1 ) When bees are landing in the snow, do you pick them up and put them back on their hive landing boards? 2:00 2) Can you prevent swarming by removing brood frames? What if you just want to keep it to a couple of hives? 7:28 3) With 2 Bee Packages coming in, can I put shallow frames with drawn comb into deep boxes for the new bees? Also using a shim feeder and Migratory Top cover. 15:37 4) Slatted Racks, are they necessary? Do they live up to the hype? 21:44 5) Moved hives to avoid trees from falling on them, about 15 feet, will that mess the bees up? 28:33
On the slatted rack, I use them. Why? Well I use a vented bottom board that is left open 24x7x365 no matter what the temperature. I also overwinter in 2 medium boxes and I use medium 8 frame equipment exclusively. So in my situation, it adds dead space at the bottom of the hive that is a buffer against cold and wind. It also adds additional buffer space to allow me to better control swarming which is a bit harder to control in 8 frame hives. I have temperature sensors in both of my boxes and it seems that my bees are now staying in the lower box for longer periods after adding the slatted rack. Just seems that in my use case it gives the bees more opportunity to do things as they wish rather than being forced by atmospheric conditions. Still waiting to get through this winter to summer to compare my numbers a bit more and see how things turn out. Most of that is anecdotal and I have only been using them since Fall. I will update you on my personal observations as the season progresses. As always, thanks for all your videos Frederick!
Hi Fred, I enjoy your videos and insights. You asked if we had experience with slatted racks and I have to say I use them ALL the time. I live in S. Florida where its hot most of the year. The day I installed slatted racks on my hives was a game changer in my beekeeping. From massive bearding all day long to almost no bearding at even the hottest time of the day was instantaneous and very dramatic. Here in S. FL our afternoon thunderstorms can easily drop more than an inch of rain in 40 min, and bees that would be bearding have to go inside which risks overheating the colony. With the slatted rack, the bees can take shelter from the rain and still maintain good hive ventilation. All the other good things that mentioned: brood laying closer to the bottom of the frame and in the front corners of the frame, less sunlight in the hive, and protection from oxalic acid treatments, etc. Also down here the entrance predators, such as bufo toads and possums, can eat massive amounts of bees that are bearding on the front of the hive. This puts the bees in a very agitated state. Slatted racks reduce predation. I did a video on my youtube channel also about this, so if you are interested please check it out on S. FL Beekeeping with Rich. Thanks again for great information! Rich
One benefit of the slatted rack that my favorite local bee store, Bee Maniacs, told me is that the solid panel behind the landing board, inside the hive, provides a ledge for the dead bees to collect throughout the winter in order to prevent the clogging of the entrance.
Dr. C. C. Miller, in his book, Fifty years among the bees talks about how he used a slatted rack and the benefits on page 48 of his book. The way he explains the construction of the slatted rack the slates run across the hive perpendicular to the frames vs the way we see them today running parallel to the frames. The perpendicular slates could be what makes the difference in how the slatted rack performs. I personally have never use a slatted rack but am going to try them this year but built with the slats running perpendicular to the frames as explained by Miller.
I've found no reason that it would make a diference other than airflow is improved by having them aligned with the frames above. Thanks for sharing about Dr. Miller.
Traditional (Perpendicular Slats): This was the original design. Still used occasionally. Advantage: Easier to build. Disadvantages: Mites falling off bees might not reach the bottom board if they land on the slats first. Less effective with screened bottom boards (SBBs) commonly used for mite control. Modern (Parallel Slats): Became popular with the use of SBBs. Slats run in the same direction as the frames. Advantages: Mites have a clearer path to fall through the slats and onto the screen below. More effective with SBBs for mite control. Disadvantages: Requires more attention during construction to ensure proper spacing.
@@FrederickDunn I understand the mite issue but Miller's original slatted rack was not about mite control. This was the reason for my thought on the slats running perpendicular possibly making the difference in it effectiveness for doing what Miller created it for.
@@grounded7362 True, the introduction of mite controls impacted and informed the discussion regarding the potential benefit of having them parallel. I'm more than comfortable with parallel-aligned bars without further investigation at this point.
I used to use snow to clean off my horse in the winter. It’s very effective. The bees could also be playing; like they enjoyed spinning on a drill bit(?) in another video.
Gr8 video. I guess I don’t know what I don’t know so don’t know what to ask. I just find the whole story about bees and bee keeping fascinating. I am interested in the health benefits of honey since it has been around for thousands of years and almost every culture has benefited from it and bees.
Many thanks... will stay tuned. Looks like bee keepers in SoCal will have an abundance of wildflowers. It will stop raining soon! But will take it while we can.
About hive drift, the hives on the end seem to have less issues, but when people do hives close together usually a different color or a distinctive picture on the front or top of hives like Fred does with his pryography helps. I stencil the front of my hives to make them different. It does help with drift. Some people do not care about drift though. I have seen 4 hives on one wood pallet many times. My hives are also 3 plus feet apart also.
Marking high contrast images on hives does help then orientate visually and you're right that many people don't care about drift as all of the hives are their own anyway. The bees that tend to arrive at the wrong landing board are truly overloaded and exhausted - I have videos of them crash landing after several attempts of gaining the landing board. It's a funny dynamic and you're right though Carlos, no harm done in real numbers.
I watched a couple videos on the bees in the snow. It reminds me of how my dog is in spring when he first gets out in the grass. He enjoys it a bit, seems excited for the change in the weather and rolls around and "scrubs himself" in the fresh budding grass. Just my thoughts.
Thank you for your comments and advice. The shallow frames were the only ones I could get my hands on with drawn comb. I understand about the bees drawing off the bottom. I had planned on sandwiching them between deep frames of full foundation to try and reduce the crazy comb. Thank you again!
Frederick - I'd like to thank you for taking the time to put these videos out. I know how much work goes in to these and it is appreciated. Second year beekeeper, my apiary goals are very similar to yours. Overwintered three hives (single deep management, alive so far) and plan to expand to maximum of 10. I will be utilizing 6 and 7 frame Flow hives for honey production to share with friends. Last year starting from nucs and a late spring, we did not have to worry much about swarming. My question is this - what have you observed/what is your strategy with Flow frame supers to maximize production while preventing swarming? I fully understand I can pull off frames of brood for splits and will be doing so to expand the apiary. That said, with traditional management/honey production and a booming hive I'd simply add additional supers/frames to absorb the increased population and reap the benefits. With a Flow frame super, I'm not sure the best strategy to absorb increased population/prevent swarming without having them store the honey in traditional frames instead of where I'd like them to in the Flow frames. Is this scenario just something that is unavoidable? Please let me know if I need to clear anything up.
I'm doing a flowhive special coming up soon. You can also add more than one Flow-Super on your hive. I will talk about this when I do that video. I've also run two deeps, then the flow-super and that has kept them happy. The problems arise when they are super productive and fill the flow frames, but haven't capped them, I can't take the honey off then, so expansion is necessary. I've put medium standard supers over/above the flow-super and had them fill that, then when I remove the flow-super, I drop that honey box down on the deeps for wintering. Giving them physical space is the key to keeping them from swarming out.
@@FrederickDunn Thanks for the reply. This exact scenario occurred last year with our hive that showed the most productivity. Flow super 90% full but uncapped - we added a second flow super on for the physical space. This could get spendy quick though so I'll most likely employ the standard super above strategy you mention. With my 8 frame hives, I may need to go to double deep brood management. It seems we are on the same page, thank you for the sanity check!
@@jknobbe2008 I want to get my hands on the new 7 frame (10 Langstrogh) FlowHive2 as that's sized right for what I do. The 6 frame FH2 just looks too tall and likely to topple easier aside from the reduced capacity. Right now it's a pre-order.
@@FrederickDunn Agreed. We just put in our pre-order for the 7 frame FH2 last week. Hope to get a feel for what works best for us before expanding on production hives. My gut tells me 10 frame will be the way to go forward, especially for single deep overwintering. We aren't too deep into 8 frame equipment yet to prevent us from making the move to primarily 10 frame.
I also enjoy your videos. I am on an island in south Florida. I use slatted racks on my hives with screen bottom boards. They do for me as advertised. The bees are just more comfortable. I started with one as an experiment on Langstroth deep frame hive and it was pretty obvious with less bearding and so on. But the oxalic acid treatment benefit convinced me. So I put on all of my hives. In our tropical area it seems to work well. I also added Clauss hive domes this year to a few hives and they are also a big hit as well. The winter condensation issues have been eliminated and the bees are on all the frames warm and dry. It gets into 30's sometimes even here.
I am wondering if slatted racks help in 105 to 115 F dry summer for weeks or months n Arizona. What is the best practice to help vent besides shading the hive box? Anyone use a 2" form around the box.
Hi Fred. This year I got 3 overwintered NUCS of hygienic Carni honeybees. At the same time I decided to try out the slatted racks. I know how they go on the hives but the day I put them in was the same day the NUC's arrived and I was really busy and not paying attention to what I was doing. Now you would think the odds of not paying attention and putting in new slatted racks that at least one of them would end up in the correct orientation. However, I seemed to have put all three of them in upside down. When I put the bees in the boxes to start with I already had some frames of resources to put in there with them and being overwintered Nuc's I was expecting them to increase fairly rapidly so I put them in double deeps to start with. The first couple of inspections I did not go into the bottom deep. I only went into them as far as I had to to ensure that the double deeps were not too much space for them to start with and that I was seeing evidence of the queen laying. Eventually I got around to doing an inspection all the way to the bottom and I then discovered that I had inadvertently put the slatted rack in upside down in all three hives. In each hive the bees had drawn about 1 1/2 inches of comb on the bottom of the frames to fill that extra space and in each case the queens had laid only drone brood down there. They are still like that 5 months later. I plan to get back to them, remove the extra comb and flip them over but these Carni's are some real producers. Before I knew it the deeps were so heavy that I really don't want to have to pick them up again. I do need to do a good hive inspection on all my hives but what a task that always is and I'm not getting any younger. It's the middle of July and we are starting a dearth here in S.E. Virginia so the bees are getting a bit grumpy. I need to wear at least a jacket this time of the year but it is also so hot now. Perhaps I'll start next weekend or the week after. On an entirely different matter. This year I tried something called "bettercomb" from Betterbee. It's a bit pricey but my bees love it. If I put some bettercomb in a box along with wax foundation the bees will go right to the bettercomb and wait a really long time to start drawing out that wax. I bought some deep and medium sizes of this comb. I think that the deep that I put in the brood boxes should be OK, the bees will repair it if something goes wrong but I don't know if the medium's will hold up in the slinger (that's what my grandfather called it) when I go to extract it. Seems sort of flimsy to go thru the extraction process. Have you ever tried the stuff? I'd like to know your thoughts on it.
Fred, a very helpful series of video's - gets to the core of good beekeeping practices...thank you. Can you discuss Spring hive box rotation and checkerboarding for us?
Love the channel. I'm going into my second year. Unfortunately last year's single colony didn't make it, but I will be starting 2 colonies here in about a month. Like many newbies, I've watched TONS of videos, and at this point, you, and Barnyard Bees are the two I have settled on as my favs.
@@FrederickDunn they have not gotten back with me. I ordered my hive anyway but emailed them the code I had and have asked it they could credit me that $50. I’ll let you know. But either way, I’m fine!
Great information as always.. I love when you go into detail about the different bees and their respective life cycle. Do you have a video detailing all the different roles of bees in the hive and their life cycle? Is there some kind of a "map" of that stuff? Would be good to have a better "big picture" of a colony. I never saw a slatted frame before.. thanks for explaining! Haha! the corkscrew flight... they are literally "setting home coordinates" on the map.. that's such a cool thing to think about! Thanks again Fed! Onto 7...
I do explain the jobs and roles within the hive better in my observation hive videos :) Thanks as always for watching and commenting! New FAQ Tomorrow :)
Ok I have watched a few of those.. might be due for a binge watch.. Jar of honey in one hand, Frederick Dunn UA-cam channel under mouse in the other. Sweet on the new FAQ.. I am nipping at your heals.. headed for 7 tonight or tomorrow! Got my bee suit today and gloves.. have the basic tools now. Might open my hives tomorrow and have a look-see. So exciting!
I see in your favorite langstroth set-up you have a slotted rack. Does this mean you have changed your mind on this? Do you have an update video on it?
The slotted rack has proven to be useful for introducing Oxalic Acid Vaporization without damaging the brood frames/comb/wax. The bees still beard, but I do think that leading solid board is also useful. It's a nice to have item.
Great suggestion! We'll see if that opportunity comes along. Many of my beekeeping friends are private and don't welcome being on a video for UA-cam. BUT, we shall see.
Thank you for explaining about not wanting to expand.. I figured you could let them swarm, you know mother nature but, was not sure. I would welcome the problem of too many healthy bees to give away.
Wow. I'm going to get nucs. Unfortunately I dont kni anyone to get bees from otherwise. I have the time just not enough space for more than two colonies. Thanks for doing videos that help my beekeeping knowledge for sure!
Thanks Mr Dunn,,I need this vital information.. want to be a keeper of bees this season,, trying my luck with baited swarm trap,,April ,,May is the season over here🇱🇨👍...I think I have bee fever without owning bees..
Fred, about when do you stop providing water? When the water will actually freeze in the feeder? Aka when you put out winter fondant. You can save this for a questions asked video if you want. Thanks. Just curious, I figure they would not break cluster in bad temps for water. Lick water off melted snow on the landing board? Have you painted any of your landing boards ever?
FAQ 7 :) Remember also that sugar water spoils while dry feed doesn't. I stop around the first week of November. I only feed the hives that don't have strong stores built up.
Hi again Fred, regarding products, I'm presently living in Sweden and find that sometimes the company of the product you showcase just won't ship internationally. (Those cool spring-loaded, lockable frame grippers comes to mind.) It might be a business idea where we less fortunate that don't live in the US could order from you if you made it worth your while and time, of course. PayPal would ease transactions. :)
You are right about hive moves. I have seen people move them a few feet at a time over a period of time. I do not think that is necessary as people take thier hives even across country to pollenate farm fields or orchards and it does not seem to matter.
Love these videos. The bees rubbing on the snow does seem to do with cleansing. It reminds me of dogs rubbing their butts on the floor. They're doing it for a reason, not just to make us laugh at them.
I use them on over half of my colonies. They haven't demonstrated that they end bearding, but "may" reduce it a little? I like them because I can put a 1/4" diameter hole in the back and use them as a buffer zone when administering OAV. Other than that, they are not necessary, but may be of some benefit that isn't significant. They also serve to protect the bottom frames of comb from those hot irons that many beekeepers use for their OAV treatments, but even then they can have wax underneath. Still need to check. For someone beginning with bees, a solid bottom board with a deep box right on that is fine. Or an enclosed screened bottom board is also handy.
Hi Mr. Dunn, My question: Is there a possibility of swarming while there are no queen activities in the upper box? Keep in mind that the 2 boxes are full of bees, Old comb in the upper box so I don't have to use a queen excluder, here in my country beekeepers use single brood box management.
If there is no queen, there is no swarm. If I understand your question correctly. Without the queen present, the bees will just dwindle in numbers and die out unless you introduce a replacement.
@@FrederickDunn I'm sorry, I failed to deliver my question. There is a queen in the lower box (new eggs, open & capped brood) what I'm talking about is the upper box ( my hive is 2 deep boxes)
@@houssembenabdallah6599 No problem, if there is plenty of room for the bees in your hive and you are not seeing new queen cells being made, you're probably ok. BUT, honey bees tend to also surprise us no matter what we do in preparation. BUT two deeps and a super is something I've used with very good success without swarms emitting.
Hi, Mr. Dunn. I'm curious if collecting the dead snow bees and testing them for Navarro mites might show if that could be the cause of snow bathing? Maybe a good test?
Hey Fred enjoying all your bee videos. I know you endorse the Flow Hive. Recently I attended the annual spring INDIANA beekeepers conference in Indianapolis. At that conference there was a vendor selling flow hives however they weren’t the ones made in Australia. Have you had any experience with these knockoffs and would you recommend since they are cheaper than the Flow Hives?
Hi Larry, when It comes to the knock offs I completely steer clear. They never answer any of my questions regarding material composition and if you really want air-silence, ask them about their patent issues? The flow-frames themselves are the biggest issue, as that's the plastic that the bees and honey will be in constant contact with, so it really needs to be from a reputable company with verifiable materials. Too many fly-by-night companies peddling a variety of materials. So, personally, though the price is enticing, I don't deal with anyone who won't respond to questions. I'm surprised that one was actually at a beekeepers State Conference? One of the biggest rip-off companies was the Tap-Hive with Tap-Comb - they actually got my money and I received one of their truly terrible hives. When I realized how terrible the materials were, I tried to contact them and guess what? Dead email, phone number disconnected and even their website was closed. They still have a UA-cam channel though! It's a buyer beware world for sure.. sorry for the semi-rant, but we are really left being skeptical of everyone selling something.
Frederick Dunn Thanks for your insight. I’m thinking along the same line as you about the knockoff hives. My philosophy is you usually get what you pay for. Think I will buy the frames but make my own boxes. Have a great day and thanks again.
Yes definitely, if you have the skills - tools - and good wood to work with, making your own woodenware is fun and very satisfying. The FlowHive people used to post templates on their website for those wanting to build their own. www.honeyflow.com/faqs/all/modifying-a-langstroth-box-for-flow-frames/p/143
Are wax moths and SHB less likely to be a problem in Massachusetts where we often have winter temperatures in the single digits? I leave my frames outside for several hours when the temperature is between 6 and 12 degress. I 'm thinking that this should kill any eggs from last year. Are SHB a bigger problem in the South? Thanks
HI Larry, we definitely have fewer SHB to deal with here in the colder climates. As for wax moths, they are always out there waiting for a small or weak colony. I've had night cameras pick up on the wax moths flying around looking for entry to beehives, it's just that very few make it in as they meet the guards.
Mr. Dunn, good stuff. Question...You are feeding a Sep swarm dry food. How should a beekeeper manage dry feeding/sugar water feeding during winter months? Is there a standard methodology? Thank you.
Hi Bill, among beekeepers there really is no "standard methodology" and winter feeding is one of those areas. Honey saved by the bees is #1 in my book. For my swarm this year, I have a rapid round feeder in that upper box and went into fall with a 2:1 sugar water mix and then in November, swapped that out with pure cane granulated sugar in another rapid-round feeder. They have been using that up much faster than I had anticipated. We simply assumed they were doomed going into winter, but I am now pleasantly surprised.
I am sure I subscribed and get notifications. I do like Chelsey and Tony as well as fellow Aussies Matt Granger and Currently Hannah. The later two are travel bloggers as well as Matt specific to photography and sea food.
Well then as usual. Since you spoke about swarming, what do you think if we use the queen excluder on the entrance of the brood box, would that help preventing swarming? I mean since the queen is big by placing the queen excluder it won’t let the queen out at all. Or am I missing something here? Mohamed, question from the United Arab Emirates :)
Hi Mohamed! I have just added your question to my list for the FAQ#7 video that will release on Friday. Thank you for your question, I think many others will enjoy the answer :)
@@FrederickDunn Sorry for asking too many questions Mr. Fred. Another Question plz to be added to Fridays' list: In some countries in different part of the world, they don't have much flowers such as what you have in the US, Canada, S.A. Asia etc... thus, there is plenty of people doubt that Flow system won't work! I asked a friend who is expert here in my country about Flow system and he said naah it won't work! and i was like why? he said in our country and in some of the middle east countries, most people uses only single hive (brood) not multiple hives as what they uses in countries where they have lots of blooms/flowers. Therefore, I am thinking of something to use as plan B, I took picture of the honey box, and came up with an idea! I'll use single box as my friend said, and I'll divide it say (70/30), 70= frames (5 frames) for broods & 30= flow frames (3 frames), separated by queen excluder (I'll make it my self of course). I am attaching the URL of the pictures I took just few minutes ago, and the Q. here, do you think by doing so my plan will work? I mean I'll be able to get honey in these three “Flow” frames? pasteboard.co/I4l0hT9.jpg pasteboard.co/I4l0XOu.jpg pasteboard.co/I4l1iBt.jpg Question from Mohamed - United Arab Emirates :)
@@MohamedUAE I may have to agree with your friend on this one Mohamed. It sounds like they may not build up enough honey for the flow-super to take on the extra. I don't think putting flow-frames in a single deep with the brood and using a Queen excluder would work very well. I think you may just want to adopt your friend's methods?
Is there a way to determine if you have a queen late in the fall after they are done laying? Besides visually seeing her or workers bringing in pollen?
Hi Janet, you can look for eggs in the cells, but the only way to be certain is to look for the queen on a warm day. Late fall is when most queens will stop laying eggs, so other than direct observation of the queen, it's a guess.
Hey, speaking of Rapid Round Feeders, I want to get one. I just ordered the FlowHive2 "8frame", and it has a gabbled roof. will that hold a 10.5" or 8.5" Rapid Round Feeder?
Hi Brad, I cover that problem in this video. They don't fit under the gabled roof.... they "almost" fit with the large 7 flow, which is the 10 frame body, but it still needs a little more wiggle room. ua-cam.com/video/CZsGV1F8xbQ/v-deo.html
Carlos! Fancy seeing you here! Ok, when it comes to AFB or EFB, I would burn EVERYTHING... I take no chances. There are currently approved treatments for foul brood, but I'm also against those interventions. I wouldn't wait a day, the minute it was confirmed, everything would go. I do think there is a procedure for sanitizing the flow-frames themselves, but I would need 100% confidence in that procedure before I'd accept even that.
@@FrederickDunn This presentation from the Maryland Department of agriculture lists it as one of three ways to save frames from AFB exposure. mda.maryland.gov/plants-pests/Documents/Presentation-AFB.pdf Canada definitely approves it as does Australia. I am wondering if in the USA it is the States that determine if it is acceptable?
2 questions: 1: Does honey ever crystallize in a hive as it might do in a jar? 2: If you keep a hive solely for yourself, you don't plan on selling the honey or sell the queens or anything, do you still have to get your hive inspected?
Good questions! Just added these to FAQ7 - short answer, yes honey solidifies in the honey supers and it's not a problem because the bees use it right up just fine. AND, if you have bees in boxes and are managing them, in my State you still have to register and indeed you may be inspected. BUT, you're not high on the inspection list with one or two hives. Each State has their own registration and inspection requirements.
@@FrederickDunn In Maryland it is 30 days to register a new hive, even if it is a swarm capture. Frames have to be able to be removed aka no keeping bees in a dresser drawer or old timey skep, and inspections are mandatory.
I think if they get out in the snow ,they do to get drinking water in case you fed them granulated sugar.Here somme beekepers use low quality honey(sunflower honey or rape honey, that cristalises fast) to winter the bees instead of sugar .And they get high mortality because the bees need more water to dissolve the cristalised honey.Another factor for bees in the snow behaviour ,might be genetics.Having bees from a hotter area where they get out sooner could ,probably,cause that behaviour.
I started consuming raw honey about two years ago and I am always looking for something different. My breakfast has been raw honey on toasted bread and a sprinkle of dry bee pollen every single day for two years. I can't remember the last time I got sick with a cold. : ) I would love to be put on your list of potential buyers please.
@@marcobevilacqua5267 My kids allergies went away by eating our local honey. Cause there is local pollen in there that causes thier allergies. It is like getting a flu shot.
Hmmmmm you are correct John... I also have a Z7 for some recent high def work I've been doing. You really do pay attention :) I still like the Z6 for low light photo and video work... but Z7 has ridiculously high resolution so I snagged one last month.
Frederick Dunn ... mega bucks! Glad you can write of some costs as business expenses. I’m envious. Looking forward to Japan but blossoms will peak earlier this year in the south so might have to day trip north.
@@johnmcneill923 John! I checked your channel and you haven't subbed to my channel? Dannnng... how sad is that? :) but I do like Tony and Chelsae also :)
1 ) When bees are landing in the snow, do you pick them up and put them back on their hive landing boards? 2:00
2) Can you prevent swarming by removing brood frames? What if you just want to keep it to a couple of hives? 7:28
3) With 2 Bee Packages coming in, can I put shallow frames with drawn comb into deep boxes for the new bees? Also using a shim feeder and Migratory Top cover. 15:37
4) Slatted Racks, are they necessary? Do they live up to the hype? 21:44
5) Moved hives to avoid trees from falling on them, about 15 feet, will that mess the bees up? 28:33
Fred Dunn, creator of the best bee content on the web. Excellent video as usual
On the slatted rack, I use them. Why? Well I use a vented bottom board that is left open 24x7x365 no matter what the temperature. I also overwinter in 2 medium boxes and I use medium 8 frame equipment exclusively. So in my situation, it adds dead space at the bottom of the hive that is a buffer against cold and wind. It also adds additional buffer space to allow me to better control swarming which is a bit harder to control in 8 frame hives. I have temperature sensors in both of my boxes and it seems that my bees are now staying in the lower box for longer periods after adding the slatted rack. Just seems that in my use case it gives the bees more opportunity to do things as they wish rather than being forced by atmospheric conditions. Still waiting to get through this winter to summer to compare my numbers a bit more and see how things turn out. Most of that is anecdotal and I have only been using them since Fall. I will update you on my personal observations as the season progresses. As always, thanks for all your videos Frederick!
Hi Fred, I enjoy your videos and insights. You asked if we had experience with slatted racks and I have to say I use them ALL the time. I live in S. Florida where its hot most of the year. The day I installed slatted racks on my hives was a game changer in my beekeeping. From massive bearding all day long to almost no bearding at even the hottest time of the day was instantaneous and very dramatic. Here in S. FL our afternoon thunderstorms can easily drop more than an inch of rain in 40 min, and bees that would be bearding have to go inside which risks overheating the colony. With the slatted rack, the bees can take shelter from the rain and still maintain good hive ventilation. All the other good things that mentioned: brood laying closer to the bottom of the frame and in the front corners of the frame, less sunlight in the hive, and protection from oxalic acid treatments, etc. Also down here the entrance predators, such as bufo toads and possums, can eat massive amounts of bees that are bearding on the front of the hive. This puts the bees in a very agitated state. Slatted racks reduce predation. I did a video on my youtube channel also about this, so if you are interested please check it out on S. FL Beekeeping with Rich. Thanks again for great information! Rich
One benefit of the slatted rack that my favorite local bee store, Bee Maniacs, told me is that the solid panel behind the landing board, inside the hive, provides a ledge for the dead bees to collect throughout the winter in order to prevent the clogging of the entrance.
I like those guys because they show my bee feeder video :) That's an interesting point on the broad solid segment.... thanks Wendy!
This video was very helpful Fred. Thank You Rebecca Allen from NWPBA
Glad it was helpful! I hope to see you on Saturday :)
Dr. C. C. Miller, in his book, Fifty years among the bees talks about how he used a slatted rack and the benefits on page 48 of his book.
The way he explains the construction of the slatted rack the slates run across the hive perpendicular to the frames vs the way we see them today running parallel to the frames. The perpendicular slates could be what makes the difference in how the slatted rack performs.
I personally have never use a slatted rack but am going to try them this year but built with the slats running perpendicular to the frames as explained by Miller.
I've found no reason that it would make a diference other than airflow is improved by having them aligned with the frames above. Thanks for sharing about Dr. Miller.
Traditional (Perpendicular Slats):
This was the original design.
Still used occasionally.
Advantage: Easier to build.
Disadvantages:
Mites falling off bees might not reach the bottom board if they land on the slats first.
Less effective with screened bottom boards (SBBs) commonly used for mite control.
Modern (Parallel Slats):
Became popular with the use of SBBs.
Slats run in the same direction as the frames.
Advantages:
Mites have a clearer path to fall through the slats and onto the screen below.
More effective with SBBs for mite control.
Disadvantages:
Requires more attention during construction to ensure proper spacing.
@@FrederickDunn
I understand the mite issue but Miller's original slatted rack was not about mite control.
This was the reason for my thought on the slats running perpendicular possibly making the difference in it effectiveness for doing what Miller created it for.
@@grounded7362 True, the introduction of mite controls impacted and informed the discussion regarding the potential benefit of having them parallel. I'm more than comfortable with parallel-aligned bars without further investigation at this point.
Wow! I didn't know you had a younger brother helping you do Q & A?😆
I see divine intelligence in the bees, and cleaning themselves the snow is signs of it. So wonderful to learn
I think the bee is just having fun making bee snow angels!
Excited for the next video on your set up for the flow hive.
Wow, always learn something new when I watch your videos. Never even heard of a slated rack before. Great video.
I used to use snow to clean off my horse in the winter. It’s very effective. The bees could also be playing; like they enjoyed spinning on a drill bit(?) in another video.
Gr8 video. I guess I don’t know what I don’t know so don’t know what to ask. I just find the whole story about bees and bee keeping fascinating. I am interested in the health benefits of honey since it has been around for thousands of years and almost every culture has benefited from it and bees.
FAQ 7, thanks John! That question comes up a lot!
Many thanks... will stay tuned. Looks like bee keepers in SoCal will have an abundance of wildflowers. It will stop raining soon! But will take it while we can.
About hive drift, the hives on the end seem to have less issues, but when people do hives close together usually a different color or a distinctive picture on the front or top of hives like Fred does with his pryography helps. I stencil the front of my hives to make them different. It does help with drift.
Some people do not care about drift though. I have seen 4 hives on one wood pallet many times.
My hives are also 3 plus feet apart also.
Marking high contrast images on hives does help then orientate visually and you're right that many people don't care about drift as all of the hives are their own anyway. The bees that tend to arrive at the wrong landing board are truly overloaded and exhausted - I have videos of them crash landing after several attempts of gaining the landing board. It's a funny dynamic and you're right though Carlos, no harm done in real numbers.
As always Fred great job!
I watched a couple videos on the bees in the snow. It reminds me of how my dog is in spring when he first gets out in the grass. He enjoys it a bit, seems excited for the change in the weather and rolls around and "scrubs himself" in the fresh budding grass. Just my thoughts.
Thank you for your comments and advice. The shallow frames were the only ones I could get my hands on with drawn comb. I understand about the bees drawing off the bottom. I had planned on sandwiching them between deep frames of full foundation to try and reduce the crazy comb. Thank you again!
Thanks Jack, please keep us posted on the progress your packages make :)
Frederick - I'd like to thank you for taking the time to put these videos out. I know how much work goes in to these and it is appreciated. Second year beekeeper, my apiary goals are very similar to yours. Overwintered three hives (single deep management, alive so far) and plan to expand to maximum of 10. I will be utilizing 6 and 7 frame Flow hives for honey production to share with friends.
Last year starting from nucs and a late spring, we did not have to worry much about swarming. My question is this - what have you observed/what is your strategy with Flow frame supers to maximize production while preventing swarming? I fully understand I can pull off frames of brood for splits and will be doing so to expand the apiary. That said, with traditional management/honey production and a booming hive I'd simply add additional supers/frames to absorb the increased population and reap the benefits. With a Flow frame super, I'm not sure the best strategy to absorb increased population/prevent swarming without having them store the honey in traditional frames instead of where I'd like them to in the Flow frames. Is this scenario just something that is unavoidable? Please let me know if I need to clear anything up.
I'm doing a flowhive special coming up soon. You can also add more than one Flow-Super on your hive. I will talk about this when I do that video. I've also run two deeps, then the flow-super and that has kept them happy. The problems arise when they are super productive and fill the flow frames, but haven't capped them, I can't take the honey off then, so expansion is necessary. I've put medium standard supers over/above the flow-super and had them fill that, then when I remove the flow-super, I drop that honey box down on the deeps for wintering. Giving them physical space is the key to keeping them from swarming out.
@@FrederickDunn Thanks for the reply. This exact scenario occurred last year with our hive that showed the most productivity. Flow super 90% full but uncapped - we added a second flow super on for the physical space. This could get spendy quick though so I'll most likely employ the standard super above strategy you mention. With my 8 frame hives, I may need to go to double deep brood management. It seems we are on the same page, thank you for the sanity check!
@@jknobbe2008 I want to get my hands on the new 7 frame (10 Langstrogh) FlowHive2 as that's sized right for what I do. The 6 frame FH2 just looks too tall and likely to topple easier aside from the reduced capacity. Right now it's a pre-order.
@@FrederickDunn Agreed. We just put in our pre-order for the 7 frame FH2 last week. Hope to get a feel for what works best for us before expanding on production hives. My gut tells me 10 frame will be the way to go forward, especially for single deep overwintering. We aren't too deep into 8 frame equipment yet to prevent us from making the move to primarily 10 frame.
@@jknobbe2008 I hope you used my discount code :) I'd get $50 off of my next purchase :)
I also enjoy your videos. I am on an island in south Florida. I use slatted racks on my hives with screen bottom boards. They do for me as advertised. The bees are just more comfortable. I started with one as an experiment on Langstroth deep frame hive and it was pretty obvious with less bearding and so on. But the oxalic acid treatment benefit convinced me. So I put on all of my hives. In our tropical area it seems to work well. I also added Clauss hive domes this year to a few hives and they are also a big hit as well. The winter condensation issues have been eliminated and the bees are on all the frames warm and dry. It gets into 30's sometimes even here.
I am wondering if slatted racks help in 105 to 115 F dry summer for weeks or months n Arizona. What is the best practice to help vent besides shading the hive box? Anyone use a 2" form around the box.
Hi Fred. This year I got 3 overwintered NUCS of hygienic Carni honeybees. At the same time I decided to try out the slatted racks. I know how they go on the hives but the day I put them in was the same day the NUC's arrived and I was really busy and not paying attention to what I was doing. Now you would think the odds of not paying attention and putting in new slatted racks that at least one of them would end up in the correct orientation. However, I seemed to have put all three of them in upside down. When I put the bees in the boxes to start with I already had some frames of resources to put in there with them and being overwintered Nuc's I was expecting them to increase fairly rapidly so I put them in double deeps to start with. The first couple of inspections I did not go into the bottom deep. I only went into them as far as I had to to ensure that the double deeps were not too much space for them to start with and that I was seeing evidence of the queen laying. Eventually I got around to doing an inspection all the way to the bottom and I then discovered that I had inadvertently put the slatted rack in upside down in all three hives. In each hive the bees had drawn about 1 1/2 inches of comb on the bottom of the frames to fill that extra space and in each case the queens had laid only drone brood down there. They are still like that 5 months later. I plan to get back to them, remove the extra comb and flip them over but these Carni's are some real producers. Before I knew it the deeps were so heavy that I really don't want to have to pick them up again. I do need to do a good hive inspection on all my hives but what a task that always is and I'm not getting any younger. It's the middle of July and we are starting a dearth here in S.E. Virginia so the bees are getting a bit grumpy. I need to wear at least a jacket this time of the year but it is also so hot now. Perhaps I'll start next weekend or the week after.
On an entirely different matter. This year I tried something called "bettercomb" from Betterbee. It's a bit pricey but my bees love it. If I put some bettercomb in a box along with wax foundation the bees will go right to the bettercomb and wait a really long time to start drawing out that wax. I bought some deep and medium sizes of this comb. I think that the deep that I put in the brood boxes should be OK, the bees will repair it if something goes wrong but I don't know if the medium's will hold up in the slinger (that's what my grandfather called it) when I go to extract it. Seems sort of flimsy to go thru the extraction process. Have you ever tried the stuff? I'd like to know your thoughts on it.
Sorry I did not see this comment until now. I think you may already know what I think of bettercomb by now :)
Fred, a very helpful series of video's - gets to the core of good beekeeping practices...thank you. Can you discuss Spring hive box rotation and checkerboarding for us?
Thanks Philip, just added to FAQ 7 much appreciated!
Love the channel. I'm going into my second year. Unfortunately last year's single colony didn't make it, but I will be starting 2 colonies here in about a month. Like many newbies, I've watched TONS of videos, and at this point, you, and Barnyard Bees are the two I have settled on as my favs.
HI Joe, thank you so much! Yes, Dave and Barnyard Bees has lots of great information to share! I hope you do better this year with your bees!
I just order a Flow Hive 2. For backyard beekeepers I feels its a excellent idea.
Did they fix the problem with the discount link?
@@FrederickDunn they have not gotten back with me. I ordered my hive anyway but emailed them the code I had and have asked it they could credit me that $50. I’ll let you know. But either way, I’m fine!
Love my bees
Great information as always.. I love when you go into detail about the different bees and their respective life cycle. Do you have a video detailing all the different roles of bees in the hive and their life cycle? Is there some kind of a "map" of that stuff? Would be good to have a better "big picture" of a colony. I never saw a slatted frame before.. thanks for explaining! Haha! the corkscrew flight... they are literally "setting home coordinates" on the map.. that's such a cool thing to think about! Thanks again Fed! Onto 7...
I do explain the jobs and roles within the hive better in my observation hive videos :) Thanks as always for watching and commenting! New FAQ Tomorrow :)
Ok I have watched a few of those.. might be due for a binge watch.. Jar of honey in one hand, Frederick Dunn UA-cam channel under mouse in the other. Sweet on the new FAQ.. I am nipping at your heals.. headed for 7 tonight or tomorrow! Got my bee suit today and gloves.. have the basic tools now. Might open my hives tomorrow and have a look-see. So exciting!
I see in your favorite langstroth set-up you have a slotted rack. Does this mean you have changed your mind on this? Do you have an update video on it?
The slotted rack has proven to be useful for introducing Oxalic Acid Vaporization without damaging the brood frames/comb/wax. The bees still beard, but I do think that leading solid board is also useful. It's a nice to have item.
I'd love to see a video of a split where you're selling and someone comes to get them. I've always wondered about securing and transporting a hive.
Great suggestion! We'll see if that opportunity comes along. Many of my beekeeping friends are private and don't welcome being on a video for UA-cam. BUT, we shall see.
Thank you for explaining about not wanting to expand.. I figured you could let them swarm, you know mother nature but, was not sure. I would welcome the problem of too many healthy bees to give away.
I just unloaded three colonies. This was a year of high reproduction to be sure. You need lots of time to tend more than 20 colonies.
Wow. I'm going to get nucs. Unfortunately I dont kni anyone to get bees from otherwise. I have the time just not enough space for more than two colonies. Thanks for doing videos that help my beekeeping knowledge for sure!
Thanks Mr Dunn,,I need this vital information.. want to be a keeper of bees this season,, trying my luck with baited swarm trap,,April ,,May is the season over here🇱🇨👍...I think I have bee fever without owning bees..
Hi Robert, what type of swarm trap are you using? Have you seen the "Swarm Trooper"? That's something I have my eye on this year :)
Good luck with capturing a swarm. I hope you have some equipment in place in case it happens. Aka stuff to take care of them after the swarm.
Late to the video and as usual very informative. I would like you to touch on under super if you have ever done this. Thanks Tom.
Hi Thomas, that's a great question and I've added to FAQ7 thank you so much, I really do have some sophisticated viewers! :)
Fred, about when do you stop providing water? When the water will actually freeze in the feeder? Aka when you put out winter fondant. You can save this for a questions asked video if you want. Thanks. Just curious, I figure they would not break cluster in bad temps for water. Lick water off melted snow on the landing board? Have you painted any of your landing boards ever?
FAQ 7 :) Remember also that sugar water spoils while dry feed doesn't. I stop around the first week of November. I only feed the hives that don't have strong stores built up.
Great information like always thank you so much, what about the German hive box?
You're welcome, I'm not sure what the German Hive Box is?
Hi again Fred, regarding products, I'm presently living in Sweden and find that sometimes the company of the product you showcase just won't ship internationally. (Those cool spring-loaded, lockable frame grippers comes to mind.) It might be a business idea where we less fortunate that don't live in the US could order from you if you made it worth your while and time, of course. PayPal would ease transactions. :)
You are right about hive moves. I have seen people move them a few feet at a time over a period of time. I do not think that is necessary as people take thier hives even across country to pollenate farm fields or orchards and it does not seem to matter.
Love these videos. The bees rubbing on the snow does seem to do with cleansing. It reminds me of dogs rubbing their butts on the floor. They're doing it for a reason, not just to make us laugh at them.
It adds space for bee ladders that bee keeper keep cutting off the bottom of the frames and it cuts the light out so the brood is laid to the bottom
Thanks Shawn, are you currently using them?
What's a bee ladder?
@@julieenslow5915 I think he's talking about the comb that bees extend down. Just guessing :)
@Frederick Dunn
That makes sense. Thank you.
So am I correct in understanding you have changed your mind regarding the slatted racks?
I use them on over half of my colonies. They haven't demonstrated that they end bearding, but "may" reduce it a little? I like them because I can put a 1/4" diameter hole in the back and use them as a buffer zone when administering OAV. Other than that, they are not necessary, but may be of some benefit that isn't significant. They also serve to protect the bottom frames of comb from those hot irons that many beekeepers use for their OAV treatments, but even then they can have wax underneath. Still need to check. For someone beginning with bees, a solid bottom board with a deep box right on that is fine. Or an enclosed screened bottom board is also handy.
Hi Mr. Dunn, My question: Is there a possibility of swarming while there are no queen activities in the upper box?
Keep in mind that the 2 boxes are full of bees, Old comb in the upper box so I don't have to use a queen excluder, here in my country beekeepers use single brood box management.
If there is no queen, there is no swarm. If I understand your question correctly. Without the queen present, the bees will just dwindle in numbers and die out unless you introduce a replacement.
@@FrederickDunn I'm sorry, I failed to deliver my question. There is a queen in the lower box (new eggs, open & capped brood) what I'm talking about is the upper box ( my hive is 2 deep boxes)
@@houssembenabdallah6599 No problem, if there is plenty of room for the bees in your hive and you are not seeing new queen cells being made, you're probably ok. BUT, honey bees tend to also surprise us no matter what we do in preparation. BUT two deeps and a super is something I've used with very good success without swarms emitting.
Hi, Mr. Dunn. I'm curious if collecting the dead snow bees and testing them for Navarro mites might show if that could be the cause of snow bathing? Maybe a good test?
I'm not sure they are actually snow-grooming, that shall remain a mystery for now.
Hey Fred enjoying all your bee videos. I know you endorse the Flow Hive. Recently I attended the annual spring INDIANA beekeepers conference in Indianapolis. At that conference there was a vendor selling flow hives however they weren’t the ones made in Australia. Have you had any experience with these knockoffs and would you recommend since they are cheaper than the Flow Hives?
Hi Larry, when It comes to the knock offs I completely steer clear. They never answer any of my questions regarding material composition and if you really want air-silence, ask them about their patent issues? The flow-frames themselves are the biggest issue, as that's the plastic that the bees and honey will be in constant contact with, so it really needs to be from a reputable company with verifiable materials. Too many fly-by-night companies peddling a variety of materials. So, personally, though the price is enticing, I don't deal with anyone who won't respond to questions. I'm surprised that one was actually at a beekeepers State Conference? One of the biggest rip-off companies was the Tap-Hive with Tap-Comb - they actually got my money and I received one of their truly terrible hives. When I realized how terrible the materials were, I tried to contact them and guess what? Dead email, phone number disconnected and even their website was closed. They still have a UA-cam channel though! It's a buyer beware world for sure.. sorry for the semi-rant, but we are really left being skeptical of everyone selling something.
Frederick Dunn
Thanks for your insight. I’m thinking along the same line as you about the knockoff hives. My philosophy is you usually get what you pay for. Think I will buy the frames but make my own boxes. Have a great day and thanks again.
Yes definitely, if you have the skills - tools - and good wood to work with, making your own woodenware is fun and very satisfying. The FlowHive people used to post templates on their website for those wanting to build their own. www.honeyflow.com/faqs/all/modifying-a-langstroth-box-for-flow-frames/p/143
Are wax moths and SHB less likely to be a problem in Massachusetts where we often have winter temperatures in the single digits? I leave my frames outside for several hours when the temperature is between 6 and 12 degress. I 'm thinking that this should kill any eggs from last year. Are SHB a bigger problem in the South? Thanks
HI Larry, we definitely have fewer SHB to deal with here in the colder climates. As for wax moths, they are always out there waiting for a small or weak colony. I've had night cameras pick up on the wax moths flying around looking for entry to beehives, it's just that very few make it in as they meet the guards.
Mr. Dunn, good stuff. Question...You are feeding a Sep swarm dry food. How should a beekeeper manage dry feeding/sugar water feeding during winter months? Is there a standard methodology? Thank you.
Hi Bill, among beekeepers there really is no "standard methodology" and winter feeding is one of those areas. Honey saved by the bees is #1 in my book. For my swarm this year, I have a rapid round feeder in that upper box and went into fall with a 2:1 sugar water mix and then in November, swapped that out with pure cane granulated sugar in another rapid-round feeder. They have been using that up much faster than I had anticipated. We simply assumed they were doomed going into winter, but I am now pleasantly surprised.
@@FrederickDunn You just do regular sugar or do you do fondant ever?
Maybe bees take baths when they go on cleansing flights. The way they wallow and thrash looks like bathing to me. Thanks
I am sure I subscribed and get notifications. I do like Chelsey and Tony as well as fellow Aussies Matt Granger and Currently Hannah. The later two are travel bloggers as well as Matt specific to photography and sea food.
I didn't know that Matt is Australian? He used to be "That Nikon Guy". Small world, I know he was in NYC.
Frederick Dunn ... he moved... yet another misplaced Aussie! Got to work on a visa for Brazil...end April/May trip.
@@johnmcneill923 Sounds like a great trip! It's been a while since I've been out of the U.S.
Well then as usual. Since you spoke about swarming, what do you think if we use the queen excluder on the entrance of the brood box, would that help preventing swarming? I mean since the queen is big by placing the queen excluder it won’t let the queen out at all. Or am I missing something here?
Mohamed, question from the United Arab Emirates :)
Hi Mohamed! I have just added your question to my list for the FAQ#7 video that will release on Friday. Thank you for your question, I think many others will enjoy the answer :)
Frederick Dunn 🙏🏼🙂
@@FrederickDunn Sorry for asking too many questions Mr. Fred. Another Question plz to be added to Fridays' list: In some countries in different part of the world, they don't have much flowers such as what you have in the US, Canada, S.A. Asia etc... thus, there is plenty of people doubt that Flow system won't work! I asked a friend who is expert here in my country about Flow system and he said naah it won't work! and i was like why? he said in our country and in some of the middle east countries, most people uses only single hive (brood) not multiple hives as what they uses in countries where they have lots of blooms/flowers.
Therefore, I am thinking of something to use as plan B, I took picture of the honey box, and came up with an idea! I'll use single box as my friend said, and I'll divide it say (70/30), 70= frames (5 frames) for broods & 30= flow frames (3 frames), separated by queen excluder (I'll make it my self of course).
I am attaching the URL of the pictures I took just few minutes ago, and the Q. here, do you think by doing so my plan will work? I mean I'll be able to get honey in these three “Flow” frames?
pasteboard.co/I4l0hT9.jpg
pasteboard.co/I4l0XOu.jpg
pasteboard.co/I4l1iBt.jpg
Question from Mohamed - United Arab Emirates :)
@@MohamedUAE I may have to agree with your friend on this one Mohamed. It sounds like they may not build up enough honey for the flow-super to take on the extra. I don't think putting flow-frames in a single deep with the brood and using a Queen excluder would work very well. I think you may just want to adopt your friend's methods?
Mohamed-UAE If I were you I’d experiment. Half the fun of raising bees is learning and experimenting. Have fun. Relax.
Is there a way to determine if you have a queen late in the fall after they are done laying? Besides visually seeing her or workers bringing in pollen?
Hi Janet, you can look for eggs in the cells, but the only way to be certain is to look for the queen on a warm day. Late fall is when most queens will stop laying eggs, so other than direct observation of the queen, it's a guess.
When you place your hives around your yard how do you now around them
I just wear a veil when I mow the hive zone.
Hey, speaking of Rapid Round Feeders, I want to get one. I just ordered the FlowHive2 "8frame", and it has a gabbled roof. will that hold a 10.5" or 8.5" Rapid Round Feeder?
Hi Brad, I cover that problem in this video. They don't fit under the gabled roof.... they "almost" fit with the large 7 flow, which is the 10 frame body, but it still needs a little more wiggle room. ua-cam.com/video/CZsGV1F8xbQ/v-deo.html
Fred. If you ever got foul brood would you burn your expensive flow hives or try to save them?
Carlos! Fancy seeing you here! Ok, when it comes to AFB or EFB, I would burn EVERYTHING... I take no chances. There are currently approved treatments for foul brood, but I'm also against those interventions. I wouldn't wait a day, the minute it was confirmed, everything would go. I do think there is a procedure for sanitizing the flow-frames themselves, but I would need 100% confidence in that procedure before I'd accept even that.
Frederick Dunn Is radiation not available? Flow frames are rated for two doses before they get brittle.
@@Psyche8D It's not approved as a method for mitigating AFB. You're right though, the flowframes are rated for two irradiation cycles.
@@FrederickDunn This presentation from the Maryland Department of agriculture lists it as one of three ways to save frames from AFB exposure. mda.maryland.gov/plants-pests/Documents/Presentation-AFB.pdf Canada definitely approves it as does Australia. I am wondering if in the USA it is the States that determine if it is acceptable?
2 questions:
1: Does honey ever crystallize in a hive as it might do in a jar?
2: If you keep a hive solely for yourself, you don't plan on selling the honey or sell the queens or anything, do you still have to get your hive inspected?
Good questions! Just added these to FAQ7 - short answer, yes honey solidifies in the honey supers and it's not a problem because the bees use it right up just fine. AND, if you have bees in boxes and are managing them, in my State you still have to register and indeed you may be inspected. BUT, you're not high on the inspection list with one or two hives. Each State has their own registration and inspection requirements.
@@FrederickDunn In Maryland it is 30 days to register a new hive, even if it is a swarm capture. Frames have to be able to be removed aka no keeping bees in a dresser drawer or old timey skep, and inspections are mandatory.
Okie dokie! Thanks again, Mr. Dunn.
Wifes….. so smart.
I think if they get out in the snow ,they do to get drinking water in case you fed them granulated sugar.Here somme beekepers use low quality honey(sunflower honey or rape honey, that cristalises fast)
to winter the bees instead of sugar .And they get high mortality because the bees need more water to dissolve the cristalised honey.Another factor for bees in the snow behaviour ,might be genetics.Having bees from a hotter area where they get out sooner could ,probably,cause that behaviour.
😇😇😇😇😇🙏🙏🙏
Very possible they are just playing around in the strange substance.
Hi Frederick, do you by chance sell your honey?
Thank you for asking Marco, I'm told by my wife that she actually has a waiting list for that.
I started consuming raw honey about two years ago and I am always looking for something different. My breakfast has been raw honey on toasted bread and a sprinkle of dry bee pollen every single day for two years. I can't remember the last time I got sick with a cold. : ) I would love to be put on your list of potential buyers please.
@@marcobevilacqua5267 My kids allergies went away by eating our local honey. Cause there is local pollen in there that causes thier allergies. It is like getting a flu shot.
@@FrederickDunn Do you make creamed honey? It seems to sell for higher. Dadant makes great mixers for it.
I would like some honey too
Hey Fred, What would happen if you just hold a weed walker above a underground wasp nest ? at full power too.
I think you'd end up with very short grass :)
Hmmmm! Thought you had a Nikon z6...
Hmmmmm you are correct John... I also have a Z7 for some recent high def work I've been doing. You really do pay attention :) I still like the Z6 for low light photo and video work... but Z7 has ridiculously high resolution so I snagged one last month.
Frederick Dunn ... mega bucks! Glad you can write of some costs as business expenses. I’m envious. Looking forward to Japan but blossoms will peak earlier this year in the south so might have to day trip north.
@@johnmcneill923 John! I checked your channel and you haven't subbed to my channel? Dannnng... how sad is that? :) but I do like Tony and Chelsae also :)
Not give my away