Honeycomb Identification How To Read Frames For New Beekeepers 

David, I just want to thank you for your advice as how to take my bees through winter. This was my first "bee winter" I bought 4 queens last fall from you and was concerned that with such late season splits, they might not have much of a chance to survive the winter. With your instructions, not only did they survive. But they have thrived!!! They are coming out of the winter strong!! Bees everywhere!! Can't count rhe bees coming in and out of any of the late season splits!! Thank you so much for the gentle, hard working, mates queens!! Outstanding!!! Sincerely, Phillip Hall

As a new beekeeper, I will be setting up my first hives this year. I am currently assembling three hives (two for me and one for my friend) in the basement. It’s been a tough winter up here in Sturgeon Bay (Door County), WI, what with all the snow and the cold vortex. This video has been the most informative I’ve seen as far as what I should be looking. This is the FIRST video where the queen was clearly visible, along with various cells, e.g., honey, closed caps, pollen, various stages of larvae, and , of course the queen!! My bees are scheduled to arrive end of April/beginning of May. Thank you, Dave, very much for a great video!!!

I'm a new beekeeper getting ready to check our hive this weekend. This video has been so helpful. Thank you!

North Carolina native here you really inspired me caught my first swarm in May thanks for all the knowledge

Every time I watch your videos I get motivated to go and open my hive. Unfortunately I usually watch your videos at night. 😭 Thanks for posting these, much appreciated!

Thank you for making these great videos! I am entering my first year, and all of your teachings are just what I need! So helpful!

Hi David, I can reflect back! And I can reflect back on you and Jimmy helping me! PRECIATE Y'ALL ALWAYS!!!!

David could you dedicate 1 nuc for a series & take us viewers threw a complete season with it? Give it a name, compare its build up, hopefully split & possibly do a giveaway.... Maybe from that small swarm from the other day? Most beginners only have 1 or 2 hives so a comparison over a series might be helpful... thanks for the lessons

Me and my cousin saved a swarm yesterday! He has hives already but this was a swarm at my neighbor's house in his gutter ! We hope we got the Queen 🐝🌸 He said they love their new home so far

Thank you this info is what I have been hungering for most! But what surprises me most is your cat, bees, chicken and geese are all co-existing!

I just ordered my first hive and am trying to learn as much as I can before I get my bees. This helped a lot.

GET WELL QUICK... Thank you for this video! I needed this info...

I just started beekeeping and watched almost all of your video's. This will help me a lot and everytime it is as you talk to me in your video's. Thank you and keep up the good work.

very nice, finally someone who explained everything and held the camera steady so the watcher could see it. thanks. our ducks seem stupid, they just keep going in one direction and do not let the hives bother them when they're on patrol, it's like the hives are not even there. the labs know enough to keep their distance.

David thank you for all the videos you made. I paused this video 2 and a half min in something you said made me have to thank you. Last year I bought some bee a package from you and a nuc from a local bee keeper if not for all the videos I would have had that “ what am I looking at “ moment. So thanks again.

Excellent job describing the phases of the bees, and admirable camera work. Will be back!

Thank you so much!! This helped me greatly. New beekeeper here. I'm a bit nervous about my first fall/winter with the girls. I'm getting ready to place Apivar strips today because I have seen some mites. I really hope that I don't mess this up,beekeeping that is. Be well and thanks again. Subscribed.

Hope you feel better soon David! thank you for the videos and all the work you put in to help us new guys!

Wow so so helpful...i my self am thinking about beekeeping come this summer and every video i watch every hive look the same for me cant tell the difference at all...so thanks so much i feel a lot more comfortable now...and again Thanks! Alot!

I'm also a beekeeper and I learned a good lesson from your channel thank you so much

Hello, I've been watching your videos for a little bit, and finally decided to subscribe. This is my first year. I started off late with a 6 frame nuc in the later half of May 2018, having transferred them to a 10 frame brood box. It was my only Hive, and now I have something of a mystery. I live in the Piedmont area of North Carolina. Throughout the coldest weather we've had, I placed a bee cozy on my hive. It still had my honey super on the entire time. It has four wooden frames, and four flow frames. The bees survived all the way through the winter up until a few weeks ago. The bout of warm weather we had at the beginning of February got my bees working, bringing in lots of pollen. The color looked like red maple pollen. I opened it up and inspected it during the warmest day and saw that there were about a small nuc's worth of bees skittering about. Mama bee was still alive, but I didn't see any eggs. I put some sugar water in an entrance feeder, but they weren't all too interested in it, so I let it be. The night before it was to get cold again, I put the bee cozy back on, and left them alone. Facing the front of the hive, they all seemed to only want to congregate on the right side of the brood box. I thought perhaps where the hive was facing in relation to the sun was why they stayed on that side of the hive, because they always came out of the hive and whipped around and flew toward the sun. While they were staying in the hive in the cold weather, I turned the hive around the other way, so that the sun wood shine on the entrance side of the hive, once the good weather came back. A couple weeks later, when it was warm enough, I noticed nobody was flying around. So I opened up the hive, and saw that all the bees were dead. I had done nothing different than what I had been, right up to that point except for spinning The hive around so that the sun could hit the entrance. Upon looking through the hive, finding plenty of stores, I did find that most of the frames were heavy with uncapped nectar. There were only less than a dozen dead hive beetles, and the mite tray had no varroa on it. The inner cover, on the left side of the hive showed some dark lines where the spaces between frames were. I'm guessing, that it was mold and there was too much uncapped nectar in the frames, and they acted like a heatsink, and chilled them out. I know a physical inspection would give you more of an idea, but based off of what information I've given you, I'd like to know your thoughts.

Thank you for sharing such a helpful video for beginner beekeepers you are truly generous and awesome as always ^^

thank you for taking the time to do these videos. as a third year keeper it's a wonderful education.

I live in the South West of England. We love your site over here. You really do give us all a insight into Beekeeping

David, thank you so much. I needed this basic information to get started. I'm in South TX, getting my first hive April 25, 2020. I purchased a 10 frame establish colony. They are Italian, hope they will be gentle as yours!

Awesome video. Very well laid out. Thanks so much

Great video. got 7 Swarm Traps up and running hoping that ill get one lol..Praying all have a great spring and there apiaries Flourish this year..

I enjoy watching your videos. 🐝🐝🐝 I enjoy learning about bees and you are the best at explaining everything in detail. I enjoy this aspect of your videos. 🐝🐝🐝

Thank you for showing the parts of the combs. I've been wondering how to tell what the cells were. On a technical side note, if you can do lowercase letters, it will make your text easier to read. I learned this in a graphics class. My theory of why it's easier To read is because lowercase alternates heights, whereas all uppercase is ONE HEIGHT. So, if you can use a regular sentence format but include lowercase with the correct uppercase, we can read your message easier and quicker.

Both my father and grandfather kept bees. Some of my earliest memories are of my father doing this. I have been stung more times than i can count. Usually only realize it afterwards. I will do this one day. Your videos will help. Thank you for this.

Thanks David. 👍

I appreciate these videos. You do a great job David.

Brand new to bee keeping. Very informative video. Thank you!

Great tips, working on some frames and stuff to get started myself.

Could you do a video on how to know if the hive is ready for harvest? These are the best and most informative videos out there! Thank you!

How do you handle propolis build up? What can you do with propolis? Would love to have you talk about that one of these days! Thank you for all you film & do!

Great Videos! Thank you so much for all of your hard work. Love all your babies!

Thanks for this video, I just got my bees today.

Brand spanking new beekeeper here. What happens if you don't do 'splits' & you only want to deal with one colony in one hive? Is that even possible?? I began with a 5 frame nuc I ordered. They are spreading but I have never seen the unmarked queen since I received these bees. Because of your videos, I know she's in there & on what frame by the way these docile Italian bees act when I pull the frame she's on. Thank you for everything you do!

Thanks for this. We’re very new and this gives us a better understanding what we see at least. Liked & Subscribed

learning alot thanks, feel better

Thank you for your videos. They are informative and answer questions I didn't even know I had.

Go pro has a great head harness for hands free production. You have such great videos. It would be a big help in allowing you freedom with your hands.

Very helpful. Thank you

As always, great video!! Hopefully picking up my Nucs here in Jersey in a month or so?? All boxes built, painted, and ready to go. Can’t wait to start my “rooftop” beekeeping!!

Thanks, very informative.

16:23 It's so cute! 😃

Excellent video! It gives me a great view and explanation of what I am looking at.

Thank you very much.

There is something going around, you are not the only one I know under the weather. Please take care of yourself and get well. Love the videos but your health is more important!

really helpful for a new beekeeper, many thanks :)

Great info! Love your videos!

David at right around 7:45 on the video there is a big drip of clear fluid from a bee. I'm assuming it was nectar??? Thanks for all you do for all of us learning! 🌞

My neighbor's chickens leave my bees alone but they do eat the dead bees that are pulled out and thrown on the ground.

Thank you

Great video. I'm new to bee keeping and love your videos. Thanks for sharing.

If I was a bee, I’d have a lot of relatives to help me! 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝💛

Good video, and thanks.

Thank you David

Amazing video thank you so much this was so educational

This was a wonderful video. When is it safe to stop supplementing the sugar water, or is that something you keep up all year?

13:24 of course that's after the fact, that bees arrange their combs with honey outside to protect the inside brood. As you mentioned outside layers of comb are honey to also keep warmer. It seems logical. I still refuse idea of often Disturbing bees with "inspections", rather than built beehives that open Sideways, like a chest. on Two sides. You could do it and use improvements right from viewers. E.g after opening Sides of the Hive, you would see a Transparent Plexi, for your enjoyment and protection from unnecessary winds and colds. I have a small model. I also have model of "burundi beehive", hive from cardboard and insulated with aluminum insulation. Good for warm, dry climates.

I have just started beekeeping and I have two hives and one of the two hives the queen died and so we got a new queen and installed her yesterday so Saturday we are gonna check on her and see how they are doing and I started out wearing gloves and we had a guy out to help us and see if we still had a queen and he told me not to where gloves and it was a lot easier

Love this, thank you for the overview.

You said « capped brood day 9 » Is the time lapse for capping the same for the 1) queen, 2) worker bees 3) the drones Secondly do they stay capped for the same length of time before they emerge? Thank you.

love the video thanks so much !!!!!

Great job

Great video Dave, thanks!

Hi David, your hives always look so neat with just brown grass around between the hives and the mown grass. How do you keep that grass down? I assume you don’t spray with glyphosate or anything, since I’ve hears it’s bad for bees. Thanks.

Do you feed every spring regardless, i have 2 hives going from last yr, so this spring now will be a full yr. Both hives have 2 deeps , no supers, i did see each deep have a few frames of honey left over from last fall. Warming up now and pollen is coming in good

I see mostly smaller hive boxes than the 10 frame. Do you just like the smaller frame boxes? If so, why?

Great info, thanks David!

Great video

Great video as always!

I can’t wait to start bee 🐝 keeping.

First off... very useful video. Thanks a lot man! One question tho, What's the black plastic card at the bottom of the super at 8:51? Is it a mite treatment system?

What is the best way to get rid of earwig infestation in and around the hives without using pesticides and other harmful materials?

is pollen always a dry looking dull texture? bumpy?

David, I thought I saw 2 Queens on the plastic frame. I don't know but maybe mine eyes are playing tricks on me. Go figure.

David What are your thoughts about having Purple Martin's in the area of your bee hives?

Dude, hope you're over that junk by now...I've got it at the moment, congestion, stuffy sinus...good times. Havent had a cold in over ten years...this sucks. Here's to a good season brother, take care.

That peach tree needs a major pruning :)

Awsome! Thanks a bunch!

David, where can I find the plans for you nucs and feeders?

Is bee bread good for human consumption? Also, when you say you see pollen, is that bee bread??

David get well soon

So, why do bees sometimes collect pollen and put it on the outside of their hive? It was almost like they were trying to work on the outside of the hive. My bees were doing this alot last fall.

What is that dripping from the bee 7:33

What would you recommend for someone who has bees all over their mint all summer and wants to cultivate native bees but has never seen a swarm. And wants to start beekeeping with local bees?

Your animals know who big papa is that’s why they want to hang out with you

15:10 What did that rooster just say? ;)

Hi David, purchased a nuc package from you! didnt say when you guys start shipping or when i should expect. Can you give me a rough estimate?

Queen bottom left corner @ 10:54? no?

Couldn’t see what you were talking about most of the time cause the camera was shaky and there was big writing in the way ☹️

I’m surprised they didn’t wax over the queen cage.🤯

Stone Cold!!! Thanx for the vids and Helping us.

It looks like your hives are tilted, If so why?

The bee's know your scent right.

Peace.

4:25