Thank you very much for following up on this hive sir! (I'm going to this type of hive next year I believe). I've got my first bees still, hoping to actually keep bees for a year or more. Best bee (videos) channel!!!!!!!! Thank you again.
Fred, you have been extremely helpful for new beeks. Horizontal notes say leave bee space under the follower board except for colony separation and wintering. I have had bee space and some bees hang out in the open space but never created comb.
You are exactly right George, Dr Leo says they like to inspect the adjacent space and then aren't surprised when the follower board moves and new frames are available. I was doing something different, but should have had confidence in the bee mastery of Dr. Leo :) I may remove the copper mesh.
Thank you for your video on the new feeder that I watched last week that you said “put a sock in it “ I got one from link you provided and my girls love it
Hi, Frederick. Great video. If I lived where I could raise bees, I would certainly do it. I, of course, would depend on the beekeepers I see on YT. And your site would be at the top of my list of 'how to keep bees' that I would use to learn the process. The beekeeper community is among the friendliest communities on the net. Thanks for sharing! Stay healthy!
Hi Jon, thank you so much! I think it's great that there are so many beekeepers sharing their methods and approach/philosophy to keeping and managing honey bees... everyone can find their cyber-mentor. I wish it was like this when I began with honey bees. Welcome to my channel and thanks for taking time to comment.
I saw the Queen this morning in the mirror. !! Maybe I'm a bee sister, I don't sleep right/deep. I like the flow and long hives. I am going to do bees this year, they keep showing up at my new house and I keep chasing them away. They are a gorgeous chocolate and cream color. I have wild bees coming out of Glacier Park. I like Leo too, glad you are interacting with him.
Thanks Fred! Excellent info! I still don't have a cell phone.. an no plans to get one anytime soon, but that's a nice app! I inspected my Topbar hive a few weeks ago and U am SUPER impressed with the productivity! It was easier to manage than I expected. Great mite results!
That's great and I was with you on the cell phone issue... but finally gave in when my wife got one for free and I learned I could use it as a hot-spot to upload TH-cam vids :)
Neat vid! Glad the Saskatraz bees are doing so well. Their productivity is amazing. The local bee club meeting was yesterday, and the admin (same guy that still promotes small cell) uses and likes the bee scanner app, and had a zoom chat with the creators a few days ago. Neat tech, and will likely get better as more and more photos are scanned and learned from.
The next bee club meeting. lol Maybe someday. I'm the only beekeeper in a huge club that actually does queen rearing, nucs, queen castles, mating nucs, and the whole game as far as I can tell. Handful of successful beeks that are very vocal until you ask them how they ...pick any topic. They will not tell you how they do things but will tell you how you should do it. It's very frustrating and I refuse to share. If you do share they start picking at you and tear you to bits over little things like what kind of vehicle you drive. It is very political in the club only its not "politics". Bee police kind of crap. Tons of virtue signalling, gaslighting, and blame shifting goes on right before my eyes. You should have seen the "epipen" fights. The pros were extremely vocal and insisted that we all should have them for just in case. The cons pointed out the cost, the legal liability, how you need a prescription to buy one, and what you are supposed to do. Call 911. The pros brought it up again and again. We fought on...
This makes me more excited to build this fall. Looking forward to see what winter brings. Thank you so much for the update. Slowly buying supplies for my new retirement adventure!
Hi. I'm retired as well. Bees are such a blessing. I tell new beekeepers to spend as much time, energy, and money preparing and learning to "make more bees". Focus on creating new baby bee colonies and the honey just sort of happens. I'm not kidding either. I've harvested 25 buckets of honey and still have like 30 supers out on hives. Talking 3/4 ton of honey. $5/pound. Books: Queen rearing essentials, swarm essentials, and watch some Michael Palmer videos. Good luck. Have fun.
this was great!!!!!! thanks for sharing that app also i hav etiried it and had some problems the hive is looking awesome!!!!! thanks for updating us!! 80th thumbs up! i did not see the queen anywhere!
You talk just like every pilot that I’ve ever listened too over the airplane speakers!!!! Lol I’m attempting to add my first colony to a horizontal hive this next week!! Hope it all works out. Thanks for the help! Never heard of anyone using sugar water instead of smoke!
I enjoyed this presentation, it is educational and gives me lots to think about as I am planning to try horizontal hives that are insulated to control summer heat and winter cold. From my experience with Saskatraz bees (3 yrs). My packages on average have brood in 3 deeps with brood on at least 15 frames, most are over 21 frames by this time of summer. Many are in 5 deeps and I have pulled a deep of capped honey. all 10 frame equipment. I would be concerned by having only 10 frames worked now. Saskatraz are great bees and bring in lots of honey which takes lots of bees and brood.
@@FrederickDunn This was amazing! I saw a reply and with great excitement clicked to see what you had come up with after having three years to think about it. I've got to be honest. This was a bit of a letdown. LOL Love ya bro! :)
If you want an idea on what to build look on my channel for 'swarm moves into top bar hive". I made a couple videos of it. The leg design makes it where it can't tip over. If you're wanting a long langstroth hive ignore the slanted sides.
Choocha Lagoocha Russian bees are dark brown to black in color and the yellow part of the abdomen is paler. History Russian bees originated in the Primorsky region, which is also home to Varroa and Tracheal mites. As such, they’ve developed a natural tolerance to these hive pests. Due to this tolerance, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) brought them to the US in June 1997 to breed mite tolerance into US bee stock. They went on sale to the public in 2000. Characteristics Russian bees are highly resistant to mites and accustomed to cold climates. As such, they overwinter well. Unfortunately, they also tend to swarm, so it’s important for the beekeeper to provide extra space in the hive to prevent unwanted swarming. Russian bees are highly sensitive to the amount of nearby foraging resources available. They will regulate the production of brood in times of dearth, which may be beneficial in climates where the amount of food available is heavily is dependent upon the seasons. Russian bees tend to be slightly more aggressive, although this doesn’t always mean stinging. They’ve been observed engaging in head butting rather than stinging potential threats and guard their hive vigilantly, making them less likely to be robbed.
Beautiful hive !!! Love the care and diligence/ intelligence you use as a beekeeper, the gloves, They kinda look like latex gloves, Which are dirt cheap because healthcare facilities won’t buy them because of allergies
If you have a table saw. You can thiner the sides boards of each frame prior to installing the comb of better comb since they look slightly thicker which eventually will allow bees to move freely from the sides rather than going down under. No need for a new Long langstroth 😉
Awesome videos Fred I am looking into long hive now since my wife said I had too thanx for the building project shouldn't watch your video in front of wife haha
I am in the Pacific Northwest and I purchased 10 frames of Bettercomb with the toothpicks. I experienced bowing in 6 of 10 frames. I have to agree with your wire recommendation.
Hey fred , in horizontal hives, I usually need to keep my top bar and layens constantly growing. Meaning adding empty frames.for brood between the honey line. They get easily bound with honey, the queen wont cross that honey line in horizontal hives and will easily swarm even though they have plenty of room. So just throwing that out there since you had a cell, not sure if that could be a cause, but I've had horizontals swarm real quick because of this issue. Not sure if you are adding empty frames for brood or not between the honey but just checking. I've made this mistake in the past.
I ran a couple top bar hives. Very quickly I figured out to have top bar nucs. I took advantage of the swarminess and built up my yard. I ended up using top bar "bars" in langstroth hives and transitioned to all langstroth. I've always had langs. The top bars were just for fun. They are fun but not practical.
Im definitely going to try building a horizontal national hive over winter. Im curious to see how well my Buckfast bees do in on and also if the over winter well in it next year. Seems to me its a less intrusive inspection when you dont have to break the hive down. Plus my back might prefer not bending over.
Regarding the disposable glove reviews, the people who found them to be weak might have gotten old supply. The disposable gloves have expiration dates, and usually the shelf life is three years for latex, and five years for nitrile. Btw I found more vibrating dance in 10:22-11:11!
One comment, on bettercomb. I've got them in my supers. I actually installed medium sized sections on deeps. Bees attach it to the frame. No issues. I've got wired frames. I'm in NJ and we've been in mid-90's for about a week or so.
I was watching for the Queen... was she near the end of the video about 27:55 ? eventually walking from the upper left around to the back or the frame?
Fred if you want some blue nitrile gloves I send you a box if you want. Just let me know where to ship them and what size you need. I have a bunch of boxes of them. Same thing with N95 masks. I use this stuff for other projects and have always kept myself well stocked.
I am so far behind in posting the final plans. I hope to get those shared via my website soon. The profile is different from Langstroth bodies as it also accomodates the cover boards with bee space between those and the top bar of the frames.
Great video Frederick, as usual, but I am confused, also living in PA., that you noted that your Big Flow comes in Mid August. Ours is about gone. And you stated that you should look into a treatment regimen if you have mites. I understood that you did not use any kind of treatment for mites? Thanks for sharing. Blessings.
@@FrederickDunn I think you bring my questions to your Q&A Show, to make a fool of me. This is the second time. Most of your Q&A folks know more than I, even as novice backyard beekeepers, and I have had five years keeping bees and had two BeeKeeping Classes. I don't know all there is, nor understand a lot of things and methods. @ 74, it is harder for me to pick-up and retain information about flows, diseases & treatments.
@@richardkuhn8115 Actually Richard your question is/was a good one. Most of the audience of Mr. Dunn are inexperienced bee keepers which is why we or at least I value his insights and efforts so much. Bee Keeping, as with most things, is an area where there is no silly question. While the videos are priceless for me, I learn a great deal by reading the comments and questions listed below. I think you would be surprised and hopefully comforted that most of us likely know much less than you with the experience you have listed here. Keep asking the questions and my hope is Mr. Dunn will share his answers with us all. Finally, if you are concerned about being identified in your questions, you can always ask to have your questions presented anonymously. Blessing to you.
Hi great video. My sister said she found a hole bee hive for sale about a half hour drive away, the bees and all for 300$ I still haven’t found any other bees. Should I go inspect because , why would people just sell they’re hole hive.
didn't you say bees do not go to the bathroom inside the hive? so then newly born and nurse bees leave the hive make a loop, do their thing and come back? how does that work? how long can they hold it ... or what about the pupa ( obviously can't ) but ,,,,, I just started to wonder about this .... metabolism thing and don't forget the larva ... how do they manage ;)
OK... the bees hold it all onboard until they eventually fly out. Think of winter bees, they hold their waste material in some cases for months. The Queen is the only one that gets her waste removed for her.
Hi Fred , I am very soon going to make my own long national hive so have watched your video, very interesting thanks, one quick question , thinking of helping the vent and movement of the bees plus helping to stop swelling and jamming of frames ,do you think it would be helpful to leave a small gap down the sides of the frames maybe 1/4 inch. many thanks Andy midlands UK.
Yes, in my next hive, I plan to leave more space at frame ends. 3/8 would be perfect. But, I don't think, based on what I've observed so far, that they would try to fill 1/4" gaps either. It would be another experiment.
what is the mesh size on the bottom holes, please? varroa mites are as big as 1.7mm, so would they free fall through a 2mm mesh size? can these mites climb back into the hive? thanks.
To evaluate them, we really have to follow the manufacturers guidelines. I'm sure there are a lot of support options, I would think kabob skewers would be too thick for starters. My current favorite is the wired version.
Because other than the tiny holes, there is no evidence of a problem. If there wasn an off odor, or greasy sunken appearance, or some indicator that the brood is dead and ignored, I'd go further, but none of that was present.
Mr Dunn, I have been using 8 frame deeps, etc., but I have been thinking of switching to the long-lang method. It seems its less back breaking. I saw that you are using nitrile gloves, and my question to you, do bee stings get through them? I read somewhere that 7mil gloves will resist stings, but nitrile gloves aren't that thick. Love your videos!
@@FrederickDunn Thank you, sir. I will try it out. I have worked barehanded, but im sure. you know what can happen when you do that lol. Its happened to me a few times already.
Which model of the Acurite weather station do you have and would that be what you would recommend? Another awesome video Mr Frederick! Thanks as always for all your help!
Frederick Dunn thanks so much...we had seen that one back when you did the review I just wanted to make sure that was the one you would still recommend! Thanks so much! As always appreciate your help! I will use your link to purchase!
I have some scout bees hovering around my swarm trap and they seem very interested but they don't want to go into my trap so I can't really understand what's going on, any thoughts? also good video and very informative
Hi, Fred! I'm a new subscriber, so I'm making my way through your videos. I've watched a couple old ones about your Bee Weaver survivor bees. How have they fared over the years? Have they continued to be strong without any mite treatment? And have their genetics crossed over into your other colonies?
The BeeWeaver bees continue to do well, but I do have to occasionally treat for mites as my apiary has other bee lines that bring them in. IF you had an apiary of nothing but the BeeWeaver line, you'd see very few mites.
Great video Fred! Can I ask you what nectar flow you guys are having? Pacific Northwest here and our nectar flows are pretty much over for the year unless we head to the mountains...
No Fred not at all. I’ve seen reviews that are great just like this one and a few, if I can remember that the app was picking up pollen and the eyes of drones. This spring (1 month left of winter here in Australia) I hope to purchase my first hive of bees. I’ll definitely download and try this app. Sorry for any confusion, I should have been more specific like now. Hope this comment helps
I am thinking of building a horizontal hive. How will you keep the bottom clean when the hive gets older? What will you do for hive Beatle control? Thanks for the video!
If the bees fail to keep the interior clean, I'll deal with that as the issue occurs. As for SHB issues, I haven't had that problem here in any of my hives as the bees tend to run them off. IF SHB numbers became an issue, I'd use beetle jail traps.
@@FrederickDunn Thanks, but SHB are a big problem in AR. Our langstroth hive boxes have a wire bottom with a tray that holds either vegetable oil or diatomaceous earth for SHBs. These trays get really nasty by bee cleanings as well.
@@FrederickDunn Don't some queens have a hairy thorax? Is it that you know from previous inspections that this queen has a shiny thorax? All my queens have hairy thoraxes. As usual, you have the best footage and do the best experiments on the best topics!
Hey Fred, I love your shows!! This is my first year bee keeping and I went big by designing an Horizontal hive in April. I have 35 frames and they are all full. My design was to add a flow hive to the top of the Horizontal next year. Is the season to short to add a flow hive this year or should I add a super? Yes I know it sounds Crazy to add a flow hive to a horizontal hive but I love both designs!!! Thanks for all you do!!!! Rickey Roark
Awesome video - as always. Anyone know what the two bees starting at 21:10 in the center shot were doing? Looked like one bee was wheelbarrowing the other bee.
Ha! That's cute. I saw that and assumed it was a bee from another hive who'd come to check it out and was being accosted because she didn't smell right.
How funny, I commented on that too. The bee gets dragged out of the shot but if you keep watching, she drags her back into view and heads towards the back of the frames before they get disconnected and one flies away! Edit: They both fell off of the frame he picked up. Somehow they're stuck to eachother.
I treat all my bees with oxalic acid vapor with provap (build it my self) works good, in early stage of infestation of mites it is hard to see so I treat in a spring three rounds 7 days apart and in a fall 3 rounds omg 7 days apart
It's helpful in that, if the app identifies lots of mites, you know you have to treat and don't have to take the extra step of sugar shakes, or alcohol washes. However, you can't depend on it to consider a hive/colony to be clear of mites as the mites are often not in an observable spot on the bees. But yes, handy and easy to use. Plus you have a visual record of your brood frames throughout the year.
As far as nitrile gloves.......aged gloves will split much more easily than fresher ones. They really need a ‘best by’ date on them which I find to be ridiculous on some other things. I have had to throw out first aid bandages that had an expired date on them! They had about a two year life which just made me want to scream!
It said I had no Aurora mites which I treated them one time before I use it but on the one I used it on I did not treat it use the app and it said it was clean I treated it anyways to make sure but the app said I may want to use that nest for my stock
Hi Mary, I hope you'll share your experience and design via TH-cam Videos... A hive box that takes both size frames? Not sure what that would look like.
Thanks Fred for everything. We just got our first honey from the flow hive today. All because of you. Thanks
Oh, I'm so glad! They have been out of stock for a while!
Thanks Fred! I really enjoyed the slow close ups! I could see inside the cells, very cool!!!
You're welcome Theresa!
More Fred’s Fine Filming! Thank you for the education.
Always welcome Randy!
Thank you very much for following up on this hive sir! (I'm going to this type of hive next year I believe). I've got my first bees still, hoping to actually keep bees for a year or more. Best bee (videos) channel!!!!!!!! Thank you again.
I sure didnt see it Fred. Darn it. Thank you for sharing this was outstanding for sure. I love when open up your hives it is so interesting...
Fred, you have been extremely helpful for new beeks. Horizontal notes say leave bee space under the follower board except for colony separation and wintering. I have had bee space and some bees hang out in the open space but never created comb.
I have the same occurance on my two top bar hives that have gaps around the follower board.
You are exactly right George, Dr Leo says they like to inspect the adjacent space and then aren't surprised when the follower board moves and new frames are available. I was doing something different, but should have had confidence in the bee mastery of Dr. Leo :) I may remove the copper mesh.
by far, the greatest bee hive tour ive ever been on.... felt like a pro tour guide was talking to us.
Thank you!
Why am I so hyped for a bee video of all things?
Because you appreciate the finer things? (';')
@@FrederickDunn Absolutely!
Thank you for your video on the new feeder that I watched last week that you said “put a sock in it “ I got one from link you provided and my girls love it
Hi, Frederick. Great video. If I lived where I could raise bees, I would certainly do it. I, of course, would depend on the beekeepers I see on YT. And your site would be at the top of my list of 'how to keep bees' that I would use to learn the process. The beekeeper community is among the friendliest communities on the net. Thanks for sharing! Stay healthy!
Hi Jon, thank you so much! I think it's great that there are so many beekeepers sharing their methods and approach/philosophy to keeping and managing honey bees... everyone can find their cyber-mentor. I wish it was like this when I began with honey bees. Welcome to my channel and thanks for taking time to comment.
I saw the Queen this morning in the mirror. !! Maybe I'm a bee sister, I don't sleep right/deep. I like the flow and long hives. I am going to do bees this year, they keep showing up at my new house and I keep chasing them away. They are a gorgeous chocolate and cream color. I have wild bees coming out of Glacier Park. I like Leo too, glad you are interacting with him.
Thanks Fred! Excellent info! I still don't have a cell phone.. an no plans to get one anytime soon, but that's a nice app! I inspected my Topbar hive a few weeks ago and U am SUPER impressed with the productivity! It was easier to manage than I expected. Great mite results!
That's great and I was with you on the cell phone issue... but finally gave in when my wife got one for free and I learned I could use it as a hot-spot to upload TH-cam vids :)
@@FrederickDunn There's always a trick to hook us isn't there? lol
Neat vid! Glad the Saskatraz bees are doing so well. Their productivity is amazing.
The local bee club meeting was yesterday, and the admin (same guy that still promotes small cell) uses and likes the bee scanner app, and had a zoom chat with the creators a few days ago. Neat tech, and will likely get better as more and more photos are scanned and learned from.
I can't wait to have a bee club meeting!
The next bee club meeting. lol
Maybe someday. I'm the only beekeeper in a huge club that actually does queen rearing, nucs, queen castles, mating nucs, and the whole game as far as I can tell. Handful of successful beeks that are very vocal until you ask them how they ...pick any topic. They will not tell you how they do things but will tell you how you should do it. It's very frustrating and I refuse to share.
If you do share they start picking at you and tear you to bits over little things like what kind of vehicle you drive.
It is very political in the club only its not "politics". Bee police kind of crap. Tons of virtue signalling, gaslighting, and blame shifting goes on right before my eyes.
You should have seen the "epipen" fights. The pros were extremely vocal and insisted that we all should have them for just in case.
The cons pointed out the cost, the legal liability, how you need a prescription to buy one, and what you are supposed to do. Call 911.
The pros brought it up again and again. We fought on...
Your hive box is awesome. You did a great job building it. I can imagine what'll look like full of frames n bees
Thanks a bunch!
This makes me more excited to build this fall. Looking forward to see what winter brings. Thank you so much for the update. Slowly buying supplies for my new retirement adventure!
Hi. I'm retired as well. Bees are such a blessing. I tell new beekeepers to spend as much time, energy, and money preparing and learning to "make more bees". Focus on creating new baby bee colonies and the honey just sort of happens. I'm not kidding either. I've harvested 25 buckets of honey and still have like 30 supers out on hives.
Talking 3/4 ton of honey. $5/pound.
Books:
Queen rearing essentials, swarm essentials, and watch some Michael Palmer videos. Good luck. Have fun.
this was great!!!!!! thanks for sharing that app also i hav etiried it and had some problems the hive is looking awesome!!!!! thanks for updating us!! 80th thumbs up! i did not see the queen anywhere!
I don't think she made an appearance at all, you're not alone. Always nice to see your comments!
Love your video's Fred. I don't even have bees but your videos are great to watch. Keep it up, love from the UK.
Thank you :)
Thank you for sharing all this. The quality of video and information is priceless.
Glad you enjoyed it!
You talk just like every pilot that I’ve ever listened too over the airplane speakers!!!! Lol
I’m attempting to add my first colony to a horizontal hive this next week!! Hope it all works out. Thanks for the help!
Never heard of anyone using sugar water instead of smoke!
Thank you, and I'm so glad you enjoyed it.
I was looking forward to this update. Thank you. I am in my second year with two of this type of hive in British Columbia Canada.
I enjoyed this presentation, it is educational and gives me lots to think about as I am planning to try horizontal hives that are insulated to control summer heat and winter cold. From my experience with Saskatraz bees (3 yrs). My packages on average have brood in 3 deeps with brood on at least 15 frames, most are over 21 frames by this time of summer. Many are in 5 deeps and I have pulled a deep of capped honey. all 10 frame equipment. I would be concerned by having only 10 frames worked now. Saskatraz are great bees and bring in lots of honey which takes lots of bees and brood.
They produce like you've described in my vertical hives, they seem slower in the horizontal.
Enjoyed the video! Thanks for letting us know about the app. I can't to try it out. Think I saw the queen at 28:00.
Someone was asking me about this app a few days ago. I'll have to direct them to your video.
Oh cool you watch this guy! I watch your videos like a religion. Where hobby beekeeping is a. Way. Of. Life.
Thanks, Randy! I'm sorry it has taken me three years to get to this comment! You are THE MAN!
@@FrederickDunn This was amazing! I saw a reply and with great excitement clicked to see what you had come up with after having three years to think about it. I've got to be honest. This was a bit of a letdown. LOL
Love ya bro! :)
That’s one fine long Langstroth hive! The more I see yours the more I want one. Who knows, maybe I might break out the saws and go to work one day.
If you want an idea on what to build look on my channel for 'swarm moves into top bar hive".
I made a couple videos of it. The leg design makes it where it can't tip over. If you're wanting a long langstroth hive ignore the slanted sides.
Mike Ries, thanks
Watching from Australia, conversions to Metric is much appreciated.
21:10 (not a queen bee sighting) Two bees, bottom center, fall off of the frame and the one bee drags her sister around. Looks very funny!
Apparently it’s a saskies trait to always have a superseder queen cell I believe it’s carried over from the Russian lineage
Choocha Lagoocha
Russian bees are dark brown to black in color and the yellow part of the abdomen is paler.
History
Russian bees originated in the Primorsky region, which is also home to Varroa and Tracheal mites. As such, they’ve developed a natural tolerance to these hive pests.
Due to this tolerance, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) brought them to the US in June 1997 to breed mite tolerance into US bee stock. They went on sale to the public in 2000.
Characteristics
Russian bees are highly resistant to mites and accustomed to cold climates. As such, they overwinter well. Unfortunately, they also tend to swarm, so it’s important for the beekeeper to provide extra space in the hive to prevent unwanted swarming.
Russian bees are highly sensitive to the amount of nearby foraging resources available. They will regulate the production of brood in times of dearth, which may be beneficial in climates where the amount of food available is heavily is dependent upon the seasons.
Russian bees tend to be slightly more aggressive, although this doesn’t always mean stinging. They’ve been observed engaging in head butting rather than stinging potential threats and guard their hive vigilantly, making them less likely to be robbed.
Beautiful hive !!! Love the care and diligence/ intelligence you use as a beekeeper, the gloves, They kinda look like latex gloves, Which are dirt cheap because healthcare facilities won’t buy them because of allergies
I'm a first year bee keeper, I think I saw the Queen at 27.51 But then again I could be wrong.
If you have a table saw. You can thiner the sides boards of each frame prior to installing the comb of better comb since they look slightly thicker which eventually will allow bees to move freely from the sides rather than going down under. No need for a new Long langstroth 😉
Awesome videos Fred I am looking into long hive now since my wife said I had too thanx for the building project shouldn't watch your video in front of wife haha
:)
Oh yeah,, Another Out door video,, thank you Mr Dunn 🇱🇨👊🏿👍🏿🖤
Ha ha she got you👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻19 years without cellphone😳,me born with a cellphone in my hand and didn’t know about the app🤪
Love the bees at 21:10 doing "the wheelbarrow!!"
Ah hahahahaha ha 😂😂😂🐝🙏🙏🙏🙏🤣
lol, missed that! good eye!
I am in the Pacific Northwest and I purchased 10 frames of Bettercomb with the toothpicks. I experienced bowing in 6 of 10 frames. I have to agree with your wire recommendation.
I think we may see the toothpick method go away altogether! BUT, that's why we review the material and see how it works. Thanks for sharing!
Love the husband tracker
Hey fred , in horizontal hives, I usually need to keep my top bar and layens constantly growing. Meaning adding empty frames.for brood between the honey line. They get easily bound with honey, the queen wont cross that honey line in horizontal hives and will easily swarm even though they have plenty of room. So just throwing that out there since you had a cell, not sure if that could be a cause, but I've had horizontals swarm real quick because of this issue. Not sure if you are adding empty frames for brood or not between the honey but just checking. I've made this mistake in the past.
Thanks Pete!
I ran a couple top bar hives. Very quickly I figured out to have top bar nucs. I took advantage of the swarminess and built up my yard. I ended up using top bar "bars" in langstroth hives and transitioned to all langstroth. I've always had langs. The top bars were just for fun. They are fun but not practical.
Im definitely going to try building a horizontal national hive over winter.
Im curious to see how well my Buckfast bees do in on and also if the over winter well in it next year. Seems to me its a less intrusive inspection when you dont have to break the hive down. Plus my back might prefer not bending over.
Definitely easier on the bees when we aren't twisting boxes off. Easy and convenient... if it winters well, I'll be making more next year.
Regarding the disposable glove reviews, the people who found them to be weak might have gotten old supply. The disposable gloves have expiration dates, and usually the shelf life is three years for latex, and five years for nitrile.
Btw I found more vibrating dance in 10:22-11:11!
I think you need more space left and right of frame in hive, for bees to walk, 5-7mm.
Nice hive I have 2 of them for brud stiling 😉
One comment, on bettercomb. I've got them in my supers. I actually installed medium sized sections on deeps. Bees attach it to the frame. No issues. I've got wired frames. I'm in NJ and we've been in mid-90's for about a week or so.
Wired is definitely the way to go! Thanks for sharing!
Wonderful video! Thanks for the update.
Thanks for watching!
I recall watching a beekeeping workshop video and they mention there are mites that love to eat Verroa Destroyer mites.
True, but the varroa mites must be under the hive or where the bees can't get to them.
@@FrederickDunn That sucks
I was watching for the Queen... was she near the end of the video about 27:55 ? eventually walking from the upper left around to the back or the frame?
That worker did have a long abdomen, but no queen... :(
@@FrederickDunn at 12:24 is that the Queen laying an egg in a cell?
Great video! Cheers for the update, Fred! :)
Glad you enjoyed it!
Watching a bee video at 1am... thanks TH-cam
Hope you enjoyed it!
Thanks for your efforts and time
My pleasure
Wow 19 years without a cell phone
Interesting, every bee has its own job.
22:00 I have been using the sugar water and HBH for the last three checks now and it seems they like like to chill on top of the frames.
Great video Fred
Think I hear the Queen at about 14:00 ❤️🕊❤️Nice Video Thank You❤️🕊❤️❤️🐝❤️
Good ear Tina, but I think it's just a worker that's borderline squished and unhappy...
At around the 21 minute mark you see a guard bee latched on to another bee's rear leg about the time the hive got noisier...robber scout bees?
Could have definitely been a scout from another colony. Good eye on that!
Fred if you want some blue nitrile gloves I send you a box if you want. Just let me know where to ship them and what size you need. I have a bunch of boxes of them.
Same thing with N95 masks. I use this stuff for other projects and have always kept myself well stocked.
Thanks, Ron! I am all set now... it just took me three years to respond :)
Do you have plans for your horizontal long hive? Did you build your long around deep hive bodies?
I am so far behind in posting the final plans. I hope to get those shared via my website soon. The profile is different from Langstroth bodies as it also accomodates the cover boards with bee space between those and the top bar of the frames.
How do you like your horizontal beehive? Would you change anything with your design?
I like it and will be making some changes this year. I talked about it in my Q&A video a week ago Friday.
"Alexa, does my hive by the backyard fence have varroa mites?".
Alexa: "yes but I need a picture so I can count them all".
Great video Frederick, as usual, but I am confused, also living in PA., that you noted that your Big Flow comes in Mid August. Ours is about gone. And you stated that you should look into a treatment regimen if you have mites. I understood that you did not use any kind of treatment for mites? Thanks for sharing. Blessings.
I will address this today in my FAQ presentation as a single typed answer may be inadequate. :) Thanks!
@@FrederickDunn I was just curious. It is Not important to anyone else!
@@FrederickDunn I think you bring my questions to your Q&A Show, to make a fool of me. This is the second time. Most of your Q&A folks know more than I, even as novice backyard beekeepers, and I have had five years keeping bees and had two BeeKeeping Classes. I don't know all there is, nor understand a lot of things and methods. @ 74, it is harder for me to pick-up and retain information about flows, diseases & treatments.
@@richardkuhn8115 Actually Richard your question is/was a good one. Most of the audience of Mr. Dunn are inexperienced bee keepers which is why we or at least I value his insights and efforts so much. Bee Keeping, as with most things, is an area where there is no silly question. While the videos are priceless for me, I learn a great deal by reading the comments and questions listed below. I think you would be surprised and hopefully comforted that most of us likely know much less than you with the experience you have listed here. Keep asking the questions and my hope is Mr. Dunn will share his answers with us all. Finally, if you are concerned about being identified in your questions, you can always ask to have your questions presented anonymously. Blessing to you.
Hi great video.
My sister said she found a hole bee hive for sale about a half hour drive away, the bees and all for 300$
I still haven’t found any other bees.
Should I go inspect because , why would people just sell they’re hole hive.
Some people just outright quit beekeeping and get rid of their equipment... I would definitely inspect the colony.
I’m about to email them !
Frederick Dunn he said bring extra frames to make up for the frames in the 10 deep. Or just buy 5$ each frame
didn't you say bees do not go to the bathroom inside the hive?
so then newly born and nurse bees leave the hive make a loop, do their thing and come back?
how does that work? how long can they hold it ... or what about the pupa ( obviously can't ) but ,,,,, I just started to wonder about this .... metabolism thing and don't forget the larva ... how do they manage ;)
OK... the bees hold it all onboard until they eventually fly out. Think of winter bees, they hold their waste material in some cases for months. The Queen is the only one that gets her waste removed for her.
@@FrederickDunn allright didn't think of the winter bees
All I can say is they are very efficient with near zero waste then.
Amazing.
At 21:13 what’s going on with the bee at the bottom of the hive? Seems like a bee is chasing a hornet or something else out of the hive.
Two bees fell out of the frame and are somehow stuck to each other. The one bee that is flying is dragging her sister behind her!
Hi Fred , I am very soon going to make my own long national hive so have watched your video, very interesting thanks, one quick question , thinking of helping the vent and movement of the bees plus helping to stop swelling and jamming of frames ,do you think it would be helpful to leave a small gap down the sides of the frames maybe 1/4 inch. many thanks Andy midlands UK.
Yes, in my next hive, I plan to leave more space at frame ends. 3/8 would be perfect. But, I don't think, based on what I've observed so far, that they would try to fill 1/4" gaps either. It would be another experiment.
what is the mesh size on the bottom holes, please?
varroa mites are as big as 1.7mm, so would they free fall through a 2mm mesh size? can these mites climb back into the hive? thanks.
#8 hardware cloth/screen. So, 1/8" openings.
Fred can you put two flow hive supers on top of each other when harvesting honey?
yes you can indeed.
Have you thought about using shish kabob skewer's istead of toothpicks?
To evaluate them, we really have to follow the manufacturers guidelines. I'm sure there are a lot of support options, I would think kabob skewers would be too thick for starters. My current favorite is the wired version.
Frederick, what is your approach to the Asian hornet problem?
Please watch my Q&A from today :)
Why are you not checking brood that have pin holes in the capping for disease?
Because other than the tiny holes, there is no evidence of a problem. If there wasn an off odor, or greasy sunken appearance, or some indicator that the brood is dead and ignored, I'd go further, but none of that was present.
Could you modify the long-lang to accept the flow hive system?
I would personally keep those methods and configurations separate.
Mr Dunn, I have been using 8 frame deeps, etc., but I have been thinking of switching to the long-lang method. It seems its less back breaking. I saw that you are using nitrile gloves, and my question to you, do bee stings get through them? I read somewhere that 7mil gloves will resist stings, but nitrile gloves aren't that thick. Love your videos!
They "can" sting right through them, but them simply don't. Use white or light blue and they seem to ignore the gloves.
@@FrederickDunn Thank you, sir. I will try it out. I have worked barehanded, but im sure. you know what can happen when you do that lol. Its happened to me a few times already.
You can cut a finger tip off the glove to use your phone.
Which model of the Acurite weather station do you have and would that be what you would recommend? Another awesome video Mr Frederick! Thanks as always for all your help!
Hi Meloney! I actually have three of them, but this is my favorite: th-cam.com/video/0WgWsvngAXc/w-d-xo.html
Frederick Dunn thanks so much...we had seen that one back when you did the review I just wanted to make sure that was the one you would still recommend! Thanks so much! As always appreciate your help! I will use your link to purchase!
I have some scout bees hovering around my swarm trap and they seem very interested but they don't want to go into my trap so I can't really understand what's going on, any thoughts? also good video and very informative
Just scouting around, possibly not for a new home.
I like your Horizontal Langstroth hive. Do you build and sell them?
Thanks, I'm sorry I don't sell hives.
At time stamp 21:15 you can see two bees, and one is pulling the other around as if playing tug of war. What are the bees doing here❓
That's a resident bee driving off one that just doesn't smell like she belongs. :)
Hi, Fred! I'm a new subscriber, so I'm making my way through your videos. I've watched a couple old ones about your Bee Weaver survivor bees. How have they fared over the years? Have they continued to be strong without any mite treatment? And have their genetics crossed over into your other colonies?
The BeeWeaver bees continue to do well, but I do have to occasionally treat for mites as my apiary has other bee lines that bring them in. IF you had an apiary of nothing but the BeeWeaver line, you'd see very few mites.
Hi my friend, good
Do you have any plans for these hives that you can share or sell?
I may post the plans, but they will be free.... it's a pretty basic design. I need to post those sometime soon. Thanks for asking.
Fred - In the app it asks for a bee breed. Which did you choose? It looked like Mellifera English was the closest to Saskatraz bees.
I just clicked unknown.
Great video Fred! Can I ask you what nectar flow you guys are having? Pacific Northwest here and our nectar flows are pretty much over for the year unless we head to the mountains...
At the moment, we're beginning the golden rod and aster nectar bonanza... prior to that, it was sumac, white clover etc...
I’ve seen a few creators videos that show false readings from the bee apps. Each to their own I suppose. Thanks Fred 👍👍
Hi Bradley, do you think I'm misrepresenting the app in some way?
No Fred not at all. I’ve seen reviews that are great just like this one and a few, if I can remember that the app was picking up pollen and the eyes of drones. This spring (1 month left of winter here in Australia) I hope to purchase my first hive of bees. I’ll definitely download and try this app. Sorry for any confusion, I should have been more specific like now. Hope this comment helps
I am thinking of building a horizontal hive. How will you keep the bottom clean when the hive gets older? What will you do for hive Beatle control? Thanks for the video!
If the bees fail to keep the interior clean, I'll deal with that as the issue occurs. As for SHB issues, I haven't had that problem here in any of my hives as the bees tend to run them off. IF SHB numbers became an issue, I'd use beetle jail traps.
@@FrederickDunn Thanks, but SHB are a big problem in AR. Our langstroth hive boxes have a wire bottom with a tray that holds either vegetable oil or diatomaceous earth for SHBs. These trays get really nasty by bee cleanings as well.
Maybe paint the box white to help on heat build-up.
There is no heat build up.... interior has been spot on temperature and humidity wise.
Did you build this? Are there plans?
HI Kyle, yes, I built it and I'm holding off on sharing plans until I've made all of the mods as I test it through a solid winter season.
I think the queen is going through the top left corner of the frame at 28:53 ?
No shiney thorax... I think that's a fat worker :)
@@FrederickDunn Don't some queens have a hairy thorax? Is it that you know from previous inspections that this queen has a shiny thorax? All my queens have hairy thoraxes. As usual, you have the best footage and do the best experiments on the best topics!
Did I miss an update on your mead making endeavors?
The only update is that it's now very clear, and apparently tastes very good :)
Were all the frames foundationless or were they staggered with drawn comb to get bees to build?
Checkerboarded... with BetterComb between the foundationless frames.
Hey Fred, I love your shows!! This is my first year bee keeping and I went big by designing an Horizontal hive in April. I have 35 frames and they are all full. My design was to add a flow hive to the top of the Horizontal next year. Is the season to short to add a flow hive this year or should I add a super? Yes I know it sounds Crazy to add a flow hive to a horizontal hive but I love both designs!!! Thanks for all you do!!!! Rickey Roark
I will discuss this on Friday... :)
How would you put in a queen excluder in
I don't use queen excluders, but they make them much like the follower board.
22:33 a bee came through on the right too.
Can you put the Better Comb in the extractor?
I have not done that, but I'm "told" that you can. Once the bees have worked it, the comb toughens up quite a bit.
Awesome video - as always. Anyone know what the two bees starting at 21:10 in the center shot were doing? Looked like one bee was wheelbarrowing the other bee.
Ha! That's cute. I saw that and assumed it was a bee from another hive who'd come to check it out and was being accosted because she didn't smell right.
How funny, I commented on that too. The bee gets dragged out of the shot but if you keep watching, she drags her back into view and heads towards the back of the frames before they get disconnected and one flies away! Edit: They both fell off of the frame he picked up. Somehow they're stuck to eachother.
I treat all my bees with oxalic acid vapor with provap (build it my self) works good, in early stage of infestation of mites it is hard to see so I treat in a spring three rounds 7 days apart and in a fall 3 rounds omg 7 days apart
Those provap units are fantastic, only needint that 1/4" hole to access any hive configuration. So glad you were able to build one yourself!
What part of the northeast are you in ?? I'm in Massachusetts's looking forward to my first fall honey !!
nwpa, northeastern US
@@FrederickDunn I am in Brackney PA, between Montrose PA and Binghamton NY. How far are you from there?
And thank you for this great info!!
You are so welcome!
Have you found the app to be helpful? Is it precise?
It's helpful in that, if the app identifies lots of mites, you know you have to treat and don't have to take the extra step of sugar shakes, or alcohol washes. However, you can't depend on it to consider a hive/colony to be clear of mites as the mites are often not in an observable spot on the bees. But yes, handy and easy to use. Plus you have a visual record of your brood frames throughout the year.
@@FrederickDunn Thank you :)
28:00 Top left corner of the comb.
fat worker....
I looked at thebeekeeper.org and was wondering what the cost of the membership is for the month and year?
I have no idea... I think there is a free trial period. After that I'm not sure.
As far as nitrile gloves.......aged gloves will split much more easily than fresher ones. They really need a ‘best by’ date on them which I find to be ridiculous on some other things. I have had to throw out first aid bandages that had an expired date on them! They had about a two year life which just made me want to scream!
I used it with my bees and said I was good on mites did not detect any
It said I had no Aurora mites which I treated them one time before I use it but on the one I used it on I did not treat it use the app and it said it was clean I treated it anyways to make sure but the app said I may want to use that nest for my stock
I'm making a hive box that takes both size frames
Hi Mary, I hope you'll share your experience and design via TH-cam Videos... A hive box that takes both size frames? Not sure what that would look like.