SHOCKING! What nobody else is telling you about Honey Bees! 

I’m highly allergic to stings but still want to get into this hobby I just want to do my homework so to speak so I know how to be safe.

Use deep boxes for the brood nest and another deep on top of that. Honey and pollen will be available in the nest. This will give the most brood with 2 boxes. Use a medium size for the honey stores to extract. Place a QE over the two deeps but pull it back an inch or slightly more from the front to allow for drone movement. If the drones can't move freely, they will clog up the spaces of the QE and the workers have no place to store honey during a good flow except below the QE, limiting cells for the queen to lay in. Trust me, the queen will almost never find this gap and move up. The drones will not eat much honey, and they will be kicked out in the fall anyway. Use 9 frames for honey supers as they are easier to uncap. Space them carefully. Use 10 in the deep boxes for brood. There is always much to learn in beekeeping, but a hobbiest should always try to have fun.

Smoke the NEXT hive you're going to work. A couple of puffs in the entrance will do. Gives them time to react to it. The idea isn't to blind them with smoke lolol

Just a tip. When assembling frames always use glue and nails on the joints. Frames that are only nailed will come apart when the bees glue them down or build burr comb between the boxes when you try to remove them.

A medium super is 55 lbs. You'll get about 35 lbs or honey. Don't forget the wax you get which is just as important for other products. A deep super full of honey will fill a 5 gallon pail with honey. Hive Beetles are Brutal!!!! I'm working on a special trap (idea I have) to trap the beetles. I don't like the present day traps. They're too small to be effective.

If you have horses, use the dried horse dung in your smoker. If you can, offer to help clean out a horse stall from a neighbor. Trust me, horse dung makes the very best smoker fuel-- it stays lit and has a pleasant smell that won't upset even the nastiest colony. Forget gunny sacks. Too harsh and burns way too hot. You can burn the wings. Even dry grass is better, but horse or cow pies, dry, works best.

Harbor freight nailer stapler will make that job go SO much faster. You can also build a jig that holds them together and you can do 10 at a time. I glue mine also, but of course you don't have to. Thanks for the videos

The problem with installing package bees is this: they are not used to other climates, no matter how warm the winters may be. Plus varroa mites can wipe out any over wintered colony. I would never waste my money on packages. If I can't catch a wild, indiginous swarm, I would rather not mess with bees. I have set out swarm traps for several years and have never caught a single swarm. Not a lot of bees in my area either.

One of my favorite sandwiches is honey and peanut butter on wheat toast or just wheat bread....yum.

Yes, honeybees are not native but neither are most of the fruits and vegetables they pollinate for us.

I’m not trying to criticize you but some things I think I can help you. Always take the frame next to the box first. Less chance of killing any bees. You might have to requeen the one hive because the queen you have doesn’t have it in her anymore. And too much smoke can just as bad if not enough smoke to drive your bees down. Good luck with your hives my friend.

I dont use a inner covers anymore. I use a propolis trap instead.

Deployed to Arizona right now and let me tell you, mesquite honey is life changing! Local apiary uses the flow hives. Been thinking about using them when I'm ready to start bee keeping.

We always use pine straw. That’s what we used back then…

Great video, your lucky to have sourwood trees in your area, that is some good honey. Be careful throwing your burr comb on the ground near your hives, it will attract wax moths.

Been wearing sunglasses anytime I’m outside. I’m having cataract surgery in a couple of months.

Yummy! 😋 Yep, bees don't *want* to sting because they die.. 😔

You’re so right kids will never forget that. I remember that like it was yesterday and 53 now and I want to do it again just like I have chickens I’ll never get rid of chickens I got guineas ducks Geese…

Hello from Morganton!!! Glad to see your diving back into the hives. I’m had 10 hives but recently lost 2 hives in the last few weeks. Wax moths took over the one hive and it was a big clean up job. Stay on top of those bees. Love the bee videos!

I grew up just like that here in Florida. I want to do it in Tennessee now I enjoy that kind of thing I grew up with hundreds of hives you know I used to get the black widow spiders and I used to take the big females and put them in jar as big pickle jars cause they be hiding underneath the honeybee hives and eat the bees that they could grab and they had a steady amount of food. You reminded me of that .. I named that spider Edith and it killed anything I put in the jar with it didn’t matter if it was a praying mantis it didn’t matter how big the other spider was it killed everything I put in there, but just as a thing, when I was a kid, I was exposed to this kind of thing, but I didn’t have the fear I have today because I know what they can do but my parents allowed me to do these things and they knew I was doing it, but I kept it in a jar and I never got it out but I left look at live in a jar and I would feed crickets in a big pickle jar that can you put pickled pigs feet in… this was in a town called Sorrento Florida, and we used to have other honeybee hives out in the countryside. We’re golden rod will grow, and that’s when we get the other hundred hives but I grew up just like that man is a think everybody should be doing this😂

Hey Josh, good video. You might want to consider lowering the height of your stands. They are really convenient, right now at the height you have them but once your hives are well established, on a good year, you might get many more full supers of honey. That means tall hives. Taking 75 lb supers off at or above head high is really tough on the beekeeper. I like 2 each eight-inch concrete blocks high. That gets the entrance out of reach for skunks and makes taking supers off tall hives much more convenient. Thanks for the video.

Is there ANYTHING you don't know how to do??! If you have a brother, I want him! 🤣 Another great video, Josh! You included a couple pieces of info. that none of the other bee videos disclosed. ThanQ!

I used to keep bees, until I lost my hives, but Josh @StoneyRidgeFarmer don't forget you can use a queen excluder to separate the hive into 2 parts, one for just holding brood, and one for holding just honey, I usually split my hives in half when I stacked them about 4 hive and they did okay here where I live in Weaverville NC.

If your in an area of buck wheat you get that flavour. That's why the alpine flowers in a mountainous valley makes an unusual flavour to the honey.

As a kid, My dad used to keep bee's down at a property he bought. Kinda a weekend get-a-way kinda place. I think at the biggest time, he had 14 or 15 stands. He was one of those who would work his bees naked, in other words, nothing on but his normal work cloths. He rarely got stung, but, he didn't go swatting and freaking out, he just continued on. There was one hive though that he would put o full dress, just like you, he even taped his pant legs tight to keep them from gong up his leg and stinging "some very tender areas" This particular hive the bee's were mostly black and not yellow like the rest, very mean hive for sure, but they produce about three times the honey! Dad also saved burlap bags to use in his smoker. He always said that burlap worked the best!

Came across your interesting video your personality just explodes making your videos so intetesting 5 stars to you.

Why don't you use a queen bee excluder? That way you only have honey in the supers.

Thanks for the video its awesome you are taking care of your bees more power to you i don't want to be stung I'm a chicken lol

Awesome video Josh. Learned a lot Thanks 👍

The best honey I have ever had was when my neighboring farm tried their hand at planting cotton... it was amazing! But sadly they never planted it again

Well done, I'm signing up to your channel right away. Good luck

*Awesome man! The more beekeepers the better. Looks great!*

I really enjoy your videos. The conviction you have for doing things your way is remarkable. Personally, I think all farms/ranches are unique and require different care. You are gonna call me negative, and I can live with that. Farming is about raising life. Plants, animals, and humans. Don't make your farm a last generation farm. If the bull is the problem, fix the bull. If the cow is the problem, cull the cow. The most important thing you can raise on a farm is children. I am so rooting for you, even praying.

How long have you been a beekeeper?

We've been thinking about getting a few boxes for bees. But, need to get over the fear first LOL. Nice bees!

Great video

Honey for your Honey❤

If any of your neighbors spray for insects, it’s a risk to your bees, unless they far from your property borders and they have open of access to pollen close by.

I wish I had sourwood for my bees here in south louisiana! I noticed you didnt break off the bottom corner of your new foundations. Doing that gives the bees more room and freedom to move better thru the hive. Look into it.

They also fail to mention wild honey bees are found throughout central and interior Alaska, NW Territories, The Yukon and all across the northern hemisphere. Wild honeybees. And yellow jackets, hornets and wasps.

Great video. Very interesting!!

When I was about 17 I worked for a gentleman that raised queen bee's. One stipulation was that we could not use gloves. Of course one doesn’t want damage there product. My first day on the job I got stung 5 times in the exact stinger hole. Yikes is right. Between both hands I ended up with 11 stings, that day. I drove home with my hands flat, pressed up to the steering wheel because I couldn't bend my fingers around it from the swelling. Great memory to tell the grandkids.

Excellent educational content! Thanks for sharing

WOW AMAZING.BIG HELPING IN MOTHER EARTH.I LIKE THE PANTS,AND T-SHIRTS.GOD BLESSED PO SIR.

I'm excited to start beekeeping at some point in the future. Lots to learn still.

Good morning Josh! I would love to get some bee’s in the future. It looks like a relaxing hobby minus the possibility of being stung.😂

Thanks Josh! Our bees left one of our hives last Spring. Not sure what happened.

always wondered how you beekeepers worked those hives..thanks..very interesting....

I stopped smoking them a few years ago at the advice of a honey producer on the gulf coast. He said that when they get smoked it basically makes the bees "high" and lowers their senses for about 7 days. This 7 day period allows the hive beetles, wax moths, and more populations to explode as a result of the bees defense senses against them being down. This potentially leads to losing the colony. My losses have been 10% or less since then, when most beekeepers lose between 30-40% of their hives each year. On a bright sunny day bees are happy and calm anyways, so smoke is not needed. Sunny day time to play, cloudy day stay away.

What happened to your electrical fence you had put up temporarily when they came and killed your chicken there any other predator attack the beehive just as well knock it down, roaming around on your property on the homestead let us know on your next video when you can for all the hard work sharing with all your viewers 👍

⚘Thx. Great video

Yum, Sourwood!

4:05 They got me on the tip of the nose last time, that hurt!

Honeybees aren't native...but neither are a fair number of our food producing plants.

Hmm josh you ever thought about trying out a flow hive just for your honey collection?

How long have you kept bees

I have a question, the old tractor that I have been seeing in the background of some of the shots near the garden, what kind is it? Do you have any plans for it? Just curious about it.

👍

Awesome Josh, Awesome 👍👏

One thing that you should never do is to put burcombe or any wax on the ground. Small hive beetles breed on the ground in old wax. Better to save the wax for use as you need in the hive or for making candles and so on. I’ve been a beekeeper for close to fifty years and believe me I use to toss the wax on the ground until someone told me about small hive beetles and other pests that breed on old wax.

Raw honey vs pasteurized? Explain and opinion. Love your knowledge and explanations.I believe there are services that set up hives in your yard for a fee and maintain and share in the honey produced.

Hey Josh. Thank you for the video woo

very nice video josh...

Did you know honeybees can not pollinate tomato's? It takes the vibration of a bumble bee to get the job done. Your poor bees need a deep brood boxes. It would save you a ton of time when making inspections too! Just my 2 cents!

Tell us more about the Beatles you didn't explain just pulled it out what they do😮

During the winter do you remove the queen excluder? You mentioned that they move to upper boxes when it gets cold. But the excluder would prevent that, which is why I ask.

Been my experience you get stung more when extracting than working.

My wife has honey bees. This is her second year. Last year bees decided to leave so she got more this year.

Ive learned a lot from watching your videos. Maybe next year will be the year i give it go.

Fun video

Let them bee

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

Josh, would there be any benefit to spreading the bee's around the property? Just wondering

Not a beekeeper...The hive that did not make it....why did you not use the "spare parts" from that structure for your supers

I haven't seen a sweat bee in years, use to be every time I got car gas i had to wash my windshield from bug not anymore.

👍🏻🇦🇺

Try some glue,your frames are going to come apart

Bees are more impacted by Radio Frequencies (EMF) than chemicals.

I wanted to see you take some honey out

Parenthood reaches the age of 36 and she is childless, pre menopause cycle starts kicking in. Her internal clock says I have maybe 10 more years of safe child bearing. And the other person in the relationship evidence in a relationship and it's as plain as the nose on my face and everybody else is there somebody relationship does not want to be a father at the age of 46, or are unable to do so. Married 3 times 2 of my wives I've buried. Divorce once because my wife was playing around. I have no children to call my own thanks to a drunk driver. But have 2 grown stepsons and 7 youngest that call me granpa. My 2¢.

4:04 Bees: Aim for his pie hole!

I like too look for eggs instead of brood the eggs tell me she has been in. The hive working within the last three days

It's really native bees we should worry about in the context of the environment. Honey bees and their troubles are more of an economic problem than environment.

OK I am one of the stupid people you’re talking about. I go out into my hives with only veil. I don’t have a problem and in the last two years have only been stung twice which we’re both my fault. Now having said that in the middle of July when they’re a little more pissed, I wear a jacket. I never wear gloves. And in case you’re wondering, the two times I got nailed were on my hands.

If honey bees are the only pollenater (per conventional wisdom), then how did they grow crops here before honey bees? At any rate, I never see bees at my farm (only part is currently under cultivation), and yet, something is pollenating the crops. I see a lot of paper wasps flying around and they have built some nests around the eaves of my house. They pollenate. If I'm out and I see one flying around, I leave it alone. Remember, FAFO! Don't F with them...they won't F with you. I've never been stung by one. But, when I see one flying around nearby, I leave it alone. And...I never FAFO with their nests!

The last jar I bought was $12 for a small mason jar a few years ago. Honey is one food that never goes bad and can be used on cuts. Your chickens would love those scraps from the bees. Chicks eat bee combs and nests. What would happens if the nests were never scrapped and/or cleaned out ? Do you sell bees when you get too many ? Are you noticing the chemtrails are killing insects and our vegetable gardens ? Very enjoyable video !! Have a blessed day !

You need to take a bee class

The Queen is gone?

did you forget the queen excluder? I can't remember in video. ahh.. lol

Hundred percent what you’re saying is that on…

Fake News 😂

As a beekeeper all I can say is do some more studying and find yourself a mentor.👍

You refered to sourwood as lilly of the valley.... actuial lilly of the valley is highly toxic to humans and animals.

Native American ( non honey bees) pollinate natve American crops (corn, beans, tomatoes, squash, peppers, native grasses, tobacco better than European bees. They are also hardier and can take temperature variations better than honey bees. But you don't get honey.

Its been at least quite a few months since I’ve watched this channel…I could of sworn that this was a share something and opinions..results..questions etc but now it seems quite different…at least regarding this video and subject. There was a comment about sourwood honey for example…ok I agree 🐝 make honey from sourwood…BUT I seriously doubt its exclusive sourwood. …how can a person know what honey is made from?…does that person transform into a bee and actually make it? Otherwise how the heck can it be claimed to be all or even a majority of anything..like sourwood?? I hope this was just a different video and that the channel doesn’t just spurt out things as facts…as you must do this or that…let alone comment about the future &/or past of things..especially bees. I remember in the early 80’s in school being told Africaan bees will pretty much take over..they are in Arizona…and spreading like a plague… um I live in N AZ and I have a hive I let go wild for over a year and I see no clear invasion…I started here in Az doing bees and never have seen African bee behavior as others claim them to behave like. …I still have seen supposedly great news sources & info sources still claim killer 🐝 are to 🐝 feared…yet some of the same claims bees are dying and the world is doomed!! Heck I even went to a invasion hive in Phoenix that is really aggressive BUT the bee’s there dont chase in huge numbers as the “killer bees” are claimed to do…the only similarity is that the bee’s would sting a little quicker rather than flyby repeatedly. In my experience from what that Phoenix hive is like its just a big huge hive that has been hastled repeatedly…multiple attempts to kill them all and a very challenging environment for where their hive is. I am one of the crazy people that do bees without gloves and suit…sometimes no smoker etc…but for most bee rescues I bring and implement all safety unless the bees beehave like well cared for bees can. It’s undesirable to hear all kinds of supposed facts and you can’t do that or this &/or you must do this or that….I find those supposed fact’s often wrong let alone disturbing to listen to.

No, we can't all do it in the city. It's not legal ...

Hives are too high. Too many blocks.

Tons of misinformation in this video.

Josh, you don't have to talk about every piece of equipment you walk by, this is suppose to be a farming channel, not a let me advertise about my equipment channel.

You are having brood into your medium frames because you forgot to put a queen excluder under your honey box. That will prevent the queen to lay eggs into your honey frames. :)