Hiving a Swarm and Making a Split, Apimaye 7 Frame Nuc, Swarm Follow-up and split to nucleus hive.
Vložit
- čas přidán 21. 08. 2024
- Today I'll take you out into the bee yard so we can put a swarm into the new Apimaye 7 Frame Hive / NUC, and we'll do a follow up on the hive that swarmed on Friday to see if we can't harvest a queen cell and start another nucleus hive.
If you missed the Swarm of Swarms, here you go: • Honey Bee Swarm of Swa...
You may be wondering, didn't you already hive a swarm into that Apimaye 7 Frame Hive? YES, I did indeed, and they departed two days ago, this is known as absconding. They left without a trace.
The good news is that another swarm presented itself for hiving.
Learn more at: www.fredsfinef...
UPDATE: I did pull the BetterComb frame and replaced it with an older drawn brood comb frame. I didn't like the stray wiring. They are still in and doing fine as of May 18th.
1st LOL!! Thanks for all of the content. First year bee keeper here and I’m making my way backwards through your Friday Q&A’s.
that's a great back catalogue to binge watch 👍
Really like the voice over. So much better than heaps of wind noise although I realize it takes a lot more time post editing. Thank you again.
Thanks, Bob, that's helpful :)
Such clear narration. Sometimes I have the volume up to catch all words on CZcams viewing. My spouse thanks you for the peace and harmony in our home. (I know "use the earbuds".) Also, very useful review and visual presentation of the important topic of swarms and splits. Based on your CZcams information, I've managed a stable original hive and am monitoring a split. I'll know how to do the procedure even better next time. (coastal GA location)
Fred, you're funny! Bee witnesse protection!😅😂🤣
As always, this was a much needed timely video. Thanks!
I'm so glad :)
This was a highly educational video!! Thank you!
Fred, you are funny! Hive 40, your killing me!
:)
Thanks Fred 40 is great number 😎😎😎
Most enjoyable and educational. Many thanks.
Always fun at Fred’s place. I was south of Penn state for the day on the 15th. Bees were getting at the flowers at the truck plaza/ iHop/ super8. Fun days.
good to see you working rhe bees,rain here
Fantastic… you make it look soooo easy! But experienced from 2006… thanks Fred…most enjoyable.
Glad to see I’m not the only one who needs to weedeat under my hives! Keep up the great content. I use a rechargeable “hurricane” dust blower. Replaces canned air.
Marvelous video … it’s interesting that a nucleus colony can be a 7 frame configuration and still have the rapid build up in small spaces … I have a swarm in 5 frame deep nuc and they seem to take 2 weeks, or so, to completely draw out 3 frames… they are incredibly good for drawing comb … a resource hive, as you advocate.😊
Hello Mr. Frederick 🥰🥰🥰🥰
Enjoyed it very much 😀
Thank you for sharing. I really enjoyed the content. I learnt not to push the supers all the way even if you were wiggling the super from side to side.
Thanks Fred. Never thought of spraying down the frames with 1:1. Good idea
I caught my first ever swarm in a trap last week. I put out a trap with a BetterBee frame and some of the Premier frames I got at Hive Life.
Housed them next to my other 2 hives that I just added their first supers to.
I looked over the spot where I put my trap and found a quite a few bees buzzing around so I put a NUC box there to pick up the stragglers.
However, the next day, I noticed some larger black bees hanging around and figured they were maybe scouts for another swarm.
They are unlike any in the swarm I captured or any of my Italians in my hives.
So I have a full hive here with another Betterbee frame in it to give them a head start.
Maybe I can catch some of the German bees. Who knows?
Thanks for all your videos. You have helped me immensely.
This is great thanks Fred for this update 👍🏻 , Our weekend was bee madness but think we are calming down after a few cups of tea 🇬🇧 , think we’re ok but I definitely will ask if I need advice on something 😀 have a great week Fred
Starting last year. All my Hives or six frames now . And all of them come to Winter good and trust me 6 frames of honey in a deep box is still real heavy
I have to agree, they come through winter nicely :)
@@FrederickDunn I have a question for the last 3 years I have treated my bees with a vaporizer two to three times a year I noticed last year and a lot this year . When the flow slows down myqueens quit laying they go completely brood less for at least one full cycle have you noticed any of that in your bees
Mr. Fred, I know you retired from the Navy, but i could believe that even though you aren't old enough, you could have been a narrator along side Marlin Perkins on Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom. You do a wonderful job on your videos.
Thank you, what a fantastic compliment. I was a huge fan of Marlin Perkins :)
A little know fact is Fred can also run down a cheetah like Jim.
@@rtxhoneybees That's true... my abilities have been the stuff of nightmares for some.
Good afternoon Fred. I was cleaning out my two hives today in preparation for the two boxes of Russian hybrids I expect in a week. The first one, as expected, was empty of all signs of bees, but----
The second one is, at first glance, loaded with honey!! OMG! Now I need to figure out where to put it. The medium super is at least half honey! To say the least, I'm excited. As I sit here typing, I remember having a couple of huge stockpots that may work. One is aluminum, the other stainless. They were intended for making soap, but the aluminum won't work, and I never used the stainless one. Can I use the aluminum one after it's cleaned out, of course?
I have many fruit jars to fill, so that's not the problem. This is just short term storage.
I much prefer the stainless over aluminum. But for a short period it may not take any of that on.
@@FrederickDunn thank you
I was intrigued enough by your use of this Apimaye hive that I purchased one for myself. Should get it in early June. Will probably put a swarm or split in it. Question for you on OAV treatments in this hive - how do you plan to do it? In wooden hives, I would just put the stem of the vaporizer into a 1/4" hole like you have shown in other videos...what about this plastic insulated hive? Install a metal tube, drill a hole and don't worry about it, other ideas? Oh and great video as always. I've learned a ton from your work. Thanks!
Hi jeff, there is a delivery tube insulator that's sold by Lorrobees, it's for the Apimaya entrance at the dial on the front or back. Someone else just put the tube through a wine cork? But I've not tested that. lorobbees.com/collections/all/products/instantvap-apimaye-washers you can probably come up with a glass-cloth wrap also?
@@FrederickDunn Great info, thank you!
Swipe right…saucy girls 😂
I knew someone would pick up on that! :)
Thanks for showing the more hands on video. I have a friend that bees that swarm into an area of his porch and completely abscond after a while. I have one Layens 6 frame swarm trap setup within 2 1/2 feet of the entrance, I think it's too close, and am considering setting up a second about 100 ft away on a large, sweet gum tree I believe. Does this sound like a better plan to you? The location is on the outer edge of a larger city. My gut tells me the further away option would be better. I'm halfway worried about absconding bees being a genetic trait though. Have you come across any information on a trait like this?
You do benefit from increasing that distance. Regarding traits related to swarming and absconding, they could be genetic, but good timely management can help.
@@FrederickDunn That's what I had thought I had heard before on the distance. My friend is completely ignorant, not saying that in a bad way even though it seems that way, to bee's period. They are a very active and somewhat hot colony. I'll put that second swarm trap up and hope if I catch them when they leave future drone genetics will calm it down, I live about 10 miles away, as a crow flies, from his house. Thanks for the reply!
Thanks FRED, I wonder what those bees knew to be put in beeness protection? Did they have info on the old queen? Seriously though, the swarm you hived, was it from your prior video of the bees leaving the hive ?
Ok, nope... that huge swarm that clustered on the front of the hive after having been in the tree just left without so much as a thank you! This was a much smaller swarm that apparently came from another hive.
My hive just swarmed yesterday.
Did you get them? :)
@@FrederickDunn may have been a fire drill? I couldn't find the queen this morning, but there are 4 queen cups in the hive. Time to split.
@@jedpusczykowski4955 Queen "cups" or Queen Cells? if they are just cups, no worries, if they have eggs in them and are now cells, yep, time to split :)
Greetings Mr. Dunn. I could use assistance. I've been researching beekeeping for about 2 years, I'm trying to hammer down a little extra knowledge before putting together my Horizontal hive... I've been researching extensively because I would like to do it as close to what is natural for the bees as possible and in such a way that is less invasive and more healthy for the bees. I'm not in it for the money or honey, I've crunched the numbers and natural and ethical beekeeping is more or less a losing game. The profits are in pennies at best and there's a lot of risk involved, even if trapping natural swarms instead of buying nucs, there is more risk, because you risk eliminating healthy genetics that were thriving.
I'm concerned with the notable reduction in insect, and especially pollinator numbers as compared to 10, 20 or 30 years ago. I remember as a kid, there were butterflies, dragonflies, walking sticks... just fascinating bugs everywhere, and today you rarely see that.
But, from an observational and analytical standpoint, I'll be honest, it seems like beekeepers, and conventional and widely accepted beekeeping practices seem to be a bulk of the problems contributing to unsustainable mortality rates. But, I'm no expert, I don't have all the letters at the end of my name and I don't yet have bees (because I don't want to go into it and contribute to a problem where there shouldn't be one) so nobody will listen to a word I say, not even when there's study after study after study that suggests the very same thing. For instance, a while back I was looking at how under-floor heating systems and thermal mass methods of thermal regulation was used in human domeciles in history, such as the LARGE stone chimneys that were central in structures or the Roman Hippocaust, Korean Ondol and the under floor heating that the vikings (MASTER beekeepers) used; and I got this crazy notion that leaving honey stores above or in the hive during winter may actually be beneficial to thermoregulation within the hive. And just yesterday was reading an article by about a doctor of Entomology in Australia that did studies and suggested that closing off hive venting and leaving honey stores above the hive did assist in thermoregulation. However, all beekeeping is local and it doesn't get that cold in Australia, so I doubt it would be applicable to say Alberta, Canada.lol
Either way, doing more research in the prevention of possible/probably diseases and pathogens; because for bees, it isn't JUST the Varroa, it's death by 1000 cuts. The varroa are a significant problem. But constant stress from having their home term apart and pawed through by a giant white bear every week, stress reduces hive immunity, not to mention, the bees maintain a specific level of CO² in the hive which could help with staving off pathogens and diseases, they have lots of medicinal compounds aerosolizong off the honey and filling the hive... Basically, they don't have the natural environment when we tear it apart frequently. Then with stress and stress related immune system dysfunction, you get other diseases starting to take hold and the Varroa, winter conditions and lack of natural honey stores for winter, finish the job. I know I'm probably half mentally challenged, but I can see where the 30% die out rates are coming from, and that's just based off self reported die outs, most people are probably a little too embarrassed or afraid to call it in and report a die out that isn't disease related.
Where I'm going... I was looking into what can help mitigate Foul Brood, as the mites are probably the most serious problem, but foul brood is one where you have to burn the hive and may burn your whole apiary.
So was looking at various studies and found this one.
www.nature.com/articles/s41396-019-0541-6. Which, if I'm reading it correctly, it appears that the feeding of pollen patties, without the use of probiotic supplementation, appears to have effectively fed, and provided a boost of nutrients to the Foul Brood bacteria; which helped it get almost head and shoulders above the Non-Treated Control sample. And almost double that of the probiotic supplemented sample.
People talk about the importance of supplementing pollen or synthetic pollen towards the end of winter, or at the beginning of spring, when surviving colonies are likely at their most vulnerable state aside from during the winter... and I've seen some people, including experts and master bee keepers, suggest you should supplement pollen prior to winterization to ensure they have good pollen stores.
Yet I have never seen this study, or any of the other studies on lactobacillus (Lactic Acid Bacteria aka LABs) ability to help to stave off or resist Foul Brood; I've never seen or heard of those studies being mentioned or referenced.
To me, this seems like one of the "common practices" that could be inherently harmful, that is still touted as being the right/correct thing to do. I see studies like this... and this is why I've been researching for 2 years and haven't pulled the trigger on getting bees that would likely just be a waste of time, money and bee populations.
I mean... but nobody listens because I don't actively do it and don't do it how they do it and "oh I have 27 personal hives and manage 2000 hives for a commercial pollenator apiary and none of those studies mean anything, come back when you've been doing it 30 years like me"...
We're in trouble. And a lack of understanding, a lack of willingness to take a step back, and possess the humble humility so admit we aren't all knowing, and acknowledge the fact that bees have been doing what they do and thrived for millions of years, a lack of admitting "maybe we ARENT smarter than the bees and can't do what they do better than them" and a lack of willingness to ovlbserve, try something differed and ask ourselves "what and how does nature do what it does" has led us here.
All I'm asking is for someone who cares and someone that people might listen to say "hey all, here's this study that was conducted, here's what they found, and perhaps we shoukd maybe keep an open mind to this and consider supplementing a probiotic with this raw nutrient source that could help to feed other microorganisms that may not be beneficial. Pollen is a nutrient source, is basically nutritional yeast, you can use pollen or synthetic pollen as a yeast nutrient in making mead, so it can be used to feed other microorganisms. Perhaps we should consider what other organisms we might be feeding with it? Before we dump it in there. Because pollen, naturally contains probiotic microorganisms. You can make, or spoil mead with just honey, water and pollen, because it contains microorganisms. While pollen patty does not, it's sterile and pure vitamins and nutrients; being devoid of any active microbiology that could help be beneficial. It could feed other organisms that we done want to be feeding and supplimenting."
You really took a lot of time to compose this.
I will send you to one book, Keeping Bees With A Smile (no matter what style of hive you use).
You're right, always remain open to what can be verified and validated, the scientific mehod is intended to remove personal opinion.
I don't make a practice of putting pollen patties on hives at any time of year.
I will say that leaving too much honey on above the cluster going into winter can be the downfall of a colony. Rather than providing a heat battery, it can be too far from the winter cluster and become a source of heavy condensation directly above your bees. So, sizing it down to what they will actually need and use is a very good practice.
You've described some beekeeping personalities very well, and I've met them also, too proud to admit that change may be in order. If you can't have a two-way conversation with a beekeeper, it's time to move on.
I'm a fan of incremental changes that may improve our beekeeping practices and closely monitoring the results. There are some very good beekeeping researchers who don't own a single hive, but that shouldn't remove them from being a great source of information. (Inside the Hive TV for example)
It's not a practice where you can learn it all and be done, the learning continues and we need to remain adaptable.
We've taken honey bees where they wouldn't be, and we have a responsibility to keep them as healthy as possible.
Agreed, don't go into any hive without a definite purpose, and complete whatever you need to do as quietly and quickly as possible. Much of what you've described is why I am not a commercial beekeeper. However, without commercial beekeepers and beekeeping on a scale that puts them on our agricultural reports, I don't think we'd have the protections we do where honey bees are concerned.
I think you should indeed keep bees, and put into practice the philosophies you find most valuable. There are thousands of voices out there sharing what they do and why.
Become the voice you wish you'd found when you began learning about bees and beekeeping.
I wish you all the best.
Is the bee belt made from cow hide leather? If so, are they upset with it? Just curious, since they don't like cow hide. I do leatherwork and am curious about how it goes or if I should make it from a different leather.
I don't recommend cow leather for gloves as your hands will be close to the bees when working frames, as a belt, or on your belt I haven't noticed any defensive behavior.
Fred what is your favorite Queen catcher for awkward places like hive cutouts that is also pretty safe for the Queen (with some practice using it)
I pick them up with my fingers, but like the one handed queen catcher for holding... czcams.com/video/p_FKWzG4z84/video.html
@@FrederickDunn I’d probably end up crushing her if I used my fingers. I rescued 2 hives this week and one has no Queen and I’m going to take a brood frame and Queen from my strongest hive and give her to them. Letting the strong hive make a new Queen. I wanted a good clip to protect her from them until I see they’re going to accept her. And also a good clip to use on my bee rescues.
Hi, watching all your swarm and nuc posts. I done a tower split and i didnt remive the old queen, leave them to it. But the old queen presumably swarmed few days ago but the next day another swarm from the split. Possible more than one queen. I got the second swarm, checked top split and its full of capped brood.
Weather turned before getting to bottom. What now? Do i wait for 5 wks to dive in. Couldnt find queen up top which is my issue but evidence she is there. What do i do with nuc swarm?
When i done the split i left queen cells they made for them to replace themselves. Did this cause multiple queens.
Thank you.
This is an interesting situation this time of year. What part of the country are you in? What is the configuration of your nucleus hive? Are you venting through the top at all? There is a lot going on with that colony. If they are swarming and replacing the queen this time of year, your real hope is to catch and hive that swarm and hold them in another nucleus until you see what happens with the original hive. If they end up queenless, then you can recombine them once you stop seeing new eggs/brood in two weeks. This is a rough time of year to be doing that kind of manipulation. I wish you all the best.
@@FrederickDunn NZ, in Spring. Not sure what you mean by configuration but 10 frames deep with brood in middle and hone on outside. Brood on bottom, queen excluder, honey supper with hole and board brood super and added another super onto that after first swarm as bearding and conjestjon but listening to your CZcams I think you advice extra room. I wonder if the hole on top caused queen to go in there, Only hole in honey supers.
I have the swarm in a 5 frame nuc which I will feed until I find out what’s happening down the bottom split. I leave splits for 5 wks generally. This is my 2nd year with hives.
how high up were they,did you see any around the qmp noodle?
They were 12 feet up, the qmp noodle is in the field to the west.
Were they in the blue spruce?
Yes, it's a favorite tree for them here. Once a swarm lands on a particular branch, it tends to become the landing zone for others that follow.
I noticed that the person in the video is wearing a belt. Please tell me more about the belt.
That's the Paul Kelly bee-belt. But I have a custom leather holder for my spray bottle, it was a gift and isn't sold anywhere that I know of.
How fast a medium colony can fill medium super these days?
That is highly variable since the health of the bees may differ, the resources in the environment may be good, ok, or poor... weather will also play a part in that. During a strong nectar flow, with warm weather, and a full brood box in production, a medium super can be topped off in less than two weeks. If it already has drawn comb, even faster.
I want an apimay hive so bad but that price kills me
They are high priced for sure. It's a tough decision... but, based on the way they are constructed, I see each Apimaya as a one-time purchase as I don't see how it is going to deteriorate. I avoided them for a while while Kamon Reynolds and others took the plunge, but now I'm warming up to their features and apparent durability.
@@FrederickDunn I agree they are awesome and I do single brood chamber. They would make life easy. One day hopefully
What is the brand name of your boots.
Muck...
🇱🇨👍🏼♥️
Kool Stuff 😎👍
NOOOOOO, we don't need more plastic! Stop advocating more plastic! How does scraping the plastic work out? Bits of plastic?
I completely understand your aversion to plastic. BUT, micro plastics have not been showing up in honey and that's tested. If you can find that it's an issue, I'm happy to read about it. I do know that people who are using swiffer pads in their hives for small hive beetle control, are indeed introducing micro-plastics into their hive and honey. I won't be drinking out of any single serving plastic water bottles, but these hives may last the rest of my life... it's definitely a judgement call. I think polystyrene hives have a much lower service life than these. I guess we need to pick our battles regarding the kinds of plastics we choose and what the long term impact may be. Disposal at the end of useful life will be key.
I am hopeful regarding the future of plastic handling:
There are many new innovations in plastic recycling that are being developed and implemented. Some of the most promising include:
Depolymerization. This process breaks down plastic into its original building blocks, which can then be used to create new plastic products. Depolymerization is still in its early stages, but it has the potential to revolutionize the plastic recycling industry.
Advanced mechanical recycling. This process uses new technologies to improve the efficiency and quality of plastic recycling. Advanced mechanical recycling can be used to recycle a wider range of plastics and to produce higher-quality recycled products.
Automated recycling. This process uses robots and other automation technologies to sort and recycle plastic. Automated recycling can help to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the recycling process.
Recyclates. Recyclates are new materials that are made from recycled plastic. Recyclates can be used to create a wide range of products, including clothing, furniture, and building materials.
Advanced gasification. This process converts plastic waste into gas, which can then be used to generate electricity or heat. Advanced gasification is a promising option for recycling plastic waste that cannot be recycled through traditional methods.
Plastic traceability. This technology allows companies to track the movement of plastic products throughout the supply chain. Plastic traceability can help to reduce plastic pollution by making it easier to identify and collect plastic waste.
Solvent-based recycling. This process uses solvents to dissolve plastic waste. The dissolved plastic can then be reused to create new plastic products. Solvent-based recycling is a promising option for recycling plastic waste that is contaminated or otherwise difficult to recycle.
These are just a few of the many new innovations that are being developed to address the problem of plastic pollution. With continued research and development, we can expect to see even more innovative solutions in the years to come.