Spot on with waxing the frames...my bees were not building out my waxed frames until I purchased bees wax and waxed them myself...just checked my boxes, and they are going to town building out the frames..
Fat Bee Man 101 guys expert at drawing comb .. king of the bee flippers . People pay him to build his equipment from scratch.. sold commercial bee keepers classes and man they cost thousands...he had them build all their own equipment sent them home with 25 hives.. ended up blowing up big now because he sold like franchises to people where they had to buy his packages .. keep in mind people are paying him to build even the 3 hole queen cages .
@@hootervillehoneybees8664 I would say fat bee man’s methods are good for southern beekeepers but northern beekeepers have a shorter season. One thing I did differently this year I had the stronger hive draw my ten frame equipment out then make strong splits with 10 frame box’s
I swear, using wired wax foundation. Placed a super on my strongest hive, a double deep colony, and they had that super drawn and filled within the month. Expected to be capped in the following week.
All this rain seems hard on these smaller units .. I had some nucs looking great early May by the end of May they slipped into some kinda protein stress . I ended up treating them with antibiotics and gave them pollen patties.. we started last week with 4" of rain just kept giving.. cost me around 800.00 everyday they can't fly I figure those large nests eat around 800.00 aday in honey ...on sunny hot humid days I figure I'm making 3.000 in honey per day.. basswood just started should be best 10 days of the season coming up just turn hot and humid.. those large leafs lose alot moisture unless its humid that Rich Noel was just talking about that on his channel he went to school college for that stuff.. makes sense... more moisture in the leafs more nectar they produce in the bloom... I use to think heat killed because down south they have very little flow during the summer months.. just didn't do the work like Michigan bee keepers bringing in all these wonderful invasive plants past 100 years ... they have flow to be found down south just need to be more mobile this time of year.. that heat down there id die
You must be running a big number of colonies? I'm 40 miles south of the bridge and our main flow starts 4th of July typically. Recently flow has shut down. My thinking is all the rain we've got has rinsed the little bit of nectar out of the flowers
@@cairnparadigm exsactly it is similar to putting frames between brood. I don’t even use foundation anymore just empty frames with wires in them. They make a lot more drones but it is what they need I guess. Overall less expensive and less work more time with the bees and other work
Thank you for this fabulous, detailed information. I had figured I would have to give up on wax production til next year, but I’m going to keep at it now.
@@SweetGApiary the more wax the better right. I used homemade wax before that was not stenciled with cell imprints and they used it just the same but also used quite a bit of the thick wax for drone cells. Just thought I mentioned it here to help out
@@SweetGApiary happy to help just to clear up my comment before. I don’t mean they used the thick wax just for drone cells but it helps the bees do any type of cells. Compared to no foundation it’s around 30% faster. The stencil is only used in modern foundations to get mostly the worker cells
Wonderful 'download' of information Emily...many thanks. I find that because beekeeping is somewhat seasonal...I forget lots of what I've learned and relearn it all (plus abit more) each year 🤣👍
@@TiffinFamilyInvestmentInc. same here so much cheaper and not that much work for me. My frames are wired though. Love the drone cells they make. I think we need more drones
@@davidmaloney2724 I don’t use wire or coat the top with wax the 2nd year they will attach the comb to the frame. I think they prefer to draw there own too
@@TiffinFamilyInvestmentInc. yeah true, I just use wire in the supper’s give’s me piece of mind when extracting, guess if you go real slow the first few years or let the queen lay up there it would strengthen up the comb.
Spot on with waxing the frames...my bees were not building out my waxed frames until I purchased bees wax and waxed them myself...just checked my boxes, and they are going to town building out the frames..
Fat Bee Man 101 guys expert at drawing comb .. king of the bee flippers . People pay him to build his equipment from scratch.. sold commercial bee keepers classes and man they cost thousands...he had them build all their own equipment sent them home with 25 hives.. ended up blowing up big now because he sold like franchises to people where they had to buy his packages .. keep in mind people are paying him to build even the 3 hole queen cages .
@@hootervillehoneybees8664 I would say fat bee man’s methods are good for southern beekeepers but northern beekeepers have a shorter season. One thing I did differently this year I had the stronger hive draw my ten frame equipment out then make strong splits with 10 frame box’s
I swear, using wired wax foundation. Placed a super on my strongest hive, a double deep colony, and they had that super drawn and filled within the month. Expected to be capped in the following week.
All this rain seems hard on these smaller units .. I had some nucs looking great early May by the end of May they slipped into some kinda protein stress . I ended up treating them with antibiotics and gave them pollen patties.. we started last week with 4" of rain just kept giving.. cost me around 800.00 everyday they can't fly I figure those large nests eat around 800.00 aday in honey ...on sunny hot humid days I figure I'm making 3.000 in honey per day.. basswood just started should be best 10 days of the season coming up just turn hot and humid.. those large leafs lose alot moisture unless its humid that Rich Noel was just talking about that on his channel he went to school college for that stuff.. makes sense... more moisture in the leafs more nectar they produce in the bloom... I use to think heat killed because down south they have very little flow during the summer months.. just didn't do the work like Michigan bee keepers bringing in all these wonderful invasive plants past 100 years ... they have flow to be found down south just need to be more mobile this time of year.. that heat down there id die
You must be running a big number of colonies? I'm 40 miles south of the bridge and our main flow starts 4th of July typically. Recently flow has shut down. My thinking is all the rain we've got has rinsed the little bit of nectar out of the flowers
You can put it in between honey frames once the honey frames are capped
yes I agree otherwise you get one big frame draw and nothing on the other
@@cairnparadigm exsactly it is similar to putting frames between brood. I don’t even use foundation anymore just empty frames with wires in them. They make a lot more drones but it is what they need I guess. Overall less expensive and less work more time with the bees and other work
Thank you for this fabulous, detailed information. I had figured I would have to give up on wax production til next year, but I’m going to keep at it now.
Will they draw out wonky comb if you over wax your frames?
@@SweetGApiary the more wax the better right. I used homemade wax before that was not stenciled with cell imprints and they used it just the same but also used quite a bit of the thick wax for drone cells. Just thought I mentioned it here to help out
@@davidmaloney2724 Thank you! I guess more is better than not enough.
@@SweetGApiary happy to help just to clear up my comment before. I don’t mean they used the thick wax just for drone cells but it helps the bees do any type of cells. Compared to no foundation it’s around 30% faster. The stencil is only used in modern foundations to get mostly the worker cells
Wonderful 'download' of information Emily...many thanks.
I find that because beekeeping is somewhat seasonal...I forget lots of what I've learned and relearn it all (plus abit more) each year 🤣👍
You aren’t the only one 🤣 this is something I struggle with every spring when bees just start from 0 to 100
Thanks
No….Thank YOU!!! ☺️♥️
I allow them to draw their own comb no foundation.
@@TiffinFamilyInvestmentInc. same here so much cheaper and not that much work for me. My frames are wired though. Love the drone cells they make. I think we need more drones
@@davidmaloney2724 I don’t use wire or coat the top with wax the 2nd year they will attach the comb to the frame. I think they prefer to draw there own too
@@TiffinFamilyInvestmentInc. yeah true, I just use wire in the supper’s give’s me piece of mind when extracting, guess if you go real slow the first few years or let the queen lay up there it would strengthen up the comb.
I also checker board them to keep from getting crazy comb