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Brad, it's a bit of a drive from home but it has potential. The owners have 2000 acres; It has potential for nectar sources like sweet clover & buckwheat (one of your favorites!lol). - Darren

@@PennsylvaniaBeekeeper Well, sweetclover is my favorite so that's good.

Hey John, How long have you been beekeeping and how many hives?

@@PennsylvaniaBeekeeper I’ve been beeping for about 12 years. I’m a very hands off and a natural approach. Some years are better than others. This year I stole very little honey and find myself feeding more. I’m going into this winter with the least I have ever had, 5 in total. Mine are all double deep, horizontal.

Well, my queen started laying again 4 weeks after applying FP. I'm backing the FP treatment up with 4 OAV treatments this fall. I'm on my 4th & final treatment this weekend. Then I'll do one light OAV treatment per month this winter. I'll use FP next year but I need to figure out how to schedule it in with apiguard and OA treatments. Thanks for your comment. - Darren

Hey Kajun Homestead. Nice of you to stop by. - Darren

Yeah Russell the weight isn't easy. I'm planning to keep my 10 frames at 10 - 12 hives, maybe with a divider. The other 10 hives will be nucs. Who knows, maybe someday I'll decide to go to 8 frames or all nucs.

I do take on paint jobs. I charge $900 per box...and I use Bear Ultra. Let me know, Russell.

I've heard that method before, I don't know if I have the guts to try it though. -Darren

Well, you can be corny as you want b/c I know where you channel lives! lol!

Shane, good to hear somebody else has the same issues. Bees don't always do what we expect do they?! It gets frustrating. -Darren

Yeah, it is, and I'm putting the OAV to it now. - Darren

Charlie, yes, you are right about replacing the queen. I never really developed a queen program for my apiary so maybe it's time. I'm thinking of those Latshaw queens. I think Bill sells those queens. -Darren

Scott, I strap some insulation to my hives, but I think of it as a wind break more than the insulation factor. We' aren't far apart so we'll have to discuss overwintering method some time. -Darren

Russell, that colony was a cut-out I did in 2023, so maybe it is just an old queen. But it still lays slabs of brood for a few months, then just stops. Go figure! - Darren

I'm thinking of installing some follower boards in my hives to lighten the load. I have a friend who put himself out of beekeeping by lifting heavy deeps, so it is a real concern. Thanks for stopping by. - Darren

I try to Ziggy, but not always timely with it. I suppose many people overlook the mite washes b/c they are so time consuming and so people figure they'll just do the treatment. Thanks for stopping by. - Darren

No problem, DC. I don't make many videos and don't always follow up. Maybe I make one every month if I'm lucky. Thanks for stopping by.

I heard they are discontinuing the Quick Strips. If so will you use the Formic Pro? Have you used Apiguard? I have the 120v Lorobees vaporizer. It's a pain to use b/c of the cord but it does give a much better application than the OA pan burners. Not sure how I'm going to approach the FP application next year. Maybe could be applied in the spring if I have a surplus of queens on hand. Thanks for stopping by. - Darren

Hey Brad, every time I lift one of those boxes I say a prayer under my breath that my spine stays in alignment. I'd have a hive lifter if my hives were on my own property but I can't see hauling one around on my trailer. Maybe eventually I will though. Thanks for stopping by. - Darren

Brad, nothing to worry about...those gunshots were just the neighbors feuding. I try to not get involved. lol! Thanks for stopping by. -Darren

thanks for watching!

It began as a hobby that we thought would help the bees and turned into a lifestyle. It happens that way for many beekeepers. -Darren

yep, I took them out and the bees will be wide open to robbing for a while. Thaks for stopping by. - Darren

Comment without watching much? 😂✌️

So far the hives look good from the outside, one looks a little weak though. I'll find out for sure next week.

@PennsylvaniaBeekeeper that's great! I'm fighting trying to be fed up ready for winter and bees trying to rob..may have to boost a couple so don't get picked on.weathers crazy 91 today yrs ago I'd done shut hives and walked away for winter. I figured your bees must be doing good by things you were saying ..I was little surprised to hear drawing comb etc.only because of your location! I worked in Warren several yrs back not sure where you're at I'm in sw Missouri

The tablets have been on for a few weeks. I didn't do any mite tests before inserting the tabs.

If all goes well it'll be nice to have another treatment option. BTW it's nice to have the 2024 honey champion stop by and comment.

yeah, I put them on wrong. Next time I'll know better.

Thanks for the words of encouragement on the FP. I bought some Mite Away once that arrived very near the expiration date and it expired before I had the chance to install it.

I might try the Apiguard next year. We can never have too many options for fighting the mites. Penn State just published a paper on the importance of having an array of mite treatments, so that is my goal.

Nce!

Mark, I always look forward to your beekeeping wisdom. Good luck this week and cant wait to see your future success.

It just started blooming. How was your honey harvest down there?

@@PennsylvaniaBeekeeper Not bad, about 50lbs per colony, which was less than last year. We didn't really see a dearth where I'm at, they're still bringing something in. Looks like I won't have to feed or not that much.

Phillip, I never thought about the bees defending the location. I'm not seeing any activity on it now though, so I might relocate it.

I tried removing the excluders and the bees still wouldn't move into the honey supers, so then I did the Demaree which seemed to work. But as you can see in the comments, I'm a bad, bad beekeeper for doing so. lol! - Darren

I actually dont like saying Demaree b/c I say it wrong every time.

Ask ten beekeepers a question get 12 answers.

It worked for my bees. Thanks for your comment.

Brad, it's a cheap and easy setup, and safe from theft b/c I doubt anyone would want to steal it. ha!

I know what you mean; I mostly catch my own swarms. -Darren

It's a good location, and hopefully I'll catch a few more before end of the season. -Darren

Hello, the water bottles are so that I have water at the apiary for those sticky days in the supers. Also smokers in the dry summer months make me nervous, also there is a fire extinguisher in the truck. -Darren

@@PennsylvaniaBeekeeper We keep 55 gallon barrels at the bee yard and the garden to rinse my hands off when I need to. And today we added our summer guppies to the barrels. Guppies will eat mosquito larvae so it actually is supposed to cut down our mosquito problem by letting the mosquito lay eggs that will be eaten. This is also my bee watering hole so sometimes it gets interesting to rinse my hands but so far it works out. Usually we add some duckweed, water lettuce, and other top water plants so the bees have something to land on. Been doing this for several years and works out great here. Fortunately this is at my home yard so I have well water for fires, but yea, I get it for outyards.

My honey harvest is looking better since I did the Demaree method on those few remaining hives. Thanks for stopping by. - Darren

Brad, It's going better already. Thanks for saying hello. -Darren

Yes, I'm doing the rolling Demaree but depending on my flow I might only do two more rotations. -Darren

Dumm

@@JawandoOokomondo-cb7fm have you seen the amounts of honey coming from a Demaree hive? Not pushing it on people, just showing people results.

I'm probably looking at about 200-300 lbs from 6 honey hives. I was worried that I was looking at maybe 100 lbs, but it's looking better.

Dumm

Hello UnlikelyBeek, Where are you from? I'm in Clearfield County.

@@PennsylvaniaBeekeeper Southern York county

At least I know one person watched the video up to that point - lol!

@@PennsylvaniaBeekeeper I watched the whole thing, I just liked that comment 😂. Those Demaree splits really work!

Hey Russell, The Demaree's will be a pain to check but I only have a few more weeks to go. It's interesting though that my one traditional hive is doing best of all. - Darren

Hey Tom, I'm a few weeks away from pulling my supers but this season is quickly winding down. Then it'll be off to doing splits. -Darren

That is interesting. I figured it was an evergreen but wasn't sure which one. Skunk cabbage is not something I thought of. Thanks.

1 thing to learn, listen to Bob Binnie.

Join a bee club and get a mentor. Thanks.