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Beekeeping with The Bee Whisperer
United States
Registrace 29. 12. 2020
I am Peter Cowin, aka The Bee Whisperer. I have decades of experience growing honeybees in northern New England. I now run more than 130 colonies producing thousands of pounds of honey and hundreds of nucs each year. My aim for this channel is to help along beginner beekeepers and to show how this fascinating hobby can be turned into a significant income.
Just about to make honey!
My daughter-in-law, Hannah's hive has grown nicely this Spring from a single deep to a double deep and is now poised to start accumulating their first honey.
zhlédnutí: 2 269
Video
Seasonal issues with puppy distractions!
zhlédnutí 750Před měsícem
We talk a lot about bees in Beekeeping 24/7 and sometimes toss in a few distractions along the way. You may fine this informative or just fun to watch!
Stop swarming and make honey with the Demaree method
zhlédnutí 5KPřed měsícem
My friend Amy has two strong overwintered hives that need attension to prevent swarming, one was showing early queen cells 5 days ago. We consider, splitting the hive, making nucs, swapping positions of hives but all these will lower productivity. My favorite solution to this dilemma is the Demaree manipulation which will stop swarming and make a monster hive capable of making hundreds of pound...
fantastic results boosting a small hive in only 2 weeks
zhlédnutí 3KPřed měsícem
Two weeks ago I boosted this tiny overwintered cluster which had 2 half frames of brood over a strong overwintered colony separating them with some newspaper and a queen excluder. Look at these results in just 14 days.
Beekeeping for beginners, hands on class
zhlédnutí 1,3KPřed měsícem
Queen Bee, Amy Nickerson and I held our first of 3 hands-on Beekeeping for Beginners classes in Hampden Maine today. Next two are May 18 and May 25. It was a beautiful day in Maine to teach beekeeping!
The queen is dead, long live the queen!
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In Spring hive assessments its sometimes necasary to make choices that result in regicide!
Which queens to kill and which to save?
zhlédnutí 10KPřed 2 měsíci
early Spring inspections and its time to assess hives and take action on hive that can be built up or hives which can not be saved.
What did the bees do during the Eclipse?
zhlédnutí 16KPřed 2 měsíci
April 8 and here in Maine we had a total solar Eclipse. In my bee yard we had 98% so what did my bees make of this?
Bees survived the Winter? Now What!?
zhlédnutí 5KPřed 2 měsíci
What do you do with your bees now that they have made it through the Winter? Here's what I do.
Spring feeding round
zhlédnutí 4,2KPřed 3 měsíci
Today was my first trip round my out yards this Spring and what a beautiful day to be outside. A real Spring day in Maine! This yard of saskatraz bees are in great shape and those with good supplies of honey got some pollen substitute and those a bit short of honey got Winter patties.
How I prepare Demaree, Single Brood Chamber hives or double nucs for winter
zhlédnutí 2,6KPřed 3 měsíci
I had a lot of questions as to how I prepared my Demaree splits (as well as my single brood chamber hives and double nucs) for Winter. Here are some great options.
Bee Whisperer and Queen Bee discuss the key to Beginner beekeepers success.
zhlédnutí 1,1KPřed 4 měsíci
Having just completed a successful Introduction to beekeeping course Peter Cowin, the Bee Whisperer, and Amy Nickerson, The Queen Bee, talk about the need for beginner beekeepers to continue their learning journey and how Beekeeping 24/7 can help www.beekeeping247.com/Beekeeping247
Demaree, Single Brood Chamber and Double nuc, 3 ways to make more honey
zhlédnutí 14KPřed 4 měsíci
Most hobbiest beekeepers use double deep brood chamber hives and are missing an opportunity to make more than double the amount of honey. Here are three ways I get a lot more honey compared to leaving these hives as double deeps.
They're alive! Using an endoscope to check on Winter clusters
zhlédnutí 1,3KPřed 4 měsíci
Sometimes its too cold to open your hives and it may be hard to see signs of life like bees or bee poop in the snow. Here is a toy we are playing with that can show us the bees without disturbance to more than a few!
Don't Split! Get a big honey crop with the Demaree method
zhlédnutí 88KPřed 4 měsíci
The best way to get a big honey crop is with a big population of bees. If you split a hive you loose that potential. But if your hive swarms you loose the crop AND the bees. Instead use one of these versions of the Demaree method to get big hives, a big population and a lot of honey!
Recovering the last 20% of beeswax, Part 3
zhlédnutí 1,7KPřed 7 měsíci
Recovering the last 20% of beeswax, Part 3
Melting down 200lbs of wax cappings part 1
zhlédnutí 1,8KPřed 7 měsíci
Melting down 200lbs of wax cappings part 1
Trying to prevent a Small Hive Beetle Disaster!
zhlédnutí 1,8KPřed 8 měsíci
Trying to prevent a Small Hive Beetle Disaster!
Fall inspection and next steps for Winter Preparation
zhlédnutí 3,8KPřed 8 měsíci
Fall inspection and next steps for Winter Preparation
How I am preparing my Fall hives for Winter
zhlédnutí 3,4KPřed 8 měsíci
How I am preparing my Fall hives for Winter
Is this like the Rythm method ?
This video was good. I understand it now. It puts a bottleneck on population production but keeps the existing workforce to continue making honey.
Great to see your family keeping bees as well! Similarly, my brood chambers are being back filled with nectar, and are becoming nectar/honey bound. After watching your videos about the Demaree earlier this spring, I added a deep and 2 medium supers to my strong colonies (~mid May). Last night I extracted a full medium super from each colony, and put it back on this morning in the bottom super position in hopes that the bees will move some of the nectar from the brood boxes up to the supers (they are at various stages of being filled/capped). Any other advice? I added a few new frames of foundation, but the nectar is coming in quicker than the foundation can be drawn out. The queen only has a couple frames with open cells and I am afraid they are going to swarm (no queen cups/cells of yet). Thank you for any advice, I very much enjoy your videos (and also took one of your online workshops)!
To stop swarming you don’t have to do all that work if you say you have to go into the hive every week just kill those swarm cells every week lol and don’t have to do any shuffle lol if you have just one hive I understand you can play with it as much as you want but if you have 50 or more the method is just waste of time and energy
I saw your video on the Demaree method and thought I might have a go at it next year, I have a lavender garden with 6 colonies in it and when the lavender blooms I remove the supers and replace them with new frames so I can separate the lavender honey which has a beautiful taste and aroma to it, increasing the production of this honey would be beneficial for me as it sells at a premium. We are having a crazy production year here in South Yorkshire, where are you located and have you also had an increase in production this year?
Do the bees need sugar syrup in order to draw out empty waxed frames?
Not if there is a nectar flow on. An as the honey super is on its best not to feed at this point.
Can you please show this in row of hives during summer?
When you have a row of hives you plan first so you do dont need to move them!!! To attempt to move several hive from one place to another in the same yard WILL result in a lot of confusion but can be done, don't expect them to like it! ;)
Nice. But if there was another hive closer to previous location, then no single bee would understand your video and would return to nearest (the other) hive to the previous location. Except the case, you moved it before first spring flight. And in this case is no difference between this covering of hive entance or no action... During the winter season is erased their "programming" about location.
Yes, you are right. Most bees will go to the nearest hive to their new location , however adding lots of new obstacles and forcing a new orientation flight re-set will help to have many find the correct position. Best plan is good planning, BEFORE you have more than one hive!
Ha Peter just seen your and amy interview with raindeers youtube page it was great. If you do not mind I like to ask you a question. I would like to treat for mites with oav I have heard treat every 5 days for 7 treatments works have you tryed this thanks
Yes in the early days of OAV treatment it was thought to be effective... this has since been shown to be less effective than hoped (better than not treating) If relying on this choose more treatments more frequently for 24 days or so.
@@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer Thanks I will moniter . I hope u have a Blessed week
Thanks for a great video. i finally understand.
I bow to local experience but would have thought it may work as well or better if done more frequently?
awesome video,, with this method what would happen if were do a demarry split on the 2 nucs with only broad in queen box n 4 drawed frames then put every thing else in top box, would that give her more time or would they just fill empty frames with nector ,, thanks again i learned much from you,,,TY..
Any depopulating the brood chamber will give a bigger population and fewer swarms....try it but monitor regularly.
@@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer ty,, in this method how do you stop them from putting nector in queen box, ive done several demarrys and some follow ok, but others seem like they fill broad boz with nector giving queen less cells to lay in,, how do you stop that, if you will or know how to,, thank you again,,jim
Great information to visualise actual robbing ty
Hello bee whisperer😊 thank you for the constant enlightenment. I was wondering if i could purchase bee venom from you for a research on its effect on arthritis
I have never attempted to collect it.
I know this is old but I notice you don't go through the bottom box much.
With experience you can usually tell fairly accurately what is happening in the bottom brood box by looking at a few frames in the top box. This check tells you if you need to go deeper.
Great info! I was wondering what percentage of the brood box is typically stored honey in say September? Have you ever inspected the bottom (brood box) in September? Please keep these videos coming!!
This depends on local flows and time of frost. Here in Maine if brood boxes are about half full Sept 1 and there is some honey flow they probably will need no feeding and be full by Sept 30, if there is no flow its time to take supers off and start feeding. My aim is to have the upper brood chamber FULL by Sept 30.
Do you arrange the "2 nuc's" such that their entrances are on opposite sides or 180 degrees apart? Thx
I would if my hives were not back to back on pallets
Why does two queens working in tandem (i.e. the "two nuc" method) produce so much honey. Many thx.
Its about ratios of field bees to nurse bees in each hive. And of course honeyflows.
Where did you all purchase your coveralls/ bee sting proof suits? Thx
I have them made for my buisiness.
when do you or do you ever reverse the boxes back to the standard order?
After the main flows you can....or overwinter as singles.
This is a proven method, but it does not work well down south where the bees come out of winter very strong.
👍👍👍
Hi dear, this is Zoe from Vevor. We have a tool for a honey extractor and I was wondering if you would be interested in collaborating?
I performed a demaree split on a hive that was previously split from a very agressive and overpopulated hive. Now I don't see any evidence of a laying queen . How should I requeen this hive?
I would hedge my bets by takeing a couple of nucs from it with new queens. The big hive in my experience is much less likely to accept the new queen than smaller ones.
wouldn't this have been a good time to put that queen excluder in below the honey supper, to keep brood out of the upper frames?
NO! Most beginners have their first swarm by placing a queen excluder on before they have any drawn comb in the honey super. Hannah was doing exactly the correct thing. Wait till they start to draw the comb then make sure the queen is in the lower chambers by shaking off the bees. THEN adding the excluder and replacing the honey super. For some reason many hives (not all) just wont pass up through the excluder when there is only foundation above it, then become crouded and swarm despite all the room above.
It's really nice to see you mentoring someone with such patience and kindness. :)
I appreciate that!
Very nice education 👍
Thanks and welcome
your son is a lot better looking lol 😂 😂
They all are! Got their looks from their mother thank God!
Watch Bob binnie making a split with double screen board.
Its a great video and a great way to make a split....this is different with different objectives.
Dude the american way would have been to do a walk away split after not finding queen in top box and leaving all the cells till you found her..and Those are not swarm cells their supersedure. The brood pattern in bottom box is not good or were it should bee and you only had good patterns in the top box..you might even try reversing your boxes and put a double screen board in between them.
When a colony is preparing to swarm ALL queen cells are swarm cells. When superceding they make one or two queencells (except in emergency supercedure) This is a very common misconception. Please don not underestimate the good sense of my native America by saying a walk away split is the American way. These should , in my opion, only be done if you MUST split and can not find the queen, forcing them to make queencells means they may make some out of 5 day old larvae rather than 4 day old larvae. These make inferior queens and as they will emerge first they then kill all the better quality queens.
I also, had a mishap with a brand new queen. I was moving the frame with her on it about 10ft away to the nuc box. Before placing the frame into the box, I always want to eye ball the queen as it's going into the box. This time, however, I couldn't find her again. So i looked and looked, nothing!! I looked on the ground to my right, nothing. Left, nothing!!! Moved my left foot back and pow!!! Bright green marked queen under my shoe!!!!! Dead!!! I was heart broken!!! Lesson learned, bring the box to the queen!!!!
New beek here. I accidentally pinched mine moving frames 😢
Noooo!
14:11 I found that if you cut out wonky combs like that, if you flip the frame around so the cut side is next to normal comb, they draw it better than if it's facing the same side.
I like it
You're a good teacher Peter kudos!!!!!
Thanks
That is awesome. I appreciate her enthusiasm.
Me too!
Ha Peter real nice it is strange our flow is over and your is just beginning. That hive is doing good. It is nice to see you doing videos again Have a blessed week
Thanks 👍
Hi Peter. I'm trying the nucs under a combined honey super and have a question. One nuc is much smaller than the other. Will they share resources and even out?
The difference between sides can be noticed if one queen is significantly lacking.
"life is too short for mean bees"
Agreed, pitty it takes so much time and effort to fix the issue!!!
Hi Peter. Will 2 5frame nucs below a qe and combined 10frame honey super spread the bees across both hives.? One nuc is new and smaller than the other. Thanks for your videos.
Not entirely! You will see a difference between the two sides but they will move across.
You stole my colors….hahaha
Have you already removed honey supers?
Not required but it will work better with fewer supers on.
The instructions say to remove queen excluder????
can you do this in a long hive
Would like to know what is the silver looking sheet that you put on top of the hive under the telescoping cover. Is it available to buy from a supply house? Thank you.
Foilbacked bubble wrap used to wrap water tanks etc... I buy it at homeimprovement stores.
How much of the honey do I leave for the bees?
Leave the brood chamber 80% full of honey/or sugar syrup for winter usually.
As a newby trying to move from being a “beehaver” to a “beekeeper” I very much appreciate the clear explanation of an excluder in simple terms I can understand. I also now have a better explanation of foundation and comb. Beekeeping needs a dictionary!! :) Thank you again.
Thisnmeasagebwas brought to you in part by : Hopguard III, The most trusted name on the market lmao😅
I wish they sent me some for free, not cheap!!!!!
So where can we order one to test them out?
Most large beekeeping supply stores.
Thank You, Peter. At the end of my beekeeping life, I think I should try this method. I keep only two hives now, so, there should be time enough to play with them. No swarming too. Perfect tutorial and a great video. Greetings. Adam. Bye.
Beekeepers live longer lives, plenty of time to reep the rewards! ;)
My first attempt with the Demaree Method is going well. I have a deep brood box queen excluder then 2 med super and finally the two original brood boxes on top. My question is, can i now move the top two brood boxes down and the two med supers up on top?… the two top brood boxes are extremely heavy with nectar and difficult to lift up that high after i inspect the bottom brood chamber to ensure that it isn’t filling with brood and resources. Many thx again Peter. Dave from Wheeling WV
Yes but wait till the brood has emerged.
Thank you very much.
If you do that during flow, emerging brood will eat the honey. It will work if you combine them and gather emerging brood frames at least 3 weeks prior to the flow. If you want more honey, you should also restrict queen from laying during flow or take out capped brood frames during flow and give them to other weak colonies. Once this flow is over, the weak ones will be ready for the next flow. That timing is the essence of beekeeping.
Flows are very different works well in long flows as described but for short flows that is good advice!
Unbelievable, I was just talking about demaree splitting today😂 I'm in southern New Zealand and I doubt many beekeepers have heard of this technique in new Zealand and the guy I was explaining this too was giving me the " you gotta be kidding me" look😂 so now I'll send him the link too this video 👍😆 thanks for uploading 😄