Nice explanation man, I don't fully understand yet but getting it and I have a knowledgeable guy like you helping me out with my bees and really just enjoy the whole mechanics of having bees, watching them and learning about them. Any honey will just be a bonus.
It makes sense as a whole, but some of the smaller managing details make me scratch my head sometimes, lol. I'm so new I just.. I don't know. I won't be splitting this year but I love this kind of hands on information. Great video!
I am Making a split with a mated queen. You have definitely put me on the right path. When moving queen right portion I plan to put in yard within 6 ft of queenless hive. You did not talk about moving any foragers with queen right hive so I am guessing she goes with just nurse bees. When moving for me queen right will be going to deep brood box and will be my new hive. Do I need to screen everyone in for 24 to 36 hrs or can I assume I will only have foragers once current nurse bees mature to foragers in queen right hive? Should I be taking some foragers with queen right hive and screening in for 24 hrs to prevent from going back to queenless hive in original location. Any methods on making foragers to re-orientate to new location so they do not go back home? Is the split just moving queen and nurse bees it appears that way to me in video. Great advice on time to wait before introducing the new queen. I seem to always come back to your channel to get the most effective and logical way to approach any question I may have. Yes I am a new bee keeper winter through with two hives want to expand.
Just discovered your videos a few days ago and subscribed. This is another interesting video, thanks! Got two packages last May and installed them in top bar hives. Both grew rapidly and seemed to do well last year, but unfortunately only one colony survived their first winter so - although they're not as strong as I'd like just yet - I'm trying to learn as much as I can about how/if we should do a split to refill the empty TBH.. We plan on adding horizontal long Langstroth hives in due course rather than TBHs since that style will allow us to use frames & nucs if we want while still avoiding all the heavy lifting etc. Blah blah blah... anyway... Have you ever tried TBH or horizontal long hives? The general principles of beekeeping seem pretty much the same no matter which type of hive, so I'm hoping you'll do a video of you fixing the "crazy comb" situation in due course, and particularly looking forward to seeing how you set up a new queen cell in that queenless hive.
I installed a queen 2 days ago. I had a peek hole setup so I could monitor it without disturbing the hive. Its been 2 days and she's still in the cage; meaning the bees haven't finished chewing threw the candy. (And yes there is no cork, verified.) I'm wondering if you should intervene if they aren't chewed through after a certain amount of time? And if so what you would suggest for the cutoff?
Yeah when i'm installing a queen I come back either 3 or 4 days later and manually release them. If you're worried about that you can speed the process up by shoving a nail through the candy. After a couple of days you'll be fine to do that.
The key is lots of broodless ( NO uncapped brood at all) nurse bees that are well fed in your queenless cell builder. After 5 days they are capped and a done deal.
I've just discovered your channel and LOVE IT. I'm also in West Michigan, we are in Grant (next to Newaygo), your woods look just like ours, lots of bracken ferns :). Where are you located and how do I get ahold of you to purchase a nuc/package of bees for next year?
Sarah Cleveland we are very close. I am just north of Hesperia. You should like us on Facebook and then you will see when we start preorders. Also the website is www.bkbees.com
I don't have an ordinary mindset in that regard. I set out nucs in August and September. Make sure they're healthy, have ample food stores in relation to colony size and have enough time to glue up the cracks. So, it's all dependent upon how much you want to do. If you don't mind feeding a lot, you can get away with splitting as late as September.
B&K Bees thanks for your insight! Going to make up a bunch of nucs for overwintering. No I don't mind doing a little extra work and feeding. Videos are great!! Thanks
Hi Brett! What happens if the queenless colony makes their own emergency cells? Will the virgin from the graft hatch and kill all the emergency cells? Will the the colony finish the emergency cells that they have started and then have a bunch of virgins running around and maybe throw virgin swarms?
Matthew : Hopelesslyqueenless arises by several means, and needs several options to resolve. 👀 Examples of why HQ'less happened... 1) Queen Died, 2) She Swarmed, 3) Emergency Cell didn't hatch, 4) Virgin didnt come back after Mating Flight, 5) Queen/Colony became Drone layers, 6) Beek did an Inspection, Mashed Queen without realising it. Solutions: 1) Died : Replace with a Bought Queen, a Queen Cell from another Colony, or give them Donor Eggs. 2) Swarmed : Check for Eggs, Larvae, None ? Do as above. 3) Didn't hatch : Give them a Donor Queen Cell (Protected) or Donor Eggs in a Frame. Or Grafts / Cell Punched Eggs in a Cell Builder Frame. 4) Virgin : United with another Colony with a Queen using Newspaper, Or means to raise their own Queen : Donor Eggs etc. 5) Drone : Try Donating Capped Brood to increase population and have pending Nurse Bees, add Eggs, or QC ! Some Drone laying Hives, get fixed in HQ mode, no matter what you do. If after trying donors etc, it remains so : Better to Shake out the whole Colony off the Frames, make them Homeless ! Let Foragers beg a home in another Hive... And add Comb to other Hives as a premade resource. 6) Mash : See if they can raise their own Queen : Are their age appropriate Eggs still ? Or Donor 'Eggs' on a Frame from your best Hive. Add a QC that is protected. No Queen is bad but not a Disaster* (unless it's eg very late Autumn, Winter or Very early Spring ! ) IF: No resources to Breed From : aka no Eggs, or Drones to mate a Virgin Queen. No Queens to Buy from a Breeder etc. * You can in an SoS situation : buy Queen "Phremone" Strips, to keep the Colony ticking over, until say Drones are available say late Spring, or if its a week or so before a Shipped Queen arrives. OR You can "unite" a HQ Hive on top of a "Queen Right" Hive, using a Double Screen Board, and a top (2nd) Entrance. The bottom Queen shares her Phremone, through the venting, stops the upper from going into Drone laying, and again gives you time to source a Queen, make it a separate Hive again. Or just unite both ! Get the Population, Eggs, Drones for Mating, sorted, then do a Walk Away Split ! (A Managed Artifical Swarm) : Where you the Beek "determine" how or who raises the needed Queen ! 😎 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝 Happy Beekeeping 2022. 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝 Hope this helps.... 😎 Best to have a Hive, AND a Spare ! Lose one, you can rebuild from another. Lose your one and only, and your Doomed! 😬 Make several Nucs, any that come through Winter, are 'Spare and Surplus' can be Sold on ! 😉
PS. Matthew: Usually the first Queen to hatch, Kills all her subsequent Sisters ! Unless.... you protect each Queen Cell in a Cell Cage. You take that Frame out, with two or so cells on it. And make a Split. You add said Frame into a Colony of Bees over a Queen Excluder, or a Double Sided 'Queen Excluder holding Frame' placed in an appropriate Colony. Thus raising a Queen, and keeping an original Queen apart, but as residents where no killing can take place ! 🤞
Great video, you answered my question, I split a Nuc yesterday tried giving them a Virgin yesterday left her in a cage for 24 hours and they rolled her. I was able to get her out and back into a cage. But with them having open larvae I believe you said it’s going to be a struggle . So I’m going to get it out and replace with brood what do you think?
Did your nuc have a queen, and you tried to give them a virgin right away? I think what happened was your bees weren't queenless for long enough. Try again tomorrow.
B&K Bees So I tried again after I shook out the hive, they killed another. Done! Went ahead and gave them eggs larvae and brood from a Saskatraz all star. See what they do now. They haven’t had a Queen for a few weeks. Thanks for the response B&K bee’s. Busy times right now. Do you build your own boxes and frames? I work full time busy busy!
@@scottpierson7495 Good move giving them brood. Some hives you just have to throw your hands in the air and say "fine, have it your way". I don't build anything, really, I am thinking of getting a saw so I can build lids and bottom boards, but for right now I get all of my equipment at www.crossapiary.com
I'm curious also if you think the carni genetics in the deeper north parts of the US, such as like where you are, are less watered down than areas in the south that get more italian genetics?
I don't put much stock into sub species or breeds in the US. Everything gets pretty diluted over here, the situations that arose in Europe to create these subspecies were LOTS of time and weird geographic separation, mountains, islands, that sort of thing. True, bees do attempt to mate at different heights, depending on their genes, but, regardless of how you do the math, our American bees are becoming more and more homogenized as time goes on. I don't think that's a bad thing at all, and I like to judge bees on a hive to hive basis, or, if looking from whom to purchase queens, based on the selection criteria and public reputation.
All of that being said, I'm not trying to claim Russians aren't different than Italians, just, I don't think there's a real geographic separation here, it's all about who buys what bees from whom, and who successfully keeps them alive in that area.
I do 3 frame splits all of the time. Two frame even, in June or July. Just make sure to feed them and have the goal of building them up into a full 10 framer by winter.
@@BKBees I have one other question for you but here is some background to help you answer if you have any advice. I keep having hives die over the winter with over 60lb of honey stores left in the hive come spring and enough numbers to leave two to three inches of bee carcasses in the bottom. I found evidence of them clustering and dying in place in at least six different locations within the hive. The hive was dry inside and no signs of seepage from snow fall. I found crumpled wings on two bees in August and treated for mites right away since I had not seen mites but have been told it was a sign they were there. Our winter was average with lowest temps being 10f and largely thawing out the last of the snow by March. They had plenty of pollen(4-5 frames) and tons of capped honey. No sign of foul brood, no chalk brood, no foul odor from the hive and it is protected from wind with morn and evening direct sun. They were feral queens honey bees(supposedly) So here is my question(I know it's not a lot of info) Is there anything else that I can do? What could I be doing wrong?
@@britanydavis8365 Your attempt at mite control was too little, too late. You can't rely on seeing mites visually, unless you're talking about an alcohol wash mite count. Seeing deformed wings, especially in August, means you let the mite load get out of control. My advice to you is, get serious about mite control. Do a mite assessment (alcohol wash) every month, treat if the mite load gets above 2%, and do a mite count a week or so after the treatment to verify it worked. At the very least, make sure your mites are in check before your winter bees are being reared. For me, that's August 15th. That doesn't mean let them go and get out of control and then treat in August, because, as you know, that is most likely a band-aid on a severed arm.
Why were you making it harder for yourself by introducing cells to a big hive. I have heard they are way less apt to accept cells. Why give to the nuc that will just be nurse bees.
We use cells to requeen all of the time. If the colony has had enough time and doesn't have cells of their own, and the cell you're introducing has a moving virgin in it, we see a very high success rate.
Nice explanation man, I don't fully understand yet but getting it and I have a knowledgeable guy like you helping me out with my bees and really just enjoy the whole mechanics of having bees, watching them and learning about them. Any honey will just be a bonus.
It makes sense as a whole, but some of the smaller managing details make me scratch my head sometimes, lol. I'm so new I just.. I don't know. I won't be splitting this year but I love this kind of hands on information. Great video!
I am Making a split with a mated queen. You have definitely put me on the right path. When moving queen right portion I plan to put in yard within 6 ft of queenless hive. You did not talk about moving any foragers with queen right hive so I am guessing she goes with just nurse bees. When moving for me queen right will be going to deep brood box and will be my new hive. Do I need to screen everyone in for 24 to 36 hrs or can I assume I will only have foragers once current nurse bees mature to foragers in queen right hive? Should I be taking some foragers with queen right hive and screening in for 24 hrs to prevent from going back to queenless hive in original location. Any methods on making foragers to re-orientate to new location so they do not go back home? Is the split just moving queen and nurse bees it appears that way to me in video. Great advice on time to wait before introducing the new queen. I seem to always come back to your channel to get the most effective and logical way to approach any question I may have. Yes I am a new bee keeper winter through with two hives want to expand.
great video! this is exactly what i was curious about ^_^ i feel more confident if i go to requeen that i might do it right
Cool man, I'm happy to have helped.
Just discovered your videos a few days ago and subscribed. This is another interesting video, thanks!
Got two packages last May and installed them in top bar hives. Both grew rapidly and seemed to do well last year, but unfortunately only one colony survived their first winter so - although they're not as strong as I'd like just yet - I'm trying to learn as much as I can about how/if we should do a split to refill the empty TBH..
We plan on adding horizontal long Langstroth hives in due course rather than TBHs since that style will allow us to use frames & nucs if we want while still avoiding all the heavy lifting etc. Blah blah blah... anyway...
Have you ever tried TBH or horizontal long hives? The general principles of beekeeping seem pretty much the same no matter which type of hive, so I'm hoping you'll do a video of you fixing the "crazy comb" situation in due course, and particularly looking forward to seeing how you set up a new queen cell in that queenless hive.
Some locals I mentor have horizontal langs. They're nice but impractical for what we are doing.
I installed a queen 2 days ago. I had a peek hole setup so I could monitor it without disturbing the hive. Its been 2 days and she's still in the cage; meaning the bees haven't finished chewing threw the candy. (And yes there is no cork, verified.)
I'm wondering if you should intervene if they aren't chewed through after a certain amount of time? And if so what you would suggest for the cutoff?
Yeah when i'm installing a queen I come back either 3 or 4 days later and manually release them. If you're worried about that you can speed the process up by shoving a nail through the candy. After a couple of days you'll be fine to do that.
Do you have a video on how to get so many queen cells to be made? I have tried a couple techniques with no luck. Love your videos!
The key is lots of broodless ( NO uncapped brood at all) nurse bees that are well fed in your queenless cell builder. After 5 days they are capped and a done deal.
@@woodchucktinman9893 Thanks for the tip I'll give that a shot this year.
I've just discovered your channel and LOVE IT. I'm also in West Michigan, we are in Grant (next to Newaygo), your woods look just like ours, lots of bracken ferns :). Where are you located and how do I get ahold of you to purchase a nuc/package of bees for next year?
Sarah Cleveland we are very close. I am just north of Hesperia. You should like us on Facebook and then you will see when we start preorders. Also the website is www.bkbees.com
B&K Bees, thank you! I will find you on Facebook :)
What's your thoughts on late season splits over here in NH?? What should be the cut off?
I don't have an ordinary mindset in that regard. I set out nucs in August and September. Make sure they're healthy, have ample food stores in relation to colony size and have enough time to glue up the cracks.
So, it's all dependent upon how much you want to do. If you don't mind feeding a lot, you can get away with splitting as late as September.
B&K Bees thanks for your insight! Going to make up a bunch of nucs for overwintering. No I don't mind doing a little extra work and feeding. Videos are great!! Thanks
How many hives are you running now and what are you trying to get up to this year?
We have 130 or so and want to finish with no less than 150. I'd also like to send a yard of nucs into winter, but we'll see as far as that goes.
Why did you need the queen excluder on the old hive that didn't have a queen in it? Did you put a queen cell in it? I missed that part if you did.
I didn't want to find another place for the honey frames.
@@BKBeesWhat kind of answer is that?😂
Hi Brett! What happens if the queenless colony makes their own emergency cells? Will the virgin from the graft hatch and kill all the emergency cells? Will the the colony finish the emergency cells that they have started and then have a bunch of virgins running around and maybe throw virgin swarms?
Matthew : Hopelesslyqueenless arises by several means, and needs several options to resolve. 👀
Examples of why HQ'less happened...
1) Queen Died, 2) She Swarmed, 3) Emergency Cell didn't hatch,
4) Virgin didnt come back after Mating Flight,
5) Queen/Colony became Drone layers, 6) Beek did an Inspection, Mashed Queen without realising it.
Solutions:
1) Died : Replace with a Bought Queen, a Queen Cell from another Colony, or give them Donor Eggs.
2) Swarmed : Check for Eggs, Larvae, None ? Do as above.
3) Didn't hatch : Give them a Donor Queen Cell (Protected) or Donor Eggs in a Frame. Or Grafts / Cell Punched Eggs in a Cell Builder Frame.
4) Virgin : United with another Colony with a Queen using Newspaper,
Or means to raise their own Queen : Donor Eggs etc.
5) Drone : Try Donating Capped Brood to increase population and have pending Nurse Bees, add Eggs, or QC ! Some Drone laying Hives, get fixed in HQ mode, no matter what you do. If after trying donors etc, it remains so : Better to Shake out the whole Colony off the Frames, make them Homeless !
Let Foragers beg a home in another Hive... And add Comb to other Hives as a premade resource.
6) Mash : See if they can raise their own Queen : Are their age appropriate Eggs still ? Or Donor 'Eggs' on a Frame from your best Hive. Add a QC that is protected.
No Queen is bad but not a Disaster* (unless it's eg very late Autumn, Winter or Very early Spring ! ) IF:
No resources to Breed From : aka no Eggs, or Drones to mate a Virgin
Queen. No Queens to Buy from a Breeder etc.
* You can in an SoS situation : buy Queen "Phremone" Strips, to keep the Colony ticking over, until say Drones are available say late Spring, or if its a week or so before a Shipped Queen arrives. OR You can "unite" a HQ Hive on top of a "Queen Right" Hive, using a Double Screen Board, and a top (2nd) Entrance. The bottom Queen shares her Phremone, through the venting, stops the upper from going into Drone laying, and again gives you time to source a Queen, make it a separate Hive again.
Or just unite both !
Get the Population, Eggs, Drones for Mating, sorted, then do a Walk Away Split ! (A Managed Artifical Swarm) :
Where you the Beek "determine" how or who raises the needed Queen ! 😎
🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
Happy Beekeeping 2022.
🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
Hope this helps.... 😎
Best to have a Hive, AND a Spare ! Lose one, you can rebuild from another. Lose your one and only, and your Doomed! 😬
Make several Nucs, any that come through Winter, are 'Spare and Surplus' can be Sold on ! 😉
PS. Matthew: Usually the first Queen to hatch, Kills all her subsequent Sisters ! Unless.... you protect each Queen Cell in a Cell Cage. You take that Frame out, with two or so cells on it. And make a Split. You add said Frame into a Colony of Bees over a Queen Excluder, or a Double Sided 'Queen Excluder holding Frame' placed in an appropriate Colony.
Thus raising a Queen, and keeping an original Queen apart, but as residents where no killing can take place !
🤞
Great video, you answered my question, I split a Nuc yesterday tried giving them a Virgin yesterday left her in a cage for 24 hours and they rolled her. I was able to get her out and back into a cage. But with them having open larvae I believe you said it’s going to be a struggle . So I’m going to get it out and replace with brood what do you think?
Did your nuc have a queen, and you tried to give them a virgin right away? I think what happened was your bees weren't queenless for long enough. Try again tomorrow.
B&K Bees So I tried again after I shook out the hive, they killed another. Done! Went ahead and gave them eggs larvae and brood from a Saskatraz all star. See what they do now. They haven’t had a Queen for a few weeks. Thanks for the response B&K bee’s. Busy times right now. Do you build your own boxes and frames? I work full time busy busy!
@@scottpierson7495 Good move giving them brood. Some hives you just have to throw your hands in the air and say "fine, have it your way".
I don't build anything, really, I am thinking of getting a saw so I can build lids and bottom boards, but for right now I get all of my equipment at www.crossapiary.com
B&K Bees thank you will check them out. Building equipment working bees and full time job is a lot take care.
Hi can I use Red river fig wood for making bee Hive Box
I don't see why not.
@@BKBees what you don't see?
To let anybody know that if you dont have any cell protectors around aluminum foil works great to make 1 in a pinch
I have never tried that but heard it works well.
I'm curious also if you think the carni genetics in the deeper north parts of the US, such as like where you are, are less watered down than areas in the south that get more italian genetics?
I don't put much stock into sub species or breeds in the US. Everything gets pretty diluted over here, the situations that arose in Europe to create these subspecies were LOTS of time and weird geographic separation, mountains, islands, that sort of thing. True, bees do attempt to mate at different heights, depending on their genes, but, regardless of how you do the math, our American bees are becoming more and more homogenized as time goes on. I don't think that's a bad thing at all, and I like to judge bees on a hive to hive basis, or, if looking from whom to purchase queens, based on the selection criteria and public reputation.
All of that being said, I'm not trying to claim Russians aren't different than Italians, just, I don't think there's a real geographic separation here, it's all about who buys what bees from whom, and who successfully keeps them alive in that area.
Have you ever done a 3 frame split and was it successful?
I do 3 frame splits all of the time. Two frame even, in June or July. Just make sure to feed them and have the goal of building them up into a full 10 framer by winter.
@@BKBees I have one other question for you but here is some background to help you answer if you have any advice.
I keep having hives die over the winter with over 60lb of honey stores left in the hive come spring and enough numbers to leave two to three inches of bee carcasses in the bottom. I found evidence of them clustering and dying in place in at least six different locations within the hive. The hive was dry inside and no signs of seepage from snow fall. I found crumpled wings on two bees in August and treated for mites right away since I had not seen mites but have been told it was a sign they were there. Our winter was average with lowest temps being 10f and largely thawing out the last of the snow by March. They had plenty of pollen(4-5 frames) and tons of capped honey. No sign of foul brood, no chalk brood, no foul odor from the hive and it is protected from wind with morn and evening direct sun. They were feral queens honey bees(supposedly)
So here is my question(I know it's not a lot of info)
Is there anything else that I can do? What could I be doing wrong?
@@britanydavis8365 Your attempt at mite control was too little, too late. You can't rely on seeing mites visually, unless you're talking about an alcohol wash mite count. Seeing deformed wings, especially in August, means you let the mite load get out of control.
My advice to you is, get serious about mite control. Do a mite assessment (alcohol wash) every month, treat if the mite load gets above 2%, and do a mite count a week or so after the treatment to verify it worked.
At the very least, make sure your mites are in check before your winter bees are being reared. For me, that's August 15th. That doesn't mean let them go and get out of control and then treat in August, because, as you know, that is most likely a band-aid on a severed arm.
And thank you for all the help
Still lost....
Why were you making it harder for yourself by introducing cells to a big hive. I have heard they are way less apt to accept cells. Why give to the nuc that will just be nurse bees.
We use cells to requeen all of the time. If the colony has had enough time and doesn't have cells of their own, and the cell you're introducing has a moving virgin in it, we see a very high success rate.
Thank you! I am making queens this year and information like this invaluable to me.