Fantastic video Stewart. I really enjoyed watching and have come to appreciate the continued progression of the series. Thank you very much for sharing your time. Looking forward to the next video. Hope you enjoy the day.
Hi Tim, Thanks for the comment. Glad to see you're getting some video uploaded too. ALways enjoy seeing how others are doing with their bees. Keep it up. Stewart
Great video. Built my first Queen Castle this week am going to try raising my own queens over next few weeks. will be my very first attempt at raising my own. Keep the videos coming
Hi UKHWG, Thanks for commenting. I've just not had time to make a queen castle this year, maybe next year. I definitely like the Alley method but have just shot a video using something called a cell punch and this has now become my go to method for producing smaller numbers of queen cells. Video coming out in a week or two. Are you producing a lot of queen cells for yourself? Is that the reason for the queen castle? You need a regular supply of age specific larvae to graft at a set time? Stewart
Well, i currently only have 15 hives but its growing with swarms and so forth. I want to go into winter with all new queens I have seen other using cell punch and it seems a very easy way to do it. I built the castle just so I have a way to bring the queens on. good thing is the board could be removed and make a double nuc or back to a brood and block some of the holes... its quite a good idea with multiple uses
Hi Stewart another great video. I'm hoping to try rearing my own queens in time for my September splits. At the beginning of your video you said that the site was perfect for queen rearing why is that and what should i look for in a site to set up my own queen rearing apiary.
Hi John, Thanks for your comments. I'm lucky in that this site is away from the general public in some fishing lakes. It is sheltered from winds and offers some protection from the hot midday sun. These are important factors when you are raising queens in smaller boxes such as mating nucs as temperature control is much more difficult for smaller numbers of bees. Stewart
Hey Stewart, where do you get your nitrile gloves they look rather “roomy” so I am interested in where you purchase them. I too use nitrile and have been purchasing from CVS (a US drugstore chain) however they had no inventory the last time so I went to another drug store chain. Their gloves are “one size fits most”. Most apparently does not include me as they are super tight and split soon after inserting my hands. Thanks, Bob Fanning Alabama SE USA
Hi Bob, Thanks for commenting. The gloves I use are from a UK Amazon supplier. amzn.to/2lYOHY0 I'm not sure if you have the same manufacturers over there but it's worth looking out for. They are made in several different sizes so you should find one to fit if you can get them. Stewart
Stewart, when you take the new queen and place her in another hive, what do you do with the comb from the mini-nuc that has brood in it? Do you transplant that into the new hive too?
Hi Neill, The mini nucs are used over the Summer so when one queen is removed the nuc becomes queenless and I introduce another queen cell. At the end of the season I shake all the bees from the various mating nucs into a bucket and spray them with a little water to keep them from flying and then tip them all into a single larger nuc box with frames from other boxes and add a queen creating a nuc to overwinter. The brood from the mini nucs goes into the roof space where nurse bees climb up to and it is taken care of until it emerges then I remove the comb and clean everything up for next season. Stewart
Your OTS didn’t work because it was old comb. You must do a sawing motion perpendicular to the foundation all the way down to the foundation before pulling downward to break the remaining cocoons. I apologize for putting the comment here, but I couldn’t get to the proper place. OTS works great!
HI , WITH THE MINI MATING BOX , HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO KEEP THE BEES IN FOR . ? THEY ARE LOCK IN NOW , I DONE IT ON MONDAY GAVE THEM FOOD . I AM NEW TO ALL THIS . I LIKE TO KNOW WHAT TO DO PLEASE .
Hi Shane, If you are keeping the bees in the same apiary I would leave them for 2-3 days in a dark quiet place. Otherwise if you move them to another apiary you can open the entrance immediately. Stewart
Stewart, you said that you had trouble with the miller method because they drew out a lot of Drone cells, could that have something to do with the reason you got a drone layer out of those?? like maybe there is something wrong in the genetics of the mother breeder queen?? And THANK YOU for all the information
Hi Dianna, The fault was all mine! I allowed them too much spare room to draw out cells that they wanted to produce and they wanted drones! If I had put a full sheet of worker foundation in first they would have drawn that out as I had wanted and then I could have cut it. I'm going to try it again this year and correct my mistakes :) Stewart
such a great video! so well done! quick question: when bees swarm and take 60% of the original colony...what percentage of foragers versus nurse bees fly with her to make the swarm....thanks!
Hi Natserog, I don't know the exact percentages but workers are able to adapt their roles to the tasks required so for instance foragers can revert to assisting in brood rearing. Quite incredible to think that they know the work that needs doing and are able to switch to the task required to survive. Stewart
Hi Stewart, I think you have issue of bees (and possible queen) going from one 2 frame to another 2 frame section of 4 section hive - at 11:42 clearly is visible that bees (bee!) are going UP from left compartment and then at 11:54 bee is going DOWN to right compartment Great videos from you!
Hi Leo, Thanks for commenting. Good spot! Could be there is an issue, when you're stood in front of the hive you don't always see what's going on especially when the camera is rolling. Maybe it is causing a problem with emerging queens although I have had success with this hive previously. I'll see what it's like this week. Stewart
Hi, If you check out my other videos you will see the method itself and how to use it. This video is an update of the method showing the results. ua-cam.com/video/Fc1MIvEiDdI/v-deo.html Stewart
Dear Sir, Thanks for your wonderful vídeos, Can u Plz. Guide me.......? I Found my 2 month old split honeybee hive swarming so i catch them n cut the Queen right wing and keep them in the New hive. But i Found that the Queen is not mated she is laying eggs but its all drone cell. What should i do now. Please help....
Hi mtiwkka lothaa, unfortunately, if you have clipped the wings of your virgin queen she will not be able to mate and you will need to replace her. Stewart
Thank you sir for the Reply. You are the real Beekeeper, keep it your Noble Service .
Fantastic video Stewart. I really enjoyed watching and have come to appreciate the continued progression of the series. Thank you very much for sharing your time. Looking forward to the next video. Hope you enjoy the day.
Hi Tim,
Thanks for the comment. Glad to see you're getting some video uploaded too. ALways enjoy seeing how others are doing with their bees.
Keep it up.
Stewart
Good to see a poor queen, we might get one. Thanks for the lead.
Great video. Built my first Queen Castle this week am going to try raising my own queens over next few weeks. will be my very first attempt at raising my own. Keep the videos coming
Hi UKHWG,
Thanks for commenting.
I've just not had time to make a queen castle this year, maybe next year. I definitely like the Alley method but have just shot a video using something called a cell punch and this has now become my go to method for producing smaller numbers of queen cells. Video coming out in a week or two.
Are you producing a lot of queen cells for yourself? Is that the reason for the queen castle? You need a regular supply of age specific larvae to graft at a set time?
Stewart
Well, i currently only have 15 hives but its growing with swarms and so forth. I want to go into winter with all new queens I have seen other using cell punch and it seems a very easy way to do it. I built the castle just so I have a way to bring the queens on. good thing is the board could be removed and make a double nuc or back to a brood and block some of the holes... its quite a good idea with multiple uses
Love your work Stewart o professional thanks for the education
Hi Sandra,
Thanks for your comments, hopefully I can continue to improve and keep them interesting.
Stewart
Very interesting thank you Stewart
Very interesting thanks Stewart ☺️
Hi Stewart another great video. I'm hoping to try rearing my own queens in time for my September splits. At the beginning of your video you said that the site was perfect for queen rearing why is that and what should i look for in a site to set up my own queen rearing apiary.
Hi John,
Thanks for your comments.
I'm lucky in that this site is away from the general public in some fishing lakes. It is sheltered from winds and offers some protection from the hot midday sun. These are important factors when you are raising queens in smaller boxes such as mating nucs as temperature control is much more difficult for smaller numbers of bees.
Stewart
Hey Stewart, where do you get your nitrile gloves they look rather “roomy” so I am interested in where you purchase them.
I too use nitrile and have been purchasing from CVS (a US drugstore chain) however they had no inventory the last time so I went to another drug store chain. Their gloves are “one size fits most”. Most apparently does not include me as they are super tight and split soon after inserting my hands.
Thanks,
Bob Fanning
Alabama SE USA
Hi Bob,
Thanks for commenting. The gloves I use are from a UK Amazon supplier. amzn.to/2lYOHY0
I'm not sure if you have the same manufacturers over there but it's worth looking out for. They are made in several different sizes so you should find one to fit if you can get them.
Stewart
How do you manage to get drones in the mini nucs for the queens to mate if your only putting a random cup of bees in there? Probably a silly question
Hi Hunter4650,
The queens mate on the wing so you don't really want to have drones in the mating nucs.
Stewart
Stewart, when you take the new queen and place her in another hive, what do you do with the comb from the mini-nuc that has brood in it? Do you transplant that into the new hive too?
Hi Neill,
The mini nucs are used over the Summer so when one queen is removed the nuc becomes queenless and I introduce another queen cell. At the end of the season I shake all the bees from the various mating nucs into a bucket and spray them with a little water to keep them from flying and then tip them all into a single larger nuc box with frames from other boxes and add a queen creating a nuc to overwinter. The brood from the mini nucs goes into the roof space where nurse bees climb up to and it is taken care of until it emerges then I remove the comb and clean everything up for next season.
Stewart
Your OTS didn’t work because it was old comb. You must do a sawing motion perpendicular to the foundation all the way down to the foundation before pulling downward to break the remaining cocoons. I apologize for putting the comment here, but I couldn’t get to the proper place. OTS works great!
HI , WITH THE MINI MATING BOX , HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO KEEP THE BEES IN FOR . ? THEY ARE LOCK IN NOW , I DONE IT ON MONDAY GAVE THEM FOOD . I AM NEW TO ALL THIS . I LIKE TO KNOW WHAT TO DO PLEASE .
Hi Shane,
If you are keeping the bees in the same apiary I would leave them for 2-3 days in a dark quiet place. Otherwise if you move them to another apiary you can open the entrance immediately.
Stewart
Those girls in with the drone layer know something is wrong,
they have pulled a queen cup already
Hi Mark,
Yes it's a shame but the bees know exactly what the situation is long before I ever spot it!
Stewart
Hi Stewart, what sort of gloves do you use? do they protect your hands? I appreciate if you please let me know where I can buy them.
Stewart, you said that you had trouble with the miller method because they drew out a lot of Drone cells, could that have something to do with the reason you got a drone layer out of those?? like maybe there is something wrong in the genetics of the mother breeder queen?? And THANK YOU for all the information
Hi Dianna,
The fault was all mine! I allowed them too much spare room to draw out cells that they wanted to produce and they wanted drones! If I had put a full sheet of worker foundation in first they would have drawn that out as I had wanted and then I could have cut it. I'm going to try it again this year and correct my mistakes :)
Stewart
such a great video! so well done! quick question: when bees swarm and take 60% of the original colony...what percentage of foragers versus nurse bees fly with her to make the swarm....thanks!
Hi Natserog,
I don't know the exact percentages but workers are able to adapt their roles to the tasks required so for instance foragers can revert to assisting in brood rearing. Quite incredible to think that they know the work that needs doing and are able to switch to the task required to survive.
Stewart
Hi Stewart,
I think you have issue of bees (and possible queen) going from one 2 frame to another 2 frame section of 4 section hive
- at 11:42 clearly is visible that bees (bee!) are going UP from left compartment and then at 11:54 bee is going DOWN to right compartment
Great videos from you!
Hi Leo,
Thanks for commenting. Good spot! Could be there is an issue, when you're stood in front of the hive you don't always see what's going on especially when the camera is rolling. Maybe it is causing a problem with emerging queens although I have had success with this hive previously. I'll see what it's like this week.
Stewart
put there peace of wood
Hello sir...i enjoyed the video but you showed us the results of the method but if you can show us the method it self and how to use it.
Hi,
If you check out my other videos you will see the method itself and how to use it. This video is an update of the method showing the results.
ua-cam.com/video/Fc1MIvEiDdI/v-deo.html
Stewart
Hi sir ...yes i saw it 10 min. Ago its perfect thank you.
Dear Sir, Thanks for your wonderful vídeos,
Can u Plz. Guide me.......?
I Found my 2 month old split honeybee hive swarming so i catch them n cut the Queen right wing and keep them in the New hive. But i Found that the Queen is not mated she is laying eggs but its all drone cell. What should i do now. Please help....
Hi mtiwkka lothaa,
unfortunately, if you have clipped the wings of your virgin queen she will not be able to mate and you will need to replace her.
Stewart
Hahaha gloves