When u find old queens, kill them, and replace with new mated queens, do you place any tape over candy to slow the release thus giving old pheromone time to dissipate?
Yes, and although I shared that in one video I probably should have shown it again in this one. We use cheap masking tape, not the more expensive blue painters tape, and put a very small hole in it, possibly with a frame nail, so the bees realize that there is candy on the other side. Introduction takes at least an extra day or more with this.
I have all new red dot queens except for 2. Yellow dot and a white dot. White dot is still killing it. I have 6 supers on her. No swarms this year thanks to you Bob. You have taught me to be a better beekeeper. Thanks for your knowledge sharing Bob and crew.
Great as always! Tough spring here in the Balkans. Our main source of nectar passes in the rain. The weather has improved in recent days, but the wind is causing a lot of problems. Greetings from Serbia.
We spoke last season in the comments on the privet, but we truly count on ours for growth leading to the main flow which somewhat keeps us from having to feed. But I usually get a harvest and I have customers that look for it. They love it. To floral tasting for me. We’ve not had a substantial privet bloom two years running. Always beautiful country up there. Love my North Georgia visits.
So my new hive is 3 high 2 boxes of brood and they are packing in fruit tree carrigana lilac dandilion But the pollen has slowed . I put it near to my rock house which which heats during the day and helps keep them warm in the evening when it re radiates the heat and fastened a dark brown sheet of plywood to the south side to collect heat and put a heating pad in above the bottom for the cold nights and some cold days . I have a month before our main nectar flow Now its got empty swarm cells and a supercedure cell I need to find queens or cells to split it . I need at least 4 to winter it in Saskatchewan . Your videos are very informational and keep me motivated . Thanks
I'm in southwest New Jersey, about 10 miles south of Philadelphia. It's neat to see where you are in the honey flow vs us. It's closer than I imagined, tulip poplar is still going strong, black locust is done, blackberries are still going but slowing. One of our big flows where I am is the American Holly tree; they are just finishing up.
@@froghairfarm really good. I used to try and harvest before the privet flow but learned as Bob did that the bitter privet taste goes away eventually. I actually had a bucket of it to throw away. I forgot about it, left it outside for a year, and the following year, opened the lid and took a taste. It was pretty good lol.
I really appreciate listening to you talk about all the different flavours of honey. I would love to see you do a video in the future describing how you learnt all the different tastes, and perhaps you could give us some tips, and how to identify the different flavors.
Sometimes it sounds like I'm an expert on honey but all I'm actually good with is the varieties I work with. However, I have a friend that actually is an expert and perhaps I'll ask him to help with a video. 👍
Thanks for yet another great video, always so informative and relaxing to watch. I’m a Micky mouse sideliner/hobbyist with only 60 colonies here in the uk. We’re going back to Caucasians next year, think they’re really great👍
Ha Bob so good to see u on here, Your videos are great I watched u on the live chat with Kamon and Ian as well, u talked about push in cages, was one of the ways that u introduced queens, and that u make your own, I have bought some but they are junk do you cell the punch in cages as well at the store. I got me a new place to live in 2017 and I had just a little bit of a front yard so I planted 2 fast.
Bob, great video as always! This year's swarm season seems to have lasted forever. I had to make splits again this weekend because I was finding capped swarm cells with some of them emerging. It seems that this intermittent weather pattern keeps the bees locked down just long enough for them to think about swarming again.
Hello Bob. I'm scheduled to pick queens on July 1st. I really like the ones I got from you last year. I'll let you know how it goes. I also always enjoy the trip down.
Gosh I was bored last night and could not sleep. You tube was slim pickings so I settled for some old John Travolta dance scenes thinking tomorrow a new video from you Bob. Something to look forward too at least and drifted off to sleep Only I had dreams of your crew dancing around the bee yard to Staying Alive. 😵💫 Gosh it's good it see normal bee keeping here today.
Hi Nathan, you are an early riser! I'm diving in to the EFB question your friend had and hope to share the most recent information on that problem soon.
Privet getting better over time is interesting... Basswood is the opposite, after a year the mint flavor is gone :( Finding queen is something I still have difficulty with, some of my queens I have never seen but they're there, doing excellent work.
Hi Bob. Thanks for sharing all of your experience and wisdom. I have an unrelated question to this video. Q. Do honeybees collect nectar/pollen from tobacco? I am pretty certain the crop management strategies to not favor honeybees with all of the spraying that is currently used. However, 50-100 years ago (not that you're that old) but was it ever a good source for bees. Did they make a honey off it?
Sorry to keep asking unrelated questions. Q: Just how does pollen patty aid the queen in brood production? Does she eat some, or is she fed some, or is it the overall vibe the colony has to good nutrition that makes her respond? What is the journey of the patty?
Watched the live stream last night, i normally dont cause the length but i liked it and stayed tuned into it. I know you know people would buy those year old queens, is it not worth the hassel? Anyway i like learning from your videos and keep them coming.
We are definitely new(bees) to having bees. We only have six hives. We started off with Saskatraz Bees and are very happy with them. We requeen every three years. Should we be requeening more often? Thank You VERY much for sharing your knowledge as well as expertise in being a responsible Beekeeper!
We often say that we try to get every colony requeened every year but we don't always get them all. I notice less production and a lower percentage of overwintering success with queens that are over two years old. Up to two years old isn't too bad but after two it is very noticeable.
Hey Bob, great video! Question for you. So, when you requeen a hive in April or May do you let her go all the way through to the next year and then requeen the following summer heading into fall?
Thanks Bob for another Sunday morning coffee and bee video, how many years do you let them build their own cell before you put in your own queen or do you. With 44 hives in one yard does it matter with that many drones or do you need to change out the queen genetics every few years.
A very good question that is often ignored. Bringing outside genetics in to a yard that is requeening itself with itself is an important practice. If you are bringing in new queens or cells for at least a good percentage of the colonies each year I think it's adequate. I would avoid going more than two or three years without some new blood.
@@bobbinnie9872 That makes total sense to me. Thanks for the reply. I have often wondered how much of the temperament comes from the drones. I have two feral hives that I cutout and am thinking about pinching the Queens and going with Caucasians thinking around end of June or mid July that's if I can find queens that late, don't want to mess with them during the flow. What are your thoughts.
Howdy Bob... have you ever considered selling your last year's queens instead of pinching them? I hear Bob Binnie queens are highly sought after and we could use the genetics in AZ. 11:35 - amazing pattern. Cheers!
Thanks for the videos, very informative. Regarding leaving 2 cells when you make a split. I have noticed this season swarming from the queenles colonies? They seem to be making a lot of emergency cells and as virgins hatch they are taking off. Do you recommend going back in day 7 or so and knocking down all their emergency cells?
I live in the mountains in VA and there is quite a lot of mountain laurel blooming right now. Should I be concerned? I heard the honey can make you sick.
Oddly enough it doesn't produce nectar in every location, even if it blooms well. It blooms all over our county but but we don't taste it everywhere. It will be simple to tell if you get it because the taste is really bad and it actually tastes toxic. The bees do fine with it so we leave it on the colonies.
Off-topic question, has anyone every used Fondant Sugar instead of granulated sugar for making syrup? According to the information that I have found the only difference is that it is a finer product.
How do you prefer to get the bees off your frames when ready to harvest honey? I’m a backyard beekeeper and struggle with this. Should I use a fume board? Brush off bees as I can which takes forever?
@@bobbinnie9872 ah okay, I thought I seen a video of you talking about getting some Carnis few years back off of a specific person. I was probably mistaken. Thanks Bob
We're grafting from Caucasian with a touch of Carniolan breeder queens but I'm sure that we could never be 100% because of other beekeepers in our area which. This is fine because a little mixture is probably a good thing.
You've probably covered this elsewhere, but how to make and keep notes for all your colonies? As you mentioned in this video,when you kill a queen and come back later to introduce a new queen.
We keep a notebook that contains dates and information on the general work done in every apiary and we write specific notes for each colony on each lid with the same marker we use to mark queens.
I know another question But you seem to have all the answers .Here it is If you use drone frames could you uncap it and spin out the drones and mites instead of freezing it and making the bees go thru all the work of cleaning it up ??
Hi Bob…question about bee jackets. Why do most of, if not all of, your crew wear non vented jackets? I would think with all the humidity, they would wear something that breaths. You also don’t wear a ventilated suit! How do you guys beat the heat? I’m in central CA and the summers get brutal even with a vented jacket.
We've all tried the vented and nobody likes them. Once we get wet with sweat they are only cooler if there is at least some breeze. Plus they are heavier and more expensive. Just personal preferences I guess.
I made a swarm cell split and the parent colony queen went with split, will she kill cell or still swarm from nuc?( also no cells were capped) thanks for your help Bob
If the queen and cells are moved to a different location many time that unit will abort their cells because they lose their field force, but not always.
Bob, around 10:30 you mentioned switching to Caucasian bees. If you have mentioned this previously I must have missed it. I was under the impression that you were switching, (or had previously switched), to Carniolans? Can you please fill us in on the history and decision making process behind the changes in subspecies you are using? And if it's too much to type, I would love to see this covered in a future video.
We have had mainly Carniolan in the past but we have been making a switch. I'll try to talk about this more in the future. You might like our video "Introducing Caucasian Bees Into Our Apiary". ua-cam.com/video/eHKD94TW2p0/v-deo.html
@@bobbinnie9872 Ah Ok, I had watched your series of videos in March of 2021 when you visited Chris Werner in Florida. I was under the impression, perhaps mistakenly, that all he produced was Carniolans and he was your go to supplier for queens.
@@wadeturner2665 Chris is kind enough to produce queens for us from breeder queens we provide. We ship them to him in December. Of course these queens open mate with his outfit which is Italian and Carniolan. We use these queens from him for producing nucs and packages for sale in spring. We were already doing this at the time of those videos but I may not have explained it well.
do you roll additional wax on all of your new foundations? i seen a video you have of how to do it but all the frames you stick in doesn't necessarily look like they been rolled.. do you think its necessary? we have some hives where they build the whole hive sideways (comb frame to frame instead of with the frame)
Building comb sideways is a sign of little or no wax on the foundation. If foundation is in a colony very long without being drawn out the bees will strip all wax off and it helps to re-wax it. We only put wax on foundation that doesn't have any.
Do you always introduce a new mated queen in this scenario or also queen cells? You're probably concerned with a new queen laying much quicker than it would take a virgin queen to get in her rhythm?
At what point would you advise starting to buy sucrose in bulk to feed? I have no experience with this so also where would one look to buy bulk sucrose or should I make it in a 55 gallon drum and a sump pump to circulate as I’ve seen in some videos? Ty
Sucrose syrup needs to be used up before it ferments and it is also inclined to crystalize at certain temperatures. That's one of the reasons we make our own fresh. The time it takes to ferment depends on the temperature so it's different for each person.
Hi Bob, I know you very kindly respond to questions so my apologies for this one not being strictly on topic. During your recent chat with Kamon Reynolds and Ian Steppler you mentioned using the needle from a Victrola Phonograph to make the tiny holes in lids for slow feeding. I am trying to source them and have been told by the supplier that he suspects they are too soft (modern ones?) and that there are different "tones" i.e. sizes. What "tone" do you use? Many thanks in advance. So far a poor year weather-wise here in the north of Scotland.
We use the "Loud" needles and purchased them from Golden State Phonographs although I don't think it matters where you get them. We mount them in a hand held "Pin Vise" which can be found easily by searching online and set the depth for a very small hole. The needles are relatively cheap by the dozen and one needle lasts a long time. Good luck.
No, not yet. The reason is actually selfish on our part. We can sell all we have with pick up only so we miss all the challenges and problems that come with shipping.
@@bobbinnie9872Not at all selfish. Sometimes, it just isn't worth it to ship. I guess I'll just have to add your shop to my next cross-country road-trip to pick up a couple.
Do you know of issues from spraying Wheat crops and the affect on bees? Where I keep bees they put in wheat and sprayed a week or two ago. My bees are located close to the wheat. This past weekend I went back and the hives didn't look good at all.
Good morning Bob, it sounds like you are very happy with the Caucasian experience? I'm in Zone 3 Northern Wisconsin and I currently use carniolan but I would like to use some Caucasian as well. Just wanted to get your latest thinking on the Caucasians?
We like them a lot but like all races they have both their pros and cons. You might like a Carniolan and Caucasian mix in your area. Sue Cobey reported to me that she and others really likes that combo.
@Bob Binnie I plan to graft about three to four hundred Queen sells again this summer, so I will be using this caucasian Queen to graft from. Thank you very much Bob!
@@bobbinnie9872 I hate those things . They get into your private parts ,dig in and suck your blood ,and are very hard to remove. They also cause lime disease.
Hi, I see you are moving to Caucasians. Are you moving away from Carnies? I watch Kaymon and he is moving from Italians to Carnies to manage overbuilding of population when the flow slows down. I was thinking of doing the same thing. I have had a Russian/Italian mix for the last 5 years. Most of the stock in this area is Italian, so I’m not sure that i will be able to maintain stock without buying new queens every year.
Our current breeders that we graft from are Caucasian but I don't expect to ever be pure Caucasian which is OK. Our current mix has Caucasian, Carniolan and Italian but we are trying to have Caucasian as the dominant line.
Hello everyone, I am a new member here, I have a problem that I wanted to raise, maybe I can find someone to help me, I have an apiary consisting of 40 cells as in the video on my channel, and this year there is a severe drought in my area and there are no nearby pastures that help the bees, I've been feeding the bees since last fall, now I'm broke and don't have the money to continue supporting the hives as they face doom What I need is to get financial help so that I don't lose my project that I got as a result of 6 years of work🥺
Not sure why you are switching to Caucasians. I use Caucasians to keep the propolis and the calmness in my yards and in the bees i sell. I have never gotten a great honey crop from the F1 or the F2 daughters.
We use them for the same reasons you mentioned and we also get decent crops with them. They are not a great bee in hot climates though, but they seem to do well here.
When u find old queens, kill them, and replace with new mated queens, do you place any tape over candy to slow the release thus giving old pheromone time to dissipate?
Yes, and although I shared that in one video I probably should have shown it again in this one. We use cheap masking tape, not the more expensive blue painters tape, and put a very small hole in it, possibly with a frame nail, so the bees realize that there is candy on the other side. Introduction takes at least an extra day or more with this.
Great camera work, thanks Bob for sharing your experience!!
I have all new red dot queens except for 2. Yellow dot and a white dot. White dot is still killing it. I have 6 supers on her. No swarms this year thanks to you Bob. You have taught me to be a better beekeeper. Thanks for your knowledge sharing Bob and crew.
Just got done watching kamons live chat with you and Ian. Hope you have a great day.
Jody from Michigan
Thank you. That chat was fun.
Great video Bob. I admire your knowledge and creativity in beekeeping.
A new queen is the start of the new year.
Great as always! Tough spring here in the Balkans. Our main source of nectar passes in the rain. The weather has improved in recent days, but the wind is causing a lot of problems. Greetings from Serbia.
Greetings to Serbia.
We spoke last season in the comments on the privet, but we truly count on ours for growth leading to the main flow which somewhat keeps us from having to feed. But I usually get a harvest and I have customers that look for it. They love it. To floral tasting for me. We’ve not had a substantial privet bloom two years running. Always beautiful country up there. Love my North Georgia visits.
Wow what a challenge with undesirable honey. I am glad a live in Iowa, and I don't think we have any undesirable honey over here.
Locust blooms in Romania it’s gold for bee and beekeepers
So my new hive is 3 high 2 boxes of brood and they are packing in fruit tree carrigana lilac dandilion
But the pollen has slowed .
I put it near to my rock house which which heats during the day and helps keep them warm in the evening when it re radiates the heat and fastened a dark brown sheet of plywood to the south side to collect heat and put a heating pad in above the bottom for the cold nights and some cold days . I have a month before our main nectar flow
Now its got empty swarm cells and a supercedure cell
I need to find queens or cells to split it .
I need at least 4 to winter it in Saskatchewan .
Your videos are very informational and keep me motivated .
Thanks
Thanks for sharing Bob
Thx4share interesting content Bob👍
The comb was yellow and the jar of honey was too .
It had a nice flavor 🎉
Great Job!
Enjoyed, that scenery is beautiful!
Thanks, we feel lucky to live here.
Thx for your time !
I'm in southwest New Jersey, about 10 miles south of Philadelphia. It's neat to see where you are in the honey flow vs us. It's closer than I imagined, tulip poplar is still going strong, black locust is done, blackberries are still going but slowing. One of our big flows where I am is the American Holly tree; they are just finishing up.
How is the honey from the American Holley?
@@froghairfarm really good. I used to try and harvest before the privet flow but learned as Bob did that the bitter privet taste goes away eventually. I actually had a bucket of it to throw away. I forgot about it, left it outside for a year, and the following year, opened the lid and took a taste. It was pretty good lol.
@@markridgemr thanks for the note. I was hesitant to plant any but I think I’ll add a couple
I really appreciate listening to you talk about all the different flavours of honey. I would love to see you do a video in the future describing how you learnt all the different tastes, and perhaps you could give us some tips, and how to identify the different flavors.
If you happen to go to his store ,he has samples to try before you buy.
Sometimes it sounds like I'm an expert on honey but all I'm actually good with is the varieties I work with. However, I have a friend that actually is an expert and perhaps I'll ask him to help with a video. 👍
@@bobbinnie9872 That red honey looked like it was something special.
I'd be interested in the same thing but also info on blending different honey's, what goes with what, why, and what ratios. Thanks Bob.
@@bobbinnie9872 That would be great.
Thanks for yet another great video, always so informative and relaxing to watch. I’m a Micky mouse sideliner/hobbyist with only 60 colonies here in the uk. We’re going back to Caucasians next year, think they’re really great👍
60 colonies is no small chore.👍
Bob explaining my beekeeping woes once those average bee genetics get into the apiary I seem to struggle getting it out .
Ha Bob so good to see u on here, Your videos are great I watched u on the live chat with Kamon and Ian as well, u talked about push in cages, was one of the ways that u introduced queens, and that u make your own, I have bought some but they are junk do you cell the punch in cages as well at the store. I got me a new place to live in 2017 and I had just a little bit of a front yard so I planted 2 fast.
Hi Frances. We don't sell them even though they would probably sell good.
Good morning from Connecticut, Mr. Binne, all 12 nucs doing well, split already and supered up!
Great news. Thanks.
Bob, great video as always! This year's swarm season seems to have lasted forever. I had to make splits again this weekend because I was finding capped swarm cells with some of them emerging. It seems that this intermittent weather pattern keeps the bees locked down just long enough for them to think about swarming again.
Same here
Good morning Bob!
Good morning sir.
great, your hives are different from our hives
Hello Bob. I'm scheduled to pick queens on July 1st. I really like the ones I got from you last year. I'll let you know how it goes. I also always enjoy the trip down.
Thanks Mark. See you then.
Gosh I was bored last night and could not sleep. You tube was slim pickings so I settled for some old John Travolta dance scenes thinking tomorrow a new video from you Bob. Something to look forward too at least and drifted off to sleep Only I had dreams of your crew dancing around the bee yard to Staying Alive. 😵💫 Gosh it's good it see normal bee keeping here today.
They'll have fun hearing this! 😂
👏👏👏
Got my coffee waiting on 6:00 😂
Hi Nathan, you are an early riser! I'm diving in to the EFB question your friend had and hope to share the most recent information on that problem soon.
@@bobbinnie9872 I appreciate it! Thanks for the help on that question, sounded like they’re at wits end.
Privet getting better over time is interesting... Basswood is the opposite, after a year the mint flavor is gone :(
Finding queen is something I still have difficulty with, some of my queens I have never seen but they're there, doing excellent work.
wish i lived closer, all those queens youre pinching i'd come thru and take them off your hands for you!
My niece sent me golden rod honey in the comb and jar last year it was amazing .
I hope she sends more this year
Golden Rod is very unique. We don't get much here.
My mentor said goldenrod honey taste like dirty socks.
Id have to take his word for it .
I have no point of reference ive never tasted dirty socks 🤣
👍💪🤗💝
👍
Hi Bob. Thanks for sharing all of your experience and wisdom. I have an unrelated question to this video. Q. Do honeybees collect nectar/pollen from tobacco? I am pretty certain the crop management strategies to not favor honeybees with all of the spraying that is currently used. However, 50-100 years ago (not that you're that old) but was it ever a good source for bees. Did they make a honey off it?
I honestly don't know if bees collect anything from tobacco. I've wondered that myself when seeing it in bloom.
Ivy honey tastes better with time.
Sorry to keep asking unrelated questions. Q: Just how does pollen patty aid the queen in brood production? Does she eat some, or is she fed some, or is it the overall vibe the colony has to good nutrition that makes her respond? What is the journey of the patty?
Pollen supplement patties are consumed by the workers bees that produce food for the queen and are not consumed directly by queens as far as I know.
Watched the live stream last night, i normally dont cause the length but i liked it and stayed tuned into it. I know you know people would buy those year old queens, is it not worth the hassel? Anyway i like learning from your videos and keep them coming.
You were up late like me! The best queens are already spoken for.
We are definitely new(bees) to having bees. We only have six hives. We started off with Saskatraz Bees and are very happy with them. We requeen every three years. Should we be requeening more often? Thank You VERY much for sharing your knowledge as well as expertise in being a responsible Beekeeper!
We often say that we try to get every colony requeened every year but we don't always get them all. I notice less production and a lower percentage of overwintering success with queens that are over two years old. Up to two years old isn't too bad but after two it is very noticeable.
@@bobbinnie9872 Thank You very much for your response. More to think about and of course learning on this never ending journey!
Hey Bob, great video! Question for you. So, when you requeen a hive in April or May do you let her go all the way through to the next year and then requeen the following summer heading into fall?
We will let these queens go through until next year but at this point there's no telling what time of year they will be replaced.
Thanks for the interesting videos !
If you use pollen traps will they also knock varoa mites off the bees as they squeeze thru the screen
It would seem like it but I honestly don't know for sure.
Would love to see a video of moving your hives
ua-cam.com/video/5gTlAg41DV0/v-deo.html and ua-cam.com/video/C3aACmGOh5o/v-deo.html
Thanks Bob for another Sunday morning coffee and bee video, how many years do you let them build their own cell before you put in your own queen or do you. With 44 hives in one yard does it matter with that many drones or do you need to change out the queen genetics
every few years.
A very good question that is often ignored. Bringing outside genetics in to a yard that is requeening itself with itself is an important practice. If you are bringing in new queens or cells for at least a good percentage of the colonies each year I think it's adequate. I would avoid going more than two or three years without some new blood.
@@bobbinnie9872 That makes total sense to me. Thanks for the reply. I have often wondered how much of the temperament comes from the drones.
I have two feral hives that I cutout and am thinking about pinching the Queens and going with Caucasians thinking around end of June or mid July that's if I can find queens that late, don't want to mess with them during the flow. What are your thoughts.
@@dennisbarney869 Acceptance tends to be better during a nectar flow but if things go wrong it could effect production a bit.
@@bobbinnie9872 Thanks.
Howdy Bob... have you ever considered selling your last year's queens instead of pinching them? I hear Bob Binnie queens are highly sought after and we could use the genetics in AZ. 11:35 - amazing pattern. Cheers!
The best ones are often given to friends.
Bob, have you ever considered doing a video on crops to stay away from with regards to apiary placement?
It would make a good video but there are so many I don't know much about.
@bobbinnie9872 the sum of what you do know, I think, would be considerably more than most of us out there.
Thanks for the videos, very informative. Regarding leaving 2 cells when you make a split. I have noticed this season swarming from the queenles colonies? They seem to be making a lot of emergency cells and as virgins hatch they are taking off. Do you recommend going back in day 7 or so and knocking down all their emergency cells?
That would certainly work and would worth the time if you can do it. When we leave only two cells we see a lot less of this.
@@bobbinnie9872 Thank you for your time.
I live in the mountains in VA and there is quite a lot of mountain laurel blooming right now. Should I be concerned? I heard the honey can make you sick.
Oddly enough it doesn't produce nectar in every location, even if it blooms well. It blooms all over our county but but we don't taste it everywhere. It will be simple to tell if you get it because the taste is really bad and it actually tastes toxic. The bees do fine with it so we leave it on the colonies.
Off-topic question, has anyone every used Fondant Sugar instead of granulated sugar for making syrup? According to the information that I have found the only difference is that it is a finer product.
i wish i was closer to you, i’d love to get some of the queens that you’re killing.
How do you prefer to get the bees off your frames when ready to harvest honey? I’m a backyard beekeeper and struggle with this. Should I use a fume board? Brush off bees as I can which takes forever?
Check out this video. ua-cam.com/video/6ldD3cNGung/v-deo.html
Bob, where could I get pure Carnis at? Well, pure as we can get here in the states. Excellent video again!
Thanks. We get breeders from Shibu Raj at tworivershoneybees.com. As far as purchasing production queens I don't know who to recommend.
@@bobbinnie9872 ah okay, I thought I seen a video of you talking about getting some Carnis few years back off of a specific person. I was probably mistaken. Thanks Bob
Always enjoy your videos. Are you going 100% Caucasian or are you still using the Caucasian/Carniolan cross?
We're grafting from Caucasian with a touch of Carniolan breeder queens but I'm sure that we could never be 100% because of other beekeepers in our area which. This is fine because a little mixture is probably a good thing.
You've probably covered this elsewhere, but how to make and keep notes for all your colonies? As you mentioned in this video,when you kill a queen and come back later to introduce a new queen.
We keep a notebook that contains dates and information on the general work done in every apiary and we write specific notes for each colony on each lid with the same marker we use to mark queens.
I know another question
But you seem to have all the answers .Here it is
If you use drone frames could you uncap it and spin out the drones and mites instead of freezing it and making the bees go thru all the work of cleaning it up ??
I've never tried that but it might work on a fast spin. Try it and let us know.
@Len Turtle
@@bobbinnie9872
Cleaning that out of the extractor would be a nightmare
Never see any small hive beetles in your boxes
They don't really thrive in hard clay and rocky soil
We have a few. We see the most in late summer.
Bob do you do anything to manage them (hive beetles)?
@@stasnaza We try to keep our yards in as much sun as possible and avoid low ground that stays moist.
@@chasehamm4467 yes they do in my rocky clay soil
Hi Bob…question about bee jackets. Why do most of, if not all of, your crew wear non vented jackets? I would think with all the humidity, they would wear something that breaths. You also don’t wear a ventilated suit! How do you guys beat the heat? I’m in central CA and the summers get brutal even with a vented jacket.
We've all tried the vented and nobody likes them. Once we get wet with sweat they are only cooler if there is at least some breeze. Plus they are heavier and more expensive. Just personal preferences I guess.
I made a swarm cell split and the parent colony queen went with split, will she kill cell or still swarm from nuc?( also no cells were capped) thanks for your help Bob
If the queen and cells are moved to a different location many time that unit will abort their cells because they lose their field force, but not always.
@@bobbinnie9872 thank you, I did move 3 nucs with cells to a different location
Were you buy you mated queens from
At this time we're producing our own.
Bob, around 10:30 you mentioned switching to Caucasian bees. If you have mentioned this previously I must have missed it. I was under the impression that you were switching, (or had previously switched), to Carniolans? Can you please fill us in on the history and decision making process behind the changes in subspecies you are using? And if it's too much to type, I would love to see this covered in a future video.
We have had mainly Carniolan in the past but we have been making a switch. I'll try to talk about this more in the future. You might like our video "Introducing Caucasian Bees Into Our Apiary". ua-cam.com/video/eHKD94TW2p0/v-deo.html
@@bobbinnie9872 Ah Ok, I had watched your series of videos in March of 2021 when you visited Chris Werner in Florida. I was under the impression, perhaps mistakenly, that all he produced was Carniolans and he was your go to supplier for queens.
@@wadeturner2665 Chris is kind enough to produce queens for us from breeder queens we provide. We ship them to him in December. Of course these queens open mate with his outfit which is Italian and Carniolan. We use these queens from him for producing nucs and packages for sale in spring. We were already doing this at the time of those videos but I may not have explained it well.
Do we feed the bees when putting the honey
No, never.
I see you putting Only 8 ftames in the Supers.
That's correct. Once our comb is drawn out we convert it from ten frames to eight frames in a ten frame box with spacers.
do you roll additional wax on all of your new foundations? i seen a video you have of how to do it but all the frames you stick in doesn't necessarily look like they been rolled.. do you think its necessary? we have some hives where they build the whole hive sideways (comb frame to frame instead of with the frame)
Building comb sideways is a sign of little or no wax on the foundation. If foundation is in a colony very long without being drawn out the bees will strip all wax off and it helps to re-wax it. We only put wax on foundation that doesn't have any.
Do you always introduce a new mated queen in this scenario or also queen cells? You're probably concerned with a new queen laying much quicker than it would take a virgin queen to get in her rhythm?
We actually do both but you're right about timing. We're requeening with nucs or queens at this point in time.
At what point would you advise starting to buy sucrose in bulk to feed? I have no experience with this so also where would one look to buy bulk sucrose or should I make it in a 55 gallon drum and a sump pump to circulate as I’ve seen in some videos? Ty
Sucrose syrup needs to be used up before it ferments and it is also inclined to crystalize at certain temperatures. That's one of the reasons we make our own fresh. The time it takes to ferment depends on the temperature so it's different for each person.
SO you believe you should requeen each year?
Although it may not be the most efficient management strategy for everyone in our case I believe it pays off with better overwintering and production.
When you say 48hr cell, do you let the nuc go 48hrs without a queen before adding your cell?
Pretty sure the 48hr cell is 48hrs after the graft, in other words day old larvae have been put into the cell cups then into the builder for 48hrs.
We install the cells two days after grafting with 12 to 24 hour old larvae and have the nuc queenless overnight before installing.
hobby be keepers would buy a yr old queens, think about selling them cheap
What is the overwintering success with new queens vs old queens?
Definitely better with younger queens from the current calendar year.
@@bobbinnie9872 if only 25% of the queens live 12 months I guess the younger the better. 3-4 months with no chance for a virgin to mate in winter…
Hi Bob, I know you very kindly respond to questions so my apologies for this one not being strictly on topic. During your recent chat with Kamon Reynolds and Ian Steppler you mentioned using the needle from a Victrola Phonograph to make the tiny holes in lids for slow feeding. I am trying to source them and have been told by the supplier that he suspects they are too soft (modern ones?) and that there are different "tones" i.e. sizes. What "tone" do you use? Many thanks in advance. So far a poor year weather-wise here in the north of Scotland.
We use the "Loud" needles and purchased them from Golden State Phonographs although I don't think it matters where you get them. We mount them in a hand held "Pin Vise" which can be found easily by searching online and set the depth for a very small hole. The needles are relatively cheap by the dozen and one needle lasts a long time. Good luck.
@@bobbinnie9872 Much appreciated.
Looking good Mr. Binnie. Have you started selling your queens by mail yet?
No, not yet. The reason is actually selfish on our part. We can sell all we have with pick up only so we miss all the challenges and problems that come with shipping.
@@bobbinnie9872Not at all selfish. Sometimes, it just isn't worth it to ship. I guess I'll just have to add your shop to my next cross-country road-trip to pick up a couple.
Do you know of issues from spraying Wheat crops and the affect on bees? Where I keep bees they put in wheat and sprayed a week or two ago. My bees are located close to the wheat. This past weekend I went back and the hives didn't look good at all.
I honestly don't know if there are problems with wheat. I was around it some in south Georgia and didn't notice any issues.
Could you recommend your favorite smoker? Grateful.
We use the Dadant 4x10 smokers with the finger heat shield and guard.
@@bobbinnie9872 really! Seems like this one is used a lot. Thx!!!
Good morning Bob, it sounds like you are very happy with the Caucasian experience? I'm in Zone 3 Northern Wisconsin and I currently use carniolan but I would like to use some Caucasian as well. Just wanted to get your latest thinking on the Caucasians?
We like them a lot but like all races they have both their pros and cons. You might like a Carniolan and Caucasian mix in your area. Sue Cobey reported to me that she and others really likes that combo.
@Bob Binnie I plan to graft about three to four hundred Queen sells again this summer, so I will be using this caucasian Queen to graft from. Thank you very much Bob!
تربيت النحل تمتع بالحيه
Bob mukawinat khaltih bodil
Hey Bob. Once a virgin queen emerges who long is it before she flies on her mating flight? Grateful.
5 to 9 days.
@@bobbinnie9872 thx
Spring TiTi is nasty at first then gets better with age like privet.
Have you got problems with wood ticks?
We see ticks occasionally but I don't know if they are wood ticks.
@@bobbinnie9872 I hate those things . They get into your private parts ,dig in and suck your blood ,and are very hard to remove. They also cause lime disease.
Did Seth find the queen?!?!??
Yes he did after some searching.
Bob would you sell any of those “old queens” instead of killing them
Thanks, but I have currently have someone taking the good ones.
Hi, I see you are moving to Caucasians. Are you moving away from Carnies? I watch Kaymon and he is moving from Italians to Carnies to manage overbuilding of population when the flow slows down. I was thinking of doing the same thing. I have had a Russian/Italian mix for the last 5 years. Most of the stock in this area is Italian, so I’m not sure that i will be able to maintain stock without buying new queens every year.
Our current breeders that we graft from are Caucasian but I don't expect to ever be pure Caucasian which is OK. Our current mix has Caucasian, Carniolan and Italian but we are trying to have Caucasian as the dominant line.
Are you going to be selling Caucasian queens this summer?
We're selling a few. They are pick up at the store only and if you are interested call our store at 706 782 6722 and ask for Molly.
Hello everyone, I am a new member here, I have a problem that I wanted to raise, maybe I can find someone to help me, I have an apiary consisting of 40 cells as in the video on my channel, and this year there is a severe drought in my area and there are no nearby pastures that help the bees, I've been feeding the bees since last fall, now I'm broke and don't have the money to continue supporting the hives as they face doom
What I need is to get financial help so that I don't lose my project that I got as a result of 6 years of work🥺
Not sure why you are switching to Caucasians. I use Caucasians to keep the propolis and the calmness in my yards and in the bees i sell. I have never gotten a great honey crop from the F1 or the F2 daughters.
We use them for the same reasons you mentioned and we also get decent crops with them. They are not a great bee in hot climates though, but they seem to do well here.
why not sale some of those good queens at a reasonable price instead of destroying them.
I'm never sure how well they will last plus this may sound odd, but it's best for us if we don't take the time to deal with it.
Is this an UFO on your video? Some kind of a ball is floating in the air!
It's a ball to keep high wires from getting tangled in high winds.