Your comment about putting emerging bees in a split is so important. I've looked at doing this with package bees. I think that package bees are missing the nurse bees. so important in the development of larvae. If I knew where the package came from and it wasn't a threat of AFB I would put two frames (maybe one depending on weather) into the hive body the package was being installed. This way nurse bees are available for when the queen is released and starts laying. Maybe, starting the package on foundation. Allowing the bees to process the honey in their stomachs to draw wax will get rid of any AFB bacteria. Now add the frame of emerging brood and you have your nurse population. Just a thought.
I really do thank you all for the vidoes. It has really teach me alot. I'm so thankful we have people like you to take your time out and help us in bee keeping.
I love the look of a dark queen but they can be a real Bit** to pick out, especially when you're looking for a marked queen. I use an empty box or two rather than sitting frames upright on the ground and trying to dodge them, one slip can be a mess and lose a queen and brood. You're the first bee keeper I think I've ever seen that actually likes those frame feeders. I tried those when I first started into bee keeping and I hated them. The only feeders I've found that I like are the hive top bunt pan style feeders. They're just one more thing to have to take off the top but they don't drown bees and they don't eat up frame space in the hive, if I'm going to run ten frame equipment, I like to run ten frames rather than eight and a feeder that warps every which way.
Kamon, when we introduce newly mated queens to a split, I understand and appreciate why we prefer to do a slow-release. Though, I am interested to know how the queen receive water and food over this period time if she has not been accepted. Would you mind sharing the details of how many days defines a slow-release and how the queen receives her nutrition if not accepted over this period of time? I enjoy the videos and appreciate you assisting the rest of us in this journey. You and the fam have a great weekend:)
Lamont , beekeeper Keith Steele from Toongabbie , Australia, sorry 2020 hasn't been a good beekeeping year for you, our commercial brother's,in NSW especially also are feeling the hurt witn bush fires & drought, so chin up , you'll come good also Cheers Keith 😀
Great videos! Fast-moving education so it’s not repetitive & boring. Thank you! I used your suggestion of feeding sugar on paper to help a small colony. Excellent! I did, however, knead some of my own honey + water into it. First class outcome for 2 years. We send love to you and Laurel. (Love to hear her giggle!) Please stay safe & sound.
Kamon, please do a video where u check a split everyday from the queen cell to the capped queen cell to the thinning and then hatching, time-line on the quees fighting or destroying each others caccoon. And then mating flights. Check everyday for dead drones and queen presence until eggs show up.. thanks. It'd be really cool to see a timeline like this.
Yeah it happens to alot. However, you do have to be careful. Keeping the beetles low and keeping your colonies strong is the best way to feed patties. Making the patties smaller can be helpful also
That looks like it will be a great colony if they accept the queen, look forward to seeing the results. Man you have a lot of Hive beetles, time to get some chickens and not cats. The Chickens will not tear your favourite shirts up on your back LOL....
what would you recommend to a new bee keeper when they say "what do you think about those flow hives? i been seeing those adds on your vids and just wondered if you would recommend those to a new bee keeper. because the add made it look like a very easy way to keep bees safe when it comes to honey extraction not to mention how much cheaper it is to not have to buy all that expensive equipment and the time saved just to extract the honey from the frames. Now im not so thoughtless that i would think its good practice to just trust that the bees are queen right and that she is a good queen laying a good pattern keeping the hive strong with lots of healthy bees and so i would think that even a flow hive would need to be tore apart and inspected thus defeating the premise that a flow hive makes it so you dont have to "rip the hive apart" as they say in the add stressing all the bees. surely even a flow hive is susceptible to a poor queen and will need to be "fixed" as you say in your videos. a new bee keeper would not have enough experience to "know" what to do and do it. so i really do appreciate all your videos so much because they are always packed with lots of great tips and information that im sure greatly helps all the new bee keepers to learn what to do and many different ways to keep their hives strong and healthy. like you always say "great queens, dead mites, good nutrition". so a flow hive to me seems to only be a benefit when its time to extract honey from the supers but given the cost of a flow hive doesn't seem financially doable. over here in the country where they are made they are well over a thousand dollars for one complete flow hive set up. so someone with next to no money for a flow hive would have to go the traditional way of bee keeping. having no memory of you ever installing and trying one out i suspect you are against them but just wanted to get your take on them.
Awesome videos man! I’m a new beekeeper and have learned tremendously from your videos. By the way where can I’m buy a veil like yours? Very awesome!🤙😊
Thank you a lot for the video. It is very informative. I had pure black drones around the hive a while back which must had mated with my queen. Most my bees are black or dark with lighter stripes or gray stripes. How far are you from Ashville TN.
@@kamonreynolds I am about 1 hour away from Ashville, but I am in Hickory North Carolina. Thanks for the videos and the time you all spend to make them.
One of my hives that I checked yesterday has about 9 open queen cells with larvae in it. I have worker larvae in the hive and may be some eggs which I can not see well, but it indicates that the current queen is still active. I will go back to the hive to make sure that I have new larvae and maybe eggs since I could not find the queen yesterday. Should I just cut the queen cells out and toss them? One more thing. I do not have enough drawn frames, will bees draw wax foundation frames this time of the year because it looks like that my bees do very little. You make awesome videos.
I have a question about your top covers. Do you think the advantech should be painted/ sealed or not? Not sure how bold yours are, but they look like they're holding up very well. I just started to use them and really like them so far. Thanks for the videos.
@@kamonreynolds yeah man it's like the lotto with packages but you can always let the package get established and requeen from a reputable queen breeder the reason I'm asking is because I have two hives I know aren't going to make the winter and if I replace them with packages in the spring it will save me a little money unless the queens are sub par in that case it will cost me a bit more I'm wondering if it's worth the gamble. It's really only a 30$ difference either way but if the queens are bad I lose time. It's a bit of a quandary
Hey Kamon, I have a question that I need help with. I live in NYC and am starting a new hive this upcoming April. I have several appointments this week to meet with Garden owners to place my hive and have a question about sunlight. Some of these gardens are North Facing. My hive would be facing SouthWest in the garden, but still the garden itself is North Facing. So in the hot Spring and Summer, it would get shade in both the early morning and early evening, but during the days it would have full sun. Yet in the winter and late fall, it would only have reflective light and a lot of shade. Will this be ok for my bees? Thanks so much. I need the help with this. Brad
Honestly I am not a pro to northern overwintering techniques. I like the bees to get sun in the early morning to get them going as soon as possible. Make sure your bees are not getting the coldest winds blown into the entrance. There are things you can do to block these winds but again I am not an expert in this regard. Michael Palmer has some youtube videos which may help you. He lives in vermont
I see you moving bees all over the yards and talking about foragers going back home to hives that are obviously outside the boundaries of the 3 foot / 3 mile rule for moving bees. How lax is this rule in reality?
Please don't say queens prefer to move up. I've had horizontal hives for over 7 years and up to 8 of them along with my 6 Lang hives. Queens move across the hive as well as up and down. In cut outs along eves and on open air hives they draw comb across a branch. Bees will live in any shape space and queens move accordingly. Old school beliefs. Another well known beekeeper has said the same older statements and has been proven wrong my 100s of beekeepers over the past 20 years.
Given the choice of going up or down (not sideways) queens do prefer to go up with the warm currents of air. Very few keep bees in long hives. I am aware bees do very well in them when healthy. But the heat is locked in at a certain place consistently. Perhaps that is an advantage. I don't think it is inaccurate to say queens prefer to go up over down.
@@kamonreynolds There are 2 long Lang groups, a horizontal hive group and a few top bar hive groups with beekeepers using these hives for many years. I know quite a few in our 5 local bee clubs who started theirs several years ago and did classes at our major bee club which has grown so big it has split into 5 smaller groups who have filled meeting rooms to capacity every month here on the VA east coast. Others have made statements like yours and it makes other older beekeepers wonder why someone can be so popular with the new unknowing unchallenging new beekeepers . It's a belief, not a fact what direction bees wanna go. It's evident with those who are doing cutouts the bees don't care. Heck they'll make an open air hive along a tree branch or along the soffit area of a house with no issues at all. Bees Do Not Care about direction. They'll live anywhere. Check out the Swarms cutouts and Trap outs group too to learn more. There is no one way to keep bees and we shouldn't push our beliefs without knowing the facts first. Horizontal has been around for way too long as people have been look for ways to continue as they get older, those who cant lift and the handicapped who want to keep bees. Your doing a disservice to those basically saying they will fail because they don't or can't do vertical hives..
how is package vs nuc a fair thing? its like dropping two naked men in the woods, one with a knife, and the other with a 70 lb backpack full of survival gear...
Your comment about putting emerging bees in a split is so important. I've looked at doing this with package bees. I think that package bees are missing the nurse bees. so important in the development of larvae. If I knew where the package came from and it wasn't a threat of AFB I would put two frames (maybe one depending on weather) into the hive body the package was being installed. This way nurse bees are available for when the queen is released and starts laying.
Maybe, starting the package on foundation. Allowing the bees to process the honey in their stomachs to draw wax will get rid of any AFB bacteria. Now add the frame of emerging brood and you have your nurse population.
Just a thought.
I really do thank you all for the vidoes. It has really teach me alot. I'm so thankful we have people like you to take your time out and help us in bee keeping.
Kamon: You’re a terrific beekeeper. Great videos. It’s fun to go through hives with you and Laurel. 👍🏻🍻
If I had a dime for every time I went into the hive not needing to see the queen and finding her right away versus needing to find her and can’t. lol
^^
You ar not alone. Lol
Awesome video, so much information and clarity of reasoning! Thank you so much for the knowledge and understanding you are willing to give away!
You're welcome! We hope it helps your bees stay alive and put honey on your table! 😉 -Laurel
Enjoy your videos. It was nice to meet ya at Bee Expo. 😊
Early morning video with coffee.
Great video Kamon & Laurel. And thanks to your assistant Dustin. Great stuff.
I love the look of a dark queen but they can be a real Bit** to pick out, especially when you're looking for a marked queen. I use an empty box or two rather than sitting frames upright on the ground and trying to dodge them, one slip can be a mess and lose a queen and brood.
You're the first bee keeper I think I've ever seen that actually likes those frame feeders. I tried those when I first started into bee keeping and I hated them. The only feeders I've found that I like are the hive top bunt pan style feeders. They're just one more thing to have to take off the top but they don't drown bees and they don't eat up frame space in the hive, if I'm going to run ten frame equipment, I like to run ten frames rather than eight and a feeder that warps every which way.
Kamon, when we introduce newly mated queens to a split, I understand and appreciate why we prefer to do a slow-release. Though, I am interested to know how the queen receive water and food over this period time if she has not been accepted. Would you mind sharing the details of how many days defines a slow-release and how the queen receives her nutrition if not accepted over this period of time? I enjoy the videos and appreciate you assisting the rest of us in this journey. You and the fam have a great weekend:)
have watched both of the split videos now great info again thanks
Lamont , beekeeper Keith Steele from Toongabbie , Australia, sorry 2020 hasn't been a good beekeeping year for you, our commercial brother's,in NSW especially also are feeling the hurt witn bush fires & drought, so chin up , you'll come good also Cheers Keith 😀
Great videos!
Fast-moving education so it’s not repetitive & boring.
Thank you!
I used your suggestion of feeding sugar on paper to help a small colony.
Excellent!
I did, however, knead some of my own honey + water into it.
First class outcome for 2 years.
We send love to you and Laurel.
(Love to hear her giggle!)
Please stay safe & sound.
Awesome video. thanx so much
"You dont have the old ones whining about a new [queen]!"🤣🤣
Those cranky worker bees...
Get off of my comb!
Thanks!
Thanks so much for supporting us lbheller! Happy Beekeeping!
Great video! Thanks
Some days are diamonds and some days are rocks finding queens
Munibungbee King Tom Petty fan...
Kamon, please do a video where u check a split everyday from the queen cell to the capped queen cell to the thinning and then hatching, time-line on the quees fighting or destroying each others caccoon. And then mating flights. Check everyday for dead drones and queen presence until eggs show up.. thanks. It'd be really cool to see a timeline like this.
Thank you for the video
Hey hey
I saw the queen up top and it was one you put on ground to shake. you can see her at 5:10 on the top box. Just left of center.
You should do a drawing for one of your queens. I know I need some good ones.
👍
Thanks !!
Nice split!
I'm one of those new beekeepers who've been told I can't feed pollen patties to my bees because of small hive beetles! Dang it!
Yeah it happens to alot. However, you do have to be careful. Keeping the beetles low and keeping your colonies strong is the best way to feed patties. Making the patties smaller can be helpful also
Great camera operator
That looks like it will be a great colony if they accept the queen, look forward to seeing the results. Man you have a lot of Hive beetles, time to get some chickens and not cats. The Chickens will not tear your favourite shirts up on your back LOL....
what would you recommend to a new bee keeper when they say "what do you think about those flow hives? i been seeing those adds on your vids and just wondered if you would recommend those to a new bee keeper. because the add made it look like a very easy way to keep bees safe when it comes to honey extraction not to mention how much cheaper it is to not have to buy all that expensive equipment and the time saved just to extract the honey from the frames.
Now im not so thoughtless that i would think its good practice to just trust that the bees are queen right and that she is a good queen laying a good pattern keeping the hive strong with lots of healthy bees and so i would think that even a flow hive would need to be tore apart and inspected thus defeating the premise that a flow hive makes it so you dont have to "rip the hive apart" as they say in the add stressing all the bees. surely even a flow hive is susceptible to a poor queen and will need to be "fixed" as you say in your videos. a new bee keeper would not have enough experience to "know" what to do and do it. so i really do appreciate all your videos so much because they are always packed with lots of great tips and information that im sure greatly helps all the new bee keepers to learn what to do and many different ways to keep their hives strong and healthy. like you always say "great queens, dead mites, good nutrition". so a flow hive to me seems to only be a benefit when its time to extract honey from the supers but given the cost of a flow hive doesn't seem financially doable. over here in the country where they are made they are well over a thousand dollars for one complete flow hive set up. so someone with next to no money for a flow hive would have to go the traditional way of bee keeping. having no memory of you ever installing and trying one out i suspect you are against them but just wanted to get your take on them.
Awesome videos man! I’m a new beekeeper and have learned tremendously from your videos. By the way where can I’m buy a veil like yours? Very awesome!🤙😊
Thank you a lot for the video. It is very informative.
I had pure black drones around the hive a while back which must had mated with my queen.
Most my bees are black or dark with lighter stripes or gray stripes.
How far are you from Ashville TN.
2.5 hours or so
@@kamonreynolds
I am about 1 hour away from Ashville, but I am in Hickory North Carolina.
Thanks for the videos and the time you all spend to make them.
Show, parabéns
One of my hives that I checked yesterday has about 9 open queen cells with larvae in it.
I have worker larvae in the hive and may be some eggs which I can not see well, but it indicates that the current queen is still active. I will go back to the hive to make sure that I have new larvae and maybe eggs since I could not find the queen yesterday.
Should I just cut the queen cells out and toss them?
One more thing. I do not have enough drawn frames, will bees draw wax foundation frames this time of the year because it looks like that my bees do very little.
You make awesome videos.
How often would you say you get stung dealing with bees?
I have a question about your top covers. Do you think the advantech should be painted/ sealed or not? Not sure how bold yours are, but they look like they're holding up very well. I just started to use them and really like them so far. Thanks for the videos.
The need painted or sealed for sure. I am leaning towards PDX plywood on the lids.
I wonder how much better packages would fare if they had all drawn comb to start with?
Loads better but if the queen is no good it doesn't matter what you give her.!
@@kamonreynolds yeah man it's like the lotto with packages but you can always let the package get established and requeen from a reputable queen breeder the reason I'm asking is because I have two hives I know aren't going to make the winter and if I replace them with packages in the spring it will save me a little money unless the queens are sub par in that case it will cost me a bit more I'm wondering if it's worth the gamble. It's really only a 30$ difference either way but if the queens are bad I lose time. It's a bit of a quandary
I’m thinking of getting in hive feeders like you got and I was wondering if the bees just crawl down in there to get the sugar syrup or what
Hey Kamon, I have a question that I need help with. I live in NYC and am starting a new hive this upcoming April. I have several appointments this week to meet with Garden owners to place my hive and have a question about sunlight. Some of these gardens are North Facing. My hive would be facing SouthWest in the garden, but still the garden itself is North Facing.
So in the hot Spring and Summer, it would get shade in both the early morning and early evening, but during the days it would have full sun. Yet in the winter and late fall, it would only have reflective light and a lot of shade. Will this be ok for my bees? Thanks so much. I need the help with this. Brad
Honestly I am not a pro to northern overwintering techniques. I like the bees to get sun in the early morning to get them going as soon as possible. Make sure your bees are not getting the coldest winds blown into the entrance. There are things you can do to block these winds but again I am not an expert in this regard. Michael Palmer has some youtube videos which may help you. He lives in vermont
@@kamonreynolds thx.
Is it important or not using caps and ladders on frame feeders in your experience
How often can you split a hive?
what type of genetics are you working with?
Why don't you use a shaker box over the new box to shake the bees into the new box so just in case you miss the queen you catch her?
I thought she were on the third frame you taking out
I see you moving bees all over the yards and talking about foragers going back home to hives that are obviously outside the boundaries of the 3 foot / 3 mile rule for moving bees. How lax is this rule in reality?
Please don't say queens prefer to move up. I've had horizontal hives for over 7 years and up to 8 of them along with my 6 Lang hives. Queens move across the hive as well as up and down. In cut outs along eves and on open air hives they draw comb across a branch. Bees will live in any shape space and queens move accordingly. Old school beliefs. Another well known beekeeper has said the same older statements and has been proven wrong my 100s of beekeepers over the past 20 years.
Given the choice of going up or down (not sideways) queens do prefer to go up with the warm currents of air. Very few keep bees in long hives. I am aware bees do very well in them when healthy. But the heat is locked in at a certain place consistently. Perhaps that is an advantage. I don't think it is inaccurate to say queens prefer to go up over down.
@@kamonreynolds There are 2 long Lang groups, a horizontal hive group and a few top bar hive groups with beekeepers using these hives for many years. I know quite a few in our 5 local bee clubs who started theirs several years ago and did classes at our major bee club which has grown so big it has split into 5 smaller groups who have filled meeting rooms to capacity every month here on the VA east coast. Others have made statements like yours and it makes other older beekeepers wonder why someone can be so popular with the new unknowing unchallenging new beekeepers . It's a belief, not a fact what direction bees wanna go. It's evident with those who are doing cutouts the bees don't care. Heck they'll make an open air hive along a tree branch or along the soffit area of a house with no issues at all. Bees Do Not Care about direction. They'll live anywhere. Check out the Swarms cutouts and Trap outs group too to learn more. There is no one way to keep bees and we shouldn't push our beliefs without knowing the facts first. Horizontal has been around for way too long as people have been look for ways to continue as they get older, those who cant lift and the handicapped who want to keep bees. Your doing a disservice to those basically saying they will fail because they don't or can't do vertical hives..
Curious the only queens I have seen that dark are Russian is that the genealogy you have ?
That's curious, I've never seen a dark Russian queen...Dark queens I've seen (and have) are usually Carnies or Saskatraz lines.
These are primarily Carni.
Brent how do you like your Saskatraz bees? Getting a new queen this week and she’s Saskatraz.
Lost new hood already? Veil
how is package vs nuc a fair thing? its like dropping two naked men in the woods, one with a knife, and the other with a 70 lb backpack full of survival gear...