Abandoned Hive Opening
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- čas přidán 27. 02. 2020
- Join me in my 2020 beekeeping season as I share how I maintain my beehives from winter through the following fall. In this video I need to open up a hive that I moved to my stand and that had not been opened in at least 2 years, most likely longer. It has been sitting now on my stand for a couple of months waiting for the owner to claim it. My videos are not meant to be 'How To' videos, but simply me sharing my experiences in beekeeping as I learned it from my mentors, teachers, and studies.
FaceBook: Barry's Best Honey @barrysbesthoney
#abandonedbees #beekeeping #honeybees
My grandfather kept bees. I met him, but I barely retain a glimpse of the memory about him, I was too little. Watching your videos feels like watching someone familiar. Thank you.
You’re welcome and so glad you enjoy the videos. Thanks for watching!!
I started to keep bees about 3 years ago. I've had Russian hybrids and Italians and have learned the hard (and expensive) way, that there may be something to the logic that native, local bees are hardier and maybe -- just maybe -- less is more in the way of bee keeping. The thing that really caught my attention here, is that the abandoned hive seemed so vigorous in spite of the lack of attention!
To hear most 'pros' tell it, bees can't survive without us fogging their hives with oxalic acid, introducing gel strips laced with formic acid, or whatever else 'Big Chem' has in the pipeline to peddle to us next in the pursuit of pest control (and our wallets...I digress). All this in addition to our other 'management' activities. How is it that this hive has lasted so long without human 'help'? (Or, should I say 'interference'?) This is why I let my bee club association membership lapse. Those people could complicate the process of picking your nose. I'd leave the meetings worried about all the stuff I wasn't doing and worried, "Was I failing as an apiarist?"
I don't like having to use chemicals to control pests (mostly because I'm lazy and don't need a lot of extra chores and cash expenditure to ruin the enjoyment of my hobby). I'm ready for a more natural approach.
I've read a couple of books on natural bee keeping and will be giving it a try this year...provided I can catch a swarm of native bees. The guys who run the ferry down at the river have granted me permission to place a hive on their property, a distance of at least a mile or two, a good location for my field experiment. So, if I get that swarm, I'll be giving it a go.
Any of you out there who have pursued this kind of bee keeping, I'd love some replies and advice. I live in northern Kentucky, practically on the river, for location context.
A lot to take in on your comment, and thanks for posting it. As far as these bees in the video, there’s no guarantee that these are the same ones that were in the box when the beekeeper placed them there. It had been on that site for a few years, so there is a good chance that a colony or two died out and swarms moved in at different seasons. Maybe not, but it’s not automatic that they survived the entire time….but it’s not automatic that they didn’t. I never get too much into the treat/no-treat discussion. Both sides (I hate that there are sides!) have their good points as well as opinionated points, some grounded in fact and research, others grounded in forums and uncontrollable observations. I believe that each side should be open-minded and tolerant of each other and let folks do what they think is best with their bees. I fault no one or bash anyone for how they keep bees, and when folks do start that, I step out, because when I begin to completely rule out someone else, I rule out new ideas, ingenuity, and possibly the next big breakthrough. And I am not saying this in reference to your comment at all, no rather the opposite that I appreciate your opinion and your desire to explore and do what you feel is what needs to be done. What I do know is mites are a fact and they destroy the bees thru the viruses they vector. And with how the honeybee fights viruses, it is not possible for them to build a virus immunity as humans do, or mammals do for that matter. What honeybees need to do is build either a tolerance for the mites alongside a way for them to fight them off. And we are seeing that in the hygienic traits such as VSH. We’re seeing the Purdue bees do it in the ankle biters. At Cornell, we see their isolated forest honeybees fighting the mites by less density and natural brood breaks through swarming. So there’s a lot of possibility out there and I will never belittle or fight someone on treatment free and natural beekeeping as that’s where our answers might very well be at. Less colony density with natural brood breaks is really proving your very point. I also understand commercial beekeeping and why it has to be the way it is with them. They can’t forego their livelihood to experiment or just try something that may or may not work. Just like big agriculture and feeding the world. So in the end, everyone has their goals and aspirations for why they are keeping bees, and I believe if we can all collaborate in a healthy and peaceful manner, we can make things happen. Thanks for your comment and expressing your thoughts on the matter. Healthy and respectful discussion is always welcome here. Best wishes with your hive this season!!
It all starts with the biology of a single Honeybee and that unlocks the seal to 65 million years of evolution. Welcome to Jurassic Park. The box has nothing to do with them only the imagination of the human. We can all learn how to do better but it will take a global effort. Theme song kick ons while a honeybee brain neural network passes by and gut bacteria matrix on behavioral studies. Feel free to look up Honeybee health coalation to see how bee health is by the 2 miles or back deck that they are kept.
For some reasons, I always enjoy videos about hive left alone for years. I always find it interesting to see what they do when left alone. Thanks for sharing!
Glad you liked it. In a lot of cases they do better when we just let them be bees. Usually the boxes rot around them and I’m sure over the years colonies die and swarms move in.
Agree, I love the abandoned hive videos.
Nice video. Thanks.
You are welcome, thank you!!
Thanks for the slow mo on the bee bringing in pollen. So cool to see!
They are amazing for sure!! Thanks for watching!
I've been watching bee videos for several years now and don't know how I missed yours. Good stuff.
Thanks Darrell!!
I’ve got a tip for you mike. Keep making the videos. I watch a lot of bee videos on CZcams and yours are some of the best.
Thanks! I enjoy doing them.
"Handles are handy", lol indeed. Boy there were bees everywhere that day.
Absolutely nothing to hold on to. Took about an hour for everything to calm down. Thanks for watching!!
I just came across your page and glad i did! Great video! Keep them coming to feed my obsession! Lol.
Thanks for watching!!
loved watching this, just had to watch to the end as felt i was there and curious what was next exploring the frames, ...interested if you use a Queen excluder as didn't see or hear you mention one? thank you, really enjoyed watching
Glad you enjoyed it!! I don’t use excluders regularly and only for splits and some isolated cases when gathering honey. Thanks for watching!!
Just for an FYI in regards to robbing. I learned this trick elsewhere here on the interwebs. I had a fairly good sized hive being robbed out last year during the August dearth. It was my mistake after having the hive open too long doing an inspection. I didn't see the robbing start, but got home and found it happening. I quickly grabbed a white bed sheet and soaked it with the garden hose, and then draped it over the hive being robbed out. The robbing frenzy stopped pretty quickly and within a few hours everything was back to normal. Just a thought. It worked well for me.
I have actually done that before years ago. I was working in a remote yard and all I had was a beach towel, so I ran and got it wet with an old well faucet and threw it over. I was successfully an extent. They were robbed later on in the year. But yes, that’s a good and published method for sure.
Just found you, and from watching this video, and hearing what you said at the end, i subbed immediately. I like the way you work and the way you think. Great video.
Awesome! Thanks for subscribing!
Thanks for the tip of running the plywood grain of the lid from side to side instead of frost to back! :)
Thanks for watching!!
I wasn't aware plywood had a "grain". It looks the same on all four sides. I hope you know there is no such thing as a plywood tree. It's a man-made product using very thin sheets of wood piled on top of each other and glued together to make various thicknesses. The thin sheets are usually alternated 90 degrees in direction specifically so the finished product does not have a grain in any particular direction.
That top piece had a definite warp to it though.
One thing I can say for that neglected hive is they have been doing pretty well because it was a strong colony. And it did look like that was a mess to try to straighten out for sure. Good job, and as always my friend thanks for sharing.
You’re right, it’s a good hive. No doubt. I’ll get it managed soon enough and hopefully have a good production hive. Just got in from catching my first swarm of the year. It’s getting busy now...
@@MikeBarryBees that's crazy, you're already catching swarms and the only thing I can catches is a cold 😂
Very well explained. And I am much like you in life. I like things neat and organized. I guess that’s the OCD side of me . Bruce told me me about you. Very enjoyable Mike
Well thanks for stopping over Rick! Yea, I'm a little OCD myself..
Great video. I am glad you got the robbing under control. I lost a young hive three weeks ago due to robbing (and my inexperience) :-).
Hate to hear that. It happens so fast and once it starts on a small one,they won't relent. Not a lot can be done.
thank you for the tips,,, that hive would have/could have been a stump i used to raid every year,, it was a part of a witness tree the old timers used to mark survey points,, thank you for the tips
That's pretty cool how you would raid those stumps. More ambitious than me. Thanks for the comment!
Lovely laying pattern solid Italian lady right there 👍
She does have a nice pattern. Just need to get them straightened out with all those boxes. Not that they have to be, just easier to manage for me.
That will be your best hive
That'll be good by me. Thanks for watching!!
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I like the tool you use to prop the boxes apart give you a good look inside without holding it by hand. Any chance to see a close up pic of it so I can make one, Thanks Mike.
If you go over to Mr. Ed's channel, he has a video with a good shot in it (Jeff Horchoff Bees). Look for his box reversal videos.
Good job Mike ! I subbed
Thanks!!
I like to use cover cloths (cut from old vinyl sign banners) on the boxes I remove when I'm going to bee a hive for very long to keep the girls calm and helps prevent robbing to start. I've been holding off making splits until this cool spell (we always seem to have one just before Easter) is over. We've got warmer weather coming but still some nights into the 40s. Other than the wooden ware The 2yo hive was in better shape than a lot of managed hives I've seen.
I just mentioned the other day that I want to make some of those covers. Scott Hendricks in Canada uses them. Very handy and useful. Good luck with your splits. Doing more here this weekend. Just got done catching a swarm from my NUC, so I need to get to splitting. I’ll get that swarm catch edited and up as soon as I have time.
@@MikeBarryBees I think Scotty is where I first saw it a couple of years ago or it could have the fellow at UOG. It works well. I also use a screened inner cover so when I pop the top they stay where they.
Seems like the original owner didn't want to mess with it without handles either. I look forward to watching you straighten that one out.
Yea, he left it for at least 2 years that I know of, but probably longer. Just about got it done. I think I follow it in almost every video. It'll be ready to go by the main flow.
Considering how many generations they've been on their own, probably the first time they've ever SEEN a human! I think he's lucky not to have been mobbed! Pretty docile bees, considering.🤝🦄🍹
I agree with that. Can’t just call bees aggressive until you first know their condition or the environment when you open them.
👍
Thanks!!
I thought I had seen just about every bee channel there was. Luckily 628DirtRooster was filming the day that you guys were all down helping out at Mr. Ed's beekeeping class. Sure am glad that he mentioned you. I enjoy this channel and am now subscribed. I do have a question however. Can you give some more info on the lightning looking wooden stick that you are using to help prop the hive bodies up once you crack the propolis and get them separated? Do you happen to have plans for that or can give us some measurements by chance? Thanks.
Glad to have you along and I hope you continue to enjoy the channel!!
At least you know that they are a strong colony.
Yes indeed, Thanks!!
my great uncle kept bees and collected honey. that was about 52 years ago and I still remember the goodness of a jar of the honey. nothing like processed store bought.
Yessir, fresh is the best. You ought to get you a couple hives. You have the perfect setup on your land that you farm.
What was the larva on the top side of the inner cover?
I didn’t notice them. Might need to go back and take a look. Maybe wax moth best I could guess.
If you get some thin gauged wire (I use stainless steel frame wire) and place it between 2 sticks, you can run the wire between boxes and it will slice all the frames apart. ***But, if you have queen cells, you'll also slice a bunch of them at the same time. It's quick and clean.
Funny you said that....When I was editing the video, I thought about that (a little late, right?). Although I will say that comb was like a rock. But yes, good idea. Thanks for the suggestion!!
@@MikeBarryBees I got that idea from some youtube vidja with Japanese bees. I thought...Hey! I'll do that! It does work well!
I would like to be a bee keeper, I enjoy your video!! Maybe you can help me get started!
Glad you enjoyed it. Plenty of good basic beekeeping books out there to help you get started and if you are able to pick up tricks from my channel, that’s great. There are a lot of good channels out there that would be good to learn from, like David Burns. I really recommend a good backyard beekeeping book to start with.
Mike the box you got from neighbor will they have food for the winter
If you’re commenting on this video, it’s a couple years old, so I have to be honest, not sure I remember. But I’ve never starved a hive, so it had what it needed or I fed it.
It's difficult to work with an old hive especially one that's been sitting there for a long time. So hard. No handles? Yuck. It's so bad when they're this neglected. Handles are very handy!
Yea, it was not enjoyable. But it is almost straightened out. Another two weeks and it'll be neat and orderly. Thanks for watching and thanks for commenting.
and what is a swarm cell? i know bees break off from hives when they get too big but swarm cells?
Swarm cells are created by the worker bees to raise a new queen bee. They are also called queen cups. The old queen will swarm, and the new queen hopefully mates, returns, and starts laying, but beekeepers really would rather their bees don't swarm. HTH!
Thanks for answering that for me Dee!! I let the older video comments slip for a bit.
If you want the bees to draw the plastic frames out, triple wax the frame with melted wax and a roller
I do that. Prior video I go thru the wax and roller process. I don;t like the all plastic frames though. Those will be finding their way off my property eventually. Thanks for watching!!
i hear that a lot on bee videos. what exactly are you talking about when you say they are robbing? are there bees from outside the hive that rob the honey? or what? can someone tell me? thanks
The bees from stronger hives will go into weaker or abandoned hives and rob out the honey. The weaker colonies can't protect their stores of honey. It can also happen when you open up your hive this much, but sometimes, you must.
And thanks yet again!! I'm slacking!!
@@DeeNashreddirt thanks. Kind of like humans do. Lol.
Looks like a Mr Horchoff widget 🤓
How tall is each step?
I have one of those rescue hives. Pulled it out of a woods last year. Doubt it had been touched in years. Dark, black comb, rotten wood, .... gonna check them out as soon a Michigan warms up.
I think each step might be 1/2 inch. I’m going to split that hive this weekend I believe.
William McNett
Just a thought here. You know you will have a colony in at least as much trouble as this one was. I'm sure you have a plan. But i would consider hauling new equipment that might be needed - everything at once - out to the colony's location before i even opened the hive. It might help.
@@julieenslow5915 yes, I have some newer boxes and drawn comb. I think propolis is the only thing holding the 2 deep boxes together 🤓
Guy must have been doing pollination services. Pulled about 8 rotten 2 way pallets, 14 deep boxes, 10 telescoping covers, .....
There's apparently bees in a tree out there on that same property 😮
@@WilliamMcNett Good luck sir. You are a boon to the lady bees!
They looked like they where fixing to start teaching some lessons a few times "almost angry"
They really weren’t bad. They were just protecting their hive as the robbing was starting up. Looked worse than it was. Thanks for watching!!
Good video! I'm anxious for your next installment. Some folks think queen excluder is a dirty word, but you could shake the mediums down into the deeps and apply an excluder in between and then just leave those frames where they are at. And screwing a couple strips of scrap wood on the short sides of those boxes might be a handy thing to do.
It's like you're in my head!! I use excluders for everything but honey production. And I thought about doing that, but I knew from popping the lid a couple months earlier, it was going to be all jumbled together. I was concerned with busted frames and boxes. But now that I think about it, it would save the brood in the mediums while forcing the queen down. So might should have done that after all. Good point. And yes, if the three remaining boxes are still worth saving, I have some scrap that I can attach for handles. Trust me, I'm cheap, I'm going to save anything I can. Thanks for the comment and recommendation. If I can't get them out of the mediums on their own, I'm going to go with your excluder recommendation.
Run one colony once as a single deep and witness the magic. Want a 100 pound crop off one colony? The wire queen excluder is how.
Oh my you getting short of breath like that scared the heck out of me. I haven’t even watched the rest of the video. Please, I don’t know your health history but you sounded just like me before I Had my heart attack. Please have a checkup and a stress test.
I’m good, healthy as a horse. Work outside in a physical job here in SE Louisiana, so I experience some physical stuff. I had just got done running back and forth with equipment in order to do the video, and I didn’t stop before starting the video. Thanks for watching.
Amsoil the first in synthetics
Yessir, been hooked on it for 16 years, and a dealer for 14. Thanks for watching!
When they start robbing open tops of all the other hives and make them go back home
Have you tried that? Just wondering cause I have....
So did it work? I'm not ready to try that. I have heard people say that, but I'm not trying it anytime soon. Mainly because robbing is more than the bees in your yard if you're in a rural area. So sure, maybe yours go back, but the other don't and then they're all getting robbed best I can figure. But I don't know. Just my assumption.
@@MikeBarryBees I heard it on fat bee man.. well I've tried it about 3 times,last summer I waited 15 minutes probably at least and it was only getting worse. .I ended up wetting a towel and draping it over the hive and blocking entrance, and literally dumping water on robber bees to finally get em to stop..I also tried Michael Bush's "Vicks vapor rub" on entrance before the towel,that was a joke too....this was 17 hives,opened all of them ... don't do it.
EWW! Just saw the wax moths on the bottom!!!🙄🥳 Ewewewew!! Yah, I'm a girl.😎 I *hate* bugs and grubs...except for bees and butterflies🤺🦄.🤷♀️😘
Well, they’re outta there now so when I split it in another video, you won’t have to see them again🙂. Thanks for watching!!
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I do Doody’s as well but prefer not to keep say it.
why keep knocking the box? bees don't like it!