1)What's more interesting, chickens or honey bees? 2:34 2) What's the best kind of sugar to use when feeding honey bees? 11:05 3) Can a new beekeeper open the hive too often after installing a new package? 19:55 4) When you do splits, how do you decide which hives to split from while not hurting honey production? 26:20 5) What's the best finish to put on beehives? 32:49 6) If my 8-frame FlowHive will fit 9 frames, should I leave the space, or add the 9th frame? 36:53
I put chickens in my bee yard this year. I have already noticed a big improvement. I also got into chickens because of Fred. Thanks Fred. You are making the world a better place.
Polish hens are funny and easy to surprise due to their reduced field of view. I had a visitor purchase all of my Polish chickens at one time. I honestly don't miss having to go collect a Polish hen that can't see her way back home :) I'm glad your 3 year old is having such a good time with the birds. They definitely recognize and remember people, so if you often sprinkle feed around for them, they will remember and rush that individual whenever they visit the chicken yard. :)
I'm with you re the smoke. I don't smoke but give them a treat of the 1 to 1 and quite a few drops of the cake flavourings and they seem to love it. Right in and outside the front door! They've not landed on my suit as yet but I do hear them. They are still bringing in lots of pollen and working hard although the English weather is crap this year. As soon as the kids are off school it rains. I am worried ,shall I feed them. I'd better inspect first though, see what going on in there?
Frederick I haven't seen this interesting (yet again) video I'm looking at right now..... I wonder if your chickens know that they have vulnerable necks that might get 'rung' if they start eating you bees. Chickens have perception I think, self preservation. Wasps don't have the perception as chickens do, in that I'll flatten em if I se them eating the bees! I've found a very good source of essential oils ,well I think so because I thought that because they are edible by people = cake flavouring. They seem to like these. Sicilian lemon, pear drops, American peppermint and lastly Strawberry!
Thanks for sharing your knowledge Mr. Dunn. I have 2 questions: 1. I'm planning on requeening by adding a queen cell, so how much time that colony should be queenless? 2. When I have a colony less than 10 frames of bees in 10 frame Langstroth box, I reduce the entrance by letting the opening in the side of bees frames. what do you think about that?
It's a pretty good rule of thumb that you wait three days after a colony is queenless prior to introducing a new one. Putting a queen cell in the hive is a huge risk but can be successful. Sometimes when a queen cell is installed, the workers may reject her and chew off the end of the cell. I would transfer several queen cells as insurance.
Had a couple of questions, and they were covered in your list. Ever a few I hadn't thought of yet. Trying to align my "ducks" before the big leap. Getting closer every day. Much appreciated!
Fredrick, as always, your videos are amazing and above reproach. Love the topics and have been following with anticipation for each new FAQ! I’m ridiculous LoL!!! Quick question and perhaps I missed it in a previous video. I know you’re not a big fan of the queen excluder. But what are your thoughts on the single brood box method with queen excluder and then multiple honey boxes stacked up and then at the harvesting, whether 1st or 2nd if your lucky enough to have a couple harvests, removing all and starting over? I’ve read that someplace up in Northeast U.S. or Canada is doing something like this, but haven’t been able to confirm the results. Thoughts? Also, my bees arrive today!!! Extremely excited! Thanks for all the encouragement along the way, and as I post my progress, would love your feedback. Thanks again! 😃
Here is what I do and when. 1:2 - 1 pound of sugar dissolved in 2 pints of water is primarily used as a egg laying stimulant for the queen in late winter and early spring 1:1 - 1 pound of sugar dissolved in 1 pint of water is primarily used as an artificial nectar to get bees to build comb and feed brood larvae in spring and summer 2:1 - 2 pounds of sugar dissolved in 1 pint of water is a winter feed substituting for honey in the fall or early winter
Another highly-informative video! Thank you! Question: I have hives that each have two 8-frame deep brood boxes. I want to perform hive inspections, but I don't want to be unnecessarily disruptive to the colonies. If I inspect the frames in only the upper box and find no problems, is it a good practice to not disturb the lower box? Can I safely assume that a problem in the lower box would probably also be seen in the upper box, so a "clean" upper box would likely mean a "clean" lower one?
Hi Robert! Absolutely, if you find a good brood pattern in the upper box and see no signs of disease or bee problems, go ahead and close that right back up. No need to delve further! Thanks for watching and commenting... welcome to my channel :)
Fred, thank you for another great video. I had a quick question about the split procedure you were talking about. And maybe I just misunderstood, but once you split brood frames with nurse bees to a new hive, and they realize the queen is gone, you said at 30:01 that they will start making queen cells to overfeed royal jelly to make a new queen, but if the queen is gone, how can they get a larva in the new queen cell? Will the nurse bees transplant a larva from a regular worker brood cell into a newly made queen cell? I quickly browsed through the comments and didn’t see anyone else ask this, if I just missed it, then ignore this question and I will look through the comments more dilligently for your answer later. Thank you in advance!
So long as there is open brood, they will produce an emergency queen cell right on the face of the frame, it's important to leave space for that. Sorry, I should have probably touched on that a little better. You will see queen cell cups extending the already existing brood open cells.
Frederick Dunn thank you for clearing that up. Got my first bees coming any day, I am pretty stoked! But I’m probably a ways off from having to worry about doing splits any time soon.
Thanks for answering my question. Yeah I know its *standard size* langstroth but it just seemed like tons of room. More than I usually had. So was wondering what you did, if you spaced your stuff evenly or put them tightly together. I put mine tightly together.
@@FrederickDunn I know some people who run ten frame deeps that reduce it to 9 frames. Keepers do so many different things its hard to find what is best. I say just go with what works for your individual needs.
@@weasleoop Yes, they generally do that in the honey supers to allow the bees to draw deeper cells for honey storage as it uses less wax than the full 10 frames of drawn comb.
Going through your FAQ has been very helpful for someone researching to begin bee keeping. You have methodically answered a number of my questions and explained the whys. You have also made sense to a number of claims by persons i call snake oil salesman. Terminolgy is some times confusing between different beekeepers. Some say spray sugar on package bees. But the term sugar syrup is used when feeding is discussed. Is there a difference or is it the same thing but just different names. Thanks for your videos.
Hi Mike, the spray bottles have the same sugar syrup content at 1:1 sugar to water by weight. Maybe I should talk a little more about that. Thank you so much for the feedback!
Does having 2 brood boxes increase honey production? I just saw a video from Devan Rawn, and he does the math on how many cells can be in one box. An basically doubling the size doesn’t make a queen double her egg laying. She’s only going to produce what she’s capable of laying. And according to his math, and it seemed accurate, one large box is plenty. But since you’ve done it, I like to hear what you’ve seen. Thanks for your time, and the great channel. Anthony.
Following the math on how many eggs a Queen can lay is a pretty good method. The bees will expand brood as they need to regardless if the boxes are deep or medium. The key is really just making sure they have the room to expand. Deep boxes with the deep frames are more convenient for the bees to warm or cool the brood comb, the more caps between boxes, the more bees are required. I have single deeps and double deeps and I've not noticed a difference in honey production between them. Double Deeps allow you to rotate bottom boxes in spring which is something lots of beekeepers like to do in order to freshen the frames and keep them using the full depth of the boxes.
What about marine varnish as the finish ? This is a top shelf informative vid. Some things I understood... some things not so much. I’m just trying to save a swarm of bees that have been living kinda in my yard for 2 years . I have no idea how big they are . I can’t do anything until I have all the components to start this venture . Now I can’t afford the top of the line be hive . Wish I had the tools 🛠 to make my own. I love wood working . I have a small yard but it’s still a yard. I can relocate the in 2 spots . Do you sell a package deal? 8 rack, brewed ? What am I missing ? Ty
Helmsman's is a marine finish and is used on ships and yachts with great success. Thanks for watching and commenting. If you have a feral colony of bees already living in your yard, why not allow them to simply remain in their current hive? You can always start off with a fresh package or nuc for your own experience and management :) I don't sell bees, but there are lots of sources for them :)
Looking at your organized list, I wanted to ask about hive record-keeping/note-taking. I've seen some videos where the beekeeper makes some sort of notations on the hive cover. What kinds of information are noted and how do you manage your info? As an aside, I would love to get all the data-generating devices - hive scales, interior temp & humidity sensors, the whole bit. I'm a data analyst and that would be part of the fun. Any recommendations that wouldn't break the bank? Thanks, StG
Thanks for another great question! I will add record keeping and hive identification to my next FAQ - record keeping is very important. As for the tech used to hive monitoring, other than a thermal camera, I don't use brood minders or any interior sensors... I don't even own a cell phone (';')... BUT, I can still talk about them and may take a field trip to another beekeeper's apiary to discuss the effectiveness of those tools. Watch for it next week!
Hi I’m really interested in the record keeping also. I keep records but after a day of inspections I have writers cramp I still do it the old way with a spiral notebook
Hello again Mr. Dunn, what a wonderful video as usual :) Q. (this is related to flow frames) I have 10 frame hive full of bees i'd assume, so i took one of the brood frames and put it in another weak hive, so I put instead flow frame painted with bee wax, just to see how acceptable will be by the bees, guess what? they didn't like it!! seriously?! yeah, they didn't at all.. So i left it there for about 2 weeks, still they 'ain't liking it!! so i thought lemme put foundation frame and see what would be the different, guess what??? second day, the foundation was fully built! Here is come my Q. what is the problem/secret here please? I want when i put my flow frames the bees will treat it the same way they do with foundations frames. However, I've took two Flow frames and broke them a part and cut them (thinning them) to 1mm in depth (just about foundation size), i want to see what would be the result, and brushed them with bee wax, but still they're not accepting it as i expected.
I'm kind of sorry that you cut down the flow-frames with your experiment as it really would have no impact on their decision to use those cells. When a colony is strong and populated enough, they will put honey in ever available space and that's when even the most selective honeybees will fill those cells. We see them put comb in every single nook and cranny, even in side glass jars, it's a matter of supplies coming in that they have to make room for. I'm sorry it's proving to be such a challenge. I personally would concentrate on hive numbers and strength without further altering the flow-frames.
Greetings from Japan. Caught cherry blossoms in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and gr8 views of Mt Fuji. I was totally surprised at the lack of bees around cherry blossoms???
Frederick Dunn ... just back. Fuji-San was outstanding on 2 separate days. Got postcard photos from Lake Kawaguchi... to answer your question, I really don’t know. I never saw any hives in the fields or close to cherry groves and did not see any honey that was specific to cherry blossoms. Maybe still too early but temps were in 65-70 range
If you covered it in another video let me know and I'll go back and look for it, I recently saw a video where they mentioned horizontal hives and how much easier they are to handle physically... Do you have any thoughts or experience with horizontal hives?
I will address this soon, I don't have personal experience with them and have had several beekeeper friends try it with zero success in our area. I'll touch base with them and do a field report just for you! FAQ13
@@FrederickDunn Thanks, I have that question too. Top bar/Cathedral hives versus the Langstroth hive format. I've only seen them in warmer climates so maybe their design causes them to be harder to keep warm.
I just know that you're the guy to ask since you're so handy. I have managed to burn a hole in my bee suit veil. I held the smoker lighter a little too close apparently. Anyway, can I just buy some mesh and fix it? Not a big hole, maybe the size of a quarter. Have you ever done a repair like this? What time of mesh should I use? Thanks in advance!
That's an interesting question/situation. I've never burned a hole in a veil and haven't had to replace that yet. I think I personally would just replace the veil? Most of the companies such as Guardian Bee Apparel offer replacement veils without having to purchase another entire suit. BUT, this gives me an idea to drill a series of holes in a round piece of plexi-glass and cut out a matching hole in a veil so I can have a clear view veil? :) The holes around the plexi would be for the stitching and then run a bead of 100% silicone sealant along the edges for double protection. Maybe you cold cut a small clear circle from a water bottle or something like that and just glue that over the hole :) hmmmm.... veil repair... so many options and maybe good stuff for a video? We shall see...
You briefly mentioned winter... I'm curious if you think the bees being fat versus thin has relevance to winter survivability or no? Every once in awhile I've seen people mentioning fat winter bees, but they usually don't go into details or say more than that. So is it one of those things that actually makes a difference to have fat bees, or something inconcrete?
Hi Fred just wondering about your thoughts on AZ hives??? With damaged shoulders from car accident this looks like a good option for me. No lifting and can just travel bees around on a trailer. Cheers Sean
You are the third person to ask me about these in the last 48 hours! I will address these soon and may add one to my apiary this year just for hands-on experience with them. I will interview my beekeeper friends that use them and share what I learn. Thanks Sean! FAQ13
If you like to see your wood grain Sikkens makes really good products that I use professionally for exterior use , it’s expensive but well worth it :) in case someone wants to try it :)
Fred, great videos. Very educational. I'm up in Canada and my wife and I taking a beekeeping workshop this May. We will be picking up our nuc this June. We are very excited. I'm a woodworker as well and I recommend Rubio Monocoat exterior (VOC FREE) as a wood finish. Super easy to apply. Also wanted to ask you two things. 1. What's your opinion on top bar hives? 2. We are planning on placing our hive on top of our flat roof shed so the hive is protected for skunks and critters. We are also in the middle of the suburbs, are there any issues I should look out for? We will register our bees and talk to the neighborhood but is there any else I should plan for? The bees will love our 5 full grown fruit trees. Thanks!
Hi Dan, several of my beekeeping friends have attempted top bar and horizontal hive configurations in this area with no success stories. Protecting your hives from skunks can be done just by setting them up with the landing boards from 12-18 inches off the ground. The only other predators that go after my bees would be bears, black bears can climb up to a roof (';')... I would think that being in the suburbs, you'd be pretty well insulated from large predators like bears. Thanks for the tip on Rubio Monocoat!
I just have 1 question, as someone who is thinking about starting into this next spring (2020) what are the pro/con's of using the Vertical Stacked hive's vrs the Horizontal hives. Thanks, Love the videos
I'm going to discuss them in my next FAQ, but I have to say that no one I know has succeeded with horizontal hives, or the top bar hives. The promotional advantage is that large heavy boxes don't have to be lifted. The vertical designs are much more appealing to me :)
Frederick Dunn Yeah the no lifting part makes sense, I guess living in an area where we can be negative degrees in the winter and +110 in the summer I was looking at the wall thickness of the horizontal hives ( usually made from a 2x board would make things easier on the bee’s. I was also going to come up with my own plans to try and put 2 flow frames side by side on top of one and basically leave the main hive for the bees, but that’s later on
@@fritopg285 Sounds like an interesting plan and yes, because horizontal hives are a no-lift stationary hive, they can be constructed of heavy plank wood which provides better insulation and vibration dampening.
Haha! "Wait until this youtube is over and you've liked"... love it! :) Yes, chickens are awesome fun to watch.. so are bees.. but such different creatures. On bees.. I hadn't considered monitoring audio.. but that's a great idea! I am thinking of setting up many hive sensors from the Raspberry Pi in my greenhouse. Temp humidity.. many other things... but audio would be good.. then we could analyze the frequency vs other factors and see what conclusive results we could find. I think it's common sense.. the more you open the hives, the more you disturb natural operations.. No-one wants uninvited guests in their house all the time. I opened my hives for the first time yesterday... plugged your channel too.. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6xlZm5DzDto.html Thanks Fred.. another excellent video!
I am continuously documenting (video/photography) the honeybee behaviors and swarms are always interesting. Though I want to keep my apiary at 10 hives or less, that doesn't mean I have all I want, I rotate my bees and equipment out from time to time. Collecting swarms never gets old and I may learn something new.
You use testers model paint - it goes on the thorax (back right behind her head and before the abdomen) - let it dry before restoring her to the colony.
I bought spacer shims from man lake and I had them before and the bees seemed to like them and built up fast, I had the perfect space that they did not make crazy comb and the frames always pulled out easy. A guy told me that I lost my bees that year because of it but I found out from my bee supplier that I lost them to mites and not because of the space. The shims made it a 9 frame and like I said the bees liked it and really I think it is the happy medium between a 10 and a 8 frame, what do you think. I do use them in all my honey suppers and now all the frames line up.
I've never heard of anyone losing bees due to spacing the honey-super frames, lots of beekeepers practice that very thing. Those spacer shims are definitely popular. Packing them tight would, in my opinion, be far more detrimental than spacing them out.
I thought that would be mostly for metal non-porous surfaces... annnnnd super expensive if you get the good stuff! I like the maritime finishes being a nautical type myself :)
Fred, I have been feeding the 1-1 sugar water since installing my bees on April 1st. I have hive top feeders that I add to as needed to prevent them from running out. I have noticed some black spots in the syrup. I’m concerned whether I should clean them. I have not added any of the essential oils. Thank you for your time!
Hi Jack, I always recommend that people have several hive top feeders (rapid round or cercell) and when you go out to feed, I just pull the old feeder and replace with a clean one in one visit. The black spots you are seeing just means the sugar is spoiling and that should be removed and cleaned out. Try not to just add more syrup, but clean it out completely before freshening up.
Frederick Dunn thank you! That’s what I was afraid of. We are in for some inclement weather for the next couple of days. But it’s supposed to improve Monday. Hopefully they’ll be alright till then! Thank you again!
Working through these videos, thanks! I read somewhere about using a lemongrass and liquid smoke spray on gloves, etc instead of smoke to disrupt pheromones. Any thoughts on this?
I can't qualify that, but my apiary almost never has beetles and my chickens are patrolling the ground often. BUT, small hive beetles can fly for miles, so other bee yards could also be contributing. No firm statistics I'm sorry to say.
@@FrederickDunn Have you tried ducks? I've had both but probably less experience than you. The ducks seem to be really great at looking for bugs. And their a bit more entertaining. But people say ducks are more messy. :O
I have a rack for the frames and a bee-shed where my gear winters over. You can leave the box on and use it as a feeder shim, or remove the entire flow-super.
@@weasleoop I have never seen a wax moth larva in a flow-frame... they really don't have any hiding places there and can't chew through the plastic cells.
Mr Dunn, how late In The year can I start as a new bee keeper and still have my bees survive the winter in Minnesota. I can't start now do to military service but maybe August.
Hi Chris, if you can't start until August, I would suggest doing all of your preparations and set your beekeeing goals for spring of 2020. August can be done, but you'd be counting on perfect weather and a great late nectar flow to get their strength up for winter. Enjoy your time in the Military!!!
Is it wrong to let swarms happen? It just seems like it will be a never ending growth of bees. I would like bees on a small scale for honey for personal use.
I think that healthy growing colonies swarm when they are ready. It's actually a sign of a very healthy colony and should be expected. There are a lot of benefits to allowing swarms and I'll also touch on that this coming Friday!
There was a study (can pin point it now) that found that 1.2 sugar to 1 water was the best mix ratio to feed the bees. Sorry that I can’t reference but that ratio stuck in my head
I think the oil you used on the beehives as a finnish will last much more than regular household paint even if the boxes will turn brown,they will not rot like they do with the paint.Parrafine dip its the best ,longest lasting and most beautifull finish in my opinion but it has somme downsides,its verry dangerous and can explode forming a mushroom cloud if it gets water on it,it can make the glue used for the boxes to break off and you cant glue them again after,and you cant apply paint or oil after you dip waxed the beehives.One good thing about parrafine wax dip its that you can sterilise the beehives if you want by diping them again.I will also build a hive wich wiĺl be wood impregnated with glass ,similar to woodsil but i not copy them and my method of curing will be different,inspired from metal foundry work. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-i6rQT7dal8M.html
@@FrederickDunn when i buyed the parafine to dip my hives i had to sign somme papers that il use it with care.There are otther more dangerous chemicals found on a farm, like fertilisers that dont require signing documents here.Ammonia nitrate= half the power of TNT per weight is the reason why i use only organic fertilisers on my orchards.
