I'm with you on the weather - way too hot and humid with heat indexes and air quality alerts. Cannot do much at all in the bee yard for very long without becoming completely drenched and that only takes minutes. When that salty sweat really stings when it gets in your eyes! Plus my bees have gotten cranky when I mowed the other day and took three stings something that has never happened before. Grass really needed cutting then and now we've gotten a good bit of rain so ground too soggy and grass keeps growing! Will have to mow high and then come back and cut again lower if this keeps up. Glad you have some help and getting the honey crop in.
Thanks Nancy! It’s been hot for sure. Starting early and switching from field work to honey house work after lunch. Some of my bees don’t like mowers either.
Real nice honey crop there. Thank goodness, with a startup a bad crop would be so hard. Extracting is labouries but the smell of fresh extracted honey is so nice. Take care Nathan and have a good week. An Arizona outside worker told me that he only drinks room temperature water, saying that you can't drink enough cool water to stay hydrated. He had 4 one gallon water jugs in the back of his pickup for the day. Glad I live in MN. LOL
For the hive on the ground, just shift every colony over one and put them up on blocks. You will have a little hive-shiftage (bees returning to the wrong colony), but they will figure it out with minimal 'lost' bees. For the colony in the middle, just move it. Returning bees will join a new hive. Or if that colony is weak, move a strong colony next to it and move it to that position. Another fine video.
I'm curious about burning wax moth stuff. I purposely let them clean old combs, they are amazing at it. I guess it just depends on your philosophy and equipment usage and planning. But just wanted check to see if there was a specific reason. I got mating nuc boxes loaded with wax moth chrysalis dug outs. Just scrape and torch it or feed to chickens , chickens love it. Good luck pulling honey and preparing for winter man!
You are making me appreciate Alberta winters. (No hive beetle or wax moths here) Even though we don’t have hive beetles I hate seeing drowned bees in feeders, and I worry about it spreading diseases to the bees drinking the syrup.
20+ frame feeders are $11.50/each. If you buy the open frame feeders you can staple in a piece of vinyl window screen in a u shape along the sides and bottom. That gives the bees a ladder to prevent drowning. I used to but window screen in all my feeders before I started buying the cylinder ladder type.
Why burn the frames? Clean them up with a scraper/pressure washer. They work just fine (rewax them). @$3 each, worth it... Even if the wood is too weak, the plastic foundation is worth saving ($1 each). Cheap, frugal... saving money!
@@ThatBeeMan i just tried cleaning a handful of frames with salt water and then a fresh water rinse after 10 minutes... gonna find out today if the wax is still worthwhile or if I should just melt it all down.
Howdy Nathan, As for the feeders, I am leaning toward the bucket ones. They have abt. 20% more capacity than a frame feeders (in my standard the frame has one galon, while the bucket 1.3gal). They handle easier and faster, I don't have to open the hive at all, just to collect and swap the bucket. That gives me a perfect comfort of work, because I don't have to wear even a veil. With a frame feeder (I got the one with wooden floats), whenever I am pouring in the syrup, there are always some of the bees into the feeder. They instantly raise the alarm and try to sting, so I have to wear at least the veil or even a suit. There is one favor for the frame feeder: it can deliver the syrup 3x timews faster than a bucket. If You have an emergency situation with a starving colony, frame feeder will outrun the bucket one. OK, maybe two: sometimes it happens that bees will render the feeding holes with wax and You may have a hungry colony that is not aware of a full bucket of syrup on top of the hive. Oh, and btw. I've noticed that plastic feeders tend to warp, so I had to cut a more narrow float that won't get stuck in the middle. But perhaps it's the manufacturer that didn't mold them the right way.
Use butyric acid sprayed on carsboard to clear the boxes. So much faster. If using butyric acid don't smoke the boxes when you first open them up. Also on you fans. Build a frame shim and tape the fan to the shim so it's sealed. Then pull the air up thru the box instead of blowing it down. You should be able to dry a stack in 1 day no problem. If you want it faster stack 2 window fans on top for more flow.
I have a lot of old 2 frames space feeders without the top on them.. for deep boxes. I looked for a drowning solution for a long time. The best l find is plastic mosquito mesh put in in a V shape.. almost long as the feeder. Since l started using it the feeders are clean as they can be.
Great Video Nathan! On wax moth infested equipment I have found that if remove the wax moth cocoons (bees won't remove them), and then put a couple frames in a strong colony, the bees will clean it.
Good morning from Ashland city. Your comments on feeders could not have come at a better time. I am in middle of that same decision. I need to make an order for next year and the Mann lake feeders are double the price. Now deciding between cap and ladder with pine needles or buckets. Great video.
My loss of hives from pesticides really got hit with small hive beetles. I'll burn those and keep burning the boxes. They're old and I'm looking to cut way back. I only have a few hives left.
Would be cool to get a 3D printer to print 1gal feeders…wonder what the cost per feeder would be after expenses. The ladder could be printed into itself as one unit if I’m not wrong.
If you can print it it'll save you money. I just dunno about layer lines and bacterial load but forsuee anything that can be printed will be a cost saving
I rarely take a tripod with me anymore. Used to be the bees were a hobby and UA-cam got a lot more attention and effort. Now bees are my job and UA-cam is a hobby.
I hear you on the reasons why you chose to burn. I would have done it too...haha. There comes a point when its just easier. I have double deep hives that I plan to eventually slowly convert to all medium box hives. I cant do the lifting.
I’m going down to check queens, de-offset my staggered boxes, and everything is really glued together. Also, I’ve had a 16 year old to do a lot of the lifting.
Problem I've had with ML feeders is the Bees propolis the holes in the plastic ladders and they are almost impossible to get out without cracking them.
Nathan the Mann Lake feeders can be bought for $11 each if you buy over 20 at a time. You just have to find the correct listing under there feeder section.
So when your drying down your honey suppers do you have to worry about hive Beatles what's your thoughts on that again great video I look forward to watching yours and Bob's very week 😊
No I don’t. I read a UF paper saying that low humidity and high airflow kills beetle larvae and eggs. I guess it dries them out. I see adult beetles but not larvae. Drying room = 🔥🔥🔥
I make 3/4 " plastic discs out of milk jugs and put 6 or 7 in each ladder and it eliminates drowning . 16 dollars is cheap they last for ever if cared for and kept out of the sun 🌞
You using a gasket punch or hole saw to make them? I’ve thought about using air soft pellets but they’d probably get lost moving feeders around. Pine needles works ok for the cost and effort.
@@DuckRiverHoney i bought a 3/4 ID nipple to 1" pipe thread and sharpened the nipple and welded a handle to it . You can hammer with it or hit it with a hammer the discs go into the pipe thread and become loose enough to dump out .
When you have feeders on a hives, how can you pull honey and know there is not any sugar water in with your honey? I’m always worried about putting feeders on hives because I fear them mixing in sugar water. Is it possible you could do a video and explain this in more detail? Thanks Brother I look forward to your videos every weekend! I have been around from the beginning but this is my very first post! Thank You Kenny
It’s easy, I don’t feed hives that are making honey. The yard I showed there had marked hives that weren’t getting fed. When I pulled honey I fed, but the feed was separated from the honey by a bee escape.
I guess I miss the part where you showed adding the bee escape. This mix with the fact that it was a Nuc yard and I knew that you fed your Nuc yards to build comb for next year had me confused on how you were pulling honey off them. I will go back and rewatch the video again incase I missed something else. Thank You Sir for the reply. Kenny A.
Any thing bee equipment is out reagous even hive bodies one can not make enough from honey or selling bees to even cover close to the price of equipment,
I wish when i started out that i watched your system instead of Ian's. I think working with one size equipment is the ticket. I bet you can guess i run all deeps and a sore back.
Get rid of those in hive feeders and get you some front hive feeders. It consists of a plastic frame that holds a Mason jar with a lid that has tiny holes poked in it and is filled with sugar water that fits in the front entrance of the hive.Your bees will build up honeycomb faster,plus it helps during the dearths and they won't drown because the sugar water comes out slow dripping on the plastic frame housing for the jar. Your bees will thank you for it and you can easily tell when it needs refilled. It only takes a minute to refill them and you don't have to open the hive to refill it. They are also cheap to buy and easy to clean.
@beebob1279 I never had problems with them robbing. Maybe if you don't keep them all full or your hives are too close to each other. They make top feeders like that too if you don't like the front feeders
I'm with you on the weather - way too hot and humid with heat indexes and air quality alerts. Cannot do much at all in the bee yard for very long without becoming completely drenched and that only takes minutes. When that salty sweat really stings when it gets in your eyes! Plus my bees have gotten cranky when I mowed the other day and took three stings something that has never happened before. Grass really needed cutting then and now we've gotten a good bit of rain so ground too soggy and grass keeps growing! Will have to mow high and then come back and cut again lower if this keeps up. Glad you have some help and getting the honey crop in.
Thanks Nancy! It’s been hot for sure. Starting early and switching from field work to honey house work after lunch. Some of my bees don’t like mowers either.
I started wearing a neck fan recomended by project farm. so great to keep you cool. Highly recomend
Real nice honey crop there. Thank goodness, with a startup a bad crop would be so hard. Extracting is labouries but the smell of fresh extracted honey is so nice. Take care Nathan and have a good week. An Arizona outside worker told me that he only drinks room temperature water, saying that you can't drink enough cool water to stay hydrated. He had 4 one gallon water jugs in the back of his pickup for the day. Glad I live in MN. LOL
Thanks Russ!
For the hive on the ground, just shift every colony over one and put them up on blocks. You will have a little hive-shiftage (bees returning to the wrong colony), but they will figure it out with minimal 'lost' bees. For the colony in the middle, just move it. Returning bees will join a new hive. Or if that colony is weak, move a strong colony next to it and move it to that position. Another fine video.
I think it’s likely easier to move them to another yard.
I'm curious about burning wax moth stuff. I purposely let them clean old combs, they are amazing at it. I guess it just depends on your philosophy and equipment usage and planning. But just wanted check to see if there was a specific reason. I got mating nuc boxes loaded with wax moth chrysalis dug outs. Just scrape and torch it or feed to chickens , chickens love it. Good luck pulling honey and preparing for winter man!
I’d rather not explode the adult moth population, thus burning the wax and larvae.
@@DuckRiverHoney lol I guess so, that's what chickens are for
You are making me appreciate Alberta winters. (No hive beetle or wax moths here)
Even though we don’t have hive beetles I hate seeing drowned bees in feeders, and I worry about it spreading diseases to the bees drinking the syrup.
You might think differently when I’m working bees in February? 🤣
Yard looks great man. Nive hives and content. Good work
Thanks!
20+ frame feeders are $11.50/each. If you buy the open frame feeders you can staple in a piece of vinyl window screen in a u shape along the sides and bottom. That gives the bees a ladder to prevent drowning. I used to but window screen in all my feeders before I started buying the cylinder ladder type.
Why burn the frames? Clean them up with a scraper/pressure washer. They work just fine (rewax them). @$3 each, worth it... Even if the wood is too weak, the plastic foundation is worth saving ($1 each). Cheap, frugal... saving money!
Agreed. That's easily cleaned up and reused. Burning money is one thing, burning plastic, that's certainly to be avoided!
I will say, watching wax moth larvae burn is particularly satusfying.
@@ThatBeeMan i just tried cleaning a handful of frames with salt water and then a fresh water rinse after 10 minutes... gonna find out today if the wax is still worthwhile or if I should just melt it all down.
@@BeesNTrees47 I've been able to melt the wax off the plastic foundation without damaging the foundation. A bake at about 72c seems to do the trick.
seems to have killed 99% without damaging the wax at all. Gonna see how the bees like it next.
Howdy Nathan,
As for the feeders, I am leaning toward the bucket ones.
They have abt. 20% more capacity than a frame feeders (in my standard the frame has one galon, while the bucket 1.3gal).
They handle easier and faster, I don't have to open the hive at all, just to collect and swap the bucket. That gives me a perfect comfort of work, because I don't have to wear even a veil. With a frame feeder (I got the one with wooden floats), whenever I am pouring in the syrup, there are always some of the bees into the feeder. They instantly raise the alarm and try to sting, so I have to wear at least the veil or even a suit.
There is one favor for the frame feeder: it can deliver the syrup 3x timews faster than a bucket. If You have an emergency situation with a starving colony, frame feeder will outrun the bucket one.
OK, maybe two: sometimes it happens that bees will render the feeding holes with wax and You may have a hungry colony that is not aware of a full bucket of syrup on top of the hive.
Oh, and btw. I've noticed that plastic feeders tend to warp, so I had to cut a more narrow float that won't get stuck in the middle. But perhaps it's the manufacturer that didn't mold them the right way.
Use butyric acid sprayed on carsboard to clear the boxes. So much faster. If using butyric acid don't smoke the boxes when you first open them up. Also on you fans. Build a frame shim and tape the fan to the shim so it's sealed. Then pull the air up thru the box instead of blowing it down. You should be able to dry a stack in 1 day no problem. If you want it faster stack 2 window fans on top for more flow.
I have a lot of old 2 frames space feeders without the top on them.. for deep boxes. I looked for a drowning solution for a long time. The best l find is plastic mosquito mesh put in in a V shape.. almost long as the feeder. Since l started using it the feeders are clean as they can be.
A lot of folks use hardware cloth too.
Great video! Always exciting to see stacks of supers in the honey house.
It’s good, but a chunk of work to go!
That cap removing behavior observation is new to me and seems really important and useful. Thank you.
Heck out this playlist of videos I’ve done. ua-cam.com/play/PLLlnDWYPBEieXa9sEFiAZ-GxmUj-HBIL2.html&si=b7t26afwmoNvgawu
Great Video Nathan!
On wax moth infested equipment I have found that if remove the wax moth cocoons (bees won't remove them), and then put a couple frames in a strong colony, the bees will clean it.
I’ve had the same experience when it’s not too bad. When it gets really bad I’d rather scrape and burn.
I've had good luck with broken pieces of comb into the frame feeders.
Good morning from Missouri great Video. Im planning on trying to draw out frames by feeding after I pull off the ladt of my honey supers
Thanks, good luck!
You have to look at bulk prices. I got 30 of the mannlake wood top feeders for $11 last week.
Good morning from Ashland city. Your comments on feeders could not have come at a better time. I am in middle of that same decision. I need to make an order for next year and the Mann lake feeders are double the price. Now deciding between cap and ladder with pine needles or buckets. Great video.
Thanks! The ML price increase is disappointing.
My loss of hives from pesticides really got hit with small hive beetles. I'll burn those and keep burning the boxes. They're old and I'm looking to cut way back. I only have a few hives left.
Would be cool to get a 3D printer to print 1gal feeders…wonder what the cost per feeder would be after expenses. The ladder could be printed into itself as one unit if I’m not wrong.
If you can print it it'll save you money. I just dunno about layer lines and bacterial load but forsuee anything that can be printed will be a cost saving
Thanks for the video! I Would love to see some footage of you guys doing the work. I enjoy that part of it!
I rarely take a tripod with me anymore. Used to be the bees were a hobby and UA-cam got a lot more attention and effort. Now bees are my job and UA-cam is a hobby.
@@DuckRiverHoney makes sense
I hear you on the reasons why you chose to burn. I would have done it too...haha. There comes a point when its just easier. I have double deep hives that I plan to eventually slowly convert to all medium box hives. I cant do the lifting.
That’s one reason I really like all mediums.
why are you not using your hive lifter to set escapes?
I’m going down to check queens, de-offset my staggered boxes, and everything is really glued together. Also, I’ve had a 16 year old to do a lot of the lifting.
Problem I've had with ML feeders is the Bees propolis the holes in the plastic ladders and they are almost impossible to get out without cracking them.
Some of my bees do that but most don’t.
What does burning plastic foundation release into the air?
Nathan the Mann Lake feeders can be bought for $11 each if you buy over 20 at a time. You just have to find the correct listing under there feeder section.
I can't find them for the $11. If you want the cap and ladder they are $17 if you purchase 20 or more.
@@peterdufek2928 If you click the tab for the 20 or more under the price it says $11 each its kinda weird how they have it listed.
So when your drying down your honey suppers do you have to worry about hive Beatles what's your thoughts on that again great video I look forward to watching yours and Bob's very week 😊
No I don’t. I read a UF paper saying that low humidity and high airflow kills beetle larvae and eggs. I guess it dries them out. I see adult beetles but not larvae. Drying room = 🔥🔥🔥
I make 3/4 " plastic discs out of milk jugs and put 6 or 7 in each ladder and it eliminates drowning .
16 dollars is cheap they last for ever if cared for and kept out of the sun 🌞
You using a gasket punch or hole saw to make them? I’ve thought about using air soft pellets but they’d probably get lost moving feeders around. Pine needles works ok for the cost and effort.
@@DuckRiverHoney i bought a 3/4 ID nipple to 1" pipe thread and sharpened the nipple and welded a handle to it .
You can hammer with it or hit it with a hammer the discs go into the pipe thread and become loose enough to dump out .
👍
3 days to dry honey
Let the temp get into the upper 90s and you can do it in 24hrs
When you have feeders on a hives, how can you pull honey and know there is not any sugar water in with your honey? I’m always worried about putting feeders on hives because I fear them mixing in sugar water. Is it possible you could do a video and explain this in more detail? Thanks Brother I look forward to your videos every weekend! I have been around from the beginning but this is my very first post! Thank You Kenny
It’s easy, I don’t feed hives that are making honey. The yard I showed there had marked hives that weren’t getting fed. When I pulled honey I fed, but the feed was separated from the honey by a bee escape.
Nathan keeps feeder in every hive. The ones he pulls honey out of he doesn't feed. He showed it in passed videos
I guess I miss the part where you showed adding the bee escape. This mix with the fact that it was a Nuc yard and I knew that you fed your Nuc yards to build comb for next year had me confused on how you were pulling honey off them. I will go back and rewatch the video again incase I missed something else. Thank You Sir for the reply. Kenny A.
Any thing bee equipment is out reagous even hive bodies one can not make enough from honey or selling bees to even cover close to the price of equipment,
Gonna have to add a clarifier, cappings spinner, etc in the near future 😢😢 the jous of growing
I’ll need to up my extraction game in the next 2-3 years. Have a clarifier and pump for this year.
I wish when i started out that i watched your system instead of Ian's. I think working with one size equipment is the ticket. I bet you can guess i run all deeps and a sore back.
I strongly prefer one size of box. All deeps makes sense if you’re mechanized. All mediums makes more sense if you’re not.
I don't know if you have any experience ,,, If you take that Queen with the VHS trait and make new Queens will the new queens have the same trait?
It gets diluted unless you actively select for it.
What’s a UBO test?
Unhealthy Brood Odor. I have some videos on it.
Get rid of those in hive feeders and get you some front hive feeders. It consists of a plastic frame that holds a Mason jar with a lid that has tiny holes poked in it and is filled with sugar water that fits in the front entrance of the hive.Your bees will build up honeycomb faster,plus it helps during the dearths and they won't drown because the sugar water comes out slow dripping on the plastic frame housing for the jar. Your bees will thank you for it and you can easily tell when it needs refilled. It only takes a minute to refill them and you don't have to open the hive to refill it. They are also cheap to buy and easy to clean.
Never. Too much robbing with those
@beebob1279 I never had problems with them robbing. Maybe if you don't keep them all full or your hives are too close to each other. They make top feeders like that too if you don't like the front feeders
@@richmtnrecon9120 Never had issues with buckets, or the frame feeders. I'll stick with what works
@@beebob1279 so will I and front feeders work just fine for me
Why burn those frames? Go to the bee club and give them to someone just starting out. I'm not just starting but I'd take them off your hands.
Set up with ball valve on your clarifier = worth watching this video to the end.
Expensive, but I think it will be worth it over the years.
Prices of gear is going up, Bidenomics at work.
👍