I really like the APIMAYE hive. But the bees threw me a curveball during this inspection and I had to make some quick decisions. Hopefully I did the right thing. What do you think of my management choices? What would you have done differently?
My opinion..who knows 😂 I look for eggs/queen.If pop low, and broodnest open I'd say Supercedure.Check laying pattern by the eggs not just capped brood.if only laying back in emerged cells then she's old.Usually Supercedure don't have swarm cells, but don't forget SOME bees requeen themselves by swarming..if not built up to be swarming I'd say maybe swarmy bees,this looks like the are requeening and I like bees to requeen in the Spring not fall personally,if I cut out cells I leave the ones really mottled that the bees really cared for and worked on...I'd say you are right and done the right thing 👍
Thanks for the comment. I think it will work. But time will tell. If we don’t see serious progress with the weak colony in a month or so then I am about done with them.
Hi Bruce, nice review of the A hive. Fred linked this video as it pertained to a question he was asked this week. I really enjoyed your podcast with him this week as well.
Hopefully, that smaller hive will rebound now that you put a couple of Queen cells in there. And I just purchased a couple of the Apimaye hive setups with two deeps and two honey supers for each. I plan on trying them out this summer and this coming winter to see how they hold up to the New England winters. I like the fact that they come with everything you need and with them being insulated that is a plus for the Northeast. Thanks for sharing brother.
I hope so. Time will tell. Not sure what else to do. Probably could have removed the mediums from the Apimaye hive but we will hopefully have privet blooming in a couple of weeks so I would like to get a little honey from that hive if possible. Not sure if I will but there was a fair amount of brood so maybe the population will increase here soon.
Bruce, it sure looks like they already swarmed to me. You had several frames in the lower box with a nice solid brood pattern. Swarm cells can appear anywhere on a frame and you had plenty along the bottom also. The lack of apparent eggs is also a tell. Really doubt it is a supecedure. The bees typically will not build that many cells for a supercedure either. Nothing you did in the Apimaye hive will alter the course of events the bees set into motion so just go with it. I never destroy swarm cells as they are the best of the best. Glad to see you harvested some of them and got rid of that junky queen in the second hive.
I think you made a great call. I think both of those colonies will be good for feeding and making a few summer splits and drawing wax the rest of this year.
You said it right in you never know what to expect. I think you made the best decision. I made 3 more splits during just a queen cell check today. This makes 7 splits out of this hive so far. I moved the queen to a nuc to simulate a swarm to stop their want to swarm. Thanks Bruce!!!
It’s crazy. You never know what is going to happen. The unpredictability of beekeeping is one of the things I love about it but it can also get aggravating at times.
Looking good Bruce Sir, I agree a couple cells and pull rest or destroy. Yesterday did get 2 swarms in traps that was a surprise. They are at my house for now and will get a good OA tuesday before they go to farm. Dont know what mite count was in tree they came from and figured i keep away from my hives at farm till i know mite counts are low in the swarms. Next sunday is splits in morning and install cells that afternoon.. Take care my friend
9.86 subs. That is so close. Bruce you did just what I would of done, so we must be right. LOL Leaving to many Q cells can lead to an injured queen or they can do multiple virgin swarms which leaves nothing behind. Also good idea with that struggling hive. It has to be the queen, but I'm surprised they haven't superseded her already. That was a poor laying pattern and to be that weak going into a honey flow is not good. Hope you had a good weekend.
I always like the apimaye setup. Haven't had any experience with one but watched kaymon reynolds who has had em for while now. Seem to really be convenient and he has had some real good results with them. Most definitely will be trying one once I get established little more. Great vid as usual. Thanks.
Thanks. I really like them. They are a bit pricy for me though but would Like about 5 or 6 of them for my backyard bees. They would look nice and they are durable.
@@brucesbees yeah they are pricey but must last real long. I would think. Kaymon reynolds said over winter with them was real good. U don't have to crazy of winters like me up in northeast. I will keep watching and liking.
My bet would be they were working on superseding the existing queen. You may have a little too much empty space in that hive based on what it looked like you had for drawn frames. You may want to think about removing one super so the bees can keep everything covered and not let beetles or moths get started. That is a neat hive and I am going to have to look into them.
I tend to agree with all your points. We have our two biggest flows right ahead and will monitor them. If they don’t expand up into those boxes quickly I will probably remove at least one of them. Thanks!
I know I'm late but I fellow over in the UK called Roger Patterson recommends making a little indent in the comb with your thumb to nestle a queen cell into. I'm sure the way you did it worked out fine but I figured I'd throw it out there
I am in Dothan with apiaries in Ozark, Newton, Slocomb, Hartford and here at home. I don’t run any seminars. This channel is the best I got. Really don’t have time to do what I try to do as is. Thanks for checking in!
Elba.. I've tried to get started but haven't had any success so far. My hives have been dormant for a year. You've inspired me to get them out, clean them up and try again. Thank you..!
there are also polystyrene boxes i have 1 and going to buy 2 more this year i just harvested 37kg (about 75 pounds) of honey out of that 1 hive 10 frame deep brood box plus 2 deep supers, i was very impressed so i will be buying 2 more of them- -Paradise bee box
Hi Bruce, and all of a sudden I’m a rookie bee keeper and can’t wait to learn. I built some owl boxes on my 3 acres. Well almost a year ago the box filled up with honey bees (20x30”). So I hired a buddy to move them to a hive box I bought. Didn’t find a queen but was loaded with eggs. We transferred the combs over in the brood section and the bees were instantly flying to the box. The owl box was only 15’ away to where the hive box is. The bees at were fanning at the entrance too...My question, should I feed them the sugar water? I’m buying all the necessary equipment and reading on on keeping them healthy and grow them eventually to 3 hive boxes.... if you suggest feeding, do I keep filling it up until when? I live in SWFL... thank you
It never hurts to feed a little at the beginning but if there is a good flow going it is really not necessary. If you feed them it will help them grow faster but you don’t want to feed them if they are putting honey in supers for you.
Yeah you could probably feed them to help them grow faster. It all just depends on what is going on with your flow right now. I imagine things are hopping so you will probably be ok either way.
Yes that is possible but I am not sure I saw eggs. I think if they already had cells in the hive they were planning on replacing the queen one way or another. I am of the belief that the bees know what they are doing. By breaking down most of the cells they should still be able to replace h their queen. If they swarm then I think they will only swarm once instead of multiple times. But hopefully they won’t swarm at all. Thanks for checking in. I can tell you out a lot of thought into that question and I appreciate it.
I should have done the same thing. I broke down some of mine too much. Some are not rebounding quick. I'm hoping that I can see some production this year. Next year I will try this to see if I fair better
I feel like if you cant find the queen and no eggs that the old queen has already swarmed and the queen cells you have are going to be your new queen. Seeing in a perfect swarm the old queen leaves a few days before the new queens hatch.
I see you don’t wear much protective clothing, do you not get stung or are you just used to being stung? I see the people you work with are fully protected.
It depends on the day and the attitude of the bees. I always have whatever I need available. Many times I will start off with only a veil and then add gloves and/or a jacket if they get feisty. I prefer to go light with protective gear many times because it can be so hot down here.
That is a great question. I think the colony may have just had an old queen. Sometimes when they replace them the new queen will end up being great. They will be on somewhat of a “short leash” though. If they go ahead and replace her and the new queen is not good I can always replace her. It is early enough in the year to take a chance like this.
@@brucesbees Was thinking the same. I know others have said a massive finisher colony produces better queens so was curious if this effects it or not when colony is small and just trying to get by.
Not sure. I think if they are superseding they will be fine. At least I hope so. Have had some pretty nice queens out of situations like this, and some fail. Maybe it will work out.
Bees swarm from crowding, looks like they replaced a poor queen, or she got killed, as we far to much empty foundation, it causes cool housing, and the have to work to hard to keep brood temps up.
I missed My stongest colony making queen cells. There wasn't a one a week ago. They swarmed yesterday, but I got them back. Checking their original colony there were 7 more queen cells positioned like in your frames. What to do next.????
I would probably break them all out except for one or two healthy looking cells. It’s always risky though but you don’t want the hive to start throwing secondary or cast swarms.
What do your mite washes tell you about both of those hives? I’m not going to act like I know more than you but that smaller hive that’s been struggling almost looks like a mite bomb. I would be curious.
Yep. Sometimes you just do the best you can. There are techniques that can really help with queen acceptance but it is still a risk and can be costly if things don’t go as planned.
you write: " I haven’t done many videos about it". Actually I've looked from April 2020 (the first video) til now and this is only the second. So this box is one year later.
1 question plz if ther is bad wether for like 3 or 4 days do they have sugar candy or something to feed on because they are gone start eating honey 🤷🏼♂️
Bees aren't smart they clearly are struggling where they are. You can see that by the population and production. Soming is up and you seem to have another hive with an issue. Perhaps something has happened near by to something the bees eat or drink or need which has hurt them 🤔 Also solid move replacing the queen with the two cells cheapest and most viable immediate options :) perhaps you should use this method each time you see queen cells from a good hive. Take stock of underperforming hives by putting a sticker on them and another colour of outstanding then when you see a few queen cells in the good hive move them to the poorer hive and remove the queen. Also remove the sticker from the "poor" hive when you have removed the queen and put the cells in.
I see the flow through beehive is a sponsor of your and use them. The flow hive seems like a good idea but the reviews on them are far from good. Do I recommend the flow hive ? I use DE on my worm bed but it doesn’t work once it gets wet
Hello Bruce when will bees use swarm cups im in the understanding that they wont use them till drones hatch and of course here in south eastern york pa weather a timing is later then there in the alambamie and weds last week drones were not hatch yet and they started hatching yesterday april 10th so are the bees more like to use the swarm cups now??
Can I use deep for honey supers because I don't have any small honey supers all I got is deep can I use them cuz I need to know what I should do thank you and have a blessed day
If I did they did not stand out to me. I am not sure why I didn’t address that. It seems like there may have been a little bit of larvae at different stages. I am a little embarrassed that I didn’t emphasize that more in the video. All indications to me were that they were trying to replace a mediocre to weak queen. Hopefully I did the right thing.
@@brucesbees in two weeks you will know if you made the right decision. If no eggs there been no queen for 3 days that's all I was thinking. I think you did the best thing on the 2nd hive by adding the queen cells. Thanks for taking us along 👍👍👍👍👍
@@brucesbees I follow a lot of of grid people they say that they are working very great. I would like to try a Long Hive to someday. Thank you for all your work Love from Sweden 🇸🇪🇸🇪🤗😊
I would have moved a frame of brood ....and a frame with Queen cells on it to that weak hive....after killing that useless Queen.... I’m lost as to why you have so many boxes on that first hive....I saw enough bees for one box...maybe two boxes....all the extra boxes don’t have hardly any bees in them....
Well there were more bees in there and I thought we were in the verge of a flow. Looking at it now obviously I didn’t need to. The flow has not been as strong as I thought it was going to be so I probably stacked my hives up a little soon and then this colony has either swarmed or the queen is failing. Privet should be blooming here in a couple of weeks and hopefully the bees will start packing the hives. I could have taken the boxes off yesterday but went ahead and left them on. I may end up condensing down. I gave a lot of my colonies more space in hopes of preventing swarming but many have swarmed anyway. It has been a strange year.
I really don't care how much you promote this, plastic is crap, even the look is weird, it maybe good for you, but no bees like plastic, we just don't give them options.
