Mostly about 'balanced beekeeping' in top bar and other hives, which is the negotiated space between 'leave alone' or 'natural' beekeeping and the more exploitative forms of beekeeping. If you want to have bees around you primarily for their own sake, and also because of their pollination services and because you would like some honey from time to time, you may well find yourself at home here. Visit my site for more information and a lot of free stuff - www.biobees.com
yes I agree with you.. And if we're not helping genetics of disease resistant queens we're hurting bees.. but veroa like drones, so any ideas to promote drones and fight veroa? thanks
Thank you Phil I’m getting ready to bring my new grandson home today and rub him down with a bit of oil and wax to keep him from squeaking. Good information and hope to use more of it.
The second tool is called a cell punch, theres a few vids on you tube on the method.. seems like a good method if you are ham fisted like me... or if your hands are too shakey for grafting.
My beekeeping buddy and I used this method when we first started many years ago, thinking I will go back to it next spring. We raised really good queens using it. Using new comb makes it much easier. Jay Smith wrote a book about this method called "Better Queens " in 1949 reprinted in 2011. My friends last name was Smith which drew our attention.
@@timan2039 We had one just like that which lasted through my entire childhood growing up in a house with an extensive orchard. I've no idea what happened to it after I left home, so maybe it wasn't substantial enough to last more than ten-plus years.
It's clear that Americans don't like these hives - they're cheap, ugly and you can't order them from Amazon... . Thanks for the video. I have learned and applied so much from you over the years.
Mabey just loosen the flow hive frames free of propolis every month or two and check for fully capped frames when normal harvest time is there and turn the key on only the fully capped frames.
2015 Founding Supporter here. Harvested 14 quarts from my original 6 frame Flow yesterday. Didn't kill a single bee. You are far too rough on your bees for my liking. I have never had to remove my frames from the box as you did. Only after removing the entire box for winter have I needed to remove any flow frames for inspection etc... IMHO bee husbandry requires gentleness and kindness. Bees deserve it!
Good to see you back making videos! If your looking for a project I'd love to see someone attempting a well insulated Kenyan Top bar hive with thermal mass inside. Cheers. Having a go with polestyrene but not sure how to make it mouse proof
I have had mouse damage on poly hives and it's pretty much impossible to deter them completely. Thanks for the challenge though, I will give that some thought!
@@BarefootBeekeeper Hi, Forgive me my tardy response. I hadn’t picked up that you’d replied! I’m living in West Yorkshire, Hebden Bridge. A lovely area, but exceedingly wet.
