The VSH trait removes brood that they detect have mites or other issues. This may look like the pattern that you are seeing. I have some VSH queens and notice this also.
Great video! I see the same thing in my colonies. Empty cells scattered throughout my brood pattern that they are back filling with nectar. I was wondering the same thing as you.
Thanks for watching! These colonies ultimately crashed early winter and were a handful to keep balanced. We’ve moved on from VSH genetics but it was a great learning opportunity:)
I seen the same backfilled cells in all 4 colonies. Judging by the age of the nuc and the cappings, it doesn’t look like the cells were filled right after the last cycle hatched. Looks to me as though larvae was pulled then cell backfilled.
Thats the only paint marker I will use. I got a few of them and they have worked great. Ive heard other beekeepers have issues with other brands. When you find something good stick with it. Ive also seen some similar hygienic behavior from some of my colonies. Im going to look to those when im considering my genetics for queen rearing. They will go through the harbo assay and other assessments.
This is a normal looking pattern for VSH... By the end of the summer the pattern will be so “spotty” you will think something is wrong. All is normal... Over the winter they will they will eat all the back filled nectar/honey. Then next spring they will be reset with beautiful sheets of brood again and the process will repeat as they battle the mites. As for “too hygienic”... That’s your choice... You will have to make the choice to have a lower producing hygienic hive while not having to treat for mites Or larger production of bees/honey and continue to treat to kill the mites for them. Thanks for the great video!
It's not always bad larva although it could be. The bees will store water in that pattern to help with cooling the hive. My bird feeder has been busy with bees this last month. It's ridiculous hot here in Illinois. Great video!
I have a feral colony I took out of a porch column that has a very similar brood pattern. I was thinking I had a mite problem and had PMS. After several zero mite washes and a negative EFB test I chalked it up to being super hygienic. I have also noticed that this colony propolizes everything which I think is also a sign of hygienic behavior. I have since split this colony 3 times to promote this behavior.
I bought varroa sensitive nuc last year and had to replace dead queen within 4 weeks. I bought a hygenic queen to replace her and she didn't lay maybe 10 eggs then left or died. I gave up on the colony after that. I didn't have the money to keep tossing at it. So i got 2 new nucs in May this year. So far so good.
Any ideas why they died? I’m about to get several nucs of VSH x hygienic cross bees this next spring and I was wondering if you’d have any advice to prevent die-offs
@@NaturesImageFarmGregBurns 3rd year later and they are rocking right along. I quit using my long langstroth hive and only have bees in my layens hive. They are doing awesome.
@@grac0.082 use a layens hive to home them. You will never regret it. My bees have happy for almost 3 years, no treatment, no problem. Super fast and early build up of colony. Can't say enough about the layens hive.
Hello Greg, nice to meet you. Frederick Dunn, my friend, gave you a shoutout so I want to come see what you are up to. Where are you located and how many hive are you working with? I'm in NYC. The hit or miss open cells with hygienic queens could be nothing more than a new queen or first year queen. It most likely will clear up in the second year. With that said, I have seen that with my hygienic queen hive, because I do see them from time to tim removing what larva from the entrance. Oh, question. what's your reasoning behind choosing plastic foundation our natural drawn comb? Just curious. Great video.
Hi Brad! Thanks for checking us out! Take a look at our interview with Jeff Johnson. In that video I go into detail on the switch from wax to plastic. In short, the bees chose plastic in our trials.
@@bradgoliphant I really started getting away from natural drawn due to the constant aggravation of deep frames. As the business grew and time continued to grow shorter, cross wiring, cleaning up after and fooling with natural drawn comb just didn’t make any sense…especially once accepted the fact the bees were indeed NOT doing any better on natural drawn.
@@NaturesImageFarmGregBurns I appreciate you getting back with me Greg and can certainly see your points on choosing plastic foundation. And I guess for a commercial beekeeper or one that has over 20 hives where this could easy the production of things. For me though, having only three hives, yet have been beekeeping for over 15 years, natural drawn comb just seemed like the right choice. The only issue I have with plastic foundation is what I what I know, they all force to bees to build larger cells thus larger bees than they naturally would with natural drawn comb. Yet again, I support your decision and remain open minded about it in the future. I think if they made like a 4.5mm plastic cell frame I might try it. All the best.
@@bradgoliphant I appreciate your approach as well and wish you all the best. After 7 years and hundreds of colonies, the small cell road was one that never led to the results I had hoped for but hope it does for you.
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Where did you get the paint marker and tip size
You can order these Queen Marking Pens here:
www.naturesimagefarm.com/product/queen-marking-pen/
The VSH trait removes brood that they detect have mites or other issues. This may look like the pattern that you are seeing. I have some VSH queens and notice this also.
Great camera work. That’s some of the best macros of eggs and larvae. Thanks for the videos. Blessing
Thanks for watching and for the encouragement!
Great video! I see the same thing in my colonies. Empty cells scattered throughout my brood pattern that they are back filling with nectar. I was wondering the same thing as you.
Thanks for watching! These colonies ultimately crashed early winter and were a handful to keep balanced. We’ve moved on from VSH genetics but it was a great learning opportunity:)
Love the close up views of the eggs, larvae, etc etc. Curious if that is hygienic behavior.
I seen the same backfilled cells in all 4 colonies. Judging by the age of the nuc and the cappings, it doesn’t look like the cells were filled right after the last cycle hatched. Looks to me as though larvae was pulled then cell backfilled.
Thats the only paint marker I will use. I got a few of them and they have worked great. Ive heard other beekeepers have issues with other brands. When you find something good stick with it. Ive also seen some similar hygienic behavior from some of my colonies. Im going to look to those when im considering my genetics for queen rearing. They will go through the harbo assay and other assessments.
Hey Gregg, great video.
Yes, my VSH will pull larva out and put nectar in it.
They will also make inspection holes and reseal them.
I’m starting to see that as well. Thanks for the feedback!
This is a normal looking pattern for VSH... By the end of the summer the pattern will be so “spotty” you will think something is wrong. All is normal... Over the winter they will they will eat all the back filled nectar/honey. Then next spring they will be reset with beautiful sheets of brood again and the process will repeat as they battle the mites.
As for “too hygienic”... That’s your choice... You will have to make the choice to have a lower producing hygienic hive while not having to treat for mites Or larger production of bees/honey and continue to treat to kill the mites for them.
Thanks for the great video!
Thanks for the feedback on the VSH traits! I’ll be interested to see how these colonies progress.
Great video, well narrated.
Thanks for watching! I appreciate the feedback:)
That’s awesome thanks for the good videos! I’ve seen random nectar placements in a few of my hives!
The random larvae removal is what I’m going to keep an eye on…Mite wash to come!
What kind of bees I have Pol line got them late April. They are do great so far
Awesome video. Thank you
It's not always bad larva although it could be. The bees will store water in that pattern to help with cooling the hive. My bird feeder has been busy with bees this last month. It's ridiculous hot here in Illinois. Great video!
Good reminder! Thanks!
I have a feral colony I took out of a porch column that has a very similar brood pattern. I was thinking I had a mite problem and had PMS. After several zero mite washes and a negative EFB test I chalked it up to being super hygienic. I have also noticed that this colony propolizes everything which I think is also a sign of hygienic behavior. I have since split this colony 3 times to promote this behavior.
Great video! I’m interested in hearing what you find out about the hygienic behavior question you have. Really gentle bees too!
Thanks for watching! Looking forward to seeing how these colonies do!
Where did you get the VHS queen in this hive? My son is thinking about B Weaver/R Weavers.
Check out Cory Stevens. He’s producing tremendous hygienic bees and queens. He’s treatment free. I’ve bought 4 virgins from him this year
@@orangevw36 How do I contact him?
I bought varroa sensitive nuc last year and had to replace dead queen within 4 weeks. I bought a hygenic queen to replace her and she didn't lay maybe 10 eggs then left or died. I gave up on the colony after that. I didn't have the money to keep tossing at it. So i got 2 new nucs in May this year. So far so good.
Holy smokes!! That didn’t leave a good first impression. Hope your other nucs are doing good!
Any ideas why they died? I’m about to get several nucs of VSH x hygienic cross bees this next spring and I was wondering if you’d have any advice to prevent die-offs
Nasıl yetiştiriliyor bu vsh arıları seleksiyon ile
@@NaturesImageFarmGregBurns 3rd year later and they are rocking right along. I quit using my long langstroth hive and only have bees in my layens hive. They are doing awesome.
@@grac0.082 use a layens hive to home them. You will never regret it. My bees have happy for almost 3 years, no treatment, no problem. Super fast and early build up of colony. Can't say enough about the layens hive.
I forgot to ask, what size hole do you cut in the migratory cover to fit the plugs?
Hi there! 50mm using a forstner bit works great.
@@NaturesImageFarmGregBurns perfect, thanks for the quick reply!
And look at the landing board activity early in the day. You will often see pupae bits and pieces
Thanks for the heads up!
I don't know if anybody said it yet but you can hear the Queen
I say like many other. Yes it look like this in my VSH bees also here in Sweden.
Check on eggs, are they missing in some of the cells like the brood? could be your queen.
I’ll keep an eye out on that, thanks for the feedback!
Hello Greg, nice to meet you. Frederick Dunn, my friend, gave you a shoutout so I want to come see what you are up to. Where are you located and how many hive are you working with? I'm in NYC.
The hit or miss open cells with hygienic queens could be nothing more than a new queen or first year queen. It most likely will clear up in the second year. With that said, I have seen that with my hygienic queen hive, because I do see them from time to tim removing what larva from the entrance.
Oh, question. what's your reasoning behind choosing plastic foundation our natural drawn comb? Just curious. Great video.
Hi Brad! Thanks for checking us out!
Take a look at our interview with Jeff Johnson. In that video I go into detail on the switch from wax to plastic. In short, the bees chose plastic in our trials.
@@NaturesImageFarmGregBurns oh I was referring to natural drawn comb. I believe wax foundation is all contaminated. Thank. I’ll Ck out the video.
@@bradgoliphant I really started getting away from natural drawn due to the constant aggravation of deep frames. As the business grew and time continued to grow shorter, cross wiring, cleaning up after and fooling with natural drawn comb just didn’t make any sense…especially once accepted the fact the bees were indeed NOT doing any better on natural drawn.
@@NaturesImageFarmGregBurns I appreciate you getting back with me Greg and can certainly see your points on choosing plastic foundation. And I guess for a commercial beekeeper or one that has over 20 hives where this could easy the production of things.
For me though, having only three hives, yet have been beekeeping for over 15 years, natural drawn comb just seemed like the right choice. The only issue I have with plastic foundation is what I what I know, they all force to bees to build larger cells thus larger bees than they naturally would with natural drawn comb. Yet again, I support your decision and remain open minded about it in the future. I think if they made like a 4.5mm plastic cell frame I might try it. All the best.
@@bradgoliphant I appreciate your approach as well and wish you all the best. After 7 years and hundreds of colonies, the small cell road was one that never led to the results I had hoped for but hope it does for you.
I breed for this trait. It is normal.
Thanks for the feedback. At what point do you feel they’re too hygienic?
@@NaturesImageFarmGregBurns When it decreases their ability to add weight to the colony. Less bees means less foragers.
Inbreeding