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This time of year, some hives can be a little "chippy" either from weather or low incoming resources. I have a couple that need re-queened as they are bad attitude all the time and I'll get that done in the coming weeks. Thanks for watching.

I have used two pads in the past but I prefer to use a single followed in 10 days by a second single. Single pads are less disruptive to the colony, does not seem to burn open brood, does not obscure the Queen pheromones (as much). It does clean up the mites but the two pad probably does a touch better. I absolutely will not use two pads if the first three days of treatment are mid 80's or higher, specially if the hives are in full sun nor would I use two pads with older Queens. Just my experience.

I understand your point completely. The majority of the pads were out of the pack and installed within 15 minutes. This is common practice in commercial beekeeping, one person opens and lays the pads on the hives tops and the second person cracks the boxes and installs them. Real fast if the hive is only one or two boxes tall. Awhile back I asked Tom about this and he had no problem with this method, stating it was the length of time the pads are in the hive that is important for efficacy. I do know it's the first three days that does the biggest amount of flash kill but even at seven days, the pads are still strong with fumes. In the past, this method has cleaned the mites up pretty well and I'll be going mite washes in a couple weeks to see where they are at.

👋🏻

I over winter in either double deeps or a deep and a super. Usually sometime in March, I move the Queen to the bottom deep and put an excluder on. From there I run as a single brood box until fall and don't remove the excluder until Late September or October. This works well for me. One thing to watch is some hives are over achievers at pollen collection and will jam up too many frames with it in April and May. There is a learning curve but it works well.

@@tonywestsbees6042 thank you! I like that approach. So during the months you're not concerned about the queen being isolated from the cluster - there's really no need for more than one deep serving as the brood chamber, therefore, a queen excluder down there can only make finding the queen easier when doing things like mite tests/treatment etc., not to mention reducing risk of rolling her.

During warm months, the nurse bees are hanging out with the Queen and brood. No isolation worries. I do have a good followup video, the 30 days later which explains things too. It's a different hive in the apiary but you get the idea.

@@tonywestsbees6042 I watched it, very helpful. Thanks again!

I'm glad it is helpful

Yes, we raise about a dozen Queens (our own cells) each year

I was hoping someone would answer this. I have read these are used in your heat with good results. Maybe someone will still chime in.

Remove the Queen. Go back into the hive 8 days later and remove all the emergency cells. At that point, the hive is hopelessly Queen-less with no way to make a Queen. The hive will then readily accept a cell you give them. The new cell will change the genetics of the hive in about 6 weeks or so.

If I remember right, I had been working hives for a couple hours and my smoker had went out. A small amount of smoke is definitely useful.

I agree. Work with nature, not against it. Nectar is trickling in and the big hives are starting to make white wax again. We will see what develops. Thanks for watching.

Absolutely love the bees. The different colors is just odd paints I had at the time. Most of my boxes are green now.

Glad you like it

You can do several things. You could remove it as a split or leave her there during the flow and add a super above her. After the flow, you can use her to re-queen the bottom box so you have a young Queen going into winter. You could also use her to re-queen a different colony. Lots of options.

@@tonywestsbees6042 how does the colony respond to being directly on top of another? Is the risk of fighting likely? Also how do the bees organise themselves to draw out the supers above and below the 2 broods? Thanks for replying to my message, I have a hive that's pretty busy and I'm half expecting to see swarm cells when I get into it on tomorrow, just wondering what my options are as supers went on not too long ago, if no cells are present I'm thinking of following this method or the 'preemptive' method. All the best.

Actually they do just fine. Queens emerging from a cell is natural for them. If she mates and comes back, she will set up housekeeping and all the bees accept her. The upper box is far enough from the bottom it works fine. Now it is a two Queen system. Be sure to have an upper entrance and use a Queen excluder wherever you do not want brood.

Most of what we pulled looked like that. Lots of Autumn Olive, Honeysuckle and some Blackberry in the mix.

I have noticed that also.

I used an automotive catalyzed body filler that had a fiber filler. Once done, sealed with a couple coats of exterior enamel paint. It worked well. Thanks for watching.

Thank you for the response

We will be extracting Saturday. Looking forward to using it. Huge step up from what we had been using and way past time for this upgrade.

So far, I'm with you. Everyone I have talked to has nothing but praise on these. Thanks for watching.

I saw the monster you got. NICE! I'll be pulling 800 pounds in a week or so. It was time for the upgrade.

I got the big one this week that is just like yours bruce. Took the top off the extractor to lessen the weight. Was ready to roll in about 20 mins even putting the top back on. Now I just have to wait for the nectar to dry in the hives. Getting close though in nebraska.

Thanks

I replied to this but for some reason it is not showing up. You could just drop one on the other and let the bees sort it out but I would just remove the one Queen, paper combine with one sheet of paper with slits in it. No upper entrance is required, they will be combined within a day or two. An active laying Queen is readily accepted by the bees. I would feed them =for a few days. Fed bees are happy bees.

You can do a lot with them. It's just understanding the what and how.

I'm glad it helped. Thanks for watching.

Raising Queens is very satisfying.

Thanks. It's a learning curve. I try to shaw all aspects of my apiary.

I leave the relocated brood away from the bottom box for awhile, until it emerges. The brood up top will emerge and join the hive's population moving down thru the boxes. If you have a long flow, you can Demaree a second time or even a partial Demaree, 2 frames of brood. There are no definites. Lots of options.

Thanks. I appreciate the feedback.

Love raising Queens!

Glad you liked it

They may supercede the Queen before winter. Paint anywhere on her head usually effects hormones and the hive can sense this.

@@tonywestsbees6042 oh no shit...is it wrong to mark the queen?

@FUNNYCLIP885 I mark all my Queens. That way you know if there is a queen change and at a glance what the year is. Practice on Drones.

@@tonywestsbees6042 actually i m new to these all things but i really like watching them over since childhood i m not afraid of them i enjoy their company..thats why i got two hives with 6 farme full bees. Yesterday i tried to mark queens cause while inspecting i almost crushed one queen once so i didnot wanted to repeat that again but end up making blunder

@FUNNYCLIP885 it's all a learning process

Increased honey production since the population is much bigger. This year I had two hives that swarmed before I got to them and one hive that superceded the Queen. Those hives only have one surplus medium super on them right now so about 30 or so pounds extra. Those hives that I did Demaree on all have 125 pounds of surplus honey or more each. It's work but well worth it for a small scale producer.

And where they store the honey, on top box or in all the boxes??

I use a single deep box for the brood box. All the other boxes are for honey storage.

Thanks Brandon. So far so good. Grafting a few Queens now. Honey Flow has been decent. Only lost one swarm.

That's part of the learning curve and decisions. How to move frames around moving forward. I'm glad things are working out for you.

I found that a couple coats of paint on the inside stops most of the chewing by the bees. These have their good and bad points. Thanks for watching.

For my area, our main flow is only 8 weeks long. I use a single deep brood chamber. I rarely see my Queens have more than 7 frames of brood. The challenge is how well the house bees keep the nectar moved up out of the brood box. Some hives do better than others on this. Some hives manage pollen better than others too. Two mediums would most likely be enough room. You can also do a second Demaree a few weeks later if needed.

@@tonywestsbees6042 Thank you for your reply! I'll plan on that then.

@@IndiBex86 good luck

When removing a frame covered with bees, it is possible the Queen is transitioning from one frame to another. Literally it is possibly to roll the Queen like a pop can and can cause injury or kill her.

I recently seen this and definitely will get a few. I don't raise many Queens but it's something I do enjoy.

The second excluder is a "just in case" you miss a Queen cell in the upper box. If you did miss a cell, you end up with a mess down in your supers. On the Supers, in that video, it was drawn frames. This year I have already ran out of drawn frames, I'm putting in heavy waxed frames/foundation with a single drawn frame in the middle of the box directly over the brood nest to get more drawn out. I hope this helps.

If the hive was a little bigger, yes. We were still having cold nights. I waited a couple more weeks then put a drawn frames in the middle. Rule... Never have one brood frames by itself early in the year, always two or more then never more than one drawn frame. Don't divide the nest too much early on risking chilled brood or causing disruption or panic in the hive. Currently that hive has 7 frames of brood, one full honey super and starting on the second. The first hive in the video I have pulled 5 frames of brood from, is drawing out new foundation and has a deep filled with honey already. Not bad for a resource hive. Thanks for watching, I hope you enjoyed it.

I have done that. The older I get, the heavier things get!

It's a matter of reading the hive as you know. That hive between mid April and Mid June produced 175 pounds and rarely went over 6 frames of brood. That year I think we averaged 125-130 pounds per during that time period. In our area, local Beekeepers rarely get over 45 pounds of surplus and usually split to prevent swarming. This is an option for those that do not want to split or create more hives.

It can be done at anytime to prevent swarming. This is usually unnecessary after the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere.

@@tonywestsbees6042 I'm in the south so it stays warmer until late oct early November. I'm not too worried about swarming right now. i was thinking about it for strengthening the hive and possible fall honey. Thanks for the tips. Great info on your videos.

Yes, Paradise Bee Box. Made in Finland. Sold by Blue Sky.

Thanks so much for all the details. Seems perfectly priced as well.

@kaminsknator the only problem I have is with tiny ants trying to burrow into it. I have a couple video reviews on these hives.

Thanks!

Thanks Jason. It really was a last minute video to make. That was a feisty hive for sure and my jacket cuffs neen both new elastic and new thumb straps (still)! My follow up video was on a different hive as I had problems making the video on the original. The hive in this video made a surplus of 125 pounds and the hive in the follow up video made close to 175 pounds.

During peak spring buildup, 7 or maybe 8 frames is max but many Queens level out between 6 and 7. That's my experience and most of my bees are heavy Carniolan influence.

I've got another similar one to this coming up soon too.

It's a little insight into a few hives.