Nuc Production Yards
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 พ.ค. 2020
- Information on our nuc production yards and how we approach varroa mite treatments.
Anything over a 1% infestation gets our attention.
Video correction: at 3:42 the bottom line is 100 bees.
Reference:
Keith S Delaplane & W Michael Hood (1997) Effects of delayed acaricide treatment in honey bee colonies parasitized by Varroa jacobsoni and a late-season treatment threshold for the south-eastern USA, Journal of Apicultural Research, 36:3-4, 125-132, DOI: 10.1080/00218839.1997.11100938
Thanks Bob. I've been a hobby bee keeper for years, but have lacked the knowledge that I'm getting from you. Lost all my hives a couple of years ago and decided I was done. This year I took over the two remaining hives my Grandfather had and I've captured six swarms. Please keep these amazing videos coming! Thanks again. 🐝
Thank you.
Bob, I really appreciate your videos! Thanks for taking the time to share them with us!
Thanks, it's my new hobby.
That it could be that. It is almost the same as like young queen.👍
Thanks Bob for taking the time to make your videos. I’ve watched so much on internet and utube that there wasn’t anything new that I hadn’t seen until I found yours and it has definitely given me some different perspective on things. I always enjoy learning , thank you
Thanks.
I always look forward to your videos Bob. You are a fantastic teacher 👍
Glad you like them.
I like the way how cool is this guy when talking! amazing 🙌👍✋
always thank you !
Hi. I appreciate your videos because they are full of lessons.
Thanks.
Thank you for great tips Bob 👌👌👌🐝🐝🐝
Thank you Bob. I seem to learn something from almost every video. Appreciate your comments on mute control but also simply how you go through a box and why.
Thanks Joe.
Thanks Bob, great video.
Thank you.
Thanks for all the explanations!!! You answer lots of questions! :)
Thanks.
Thanks for the info,your place looks nice and tidy
Thanks.
What a great beekeeping video!
Thanks.
Great show Bob and i sure like the way you roll Bro!
Thanks.
Great video Bob
Thanks.
Thanks for the good info, i'm here in Trousdale County,Tenn. I want to go from 35 hives to 100 in the next several years. Our honey business is growing so we need alot more hives to keep up with the demand.
Thanks and good luck.
love the country down there i do like you said im in northern illinois i pull supers mid august then put apivar in , if weather alows i fog late fall depending on the weather had 0 losses this winter goodvideo
It's a good strategy.
Good video! That's a beautiful looking spot for a Nuc Yard!!
You saw our video "Our Unique Region for Beekeeping". That's the other Betty's Creek" bee yard I mentioned. The other yard is three miles in the distance.
@@bobbinnie9872 yes it is Beautiful too! Man you got it going on! Great teaching too, keep em coming
@@bobbinnie9872 Betty's Creek, that's it! I knew that had to be in that area. My inlaws live over in Wolffork and I was looking at the mountains in the background thinking that sure does look like mountains up near Sky Valley. We can see them from my inlaw's porch. Also know that bear fencing is a must for that area too...lol. Beautiful area.
Top notch Content as usual
Thanks.
The first line of the easy check is for a hundred bees and for more accurate sample collect bees from more than one frame of brood..
Great job,👍
Thanks.
Hello Bob I do a five over five deep configuration to over winter my nucs. Here in Central Virginia. I seem to have a little better survival rate doing that versus a single 10 frame deep. I love raising the nucs , but they are a lot of work. I'm just a side liner with currently a little over 40 colonies. So I'm only able to work my on the weekends.
I really enjoy the videos. Keep them coming.
Hi Mark. I know several people that only use five frame boxes. They say they work great but complain they have to use props like 2x4s to keep them from falling over. They're funny to look at.
I only do a double five frame deep on a sturdy hive stand. Without any problems with them falling over. I have seen them propped up high as your head with the 2x 4s also. I just say wow. I usually pull the top five frame deep off sell it in March with the over wintered queen and install a queen in the bottom.
If I keep the over wintered five over five for myself. I install the bottom five into a 10 frame hive body and install the top five into another 10 frame hive body. Then I have a tht 10 over 10 configuration. On a good year I can harvest a little honey from it.
You seem to have perfected raising bees to a science. All those years of experience shows. Thanks for the video. It is mind boggling how you can raise that many nuc in one year and still produce a lot of honey. I know - Location, location.
I like to say it's 50% science and 50% art.
this was great thanks
Thank you
Bob Binnie thanks I bought 2. Nucs in April from you best nucs I’ve seen they filled out 2 deeps and now drawing med super pulled 1 nuc split off one of them as well unbelievable performance! I bought 12 total nucs from all over got 4 from kamon Reynolds. I’ll buy all mine from you next yr !!! Thanks god bless
Thanks. Glad it went well.
By default, you just threw Kamon under the bus.
@@rajbeekie7124 Hi Raj. I've heard good reports about Kaymon's nucs also. I believe this gentleman was simply being kind.
@@bobbinnie9872 I agree. I do keep between 3-6 hives and I have to tell you checking and treating for the mites to me is an irritant. I wish this wasn't the case. Here are some examples, dealing with the vapor from the oxalic acid, wondering if the weather will corporate (too hot or not hot enough) when formic acid is used (will the queen die?), etc.
I love listening to old-timers from the 60s, and 70s. I am sure some exaggerate on how easy it was. Here is an example. "Depending on how well they overwintered, I would add or take away boxes in the spring. In a month, check on how they are doing. If they are doing well I would add 3 boxes and harvest in the fall." I am sure there is some hyperbole in his comments, but I think he was trying to make a point with regard to how challenging it is today. Love your videos. Thanks for posting.
@@rajbeekie7124 Thanks.
What. Beautiful location
This is so amazing we enjoyed watching you,
We too, last week we picked about a ton of delicious and natural honey from the Croatian mountains,
around our house,
we made a video about it and posted on our channel,
another harvest will be in a 3 weeks
This was great thanks I have been a bee keeper just for 6 years I have always tried to go into every hive 1 time every other week Please tell me how often u do internal inspection on your hives. I was told that U can tell what going on in the hive by looking at the entrance and doing inspections that often is not needed that if u have bees at least 10 a min taking in pollen this is proof of a laying queen. also when the flow is on stop the inspection because u mess up there production day. They put the suppers on and walk away. u have a lot of hives u are very knowledge able about bees and bee keeping so please tell me what u do. I have 30 hives at this time U do a wonderful job with the videos thanks I hope u keep them coming
We are different than most in that we inspect when we can. Sometimes it may be a month between visits. During a honey flow we simply pop lids and if something doesn't look right we might go deeper.
If I had fewer colonies I would probably try to check on them every two or three weeks during the active season.
@@bobbinnie9872 Thanks for every thing
Always great teachings. Jesse showing some age? With the ‘Tupperware’ comment? Or maybe just picked that up....I begin treatments September 1st in Louisiana. Thanks for the great video.
We have kits in every truck and some actually are from tupperware. I'll tease him about it though.
The view at 12:34 😍
It breaks my heart to see those bees sacrificed. I understand the necessity. Mites weren't always a problem. When and where did they come from?
They originated in Asia.
I am really glad I found this channel! Thanks for the video! Bob do you give them wax or plastic foundation?
These days we only use pre waxed plastic.
Thank you for your reply.
Hay new video !! ! !!
Hi, love your videos, I'm really excited to apply everything I've learnt this season.
How many feed holes do you put in the contact feeder at your nuc production yards?
Eight 1/16 inch holes in our buckets for these colonies.
Thanks for sharing all this valuable information. Do you only treat once in December with oxalic acid?
We treat with Apivar in August and oxalic in winter.
I came across your channel a few weeks ago, got some good info out of them. I do have one question, you talk about feeding the colonies using those buckets, I have problems with mold developing in buckets and Ball jars before the fluid is gone every load, I tried a few tbs of Apple Cider Vinegar but no luck. What do you do? or do you just don't show the cleaning at each fill up. BTW 3-5 hives in SE Pennsylvania.
We do clean them with a very mild bleach-water solution if they haven't been in steady use and we also put a pint of bleach in every 250 gallons of syrup we mix. Many commercial beekeepers do this with positive results. It sounds odd but the bees seem to have zero issue with it. As you may know they actually seek chlorine out in swimming pools. It won't stop your problems completely but it will give you a little extra time.
Bob, from what I seen in your yard, you take three frames of resources from the ten frame hives in the middle of the yard, populate the Nuc boxes around the perimeter add two frames of foundation and a queen and let them grow and then sell the nuc's correct?
That is correct. With a caged queen and the right feed it's ready in three weeks. With a cell we wait for or five weeks.
I'm just a new subscriber and I'm learning a lot. You mentioned you rotate comb out how often do you do that or how old is the comb when you wrote it Tate it out?
Hi Terry. I would suggest watching our video "Why Rotating Out Old Comb Is Important. Thanks. th-cam.com/video/TyH05-5Hp4k/w-d-xo.html
Hi Bob! Your videos are great! Your knowledge of bees is amazing! Just curious on your jar feeder that goes in the migratory cover, do you just poke random holes in the lid and let the sugar syrup drip directly into the hive? If so it doesn’t drip all over the frames? Thank you for sharing your knowledge!
We put one to six holes the size of a frame nail in the lids depending on how fast we want them to take it. Very small nucs may only get one or two holes. Dripping is minimal once a vacuum is established and generally only happens in the morning when the sun warms the jar up.
Bob Binnie at Blue Ridge Honey Company Awesome thank you Bob!
Looking good! Do you see any difference between the black and white pails? I figured the black might heat up more and push the syrup out.
You are correct. Sometimes that's a good thing and sometimes it's not. We avoid using black on very small colonies. The white fatigues faster.
A little off topic but in another video you discuss managing for a specific number of frames of brood, so many weeks before a honey flow to manage swarming and make a honey crop.
Second year beekeeper - just getting a good handle on when the flows and dearth’s are for my area (starts 3rd week in April peaks first week in May, all but done as of June 1)
My question is how would someone figure how big and when? Clearly I’m doing it wrong cause nothing I split small is going to make honey (which I wasn’t expecting as I wanted increase) and everything I left big swarmed or has had to have drastic measures to prevent swarming. Wish I had of kept better records of number of frames of bees and brood week by week.
Sorry for the long off topic post. I’ll make it longer by saying thanks so much for your content, it’s much appreciated.
It honestly takes practice and learning from trial and error. And when you think you've got it figured out Mother Nature changes the rules. When I first started out a friend told me it takes 7 to 8 weeks for four frames of bees to peak under favorable conditions and I've found that to be true. If the colony peaks before the flow starts there is a greater chance they will swarm. If a colony is accelerating to fast we don't hesitate to to trim it back, at any time, and give brood away to weaker colonies or start more nucs. In early spring you need to give it your best guess and make adjustments along the way. I don't think there's an exact equation. This may not be the answer you were hoping for.
I think that’s the “art” part you were referring to. Lol. I’d love to have an exact recipe, but didn’t think it’d be so simple. That gives me a good starting point.
Is it important to sample for mites on the outskirts of the yard and in the middle? I would think one would have to account for some drift.
Drift can absolutely have an affect when spreading infestation. We usually spot check several colonies throughout the yard and if we see one high number we rear the yard.
You mentioned several mite treatments, but not HopGuard. Have you tried it?
It worked pretty well for me last year (my first time trying it). I treated when there was very little capped brood
I have tried Hopgaurd several times and was very disappointed.
On your 4 way pallets when placed in your yards for year round or seasonal, which way do like to face the entrances to your hives?
Four way pallets make it hard to choose a direction so go with what works best.
Nice video
Did you bought those feeder buckets or did you make them
We put them together ourselves. I explain more on this in "Feeding Bees Part 3". th-cam.com/video/zjUjzHDqUtA/w-d-xo.html
Bob where do you get your bucket feeders? Great video.
We buy standard buckets from container distributers and make our own plugs from paint can plugs purchased from Deeks and Co. We drill 5/64 holes in the plugs. www.penpoly.com/deeks/
what would you do at this time of the year if there is a mite infestation across the yard? thanks for the video
If it was really bad I would pull the supers and treat. If it was moderately bad and I had a week or two of good flow left I'd probably tough it out. Of course I try not to get in that position.
مرحبا صديقي لدية سؤالين اولا اريد ان اعرف تركيبة الوعاء التغذية والثاني اريد تفاصيل أكثر حول عمل نويات النحل انتاج
Ooh what a nice thought that beekeeping could be exactly like the 80s
It was so much easier.
2200 colonies!!!!! I have 12 and its hard enough keeping up with them that's amazing
I've got good help.
Hey Bob you said you put a cage queen in them starter nucs.Is that a virgin queen?Do you run mini mating nucs also?
In that batch they were mated queens. From here on out we'll be using cells. We don't use mini nucs, all of our nucs are 5 deep frames. That way they are ready to sell or use.
@@bobbinnie9872 Thanks Bob great info!
Do you check for mites before you treat in August or do you treat without checking?
We do check our numbers first but we always have enough to make me feel like I should treat.
On the 6:56 I can see two queens on the frame. What happened on the colony?
Hi Jovica. I only spot one queen but I also see a golden drone. Could it be that?
Every beekeeper has mite problems however, where you have a bear problem we have a skunk problem.
Im in east central pa i have ten colonies i gave them ox acid treatment. In august it is now oct so if i treat in december should i treat once or twice 7 days apart after i treated in august i seen the bees perked up i been making pollen patties for them two cups of pollen and two cups sugar and one pint of honey 1/8th cup of vegetable oil that is all and the bees love it i am work on putting some burlap insulation on the top might put some thing on the back and the west side of the hive, the two most exposed sides to the north wind. Question am i doing right should this help get them through winter? Yes i already take off and reduced down the weaker colonies. So they dont have any dead air space above them
If you only gave the bees one oxalic vaporization treatment in August you only got 20% of the mites because the other 80% were in the sealed brood. It takes a number of treatments 4 or 5 days apart to have a real good result. I would do a mite count test to see where you stand. We like to see a 1% infestation or less going into winter .If you treat once in early December when the bees are brood-less and treat when the temperature is between 39f and 50f you will get 90% of the mites present at that time. Your winter preparations sound like you are on the right track.
@@bobbinnie9872 i treated twice 7 days apart sorry i was counting that as a section or one treatment
I was wondering if this fall four winner I can drive over and have a chat with you about some questions I had getting into commercial beekeeping? I'm willing to pay you for your time. I live in Alabama.
Winter would be a good time. No payment necessary. Use the email on our "about" page to contact me and we'll figure out a time.
I’m sure you been asked but I haven’t seen it. Do you use sugar water or corn syrup?
We make our own syrup with cane sugar.
What is your location? Approximately!! Beautiful scenery
, back drop.
We live in the most Northeastern county in Georgia which is very close to Western North Carolina in the Southern.Blue Ridge Mountains.
Bob Binnie at Blue Ridge Honey Company beautiful
When you make the split and give them a mated queen and a gallon of syrup. What ratio is the syrup 1:1 or 2:1?
1:1. A little lighter would work too. We're trying to stimulate them like ca nectar flow.
Bob Binnie at Blue Ridge Honey Company sure I understand that. Just hear so many things wanted to get your opinion
What do you to get bees ready for winter
Hi Robbie. I suggest watching our video "How We Prepare Bees For Winter Part 1 th-cam.com/video/Dh86i9HDKck/w-d-xo.html
Cool☕️
What's you best mite treatment that you have found? Or treatments
I've tried about everything. My favorite is oxalic vaporization. It's one drawback is that it works best when the bees are broodless and does not kill the mites in sealed brood. We do two treatments about three weeks apart in winter and it really knocks the mites back. Unlike the dribble method it seems to do no harm to the bees and it's non toxic. Oxalic acid already exists to a small degree in honey and is what gives rhubarb its sour taste.
@@bobbinnie9872 what vaporizer do you guys use? Is it a true vaporizer or a fogger?
I wish I was a younger man I would move down there if there was a job for me in that kind of business. If I only knew how much I would come to love bee keeping , the possibilities .
The possibilities are endless.
What is your action level for mites and if there is a infestation what treatment would u use in the summer months
It depends on what we're in the middle of. If we're in a honey flow that is only going to last a week or two I would tolerate a higher mite count than otherwise. One week ago we ran across a yard that had mite counts between four and seven per three hundred bees which was completely unexpected. The rest of our outfit is fairly clean. Knowing our Sourwood flow was five weeks away we stripped off our spring supers and treated with Apivar in order to avoid crashing during, or immediately after, the sourwood flow which is important to us. If we saw that count in the middle of the Sourwood flow which only lasts three weeks I would probably wait. Other than situations like this we treat in August. I'm OK with levels under 1% (3 mites per 300 bees).
Thank you for the advice as I am and up and coming commercial beekeeper I am just a side liner with 150 hives but am looking to make the jump in the next two to three years as I wish to grow with my operation your insights have been really helpful I am also interested in visiting your operation and possibly working for a week or two for free to gain experience and insight if that’s something u might entertain
@@PaulSmith-qu3jq Let me know in advance when you would like to visit.
Will do thanks
Thanks for the video Bob. I'm running this same production model, albeit on a much smaller scale, in hopes of really expanding at apiary over the next couple years. I'm west of Chattanooga at about 1750 ft and the Sourwood tassels are just starting to form. My question is concerning the August mite treatment. Doing some quick math based on the cost of 1 Apivar strip from Mann Lake per hive leaves quite a large number when your hive numbers reach into the thousands. I'm barely reaching the tens so it's not that big of a deal for me. I've seen other beekeepers that use Oxalic Vapor on a five to seven day rotation to account for the presence of brood. Do you find this method to not be as effective as the Apivar strip or dio the logistics of having to repeatedly make the rounds to that many hives become a deciding factor?
You hit on a couple of points here. I'm a Mann Lake dealer so that helps a lot. It's still very expensive though and my last Apivar bill was a little over $18,000.00. There is no way we could do the oxalic properly with the time and crew we have so the cost is offset by less labor and convenience. Good luck with the sourwood.
Hi Bob I am in Arizona it's a constant fight to keep good Queens I love my hats Queens but they're always mean wonder if you have any advice I spend a lot of money on Queens
I spent a lot of time in Arizona when I was young. Of course you didn't have any African genes back then. If I was raising my own queens in Arizona I would definitely import some good breeder queens from somewhere else if I was trying to keep my bees gentle. I would also have unrelated breeders for producing queens that would produce drone stock and flood my queen mating yards with those drones. I wish you good luck.
@@bobbinnie9872 thank you
Good show Bob. Please tell me why you guys don't get stung on your hands and arms when you inspect the colony and shake the bees in a tub ?
If I was to handle my bees without a bee jacket they would eat me alive !
We do occasionally get stung but we rarely wear gloves. Not wearing gloves instantly makes you a better beekeeper.
What is that solution? Is it a medicine for Varroa?
It is for checking the mite population.
@@bobbinnie9872 Can we put oxalic acid immediately after harvesting honey?
I'd be perfectly fine pulling sheets of brood all day like the one at 6:17
Wouldn't we all.
How much do you sell your 5 frame nucs for?
Last years price was $165.00.
@@bobbinnie9872 Thanks Bob Good price!