Hi from across the ditch in southern New Zealand 👋😃 love those little nucs theyre awesome 👍 just started raising a couple of cells last week with a egg frame and the weather's been diabolical with wet snow but got two decent cells drawn so happy with that result. Plenty of drones showing up now so hopefully we get a good spell in the weather for mating, looks pretty good. Really interesting 👋👍😃 Great video
I would not even bother with comfort hives in very cold areas in winter , that little hive didn’t even have many to keep warm , they looked really lethargic and usually when it’s to cold for them they come to a stand still and die.
It’s been hard to find some nice weather for doing bee work down here. But I did graft last Thursday. Did about 70 cells. I’m confident at least some of them will turn out well. We’re right at the start of swarming season here so the bees are in the mood to make queen cells. I found quite a few hives with cups with eggs and started swarm cells last Thursday. I think I’m going to have a bit of a difficult swarm season. I wish I had a heap of equipment so I could just split everything now to avoid swarming
Fun to see you starting your next season as my bees are beginning their long fall and winter here in South Texas. I’m hoping to graft for the first time next year and watching and listening to you work your hives is great information. Thank you!!
Has anyone found a video on starting a Comfort Hive or mini hive? I’ve seen a few for mating nucs but want to see how to feed them for the first few days and weeks.
I've just taken a queen (3 of 4) from my overwintered mini nucs. I combined the bees & frames from mini 3 into minis 2 & 4 either side & seem to fine. However, there is a fair bit of polystyrene that's been chewed almost right through. Two questions: 1. How to reduce or prevent them chewing; 2. How to repair the damage? I was thinking of putting cutout polystyrene to fit, then glue it in place & paint over. Would that work?
G’day Jason. I’m having a bit of trouble with chewing also. Not a major problem but just the odd one. I’ve been meaning to experiment with some kind of gap filler or poly filler, but I haven’t yet. Potentially the bees will just chew around the filler and continue chewing. I have had one chew right through and create a second entrance near the back of the hive. It wasn’t really a problem so I just left it. The bees began filling it in again with propolis as winter came. I think the best advice is to make sure there is plenty of paint on the inside of the box to begin with. I think it deters them from chewing. I’ve noticed that wax moths will drill a hole through a wall and possibly this is what leads the bees to start chewing because they’re going afresh the moth grub. My theory is if the damage get too bad just throw the box out and start a new one.
Okay, thanks for that. In addition, I reckon yours are less affected because you have nice wide side bars which reduces access to the inside walls. Much appreciated.
There’s no reason I can see not to make these out of plywood. The reason I use the polystyrene is I get it for free and it’s pretty forgiving to work with. To make nice wooden hiveware you really need very good quality woodworking machines for precision, which I don’t have.
Here's a note I sent to Frederick Dunn mentioning you. I would love it if you could do a how to set up a mini nuc from scratch. I think it is missing from the internet. I was inspired by some Sam Comfort videos and also one of his acolytes that used to work for Mike Palmer. This fellow takes the low cost to zero cost by using recycled styrofoam to make them. Nowadays he has sides on his frames and I think I will go there. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-oZeP-hbUzzk.htmlsi=9gQXPdv2D8PYs2No What is missing, or I cannot find, is how to get started. I used the Uni of Guelph videos but they do queen rearing in a different location. So from what I have figured out on my own through trial and error is that you need to put at least 2 cups of bees into half a Comfort Hive with a cell or queen for 2 or 3 nights, locked in with food and water (because bees cannot eat BBQ sticks) and keep the hives cool. After 2 nights, the bees have lost their orientation! (Thank you to the Bee Man at Faith Apiaries for that tip). So the second time round, I had much more success with the bees staying in the hives. Drowning in the syrup is an issue, despite having it covered with a sponge. I need to find a better solution to that. I also need to find a way to drop in bees, and syrup in a way that the bees do not fall into the syrup. My last attempt was to put in the syrup in a bowl with a sponge in the bowl and a lid on top. Then I dropped in the bees and finally I took the lid off before quickly arranging the skewers (mine do not have slots like Bee Vlog Australia). I am hopeful that I can find solutions to these issues next year without needing expensive mating nucs and having a solution that can grow and hold an entire hive and make it through the winter. Anyway, for next to no cost, you get a hive and that has to be something. Thank you for your interest. Note, @BeeVlogAustralia has how to videos on how he makes the hives.
Thanks for the comment. I will be starting off more nucs this coming season so I’ll probably do video on that. Honestly most of the nucs I start off now are more like splits because I’ve got some started that I can take drawn comb, brood and honey from.
@@bennybeekeeperjust bought one of them, yet to light it. Design must have changed a bit , no heat shield on mine. Currently using a small Penders, the smaller ones seem hard to come by now days.
Nice video 👍👋 hi from southern New Zealand 👋😃 stone fruit trees will crank up about the second or third week of September for us, not many almonds, mostly cherry, apricot, nectarines and the only pip fruit growing here are apples
Those girls look like they're going great. So good you could save that lovely 'supercedure queen',.. she's a beauty. I've just returned to Canberra from being overseas & checked my mini nucs briefly this morning. Happy to report all four have made it through winter with good fresh queens and building up pre-spring brood. Huge endorsement for overwintering fresh late season queens. Thanks for your excellent videos & advice. 🎉💪😎
That’s great to hear. Glad to know your minis are doing well. Mine are too. They’re building up nicely. I’m very happy with how they’ve come through winter.
Your videos are a tremendous help to me. I managed to have 2 of 6 Comfort Hives take despite not giving them a couple of days locked in and the next batch, with 3 nights locked in are doing great with a 100% success rate. Having said that, of the first batch, one failed and the other absconded (not a single dead bee in the hive). I am hoping this second batch will do better. If you did a set up from scratch series, that would be wonderful. Also, are the frame sides a must have or nice to have in your opinion? (I am thinking must as mine lie on tacked on 6mm (1/4") frame rests but they have not expanded that far yet).
I much prefer the combs with sidebars for a number of reasons. The comb is a lot easier to handle, you can safely hold it at any angle, and also put it down and lean it against the wall while inspecting other combs. The comb is a lot stronger with the sidebars. I’ve had a number of combs break about half an inch below the skewer through the honey band which is a shame and an inconvenience. Also I’ve realised the hive can be worked a lot quicker when the combs have sidebars which is a factor the more of these hives you have. If you only run a small number time is not a factor but to work a hive like this on a larger scale then the sidebars become essential
Waiting to see percentage that made it. Had a bad summer here, thought it was going to be great as we had lots of rain in the spring and hot summer, but the bees struggled to make a honey crop. Bee Inspector coming by Monday so may shed some light possibly.
Most of mine have made it through to this point. Winter isn’t over yet but there’s plenty of flowers around and starting to get some good foraging weather. Lack of rain is the main concern for me here
@@bennybeekeeper copper coast Yorke peninsula, doing some first inspections for the season tomorrow. I’d say we are about 5-6 weeks later here than last year.
I used what we call here in USA Winter Patty. Basically a fondant/pollen patty mix. little pollen and mostly Carbs for the bees. It worked great for me in small 6fr over 6fr nucs
I doesn’t snow here. It’s between 10 and 15 degrees C during the day at the moment in the middle of winter. Frost in the morning every other day. Pretty mild winter really. Most hives have been raising some brood all the way through. And I usually get at least one day per weekend that is nice enough to do bee work.
Were you concerned about the orientation of the cells when placing the comb in your frames? I’ve started to do some cut outs and thought the orientation should be the same as it was? Cheers Marc
It should be kept the same. It was just too convenient for me to put it in the frame like I did. They won’t abandon that comb because it already has their brood in it. Bees are very versatile and adaptive. They will make it work. I have seen before a tree fall over with a hive in it. The comb orientation gets all messed up but the bees just roll with it and keep using it.
I’m taking 55 hives. The poly boxes are 9 frames. I’ve also got 8 frame doubles out at my main bee site. They don’t really want single but if you’ve got some strong doubles it evens out the load
Never done a queen rearing before but you've inspired me to give it a try to graft in a mini nuc with those little yellow plastic frames without messing with the beehives i have, Just not sure which cups to use, What do you suggest?
