Queen Adrian Swarm/Split Mistake? (Follow UP Video)
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- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
- Your comments yesterday made me run up to the bee yard and see what happened to Queen Adrian. Did I do the right thing with the queen cell? Did she swarm? Did she abscond? Was she superceded? Are there new queen cells? What do I do now? This is the follow-up to yesterday's video!
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Nice job Jim, you didn't do anything "wrong". Like I've said before there are no absolutes in beekeeping, just levels of efficiency. Furthermore bees are about as individualistic as people, some react the way you'd expect, some (fairly rare) are just nuts and unpredictable.
Your other option would have been when you took this old queen out for the split today, you could have went back to the split you made before in the Nuc and put that mature cell back in the original hive. If I recall, you also put the other frame in the split that had cells started on it...it also could be put back in the original hive INSTEAD of the big queen cell...either one would work. What you did should also be fine***** 6 of one, half a dozen of another type of situation. The developed queen cells will gain a few days over new cells just now being made is the only consideration and at this point in the season it's not a big deal.
Just consider watching the development of that second frame of queen cells you put in that first split Nuc...you may have extra queens there you can use if you want and can time it right. They'll all go to waste if that big pretty cell hatches first...she'll tear down and kill all others in there. Bee careful with that big queen cell too, go look at a queen rearing calendar...there's a couple or three days when they are super fragile. **** thebeeyard.org/queen-rearing-calendar/ ****
Moving that old queen should solve the swarming issue, once she realizes she is in a new space (which she knew after the first 30 seconds) and that her colony population is low, she'll get back to work and be fine. Of course some queens are just prone to want to swarm. I'd add that if this turns out to be the case, that is not a trait you want to promote through splitting and reproducing her line...so keep track of her offspring down the line and take note of that possible trait. This is where you begin to get into much more advanced beekeeping, welcome to beekeeping 103. Lol
She wasn't likely to swarm since you were in the hive and moved that big uncapped queen cell.... until enough time passed that they were able to build and cap another one. Always remember you generally have until that cell is fully developed and capped. The last day the old queen will stop laying eggs and her abdomen will shrink so she can fly easier. Once she swarms into a new home she'll take a day'ish to get back into laying mode and get going, longer if there is no comb to lay in. What you really accomplish by forcing a controlled swarm is a few things:
1. You keep the old queen
2. You get the colony increase
3. By forcing a swarm the bees that would have left never gorge themselves on what stores they have put away already. They do that so they can draw out new comb fast and reduce lag time in building a new colony. Problem is that is a flows worth of honey you'll never get back, it's just gone when they swarm.
Boom. This gets pinned. Thanks, Brent!
@@vinofarm You bet buddy!
You know I forgot to mention earlier. It should be noted that what you did first had a chance of actually working and kicking that queen out of swarm mode. I'd guesstimate that had about a 30%-40% chance of working so not insignificant. Sometimes a queen's sense to swarm is light enough that a reduction in population is enough but it's a better preventative measure than it is a remedy.
Either way, the cards are played; the dice are cast. Let the nail-biting begin!
Vino Farm have to agree with Brent on both his comments here great advice.
Brent 👍great advice mate, we have the same name, in 33 years I’m yet to meet face to face with another Brent it’s not the most common name.
What a cool guy he admits when things go wrong unlike other CZcamsr's who are never wrong.
In your 3 years of beekeeping it seems to me that you have all the right instincts! You have expanded your apiary, for the most part, in making the correct decisions. Your most important trait is that you are willing to accept constructive criticism, and make adjustments where the criticism is warranted.
Outstanding Jim! You are going to wear that new Maxant spinner out!!
You have one of the best and most well put together CZcams channels I have come across!
TELL YOUR FRIENDS!!!
@@vinofarm Done! I've got a colleague of mine hooked on beekeeping and Vino Farm videos.
Queen Abigail! St. Abigail was an actual bee keeper in the 6th century. She is the patron saint for honeybees and beekeepers.
Debra could be used also. Means "bee".
I think it's a good idea to name daughters with names starting with the same initial as the queen she came from. A friend did that with her sheep, naming daughters after mothers to keep track of bloodlines.
I just want to mention that my dad got me a bunch of socks with bees on them for my birthday. He knows I love your channel
Bee socks. Nice.
You definitely made a mistake, not yelling "ADRIAN!" every time you find her on a frame.
😂😂
Laughed out loud on that... GREAT point!
Yup, me too👍
Omg yes 😂
Lady bug reference?😂
I do not support your thesis of being 'wrong'. Your comfort for 'failing soon' and taking risk is total innovation. Very little is 100% predictable in nature. You are helping us all learn. Thank you.
Cracked me up when you told them they just swarmed!
I loved that too! lol. If only they will listen :D
Dave at barnyard bees puts the queen in a queen cage, hangs her in a tree or a box and lets the bees build their own swam then just drops the whole lot into a box.
That seems like a lot of work.
@@vinofarm maybe I brought it up because you caught the queen. Not much more trouble to put her in a cage, and the bees that swam will stay with the hive. Just thought it was worth mentioning.
@@patrickedgington5827 I believe the video you are talking about was more to gather confused bees that were flying after installing package bees. He had a lot of left over packages that didn't sell and he to put them in hives. Those bees were not oriented to a particular hive. The scent of the queen gave them something to be attracted to.
I agree with this decision to move the queen to stop the swarming.
On a side note. A hive with in swarm mode you can always use it as an opportunity to “raise” queens. Just keep checking and pulling any frames with cells and make more splits. Then when you have what you want, pull the queen. Just another idea for future expansion.
Thanks for the info been thinking of saving some money and starting to bee keep.
I cannot believe how addicted i am to your channel. No matter how beezy i am, i must watch the bees!!!!
Thank you!
MrEd, JP, DirtRooster and yourself! I've no beekeeping experience other than watching you guys! And I really enjoy it. Thanks for keeping the little ladies healthy. You do great with the bees and the vids. Thanks!
Check out the Bush Bee Man if you want a chuckle.
You are naming all the good ones. 👍
private bubba 150+ episodes he’s not bad what we’d call a true blue Aussie.
My thought is that leaving the queen in a single box in the busy season with the queen excluder is making them feel cramped, regardless of how many boxes there are above. No reason...just a feeling.
I would do two boxes with an excluder above and a honey box (super?) on the top. 🙋🏻♀️
I have been taught you should put the queen in a new box but in the same position as the original hive. So you move the original hive position and the flying bees stay with the queen in the new box. A little bit more to it than I have explained, in the UK it’s called pagden. You are treating it as a walk away split and I am super interested to see the results.
Nice job Jim! Moving the orig queen should be the "fix" you needed. With a frame of brood added, they are less likely to abscond. See ya next week!
I did an artificial swarm on a hive because they had lots of swarm cells. I moved the old queen to a nuc, just like you did, and the let the original hive finish making their swarm cells. The next week the original hive, without the old queen, swarmed 5 times. So I don't know if there is a right way or a wrong way to do these things.
tjtax06 read my comment above.
Your video production (camera work, editing, SOUND EFFECTS) are so great. The sound effects, man. XD
Thank you.
Vino....everything that people say you are doing "wrong" I promise you comes from a perspective of truly wanting you to succeed! Don't take it negatively...it is just your community caring about you. Another thing to remember about comments from the viewers...as the saying goes with beekeeping... "ask five beekeepers their opinion on how to do something and you will get ten different answers"
I know... I would not be where I am right now as a beekeeper without my commenters. I love ALL the comments.
You've got some gentle bees. If I open mine up when it's cloudy they get pissed.
It’s all about whether or not they are able to bring resources in.
I edited out the pissy bees. They were a bit pissy.
What do you think is the max number of hives you will have? You seem to “bee” (lol) expanding so fast.
BRB. Coffee and a vino farms video. Wonderful . I split a hive last night. Ended up with my best queen in my swarm nuke. Thank you for the videos. Ps- you do great :)
Yay! Thanks for watching.
Scatter some empty boxes around the yard. If they do swarm, you’ll be ready to catch them and bring them in 👏
I was told that old timers just hang old crusty brood frames in trees. The scent attracts the swarm. I tried it and got my first ever swarm 3 weeks ago.
A friend of mine had an empty TBH on her back porch, and a swarm moved in. Honestly, if it smells like home, then it will attract scout bees.
I am sure you get a tidal wave of "you did this wrong and this and this" however your channel is an endless mountain of information I would have never known once I get my hives. So thank you for that Jim
Jim, see Jeff Horchoff’s videos on splits. I find his idea of “demoralizing” the Queen makes the most seems to me in explaining why beeks do what they do.
Love the sound effects!They make me laugh!
Ah, when those dulcet tones of light jazzy pop come floating through--you know it's gonna be a good one!
I did a split the same way you did at first. Mine turned out fine. My bees didn't swarm. I think you did the best thing by moving her this time since they were intent upon swarming. It's a good strong colony, and your new splits will both be great. I like your videos. They are smart and engaging, and all beekeepers do things in different ways.
I was so glad to see this follow up. They had so many swarmy signs. I think you made the right choice to move her. You definitely have better chances of not losing her this way. Stopped one this way myself last month.
You need to start building your own boxes and frames, It works out much cheaper and you will have the opportunity to sell some to other local Beekeepers.
He does build his own boxes but idk about the frames
I ASSEMBLE my own boxes and frames, but it just doesn't work out to be cheaper when you factor in time and headache of going to the lumber yard and doing all that cutting. The cost of a board is not that much less than the cost of an unassembled box. If I wanted to build 50 hive boxes? 100 boxes? Maybe. At my scale, it's way way easier to have the pre-cut boxes arrive at my door.
You did it right. The queen is active so you want foragers to to support her. Leave her 1 or 2 at the most of frames of brood(capped), a food frame, honey frame and a comb frame. Then fill the rest of the box with foundation. I actually put her in a new box on the same location with the above giving the hive a new smell as well.
lol "don't forget to comment and tell me what I did wrong" love it, love your videos, keep making them, by far one of the best beekeeping series of videos. I didn't realise you'd done the same with the same stock of bees before, so I think you did right! just this time it didn't stop the swarming instinct . I'm learning all the time and very useful info for my bees at the moment, thanks for sharing
Just a reminder.....they get “swarmy” once a hive swarms and can throw off additional swarms from the same hive. Even though you did an artificial swarm, they don’t know the difference. Keep an eye on them after your virgin queen hatches, they might make more queen cells.
All beeks learn something new all the time....they are not mistakes just a new lesson.
Enjoy your channel!
I've done the same thing as you originally did. A few made it some did not. We both know better now. I'm in my second year and the mistakes made already this year make me sick - it gets expensive when you let new queens fly away in front of you by releasing her incorrectly. I'm rooting for you and watch all your videos. I sometimes think about making videos but you are such a high standard why bother! Keep 'em coming.
I'll admit it - I know almost nothing about beekeeping. But I find these sort of videos fascinating where something happens and you have to react. It's like a serial novel.
The things we point out as “wrong” are only the mistakes we’ve already learned from by making them ourselves Jim....haha! I Enjoy watching your videos, and your journey in beekeeping, but I also genuinely want to help if I can and see you continue to succeed!
Don't forget to start pulling the frames with dark comb! With all of the stuff left in the wax, they can promote disease. Try to get them to be used for resources, and then pull them out and put them somewhere to get robbed and cleaned out. You can then melt and clean the wax for other uses, but making a wax foundation for frames would probably be a good idea if you can, to replace the plastic foundation frames.
Your comment doesn't make total sense...dont use the dark comb as it can promote disease...so just melt it down and make new foundation from it (essentially putting the same wax into another hive which would spread said disease). Your comment makes sense if you use the wax to say..make candles or use for other non-bee uses, but putting that same wax right back into a hive runs counter to your thought process. The temp that wax gets to when heated is not high enough to destroy all pathogens, never mind any pesticides/herbicides
Use dark comb unless its like 15 years old dont listen to people who dont have experience
@@hyfy-tr2jy - the wax itself is fine, but the stuff that gets embedded into the walls of the comb, like cocoons from the pupae, are what can carry things that are harmful to bees.
You melt the wax, strain out all of the gunk, and then when it is the color beeswax is supposed to be it can be reused for frame foundations, or anything else.
I am interested in keeping bees, so while I have no practical experience, I am doing my research. And that research says A) that old comb can carry stuff that's bad for bees, and B) while yes, you probably don't have to worry for a long time, it is easier to clean the wax the newer it is, so don't let them turn freaking black- pull the frames when they start turning that reddish brown.
I think my favorite video's you post are the ones that have the word "Mistake" in them!!! I feel I learn more from those!
Excellent. Great Job I think this was the best thing you could do. That was swarm management 101. Now you have your original queen ready to build the rest of the summer and two new colonies (hopefully). Turn problems into solutions!
You did good Jim. :) Now just have to see if: 1. Queenless colonies successfully requeen themselves. 2. Yo Adrian! thinks she did a swarm and kicks back into production. 3. Enjoy the learning experiences!
So I do not keep bees but I learned from this that if you want to make a few splits just keep pulling her queen cups and swarms and you can make a few splits thanks for posting your educational videos
I would move the original hive to somewhere in the same yard. Place a nuc where the original hive was with the queen one brood comb (with no swarm cells) and drawn out comb and foundation. All the flying bees will occupy the nuc with the queen just like a swarm. The original hive thinks it has swarmed because it has no field bees.
Started my first hive this year. Thank you for sharing. You are an inspiration as well as an educator.
Much appreciated!
I hope to split my hive this summer and have both survive the winter.
Next year maybe will delve into the flowhive. Otherwise the honey extraction looks difficult.
For me, It is all about the bees... always. so any honey would be a great bonus.
I think the flowhive is how I found you in the first place :D.
Thank You!!
I concur with the other commenter... you need to call Adrian in your best Rocky voice when opening her hive :D !
Yeah, I did exactly what you did not even 24 hrs ago, and the new hive, with the queen was up in a cedar tree by 4pm last night. We were able to get the swarm in a 10 frame box, so at least we didn’t lose the queen. Now, I’m waiting for the original hive to requeen. But I’m not going to wait too long. I ended up with a laying worker hive last year after a swarm. I love your videos. Keep up the good work! 🐝
This is so exciting! Now I’m on the edge of seat to find out what happens!
You done great always move the queen in a split simulating a swarm it fools the bees
At some point, the YT algorithm connected SciShow vids about bees to your channel and that's how I got here, but I'm glad 🥰. Good Luck!
I love that you are as invested in the comments you receive as we are in your videos (and your bees).
It's like looking into a mirror. It goes both ways.
I live in the Quabbin area of Massachusetts also and I would love to start Bee keeping, I love your videos and they have been very helpful in my decision. Keep up the good work.
I can't say that you did anything wrong. Bee wrangling seems to be very individual, what works for one, does not for another. For instance, my bees seem to look at queen excluders as ceilings, they just won't pass thru, at least most of them. Yet yours don't seem to mind at all. What you did in the first vid made perfect sense to me, because I've done the very same thing, and it worked. Sometimes though, the girlies have differing plans than ours. I think you teach us all something with every video, I know I learn something, so thanks and keep the videos coming!
I'm not sure you can make mistakes in beekeeping. Like life, it's all a learning experience. You try. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. You keep trying!
I love your channel. You are a full year ahead of me in my own beekeeping journey and I learn something every time I tune in.
I refer other beekeepers to your channel almost every week. You deliver a running commentary on what you are doing, why and what you hope to accomplish and most of the time it works out as planned. I'm sure it must be a lot of work to produce your vlogs but I look forward to each and every one! Thanks for sharing.
Done it both ways. It will work just fine
I agree. Both ways work just fine
Can't argue with success seen it done both ways and she still would swarm funny little creatures.
Have to say...you are the best! Your videos and your process have taught me every time, thank you!
I like watching the intermediate skill level you are operating at. You Tube is full of beginners and the experts can be found, but those missing a fine point now and then and correcting for it are rare.
Weirdest compliment I've ever received. Thanks!
True, open mouth insert foot. I mean that for a third year beekeeper, you are doing very well. Following along with my beginners knowledge, I'm learning enough new to find it interesting.
For instance, I know you can prevent the desire to swarm by adding the right amount of space at the right time. I thought you had it right splitting off the queen cells to provide space. Learning with you that preventing the desire to swarm and ending the desire to swarm after it is being felt are two different things is an important concept that I somehow missed while watching several experts going over how to prevent swarms.
As a continuum to that other comment on dark comb...according to Les Crowder’s book Top Bar Beekeeping (page 60, I can send you a pic or 2 if you’re interested), the most fundamental way to prevent disease such as mites, wax moths, and larval diseases is to remove old black combs. Now you can’t do it in the exact same way as in top bar hives, but you can still remove the comb.
(Paraphrased) “When larvae are raises in a cell, a cocoon is left behind. After hatching, the rough edges are chewed away, the shell of the old cocoon is varnished with propolis and beeswax, and a new egg is laid inside. This repeats. The cocoons accumulate, the thickness of the wall increases, the diameter of the cell decreases. Trapped between each cocoon layer is a bit of sealed larval poop. The comb is also stained from honeybees walking around and leaving bits of oil and propolis from their feet. The combs turn from white to black. The layers of cocoons become an area in which bacteria, fungus, and wax moth larvae can proliferate.
Dr. Elbert Jaycox has found old combs increased the incidence of brood diseases. He recommended broodcombs be culled every 3-5 years, or whenever they could no longer see light shining through them when holding them up to the sun (but not longer than 5 years).”
Les Crowder recommends (this is for top bar hives but can probably be used for Lang’s too) that when you’ve determined comb is too old to be used for brood anymore, you can use it one last time to harvest honey. I guess with Lang’s you could move them past an excluder then?
Anyway, hope that gives you some food for thought. I’m not an expert, I don’t have any actual experience (yet) just reading from one!
What you did wrong: Your channel is simply too good, too well made and you have too much interaction with your viewers!... ;P
Just kindling! I love your channel and have directed a few friends towards it that are interested in owning and caring for bees. May Queen Adrian love her new little summer palace and lets hope her royal daughters are good queens to the others!
Excellent video!! However this unfolds it is a success as we all learned something. I'm thinking that both ways work- and you will end with 3 colonies from the one. Fingers crossed buddy!
The Balboa Dynasty continues to grow!
Thanks for another well done video, I have this same problem with the swarm cell challenge. They make them as fast as I knocked a few down. I’m going to do this just have to find the queen, lots of bees so it may take a minute to find her. Thanks again for sharing, really hope it works out and Adrian stays in her new home.
I don’t move the queen unless I find a capped queen cell. Once they cap one it’s next to impossible to keep them from swarming. As long as there’re eggs and the queen cells aren’t capped you’re fine. Just keep a closer eye on that colony and keep squashing cells until they get over it. To add on, it looks like you’re on a hell of a flow as fast as they drew those frames. Better start stacking supers, that adds space and can calm the swarming instinct.
What does the bottom of each box look like? How do the bees go from one box to another? ~ 01:39 What is the Square-within-a-Square in the hive top? ~ 02:55 Could you tell us more about Bee Bread?
I’m not a beekeeper but I love your videosI can tell you really care about what happens to the 🐝 bees
Never a dull moment!
Bees are so interesting and very fascinating. Been watching your videos for a year now and I am always learning something new. Keep up the great work.
I love your videos so much. You inspired me to get my own bees. You have helped me along with your videos. Thank you so much! Keep on Beekeeping.
I just had this same thing come up 2 days ago. Made an artificial swarm and put the old queen into a nuc. I felt this has less risk on possibility of hive swarming. I'm in an urban area and didn't want a swarm going through the city. lol As always, enjoyed the video and happy about the follow up video.
I just stumbled upon your channel a month ago and I am not the person who was really into bees BUT NOW I AM. Your channel is very interesting to watch especially with your fun personality and I have learned alot about bees I get so excited when you post a new video it just makes my day better. (Btw I already have binge watched it all) Keep up the great work!
Long time beekeepers say bees are very forgiving as long as they are healthy.
Back to back Vino Farm videos.....well alright! (In my best Jeff Spicoli voice)
I have done splits both ways and both have succeeded. Also a big colony can swarm three to four times with the mated queen and virgin queens. You could split the colony once or twice more to make sure they will not swarm and loose the swarm. You will have a lot more nucs from colonies like this one.
I think what you did in this video has a very good chance of succeeding.
Hi Jim - I am a noobie so what do I know :) - from what I have learned is you move the queen only to mimic a swarm. The queen is supposed to loose weight to be able to fly away easier in theory. You could also move the queen to a different site if you have the ability. By the way how are those resource 4 frame hives? I built some cutting some mediums in half and making 2 four frame boxes out of one. Using some extra pine board that is.I found it cheaper and easier to buy from local Amish supplier.
the one thing many people misunderstand is the queen is not the one that chooses to swarm. the nurse bees are the ones making that decision. i don't subscribe that the queen lays an egg into a queen cell. i believe the nurse bees move the egg into a queen cell they have built. or they transform a regular cell into a queen cell. that's how a walkway split works, right? the queen is already gone yet the nurse bees still make new queen cells. by pulling the queen with a smaller population of bees with some young brood for those nurse bees to work, they are less likely to abscond. the original hive could still swarm if the remaining nurse bees think the population is large. because if you have more than one queen cell, the nurse bees will decide whether they let the first hatched queen kill the other queen or if they instead protect the other cells and shoo her out to swarm... of course, all of that may be conjecture, but it makes more sense to me than any other explanation i've heard :)
Nothing wrong. It's an easy thing to HAVE bees. It's a bit more difficult to KEEP bees. What can we do other than try, check, try again?
I am so excited for the next update!
Well done. So glad you’re man enough to amend as needed. That makes for a great beekeeper.
What did you do wrong? Nothing really, you did what you thought would work, therefore you did the best you could with the resources you had at hand. You're the best bee dad you can be!
Good to see the inter-webs directly influencing creators reality and providing constructive and informative advice on noble endeavours by noble people. I need this information as well, great channel, thanks.🐝
I just did the exact same thing a week ago. Moved 4 frames with a total of 6 queen cells out into a nuc . Left the old queen in. I’m not going to change what I did and we’ll see what happens. I really think with the cells gone and twice to free space I should be fine.
It mimics natural swarming to move the queen to a new box and leave the QC behind. Interesting to see it reversed, can't wait for follow up vids 👍
Love watching your channel! Love watching you learn and sharing the process.
Hey Vino, So not removing the queen wasn't a mistake, it was just a different direction, but it does keep the swarm tendency higher then if you remove her.
When you go into the hive thats making queen cells again reduce the number of cells to 3 once the are capped so they don't produce a caste swarm with so many cells to hatch. Even with the queen gone there is a chance for a caste swarm from a strong hive.
If you watch some commercial beekeepers they don't split by removing the queen they let the queen work 2 deeps and then split the hive in half and add a queen cell to the queenless half, and add a super to give the bees space once again. Its a pretty typical way to do splits, but removing the queen in your case is giving the nuc instant growth potential vs a small weaker nuc waiting 30 days to get a queen, and potentially making a weaker queen without the resources of a full strength hive.
I would like to add that a way to reduce swarming is by managing strength, so you would basically take excess capped brood from the strong hives and share it with all the hives that are lacking in comparison, so you balance your bee yard and all the hives are able to produce the best they can. you may consider that for your next approach to swarm prevention.
I'm working 11 hives now and am continuing to grow, nice to see your still wanting to grow more too. What is your hive limit? I know 20-30 hives typically is a max for one location before they start sharing resources, are you getting there then stopping? or going to open a new yard in the future possibly?
Cheers, Kelly From Ontario.
I find beekeeping interesting. I hope your hives work out. I cannot offer any advice but have learned a lot by watching you with your hives and enjoy the videos.
This is so so helpful - I think this is precisely the mistake I made at the start of this season (second season newbie keeper in the UK - our season seems to start a little earlier than you). Saw queen cells, made a split, but the new hive (queenless, w cells) hasn't successfully made a queen (yet) and the population of both has nosedived. Think that's partly because I've had to keep stealing eggs from the original hive to give the new one a chance to create a queen, but they also seem to have reacted badly to emergency verroa treatment, when they both seemed to get infested quickly. OR, I now wonder, was it exactly this problem and they both swarmed - I don't think so, I keep a good eye on them, but this has made me think. New hive (which should have taken the original queen, I now realise) now has some beautiful queen cells so I'm hopeful they can both build up again. Anyway, thanks so much Jim, your videos are BY FAR the most useful beekeeping resource I've come across and I'm really grateful especially for videos like this where you're thinking aloud and going over 'mistakes' - it's invaluable and encouraging and I'm really delighted you make them - thank you!
Just a comment here about your queen cups and queen cells, they are different. From what my bee proof taught us was that the ladies will build a queen cup somewhat randomly. Those look more like a gumball, spherical (?) and don't usually stick around more than a couple weeks (at least mine never did). The queen cells are going to be much more conical even from the beginning of their construction. My bee sense anyway!
Love the vids!
I think you do a fantastic job with your bees. I love your videos.
2 uploads in a week?!
Ha ha... I've always wanted to do video follow-ups like this one, but never had the time. This is an experiment. Maybe I'll do more of these.
Please Do! Vinofarm Thursdays just aren't enough. Some short little videos mixed in with much lower production values (don't even always have to be about the bee part of the farm) and less time investment on your part would be a great bridge between weekly videos. Thanks, as always, for the enjoyable content Jim!
@@steve4hockey I agree... but even these lower production videos take up a good part of a day when you factor in replying to comments and even minimal editing. I will have more freedom this summer. Maybe there will be more follow up videos sprinkled in.
It seems like they may be trying to supersede her. A lot of the cups are mid frame not on the bottoms of the frame. The other thing is maybe they just want a bigger brood area. Give them a double deep instead of a single deep.
My swarm trap hive was packed and ready to explode, do I gave them more space. Will throw on a super next.
Can’t wait for a recap on this latest adventure.
The nice thing about your situation is you have choices. None are bad choices. You can do splits and make nucs to sell or remove the swarm cells and make honey.
I have watched most of your videos from the time you got a hive from your neighbor, you are close to your bees, on this video, I believe you made the right choice. However, to prevent further need for swarming, chose the fattest queen cell and destroy the other queen cells so that they will not have an option of swarming. I am from Nairobi, Kenya
Thanks for watching and for the advice. Hello in Kenya!
I would have put a frame of emerging brood and a full frame of honey in with Adrian ...the foragers will all end up back at the original hive so the population will consist of young bees who will not be able to forage for potentially a couple of weeks. You will need to check their stores until they start flying. The way I do this is to take a frame with a queen cell , a frame of capped brood and a frame of honey and put that in a Nuc and fill up with drawn comb or foundation (or same again in a second Nuc and place the Nuc(s) side by side on the original hive site - Move the Queen and rest of frames and stores onto new site. The foragers leave the original hive and return to the Nuc(s) - They will quickly draw any foundation and pack the Nuc with stores - the big numbers helps with heat. The queen ends up with young bees and all the stores they need until they can start foraging. I reduce entrances on the Nucs so they dont get robbed out when forager numbers start to drop. You will need to go in after 4 days to check for emergency cells.
I'm so excited and want to tell you that my hubby got me a bunch of black plastic (corplast) so I can make winter wraps like the ones you have. I so hope to get my bees through winter. I at at 7 hives now, my latest split has hatched the queen and should be going on mating flight in a day or so. Have learned tons from you. Thanks so much!
There's a reason an artificial swarm is called just that - it mimics the constituent parts of a swarm. This is a queen (mated or virgin in the case of a cast) and up to 75% of the flying bees. So when you find charged queen cells (larvae and royal jelly not eggs) this is the situation you need to create. In its classic form an artificial swarm leaves the queen and the flying bees in the original hive on the original site but just with frames of foundation/comb. The brood with queen cells and young bees gets moved. One or more nucs can be made up from that.
Just gone through exactly the same as you have but I think I am a month ahead thanks to tropical Scottish weather. If you continue to go through the same thing you will get swarms from your nucs (resource hives). Strongly recommend getting them down to one cells. I tried to do this but clearly missed two and ended up with two swarms. So from one hive I got two nucs, one shook swarm and then two swarms from the nucs. To top it all I have just taken 13kg of honey.
The very best teachers are our mistakes. You learn well, and, from that knowledge, teach well. - Nice Job...
A few points of interest:
The moved Queen to the nuc can easily lay up a frame full of brood in three days if she has the comb and bees. Keep an eye on her NUC so she has room.
The Queen cells in the original Hive are swarm cells, although new. These will make the best queens.
Now that the Queen is gone they will most likely also make a lot more emergency cells, less desirable.
You should later have many cells for more splits if needed or just destroy all but a few of the best cells to help prevent after swarms..
Again, I enjoy your channel..
the difference between swarm and split, that in swarm all bees can fly, while in a split there can be less flying bees (they were in the fields when you split), and they can fly back to the old hive, so split definitely needs something to eat before young bees become flying bees and start to collect nectar. i think you did right when give them some honey. :)
As I was watching, before you made your move, I suggested that you create a swarm trap with lemongrass oil and (hopefully) catch any swarm that may happen. I am not a beekeeper; I have only learned from watching your videos and a "Mr. Ed" Jeff Horchoff in Louisana.
He's had a baited swam trap set up for a couple of seasons, with no luck. The big thing I've learned from watching northern vs southern beekeepers is that beekeeping in the south is a LOT different!
@@khills Thank you for the insight. I had not noticed that. I did notice that bees seem a lot more abundant in the south but hadn't made the connection in the different behaviors. I live in Minnesota.
@@MNChoirMom - I'm only about an hour from VinoFarm, but the distance east and the elevation makes a huge difference in our weather! What really cemented it for me was watching Emmymade, tho; she's in Rhode Island, so not THAT far from MA, and her season is surprisingly different than northern MA, and her bees swarm at a different time from Mr. Ed and VinoFarm. I guess it's all dependent on when the resources are there, and bees in the south just have more resources. (It seems like Mr Ed could just open up his front door and have a 50/50 chance of having a swarm on the other side!)
The little bit of reading I've done about lemongrass to attract a swarm (I'm an amateur ethnobotanist) is that some of the terpenoids in the pheromones released by worker bees, both to denote flowers with food and the hive entrance, are similar to the ones in lemongrass, but it's not a 100% match. I've been wondering if the carrier used for the lemongrass may be as important as the lemongrass. 🤷🏼♀️
I think why people are telling you made a mistake, is when a hive swarms, the old queen leaves with bees to start a new hive, leaves the remainder of the bees behind to make a new queen. So moving the old queen to a new hive makes them think they’ve swarmed.
It shouldn't matter which way you do it really. In nature the old queen leaves and the new queen stays in the hive. Because you did it quite late there might be more of a risk, and the bees have decided they're going to swarm. I do it both ways depending on what's convenient, even when taking capped queen cells out I've never had an issue.
Jim, you NEED to check out Mel Disselkoen’s OTS Queen rearing. It works and can make your life much easier.
You did great ! I know nothing about bees but love to learn and watch your channel always follow your gut ! Cant wait to see your next video and an update on queen adrian !!!