When trying to find the queen fails... BRUTE FORCE! and dump all the bees in the split :) that's actually a pretty good way of ensuring the queen gets moved.
Looking good Bruce! it's game on down here, One of my hives is exploding with bees, and brining in so much Pollen from our pine trees, Everywhere in the pine trees, on top of our cars, our house there is pollen, The bees love it. Good stuff Bruce!
I have 6 bee colonies in apimaye hives. This was my first time overwintering up here in Massachusetts. Every hive thrived! It's like they didn't touch the honey at all.
Wow, bees everywhere. We had -17 F yesterday with a high of 3 F here in MN. The hive that had a count of 6 mites, with all that brood, is probably loaded with a high mite count. I would OAV and Formic them also. A mite load of 6 in the fall maybe a threshold but in the spring with all that brood there is a ton of mites in there. Good luck keeping those bees out of the trees. LOL
Looking good Bruce. 🤔If they were super swarmy not sure I'd want to build off them. I am a fan of repeat OA treatments every 3 or 4 days with 3 or 4 applications. I look at it more as an ongoing war not a single battle, repeat OA artillery bombardment.🥳 Have a great day Bruce.
Thanks for watching. Yeah that first hive swarmed a lot last year I think but it is entirely possible I re-queened them. I am not great at keeping records. So far this year they done look to be swarmy.
Formic should work great for that high count. I find that it is very effective on hives with very high counts. One of mine went from 18 mites to 4 post treatment.
Awesome. I am pleased. They will still get you occasionally through those gloves but it is worth it to me and I don’t think it is any worse than the regular beekeeping gloves.
I'm interested in seeing your formic pro results! It was interesting to see one of your frames that was hard to get out was propolised to the walls. That frame must violate bee space, but it only appeared to be one so it wasn't the box. Thanks for sharing Bruce!
Awesome bees Bruce, hope you got her in that nuc, It's amazing how most of the hives very low to no mite count and the one had so many, Do you think it could be the genetics of that queen being that you treated them all the same, just thinking out loud to see what you think. Great video Bruce ❤👍👍👍
The biggest problem you now have is folks like me waiting to see how it all turns out. Now we need a part three. Living vicariously. Up here at my new home in Butte County Cal. it's way cold. The almond groves are shut down . Everything in bloom but too cold and rainy for the bees to fly. Snow too. I know you brought bees out here. I hope it was not in vain.
Packed house you have there, Bruce, looking at the privacy fence, do your neighbors love your bees as much as you do? I don't have any neighbors up close to me, but i do get comments.
If you managed to pull the queen in the nuck.. than its called (translated from my language) a split on the old queen. If you make a nucleus with swarm cells.. than we call it a split on the new queen
Nice and it’s crazy how the one hive is so busy and doing well but so full of mites. My great hive is as feisty as yours. Not sting happy but very defensive. What is your average low temps right now? I’m really needing to make a split with my good hive but I also don’t want to hinder potential honey production. I am looking to use one specific hive for honey production and the others for queen rearing needs. You look like things are going to be very busy this year.
It’s tough trying to figure out how to balance colony numbers and honey production while at the same time trying to keep the bees from swarming. It is definitely a challenge. Yes I am very busy. But I must like it or I wouldn’t keep growing lol.
@@brucesbees I want to grow too but it’s been a long couple years of lots of trial and error. Yeah it isn’t warm enough in central NC to split. Not unless it is a heavy split. We have gotten to 80 but60’s average still low 30’s some nights. You’re doing a great job! Thanks for the videos!
When trying to find the queen fails... BRUTE FORCE! and dump all the bees in the split :) that's actually a pretty good way of ensuring the queen gets moved.
Has worked for me many times before, though it is certainly unconventional.
Looking good Bruce! it's game on down here, One of my hives is exploding with bees, and brining in so much Pollen from our pine trees, Everywhere in the pine trees, on top of our cars, our house there is pollen, The bees love it. Good stuff Bruce!
Yes! Busy time of year. And it’s just getting started! Thanks for checking in Grayson!
I have 6 bee colonies in apimaye hives. This was my first time overwintering up here in Massachusetts. Every hive thrived! It's like they didn't touch the honey at all.
Hey that’s great! Good luck as you move into spring. Thanks for checking in!
Oh dang! I was watching rabbit videos and missed the live chat. Cool video!
Lol. It’s game on for sure. Breaking out splits today.
Wow, bees everywhere. We had -17 F yesterday with a high of 3 F here in MN.
The hive that had a count of 6 mites, with all that brood, is probably loaded with a high mite count. I would OAV and Formic them also. A mite load of 6 in the fall maybe a threshold but in the spring with all that brood there is a ton of mites in there. Good luck keeping those bees out of the trees. LOL
We are game on here. It’s crazy already!
Looking good Bruce. 🤔If they were super swarmy not sure I'd want to build off them.
I am a fan of repeat OA treatments every 3 or 4 days with 3 or 4 applications. I look at it more as an ongoing war not a single battle, repeat OA artillery bombardment.🥳 Have a great day Bruce.
Thanks for watching. Yeah that first hive swarmed a lot last year I think but it is entirely possible I re-queened them. I am not great at keeping records. So far this year they done look to be swarmy.
@@brucesbees Ya I'm not good ate records either.😁
Formic should work great for that high count. I find that it is very effective on hives with very high counts. One of mine went from 18 mites to 4 post treatment.
We will see. It makes me nervous but I feel better about it after talking to Tom.
Looking great Bruce! I can't wait to give those gloves you recommended a try. Good luck with the formic.
Awesome. I am pleased. They will still get you occasionally through those gloves but it is worth it to me and I don’t think it is any worse than the regular beekeeping gloves.
What kind of gloves are you referring to?
Here is a video about the gloves I use:
ua-cam.com/video/W_EzvT1iGWQ/v-deo.html
Good stuff! Did my own mite washes recently and found that it's definitely time for treatment
Yes. It’s important to assess. I have learned a lot since I have actually seeing what’s going on with the bees through testing. It can be eye opening.
I'm interested in seeing your formic pro results! It was interesting to see one of your frames that was hard to get out was propolised to the walls. That frame must violate bee space, but it only appeared to be one so it wasn't the box. Thanks for sharing Bruce!
Some bees also tend to propolize things down more than others. It is ok with me. Those often seem to be healthier bees.
Bruce, that hive looks like enough bees for 3 or 4 splits if you need more bees, wow!
Yep. Lots of bees everywhere! Hope they do ok.
Awesome bees Bruce, hope you got her in that nuc, It's amazing how most of the hives very low to no mite count and the one had so many, Do you think it could be the genetics of that queen being that you treated them all the same, just thinking out loud to see what you think. Great video Bruce ❤👍👍👍
Probably something to do with genetics. I really don’t know. Hitting them with Formic Pro now. Have never tried it before. We shall see if it works.
The biggest problem you now have is folks like me waiting to see how it all turns out. Now we need a part three. Living vicariously. Up here at my new home in Butte County Cal. it's way cold. The almond groves are shut down . Everything in bloom but too cold and rainy for the bees to fly. Snow too. I know you brought bees out here. I hope it was not in vain.
Yes I sent some to Williams. I hope they are ok.
Packed house you have there, Bruce, looking at the privacy fence, do your neighbors love your bees as much as you do? I don't have any neighbors up close to me, but i do get comments.
No real complaints from the neighbors. Most like the idea of having them nearby.
You guys are having record warmth and we have record whacky weather
I have been seeing pictures of beehives with snow on them in the almond orchards. Say it ain’t so!
Doesn’t always work out like we plan ahead of time huh. I’d think Formic should work, just hope the Queen has no issues.
Yep it seems to not goes as planned much of the time.
Is there a chance the original hive will still swarm, or dose taking the queen and giving them room prevent this.
Anything is possible but theoretically is should fix the problem.
If you managed to pull the queen in the nuck.. than its called (translated from my language) a split on the old queen. If you make a nucleus with swarm cells.. than we call it a split on the new queen
I like it!
Then last year I made a 4 way split on the new queens. Nice! Thanks for that.
Nice and it’s crazy how the one hive is so busy and doing well but so full of mites. My great hive is as feisty as yours. Not sting happy but very defensive. What is your average low temps right now? I’m really needing to make a split with my good hive but I also don’t want to hinder potential honey production. I am looking to use one specific hive for honey production and the others for queen rearing needs. You look like things are going to be very busy this year.
Highs in the low 80s and lows in the low 60s
It’s tough trying to figure out how to balance colony numbers and honey production while at the same time trying to keep the bees from swarming. It is definitely a challenge. Yes I am very busy. But I must like it or I wouldn’t keep growing lol.
@@brucesbees I want to grow too but it’s been a long couple years of lots of trial and error. Yeah it isn’t warm enough in central NC to split. Not unless it is a heavy split. We have gotten to 80 but60’s average still low 30’s some nights. You’re doing a great job! Thanks for the videos!
Thanks. I hope I am not doing things too soon. It certainly is a busy time for sure.
Bruce I’m almost positive I seen the queen at the 7:26 time half way down the frame/left side of tv screen. Anyone else see her?
I see a large bee there that is a drone. It has a large rounded rear end. Is that the one you are talking about?
🇱🇾🌻
Leaves on the trees already 😔 probably another month before buds even start opening up here.
Yes over the past couple of days we have some flowers beginning to bloom. We seem to be ahead of schedule.
Hello from balmy Nebraska. It may reach 40 today
Hello from Louisiana , we hit 85 and muggy yesterday.🥵
Gonna be nice and warm here. Won’t be long there though I’m sure.
Great video.
What is it you like best about the Caucasian-mix queens you have?
I have only had them since last July but so far my favorite thing about them is their attitude.
@@brucesbees oh I thought they were temperamental on your videos. Must have been a different type queen. Good to know.
No the Caucasians are calm.
@@brucesbees where did you get them if you don’t mind me asking? They are black bees right?
They are a Caucasian mix. I got them from Greg Burns at Nature’s Image Farm. Yes they are quite dark in color for the most part.