Oh yeah. I didn’t lose a few that never got going even though I fed them like crazy. But a lot of them are doing well as you could see. And the attitude is good as well.
Bees are looking great Bruce. “From that point on, it’s game on”…..you ain’t kidding! Won’t be long. Did the same here. OAV the other day and fondant going on. Happy New Year!!
I can live through your videos for the next 3-4 months Bruce. Good stuff. Curious what results you'll see from the Hive Alive. Colonies are looking good. Cya soon.
Awesome!! Those Bees are Looking good Bruce, spring will be here before we know it :) was able to get in my bees finally on Christmas and they are looking pretty Good. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!
You probably know but for the ones that don't, I would move the green drone frame inward a couple spaces. On the outside edge, they are most likely to fill it with nectar come Spring. LOL I was going to suggest putting the one you pulled off the other on that single deep like you did.
Merry Christmas Bruce. Its gonna be around 7°c tomorrow hopefully so if all goes good, I'm going to be throwing some hivealive fondant on the top of them and hopefully theyll get through the rest of the winter
Great update. Bees are looking great! My bees are in NY, cold and cannot do inspections so enjoying bees vicariously through vids from you and my other favorites. I have a question though. I don't have small hive beetles in my apiary in NY, but I wondered if you might be giving the beetles another place to hide by folding over that flap on the hive alive. I like the idea of keeping the scraps connected to keep things neat, but take extra notice of that when removing, to answer that for us.
Ha Bruce real nice video, it is in the 20s here I get so bored not being able to get in them. I cant afford to buy the fondant so I have been making my own sort of I make the candy and put hive alive in it. They do like it. My bees eat the candy that I make for them and leave their honey. I put 10 lb on each hive I am on my 3rd feeding I am really going trough the sugar. They eat so much the fondant would just cost way to much. I am up to 43 hives now I would like 50 But just is not working out I got the equipment but the queens are not working out like I wish. I am going to try to graft again, It is bad when u cant see. I donot like dead outs either I wish I could have 1 year with complete survival. Anyway, I am glad your bees are doing so well and thanks for sharing the video. I hope u had a Merry Christmas. God Bless you and your family
Merry Christmas!! I am a firm believer in HiveAlive and second your opinion on it’s an absolute must 😁 Your video reminded me to treat for mites, will have to do it this weekend…. Thanks for sharing your thoughts
Yeah I went all in on the fondant this year. I have a hard time staying ahead of them with syrup. And don’t really want them to grow much right now anyway. Thanks for checking in!
It will be interesting to see mite counts in spring after treating with brood present. I was thinking Jennifer Berry's research found you need to treat every 3 to 4 days when brood is present to be effective?
Here is a video Greg put together of our interview with Cameron Jack where he talks about frequency of treatment. Hope this helps. ua-cam.com/video/HblIyjtRjAU/v-deo.htmlsi=rh4tLDFhexkj-8Rq
Good video. Can’t wait to get into our bees. We will be checking on our candy bored we put out. We have 8 hives for now. We think we have one dead out.
Yes they slow down when cold. The fondant does more to maintain than grow the bees I think. And I down use a lot o pollen sub as we have pollen coming in most of the year. I will occasionally use it if I think in need to. And here in the south the bees typically don’t ever shut it completely down.
Love your videos. I live in Baton Rouge area. Think of you as very similar conditions. Is any pollen coming in? Do you use pollen patties? We lost a lot of bee so far. Mites. Are you going to Louisville, Kentucky?
Yes I am going to Louisville. And I have used some pollen patties in the past but not a lot. The bees bring in pollen most of the year here. And we have to be careful because of hive beetles.
are your lorobee OA new units? ive got one from maybe 2 years ago for dewalt batteries and it wont recognize the flex volt batteries, i can only use the regular or XR ones. also, it didnt look like you had a respirator on with the OA. may want to do that.. OA will mess your kidneys up pretty bad from what ive heard.
QUESTION: MannLake has a line of bees from California and one is a Russian-Carniolan and some are offered with the vaccine. Do you know if this is part of the VSH program because I was unable to graft a VSH Carniolan and the hive eventually perished. Similar experience with Sakatraz, did not make it through winter and there was a load of bees in november under the hive.. I run an Italian/Carni mix and those seem to work in my area of western Virginia.. If you have any thoughts on the new Russian line, I'm interested in your opinion?
I honestly don’t have an opinion. Do not understand and have not taken the time to educate myself on the vaccine. If you have a line that works well for you I would develop that line. Sounds like you have some good bees.
@@brucesbees My question was mostly about the Russian cross from Cali. I saw you on the stream team discussing the Russian line. Everything I see from California is the VSH, did not know if you are aware. Blake at Texas-Bee says there are more benefits to the vaccine but off label observations. This may be a topic for the Stream-Team. No need to reply
Is it 4 grams or 8 grams for a double deep? Johno from Beesource is very clear that it is 4 grams. On one occasion, treating every 3 days with 8 grams, using a cloth entrance blocker I had a mass die off.
I am using 8 grams for a double deep. I admit in the video it is higher than the recommended dose. And I am going about every 7 days. Not recommending you or anyone else do it. It’s a “how I do” not “how to do” video. Once again I would recommend doing whatever works for you. So far my bees seem to be thriving just fine and I am doing my 4th treatment this week.
@@brucesbees Unfortunately for me and I think a lot of beekeepers(mostly hobbiest) we are searching for what works. Beyond this. some of the methods and doseage are not legal. There is whole lot of research money being used in Universities and colleges with vary weak results and recommendation beng produced.
Yep it can be frustrating. It’s kind of like a moving target that is hard to figure out. The universities are doing studies but it takes a long time to get the laws changed. I hope this works. I think it will. Did my 4th treatment today. Gonna give them a couple of weeks and do some testing.
My understanding is that OAV is effective for 1-2 days. How soon after leaving a cell does the foundress mite reenter a cell to reproduce again? I am puzzled as to how a 5-7 day OAV regime is effective in doing a lot to reduce the foundress mite population.
I don’t know all the science behind it but here is a podcast we did with Cameron Jack who has done studies at the University of Florida on this exact topic. As a matter of fact he is where I got the idea. ua-cam.com/video/HblIyjtRjAU/v-deo.htmlsi=rh4tLDFhexkj-8Rq
@@brucesbees Thanks. I listened to the podcast and left a comment there. There was no response. I also emailed Dr Cameron Jack and there was no response. The 4 or 8 gram was not clear in the podcast. It is also not clear to me how a 5 day regime is better than a 3 day regime. Best IMHO is it is equal. I believe Johno shoots for twice a week which is then 3 and 4 days apart.
If it works for you then that’s what I would do. My schedule does not allow for treatments every 3 or 4 days so I figured I would take him at his word. I actually attended his lecture at the Bee Expo last year where he showed the graphs. And the numbers seemed to support his claim. My understanding is that he did all the intervals for 4 treatments so if I am correct 4 treatments at 3 day intervals would cover less than 2 weeks time which might explain part of the difference. But I really don’t know for sure. Would have to dig more into his research. I still say though that if treating more frequently works well for you then that’s what I would do. Or maybe try some at both frequencies and see if you notice a difference. As far as the 4 grams per box I know it is above the approved dose but it hasn’t seemed to affect my bees in any negative way and I think it will have a better chance of cleaning them up. I use 2 grams in 5 frame nucs. 4 grams for a single deep. 8 grams for a double deep and for the most part just 4 grams for deep and medium. Though some of those have gotten 8 grams. I stay at 8 grams even if the hive is taller than 2 boxes. Once again not a “how to” but a “ how I do,” at least for now. I plan to do some testing and see what the mite levels are here in 2 or 3 weeks. Will be interesting to see if they are clean.
@@brucesbees Mites are a BIG issue. I did some 5 treatments last year. Apivar, OAE, OAV, OAE, OAV. It is somewhat labor intense. I would like to be able to better understand the frequency and efficacy of each to optimize mite control and labor. There is so much conflicting information. Seems like we are shooting in the dark, hoping for a good outcome!
It certainly is labor intensive but I am determined to try and figure out what works for me. Apivar did not work well for me this year as it has in years past. But I think the Apiguard did pretty good in the fall. And hopefully these OAV treatments will clean them up. But we will see. We are about to be full throttle into bee season here in just the next few weeks. Am I ready? Probably not! 🤷🏻♂️😎
Yes I had the same issue with EzOx. I think it does that when dry. You could sprinkle a little water in there I have heard but I put it in that yellow container and push it down really hard and kind of twist. It usually works that way. I think you can see and hear me doing it in the video.
@ oh, OK. Yeah that’s what I experienced too. I think when the powder is new and very dry, it’s hard to get in the plunger. I’ll try your tip with a little water.
Initially it was repaired. But never felt right and was in the way. When the repair failed and I had it amputated it made things much better. Less pain and more functional. I barely even miss it.
Yeah there was a fair amount. They bring pollen in most of the year and most of the colonies have pollen stores. I will watch them and feed some sub if I need to. We have issues with hive beetles here so I try to avoid pollen sub most of the year unless I really think I need it.
Always enjoy your videos. This is the 1st year we are using hive alive on all of our colonies.
I think you will be pleased.
good to see a good beekeeing video and some bugs in a box!
Yeah I’m glad I finally had a chance to get it uploaded!
Bruce, those girls are looking great! All they need is a heavy flow and supers.
Yep. Won’t be long!
Larry, Jan, and Mrs. Leona wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!
Yes! Merry Christmas!!!
Ya with a blink of a eye we all will be in our Bees . This year has zoomed by . Great looking colony. Thanks
Yeah it happens quick. Seems slow. Until it doesn’t haha! Frankly I needed the slow down this year. I was pretty burnt out a couple of months ago.
Looking great to me
Merry Christmas Bruce. Looks like the girls are gonna be keeping you busy in the spring. Late season splits looking good.
Oh yeah. I didn’t lose a few that never got going even though I fed them like crazy. But a lot of them are doing well as you could see. And the attitude is good as well.
Bees are looking great Bruce. “From that point on, it’s game on”…..you ain’t kidding! Won’t be long. Did the same here. OAV the other day and fondant going on. Happy New Year!!
You too Mike! See you soon!
I can live through your videos for the next 3-4 months Bruce. Good stuff. Curious what results you'll see from the Hive Alive. Colonies are looking good. Cya soon.
See you in a few!
Awesome!! Those Bees are Looking good Bruce, spring will be here before we know it :) was able to get in my bees finally on Christmas and they are looking pretty Good. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!
Thanks for checking in Grayson!
You probably know but for the ones that don't, I would move the green drone frame inward a couple spaces. On the outside edge, they are most likely to fill it with nectar come Spring. LOL I was going to suggest putting the one you pulled off the other on that single deep like you did.
Thanks for the tip!
Merry Christmas Bruce. Its gonna be around 7°c tomorrow hopefully so if all goes good, I'm going to be throwing some hivealive fondant on the top of them and hopefully theyll get through the rest of the winter
I hope so too. Merry Christmas to you as well!
Nice to see your bees looking so good. Its snowing today so I will probably hold off on mine for awhile.
Yep lol. Sounds reasonably.
Starting using Hive Alive Fondant last winter and had great results with it. Thanks for sharing the video of your bees.
You’re welcome and thanks for watching!
Thanks Bruce for another enjoyable video!
Thanks for watching!
Great update. Bees are looking great! My bees are in NY, cold and cannot do inspections so enjoying bees vicariously through vids from you and my other favorites. I have a question though. I don't have small hive beetles in my apiary in NY, but I wondered if you might be giving the beetles another place to hide by folding over that flap on the hive alive. I like the idea of keeping the scraps connected to keep things neat, but take extra notice of that when removing, to answer that for us.
Yeah I have noticed a few hide in the packaging but hasn’t been too much of a problem.
Working bees in December… man lucky you
Thanks Bruce!!!
Good stuff Bruce. Weather in huntsville has been bipolar. Freezing and then warm days. God bless
Yeah man that’s it is here. Seems like every winter. It presents its own set of problems.
Nice looking bees. I am trying some Hive Alive this year. Red Maples will be blooming before you know it. Going to miss y'all at the expo this year.
Yep they will be blooming soon but it is not a strong flow here so still have to watch them close.
I'm jealous it's 20 degrees and snow in northern Michigan.
Enjoy the break haha. Bee season will be here before you know it!
If it wasn’t for the beetle I would almost think about going south. North central Wisconsin nice and cold now , my bees are made of it.
Yeah the beetles are no fun but can be managed if you have strong bees.
i think 4grams a box will be the new standard soon, I do the same and it works.
I agree. Whether or not the standard officially changes it is my standard. At least for now.
Ha Bruce real nice video, it is in the 20s here I get so bored not being able to get in them. I cant afford to buy the fondant so I have been making my own sort of I make the candy and put hive alive in it. They do like it. My bees eat the candy that I make for them and leave their honey. I put 10 lb on each hive I am on my 3rd feeding I am really going trough the sugar. They eat so much the fondant would just cost way to much. I am up to 43 hives now I would like 50 But just is not working out I got the equipment but the queens are not working out like I wish. I am going to try to graft again, It is bad when u cant see. I donot like dead outs either I wish I could have 1 year with complete survival. Anyway, I am glad your bees are doing so well and thanks for sharing the video. I hope u had a Merry Christmas. God Bless you and your family
You too my friend. I’m sure you will reach your goals if you just keep working at it. Thanks for checking in!
Merry Christmas!! I am a firm believer in HiveAlive and second your opinion on it’s an absolute must 😁
Your video reminded me to treat for mites, will have to do it this weekend….
Thanks for sharing your thoughts
Yeah I went all in on the fondant this year. I have a hard time staying ahead of them with syrup. And don’t really want them to grow much right now anyway. Thanks for checking in!
Hope you had a great Christmas as well!
It will be interesting to see mite counts in spring after treating with brood present. I was thinking Jennifer Berry's research found you need to treat every 3 to 4 days when brood is present to be effective?
Cameron Jack from University of Florida did some studies and found every 5-7 days for 4 treatments was effective.
But we will see. I am also hitting them with 4 grams per deep box.
Here is a video Greg put together of our interview with Cameron Jack where he talks about frequency of treatment. Hope this helps. ua-cam.com/video/HblIyjtRjAU/v-deo.htmlsi=rh4tLDFhexkj-8Rq
Merry Christmas 🎄 ALL.
Yes! Merry Christmas!!!
Good video. Can’t wait to get into our bees. We will be checking on our candy bored we put out. We have 8 hives for now. We think we have one dead out.
Yeah you will probably lose some here or there but hang in there. It’s quite a journey with bees.
@ we went and gave OA treatment this afternoon. No dead out yet anyway
That’s great news!
Dood, you would think with polen and fondent your bees would expand all winter. Do they slow down like us with 30f at night 🤔
Yes they slow down when cold. The fondant does more to maintain than grow the bees I think. And I down use a lot o pollen sub as we have pollen coming in most of the year. I will occasionally use it if I think in need to. And here in the south the bees typically don’t ever shut it completely down.
lol it’s so crazy to see somone in bees in mid December 😅
No doubt. That’s the south for you though.
Dilinizi anlamıyorum fakat güzel video olmuş. Keyifle izledim.İstanbuldan selamlar
Love your videos. I live in Baton Rouge area. Think of you as very similar conditions. Is any pollen coming in? Do you use pollen patties? We lost a lot of bee so far. Mites. Are you going to Louisville, Kentucky?
Yes I am going to Louisville. And I have used some pollen patties in the past but not a lot. The bees bring in pollen most of the year here. And we have to be careful because of hive beetles.
are your lorobee OA new units? ive got one from maybe 2 years ago for dewalt batteries and it wont recognize the flex volt batteries, i can only use the regular or XR ones. also, it didnt look like you had a respirator on with the OA. may want to do that.. OA will mess your kidneys up pretty bad from what ive heard.
Hmm I don’t know. Mine uses those 9aH Dewalt batteries and they work well. You might want to reach out to Rob about that.
Hi Bruce, do you add wax to some of those empty frames before spring?
Not usually but probably should.
Nice video Bruce. Do you ever wear a respirator when you do OA treatments?
Yes I had one on. With an organic acid filter.
QUESTION: MannLake has a line of bees from California and one is a Russian-Carniolan and some are offered with the vaccine. Do you know if this is part of the VSH program because I was unable to graft a VSH Carniolan and the hive eventually perished. Similar experience with Sakatraz, did not make it through winter and there was a load of bees in november under the hive.. I run an Italian/Carni mix and those seem to work in my area of western Virginia.. If you have any thoughts on the new Russian line, I'm interested in your opinion?
I honestly don’t have an opinion. Do not understand and have not taken the time to educate myself on the vaccine. If you have a line that works well for you I would develop that line. Sounds like you have some good bees.
@@brucesbees My question was mostly about the Russian cross from Cali. I saw you on the stream team discussing the Russian line. Everything I see from California is the VSH, did not know if you are aware. Blake at Texas-Bee says there are more benefits to the vaccine but off label observations. This may be a topic for the Stream-Team. No need to reply
Is it 4 grams or 8 grams for a double deep? Johno from Beesource is very clear that it is 4 grams. On one occasion, treating every 3 days with 8 grams, using a cloth entrance blocker I had a mass die off.
I am using 8 grams for a double deep. I admit in the video it is higher than the recommended dose. And I am going about every 7 days. Not recommending you or anyone else do it. It’s a “how I do” not “how to do” video. Once again I would recommend doing whatever works for you. So far my bees seem to be thriving just fine and I am doing my 4th treatment this week.
@@brucesbees Unfortunately for me and I think a lot of beekeepers(mostly hobbiest) we are searching for what works. Beyond this. some of the methods and doseage are not legal. There is whole lot of research money being used in Universities and colleges with vary weak results and recommendation beng produced.
Yep it can be frustrating. It’s kind of like a moving target that is hard to figure out. The universities are doing studies but it takes a long time to get the laws changed. I hope this works. I think it will. Did my 4th treatment today. Gonna give them a couple of weeks and do some testing.
My understanding is that OAV is effective for 1-2 days. How soon after leaving a cell does the foundress mite reenter a cell to reproduce again? I am puzzled as to how a 5-7 day OAV regime is effective in doing a lot to reduce the foundress mite population.
I don’t know all the science behind it but here is a podcast we did with Cameron Jack who has done studies at the University of Florida on this exact topic. As a matter of fact he is where I got the idea. ua-cam.com/video/HblIyjtRjAU/v-deo.htmlsi=rh4tLDFhexkj-8Rq
@@brucesbees Thanks. I listened to the podcast and left a comment there. There was no response. I also emailed Dr Cameron Jack and there was no response. The 4 or 8 gram was not clear in the podcast. It is also not clear to me how a 5 day regime is better than a 3 day regime. Best IMHO is it is equal. I believe Johno shoots for twice a week which is then 3 and 4 days apart.
If it works for you then that’s what I would do. My schedule does not allow for treatments every 3 or 4 days so I figured I would take him at his word. I actually attended his lecture at the Bee Expo last year where he showed the graphs. And the numbers seemed to support his claim. My understanding is that he did all the intervals for 4 treatments so if I am correct 4 treatments at 3 day intervals would cover less than 2 weeks time which might explain part of the difference. But I really don’t know for sure. Would have to dig more into his research. I still say though that if treating more frequently works well for you then that’s what I would do. Or maybe try some at both frequencies and see if you notice a difference. As far as the 4 grams per box I know it is above the approved dose but it hasn’t seemed to affect my bees in any negative way and I think it will have a better chance of cleaning them up. I use 2 grams in 5 frame nucs. 4 grams for a single deep. 8 grams for a double deep and for the most part just 4 grams for deep and medium. Though some of those have gotten 8 grams. I stay at 8 grams even if the hive is taller than 2 boxes. Once again not a “how to” but a “ how I do,” at least for now. I plan to do some testing and see what the mite levels are here in 2 or 3 weeks. Will be interesting to see if they are clean.
@@brucesbees Mites are a BIG issue. I did some 5 treatments last year. Apivar, OAE, OAV, OAE, OAV. It is somewhat labor intense. I would like to be able to better understand the frequency and efficacy of each to optimize mite control and labor. There is so much conflicting information. Seems like we are shooting in the dark, hoping for a good outcome!
It certainly is labor intensive but I am determined to try and figure out what works for me. Apivar did not work well for me this year as it has in years past. But I think the Apiguard did pretty good in the fall. And hopefully these OAV treatments will clean them up. But we will see. We are about to be full throttle into bee season here in just the next few weeks. Am I ready? Probably not! 🤷🏻♂️😎
I think I will wait a month or 2 before doing this. Today's Temperature is 32 F.
Sounds reasonable.
Which OA are you using these days?
I used Florida Labs in this video but today I tried the EZ OX.
Same here. Have you had any issues with Florida labs and getting the OA to stay in the plunger?
Yes I had the same issue with EzOx. I think it does that when dry. You could sprinkle a little water in there I have heard but I put it in that yellow container and push it down really hard and kind of twist. It usually works that way. I think you can see and hear me doing it in the video.
@ oh, OK. Yeah that’s what I experienced too. I think when the powder is new and very dry, it’s hard to get in the plunger. I’ll try your tip with a little water.
You don't use any ventilation protection when doing OA? Braver than I am....no way I would use that stuff without a respirator!
Yes I had a mask on with an organic acid filter.
😎🐝☀️
My bees take the fondant before there honey. Good luck.
Yeah they love it.
hey Bruce, are you missing your index finger on your left hand? wow, I never noticed that before. So sorry. What happened?
Yep. Table saw in 2014. Ray amputation in 2018, I think.
@ your doing well without it. Yikes! Table saws scare me.
Yep table saw blade versus finger will always end up bad for the finger.
Initially it was repaired. But never felt right and was in the way. When the repair failed and I had it amputated it made things much better. Less pain and more functional. I barely even miss it.
what is the temperature in this video?
I can’t remember but it was to cold. I think it was maybe in the 60s that day? But it may have been a little cooler.
❤❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉🎉
Thanks!
Lot of brood for not much pollen coming in.
Yeah there was a fair amount. They bring pollen in most of the year and most of the colonies have pollen stores. I will watch them and feed some sub if I need to. We have issues with hive beetles here so I try to avoid pollen sub most of the year unless I really think I need it.