I had a few hives come out of winter weak, which is why i'm watching this. Saving them seems pretty straightforward. Not only will I be saving weak colonies, but also doing swarm management by equalizing. Going into our 4th year with 15 hives so far. I appreciate the content, Bob!
Man I'm Glad you started making videos, I have watched over ten thousand hrs on you tube and u may be my new favorite,u make alot of sense.It irritates me to no end that nobody teaching how to go about growing.All they give u is same ol same ol text book,how to install nuc etc.Thats good for newbies but million videos out there, some of us are way beyond that but still need someone with wisdom to teach us alot deeper methods, I get it once I hear it, sometimes it sooo slick and so glad I got the information. Thanks for sharing your knowledge, can't wait for the next one
Thank you for taking the time to educate us newcomers. I've been told that feeding syrup in cold weather, particularly from a top feeder, will wet and chill the bees and kill them. Obviously this isn't the case for you, but what are you doing that the "bee elders" in my area aren't that makes you successful doing this? (I'm in southern Kentucky, so my weather is similar to yours.)
It is correct that too much excess moisture from syrup can cause problems in cold weather. That's one of the reasons we try to avoid feeding in late November and December. When we use jar feeders like the ones in this video we only put one hole in the lid. Small colonies like the ones seen here will often cluster right under the jar and feed off of it even during cold weather when they may have starved to death otherwise because of not being able to move when it's cold. Also, these jars weren't put on until January when we were trying to stimulate brood rearing early.
Questions about feeding. I notice that you use both frame feeders and hive top jars. I know that you make splits with the double screen boards so this would make scene why you have both. My questions 1- Do you feel that frame feeders helps minimize robbing as it is deeper in the colony? 2- Are those 1/2 gallon glass jars with 70mm lid, if so where are you purchasing them from? I can only find 1/2 gallon in 83mm lid 3-Do you only use the jars for splits feeding and frame feeder for all else Thanks for helping educate the next generation
Frame feeders (sometimes called a division board feeder) do cause less robbing than some other types as long as the hive lid fits good. Feeding with jars that fit snug in a hole in the lid do well too. The jars we're using are five pound honey jars which are close to a half gallon and use a standard 70mm lid. They can be found in some bee supply catalogs but are expensive so prepare for sticker shock. All of our double deep colonies have a division board feeder so we can feed at any time and we like to have a 70mm hole in each lid so we can use a jar or bucket whenever we want to. We do this when we make splits with a double screen like you mentioned and when feeding single story colonies so they can keep all ten frames. Small singles may get a jar while stronger units might get a bucket. There are also occasions when we feed stronger colonies with both a division board feeder and two gallon bucket at the same time if we need to pack on weight fast.
I'm rewatching this one, as I do all of your videos, and I'm wondering what time of year these colonies were made up? I'm in the middle of making splits to do this same process so I can have something to be nervous about all winter haha.
The mating nucs used in this video were made on July 17 of this year. We will harvest several rounds of queens out of them and in late September combine them with enough brood and bees to make up singles with at least five frames of bees with brood. Then we'll give them a good feeding in preparation for winter. I too always have nucs or colonies I worry about and nurse through winter.
To be honest I rarely use it but when I do it is usually meant to help colonies start rearing brood just before natural pollen begins to come in in late winter or early spring.
Hello, I'm from Poland and beekeeping is still a bit behind here. I watch your films and I am impressed, can the worm be postponed before winter? or only in spring?
Bob. Thanks for the videos. How do you think the ultra bee patties compare to the soft bulk patties from Mann Lake? I use the ultra bee patties but was considering the bulk soft patties. Have you done a side by side comparison? I like UB patties but the soft patties are attractive from a price standpoint. Whats your thoughts?
The soft patties are consumed quicker and are what we use in winter or early spring on smaller colonies. We use the Ultra Bee patties on larger colonies during dearth periods because of their higher nutritional value but they both work either way.
Bob, how late in the summer do you do your last nucs for the year? For these late season nucs do you use mated queens or cells? And if you were to use cells, how late into the summer can you go? Your videos are priceless. Thank you for sage advice. Gerry
We put out our late summer nucs up to mid August with two frames of brood and queen cells. We could go later if we wanted too if we have plenty of drones but would make them bigger.
Bob Binnie at Blue Ridge Honey Company Very valuable and timely info. We’ll be setting out nucs this week and hope to grow them so as to be able to make August nucs as you described. As I recall from previous videos, 4 weeks provides for a sufficient build up to allow for another split. That’s where we plan on going with this. Thx for your timely response. Gerry
You said it was 37 degrees. Do you find they'll take syrup at those temperatures? Conventional advice is they won't take it unless the syrup is 50 degrees or warmer. Here on 3/5 it's 40's days and 30's at night, so the syrup would cool to the overnight temperatures.
Hi Rob. They don' take syrup any time they are clustered tightly. If they are clustered right under the feeder, or feeder jar in this case, they will use it at that temp.
Quick question anybody. Can I mix frames from one hive into a weaker hive.i know I can shake of the bees and leave the sealed brood and put that in pretty much any hive. but I've seen bee keepers get hive upon hive of bees spray them with water or something and dump the mixed bees into a nuclear but im not sure if I can mix live bees from different gives without war beginning in the box. Any ideas if mixing bees like this will work if so how can do it.
We mix frames of bees and brood constantly with almost no issues. We try to use hatching brood to boost with if possible but if you were to simply use sealed or open brood with the adhering bees on it you would see little trouble unless the bees were already defensive for some other reason.
I've got some hives in my home yard that are lethargic & sick looking. I think its viruses, but just guessing. Are you experiencing any of this & what can I do to save them? These are some of my late summer splits. They were coming on good, until last week.
Thankfully we currently don't have any problems like you are describing. Viruses can be promoted by high mite counts, pour nutrition and chemical exposure. The possibilities are endless. To bring bees back from the brink of crashing we first make sure they are as mite free as possible, have a dry hive inside (no excess moisture inside) and give them a terramycin treatment if we can get some. We will then set up a trickle feed system immediately over the cluster, like a jar with one or two holes in the lid, and feed 1 to 1 sucrose syrup along with some pollen supplement. If we have sealed brood in healthy colonies we will swap some frames with small patches into the weak colonies. We especially look for frames that have new hatching bees and pollen and we occasionally bring this brood in from other yards. Sometimes it feels like more trouble than it's worth be we always try. Good luck.
Bob, I worked that same yard today & am happy. The bees have done a 180 & are looking good. I think my entrance reducers were too tight. We opened them up a little, gave them a thymol patty, & sprayed them with Essential Bee. I think giving them better ventilation was the key. Thanks for giving me things to think about.
Hey Bob, I know it’s completely unrelated to the video’s subject, but I’m interested to get your opinion/insight on the completely flat migratory lids like you have on these hives, as opposed to the migratory lids with end/top bars. I was thinking about experimenting with a similar design in the wood shop this winter. Thanks for any help!
@@RyanPardoe When I started out 40 years ago tops with cleats were most common because most were made with two or three tung and groove boards and cleats were needed to hold them together. Now I prefer flat top lids because rain water runs off easier so there is less rot and colonies are easier to stack on a truck. Of course plywood that won't warp is needed for this and we lean towards HDO plywood for this. Of course this is just my opinion.
How could I find out about share syrup feeding set up everything from the nozzle back to the IBC tote and the little pump/motor that is pumping your syrup? I know you must be so busy saw a short explanation would be fine or maybe you already have a video out there about it? Thank you so much! Cal
We use a 12 volt Flojet R8600134, 6 gpm pump hooked up to the truck battery with a switch. Ours are mounted permanent on the trucks but this is not necessary and you could use any battery if it needs to be portable. It comes with a 70 lb. shutoff switch which is to high. We order these pumps from David Farrer at Depco Pump in Florida and they change the switch to a 40 lb. for us. www.depcopump.com/ You can purchase cheaper pumps from Northern Tool that are similar and will work. The reel as seen at the end of our "Equalizing Bee Colonies" video is a Reelcraft EH37112-L12d 1", ordered from fastoolnow.com/reelcraft/ We also use a speed control with this. Austin at Fastoolnow can help you if you order one. These reels are not cheap and are not a necessary piece but we use them to keep the hose contained under our truck beds. The nozzle is from Northern Tool # 110155-4. We use a 3/4 inch, 100 ft. heavy duty water hose for outlet (a shorter one would be better if you can use one. We can't) and a 10 ft. water hose along with a 1 1/4 inch PVC pipe for intake. This intake hose must be heavy duty so it won't collapse under suction. We put a 1/8 hardware cloth screen over the end of the inlet pipe because this pump doesn't like pumping debris. And of course you will need an array of fittings to make this all work. The reason we prefer these over gasoline engine driven gear pumps is they only run when you pull the trigger. Hope this helps.
So many questions! What do you do with the colony who’s queen you pinched? Combine it? If so, when? Also, you don’t have moisture problems with sugar water that cold?
We overwinter Nucs started in late summer or early fall in ten frame boxes to ensure they can grow beyond five frames before we harvest and sell them in March. By doing this we can make sure we have five good frames of brood and food along with the queen to sell. No queen pinched. These nucs sell for a premium because they are a month early. In mid winter we only put one hole with a two penny nail in the jar lid so the bees take the feed very slowly. Very little moisture problem.
Bob Binnie at Blue Ridge Honey Company oh, i thought you said “she’s dead” regarding the queen. Your nuc idea is awesome! And yea, if i could sell nucs on may 1 here boy I could sell them for over 200 easy
Bob, very elemental question, but how do you make the holes in the jar feeder lids? I found out the hard way that holes too big can lead to disaster. Thx, Gerry
We had a custom carbide bit hole saw made and use it on a drill press. It's an odd size and a standard hole saw can't be purchased that seems to work just right.
Bob Binnie at Blue Ridge Honey Company Let me try again. I’m talking about the hole or holes that you punch into the lid itself. We’ve had problems with getting it right, excessive seepage so that it’s more than the bees can’t absorb causing significant problems. Sorry for the confusion.
@@gerryfelix5948 Sorry about that. We mount a frame nail ( bee hive frame nail) on a stick with the point sticking out about 3/16 inch. We punch or push the holes in by hand after the lid is on the jar and put in 2 to 6 depending on the current need.
Bob Binnie at Blue Ridge Honey Company Thanks , Bob. We need all the help we can get as sideline beekeepers, and you provide the best on all on you tube.
We use a Flojet 12 volt 6 gpm pump purchased from Depco Pump Co in Clearwater, Fl., salesman David Farrer. These pumps come with a 70 lb. switch and David swaps that out with a 40 lb. so it won't build up excessive pressure before we pull the trigger on the fuel nozzle seen in the video (purchased from Tractor Supply). This is installed at the end of our outlet hose which is a 100 ft heavy duty 3/4 in water hose. This pump and hose works great with 1 to 1 syrup but can be a bit slow when pumping cold 2 to 1. We have pumps permanently mounted on all of our trucks with quick connect fittings for hose connections. They can be used loose (not mounted) if need be. We use a 1 1/4 in PVC pipe with a short hose for a pick up tube that works well in drums or totes and put a 1/8 screen on the end so it won't suck up dead bees which the pump doesn't like. This setup fills a 2 gallon bucket in 30 seconds. We used a gas driven gear pump for years but prefer this now because it's quiet and runs only on demand.
If a colony still has a laying queen but has turned drone layer I would remove her, add a couple of frames of open brood with adhering bees and introduce another queen if I had one available.
If I was overwintering in a northern location I probably would do something different for a cover. In our area a single flat lid works fine and is more cost efficient.
The rims are 3/4 inch. This is so the bees can surround a pollen patty which lowers the hive beetle problems that can occur when using patties in our area. Most of our single story colonies that have recently been started have a rim for this purpose and most of our established double deep colonies do not.
Hi Bob, these lids are very similar to our standard lids in Australia, only the rim height is about 1 3/4" (45mm), likely planed down from 2" stock, and we generally don't use inner covers. One of the problems with this is that if the bees run out of space they will happily build not just burr comb but wild honey comb and fill it with honey, so when you come back you have to get the bees out of the runways and then cut the comb out, which means crush and strain, so you can't smoke them out or the honey tastes terrible. Probably 3/4" would work better here as well. Thanks for your videos, I find them very interesting.
I had a few hives come out of winter weak, which is why i'm watching this. Saving them seems pretty straightforward. Not only will I be saving weak colonies, but also doing swarm management by equalizing. Going into our 4th year with 15 hives so far. I appreciate the content, Bob!
Man I'm Glad you started making videos, I have watched over ten thousand hrs on you tube and u may be my new favorite,u make alot of sense.It irritates me to no end that nobody teaching how to go about growing.All they give u is same ol same ol text book,how to install nuc etc.Thats good for newbies but million videos out there, some of us are way beyond that but still need someone with wisdom to teach us alot deeper methods, I get it once I hear it, sometimes it sooo slick and so glad I got the information. Thanks for sharing your knowledge, can't wait for the next one
Thank you for the comment
It is amazing how quick you are with the bees and how deliberate you are with your audience. Thanks much
Thanks for your comment
Love the syrup pump
Hi Bee Bob. I have another video coming out our pumping system within a few days.
Awesome! I’m wondering why you overwinter in the 10 frames and not 5 frames? I’m sure you have your reason, just wondering what that is. Thanks
Bob i like what you are doing at new river honey bees. I would like to visit 1 day this spring .
Amazing video
Thanks!
Thank you for taking the time to educate us newcomers.
I've been told that feeding syrup in cold weather, particularly from a top feeder, will wet and chill the bees and kill them. Obviously this isn't the case for you, but what are you doing that the "bee elders" in my area aren't that makes you successful doing this? (I'm in southern Kentucky, so my weather is similar to yours.)
It is correct that too much excess moisture from syrup can cause problems in cold weather. That's one of the reasons we try to avoid feeding in late November and December. When we use jar feeders like the ones in this video we only put one hole in the lid. Small colonies like the ones seen here will often cluster right under the jar and feed off of it even during cold weather when they may have starved to death otherwise because of not being able to move when it's cold. Also, these jars weren't put on until January when we were trying to stimulate brood rearing early.
Questions about feeding. I notice that you use both frame feeders and hive top jars. I know that you make splits with the double screen boards so this would make scene why you have both.
My questions
1- Do you feel that frame feeders helps minimize robbing as it is deeper in the colony?
2- Are those 1/2 gallon glass jars with 70mm lid, if so where are you purchasing them from? I can only find 1/2 gallon in 83mm lid
3-Do you only use the jars for splits feeding and frame feeder for all else
Thanks for helping educate the next generation
Frame feeders (sometimes called a division board feeder) do cause less robbing than some other types as long as the hive lid fits good. Feeding with jars that fit snug in a hole in the lid do well too.
The jars we're using are five pound honey jars which are close to a half gallon and use a standard 70mm lid. They can be found in some bee supply catalogs but are expensive so prepare for sticker shock.
All of our double deep colonies have a division board feeder so we can feed at any time and we like to have a 70mm hole in each lid so we can use a jar or bucket whenever we want to. We do this when we make splits with a double screen like you mentioned and when feeding single story colonies so they can keep all ten frames. Small singles may get a jar while stronger units might get a bucket.
There are also occasions when we feed stronger colonies with both a division board feeder and two gallon bucket at the same time if we need to pack on weight fast.
That's a little bit different than what I thought they went to the winter by themselves
I'm rewatching this one, as I do all of your videos, and I'm wondering what time of year these colonies were made up? I'm in the middle of making splits to do this same process so I can have something to be nervous about all winter haha.
The mating nucs used in this video were made on July 17 of this year. We will harvest several rounds of queens out of them and in late September combine them with enough brood and bees to make up singles with at least five frames of bees with brood. Then we'll give them a good feeding in preparation for winter. I too always have nucs or colonies I worry about and nurse through winter.
When do we feed the bees with protein paste? Is it only at the beginning of the breeding season or can we use it even in the cold winter?
To be honest I rarely use it but when I do it is usually meant to help colonies start rearing brood just before natural pollen begins to come in in late winter or early spring.
Hello, I'm from Poland and beekeeping is still a bit behind here. I watch your films and I am impressed, can the worm be postponed before winter? or only in spring?
Bob. Thanks for the videos. How do you think the ultra bee patties compare to the soft bulk patties from Mann Lake? I use the ultra bee patties but was considering the bulk soft patties. Have you done a side by side comparison? I like UB patties but the soft patties are attractive from a price standpoint. Whats your thoughts?
The soft patties are consumed quicker and are what we use in winter or early spring on smaller colonies.
We use the Ultra Bee patties on larger colonies during dearth periods because of their higher nutritional value but they both work either way.
Bob, how late in the summer do you do your last nucs for the year? For these late season nucs do you use mated queens or cells? And if you were to use cells, how late into the summer can you go?
Your videos are priceless. Thank you for sage advice. Gerry
We put out our late summer nucs up to mid August with two frames of brood and queen cells. We could go later if we wanted too if we have plenty of drones but would make them bigger.
Bob Binnie at Blue Ridge Honey Company
Very valuable and timely info. We’ll be setting out nucs this week and hope to grow them so as to be able to make August nucs as you described. As I recall from previous videos, 4 weeks provides for a sufficient build up to allow for another split. That’s where we plan on going with this.
Thx for your timely response. Gerry
ماهي مكونات هذه العجينة ومتى تعطى للنحل
First of all, thanks for your educating and inspiring videos.
What is the syrup ratio in this video?
1.5 parts sugar to 1 part water.
You said it was 37 degrees. Do you find they'll take syrup at those temperatures? Conventional advice is they won't take it unless the syrup is 50 degrees or warmer. Here on 3/5 it's 40's days and 30's at night, so the syrup would cool to the overnight temperatures.
Hi Rob. They don' take syrup any time they are clustered tightly. If they are clustered right under the feeder, or feeder jar in this case, they will use it at that temp.
@@bobbinnie9872Thanks, I think I'll try it on a couple
Quick question anybody. Can I mix frames from one hive into a weaker hive.i know I can shake of the bees and leave the sealed brood and put that in pretty much any hive. but I've seen bee keepers get hive upon hive of bees spray them with water or something and dump the mixed bees into a nuclear but im not sure if I can mix live bees from different gives without war beginning in the box. Any ideas if mixing bees like this will work if so how can do it.
We mix frames of bees and brood constantly with almost no issues. We try to use hatching brood to boost with if possible but if you were to simply use sealed or open brood with the adhering bees on it you would see little trouble unless the bees were already defensive for some other reason.
Great video do you buy your pollen sub or make your own. If you buy from where?
We purchase it in patty form from Mann Lake. www.mannlakeltd.com/shop-all-categories/ultra-bee
I've got some hives in my home yard that are lethargic & sick looking. I think its viruses, but just guessing. Are you experiencing any of this & what can I do to save them? These are some of my late summer splits. They were coming on good, until last week.
Thankfully we currently don't have any problems like you are describing. Viruses can be promoted by high mite counts, pour nutrition and chemical exposure. The possibilities are endless. To bring bees back from the brink of crashing we first make sure they are as mite free as possible, have a dry hive inside (no excess moisture inside) and give them a terramycin treatment if we can get some. We will then set up a trickle feed system immediately over the cluster, like a jar with one or two holes in the lid, and feed 1 to 1 sucrose syrup along with some pollen supplement. If we have sealed brood in healthy colonies we will swap some frames with small patches into the weak colonies. We especially look for frames that have new hatching bees and pollen and we occasionally bring this brood in from other yards. Sometimes it feels like more trouble than it's worth be we always try. Good luck.
Bob, I worked that same yard today & am happy. The bees have done a 180 & are looking good. I think my entrance reducers were too tight. We opened them up a little, gave them a thymol patty, & sprayed them with Essential Bee. I think giving them better ventilation was the key. Thanks for giving me things to think about.
Hey Bob, I know it’s completely unrelated to the video’s subject, but I’m interested to get your opinion/insight on the completely flat migratory lids like you have on these hives, as opposed to the migratory lids with end/top bars. I was thinking about experimenting with a similar design in the wood shop this winter. Thanks for any help!
Do you mean the older style with cleats that are on top and across the ends?
@@bobbinnie9872 yeah exactly. Comparing those to these new style ones you have shown in the video that don’t extend beyond the end of the hives
@@RyanPardoe When I started out 40 years ago tops with cleats were most common because most were made with two or three tung and groove boards and cleats were needed to hold them together. Now I prefer flat top lids because rain water runs off easier so there is less rot and colonies are easier to stack on a truck. Of course plywood that won't warp is needed for this and we lean towards HDO plywood for this. Of course this is just my opinion.
@@bobbinnie9872 thanks Bob! Always appreciate your insight.
How could I find out about share syrup feeding set up everything from the nozzle back to the IBC tote and the little pump/motor that is pumping your syrup? I know you must be so busy saw a short explanation would be fine or maybe you already have a video out there about it? Thank you so much! Cal
We use a 12 volt Flojet R8600134, 6 gpm pump hooked up to the truck battery with a switch. Ours are mounted permanent on the trucks but this is not necessary and you could use any battery if it needs to be portable. It comes with a 70 lb. shutoff switch which is to high. We order these pumps from David Farrer at Depco Pump in Florida and they change the switch to a 40 lb. for us. www.depcopump.com/ You can purchase cheaper pumps from Northern Tool that are similar and will work. The reel as seen at the end of our "Equalizing Bee Colonies" video is a Reelcraft EH37112-L12d 1", ordered from fastoolnow.com/reelcraft/ We also use a speed control with this. Austin at Fastoolnow can help you if you order one. These reels are not cheap and are not a necessary piece but we use them to keep the hose contained under our truck beds. The nozzle is from Northern Tool # 110155-4. We use a 3/4 inch, 100 ft. heavy duty water hose for outlet (a shorter one would be better if you can use one. We can't) and a 10 ft. water hose along with a 1 1/4 inch PVC pipe for intake. This intake hose must be heavy duty so it won't collapse under suction. We put a 1/8 hardware cloth screen over the end of the inlet pipe because this pump doesn't like pumping debris. And of course you will need an array of fittings to make this all work. The reason we prefer these over gasoline engine driven gear pumps is they only run when you pull the trigger. Hope this helps.
So many questions! What do you do with the colony who’s queen you pinched? Combine it? If so, when? Also, you don’t have moisture problems with sugar water that cold?
We overwinter Nucs started in late summer or early fall in ten frame boxes to ensure they can grow beyond five frames before we harvest and sell them in March. By doing this we can make sure we have five good frames of brood and food along with the queen to sell. No queen pinched. These nucs sell for a premium because they are a month early. In mid winter we only put one hole with a two penny nail in the jar lid so the bees take the feed very slowly. Very little moisture problem.
Bob Binnie at Blue Ridge Honey Company oh, i thought you said “she’s dead” regarding the queen. Your nuc idea is awesome! And yea, if i could sell nucs on may 1 here boy I could sell them for over 200 easy
Your actually right. I did kill a queen in this video. She was a drone layer.@@decaturridgebees8761
Bob Binnie at Blue Ridge Honey Company thx. Did you add a queen soon after?
We didn't have access to queens in January so we distributed the frames among other colonies.@@decaturridgebees8761
Would you ever put the weak hives into a smaller box?
They would benefit from that and we do at times put them over a double screen board on a stronger colony.
Bob, very elemental question, but how do you make the holes in the jar feeder lids? I found out the hard way that holes too big can lead to disaster. Thx, Gerry
We had a custom carbide bit hole saw made and use it on a drill press. It's an odd size and a standard hole saw can't be purchased that seems to work just right.
Bob Binnie at Blue Ridge Honey Company Let me try again. I’m talking about the hole or holes that you punch into the lid itself. We’ve had problems with getting it right, excessive seepage so that it’s more than the bees can’t absorb causing significant problems. Sorry for the confusion.
@@gerryfelix5948 Sorry about that. We mount a frame nail ( bee hive frame nail) on a stick with the point sticking out about 3/16 inch. We punch or push the holes in by hand after the lid is on the jar and put in 2 to 6 depending on the current need.
Bob Binnie at Blue Ridge Honey Company Thanks , Bob. We need all the help we can get as sideline beekeepers, and you provide the best on all on you tube.
can you tell me more about the pump system you use to fill the jar feeders?
We use a Flojet 12 volt 6 gpm pump purchased from Depco Pump Co in Clearwater, Fl., salesman David Farrer. These pumps come with a 70 lb. switch and David swaps that out with a 40 lb. so it won't build up excessive pressure before we pull the trigger on the fuel nozzle seen in the video (purchased from Tractor Supply). This is installed at the end of our outlet hose which is a 100 ft heavy duty 3/4 in water hose. This pump and hose works great with 1 to 1 syrup but can be a bit slow when pumping cold 2 to 1. We have pumps permanently mounted on all of our trucks with quick connect fittings for hose connections. They can be used loose (not mounted) if need be. We use a 1 1/4 in PVC pipe with a short hose for a pick up tube that works well in drums or totes and put a 1/8 screen on the end so it won't suck up dead bees which the pump doesn't like. This setup fills a 2 gallon bucket in 30 seconds. We used a gas driven gear pump for years but prefer this now because it's quiet and runs only on demand.
Can you save the queen drone layer colony?
If a colony still has a laying queen but has turned drone layer I would remove her, add a couple of frames of open brood with adhering bees and introduce another queen if I had one available.
Is there a reason why you don't use isolated covers?
If I was overwintering in a northern location I probably would do something different for a cover. In our area a single flat lid works fine and is more cost efficient.
كم هو طول إطار الخلية الأم وكم هو طول إطار لعاسلة؟؟ 🙏🙏
Sorry, could not translate.🙏
@@bobbinnie9872 What is the length of the mother cell frame and the length of the hive frame?
What is your sugar water ratio at this time of year
We're actually done feeding but if I was it would be 2 parts sugar to 1 part water.
How deep is the rim on the covers?
The rims are 3/4 inch. This is so the bees can surround a pollen patty which lowers the hive beetle problems that can occur when using patties in our area. Most of our single story colonies that have recently been started have a rim for this purpose and most of our established double deep colonies do not.
Thanks. I know a couple people run 1/2” rims for the same reason.
Hi Bob, these lids are very similar to our standard lids in Australia, only the rim height is about 1 3/4" (45mm), likely planed down from 2" stock, and we generally don't use inner covers. One of the problems with this is that if the bees run out of space they will happily build not just burr comb but wild honey comb and fill it with honey, so when you come back you have to get the bees out of the runways and then cut the comb out, which means crush and strain, so you can't smoke them out or the honey tastes terrible. Probably 3/4" would work better here as well. Thanks for your videos, I find them very interesting.
Hi Alan. Thanks for the comment.