For the price they certainly cannot be beat! We are going to try about 50 this year. I am sure the foamies will still be of benefit here in our mild winters. Thanks again for the advice on the double bubbles lol
With just 8 frames in a 10F box, minus the 3/4” divider, seems there’s just enough spare space to add one sheet of FDB (foamy double bubble, lol) inside, along each side of the box, essentially a skinny dummy board, for better insulation. 2” block of styrofoam (XPS) on top of top cover; 2 1/2’ long 2x4 or same length of 6” wide plywood laid flush with rear, extending out front, tarp over that (5x7 about 2 bucks at Harbor Freight); with 4 bricks - one on top and others holding tarp to ground in back and on sides. Basically what I do to keep out the Portland rain and give better insulation; works well here, could be overkill there. Also, I’ve got good wind protection; windy site could need stakes or cinder blocks to anchor the tarp. Nutha nice vid!
Hi Kamon, Lowes carries the reflectix insulation - for us guys that have a few hives the 24"x25' is like $25 - www.lowes.com/pd/Reflectix-R-21-50-sq-ft-Unfaced-Reflective-Roll-Insulation-24-in-W-x-25-ft-L/3011904 you can get a bunch of inner covers out of that. You can get the 100' roll if you need more foamies as Ian calls them for like $74.. They also have it in 48" width. I may try a few next year being a noobie I only need a few lol
@@jpthedelawarebeeman6239 for what its worth. I buy it in the 16" width which may be a little more expensive. I don't have to cut it to width just the length. It fits perfectly on the top of the boxes and the bees seal it down around the edges.
I would like to see more beekeepers to use this method, I have my hives set to have at least 2 families inside and some hives with 3 families inside. I only see multiple advantages of this method: 1)are sharing the heat from one family to another since they are in one hive; 2)since the heat is shared you will have a low honey consumption over the winter; 3)this method is used especially for small families where the chance of passing the winter is low.
I use 4 over 4's .great resouce in multiple ways.no robbing from production hives quick build up.i use home made mini mating nucs .i let queens lay 3 weeks then graduate to a 4 over4.as she lays it up i add next box.great way to prove a queen. 🐝safe and keep your smoker lit! Konrad
I am from the same province as Ian S. it is called bubble wrap here. Not sure why either he uses the term foomies. Great videos! You do amazing at instructing your methods
I started using these 4 frame double nucs just this year. My main issue is getting the proper frame spacing between the 4 frames, and this allows the bees to build thicker comb that often attaches to the side of the box. This causes cross-comb problems.
Hey Karla I just noticed I didn't answer your question! Must have had my mind on another comment. You can purchased double nucs but many of them don't have a removal middle board and/or pricy. They do work very good. Here is some stuff made by betterbee www.betterbee.com/nuc-boxes/dnbody-divided-deep-for-nuc.asp
Why didn't you move the brood frames from each section over to sit next to the dividing board? Wouldn't that 1) have the clusters closer to each other (better heat sharing) and 2) utilize the honey/feed frames as insulation against the outside walls?
I agree kinda, but if you leave honey frame against a divider that is still the center of the brood nest because the two become one and if they move the honey it stimulates the flow and they brood heavier so maybe he's trying to get more brood..
Hey Kammon, if you are doing the double bubble thing on top, how do you have the hives ventilate? I can not see any vent holes for some air flow on the Hive? Is that because of your climate and they are not needed? Sorry if this is a repeated question. Cheers
I don't have upper entrances in my boxes. I am toying with the idea because there is some condensation build-up, but not enough to keep my bees from thriving. Bees in trees often just have one entrance so what do they do? My equipment is not airtight either so there is air flow. I am sure an upper entrance would be helpful for most though.
Great video as always. I keep several of these they work great, but you have to keep a close eye on them and remove brood frames about every 2 weeks or so. They build up so fast they will swarm. Good resource for making a lot of bees.
I don't see any ventilation on your double bubble. If I did that here at 48 degree lat my bees would last maybe a month after cold weather. I have to ventilate or my bees don't make it.
Question, had a really bad robbing situation about 10 days ago. Appears that two of my hives are now queenless. The new queens arrived today (6 days late). Our weather took an overnight turn and is now raining and in the 40’s until Thursday or Friday. Do I keep the queens indoors until then in their cage or what is the best way to handle this for the queens and colonies.
I am overwintering MP style double nucs this year as well. Are you doing anything for ventilation? I have heard MP state in many of his videos how ventilation is key to winter survival. I'm trying to figure out what to do for ventilation in the double nuc setup.
I put a 3/4 wide by 1/2 high notch in the feeder shim on the front of the colony. This lets air flow up the front of the hive, not so much through the bees. Air flows in bottom entrance up front of box and out the top entrance. Also gives bees exit in deep snow.
Kamon, good video as always. I'm curious. Say it was spring and you had this setup. Could you put a queen excluder on then a super, keeping the queens apart but not the workers. Would the workers start fighting and trying to kill the opposite queen or would everything smell "normal" to them since they're in such close proximity and the workers would intermingle? Again, just curious.
Ian Steppler does it on 400 nucs in Canada every year. His nuc boxes are 6 frames so he uses 2 regular deeps over (3) six frame nucs with 2 queen excluder.
Question, had a really bad robbing situation about 10 days ago. Appears that two of my hives are now queenless. The new queens arrived today (6 days late). Our weather took an overnight turn and is now raining and in the 40’s until Thursday or Friday. Do I keep the queens indoors until then in their cage or what is the best way to handle this for the queens and colonies.
Question, had a really bad robbing situation about 10 days ago. Appears that two of my hives are now queenless. The new queens arrived today (6 days late). Our weather took an overnight turn and is now raining and in the 40’s until Thursday or Friday. Do I keep the queens indoors until then in their cage or what is the best way to handle this for the queens and colonies.
Question, had a really bad robbing situation about 10 days ago. Appears that two of my hives are now queenless. The new queens arrived today (6 days late). Our weather took an overnight turn and is now raining and in the 40’s until Thursday or Friday. Do I keep the queens indoors until then in their cage or what is the best way to handle this for the queens and colonies.
Double bubble...!?!? LOL That name is just as bad as Foamies !?!?! LOL
ALL I KNOW is they work and they are cheap and that’s why I use them.
Cheers!
For the price they certainly cannot be beat! We are going to try about 50 this year. I am sure the foamies will still be of benefit here in our mild winters. Thanks again for the advice on the double bubbles lol
@@kamonreynolds All I can think of is, they have a thin foam core.
@@ThatBeeMan perhaps what I have is different I am not seeing a foam core??!!
@@kamonreynolds Perhaps. We're a long distance apart. That which I bought has a thin blue foam core.
It would make sense that what is used up in there would be heavier or at least you would have heavier duty options.
With just 8 frames in a 10F box, minus the 3/4” divider, seems there’s just enough spare space to add one sheet of FDB (foamy double bubble, lol) inside, along each side of the box, essentially a skinny dummy board, for better insulation. 2” block of styrofoam (XPS) on top of top cover; 2 1/2’ long 2x4 or same length of 6” wide plywood laid flush with rear, extending out front, tarp over that (5x7 about 2 bucks at Harbor Freight); with 4 bricks - one on top and others holding tarp to ground in back and on sides. Basically what I do to keep out the Portland rain and give better insulation; works well here, could be overkill there. Also, I’ve got good wind protection; windy site could need stakes or cinder blocks to anchor the tarp. Nutha nice vid!
Paul, could you put up a picture of your set up!???
Brood towards the middle, and feed to the outside. Bees don’t cluster on feed.
I do almost the same thing, but I have two dividers in a 10 frame, 3 frames each section. Use it to build queens. Keep the great info coming.
Thanks for this. Hopefully the queen made the trip to the new housing.
Really a nice video, Kamon. Michael Palmer would be proud of you.
Wow, thank you!
Hi Kamon, Lowes carries the reflectix insulation - for us guys that have a few hives the 24"x25' is like $25 - www.lowes.com/pd/Reflectix-R-21-50-sq-ft-Unfaced-Reflective-Roll-Insulation-24-in-W-x-25-ft-L/3011904 you can get a bunch of inner covers out of that. You can get the 100' roll if you need more foamies as Ian calls them for like $74.. They also have it in 48" width. I may try a few next year being a noobie I only need a few lol
Hey JP I was able to get a roll that is 48" by 25 feet for 44.75 here in TN just steal a section off the hot water heater!!!
That one is $38 near me, maybe I'll go with that its a better value. You're getting double the material for a little more $$$$
@@jpthedelawarebeeman6239 for what its worth. I buy it in the 16" width which may be a little more expensive. I don't have to cut it to width just the length. It fits perfectly on the top of the boxes and the bees seal it down around the edges.
I think that would be better than wintering 2 separate nucs.
RTR! Sure hope Tua is back for LSU!
Holy cow me too!!!
I would like to see more beekeepers to use this method, I have my hives set to have at least 2 families inside and some hives with 3 families inside.
I only see multiple advantages of this method:
1)are sharing the heat from one family to another since they are in one hive;
2)since the heat is shared you will have a low honey consumption over the winter;
3)this method is used especially for small families where the chance of passing the winter is low.
Thanks !!
Amazon:
Double Bubble Reflective Foil Insulation
I use 4 over 4's .great resouce in multiple ways.no robbing from production hives quick build up.i use home made mini mating nucs .i let queens lay 3 weeks then graduate to a 4 over4.as she lays it up i add next box.great way to prove a queen.
🐝safe and keep your smoker lit!
Konrad
Lol. I stared using the foamy this year and love them.
Will be interesting to see how it winter's over!
I use the same foamies on my hives year round here in Michigan. They help the bees keep the hive cooler in the summer too.
I am from the same province as Ian S. it is called bubble wrap here. Not sure why either he uses the term foomies. Great videos! You do amazing at instructing your methods
I started using these 4 frame double nucs just this year. My main issue is getting the proper frame spacing between the 4 frames, and this allows the bees to build thicker comb that often attaches to the side of the box. This causes cross-comb problems.
Just throw queen excluder on in the spring and med super make your honey then sell it off as nucs .
Nice system!
Ok folks, where do I get the doubles and the bottom board? If ever I need a good giggle I watch and rewatch Kamen’s videos.
Hi Karla, lowe's and home Depot have them and several local hardware stores.
Hey Karla I just noticed I didn't answer your question! Must have had my mind on another comment. You can purchased double nucs but many of them don't have a removal middle board and/or pricy. They do work very good. Here is some stuff made by betterbee www.betterbee.com/nuc-boxes/dnbody-divided-deep-for-nuc.asp
im in canada and havent heard it before called a foamy...i call it silver bubble wrap. hehehe
Why didn't you move the brood frames from each section over to sit next to the dividing board? Wouldn't that 1) have the clusters closer to each other (better heat sharing) and 2) utilize the honey/feed frames as insulation against the outside walls?
I agree kinda, but if you leave honey frame against a divider that is still the center of the brood nest because the two become one and if they move the honey it stimulates the flow and they brood heavier so maybe he's trying to get more brood..
Hey Kammon, if you are doing the double bubble thing on top, how do you have the hives ventilate? I can not see any vent holes for some air flow on the Hive? Is that because of your climate and they are not needed? Sorry if this is a repeated question. Cheers
I don't have upper entrances in my boxes. I am toying with the idea because there is some condensation build-up, but not enough to keep my bees from thriving. Bees in trees often just have one entrance so what do they do? My equipment is not airtight either so there is air flow. I am sure an upper entrance would be helpful for most though.
Go GATOR'S !!
How do you ‘tilt’ to allow for moisture drainage or do you have to rely on moisture boards as the entrances are on opposite sides?
Great video as always. I keep several of these they work great, but you have to keep a close eye on them and remove brood frames about every 2 weeks or so. They build up so fast they will swarm. Good resource for making a lot of bees.
Do you make your hives? I like the tops your using don't look like it warps.
Thanks for the videos
Hey scott Everything but the frames were made by us. The tops we use do warp a slight bit not much
Where does one get the bottom boards
Hi Karla I made the whole hive but the frames. A purchased bottom board can be tweaked a little to give the same results
I don't see any ventilation on your double bubble. If I did that here at 48 degree lat my bees would last maybe a month after cold weather. I have to ventilate or my bees don't make it.
Dbl Nucs Rock
Alabama 35 Tennessee 13 final.
Question, had a really bad robbing situation about 10 days ago. Appears that two of my hives are now queenless. The new queens arrived today (6 days late). Our weather took an overnight turn and is now raining and in the 40’s until Thursday or Friday. Do I keep the queens indoors until then in their cage or what is the best way to handle this for the queens and colonies.
Kamon....are you not worried that the aluminized bubble wrap is not moisture periable? No worries about condensation on the bottom side?
I will be addressing this very soon
I don't think Ian's has the foil.
I am overwintering MP style double nucs this year as well. Are you doing anything for ventilation? I have heard MP state in many of his videos how ventilation is key to winter survival. I'm trying to figure out what to do for ventilation in the double nuc setup.
I put a 3/4 wide by 1/2 high notch in the feeder shim on the front of the colony. This lets air flow up the front of the hive, not so much through the bees. Air flows in bottom entrance up front of box and out the top entrance. Also gives bees exit in deep snow.
Hi u should have cover the other side when u work on one ok. It's not a good idea to have both open in the same time
Kamon, good video as always. I'm curious. Say it was spring and you had this setup. Could you put a queen excluder on then a super, keeping the queens apart but not the workers. Would the workers start fighting and trying to kill the opposite queen or would everything smell "normal" to them since they're in such close proximity and the workers would intermingle? Again, just curious.
Ian Steppler does it on 400 nucs in Canada every year. His nuc boxes are 6 frames so he uses 2 regular deeps over (3) six frame nucs with 2 queen excluder.
Question, had a really bad robbing situation about 10 days ago. Appears that two of my hives are now queenless. The new queens arrived today (6 days late). Our weather took an overnight turn and is now raining and in the 40’s until Thursday or Friday. Do I keep the queens indoors until then in their cage or what is the best way to handle this for the queens and colonies.
Question, had a really bad robbing situation about 10 days ago. Appears that two of my hives are now queenless. The new queens arrived today (6 days late). Our weather took an overnight turn and is now raining and in the 40’s until Thursday or Friday. Do I keep the queens indoors until then in their cage or what is the best way to handle this for the queens and colonies.
Question, had a really bad robbing situation about 10 days ago. Appears that two of my hives are now queenless. The new queens arrived today (6 days late). Our weather took an overnight turn and is now raining and in the 40’s until Thursday or Friday. Do I keep the queens indoors until then in their cage or what is the best way to handle this for the queens and colonies.