Saving Big $$$$ Catching queens / making awesome splits in our homemade Hives
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ต.ค. 2024
- Introducing virgin queens catching 3 mated queens and making a great split from one of last year queens!
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Tennessee's Bees
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Between last year and this year I saved a lot of money making my own queens. I used 4 of my own queens just this year.....excellent.
Kamon, you are a great resource especially for young beekeepers, but I would like to particularly congratulate you on the correct placement of the plastic queen cage. I see lots of supposedly good beekeepers that insert the plastic queen cages incorrectly. New beekeepers pay attention Kamon did it exactly RIGHT!
Thanks for the kind words and support Bob! Much of what I know I learned from beekeepers that shared it with me and it is only right to pass it on.👍
Hi, Kamon, another very good instructional video. My biggest issue this year is that I have not made the leap into raising my own queens. Despite all the videos I have watched and books and articles I have read I am still a bit intimidated by the process and unsure how to make my first step. I had bad winter losses last year and did not start out with the number of bees I felt I needed. Fortunately I have had good increase from splits and swarms and have plenty of bees to make starters and finishers. I guess I just have to make the leap and take my lumps. It is at times like these I wish I could find a local mentor. Fortunately there are people like you and a few others on the internet who are generous in sharing your experience. I am extreme,y grateful for your willingness to invest the time and effort to share your experience. Thank you very, very much. Your efforts are making a huge difference for folks like me. Stu
Apimaye has a way to split your hive in two then just keep stacking boxes, Queen excluder helps so your not searching for too long for a queen but the problem is the queen needs about 8 frames to lay eggs so it’s good to go two deep. Just saying it might be easier to start with one new queen and do what he did, just wait for the queen to be hatched and hope the queens don’t fight, you will already have them separate.
wow!! great stuff Kamon....can you maybe make a video on spotty brood and different things to be looking for with brood--signs of failing queen, etc........Ya hear so many things ...would be good to hear your take. --thanks!!
In my opinion, this one of the best video's you and Laurel have produced Kamon. 👍 Salient and timely points for this part of the beekeeping season as well as great points and tips on queen rearing, breeding nucs, and splits during a mediocre nectar flow. I learned a lot. I have an even worse fat finger problem catching queens not to mention spotting them. 😁 As is usual Laurel does a superb job with the photography and production with her expert touch. Great job! By the way, I am finding that if I put a Healthy Bee patty directly next to an Ultra Bee patty, the small hive beetles leave both patties alone.
Thanks Randy. I enjoyed the video on temp and queen viability. We definitely will be redoubling our efforts to always keep our queens happy.
@@kamonreynolds could you please do a video that details the differences between bee races, carniolan, buckfast, Russian, and so on. Pros and cons.
AWESOME video! I love how you took the time to explain it to us noobs!
You have much better success with open handling virgin queens than I do. I usually end up having to stand perfectly still there for 15min and hope she lands back on my shirt after she flies off LOL. Enjoyed the video as always.
Hi Kamon
I started using Toma oil based pens after watching another TH-camr mention it. Tried it and find the colours more visible and the mark does stay on them.
The queens and bees don’t seem to mind it and the good thing the mark does dry quickly and is longer lasting.
Bought them from eBay a pack of 7 have all five colours for beekeeping.
HI Kamon. Thanks for making videos, in an honest and informative way. The good, the bad, and the ugly! I am a brand new beekeeper this year, and after watching your videos, I am a lot more confident when I have to get into my bees and I am ready for almost anything! Much love to you and your family! 💕
Great video guys thanks for sharing
Thanks for all your videos they have helped me learn a lot. Keep up the good videos.
Bob enjoyed getting to see you again! I wish I had known you were going to bring your bottom boards and lids. I pre ordered all of my stuff in November. Next year if you can attach a website to the vendor list so we can place orders early. Your boards are superior to all the rest. Thanks ❤
Hey Kamon, I've been using Artistro Paint Pens Multi Surface (Extra Fine Tip) to mark my queens. It's a lot thinner stick of pen to work with and I feel I can see what I'm doing when marking.
That seems like a really good idea. The only thing I can think of is of the binders or pigments in the paint didn't hold as fast. Now that I'm 2 years late in watching this video and seeing this comment, are you still using those Artistro pens? Have you found the markings from them to be as durable as you'd expect from the others like Posca?
And I guess also the colors to be as vivid and easy to spot amidst the clusters? (Could actually be room for improvement there with a couple of them...?)
Great job 👍 guys.
Lots of great information! Thanks!
Great video, good content. Been a bit too many blanks in mating nucs but this month should be better, Whew … the Ziploc bag in the sun made me nervous haha, keep up the good work.
I just made those foamy inner covers for my nucs after I watched this video. I hope that’s why my nucs are not doing well this year. Figure I’ll use hardware cloth to reduce the entrances also. Love your videos, I seem to pick up all kinds of tips from each one
Could u make a video about feeding sugar syrup??? Every time I feed it no matter if there’s a nectar flow or not seems like it they plug every spot n the hive and queens don’t have room to lay.
Still need a great queen. You got the sunshine I sent didn't you? Great vid,great info as always!
The queen in the cages going into a sealed ziplock bag, in the sun, seems like a really questionable technique to me!
Thats exactly the reason I wear nitrile gloves in the hives. Keeps the sticky off my fingers! In case I need to grab a queen, I learned that lesson the hard way
This is an awesome video! I would love a queen castle but i do have a few 2 frame nucs. 3 frames would be nicer. Might have to try to recreate that.
Ann Krupa ...Hi Ann . I make my own hives, look on TH-cam how to make them, I make mine out of ply wood , there are videos showing how to make them if you have some wood working skills, I make 5 frame nucs and 2 frame nucs , soon i will make some 8 frame hives and supers, and I also make my own frames from scrap timber. It is a lot of work if you can do it in your spare time and saves a lot of money to. I do this in winter so there ready in spring to eather do splits or get swarms and sell the extra hives . I also make my own queen rearing gear also videos on that rearing queens etc. good luck in your bee adventures. 👍
Success!! I ALWAYS introduce Virgins Because I have had too many abandoned cells,torn down cells etc.I have 99% success , I introduce Queen's on a comb not on empty box like some huge illiterate Beekeepers though...Good Video as Always Kamon!!!
Testor’s model paint is great compared to Posca pens. The color never fades, and the workers don’t care. Posca gets cleaned off, Testors doesn’t. I’m trying the glue on numbers now, and those are great too.
Thank you Kamon for taking all that time to teach us as you did your queens and split the hive. Its the next best thing to being there. Do you recommend always giving some pollen patty when you split hives or is that only when there is a dearth?
Your welcome 😀 a tiny patty can be helpful even with a pollen flow. This split won't have alot of forager bees for a bit. Don't give to much patty though
Great video. I appreciate your explanations. I watched you take out your mated queen, mark her and put her in a cage for another box. Then you put in a virgin queen. Where did that virgin come from? I couldn't see, but was the virgin marked? Thanks so much for your info.
The virgin was marked and she came from one of our queen cells in our incubator.
Hey Kamon. We've been using the Sharpie brand oil based paint pens for the last three years. The Posca paint was being cleaned off by the bees. The Sharpie oil base has held up perfectly for three years now. The extra fine, or fine, tips gives you great control. And these don't tend to flood paint out. I really like the convenience of the pen vs the Testors bottle. It's always in my pocket through the season.
Can you show us the division boards and how they are attached and the entrances of each? I would like to build one.
you seem to have a nack for making the video I need. going to put this round of queens in the incubator. dose it work better if you leave them queenless for a short time, 30 min, or not.
Nice work Kamon. Sure you been busy like me out in NorCal. You interested in doing a Queen swap? I’ll send you a couple then you can send me a couple. Keep up the good work.
I have been keeping bees for over 5 years and I have gotten queens from different sources. I have also raised my own queens. What is have not been able to do is tend to bees w/o gloves. I have tried many times. Every time I have tried I end up with 3-5 stings within seconds.
Try it only in summer time when there is plenty of nectar flow. Put one, two table spoon of vinegar on your hands.(like you wash your hands) It helps a lot! Anyway if your bees are not selected only from the calm hives(queens) it's time to start that. Read about the genetics and raise new queens only from the hives that are: 1)well productive; 2) calm; 3) disease resistant;
Hi Kamon, on a different topic, when adding a super with just foundation and no drawn comb would you still add the queen excluder at this stage or when the comb is drawn out.
Please and thanks
Regards Michael 🍀
Another video about virgin queens using the Apimaye please. You can separate down the middle with a divider.
Sharpie makes old based pens and they work well .A lot cheaper too ,check them out got mine at walmart. It says oil based to the package I bought the multi color pack for about 12.00 dollars had like 6 or 8 colors.
Sooo.newbie(ish) here, WHY were you re-queening? When the present queens seemed to be fine and laying well🤷♀️ ?new genetics?
If this is a business which it is, you have constant turn over. You mate a queen then she is now for sale and you have a virgin to put straight in hive to now mate then next couple weeks sell her and so on is how things go.. I'm not saying that's what kamon does but give you an idea why..👍
We took the newly laying queens and made new colonies with them. These little mating colonies are just that. For mating new queens and helping us expand or sell bees
Kamon and Laurel, thanks for the video. I’ve lost a couple of Queens trying to catch them by hand to mark them, they just flew away. Of course I don’t have the experience that you do. Now for marking I only use a one handed Queen catcher. You we’re talking about using model car paint for marking, I know someone that uses fingernail polish. He swears by it says it works great. I have no idea on the cost for it since I’ve never bought or used it. lol Have you lost lots of Queens this season? I lost 4 and only had 7 hives. Thanks again!
I don't know anything about nail polish either but I've got 2 people in the family that do so I might have to try that out. We haven't had high queen losses in established hives but April & May mating % was pretty poor.
You may be able to get that aluminum bubble insulation fr the florist free or inexpensive they get flowers wrapped in it
Your bees are really gentle. My little black irish bees are very agressive. They came from a wild colony, I collected the swarms. I'd be destroyed without complete protection but wearing gloves makes it very difficult to handle and mark the queen.
Looking forward to getting some gentle ladies, perhaps Italian. Would you have any suggestions?
Many thanks Kaymon, blessings to you & yours.
💖🙏🌻
Hi Kamon, I’m a 1st year beek and have learned so much from your videos! I really like your multiple nuc creation made from one box! What do you use as the “ separator wall” between the nuc frames?
Can you please try replace your lids and excluder starting at 1 end or side of hive body? Rest excluder on hive body end or sude and slide these along the top of hive body ,that way any bee's on there will not be killed/squashed and makes so much more sense then just squashing what's there.. love the video's love the info and experiments you do great work guys..
21k subs. .
6th commentor. .nyahahhaa. .
Vids before going to sleep
Had a queen cell emerge as I was carrying her to her mating nuc. So I released her as far away as I could in a 4 frame nuc. Watched a worker turn on her heels to go after her, should I check to see if she is still alive?
Good job Kamon. Sure your very busy as well. You want to do a Queen swap? I’ll send you a couple then you can send me a couple. I’m with you I like dropping cells much better.
Thanks Kamon
I dunno about the Testors model paint. The formula has been xylene/toulene based for the last 30 years, and unless it's been updated, is likely going to be fatal to a queen. The Posca paint pens are water based, but othe lines made by Posca and most paint pens are solvent based, and I doubt that's safe for bee use. The strong solvents do evaporate very quickly, but the big dose of fumes alone might kill a bee. It would be like us wearing a teeshirt saturated with thinner until it dried. It's sure not good for them (or people) It would pay to investigate further before risking a queen. Maybe paint a few workers 1st if research bears out the solvent paint paint isn't immediately fatal.
I have it from guys with more experience than me that it works well but we will see!
I marked bees and drones with model paint the last 3 years except this year, to see how far away they forage. This paint did not kill any of my bees or drones yet because 1 week later I still have seen those bees and drones.
I bought the blue paint for this year so I can mark my queens. I just did not get to do it yet.
@@FloryJohann Maybe it does dry fast enough it doesn't harm them, or maybe they don't have the nasty stuff in it anymore. I always thought it was kind of nasty for kids to use. Next time I see it in the store I'll have to look at the label. Already spent seven bucks on my blue Posca. I'd be glad to know if I can use $2 paint going forward.
Thanks !!
Having issues with the hives we have. So here is the short story. Had two Carniolan hives going into winter last year. Both hives are in langstroth long, and one hive was empty early in spring of 2020 except for a handful of dead ones at the entrance. My educated guess is they absconded since they were strong and low mite count with several frames of honey, but very little bee bread.
So, I did a split and got a fresh queen into that hive I bought. Now, the other hive that made it through winter very strong suddenly stopped making bees and did just honey. I was thinking honey bound, but then during my inspection today I found almost 2 frames of mostly capped drones and several larve that I'm guessing will be drones. So now I'm thinking I may have a laying worker since there is no other brood except for a queen cell about mid frame down right on the inner side of the frame.
I'm thinking to leave it, and see what happens there.
In the hive that a queen was bought for several weeks ago has several frames of solid pattern worker capped bees. So I'm happy there, and there seems to be a queen cell being made. I'm thinking to take that whole frame, minus most of the bees, and stick it into a hive split I made after finding a queen cell in the over wintered bees.
Anyone have thoughts? Sorry this is so long.
We put a new queen/queen cage in a strong hive that had been without a queen for awhile. The bees appeared to aggressively swarm the cage. Buttoned everything up as we didn’t really believe there was much we could do about it. Hoping they calm down and accept her. Will check back in a couple days to see if she is still alive. She was marked and should be easy to spot. Any advice about this situation. Notice that you were looking for the reaction in this video. What would you have done if they would have been aggressive towards a new queen?
smoked the ball of bees, grabbed the virgin and used her elsewhere.
Argos-Mycenae🐝🐝🐝🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🐝🐝👍👍👍
Could you, after you have done splits and other frame manipulations, whether or not that hive can be harvested that season. Thanks!
I was wondering does a queen bee sting ?
Ew... kamon try using pastel colors on the markers. Way way easier to spot. I substitute orange for yellow even tho yellow is pretty ez to spot. Pink. ..ez as heck. Another tip is to 'burp' them markers or on the first use they spit. They get hot and the air inside expands. I've had an all white queen b4. 😅
How did you section off sections so queens don’t mingle? And, if there is only one entrance, do returning foragers find their section?
Hurry with the model car paint test--I have been tempted to try but have too many posca pens around the house to justify, lol.
,
Tack för en bra video ;)
With 3 Bee cells in one Hive how are they not killing each other?
We aRE sept the fifth, i have 3 queens one box 7 frames of bees 2 of brouse ou jeunes larves,,,,,,,,the second has only 3 frames , 1 brouse and the third the same. Now i am afraid of having enough broose to get through winter , ihave a good idea of wath i will do, but i would like to know idea , no i have nothing else.thank you.
Kamon you might want to try Sharpie oil base pens .They work for me and you can get a multi color pk of pens. They work for me you can get them at wolly world pretty cheap
Hi: I just could not completely understand the why the change of Queen for Queen? Maybe as I continue learning I will understand. Thanks.
Kamon, do you have any advice for a 2nd yr beekeeper with an aggressive (defensive) hive? I have 2 hives, one was a package and one was a NUC. The NUC hive is doing great, but they are soooo short-tempered and defensive with me. I smoke the entrance and then lift the top before I start but honestly, It's not doing much to calm them. I can barely move a frame without a group of bees coming in for the attack! It really is a downer because I get stung through my jeans probably 2-3 times every time I inspect that hive. I ended up buying a bee suit just for this hive... funny part: I was bent down and my chin must have been on the front mask part cause I got stung THROUGH the mesh of the hat! That how much these bees "hate" me. The package beehive I have is ALOT smaller, but they are so nice. A little smoke and they don't mind me looking at their frames.
Helle from Denmark. I for som reason have grotten very interrested in theese bee “mouvies” and right now i was wondering, how old can a Queen become? 🤔
Hello from Tennessee. The longest lived queen we have ever had lasted 4 seasons. She was replaced by the bees and her daughter was very nice as well. Typically queens average 2 years here. The longer the season the shorter lived the queen is the common held opinion as she just wears out faster.
Hi Kamon
Looking at the Carniolan queen you showed. There is nothing Carniolan about her. The Carniolan is a grayish dark queen 95% of the time. As we breed the bees and they get mated about 20 times and if one or two have mated with an Italian origin. Then you have lost purity. Check the bees in eastern Europe and you see what for yourself what i mean. I keep uk Native Bees and have the same problem. I have my susbisions that the bees rather rear queens from Italian eggs. The question is are queen breeders going to cull the virgins that showing signs of ginger 2 or 3 tigrams of yellow or orange also the the bottom line of color on the base of the tigrams are wider on Carniolans which give them a grayish look. I am only concerned about misinformation. Love your videos.
Thanks John. I am aware US bees are not considered very pure in general. Especially compared to other countries stocks. However, here in the US this is a carnie in the basic sense by similar behavioral traits. I don't believe in purity, I believe in production and what I see displayed in the combs. Color of the bee means nothing to me. I also know that alot of what you laid out is very true! but getting into all the finer details dilutes our true goals which is better beekeeping. Show casing special breeding, genetics, and all the minutiae is a deep rabbit hole. Many beekeepers are struggling. Once we get them to a sustainable point then they can find an expert to run down these advanced topics that I know very little about. I wish I could do it all but I cannot.
Perhaps you could get someone over there to do a video or videos on strict carni programs? I would enjoy learning more about that process myself in my spare time! Thanks for the comment,
Kamon
Gday mate i have just added a second super to my hive today hoping i have done it right anyway i was going to say how dont you get stung i use double nitril gloves and get stung but then you did get one but i dont know how you handle the bees not wearing gloves ,my luck i would end up with hands that look like flippers .
Gday crisper I do get stung sometimes. We do select for docile bees. I have a few videos where I get stung in them. I get a few stings every week whether the bees purposely get me or I pinch one. I do wear gloves when the job requires them. I also don't swell or itch anymore when I get stung on my hands
@@kamonreynolds Hi mate i got stung on the thumb yesterday still a bit swollen today im going back to leather gloves this is the 4th time they have got through these nitril ones
Hello kamon. I have four hives all with virgin queens from my own swarms three are laying superbly.One is not laying at all and the girls are very ansty ,I am going to combine the smallest swarm with the one that has the non laying queen, hopefully this will give them something to do. What I can't understand is why they have not rejected the non laying queen.Could it be that they had no eggs or very young larvae to raise a replacement?
I was thought that shaking a frame with uncapped larvae and eggs was not recommended because it damages them?
Some say not to we do it all the time and I don't notice losses from it. It is not recommended to shake larvae you plan to graft from but I do that also.
Do you sell any of your carny queens? Im wanting to do a split this year with a carny queen.
What kind of materials the covers' pads are made of ?
Kamon, thanks for all the inspiring videos. I really like your veil. Where did you buy it / what is it called?
/ Pontus (Sweden, Stockholm)
I got my veil from Kelley beekeeping. It can be also found at mann lake. It is called the clear vue.
When you have queens hatch out in hive, how long has that hive been queenless?
Your hive can still have a queen and a virgin is born in the hive, hives aren't always queenless when queen is born.
Great video guys (especially the camera work)! You mentioned ribs down for the queen excluder. What is the reason for that? Thanks.
HI Kamon can you please in a nutshell if possible explain what you mean about creating an imbalance and the hive creating supercedure cells maybe one example that statement peaked my curiosity??Thank you for your information as usual as well..
What is the black plastic empty thing in the empty box when you did your split
Where did you get your hat/ beil
Thanks for your video. How can I get that queen cage you used?
They are called JZBZ queen cages should be able to find them online and hopefully find a nearby source
Could you tell us if you have a system or tool to recover superseding queen cells off the frames? Couldn’t you put these in your incubator?
I just split the frame up into mating nucs If I need to. I don't try to cut them and incubate them as I usually have extra queens for myself
How do you know she's a mated Queen as opposed to an un mated Queen?
You say you shouldn't use smoke when there are virgins in the hive? (19:39) Just wondering, why not?
oftentimes it will cause the bees to ball the virgin and kill her. Once she lays and has the right pheromones they will be fine
This year is a roller coaster.
A week ago I was taking mated queens out of queen castles and putting them into nucs. Basically adding one frame. Three to four.
Things looked great. I mean wheeee...100% mating. Then... a week later I'm finding that queens laid up a couple frames of worker brood...then bullets. Aw crap.
Sigh. The successfully mated ones are going like crazy. I hate finding hives going in reverse even when it's only 3 frames of bees and a queen.
This is why i like you. Long, thicing videos.. stuff thet realy halps..Grate one
Thanks. I really enjoy rearing queens and making splits. Honey is great, but new queens and news hives are my favorite
To me virgen queen is one not mated yet right
👍💞💞
Where do you get the candy for the queen cages. I can’t figure out how to get the candy.
Some people just use marshmallows
Reindeer’s Bees, Kamon makes his Queen candy if you will search You Tube for “Kamon Reynolds making Queen candy” you will find his videos.
Don Bearden Thanks that is a big help
Corn syrup and powder sugar is how u make queen candy just mix to thickness u want
Why in the world does that work for u and they killed mine, I even tried the direct release with the honey bee healthy with a mated queen that did not work for me either they did not attack her or any thing I watched them.. I came back a week later no quuen no nothing. I do have a question for u if u will be so kind to respond I live in virginia I want to make some splits off my very large hives after I remove the suppers Is July to late to do this I want them strong for the winter, Thanks I am now going to use divider boards and will be putting the splits on top of the mother hives. Thanks
July is not to late if you give them the feed they need and the mites are accounted for. Introducing queens into hives has alot of variables. The older the bees the harder it is to introduce one. The bigger the hive the harder it is to introduce one. Some colonies get so far queenless and out of balance it is incredibly hard for anyone to right the ship.
@@kamonreynolds Thanks keep the videos coming they are great
Kamon, did the model paint work better than a paint pen, your opinion?
Hi, anybody know how to get these hashtags above the title? tx
What’s up with the pile of bees next to the frame feeder?
There was a cluster hanging on the lid before I start back I shook them in mostly forager bees but they were in the way
Do you have those queen cages in your Amazon store ?
How do you make queen candy
Can a Queen sting?
Yes but they only use it on other queens. In extremely rare circumstances queens have stung people and this always seems to be due to some shenanigans by the beekeeper
@@kamonreynolds thank you for your response. I'll have to try and catch one of mine now by hand. Love your videos!
Kamon Reynolds have you ever heard of Dfm probiotics