Thanks for getting my new queen here asap! Just so I could see the difference in the hive loving the new queen and an aggressive response I check what a queen right hive would do holy cow that is a response now I know. Again thanks!
You should try fed and ups over night, you might half to pay more to ship and get a plastic nuc but it worth it. Yes is cost more and you could pass that along for someone wanting packages late in the year barnyard bee's or run pick up only. I seen other bee companies now ship in plastic bee hives or nuc's you might half to do the same to overnight them to keep the bee's alive. It just 😢 how the times change, pss I 💘 your channel.
Excellent video as always, even though I've been keeping bees for years now I always come back to your videos, and always learn something new, thank you for your free educational videos. 💯💥👍
Thank you for taking the time to explain the top feeding link to robbing in Dearth. So I infer that when you central feed and the weak hive puts up a bit of sugar water syrup that the other hives are not able to pick up that scent as readily.
Glad you are addressing the dearth. I think some colonies become more defensive once the nectar flow is off. This morning I went to check on a colony with a honey super that needs to be pulled. Wow, it's the first time this colony has ever chased me off. It's during the dearth that I put my veil, jacket and gloves back on when inspecting. Thanks for talking about robbing. Once it starts, it's hard to stop. Late last summer the robber bees went down the line and robbed out four of my eight hives in record time. I think they must send out a pheremone to signal the hives to rob.
@@jeansroses7249 We're not in a dearth yet but the big nectar flow is over (which is mostly tulip poplar in the piedmont of NC, Hillsborough to be exact). I pulled 95 lbs of honey from 25 medium frames off of two colonies and still left plenty of capped honey in each colony. I run ten frame deeps and left each colony with two deep brood boxes full of brood and capped honey. I never take honey frames from the brood boxes. Those are for the bees. It was my fault the bees chased me the other morning. I surprised them when I opened the top without a smoker.
@@lisavogel8346 yes, that's correct, and ideally, all would be honey, as the sugar syrup lacks the enzymes, bacteria, and other nutrients that they need to survive.
I am just nw of Tampa and we have been in a dearth for about 2 weeks so far no rain for a month. Been doing 1 quart of 1/1 sugar/water every 3 days, put some pollen patty to see how they would do, they cleaned it out in 3 days. Just put a har in them this afternoon and will put another 1x3 patty in them Thursday, I was warned not to out a whole block of pollen patty on them because hive beetle will be out of control.
Sometimes the information that seems obvious to some is really a stumbling block for those that are new to beekeeping. "Dearth" is a great example. They have not seen nor do they know how violent the robbing can be or how devastating the mite counts. Great heads up video - thank you David!
I got my first package May 18th, i have been top feeding 1:1 with a Rapid Feeder w/ 48oz lasting about 4 days. 5-6 frames build out with i full of brood both sides and another well on the way. I pick up a Nuc this Sat. Always like a trip to Chatsworth
I hope you finally got some rain. I live in the coastal GA area and we finally got good rain today. Hopefully it went towards you. All of GA needs the rain right now!
Yes sir. We sure need the rain. Athens Ga. Here. We spend a ton of time outside and One way I can tell when I need to feed is when the bees are being a pain in the $%@& wanting anything sweet we are eating or drinking.
David, I found last year on my two framers and weak hives that using pollen patty strips for food dosen't seem to attract the robbers. Just don't put more than they can eat in a couple days
this year seems weird to me; I had a lot of things blooming, including their favs, but I didn't see any bees on any of them! looking into the hives just a few days ago, I didn't see any frames of nectar in the hive! there didn't seem to be much on the upper parts of the frames either; however, there was an overabundance of capped and uncapped brood! so, I went ahead and put in sugar water, and later that afternoon, the hive was deluged with robbers. I had to put a sheer curtain over the hive (with the bottom open) in order to fend them off. So, even though here in humboldt county, now is the height of blooming, etc, but nevertheless bees seem to need to rob? btw, I am finally seeing bees on my flowers, etc.
How do the bees find the dry pollen? I don't see much coming into my hives. I have a PVC feeder out but I haven't seen any bees going to it yet. Maybe its too close. I have a small yard with just 3 hives at the moment. Where is the best place to hang the pvc feeder David?
I just did my first hive inspection on a mic I got a week ago. They were so aggressive! Followed us into the house and got stung a few times. Any tips?
I mow after sunset, no problem. I also use no chemicals and rotate mowing. I mow one area and then wait a few days to mow the others. Keeps 3 acres of Dutch clover always available.
Can you estimate when the Dearth will be in Massachusetts? We are in a town with acres of cranberry bogs. Truck loads of beehives come in in June to pollinate the cranberry crop, and leave in the third week of July. Because of that I'm thinking that our dearth begins in August. Our honey harvest is in early September. Thank you.
Hello from Australia - very interesting subjects. My 5 hives have been on a nectar flow for some time - this is the tropics after all so they really don't slow down much even in winter, which it is now. Sure they're slow to get out of bed in the morning, aren't we all. However, we took about 20kgs honey off the bees, leaving them with about the same as the drones are now being kicked out - we leave equipment away from the hives for the bees to clean up the leftovers we can't get out of the extractor or cappings bin, etc. I KNOW the girls have tons of nectar coming in as I saw them packing and capping like crazy (hence the robbing), yet they were very keen on the honey too. So this doesn't reconcile with them leaving honey for a better nectar source. Any comment please? Thanks tons.
So what your saying is the bee's are going to die off now!!!...now here up north everything growing very well naturally... Mass, Povidince Rd,etc...not bad to ship..
Dave, what months do you keep the Ultra Bee Dry pollen substitute out in the bee yard? Do you use moist pollen patties inside hives in the winter when it is too cold for them to get out? Does it get too cold where you are to feed sugar water in the winter. It does occasionally where we are in the mountains of SoCal. Thanks.
Dude...like my bees would snatch that honey bottle out of your hand and fly off with it any time of the year. I wouldn't advise anybody to try that honey test on a hive entrance at home. Outside of that, I love to watch your videos....you ain't scarred to try something new.
My apologies to Dave for opening my mouth here......wasn't trying to discredit him one little bit. I've enjoyed watching his videos, and have recommended other new bee keepers to watch his channel. To try to answer your question .....yes, I guess my bees could be described as aggressive when it comes to food. Honey bees are naturally opportunistic greedy little hoarders that show very little mercy to other creatures when it comes to collecting food. So much so that she's willing to readily give her life to protect food and brood at any time. This instinct they have has brought them a long way through time. As long as my bees aren't aggressive much towards me, then I most certainly want mine to keep their natural instinct to survive by whatever means necessary, and without much assistance from me if possible. To cut to the chase here, I've seen bad things start happening on a bee yard when a little raw honey gets spilled.....kinda reminds me of pouring out a gallon of blood in shark infested waters. You might swim safely there, but why take the risk. Lots of other more safe ways to check for dearth conditions. As a general rule of thumb, the local honey producers in your area can give you a really good idea of what's going on around where you live. Your county extension office can also provide you with some general information most / some of the time. If I've answered your question, then you're welcome to my opinion, but I'm only one person.....ask others what they think. Keep up the good work Dave......much success to BYBees.
I believe I have way more pollen and nectar available where I live. Question is why dont my own bees pollinate my 25 blueberry bushes? They are only 120' away. They like the trees that bloom here and never visit my garden. I have 3 hives.
From everything I have read only bumble bees pollinate BB bushes. I know they are the only ones I have seen pollinate mine. Honey bees cannot perform buzz pollination, making them ineffective pollinators for blueberry.
@@ipvr15xify They will visit but are very ineffective. "Blueberry plants require pollination by bees. Flowers are closed, bell-shaped, pendant, and have anthers that are shorter than their stigma, which discourages self-pollination via wind or gravity . Therefore, bees need to move the pollen within or between flowers to achieve fruit development and plant reproduction. In addition, the pollen is hidden in the anthers and is only accessible through "buzz pollination" (also known as flower sonication). This means that for blueberry plants to reproduce, bee flower visitors must hold the stamens and rapidly vibrate their flight muscles to liberate the pollen grains through a small pore at the tip of the anthers." Penn state University study.
