Thank you. Your way of explaining is wonderful. I'm a new Beek but I recently did what you covered here because my hive had over 9 frames of honey in the brood box and a small patch of brood (late winter here in Australia) so I wanted to create more space for her majesty to get laying If she doesn't get cracking soon, I'll have to incite a revolution and replace her
I'm an experienced beekeeper and you were pretty much spot on. You could also feed any hive sugar water/ a honey bee healthy type feed that doesn't have a honey box on it. I've had them build out comb in the fall feeding that formula in spite of the local beekeepers saying they won't build out comb that late in the year. LOL
Ahhhh this is great to hear! Bc I have 10 new hives that need to build out comb before winter. Definitely hammering sugar water right now. Was told to add apple cider vinegar to the mixture to make the ph more similar to honey. May try that next. Thanks for the message ☺️ have fun with your bees!!
@@beefitbeekeeping you can do the same thing with vitamin c powder (ascorbic acid). Vinegar could set off a feeding frenzy if there is a dearth. The HBH will cause brood building as well. So, they'll need comb to lay in and they should start building out. I like to put some sea salt in the sugar water as well since bees like to lick salt blocks for minerals. Just a little bit and not table salt. Himalayan should be fine. That may adjust the ph up though. I don't remember checking it afterwards though. Not sure.
@@beefitbeekeeping Hi, I have just seen your channel for the first time today, it is great BTW. I've just discovered some of the things you are teaching about checkerboarding and I've had great success with it. I use blank wired frames, (no foundation) I have to checkerboard the frames or otherwise the bees would just build on one frame drawing it far too wide into the area of the nest blank frame, Probably installing new frames into the brood area will limit how wide they will build as you said. Sorry to disagree with you about apple cider, I don't think it is a good idea as bees hate apple cider, last year I tried spraying frames with Apple Cider to try sterilise the wax from chalk brood infection and hopefully by encouraging bees to clean out the wax better, that didn't work and really made everything far worse. I only found out later how much bees hate ACV, when learning how to set wasp traps, put you put ACV into Jars wasps love ACV but bees won't go near it preventing bees from drowning, I learned this hard way, my bees almost absconded from the hive, it definitely set them back a lot.
This is my first year with bees however I have been taking classes for more than 2 years. My priority this year has been building comb. My temperatures have been ideal in the mid-'90s. Have screen bottom boards as well as place the hive in the shade. Your video is timely and very informative. Luckily, I have been fortunate and doing many of your recommended things. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
A quick method for building drawn honeycomb: put HEAVY wax on your new foundation. If you roll wax on the foundation 2 or 3 times rather than just once, the bees will pull that thick wax out into a thin walled cell that will be nearly to the edge of the frame. Within 2 to 3 days, the frame will be ready for brood or nectar. No new wax will be used and the house bees will do the work. If you put too much wax on a foundation, the bees will just move it to other frames. So where do you get the wax to roll onto the frames? Buy it OR use 9 frames in your 10 frame supers. This will cause the bees to make very deep honeycomb to maintain beespace. This extra wax will then be cut off with the caps when you extract the honey. I found that wax from 2 to 3 "thick" frames was enough for 1 new foundation.
I’m so happy you’re liking my videos ☺️ yeah I’ve learned the hard way with checkering the honey super 🥴 but if there’s a tip that works with checkering it definitely send it my way!
@@beefitbeekeeping I did it once to a frame they hadn't capped yet to get them focused on drying it out. I moved one from the middle and replaced it with an end frame. But those obviously were already drawn out!
Great video explaining checkerboarding! I do all deeps in my apiary. It makes it easier to store everything and its much cheaper to stock up on hive components like frames because I can buy in bulk. I noticed that a lot of times my bees would rather build comb on top of the frames instead of outwards in the single deep. I think it has something to do with bees wanting to instinctually build comb in a circle and not a square like they do in nature. So I add another deep box on top as soon as temps stop dropping below 50F at night. As they build up they fill out the bottom box because in nature they need to build the top first to support the bottom of the circle. To encourage them to move up into the top box I take a frame of capped brood from the middle and move it to the top box. I check back a week later and if they haven't started drawing comb in the bottom deep yet then I checker board. If its warm enough when I first add the second box then I do some lite checkerboarding then too but conditions have to be perfect for that because I don't want to stress them out too much.
a good tip is to melt wax and brush it on new plastic frames so bees start much easier to expand them, they do not want to start building on clean plastic surface.
CONGRATULAYIONS on a really good video. You made a very valuable point that I have seen many “proclaimed to be” experienced beekeepers videos ignoring and that is placing both drawn and foundation frames in a production super. You are dead right and totally accurate in that alternating drawn comb frames with foundation frames is a no, no in the production supers. That will almost always cause very thin foundation-based frames and very thick drawn comb frames. Again, you are right in that this only matters in production supers and is not of much concern in the brood chamber. Again, congratulations on a very, very good video. Keep them coming.
@@beefitbeekeeping Yeah, people watch all these RU-vidrs and get advice from them. The problem with that is most new bee keepers don't know how important it is to follow advice from more "local" sources.
@@pyrojdii8806 true point! I talked about that some in a past video, location really does make a difference even being in the same state each apiary has different sources of pollen and nectar coming in, different pests in the area or viruses that are local. I truly think that is why it seems if you ask 10 beekeepers a question you will get 10 different answers. Been trying to really learn about how a bee acts, thinks, lives, etc down to the science. Learning that can help understand why bees do certain things and react to what we do as beekeepers.
I know that as far as gardening goes people like to see people growing a garden in a zone /region similar to theirs because some of the pests and diseases and timelines for planting etc. Are similar. Beekeeping is a little different where the fundamentals are more constant, just different precautions may need to be taken over a longer winter. Which is still good info to know. 😊 I don't think region matters much as far as channel growth. Good info is good info.
I use this technique. Works well and combs are ready in a week...if the frame is on the edge than it takes about a month. During nectar flow here, the combs get ready in 3 days only. We keep Asian honeybees. Likes from India.
I'm doing this very thing now. I took 7 colonies and split them into oblivion this year. I was over 50+ at one point but I'm back in mid 40s now. I'm adding second deeps and checker boarding in 10 waxed foundation frames and plan to just keep them in .8:1 and pollen patties until I bulk them up with 2:1 in September. I love the video and am now a subscriber! Thanks!
♥️ love to have ya as a part of the community! I will be doing the same soon. Just found out my bee business is receiving a 5k grant so I will be doubling my numbers in the next couple weeks. Sounds like you’ve had a busy season. Congrats on 40!
Don't be swayed by some of the overly negative comments. Your management techniques are producing healthy, productive colonies by encouraging the bees to do what bees normally do, only better.
♥️ thank you. I appreciate hearing that. Everyone has an opinion. Like Kaymond Reynolds says opinions are like noses everyone has one. But that’s all they are opinions ☺️
I’ve had hives for 3 years but didn’t really start taking it seriously until the last 2 years. I’ve learned a lot from family and friends and both my grandpa and uncle before they passed (they were beekeepers for 20+ years) but I’m still learning more and more every day but aren’t we all 😉 not trying to pretend like I know everything because I certainly don’t. The day you stop being a student is the day you stop growing.
Good point to put a super frame in brood box to get comb build up…..sometimes I run a super frame below all the time. I’ve found when they build comb below the shorter frame it will be used for drone production. Since varroa mites prefer to lay eggs in drone cells to get a few more days of development, you can use that lower hanging comb as a mite trap of sorts, just remove it after the drone cells are capped and before they start emerging…you lose a few drones but there seems to always be plenty around…
This is a great idea! I may steal this trick from ya. I’ve noticed that if my bees want to make drones oh they will make drones where ever they can! I’ve been wondering if having a frame for them to make drones on would help eliminate drone comb connecting the top and bottom box….
All female bees including the queen have the glands to produce wax. The queen will not, she has other jobs Worker bees will post swarm but once they have went through the reserves they brought from the mother hive, the worker bees will venture to forage, they absolutely have to start bringing in nectar and pollen. Then nurse bees take over and dutifully take care of young and consume nectar to produce wax, prepare cells, and then start all over I space my frames more than that. I used 9 frames in a 10 frame box. It allows for deeper cells and it will improve brood health and your queens laying pattern can improve on deeper cells. With 9 boxes you should have a 5 gallon bucket of sugar water 50 feet from your hives if they are fresh with no comb. Going into summer that should be 1 to 1. No comb in the box 1 to 1 sugar will give them a boost and prvide them with the sugar they need to make wax. It takes 9 pounds of honey to make 1 pound of wax. They will only make wax when it is necessary to do so. When there are plenty of cells for honey, bee bread, pollen,nectar, and brood workers, drones, and queens, the workers and nurse bees will halt all wax production. A wild hive once they filled their cavity to capacity then it is a cycle of swarming.
exacty what I telling so many times, but try like this 1. put fully caped brood to perimeter 2. foundation 3. almost capped brood 4. young brood or empty frame and repeat from other end like same, queen will not trough foundation frames, but not need because after foundation frames is fully capped its meaning nothing to do for queen, workers will care about it, and newly hatched young's will work on closest foundation, some weeks later if fully drawn comb from 2. position you can move to 4. position, but you must care about 1. fully capped and 3. almost fully capped frame keeping on every moving, you can build 6 new frames and colony will not loss strength, maybe little honey will less, but on feed time doesnt matter.
Greetings fellow Michigander! Great information. Was wondering, if you put an empty frame next to a capped honey frame, will they draw that out normal?
It’s a hit or miss I’ve noticed sometimes they draw it out just fine and other times they’ll ignore the blank frame and draw out the honey to that blank frame. I think it depends on whether that honey frame is capped or not bc they won’t uncap the honey unless during winter.
It’s from humblebee! It’s a little pricey but it was so worth it! My only complaint is about where the sippers meet by your neck for the vail, once the Velcro gets some wear on it, a bee or 2 can sometimes slip thru. It’s very breathable tho and has lots of pockets.
I love the confidence in your presentation. My only question is how much of this is personal opinion versus researched facts? Is it the old adage, ask 12 beekeepers how to best keep bees and they will give you 12 or more perspectives.
Both! When I first started beekeeping these are the things I found when researching. Then I tried them myself in my own apiary and saw amazing results. Not trying to say that everything I say is 100% THE way as you say it is true ask 12 beekeepers the same question and you will receive 12 different answers. So anything I say is from personal opinion. I don’t want anyone to be under the impression that I know everything bc I most certainly don’t and still have a lot more to learn.
Putting them over your suit is the smart way actually haha gives the bees 2 points that they would have to cross to get in. But the elastic on the wrist of my suit is still tight so for now I’m just picking comfort 🤣 but once one sneaks in I’ll switch
Did you take classes, you do a great job of presenting the information. May I ask how long you have been keeping bees? Thin syrup and checker boarding frame manipulation has worked great for me this season. When I checker board with brood I keep at least 2 brood frames together and try not to break up the brood nest to much. Just my opinion on my observations and experiences. Great tips :-) Ty for sharing your time, Blessed Days...
Nope didn’t take any classes unless you count my own Emily University of research I like to do in my free time 🤣 I’m a science nerd so I’m always looking for new things to learn. This is my 3rd year! First year was winging it but the last 2 years I’ve been more serious about it.
@@beefitbeekeeping I'm wondering if messing with the frames so much this first season helped keep them from swarming on me. Have been fighting honey and pollen bound all season. Had to put my strongest colony on a pollen trap for a week even.
Hi, thanks for the info. I have a slightly different situation. I have a double-deep brood box hive with two honey supers on it without a queen excluder. The honey super right on top of the brood box has 6 frames of capped or partially capped honey and nectar in the remaining 3 frames. The honey super on top of this has undrawn foundation. They seem to be spending little time up there. My questions is should I reverse the honey supers and put the one with the undrawn frames on top of the brood box to encourage them to draw out the comb. I am in SE PA and we should be having a late summer/Fall flow sourced by Goldenrod and Asters.
It’s been a hit or miss with me when doing that. Sometimes after a couple weeks they will finally start to draw it out but usually they will just walk right thru it to the top box. Give it a try tho! It may work for you and it won’t hurt anything. Your flow may not have hit yet. From what I’ve been told just bc you see the golden rod blooming doesn’t mean the flow has started yet. Can take a couple weeks. If there is food coming in they will fill it up once they can.
As longer you have plastic food grade foundation and plenty water by the hive ,they will have cool inside.Also, make sure you have a good vertical ventilation .
I'll follow you because you're spot on with the bees, but also you're pretty cute and have nice voice as far as beekeepers go. You only missed one trick that use often, it's when you're adding another deep with just foundation and the bees are reluctant to go work it, I just move a frame of brood up and put the blank frame when it was in the lower box, they'll move up and cover the brood and begin drawing the frames beside it, if there's a dearth I feed em 1/2 to 1 sugar syrup with a cap of apple cider vinegar to control fermentation.
Thanks for the tip! I just started experimenting with apple cider vinegar. Fun fact that I didn’t know until this week. Honey has a PH of around 3.1-4.5. Plain sugar water is around 6.5-7 depending on how much sugar is added. The bees have microorganisms in their gut just like we do. When they consume sugar water at a high PH it changes the bacteria in their gut and ends up decreasing their life by a couple weeks. Adding apple cider vinegar or Ascorbic Acid (vit. C) to your sugar water lowers the PH so that it is more similar to honey! I’ll have a video about it once I see how the bees react to this new mixture. ☺️
The 1/2 to 1 is simular to nectar, but will ferment pretty fast in the heat that's why the apple cider vinegar, I should have stated I put the frame of in the middle of the top box so it's over the brood and warmth from bottom box, they'll move working the brood and begin drawing frames and foundation on each side of the brood frame, then work outwards quicker than you think even on 1/2 to 1 sugar water, I just keep it on till the flow then they won't touch it, but helps keep them flying it there's pollen to gather.
I usually just take them and put them some place safe in my house until I’m ready to put them back on. I haven’t tried putting them on another hive to see what that does. Another tip I should have mentioned is to feed with 2:1 water/sugar they will draw it out crazy quick. They need sugar or a heavy nectar flow to build comb.
Hi Emily just bought a colony three weeks a go. Is i do the checker bord thing how long will it take until is fully drawn. I have 6 full frams and 5 empty.
Just depends on how much food they have in the area. Since it is a new hive and you won’t be extracting any honey off of it this year feed them with a 2:1 sugar water ratio to help encourage comb building. And the speed also depends on if you are using plastic foundations or wax foundations. They draw quicker on wax, plastic takes a little longer. But with checker boarding they will start drawing it out pretty fast! It’s only been a week since I did mine and they already have half of those empty wax sheets drawn out half an inch or so. They are only at maybe half a centimeter on all of the empty plastic sheets
@@beefitbeekeeping thank for replying and the tip. Follow up, do the online need sugar water or also protein like pollen patty? Or is protein only used to raise the larva?
She should have mentioned the benefit of pre waxing new empty frames.just roll a layer of wax over the plastic this saves the bees so much time and effort.they will be able to comb out 10x faster.
All bees can make wax so if there aren’t any young bees they will pick up the slack but they prefer the young ones to do it bc as a bee gets older their wax glands reduce in size. So it’s not ideal but as bees are with anything they will find a way for survival
Yep the bees will definitely be bearding on the outside of the hive on a 95 degree day. Too hot for them to do much. Wouldn’t worry too much about it. As long as they have room in the hive to keep building and filling comb then I wouldn’t worry about them swarming.
Yet Another Super informative and Interesting video u Really know ur bees my friend I'm Always impressed at not only ur Knowledge but how u can convey all that and not make it sound like a boring lecture but make it entertaining and seriously I Cam visualize what ur saying so Bravo👏👏👏I loved the natural AC the bees do too thats awesome they really are Genius creatures! And talk about worker bees not even 3 weeks into the world and already punching that bee clock! My dad owned his own produce farm and i at least got 8 years before he put me to work!😂Can't wait to hear about Wonky Combs my Favorite Keeper!☺️👑🐝💛#emilyisthebeesknees
I do the same. I will use 1 super but I try to just make the rest deeps once the hive gets built out. Easier to manage 2 deeps that a deep and 4 supers. Cheaper too
Lot of these new beekeeper s. Join class es me not leran long time ago from when I was 12 years old use help old beekeeper but back then no permit s now have to be registered thru fadc
To place a foundation or more into the nest is possible but tells enough about the beekeeper and his/her understand about bees . Unfortunately a lot of beekeepers are thinking it wont bother the bees.. You are wrong!!! ... And no that are not cool tips. Terrible stop beekeeping please.....
@@beefitbeekeeping That's very kind of you, however my day wasn't that bad. I only ask myself the question how it should be helpful from a beekeeper's point of view to lead such a colony? What benefit can the bees draw from it, if you use such practice?
Just stumbled onto your channel and wanted to say you did a awesome job on this video. You explained things very well, I see your channel exploding very soon. Keep it up!
@@beefitbeekeeping I agree, it's also the part that will grow your audience and your doing a super job. Glad I found your channel and I will be following as your channel grows.
Would have loved this video except that there is no reason to be getting dressed from your underwear. I watch beekeeping videos with my children, especially my bee-obsessed 7 year old.
Great video and definitely going to do this! My only question is when you take the frames out of the brood nest for checkerboarding do you just move those brood frames you removed straight up into the upper brood box? I assume it won't be an issue as long as it stays above 60 at night. Thanks for the great video!
