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You spotted her! I can't believe we didn't. It's incredible how easily you can miss her sometimes. Especially when she is a virgin and unmarked. It seems deliberately looking for her makes it harder.

Thanks for the lovely comment. I wish you the best of luck raising your own queens this year. Personally I've only raised queens from splits when swarming has been imminent and or I need to produce a queen to replace a failing queen. It is a very satisfying thing to do. Providing she mates properly and the colony go on to accept her. 👍🏻🙂

Thanks for that information. It is quite an efficient method of treatment and does appear to be quite effective.

I'm glad you've enjoyed what we've been doing. 🙂

That's great news. Glad it is working well for you.

Hi Dave, Personally I haven't had any eperience of doing this method, but I would have thought that this would actually work if the bees were in the right frame of mind (during swarm season). I have found that some comb I've used before that has a 'W' cut in it or pointed edges to be where the bees decide to make plenty of cells persistently. However, with a frame that may appear slightly alien if it doesn't already have eggs placed in it, might not be as succesful. Josh

I do believe that Mike mentions weather conditions in the video. I don't believe there is an upper temperature limitation but it does need to be above freezing (32F). It is better if it isn't too windy and fairly settled. Hope this helps.

@@MantelFarm thank you very much.I am from syria and temperature now 32c can i do that without harm the bee Best regards

I seem to recall being taught it was best when we had a very low temperature for 3 weeks the idea being that the queen wouldn't be in lay and capped brood would have emerged so there'd be a good chance all varroa would be on the bees not in brood and you would only have to do once. If the temperature wasn't that low then you'd have to do three times to try and get the varroa as it came out.

@@SurreyAlan Hi Alan, This is spot on: low temperatures & short days mean far less brood and , therefore, vaping or treating at this time is much more effective. You are always treating, as far as I understand, the phoretic mites with such treatments as this. I don't know whether the temperature in the south of England gets low enough for all brood rearing to stop completely. It has been noticed in recent years that bees are more frequently flying / foraging during the coldest months than not at all. This may be different farther north in the UK.

It really is addictive! 300 hives ? Wow! Only ever had 7 at my peak and that was interesting. Though that was as a hobby in a garden space. Glad I'm down to four/five now. Though, I always love seeing what they have in store for me every time I go inside. The virgin wax is such a wonderful thing to behold.

Our bees are bringing in so much nectar at the moment it is crazy! We're not too sure how quickly or easily the national hive will move the brood stores up as we really don't want them to be honey bound. My own bees are filling supers up really quickly so I've got a load more frames to build before they're ahead of me! Glad you enjoy the vlog. Thanks for the comment.

I don't believe Mike did a wash after this treatment.

I would agree with the use of chemicals being an issue, but we do need to control mites to some degree as in the UK there can be many issues with Varroa and other diseases transferred by these mites. I must confess, I have never used the acid Mike used in his video. Personally I tend to use icing sugar to force grooming of the hives around brood breaks or I use formic acid to reduce the population a couple of times at most each year. I don't use these lightly and sometimes won't if I believe the hive is in a good condition and I'm not seeing a large drop and or the bees are healthy and there are no other issues present. This year, I have not seen any issues with Varroa in my own colonies and they are all doing exceptionally well. I think everyone has different ways of keeping their bees and all are absolutely fine so long as they remain healthy and happy. Josh

your bees most certainly have the mites buddy.

I don't believe you can use this treatment when you have honey supers on. There are other treatments such as formic acid that can be used during the honey harvest.

@@MantelFarm thank you so much for the quick reply.. do you have a video for the formic acid method?

@@adamsonright2120 Presently we don't. I don't think it is featured in any of our videos this year but I do believe we have used it before at the farm apiary. MAQ strips - Mite Away Quick strips are the UK version. Not sure about other countries. They are strips that go onto the top of the brood and can be used with supers on. Though, unless it is absolutely necesarry to treat them for varroa, then I would wait until you've taken the supers off. Icing sugar is fairly harmless if shaken onto the brood frames to encourage grooming. I do believe you can use this. You could dust them with icing sugar and keep the supers off for a few hours and then return them if worried about the sugars going up into the super. The idea is to force them to groom themselves. Are you seeing signs that point to varroa being a big issue now? Most treatments are meant to be added without supers so their dosages are often without supers on. Josh

Yes FDA approved the use of OA with supers on.

Yep. It is more an evening thing. I imagine that has something to do with the hive being most populated during that time so the highest amount of heat is being generated by the bees inside.

Thanks for the lovely comment. Glad you enjoyed the series and could take something from them. It definitely shows that, even when things don't go to plan, there is often something we can do to remedy the situation. Josh

Thanks for the lovely comment. Glad you enjoy our content. :)

Hi Richard, I will mention this when we next film.

Thanks for subscribing. Glad you're enjoying our videos.

I'm sure that Mike would have spotted if this were the issue. I don't entirely know if this is a common issue in the UK. I have never come across it in my years of beekeeping. I think the issue with these queen cells was the age of the larva and the timing was out as they were already trying to produce their own and get ready to swarm.

Glad you've picked up something that could help you with your process.

Hi Susan, This is a perfectly valid question and makes complete sense. I personally would get inside if the showers are light or you've got a break in the weather. We had a similar issue this previous weekend which I touch briefly on in the next video due out. We had showers (heavy at times) in the afternoon only a few days after we'd made this inspection. I had found numerous queen cells inside the colony. They weren't especially happy as they were queenless and the weather hadn't been ideal. I expressed to the guys who accompanied me on this inspection that there are times when colonies must be inspected even if conditions would usually put us off. I would always suggest that beginners have assistace or someone else with them in these situations as you do need to expect the bees to be grumpy and it is also helpful to have another person to spot any queen cells as they're often covered in bees - this is worse when they're not out flying in great numbers! One of my colonies at home had managed to cap queen cells within only a few days - around four days! Perhaps I had missed some but I imagine they'd made some from larva that was still viable, so they were already ahead of me! It does show just how quickly they can get ready to swarm when they're wanting to. This is especially true of larger colonies. We've had a really good spring so far and a good flow and supply of pollen, so they've really gotten going quickly. I don't know if this reply helps at all, Susan. It may well be worth doing a short video expressing this for others. If you have any other questions, feel free to reply to this. Josh

@@MantelFarm Josh, thanks for your response to my question. I’ve just made it partially into Part Two of your series, and appreciate how comprehensiveness of your videos. Queen rearing is next on my list of learning, as well as setting up a reliable group of nucs to have when needed here. Up to 12 colonies now, with plans for increasing each year, so raising my own queens a must. Yes, I would appreciate your comments on how to handle the weather. Rainy stretch here in eastern Virginia now, and we may well find ourselves in a long stretch of hot, humid weather without much rain in the summer. That leads to learning to read the pollen/nectar flows and when dearth’s occur here for supplemental feeding - when to feed and when to allow access to their own stores - or said another way, how much honey to harvest in early summer. Anyway, thanks again!

Hey, So sorry I haven't seen this comment up until now! Somehow comments get hidden when they've been replied to. Still getting used to this TH-cam stuff. I'm glad you enjoyed the videos. Some of the videos we produce in our own apiary are cut shorter due to the fact that many people simply don't like watching longer videos, but that is more a series and vlog where as the more specialised videos we hope to continue to do will always be longer and may span several weeks. I'm glad that the weather has improved. We're entering an unsettled period of weather but it has been very dry for the most part but at times quite cool. Reading the flow and when pollen is coming in is a really important part of beekeeping. I really do stress that the bees most definitely need plenty of food for winter and it is always best if they're using their own supplies with the nutrients they've selected naturally. I also think people are often too eager to take away stores from their hives in order to get a return for all of their work over the season. Personally, I think the bees do virtually all of the work and we're simply manipulating their bahaviours to try and benefit how we work with them. All beekeeping should be done alongside how they work and we should never try to work simply for our own benefit. Roger, who helps with our bees at the farm, thinks that opening the hives to check how they are doing under circumstances that are less than ideal, is of great importance at certain times of the year. I've even opened my hives during the winter if I am particularly concerned about their weight or whether they should be moved into a nucleus or not. I think of the bees as my pets and I want the best for them. I'm rambling on now! haha. All the best with your queen rearing when you get there. It is an amazing process, however you do it. The satisfaction of getting nice colonies of bees is incredible. Also, one thing to note: allow your colonies to produce plenty of drones if you've got good genetics in your hives. This means that you have got a good population of drones in the area for not only your virgin queens to mate with , but others too. This keeps a surplus of good bees in your area. I'm quite fond of drones and always allow mine to produce what they need to - I don't tend to use foundation in my brood boxes, but that is another matter. Josh

Thanks for watching!

:) Glad you enjoyed it.

Thanks 👍

Hi Alvin, I can't believe I've only just heard this fact. It is quite interesting because, of course, this can transfer varroa and disease. Though, it is a good reason to keep colonies healthy and of good temperament as it is the drones who have a big impact on what our new queens turn out to be like. Josh

True but wit drones all they do is mate the queens from any colony this is why they have this free pass, in my three month of bee keeping I've learned alot from u guys videos thank y'all very much.

@@MantelFarm wish I had been into bee keeping longer , found it late but I love it .

Hey Alvin, sorry for the late reply. TH-cam doesn't show these comments up for some reason... Yep, drones are amazing. I love drones and think allowing the bees to generate as many as they need to from good colonies (providing there aren't any major issues with disease). We're constantly learning about these incredible insects and I wish I had started sooner. Key thing is you're into it now and loving it. :) Glad you enjoy our videos and are picking up information. I've learnt so much since I've been doing these videos with Mike and Roger. Josh

@@MantelFarm as long as u guys keep posting I'm watching and learning , 👍👍

Hi Maggie, The fogging treatment is pretty good from what I can tell. I personally haven't done this treatment, but Mike appears to have success with it. Josh

Thanks for the comment. Appreciate the feedback. :)

Hi Alan, Excellent link there to the NBU video. I, when I'm able, will watch these. I think varroa is a real issue now. Strangely, it has become more of an issue of late than it was just a couple of years ago. I am wondering whether seasonal changes and temperatures are making the difference. I know that many bees are simply not clustering and this can really make a difference. MIne have been flying and so have the ones at the farm. There could even be an argument for keeping insulation off colonies. I must admit, I didn't place any insuation on mine and I've only lost one (a very old queen I was sentimental about) just didn't keep them going in a poly nuc box. Otherwise, all of the others are very strong! I tend to avoid adding food on unless I feel they're light. I believe this is a point raised in one of those videos. 5 of 7 is quite a high amount. :( Fingers crossed they bounce back quickly this season. I've already got drones walking around in one of my larges colonies.

Hey David, How many colonies did you have?! I'm really sorry to hear you've lost them all. :( We've lost two at the farm this year, which was a similar loss to the year before. Sometimes it doesn't matter whether you've fed them up properly and did a decent job of knocking back varroa; these things seem to happen. Do you have any idea why they died out? Definitely start up again! Will you purchase some bees or will you await swarms?

Hi Matthew, We very much appreciate your comment. I'm glad you enjoyed the video. This was filmed at Roger's out apiary not very long ago. These bees were adequately provisioned before the winter but, as Roger said in the video, these were flying more than expected and sadly they hadn't enough food when he checked them again. Mistakes do happen. The aim of the video was to highlight some of the issues that can happen and Roger does admit in the video that he didn't manage to get fondant onto them in time and this should be a lesson to us all to make sure that they're properly provisioned with additional fondant as we did here at Mantel Farm.

Hi Nathan. Thanks for letting us know your experience with one of these foggers. Most definitely don't want to set fire to the bees! It is a quick method but, for those with only a few hives, it is most likely better to use the method you're now using. Josh

Hi Ian, I have forwarded this point to Mike to see if he has any more information on this point. I did have a quick look online to see whether I could find more on this point. If you have any links that would be relevant and help us check this point, that would be very much appreciated.

Hi Ian, Further to your comment regarding treatments and having spoken to Mike about this topic, there isn't any particular law on the number of treatments given in any one year/season. The only advice or requirement is that all treatments, especially prescribed treatments, are recorded with the batch number on your hive record sheets in case of any issues and so as to make sure , when selling honey, that these treatments were not being used in conjunction with honey supers.

I've never come across a 2 treatments a year law, if there was it would be on Bee Base. I wouldn't want to but in a year you might use MAQS, Apivar and Oxalic acid (maybe 3 times). I would agree the only licensed treatment would be api-bioxal but I rather think many will use pure oxalic acid rather than very pricey api-bioxal which is oxalic with some fillers, the only real difference the manufacturers paid the massive fees to get the licence.

Hi Diane, Thanks for the lovely comment. Glad you enjoyed it! :)

Hi Andrea, We don't ship live quail to the USA.