@spyridonm no. He is the bob ross of bees. His voice is soothing af too. His format is perfect. Go make your own videos ya commie
He’s doin a video blog. He doesn’t fill with empty talking, rather a good flow through related topics
Re: moisture in the top, it works out well for the design: I fed two 10 frame Apimaye dry sugar over winter. The sugar nearly absorbed all the moisture. What want absorbed just pooled on top of the inner cover. The slots in the inner cover aren’t wide enough break water surface tension, so your bees will be safe over winter.
Always know I'm going to learn new and interesting things when I watch you're channel. While I'm not a fan of plastic, it will be interesting to see how well it serves you and the 🐝. Thank you Frederick for all the time and energy you put into helping everyone out.
So glad your trying out this hive . Excited to learn from you.
Thank you Fred. Glad you are trying these hives out. Look forward to the follow up on both hives.
I love this presentation. I would love to attend your courses that you plan to give. I feel that you are a great teacher and mentor. Great photo shots. Awesome. Have a good week, Tim
Wow, thank you!
Love the footage of the Queen departing. I love my Apimaye products. The 7 frame NUC and the larger 10 frame have done great so far this year in my Apiary.
Thanks Brian, I'm glad you like them!
Once you pull the pollen trap out, the divider board fits without a gap. There are two size divider boards. One is embossed “brood” and one is embossed “super”. They aren’t interchangeable. Also, if you had gotten the Apimaye frames, you could use acorn heavy waxed foundation, and I even use Bettercomb without any wiring, since the frame stays hold the Bettercomb in.
The bees will propolize all the feeder vents, closing off the airflow into the cover space.
All great points! Thank you for sharing! I also agree, the bees are going to make their design opinions known with propolis.
Wow the BetterComb tip is life changing. Thanks for sharing!
Phenomenal video as always. Really nice video of the queen leaving. Great job Fred.
Thanks Peter!
Fredrick thank you for being a great instructor. I've obtained my education about bees mostly on RUclips and specifically your channel. The information that you provide in your videos is indispensable and of great value. Ther are several of you beekeepers that educate the rest of us and I thank you and the others for being fantastic mentors. My heartfelt thanks and may God bless your endeavors.
Thank you so much, I do this for people exactly like you. It's nice to know you are benefitting. :)
I was very interested in the queen leaving, as she seemed to keep trying to return, but the workers kept blocking her and pushing her away from the entrance.
It has seemed to me for some time that the queen is very much the servant of the hive, and is guided by cell availability (determined by the workers) on where and when to lay her eggs, when she is no longer accepted, and even with virgin queens when she can reach piping queen cells to eliminate them or reach other emerged virgin queens to fight it out (or not) which would decide if after-swarms are cast. She lays where they let her, and it is the honeybee democracy which actually comes to all the important decisions.
She can't feed herself so they even decide when to slim her down to flying weight.
Great video, as always.
All true, and reinforced with every observation.
The bees will propolize the feeder vents, preventing the loss of air through the top louvre vents.
I think you are absolutely correct.
Yep, I have 2 ten frame and one of these. And they will proplize the vents on the sides as well.
They propolized mine as well. They know best.
Looking forward to seeing what this swarm can do so late in the year thanks for video!
Hi Noah, the swarms tend to do well, it's the remaining colonies that seem to be in a little bit of a pickle having to replace the queen and get her mated and back to the hive safely. September swarms surprise me year after year.
figured out why i caught a absconding swarm few days ago....wax moths, and or beetle larva,took over a 5 frame nuc, and landed in my tree,i rehived,and saw nasonov fanning ,presuming i have the queen will feed and check for eggs soon,and either combine to a queenless colony or keep as resource
That's great news Mark! Great detective work :)
Congrats on quick work....i love the chicken sounds.
Thank you!
Fred, another fine video. I ALWAYS enjoy your narrated videos. Good luck with both hives. I always worry a little about getting a mated Queen back this time of the year. I had one swarm on Labor Day weekend 2 years ago and it did great. I’m so much further south than you but I saw a few drones in this video if my eyesight didn’t deceive me. So I think there’s a good chance that it will be successful. I noticed this year that everything is a little later than normal. I’m looking forward to seeing you and hearing you speak at Hive Life!
Hi Don! Yes, we're flooded with drones around here, so the mating chances are good. It's the flight to and from the drone congregation area that is a challenge with everything hunting the air this time of year. We'll see how it goes. Thanks for commenting and being such a frequent viewer :)
That gives us a whole something new to learn about swarms. Thanks Fred!!
You're welcome, Rodney! :) yes, bees are not very faithful to their own queens or colonies as it turns out. This is something I could base a talk on and will continue to evaluate.
@@FrederickDunn I'm very curious about this behavior. Thanks Fred!
I just received one of these hives for my birthday from my kids. Great hives. I already have a 7 frame Apimaye nuc.
Lucky you! I think you're going to enjoy working with them :)
@@FrederickDunn I was a non believer when I first saw them a couple years ago until a good friend gave me the 7 frame nuc that I have. The inventor did his homework. So easy to use. I also caught a swarm with it. Just the entrance reducer alone is great. No more entrance reducer install and removing. Can’t say enough. Thanks for the thorough review . I needed to know where that red insert went on the hive. 😂
Now you need top bar hive. So much fun. Love your videos:)
Top bar hives are definitely the least expensive of all bee hives... I guess I may have to add one just to complete the collection for educational purposes. Thanks, Brenda.
Welcome to the Apimaye family…. You answered a question on your episodes, where I just got a wooded hive and asked guidance on how you build your top covers…I have 6 Apimaye beehives and really enjoy how easy they are to manage. I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts…. Potentially improvements on the upper cover….
That's excellent, how many years have you had them in service?
@@FrederickDunn this is my second year in beekeeping and live in Southern California. Incase you are wondering, Lorebes makes a tray, so you can treat for mites with OA.
fantastic as always. Thanks for posting!
Thank you for watching :)
Awesome catch Fred! I can't believe you caught the Queen on camera swarming Again! 🐐 I didn't know you were going try out the Apimaye hives.... how exciting! The Way to Bee Academy Building is Soooo Beautiful inside & out "Goals". The Gorgeous Flow Hive on the porch.... Is that the cedar version treated with Eco wood treatment? It's so dark... I Love it! How many times did you treat it? Love the T-Shirt... I feel like a little kid everytime I get a video notification that you have a new video up.... You are really perfecting your teaching skills Fred.... I know this because I am retaining the information 😄
Hi Lori Ann, ok, yes that's a flow-hive that I will be using in an upcoming video as it's not like others. Also yes, it's finished with a single treatment of Eco-Wood and is cedar. I have to say that I also love that building and every time a small group comes out to learn about bees it's just a pure pleasure to have that space full of bees so I can show them what I'm talking about. :) I'm glad you liked my shirt :) Pollinators of the World. Funny thing is that there aren't any honey bees on it (';').
Hi Fred, just finished reading a "Letter to the editor" in the April 2024 American Bee Journal. The letter on page 341 "Plastic Beehives". The author writes about the concerns that in many states you would have to burn a hive if American Foul Brood or other diseases were found no matter if it were wood or plastic. As a first-year rookie and just finishing a few beekeeping courses, I do remember that if we do experience these diseases, we are indeed obligated to contact the state, here in Connecticut anyway. Knowing wood is very absorbent, I can understand the need to burn the entire hive. On the other hand, it would seem to me the plastic hive could be saved from the fire by using the correct sanitizing chemicals offered on the market. I plan to buy a Apimaye hive at some point, would you agree or disagree they could be saved from the fire after hosting an AFB occurrence?
I had that very discussion with a DVM from Penn State regarding that requirement. The Inspector/Dept. of Ag can authorize other sanitization methods, but they haven't been clear about what that will be. The good news is that we had no cases of AFB for a while, but it "could" come up. More to come on that.
Whoa!!! Amazing videography- thank you! Here in Carlisle, after this last storm our goldenrod is just starting to bloom so maybe the girls will do less washboarding and plan to add a 3rd box (9 frames of drawn comb) and we might just get some autumn honey. Love your videos!! Thanks so much 🍂
Hi Andrew, thank you for such a nice compliment and I'm glad things are going well with your bees! :)
Alright. You finally got an Apimaye. Now we can compare hives soon. 👍
it was very generous of Apimaye to send this out to me. I'm happy to evaluate it.
@@FrederickDunn … a second unit that you can modify would be a gr8 investment for Apimaye… one as “control” one “modified”… RnD investment right off
With the cost of wood in my area going sky high, I am selling off my wooden boxes and switching over to Apimaye. So far I absolutely love the Apimaye!!
Do you really need to sell off your other equipment? Why not just use it to the end?
@@FrederickDunn need the $$ to pay for Nuc boxes, queens, frames, foundation…etc to sell in the spring. Plus I sell to keep my Apiary numbers down to 10 or so colonies.
The bees just wanted to keep you on your toes. Great video I hope mine don't swarm
The bee academy building looks fabulous inside, As the corner broke so easily on the hive it’s going to be interesting for brittleness testing in after being in sunlight a few years , fab video keep them coming 😀
We'll see how it goes. Others have owned these hives for years already, so maybe they already know if it's becoming brittle?
@@FrederickDunnhopefully they will read this comment and let us all know 😀
Very well done as always. Thank you for all the research you do as it really helps the backyard Beekeeper.
Did you make the net? If so is there a video with information about how you made it?
As for the voice comment:
You do not have a monotone voice which would put us all to sleep. You do not repeat yourself unless you need to with a reminder. You give, I feel, unbiased information. You have a good sense of humor. You are a good speaker.
And by the way, Thank you for your service.
I think that covers it. Enough said.
Wow, what a nice comment, I really appreciate it! Thank you.
So fascinating that they swarm in September. I am in the same area as you are (western PA) and I haven't seen this personally. I find it interesting that they would choose to do that so late in the year, with very little chances of survival. Apologies if you have already explained why they do this so late in the year, I might have missed it!
Some do and some don't.
Fred....early prediction here. If you overwinter this colony with appropriate stores they will not eat much if any fondant in the feeders nor will they even go through half the stores a normal wood hive will go through in your area. You will be surprised how little honey they will eat. This comes from four seasons of use of Apimaye hives
In the wooden hives last winter, they didn't consume half of the fondant available. That had to do with the hive top insulation. I think you're probably right, based on the experience of others with this hive design. Thanks for sharing.
Fred, my only hive is an Apimaye 10 frame with a medium. My swarm catch has been in this hive for 14 months. I too wanted to close all the upper vents. But as time went by, the bees put propolis in all the vents on the feeder edges and seal up the hive from the feeders down. Since the feeders stay in place all the time, my hive is pretty much seals at the top. It also allows me to supplement with syrup or fondant without breaking the propolis seal late in the year. But I have found that since I haven't feed my bees since this spring, when I added syrup a week ago, the bees had sealed the feeding area where the reversible door for candy/syrup meets the floor of the feeder. I had to remove and scrape the propolis away so the bees had access to the syrup. All in all with my VERY limited experience as a beekeeper, I really like this hive.
Hi Mike, that's exactly why I'm a little surprise that they make this unit with no option to close off venting. Bees demonstrate time and again, that upper venting isn't something they want. They seal up every vent that is small enough to make that possible. I expect to find what you've described here very soon. The designers may not have put the hive cover configuration through many practical tests before going to manufacturing. I would imagine honey bees everywhere would seal up those slits around the feeders. The message would be, hmmm, maybe we don't need that upper vent and can now focus on a heavier insulation in the cover?
@@FrederickDunn I failed to mention that I'm in east Tennessee and this hive faces ESE (105°) and is 60 to 70 % full sun during the day. With 90° + temps and high humidity for the last few months, they still keep it sealed and I have very little bearding (100 bees or so), or even fanning. This is a full hive of bees as well and I keep both entrance doors 3/4 open. They've built out just like you have described your horizonal hives have done, with the brood area directly behind the entrance. I set my hive entrance just as you did this swarm catch in the beginning, and slowly opened it as they grew. I learned that from you!! 👏😀😎
I love your bee Yard Mr Dunn,, 🇱🇨👍🏼♥️
Thanks Robert!
I have 5 of this hives and I absolutely love them. It is a top notch design, so I don’t have anything bad to say about them. Once you remove the pollen trap, the bottom board works excellent as a small hive beetle buster. Put some diatomaceous earth in the bottom and you’ll see how great it works. Also wax moth can’t drill/damage the plastic like they do in wooden hives, therefore they technically can’t find a room to lay eggs or larvae to develop. This will be my first winter with this hives, so I can’t tell how well they will do. However I did noticed that bees literally closing off all the vent holes in the feeders. That tells me there won’t be much air flow through that to escape through the lid vents. Not sure if that’s good or not. This could cause condensation to appear and not vent well. Of course this is not a design fault. We all know bees love to seal every crack LoL. I can’t wait for your report on this hives. And I hope it was ok for me to put my opinion on what I observed so far. I am planning to buy more of this hives, but I am waiting to see how great they will do through the winter.
No problem, I always encourage viewers to share what they do and observe :)
How did/are they fairing though winter at the moment? Any feedback to report yet?
This is so cool. Love your content. I'm glad theyoutube gods put your channel in my path again lol .
Thank you. :)
Thank you for the great video! I'm interested to see how this type of hive thermoregulates. :)
You are welcome!
I have three Apimaye hives, I overwintered in one of them last winter. The bees in all three have completely propolized the upper vents. Even in the middle of the summer they have sealed them up tight. I have been using wooden supers above them this summer (just because they are less expensive), but plan on overwintering with Apimaye mediums. Any additional mediums needed for spring and summer will be wooden. Wooden hive parts seem to fit fine, but you lose the ability to strap them down unless you purchase a kit from Apimaye. It is a lot harder to do OA vaporization, but there is a special part you can purchase from Apimaye that helps the process. All in all I am very happy with the hives so far. The biggest down side for me so far is the expense.
Thanks for sharing, Robin! I look forward to talking with the Apimaye folks at the Hive Life conference. Yes, I'm thankful the bees will seal off that air-flow on their own.
When I got my first two nucleus colonies of Ankle biters from 7 hours away, I used a double deep Apimaye eco 10 to transport them in the back seat of a Toyota Corolla. . I put one colony top left, one colony bottom right, and had the divider boards in the middle. I left all the venting open, and had no incident. However, I attempted to use the hive for both colonies at the same time, and I believe the front bottom entrances are too close. One colony walked out and clustered under the shade of the cover until I moved them. Subsequently, I used the divider to split the colony in spring and that worked ok. I skull had to move the second colony out because the entrances are too close.
They could definitely move easily into the next cavity with those entrances side by side. Not a great setup for dual nucleus colonies. BUT, looks like a good option for combining two colonies and allowing them to gradually join one another if that's the final intent.
The red piece!! That’s what it looks s for?! I probably should’ve read the instructions.
Love the pictures on your back wall. Do you sell them ..
Hi Brenda, I sell a bee poster, but not those :) freds-fine-products.creator-spring.com/listing/honey-bee-poster-educational?product=624&variation=102511¤cy=USD&aid=ts-boosted-pla&adgroup=&matchtype=&network=x&device=c&devicemodel=&gclid=CjwKCAjwvNaYBhA3EiwACgndghl1ZZxrerJCFqf8l5XLNpn10ju6r46OIlBy7QcBLar2Avyx2krqahoCc84QAvD_BwE&keyword=&adposition=&aid=ts-boosted-pla&gclid=CjwKCAjwvNaYBhA3EiwACgndghl1ZZxrerJCFqf8l5XLNpn10ju6r46OIlBy7QcBLar2Avyx2krqahoCc84QAvD_BwE
You need to get yourself invited to some natural history programme, Fred. Some really interesting snapshots of various activity.
Hi Andrew, thank you so much! I do enjoy having seen my work on Discover/Animal Planet as part of the Nature's Strangest Mysteries series. So, my work is already out there. I'm always happy to contribute to educational programs. :) I appreciate the compliment.
Well as an old beekeeper for 50 years I think there's too much plastic being used in the bee boxes nowadays but that's everybody to their own opinion
Hi Robin, I completely agree that we need less plastic if we can manage it. That's why I'm wondering about the longevity, if it's made of plastic, I hope the balance would be that it lasts for decades. Unless it can be recycled, it becomes part of our environmental problem. Thanks for commenting.
I just got a wooden deep box from a guy in his 60’s who told me he assembled it for his dad when he was a teen. I sanded and painted it, so maybe it will get another 50 years
Thanks Fred, I just watched a video of Natalee hiving a swarm from a swarm trap into an apimaye hive great synchronicity. I very curious to see how these hives hold up. ✌️
Oh! I'll have to try and stop over to Natalie's channel to see that! I don't think I'm on her collaboration list :) I'm looking forward to continuing to review this hive. Thanks for commenting as always :)
Fred remove pollen trap as it says on the divider board and Install the one that says ergo brood board in the brood chamber and ergo super board if you want to continue dividing up and into the super. The manual is very important and also very clear as to how to set up and install these parts.
They didn't include a manual.. thanks for that tidbit! Makes perfect sense.
I recall there is a note on the divider that says remove pollen trap before use, :)
True, but I had the wrong divider in the box :)
I think one of the advantages of this plastic hive is that it can be sterilized. There are options for sterilizing plastic that are not available for wooded hives depending on what sort of plastic was used. They could even be autoclaved, steamed, chlorine dioxide and various other sterilizing solutions.
Interesting.
Fred your videos are always filled with vaulable information. You made catching a swarm look easy! Next year, I will be interested to hear your thoughts on the Apimaye. BTW, did you make your cotton net or did you purchase it online?
I just purchased that net online. It's like a pillow case. BUT, you can also just buy the fabric separate and get one of those long handled bass nets and make your own. I'll find the link for you if you're interested. amzn.to/3RG0qK7
Like others have said. Don’t worry about the upper venting. The bees will seal up all the slots in the feeders so there is no air flow out the top. Might take them 3 or 4 weeks to do so.
I use those tops and feeders on my plastic hives and my wood hives in the Pacific North West. Other than some algae growth they do very well.
Hi Rick, I agree. I'm glad the slats are thin and the bees could easily seal them up. I guess my question is, why wouldn't they offer a closed-position insert with the unit? The next series of inspections will likely reinforce what you've shared here. Thanks.
I won’t pretend to understand the design of upper vents in an insulated hive. Someone must believe bee’s appreciate a house designed to use convection to move air through the hive.
In my experience bees don’t seem to appreciate such designs.
Haven’t tried, but plan to. Place the feeder below an empty super. Latches should work. Then fill super full of insulation of choice and place top on.
Great video as usual, Frederick, I just wondered why you would close off the entrances in the beginning, so you adjust them later to suit bee traffic, seems a wider gate would allow more pheromones to be exhausted to call in the stragglers.
Hi Carl, they all passed through that small opening at the rate the normally do. Yes, I could have opened everything full-bore and closed them down after they were in as it's very easy with those sliding adjustments. I actually don't like the built-in mouse guards, I'll be looking for an alternate entrance adjustment before winter hits. Thanks for your observation, I did think about that.
OK Frederick, don't be monkeying around with the equipment, they sent you this hive and supers in hopes you'll make 400 pounds of surplus honey with it and give top notch endorsement. 😉👌👍👏
@@FrederickDunn … Hi Fred… seems like you are already working on a list of modifications… all of which are based on experience and local knowledge…
Thank you, I love these types of videos. I hope both colonies do well, build up themselves and their resources, and survive through winter with flying colors.
I have to admit that I was a bit surprised that you added sugar syrup. If you don't mind me asking, did you add it because of current conditions, pollen and natural resources, or because you wanted to test out as much of the equipment as you could, or were willing to?
I added the sugar syrup to the Apimaye hive as they need to build comb fast. We don't have a lot of time left in the productive year and we have rain every day. If I didn't provide that emergency resource for this colony, then we wouldn't know if that was the reason they didn't handle winter, or, the hive venting situation. We'll see. If this was a swarm captured and put into a wooden nucleus box, I wouldn't have the sugar syrup on. This is a special case.
@@FrederickDunn I'm surprised you didn't give them drawn comb right off the bat given the short amount of time available to build up. I'd have given them some honey (yeah I know they brought some with them) and drawn comb, maybe a frame even of capped brood since they don't have a lot of time. Definitely would be feeding them.
At last!.. I've always wondered how bees get into itv
Hi Fred, I was wondering why I had not seen a cooler box version of a bee hive… now I have. I guess these bees will be living in a Palace with temp control less impacted (or slowly impacted) as environmental conditions change.
Next iteration of their box may include your suggestions and hope you get sited on patent changes.
Cheers, Johno
Thanks John! There are definitely many features I'd like to see improved with their next edition. Maybe they will include me in their review? Who knows :)
i have 2 golden palace, apimay copies, not interchangeable though ,and deeps only no mediums,wooden ware mediums do work,thank for talking about its venting,i suppose duct tape coukd seal the lid, the pollen trap works if your into that,im nit sure about OA treating will melt the plastic some,apimay has metal sheild i think to protect the plastic from heat,i will try beesmart inner covers, and beemax top covers,nice swarm btw
Re: brood divider, there are or should be two different deep dividers. Look closely at the writing on it: one should say “brood” and the other “super”. The super one is shorter than the brood labeled one.
It tripped me up the first time, too.
You're absolutely right, Mark, thank you for that information.
@@FrederickDunn you’re welcome.
You’re gonna love the Apimaye, I know I do. I had two at the end of last year and now have 7 of the 10 frame, 2 of the 7 frame double nuc, one Queen defender hive.
Btw, the two different latch anchors appear to allow for differences in tolerances between boxes. Sometimes securely joining two deeps requires using the top latch anchor.
Found your comments about the queen lures very interesting and leads me to speculate if one could create a "queenless" swarms using this technique. Or can it only be done if there is a swarm happening already? One would have to have mated queens to make use of the queenless swarm to make an increase but it wouldn't necessarily pull a lot of bees from any one hive (or would it, that's an unknown). Also wonder if it would work away from an apiary where there may not be as many bees available? Sounds like a great experiment! Once could potentially get a
I think it definitely works well due to the proximity to so many colonies. A mile away I'd think the results would be vastly different. I had a class of teens coming to learn about bees, two days prior to their visit I zip-tied a QMP noodle to a walnut tree branch so the students could see what a "swarm" may look like. It was a convincing exercise and after that lesson, I clipped the branch and placed it near a nucleus hive that could use a boost and they all went in. There were no swarms at the time, and the cluster was tiny, maybe 7" in diameter.
What about tape over vent
If I'm evaluating the design, I have to leave it as is. BUT, after the test-cycle, I'd seal those vents completely with silicone calk. I think the bees will be sealing up the lower cracks very soon.
Dear Fred I am from Kingdom city Missouri Brian Schlattman watch your channel all the time excellent information I was wondering on this new hive were you not gonna give the bees any honey frame I know you gave them some sugar water another question if you don’t need the honey should you just leave it in the hive and pull it in the spring I have five layens hives and they’re all pretty well full of honey
I try to size the honey stores based on the size of the colony going into winter. If you leave too many honey frames on, they can't keep it under control and that can actually become a source of condensation and mold on the surface. For this swarm, they are already getting resources from the environment and since they have acres of good nectar and pollen forage I'd rather leave them to bring in their own resources. If this occurred later on, I'd definitely have provisioned them with a full frame of capped honey. As of today, they are already bringing in pollen. I think they will be fine.
Hi Frederick.... here's my story and I need suggestions asap. I live in Japan. Bought a flow hive. Bought some Japanese bees in a pile box. Brought them home, turned the box up the right way and after 20min they swarmed. I deconstructed the pile box and rubber banded the comb into the frames of the new hive. ( I had now idea of how to reintroduce the the bees to the old pile box.) The I caught the swarm several times before trying to capture the queen and use a wooden bee box I made. The next day the queen was dead. So here's where it's at....
After many times of capturing the swarm some of the bees, maybe 20% of the original colony are working the hive. I'm hoping they are trying to make a new queen with existing larvae. There is still an existing swarm nearby the hive that don't seem to want to integrate into the hive. Any suggestions from you or the community as to how I can improve the situation. Thank you so much for reading this long message. ..... Nathaneal in Japan
If they killed the queen, you may have had a two-queen swarm there. If they remain even after the dead queen, I think that's reinforcement that there is another queen with them. Since they were brought in from somewhere else, they can't just go home... so, if they swarmed again and are unsettled, you "could" collect that nearby swarm and combine them by putting another box on that hive, placing newsprint between them and dumping the swarm onto that colony. If there are two queens the bees will favor one of them and the other "should" be dismissed. You have a strange dynamic going on there, but that's what I'd do to make sure there is a queenrite colony. Unless you have eggs, their chances of making a viable replacement queen is very low. Let us know what you end up doing.
@@FrederickDunn Thanks so much Fred for taking the time to respond to my dilemma.
The queen is dead due to the trauma of the bee box. I'm pretty sure there is not a second queen. The other small swarm is part of the original colony from the pile box. No matter how many times I capture them and dump them into the brood box they just keep returning to the tree where the queen left her scent last. They continue to resist integrating with the bees that have decided to work the hive. The tree they're on right now is only 10 feet from the new hive. I think I'll just cross my fingers, wait, and hope that they eventually join the colony where they can get food and shelter.
With a great deal of luck the colony might still produce a new queen with the surviving lavae in the transferred comb.
On a note of hope, the 80 year old guy I bought the bees from in the hills got word of my situation. He felt bad that the bees had left and sent a message through the grape vine that should I still be queenless after his his next honey harvest around late August, he would give me some more bees.... Let's be thankful for the kindness of wonderful beekeepers!
Re: vents in inner cover, several of my hives propolis those slots closed
The bees will propolise those vents off and they will control their own air flow according to how they want it. It would be a good idea and experiment with thermal images and videos as you usually do in over wintering on this hive compared to the other types of hives in your Apiary. And also do the same for a summer experiment to see which hives have better R values, for both extremes, summer and winter. And you will see that you do not have to control venting on these Apimaye Hives. 🙏😊
I agree, and think they will seal up every upper joint/opening they can. Regarding thermal imaging, I'll definitely do that, but with an insulated sidewall we likely won't be able to see where the cluster is. Thanks for sharing.
@@FrederickDunn Yeah I figured that but just thought it would be interesting to see especially in the thinner areas as you mentioned where the handle is mounted and also with the louvre area you may not see anything but just checking in terms of temperature comparison on the inside the brood minder system I was thinking about.
Re: r-factor of cover, it’s approximately r10 iirc
How did you determine the R10 on the cover? I also think the deep grooves eliminate sections if insulation and provide cold surfaces for possible condensation.
Where I live there would be little to no chance for these bees to survive. So, I'm curious what will happen..
I have 2 apimaye hives so far and I'm loving them. I plan to acquire many more. However, one problem i seem to have run across is that red plastic insert piece becoming cemented in place. One of them has actually broken with a piece left inserted after an attempted removal. Idk if it was propolised in place from the inside or if it was mechanically stuck, but it's a thing now.
I would suggest trying to pull that out on very HOT days, so any propolis would act more like goo than cement. I plan to leave mine in place. I won't be using the pollen trap.
Great video. Thx. Like that cotton net. Where did you find it?
It's just a professional butterfly net. You can find them on Amazon, it's a 16 or 18" diameter. You can als buy a long handled bass-net and have someone replace the netting with heavy cotton fabric. Works very well. I like this one, but you can't count on what kind of fabric they include: amzn.to/3W1y53H
I love the idea of the Apimaye hive, but, yikes, that price!
Probably not for the frugal shopper. The good news is that it doesn't require any painting or preservation.
Making videos and teaching is your Forte
Thank you so much!
Hi Fred, Any chance that you can show us what a lean normal bee looks like, against a Bulked up extended abdomen, that could be getting ready to Swarm.
Hi Peter, I'll try to make that comparison in upcoming videos. Thanks for suggesting that.
Great video.
This made me think. If you have a queen less colony and want to merge them into another colony how would disrupting the destination (strong) colony a bit so they are fanning nasinov (sp?) then taking the source (weak) colony and putting them open under the entrance to the destination colony?
Seems a little simpler than the whole newspaper thing.
Thanks for this comment, I'll talk more on this today :)
I was wondering, if a late swarm new Queen is stronger and healthier in the long term (if she manages to get properly mated(, than that of a early /mid season new Queen. Does she have winter physiology making her more robust!
Also I'm not a Dan of plastic hives but I do like the integrated breading in the corners, hopefully help you suffering with hive beetls, stopping them from hiding from bees in hard to reach corners.
Strong queens are produced at any time the colony has plenty of food and resources, it's not really tied to any season. But you're right, going into winter with a fresh queen can be an advantage, particularly when it's a real swarm-cell queen and not a supercedure or emergency queen. I'm also not a fan of plastic which is why I've dragged my feet on this hive. We'll see how it goes.
Those top feeders are a great design, but here in Georgia they'd be full of Argentina sugar ants within a couple of days and the bees wouldn't get anything you put there til cold weather sets in and they go dormant. We're I in snowbird country, I'd probably put some wool or burlap packing Inside the top cover when the colder weather sets In.
Hi Carl, I'm stuck on that issue. I instinctively want to close up that entire top and block the venting as well as add insulation. BUT, since I'm evaluating their design I have to remain faithful to their recommendations until my evaluation is complete. I do think the bees will propolize all of those seems in the feeder periphery, and that will stop air flow. There is a lot to be observed with this system and we'll see how that goes. I wish I had been a part of their research and development group, but I'm just giving it a run and providing my feedback. What you're describing is something like a quilt box, and I understand why you'd add that material in this configuration. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
LOL, Carnelian bees might just glue the whole top and feeders shut to the point you might to break them to get them apart.
will go cold winter
Hi! Great video… I have a couple of these and the feeding trays’ clear covers say “candy” and “syrup” depending on which way the cover has been put back on… which is the correct way to use when syrup is the feed? Is it syrup with the arrows facing out (furthest away from the center), or opposite?
You'll see when you have it on syrup that the clear edge goes all the way down to the bottom. When it's in the candy setting you'll see that it's open enough for the bees to walk into the feeding area.
@@FrederickDunn thank you!
Thanks for the video.
Questions:
1. Do the foragers and workers from other hives then modify their pheromone scent?
2. Isn’t part of the activity at the prior hive undergoing a swarm a direction dance to the bivouac?
Once the workers join with another colony, they soon take on that colony pheromone. They get that from the workers and nurse bees that have had direct contact with the queen. When swarming, prior to departure there are already scouts sharing information regarding where they would like to reside, that's not the same as doing a waggle for the intermetiate staging area. That's so close that it would be a "round-dance" if at all. I'll talk about this on Friday.
@@FrederickDunn Thanks.
The top does get water drops on the inside of it.
That's annoying. I guess I'll be finding that out soon enough. Thanks, Chad.
Long term, I wonder if colonies in wooden hives would fare better than ones living in plastic hives due to the propolis and its related health benefits.
I think this hive is going to get a pretty heavy dose of popolis at every joint and crevice. BUT, my primary interest remains in wooden hive bodies. This will be an informative trial and of course, also shows others what kinds of hives are out there and I'll have some personal experience to relate.
Some how hit the comment button before I was finished with my thought... One could potentially get a "package" for the price of the lure and a mated or virgin queen!?
The QMP lure is just $5 that's pretty inexpensive.
The apimaye 7 frame has two hole type entrances, and are spaced better..
Ok. Thanks.
Thanks, Fred! What do you have that shoots 1000 fps?
Hi Christopher, I have a couple of slow-motion cameras for my cinematic work. Here is one body - you can get 1000 fps at 1080p with a cronos body: www.cined.com/chronos-high-speed-camera-1000-fps-in-hd/
I caught a swarm yesterday sep. 10 man it was a huge one
That swarm will likely do better than the hive it departed from.
If the plastic has UV additives it should last 5 years or more, if not 2 to 3 years depending how much sunlight it's exposed to. I learned of this back when I worked as plastics injection mold builder because the shrinkage factors built into the molds are slightly different for UV additives in polyester polystyrene and polypropylene, than without, which look like the main components of this hive, except for clear feeder caps, they're probably polycarbonate.
Another interesting bit of information! Carl, you're on a roll. If it's only good for 5 years? I think this may be my only Apimaye hive as this isn't recyclable and I'm a bit of a hypocrite when I speak so much about environmental action and yet have this unit in my apiary. I don't even use the single use water bottles. Polystyrene has a 500 year half life when it comes to decomposition on its own. I already have quite a bit of plastic in my apiary. You should get in touch with the folks at BeeSmart Design, they are heavy on plastic research and formulation for exposure to the elements. Thanks again.
Less than 5 years would be disappointing. Surely they made this out of something that will last longer than that. Bee hives are in the sun more than not. I'd have to investigate what there made out of before I bought one.
The good thing about wood anyone can repair wood with little knowledge or tools. Wood can last when cared for. When it's not it returns back to the earth.
I'm sure you could wipe the outsides with Armor All or some other UV protestants and make it last longer, if I had one, it would be painted gloss white to reflect our brutal summer heat, I'll also bet those metal handle will burn your fingertips when exposed to the sun during a mid day summer, I painted some bricks gloss white that use on my hive lids, because they would get hotter than my hive lids, I'm thinking of moving my hives with my tractor and forks out to full sun a few feet at a time when flows are over and they just fly for cleansing flights and for pollen off random dandelions and wild turnips we have most the winter.
@@GaryManess My bees are under a nice medium-sized water oak from around 1pm till about 5pm because of the sweltering heat.
@@carlsledge3868 There are some very good quality plastic paints that are rated for outdoor use. After a year of testing, I may make my alterations to the hive and boxes. Thanks again.
Ya that does kind of look like they are moving out with a purpose.
Hello Master 🥰🥰🥰🥰
For anyone feeling suspicious about Apimaye and Apimondia being so close in spelling (and sadly I have to include myself in that group), the latter is the Ineternational Federation of Beekeepers' Associations and has nothing to do with the Apimaye Company. They've been around for a long time. The award is legit.
Hi David, I hadn't actually considered the similarity, but I did do the check on the Awards given by Apimondia just to be informed regarding when the Gold Medal was awarded. I could not find any central listing that showcased the awards they have given through the years. You have to find the specific year, and then visit that host site to see what awards were given. Yes, Apimondia has been around since 1895 and I've never been able to attend.
@@FrederickDunn … just checked and Flow Hive got a second beaten by an automatic Royal jelly extractor… go figure!!!
I am usinge Apimaye LR hives for 2 years now and I am wondering how do you rotate the brood boxes if the lower one is permanently fiexed to the bottom board? Also it seems that removing the polen trap could result in bee decapitations.
I don't practice box rotation in any of my hives. If you keep a single entrance and no top venting, they will migrate down on their own in spring. I haven't used the pollen trap, but will certainly pay attention to that potential. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Odd that you can't close off the top vent.
You said it. I'd much rather that they eliminated the venting and provided a thick insulated cover without that feature at all.
@@FrederickDunn I don't know if this would help but I use metal duct tape to seal vents like this in beehives. Even the goofy notches on intercovers. The bees just accept it.
What did you make the frame for the net from? I can probably.get my wife to sew the cotton net. Is the end of the net flat or pointed?
I had my wife stitch a straght line across at the bottom of the net so I could grab the material without smashing any bees. The net rim is stainless steel tubing.
If you switch to plastic frames, would you alleviate any problems with wax moth? Do wax moth larvae need wood to develop?
All they need is beeswax, however plastic foundation prevents them from getting straight through it as they would with wax or foundationless frame options. They "can" chew plastic, but it slows them way waaaay down.
Question sir, I got paper nest size 2 basket balls atop each other. Looks like yellow jacket. I'm allergic no resource to get someone. Central Ohio. What would be effective course to take safely?? Thank you for video s.
Try to locate a local beekeeper and see if he/she would take care of that for you. I do that free for my neighbors around here. I wish you luck with them. Are they so close that people would be threatened? If not, when it begins to freeze, they will be finished for the year.
Thank you. I'm gonna wait to temperature drop 50s less at night. 5 cans spray
Hi Fred, No Synthetic Comb frames in this Hive?
If this occurred in two weeks, I'd have loaded it with Better-Comb, but since we have plenty of nectar resources ahead, let's see how they draw out their own for now.
@Frederick Dunn, I follow several UK beekeepers and there are some stating if you get true Apis Mellifara Mellifara genetics and put them on small cell foundation, they never need any mite treatments, have you ever heard of this?
Hi Carl, I've heard that claim from many sources. That theory was given a solid run-through at Cornell University and mites reproduced just as well in small-cell comb as they do in what we consider to be standard size worker cells. It had no negative impact on varroa reproduction. Also don't forget that most varroa like to reproduce in drone comb. Aside from the drone comb, varroa mites begin their reproduction when the cell is capped and they have plenty of room to move and feed/reproduce. As the pupa develops to maturity/emergence, the varroa mites still had room to move and demonstrated normal reproduction. So, it was conclusive that small cell, or regressing your bees to smaller stock, was not a meaningful way to "naturally" give varroa mites the boot.
@@FrederickDunn So could it be that truly Apis Mellifara Mellifara genetics are just hygienicly better at dealing with varroa mites and have the VSH traits built-in and this is just some Brit hog wash to sell smaller cell comb and shiny black bees, I've heard that true Apis Mellifara-Mellifara genetics were lost centuries ago, but maybe some survived on the islands of Denmark and Sweden, your thoughts Sir as you're the foremost authority on bees, I converse with.
Hi. How did these Apimaye hives work for you, Frederick?
I will be reloading them this spring. The apimay colonies didn't make it. BUT, they didn't have a full season to build into them. I will be insulating the tops and stopping that upper venting for starters. I'll be adding the Apimaye nucleus hive this year also. I can't blame the hive for the loss, I still think they are well designed.
Hi Mr Fred would you please tell me where can I buy plastic hives.thank you very much.
apimaye-usa.com/products/ergo-plus-white-single-box-beehive-set?currency=USD&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwt-OwBhBnEiwAgwzrUuClZjdpLGn8lLvhAT6Mx7UWvKTLGd1V4cSY3MAReCIP6mPAfrDfwRoCT6YQAvD_BwE&variant=44421339775225
mr dunn i thoguht your against plastics and now you have one??? explain that please
Hi Hive, I do try to control the amount of plastic I introduce to my beekeeping. This is something that many viewers have asked about for years and it's an opportunity to evaluate it in person. I don't think I'll be filling my bee yard with them, but I like to be familiar with popular equipment. Thanks for being a frequent viewer and commentor.
@@FrederickDunn ok thanks
🛫📖🛬
Mr. Dunn,
Truly your entire class is interested in your opinion of the Apimaye
Hive.
Looks rugged enough.
Will you be insulating those top vents or leaving it as it is ❓
I have a lingering thought in the back of my mind that plastic might induce more condensation.
Have you ever used expandable foam for any of your sealing applications ❓
Hope you got to see the "INSIDE THE HIVE" NURSE BEES FEEDING THE PUPAE.
Today the good professor was speaking on the effects of temperature variations on the sperm count in the queen and also how it could affect the drone sperm count and efficacy.
Thanks again for a wonderful video.
Looking forward to your follow-up inspection in 3 weeks.
Please ignore my question about the upper vents I remember you saying that you were going to go into winter as is 👍
📖🛐✈️🐆🐝🐝🐝🐝
GOD Bless
Hey Chuck… interesting about sperm count and quality… I think the Scotts knew about this as long as the kilt has been worn. 😉😉🤫🍻
@@thegr8stm8
🛫📖🛬
Hey John,
You know, you may very well may be right;
All it would take would be a gentle breeze to keep that all day cool and fresh feeling.
Kinda like a screened bottom board on the hive.
(Who knows what might hit the ground)lol🐝
So the guard bees are off duty during swarm action? Normally bees not from the hive would be challenged?
Any forager that has resources with it may be welcomed to almost any hive. But when swarming is occuring, guards are just overwhelmed by all of the departures and arrivals occuring at the same time :)
Is it possible to keep 2 hives permanently using the ApiMaye? Maybe go 3 supers high?
Are you asking if you can keep two colonies in the same hive body by leaving the divider in all the way up? You "could" but the entrances are adjacent to each other and a better setup would be to have the entrances at least 90 degrees out from each other. I think this wouldn't be good for that as presented.
Thanks, that’s what I was wondering. Wanted to keep 2 colonies on a single footprint. Awesome videos! I will be pairing my ApiMaye with Flow High supers next year.
Hi Fred. Does the Flowhive Super fit on the Apimaye?
That's a great question! I'll add that today to my Q&A. It does... sort of. The Flow Super will sit right on that upper lip of the Apimaye hive, so it's not at all perfect. I recommend wrapping that joint for extra security. It can slide off easily.
@@FrederickDunn in my opinion this would make a great combination. I look forward to your Q&A.
Hi Fred. Thank you for the reply on your Q&A! You answered it first question. My daughter was super excited. For clarification... what should I wrap the Apimaye upper joint with to prevent slippage of the Flowhive Super?
I have 10 frame and 7 frame apimaye boxes. I had to pay for mine.
I hope they work out well for you :)
выглядит улей замечательно, но стоимость просто космос. Приму в дар комплект))
Я уверен, что многие люди хотели бы один в качестве подарка. Я согласен, что они дорогие.
@@FrederickDunn in Russia, we usually use beehives made of wood. Peace to all good people!
What happens when an Apimaye hive gets infected with American foulbrood?
I've asked that question many times. I suppose we'll have to dunk it in caustic soda or the Dept. of Ag will have to come up with a sanitation procedure. I would not be burning all of that plastic. Maybe they will just require all components to be cut apart and buried? Wooden hives are easy and when burned are considered carbon neutral, but plastic is another issue altogether. The good news is that I've never had a single case of AFB or EFB, but we do need to have a plan.