Those medium boxes are made for box reversing beekeeping. You should be able to get to a sistem where almost all your work is reversing... unlike deep boxes.. where we have to move frames from box to box
I know many people here that use only 10 frame mediums. We call them Farar. If l would have to start again it would be all Farar 10 and 6 frames.. in a flow l would keep 3 queens under 2 excluders in those 6 framers.. and 10 frame boxes from the excluders up for honey. So every queen would have 12 - 18 frames for brood.. and all 3 would work for two stacks of 10 frame boxes. If you can imagine it... it would be a two box skyscraper of honey. But the boxes would have to be precise, tightly made
I sure enjoyed watching you work your bees. I can hardly wait to get into mine in about a month. All I can do now is make sure they have enough stores until they start bringing in the groceries themselves.
Lot of good info, I don’t think there is enough emphasis on spring management. Having swarms is a compliment to the health of the colonies. I still haven’t quite dialed in the best swarm control. This year I am reversing again but I pulled the empty bottom boxe, and am waiting 2 weeks to put them on top. Colonies that still had part of the cluster in the bottom I left alone, but will be doing demaree with queen excluders, and a handful of snelgrove manipulations. Without fail swarms will start in Richmond 3/28 -4-10, but it is still colder than 50 at night so I can’t be but so aggressive manipulations.
I have started the same process of rotating boxes. Keeps getting cold or raining on me so that is slowing down the process. I think I have one hive that has 2 queens so they will need split as soon as weather permits. Thanks for the video like always
Spring time is my favorite time. I missed the great smell of a colony of bees all winter and finally got in some last week and they are brooding up fast here . Hope they fill up the boxes soon. Great video and information as always. ❤🐝
I am getting hooked on your videos Nathan. Well presented, great audio and video, and a well structured program. You do some things a bit differently, (in a good way) too which I find interesting. Well done. Unique and sensible content can be hard to find these days.
@@DuckRiverHoney From Rural Queensland, Australia. Just a hobbyist with 4 hives. I have had bees for 10-15 years, but undergoing a renewed interest in them again. Our season is coming to a close now but next season I would like to produce nuc's for sale.
@@DuckRiverHoney Bluegum and ironbark and a huge black wattle pollen source. This year has not been a good year though. We have had a very wet season with heavy rain during our best flows. I have been feeding them several times this season which normally doesn't happen.
Nathan, this can be a good time to pull a few frames of empty comb and replace with foundation when you reverse boxes. It gives you a leg up in your effort to draw comb. Two foundation frames toward the outside will be built up as the young bees expand and shouldn’t slow down the queen.
I pull two frames of comb from each honey super and add in two foundation (one frame in from edges) in an effort to get some freshly drawn comb each year. Do it when I put the supers away for the winter - come spring all the work is already done - grab and go. Those two frames pulled added to four more would then make up another super. Run 8-frame mediums for everything. Might also pull an old brood comb from that bottom box and add a foundation frame - those nurse bees will draw it out.
I had one hive with an internal feeder when I inspected by hives last week. The feeder was half full, no bees feeding from it although they were visiting the community syrup feeder in front of the hives. There was also a layer of dead bees floating on the syrup in the feeding well. I removed the feeder and dumped it out in the grass. It had a really strong smell since it was fermented. Not a good syrup after it ferments.
Hi Nathan I see others placing the inner cover, on the hive, with the upper entrance, up , as you do. Why up and not down? Curious. Thank you for sharing.
Yessir feels good to work the hives. I think they all instinctively swarm but a matter of how early and what cues them. Alot of commercially bred bees and queens are swarm factories. IE that's good for the breeders but not us trying to keep em in the box
looks like my 6 came thru, 1 real strong 1 or 2 weak,the others are just getting ready,some still had hive alive ,the strong one used every bit of the pack ,i added half a pollen patty to all,,ill take that as a good sign
Unfortunately Spring hasn't sprung up here in Canada. Soooooo, beekeeping and making videos is a bit difficult at the moment. You sir are making me anxious to get back to my bees hehe 😊
Yeah Nothing worse than ants in your pants, hives full of bees, stiff winds and temps too cold to go into the hives! Suppose to get snow tomorrow and Saturday!! Bah Hum Bug South Central Pennsylvania
Hey Nathan! Love your videos and greatly appreciate that you explain why you do what you do. Wish I had all mediums, unfortunately all of my hives are double deeps. Hoping to eventually move everything to mediums but it will take several seasons I’m sure. I have a monster hive that I’m trying to keep from swarming at the moment. They are 2 deeps and a medium full of bees right now. I added a super to them yesterday to relieve congestion but now after seeing your video I wonder if I shouldn’t have moved the medium of funny honey to the bottom before I threw the excluder and extra super on. What are your thoughts on that? I haven’t seen any swarm cells or charged cups yet so I guess I’m doing an ok job up to this point. I added that second brood box with half drawn comb and half foundation 2 weeks ago and it was 9 frames full of eggs, larvae, capped brood, and stores as of yesterday. I’m in central Alabama. Keep the videos coming, I sure do learn a lot from you. Thanks!
Thanks Michele, I can’t say I have a strong opinion on moving the honey to the bottom board…it’s sort of a theory I’m testing. I attempt to try the easiest / fastest method to accomplish something first, and only add labor or management steps if I find it necessary to achieve a goal. That way I hope to find the simplest successful way of doing things. Finding those mentions of honey underneath brood in two different works by noted queen rearing experts got me thinking hard on it.
Great explanations of why you are reorienting the boxes and swarm causes. If you have a hive that seems to be really full of bees do you need to wait until you get a strong nectar flow to add another box to them, or just keep feeding all of them sugar syrup as long as they take it? Always heard that March is when a lot of bees starve here in Georgia (I assume from people thinking they've made it through the winter and not feeding in the spring). Thanks.
I’m not worried about any of those hives starving, they’ve all got weight. I of course wont feed a hive that has a super on it…as to when to add one, it was really early to super that one, but it was nearly full of bees, at a time I knew a lot of foragers were out. At night it would be cram full. The super allows them to spread out some.
Thanks Clive, I guess that’s a risk but I doubt it. Those colonies didn’t get fed last fall, and I bet they use it all for brood production before it gets moved high enough to store.
Giving them way to much room going to stall them out . Way to early for queen excluder . Add excluder after flow starts use brood to draw them up thru excluder..
![Adding Supers, Managing Space [22EP3]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/CMX3X-nc1ew/mqdefault.jpg)
![Adding Supers, Managing Space [22EP3]](/img/tr.png)
Hives looking good. Enjoyed the video. Thanks
Thanks!
Excluder should be close to the nest. One box away in not recommended.
Thanks, I appreciate it.
👍
We are 72° today and im watching maple pollen coming in here in North East Ohio. First time this year!
We’ve had a good week, and warm next week, then down to 22. That may set them back some.
Those medium boxes are made for box reversing beekeeping. You should be able to get to a sistem where almost all your work is reversing... unlike deep boxes.. where we have to move frames from box to box
We’ll see how it goes, but that’s my hope. Thanks
I know many people here that use only 10 frame mediums. We call them Farar. If l would have to start again it would be all Farar 10 and 6 frames.. in a flow l would keep 3 queens under 2 excluders in those 6 framers.. and 10 frame boxes from the excluders up for honey. So every queen would have 12 - 18 frames for brood.. and all 3 would work for two stacks of 10 frame boxes.
If you can imagine it... it would be a two box skyscraper of honey. But the boxes would have to be precise, tightly made
The woodenware fitting tight seems to be an issue with multiple queen systems. Neat stuff!
I sure enjoyed watching you work your bees. I can hardly wait to get into mine in about a month. All I can do now is make sure they have enough stores until they start bringing in the groceries themselves.
Thanks James, good luck this year
Yes, it is a good time of year!
👍
Good stuff! !Beautiful weather this week.
Thanks Doug
Great content as usual, Nathan. Thx for putting out a video! Can wait to get in my hives! Great time of the year! God bless!
Thanks Jamie!
Lot of good info, I don’t think there is enough emphasis on spring management. Having swarms is a compliment to the health of the colonies. I still haven’t quite dialed in the best swarm control. This year I am reversing again but I pulled the empty bottom boxe, and am waiting 2 weeks to put them on top. Colonies that still had part of the cluster in the bottom I left alone, but will be doing demaree with queen excluders, and a handful of snelgrove manipulations. Without fail swarms will start in Richmond 3/28 -4-10, but it is still colder than 50 at night so I can’t be but so aggressive manipulations.
👍👍👍
I have started the same process of rotating boxes. Keeps getting cold or raining on me so that is slowing down the process. I think I have one hive that has 2 queens so they will need split as soon as weather permits. Thanks for the video like always
Thanks Dave, interesting how some bees will tolerate multiple queens.
Spring time is my favorite time. I missed the great smell of a colony of bees all winter and finally got in some last week and they are brooding up fast here . Hope they fill up the boxes soon. Great video and information as always. ❤🐝
Thanks!
great video lots of info, thanks for sharing
Thanks!
I liked your idea of putting the Super of honey above the bottom board. Will be interested in seeing what will happen.
Thanks Steve, hives are booming right now.
I am getting hooked on your videos Nathan. Well presented, great audio and video, and a well structured program. You do some things a bit differently, (in a good way) too which I find interesting. Well done. Unique and sensible content can be hard to find these days.
That’s very kind of you, thanks for saying so. Where are you from? How many colonies do you have?
@@DuckRiverHoney From Rural Queensland, Australia. Just a hobbyist with 4 hives. I have had bees for 10-15 years, but undergoing a renewed interest in them again. Our season is coming to a close now but next season I would like to produce nuc's for sale.
That’s pretty cool. What are your main flows?
@@DuckRiverHoney Bluegum and ironbark and a huge black wattle pollen source. This year has not been a good year though. We have had a very wet season with heavy rain during our best flows. I have been feeding them several times this season which normally doesn't happen.
Nathan, this can be a good time to pull a few frames of empty comb and replace with foundation when you reverse boxes. It gives you a leg up in your effort to draw comb. Two foundation frames toward the outside will be built up as the young bees expand and shouldn’t slow down the queen.
Thanks Eric
👍👍👍
I pull two frames of comb from each honey super and add in two foundation (one frame in from edges) in an effort to get some freshly drawn comb each year. Do it when I put the supers away for the winter - come spring all the work is already done - grab and go. Those two frames pulled added to four more would then make up another super. Run 8-frame mediums for everything. Might also pull an old brood comb from that bottom box and add a foundation frame - those nurse bees will draw it out.
I had one hive with an internal feeder when I inspected by hives last week. The feeder was half full, no bees feeding from it although they were visiting the community syrup feeder in front of the hives. There was also a layer of dead bees floating on the syrup in the feeding well. I removed the feeder and dumped it out in the grass. It had a really strong smell since it was fermented. Not a good syrup after it ferments.
Interesting Dick. I put apple cider vinegar in my syrup to keep it from fermenting as fast.
I totally agree with the practice of all medium boxes... makes hive manipulation a breeze. Also great to see you at the TBA gathering at MTSU.
Thanks, I appreciate it. Great to see so many other beekeepers, I had a good time.
nice ...ya i can not wait to get into my girls hope they make our winter here in Alberta Canada still winter 2 feet snow ....cheers
It'll be a while for you yet. Luck to you this year!
Hi Nathan
I see others placing the inner cover, on the hive, with the upper entrance, up , as you do. Why up and not down? Curious. Thank you for sharing.
Ventilation, and it helps the bees defend that upper entrance.
Yessir feels good to work the hives. I think they all instinctively swarm but a matter of how early and what cues them. Alot of commercially bred bees and queens are swarm factories. IE that's good for the breeders but not us trying to keep em in the box
You got that right!
looks like my 6 came thru, 1 real strong 1 or 2 weak,the others are just getting ready,some still had hive alive ,the strong one used every bit of the pack ,i added half a pollen patty to all,,ill take that as a good sign
Thanks Mark!
Great content as always. Think about equalizing your colonies in each yard when you rotate the boxes.
Thanks Brad, I’m sort of resisting that to try to see what my genetics are like.
Unfortunately Spring hasn't sprung up here in Canada. Soooooo, beekeeping and making videos is a bit difficult at the moment. You sir are making me anxious to get back to my bees hehe 😊
Spring will happen for you someday…until then enjoy the snow I guess. 🙂
Yeah Nothing worse than ants in your pants, hives full of bees, stiff winds and temps too cold to go into the hives! Suppose to get snow tomorrow and Saturday!! Bah Hum Bug South Central Pennsylvania
We’ve got red maple in full bloom with forecast of high teens or low 20s this weekend. Probably will kill all the pollen for a while.
I got one box out there they put honey on the bottom in the top
Hey Nathan! Love your videos and greatly appreciate that you explain why you do what you do. Wish I had all mediums, unfortunately all of my hives are double deeps. Hoping to eventually move everything to mediums but it will take several seasons I’m sure. I have a monster hive that I’m trying to keep from swarming at the moment. They are 2 deeps and a medium full of bees right now. I added a super to them yesterday to relieve congestion but now after seeing your video I wonder if I shouldn’t have moved the medium of funny honey to the bottom before I threw the excluder and extra super on. What are your thoughts on that? I haven’t seen any swarm cells or charged cups yet so I guess I’m doing an ok job up to this point. I added that second brood box with half drawn comb and half foundation 2 weeks ago and it was 9 frames full of eggs, larvae, capped brood, and stores as of yesterday. I’m in central Alabama. Keep the videos coming, I sure do learn a lot from you. Thanks!
Thanks Michele, I can’t say I have a strong opinion on moving the honey to the bottom board…it’s sort of a theory I’m testing. I attempt to try the easiest / fastest method to accomplish something first, and only add labor or management steps if I find it necessary to achieve a goal. That way I hope to find the simplest successful way of doing things. Finding those mentions of honey underneath brood in two different works by noted queen rearing experts got me thinking hard on it.
👍👍
Great explanations of why you are reorienting the boxes and swarm causes. If you have a hive that seems to be really full of bees do you need to wait until you get a strong nectar flow to add another box to them, or just keep feeding all of them sugar syrup as long as they take it? Always heard that March is when a lot of bees starve here in Georgia (I assume from people thinking they've made it through the winter and not feeding in the spring). Thanks.
I’m not worried about any of those hives starving, they’ve all got weight. I of course wont feed a hive that has a super on it…as to when to add one, it was really early to super that one, but it was nearly full of bees, at a time I knew a lot of foragers were out. At night it would be cram full. The super allows them to spread out some.
Spring! Nice! Not here, Minnesota sucks!
Great smallmouth fishing up there though…😀
Thanks for the INFO.why do you just use med. Super for your breeding box ?
It’s easier for me to not have inventory of different size boxes and frames. And I don’t need nuc boxes.
Hi Nathan great video and some good ideas. Do you not risk the bees moving stored sugar syrup up into the super by reversing the boxes?
Thanks Clive, I guess that’s a risk but I doubt it. Those colonies didn’t get fed last fall, and I bet they use it all for brood production before it gets moved high enough to store.
Curious how you identify the red maple pollen. I mean I know you can see the blooms open, but what color is it?
Maple is yellow. Deadnettle and henbit is also really early and it’s deep red.
Giving them way to much room going to stall them out . Way to early for queen excluder . Add excluder after flow starts use brood to draw them up thru excluder..
Thanks, I appreciate it.