You are awesome! 1st year beekeeper here, and I'm subscribed to several and you are by far my favorite. You are so informative and I learn so much from what you do. Thanks so much!
Really nice video Devan. I'm brand new to beekeeping and just installed my nuc Sunday. It's helpful to hear you explain what you are looking at and evaluating the progress. I'll be managing a single brood box.
Awesome! I never knew what they did with crystallized honey. Wondered if they "warmed" it or if they tossed it. A great idea to get regular check ins for new-bees wanting to have a sense of when to add supers etc. Thanks!
Great vid Devan. Looking forward to seeing the progress of these hives. Really appreciate your video series. I'm an Atlantic Canadian beginner beekeeper (second year keeping bees) and it's nice to see informative videos on beekeeping in our climate. Wondering if you could do a video on hive splitting? Would be interested to see your technique and thoughts on timing.
I’ve reduced my double brood hive into a single based in part to your videos. It really makes sense to me. I have a question though, do you ever use double brood chambers to build up population in the spring or just singles all the way through the season?
Thanks! In this video I was using extension tubes on a zoom lens probably around 100mm focal length. I'd like to make a video some time this summer about macro techniques for beekeeping and bees on flowers.
Not exactly. Clipping a wing will prevent the queen from flying, but the rest of the colony doesn't know that. It's the whole colony as a collective that decides to swarm, and if that urge is there it needs to be managed other ways. However, when the colony does still swarm, often you'll find them very close by, on the ground, maybe very low in a small tree. This means you'll have a much better chance of recovering them - better for you and your neighbours.
When did you medicate or treat the hives? I treated with oxytet and Thymovar last weekend. I was thinking it was later than I should have but I was worried about opening them while it was still cold. I purchased a Nuc last July and happy they survived the winter with what I believed were normal losses. This is my first and only hive. I'm in southwestern Ont.
Be careful! The time to treat with Oxytet is early April if possible. I know it was cold this year but you can't wait too long with it. Oxytet has a 4 week withdrawal period which is the time you should be waiting to add honey supers to your hive. Because it's put on the hive in 3 doses a few days apart it's best to start as early as possible in the season.
I was afraid of that. I wasn't sure about opening them up. They do have lots of room to work on. That just means I'll have to wait long to add a super and if they start getting full I could add another brood box?
Love the videos! I’m going to get into bees and I am learning a lot from you. But what I cannot understand is: why are the bees not stinging you on your bare arms and hands? Especially when you shook them off the frame like that. What am I missing? I’ve watched others and have heard them say that a few bees are trying to sting them because they disturbed them. Are you getting stung sometimes but you’re just used to it? I’m totally perplexed by you and you bare arms and hands!
No, I don't think I got stung during this inspection. I don't tolerate defensive hives, if they're stingy I requeen them ASAP. Decent genetics and more importantly good technique in handling and manipulating frames allow you to work without gloves. It's definitely worth learning to keep bees this way.
Devan Rawn Thank you very much for your response! You make it look so easy - I know it’s all your experience. I’m going to get started on this new adventure and I look forward to learning much more from you. Keep the excellent videos coming! They really are inspirational to us “newbees”!
I could tell some of the nectar in the cells was fresh by it's consistency (if you shake a frame and it easily falls out like water) and location (if there were cells in amongst the brood that had nectar in them that were previously empty they're bringing it in and they'll store it away after)
It's shiny. Once you've seen fresh nectar in cells once you know what it is. When you see fresh nectar getting back-filled into the brood-nest you know what happens next?
I suppose you're referring to swarming, but most days that they're bringing nectar in the hive at least some of it will be temporarily deposited in and around the brood chamber then other workers move it up for long term storage into honey supers. That's why on good honey flow days when you shake bees off brood frames, nectar rains out of it.
I answered this before, this is my queen rearing yard, most of these colonies are being prepped to turn into cell builder units. Some already are if you could see closely. Some were wintered as doubles as part of a queen banking experiment.
I mentioned I'll probably add a super within two weeks. I will manage these colonies in single brood chambers for the year. The bees at this point are not even filling the box 100%, there was no risk of swarming at this point by what I saw on this inspection.
I am just getting started in beekeeping and thinking about doing single brood chambers like you are. Do you have any videos on how you do your splits and when you do your splits?
I make sure to get into hives every 10 days or so during the time of year that bees tend to show swarming behaviour. That would not change whether I managed bees in singles or doubles or no queen excluder at all. For successful beekeeping, bees need to be managed and attended to.
