Turning 1 Hive Into 3! Adrian Balboa Survivor Splits + Varroa Test Results!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ก.ค. 2024
- This is the story of how the Adrian Balboa colony came out of winter and how I managed to split them into three colonies and converted them from Deep and Medium Frames into my Extra Deep Frames at the same time. I was able to split the colony from one main hive into a new custom double nuc hive. You may recognize this as On The Spot Queen Rearing, but it's not exactly OTS because I didn't do any notching. However the timing and overall structure of what I did was totally inspired by OTS. Thanks Mel Disselkoen and John Schwartz! Check them out. I also do a Varroa Mite alcohol wash test on the Adrian colony and share the mite count results after the Apivar treatment. It's been a rough spring since finding my deadouts back in March, but it's really starting to feel like good, solid beekeeping again.
00:00 - Hello Friends
00:11 - Adrian Balboa Colony Winter Survival Buildup
01:03 - Initial Transition to Extra Deep Frames
01:59 - Moving Adrian Colony Into A Bee Barn
02:52 - CUSTOM Double Nuc Resource Hives!
04:10 - Planning To Split With a MiX-MaTcH of FrAmEs
05:20 - Selecting Frames to SPLIT!
06:08 - Putting Adrian Queen into a Clip
07:01 - Making the First Split
09:45 - Making Sure There are Eggs in the Mother Colony
11:33 - Alcohol Wash Mite Test - Killing Some Bees to Save Bees
13:48 - One Week Later... Making The Second Split
17:20 - The Huge Double Nuc Contraption
17:50 - Don't Forget to Subscribe to Find Out What Happens Next!
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I think you should call your extra deep frames “Vino Frames”!
I agree
I second the motion...or third it as the case may be, lol.
YES!!!
agreed
yeah.
“I want to keep my bee yard small”
“That would be great: that could already be another split!”
Jim, I’m not calling you out, but 😂
I said in April… 6 colonies. 6 nucs. I need 4 more nuc splits before July. Then… management.
@@vinofarm Everyone else is giving you a hard time on the Internet, you know I had to too 😉 if you’re looking for a little bit more gene variety, I’m about to make a split on my feral hive that I’d be happy to donate to your yard.
@@PaulButkiewicz Cool, Paul. I’ll let you know!
its hard not to get excited when you see the potential.. such as a queen cell, that could possibly be more splits. Bee Fever... Have you thought of getting into grafting?
I’m impressed with your strength . I had a nuc go thru winter and then three days after your blog that nuc all dead. No varroa. A bird and a monster hive decimated my hopes for raising overwintered Queen stock . Broke my heart . You got up, dusted yourself off and made amazing boxes repurposing the old hive wood. Staying off the Internet now but I had to sneak on and give you a virtual hug and you are definitely on to something with those new hives. Best to you family and your bees. Your farm needed the barn you had to replace . Much respect -Lenore Talon..🕊🕊🕊🕊🕊🕊👋💗
I have zero desire to do a homestead or live/work on a farm... BUT omg I'm so addicted to these bee and farm videos!! Thank you for always sharing your stories with us. I love how your brain thinks!! Thank you!!
That’s nice to hear. Glad you keep watching!
Shabby S - at my home in Nevada I have a teeny postage stamp yard. We cut a hole in the privacy fence to the alley to fit 2 hives side by side on a platform. Hives sit on a rolling smaller platform. Roll them into the yard work the hive roll them back. I think there maybe one other person in the whole town with a couple of bee hives. I hear all the time from people that for the first time ever they have honey bees in there yard & flowers and berries, apples etc are prolific in town now🤗 So no homestead or farm or really much of a yard but Loving my girls and Honey & so is my town🤗 Do it you’ll be Happy👍🏼
I’m not now nor will I likely ever be a bee keeper, but I’m so invested. It’s like a little bee game of thrones. House Balboa lives on!
I feel the same way. I am invested in the Balboa line. I think the very first Vino vid I ever saw was when Balboa was the lone survivor, and she got her name.
Backpack of bees at 13:23. Doubt he even knew he had a cluster on his back.
Pull a frame, find the Queen, makes it so easy when you’re doing splits. She’s a beauty. Seems like the new setup you have is ergonomically friendly for sure. Continue that Adrian line, awesome.
I am so proud of you !!! After such a huge loss you made a plan and went with it.. Some people hate any type of change or they think their way is the only way.. Haters gonna hate...Again I admire your attitude and thank you for sharing this experience
I never tire of your videos. Your explanation of your thinking and actions is key to the value you deliver. Thank You
So true. Truly valuable videos each time.
Thank you. #overexplainer
I just completed watching a “Vino Farms Beekeeping Video Marathon” 😊. I first started keeping bees decades ago and I learned so much watching your work. THANK YOU for all of your hard work - not only with your beekeeping but also all of the hard work to prepare, film, edit, produce and post your videos. I cringe at the negative and not nice comments you have gotten. Thank you for staying the course and continuing on. There are a whole lot of people out there like me who appreciate your extensive efforts immensely, who are learning a lot that is going to help our bees and cannot wait to see the next chapter in this wonderful novel!
That means a lot. Thank you.
I love that you seem so energized Jim. Exciting times ahead!
With how short bee life spans are, 300 a month to prevent an outbreak is understandable. Don't diddly indeed I say!
I got some Steve Irwin vibes when you got excited about seeing the queen cells at 10:40. "We got a couple queen cells started already, look at that!"
A man passionate about his bees and sharing with all of us. Always fun to watch.
I miss Steve!
@@vinofarm Yup, a pity that stingray didn't.
Thanks! Coffee is ready, perfect timing!
When you are sampling take from frames with larva, they have the most nurse bees on them giving you the most accurate tests.
Great to see such a strong recovery. You da man
love your beekeeping videos. I like the way you compile them as well so the viewer actually comes out with a conclusion and a lesson learnt though this means a longer waiting until the next beekeeping video but it is definitely worth it. Both thumbs up!!
I'm REALLY happy for your success with The Balboa descendents. I was really sad when I saw you lost all your hives this winter. I wasn't aware 1 survived. Very cool!
Your doing a fine job hope everything works well for you thanks for sharing
Good luck to the next generation of Balboa!
This is exciting! That's how to do it! Sending our regards from Texas.
I like your thinking and strategy. Look forward to seeing it all progress.
Yes!!! I have been patiently waiting! Nice work. The bees are really benefiting from your hard work!
I am so happy the Balboa line is still going strong! :) Love the bee barns & vino frames. All the best from Austria
Wow 💘 splits. I got 3 out of my yard on my second year bee keeping and the first time i did walk aways. My emma hive got huge and i mean HUGE 6 FRAMES HAD " CAP QUEEN CELL AND TWO WHERE BIGGER THEN MY QUEEN. I knew i had to do spits now and went two work 2 hours late and many years later that queen offspring is some of my best honey makers.
Ive been checking this channel every day for a week in anticipation for the next video. So excited to see the bees
I've been laid up with a compressed disc in my back for the past couple weeks. Everything is moving very slowly. I'll hopefully catch up with videos in the next week.
@@vinofarm of course take your time, really great content and love the new hive box you made too! Looks like a bee cottage
When you put the queen excluder on the double nuc box, is there a ridge that prevents the bees from crossing the divide into the neighboring hive?
It flexes down and the boxes on top of it create a wall. It's actually possible to put a super on top of a resource hive! You can put the excluder down, then a super spanning both boxes. The workers will go up and store honey, but the queens can't go higher than the brood section. I hope to try it this summer.
So awesome to see you enjoying the benefits of your comprehensive troubleshooting/problem solving efforts!
Well done Jim. Really great explanations and nice animations/labelling on your vids. Thanks for taking the time to do this,.. really helps to clarify how it will bring them all up to the same configuration now. Great work by you. 😁👌
Now you’re rolling! I wish I could be as organized! I went from 2 hives to 7 in a week before the nasty weather. 2 splits 2 swarms and a nuc in rapid succession. Left me scrambling for equipment🤣 Keep it up, it’s fascinating to watch👍
Yeah, I don’t want to scramble anymore. This year I am focused on getting a management strategy down solid. Not chasing problems.
So excited to what comes next for your.
Nice! Loving the progress!
Its so funny when you shake the bees off the frames
Thank you so much.from Buckley Mi.
This is very interesting to watch. Please keep them coming.
Good luck with that one man it looks great
So glad I found your channel. I’ve learned soo much from you! Going into our hives again tomorrow if the weather holds out!
Thanks for the update
Nice, like the set up.
Splits are fun! Hoping it turns out amazing for you.
keep it up man !
Nice! Love the story. You make good content.
Nice set up
Thanks, i really hope the best for all those splits
Cool stuff!!
Perfect morning coffee vid!
Thrilled to see you are mite washing every month! There are a lot of examples showing that alone is highly correlated with reduced winter losses. 1 thing - windshield washer fluid doesn't take off as many mites as isopropyl does. Try to use rubbing alcohol if you can for best results.
Yes... I was out! I had the windshield fluid handy. I'll use isopropyl next round.
I've heard (but not tested myself) that water with dawn dish soap works just as well as alcohol.
I figured you would want to propagate with the one hive that survived. Here's hoping those genes stay strong.
Perfect timing for lunch
I really love the unique design and The paint job of this new Hive 😂😉
It's CRAZY, right?
The beekeeper at work, looks like you got it covered. Nice video.
That’s awesome 😎 👍🏻
Beewize, I may build a Vino Hive. . Shhh. . . It’s a secret. 😂🤣😂
@@CastleHives I don’t think he would mind he is a nice guy 😊👍🏻 and I think you should try it because if it will work for you too then I will do the same for now I ordered one apimaye hive I want to give it a try
@@beewize9982 I’m picking up the Deep and Medium this week. Frames also. Need to tweak the frames then decide if I insulate, I’m leaning towards yes so I can mirror his build. Curious about the Apimaye. . I’ll be watching.
Can't wait to see if they fare better this winter. wish I would find this channel next year, or speed life a bit. as always good update. cant believe how interested I am in someone else's project.
Been watching you for about a year and fully caught up. Love the new bee barn. But I just got confused in this episode
Now you are going nuts with your varroa monitoring.
Not nuts. Just doing what I should have been doing.
@@vinofarm at least it gives you very good track of the mite development in your area. From that knowledge you will have a solid base for your further actions.
Watching again. . I need to do a wash here soon also, have Apivar on also. My plan will be to possibly get the hive boxes in the next week and start my Vino Hive build, aka Bee Barn.
Jim...just FYI, if your season goes like it has here down in KY and other more southern states, this year has been an EXTREME swarm year and splits have been known to swarm if you leave multiple queen cells.
Thanks, I'm way on top of things this year. I will be extra vigilant.
Same in the Midwest.
A bit invested in these bees and new set ups
ADRIAN!!!!
Fingers crossed 🤞
We are definitely having some strange weather and circumstances with the bees this year. I've already pulled seven splits out of one of my apiaries because they were making Queen cells like crazy. Thanks for sharing my friend.
They're definitely ramping up fast this year. No swarm cells on my packages, but I have them all in those big boxes. They have space. My only swarm threat was this survivor hive that had built up for the past two months. Can't wait to get some heat back!
@@vinofarm my packages have not built up swarm cells yet either. But all of my surviving hives have.
Excited to watch the Balboa expansion of HEALTHY bees! Is your plan to keep the two nuc colonies as nucs? I ask because it seems inconvenient to transfer(shake all the bees) into a full hive after they expand but you usually have a solution for everything.
Nucs for now. When it’s time, I just remove the frames and put the frames into a full bee barn box. No shaking! That’s why the double nuc is custom sized. It’s made for bee barn colonies. All brood frames will be the same size.
@@vinofarm Very clever thinking.
Jim at 15:18 the split you made has multiple queen cells. Most beekeeper when they make a split with queen cell they choose the best looking cell and remove the other leaving only one queen cell to emerge and that is to avoid cast swarms. By allowing multiple queen cells in a split you may end up with multiple little cast swarms.
Also I though that if you give a colony plenty of space (extra deep frames) for the queen to lay that they would not wanted to swarm, but with so many queen cells (5:27) in the hive I wonder what is going on. Thanks.
The swarm cells were probably because I was letting them get really packed knowing I was going to split them. Like I explained, those 4 Lang Deep frames kept getting built out into the empty space but I was peeling off the comb for a couple weeks. I was trying to get them to pack the frames so I would have a lot of bees, resources and brood to choose from. The goal was at least two splits. Yes, I could have taken some of those cells off, but I didn’t. They only have one frame. There is no shortage of space in that new box. I don’t think there will be any urge to swarm, but I’ll be monitoring them like a hawk. I only have 6 hives and this double nuc. Plus, these new hives make inspecting fun again. I need to keep telling myself to stop opening them up too often.
Loving your videos! I’ve learned so much from all of your innovation these past few seasons! Keep up the good work!
Another thought: Will one of the Adrian splits be renamed to inherit Queen Balboa name? I think that’d be awesome. Continue the Balboa legacy!!
Always love watching your process, looks great! I do wonder if it causes confusion with splits so close and familiar?🤔 smiles and blessings...
Workers and foragers drift between boxes often. As long as the queens stay put, the majority of the bees stay in their own homes.
Vino. If worker bees can travel between both boxes of the double nuc, they might tear down those queen cells. You might consider isolating both sides until you have a laying queen in both.
Cudos to your approach against the mite. I think you experienced the devastating power of Varroa.
Good luck with your bees.
They don't travel between boxes. There's a wall.
rock on !
Hey Jim!
I'm LOVIN the Regrowth Paradigm you're working: your step by step explanatory is easy to follow and makes a lot of sense! I'm learning a LOT from you and from your girls as they work the new hives!
I do have a couple of bones to pick with your current videography however:
1. You're NOT providing enough Close Ups (the girls are DEFINITELY hollerin' "We're ready for our Close Ups Mr. DeMille!") so that we can actually SEE the Queen, the Workers, the Brood, the Drone Cups/Queen Cups. Your lens is NOT zoomed in enough to see the Close Up Detail you used to provide. I know it's more work, takes longer, and MUST be a pain in the posterior, but learning by articulate observation provides a vast amount of knowledge.
2. You're NOT allowing enough time for us to orient on the particulars you're pointing out in the audio: by the time I think I've located the specific area you're citing, you put the frame of girls back in the hive, or pull it back to flip it over for further inspection and then you repeat the Quick Cycle with that side of the frame for the lens.
I may be nitpicking here, but I've learned so MUCH from you and your girls through the years and one of the tools you've given me to learn is Close Ups, with enough duration in view for me to orient, locate, study, consider, and then understand the context of your commentary, because I can see the INDIVIDUAL bees!
Thus, I request that your girls be given their Mr. DeMille Time for greater learning opportunities!
Lastly, I thought I was going to have to re-watch the Nuc Hive Split a couple times to get it all because of the complexities of your ad hoc hive design. This was NOT the case! You took the time to provide TWO sequences of explanatory: pre-work and then during the actual process; this reinforced your 'preamble' as it were!
Thank you again for yet another amazing learning video: the eighteen minutes whipped by so fast I didn't realize it: usually an 18 minute video can drag at points: YOURS do NOT drag at all!
Cheers from the Oil Patch in Central WY
Well, I'm glad you spoke up. This was the last video I shot in 1080p. I decided to start shooting everything in 4K from now on. So future videos should be a lot more crisp and I'll be able to "zoom in" while editing, after the recording is finished. I will do my best to slow down a bit when showing the frames. I have the next video shot already, but after that, I will take your advice. And yes, I felt I was over explaining everything, but this was a complicated mess with the mismatched frames. After this, things will normalize and all you'll see is BIG BEAUTIFUL frames of brood.
@@vinofarm
Hey there again!
Thanks for getting back to me with the new info on matrices and your videography plans: the upgrade (sounds VERY expensive; I used to shoot semi-pro rodeo and motor sports with the first DSLR Pentax came out with; YES, I am indeed one of those 'lame' Pentaxians, and was only able to afford standard glass with my 10.1Mp camera) sounds like it will provide a truly superb visual learning experience for all of us!
Pertaining to your explanatories, that is one of the aspects of your channel that I truly enjoy: you are precise, use key aspects of context to amplify the specific information you wish to impart, and THAT provides us as viewers (especially those of us who actually want to have apiaries) with a superior learning experience! Thus, I hope you will continue to provide such indepth information as it is most helpful!
The visuals of different types of brood really helped me understand the differences between Worker Brood, Drone Brood, and Queen Brood, so that I could look at frames when shown on other channels concentrating on bee keeping and immediately recognize the differences in the Brood Cells and thus learn to recognize the signs of a health hive from a distressed hive. I'm still trying to couple that understanding with the manipulation of the Queen Brood for Hive Expansions and how that manipulation may affect existing hives, swarm diminuation, and overall ability to maintain positive long term hive health.
I still won't get to keep bees for at least another year, but my goal is still to be as knowledge capable as possible so that I get my girls off to a solid start: knowledge is power and your videos are providing every increasing power to bee keepers and yet-to-be bee keepers!
There is one admonition I would like to pass on to you though considering the time of year it is, how your Bee Yard is progressing, and all the rest of the work you must do on your property: please rememer to take time to RELAX, catch your breath (as it were), pour yourself a glass of good tasting Vino (for some insights into veritas), kick back at the end of the day, and just enjoy the fruits of your labors!
Thanks again for letting me know whats ongoing with the videography!
Cheers from the Oil Patch in Central WY
PS. I finally got both my Ebook and Paperback book Pub'd on Amazon.....paltry sales (no advertising budget available) but I'm in the 'salt mines' finding avenues to spread the word......long haul, but worth it!
@@jrbailey3208 There's no added expense to shoot in 4K, just added disk space. Every camera I've used since the beginning has the 4K capability, but the footage takes up so much space, I decided to just shoot in standard HD 1080. I UPgrade it to 4K before uploading to TH-cam, but the raw footage was always 1080. I shot the last inspection in 4K and the visuals are quite different! It takes up 4X the disk space, but all it takes to shoot is a change in the settings. The videos are getting a lot more views these days, so I thought it was time to spruce things up with the video.
What is this book you're talking about? Post a link!
@@vinofarm
Thanks again for the reply, considering how busy your days are, I appreciate it!
Didn't know you'd already invested in the 4k glass ability; THAT really ups the ante (so to speak) in quality from the get go!
Most folks shooting semi-pro and pro shoot in RAW rather than JPEG: I would shoot up to 1400 frames per rodeo, with EACH frame in RAW varying in size from 47Mb-65Mb (there were exceptions that could be less or more than this range, but the vast majority fell within this scope), so I fully understand the Hard Drive size issues: I regularly backed up everything to CD once Post Production was done, post haste, so I could clear more space on my internal drives (externals at current pricing are much more affordable and these days HUGE-8Tb or larger) for PP work.
My standard glass was by today's standards fairly 'fast': 70mm-300mm zoom, with an F4-F5.6 range. Sadly, since my main focus was on shooting bull riding, which is usually the LAST event of each day for most rodeos, I still didn't have enough light for the shutter speeds I needed for full stop action: 2000th or faster with ISO's no higher than 800; too much pixelation occurred on many frames even at this setting. What I needed to be able to do was to run an ISO of 400 or less and then I would have had ZERO problem!
Unfortunately, that would have required Prime Glass that started at about $3k that would have gotten me 'close' to that range! The 'ideal' glass I needed had a 'street price' of $30k and a retail at that time that I believe was $40k. The numbers for it were of course nothing less than amazing: 200mm-500mm at F2.8 and you could get a 'doubler' that still retain FULL Auto attributes so you ended up with a 400mm-1000mm at F5.6!
The 'street price' was the SAME as the purchase price for my HOUSE back in 2000!!!
My book is a sci-fi/fantasy story with a kind of space romance. A genetically engineered group of individuals were created by a clandestine group of scientists, researchers, archaeologists, intel people, and military, to combat a nascent but growing fascist interplanetary govt. These G.E. people came into being by the splicing of 'super human' DNA (genes from people that had some psychic powers, superior intelligence, physical prowess, etc.) and spliced with Ancient Alien DNA found on very far flung dead worlds that had once housed hominid bi-pedal species of vastly superior biology and a civilization a least a million years in advance of current (within the context of the story line) human tech.
These children were called 'The Invisible One Thousand' as that was the original number of embryos created due to a limited alien DNA supply. These kids were the foundation of the 'army' created to fight against the fascist Planetary Alliance in a clandestine manner (cold war scenario).
Anywho, the kids end up 'pairing up' in husband/wife teams due to their alien dna, have amazing psychic powers, superlative physical powers, and mate for life: kind of symbiotic teams as it were. The story is about the first two kids created: as adults the wife is kidnapped by a Neo-Pagan cult that she inadvertently offended and the husband's attempt (along with his genetic siblings) to rescue her. Along the way readers will find 3 different telepathic arachnid species; one antagonist and two protagonist relating to the humans and their quest.
The story is VERY graphic in places, with extremely visceral torture scenes as the 'good guys' attempt to elicit the information they need to get their wife and 'sister' back from the kidnappers before she is murdered. It is at the bottom line a love story of desperate husband does WHATEVER he needs to do to find his kidnapped wife, and so because of the graphic nature of the 'whatever', the story is NOT everyone's cup of tea!
Those are the basics. The book can be had via Kindle (if readers are members of the Amazon Kindle book club) or by paperback at amzn.to/3uiZm3s
Thanks again for getting back to me and I DO look forward to your next bee lesson installment! Hey, by the by, how is the Barn Project coming along? I have seen any new updates on that in quite a while! Take care and stay safe!
Cheers from the Oil Patch in Central WY
Can understand why the naming can be a hassle, lol. Still, ... excited to see what can come of the potential daughters of Adrian II (new Cherry hive, and the resource nuc).
The insulated Xtra Deep brood chamber may end up being a revolutionary adaptation.
Looking great so far
After “Adrian”, no more naming queens. Just naming colonies/boxes. Hence, the Birch, Maple, Pine, Beech, Cherry, Oak hive names.
@@vinofarm fair enough
I have been calling her Adrian II in my head as well, lol
Who hooo new video first
The VinoFarm bee yard is AMAZING- the bee barns look great and it seems they design already lends itself to easier management of the hives. I'm excited to see the splits progress and the next video. Thank you again for such engaging content... Any change of a 'how to build a bee barn' video with plans?! ;-)
Yes. There is a chance. A build video is on the todo list. Thanks, Michael!
Something to consider, if you have the nuc hives sitting directly on a cement base it can get mighty hot on 90 plus degree days. Sitting in direct sun, the blocks will absorb heat and continue to radiate heat after the sun goes down. Might not be so bad if they were in the shade but I don't see any shade trees around. There's a potential 5-day heat wave coming in to this area this weekend so be aware. A couple of 4x4's to lift the hive platform off the cement would help. Go bees.
There's a thermal break between the hive and the cinderblocks! 1" foam board. Good tip, though!
I had a thought to make a bee house rather than a bee hive. The house would be from outside with bricks along with the holes and walkthroughs, then insulation, and from inside full height hives up to the ceiling with glass doors. I would control the temperature manually so the bees do not die throughout the winter. A little bit ambitious, but I like it that way.
I look forward to your video!
I was curious about the Birch colony and there was another with unmarked Queens, it's a cliff hanger for sure, my wife and I just went through both videos twice to make sure we didn't just miss it.... did we though?
No... I have not uploaded that yet. I wanted to do a follow up inspection to complete the story. It wasn't a big deal. Sometimes queens get cleaned off by the attendants. Or the paint just rubs off. There was something else going on, though, that I'll show in the next video.
@@vinofarm Cool cool, we just wanted to make sure we didn't miss anything. Your videos are worth the wait, the effort you put in is obvious. Thank you for the reply too!
I hate the mite wash, but necessary until we can invent a communication device for bees.
It costs a bit more but you can use CO2 rather than alcohol to knock the varroa off and the bees recover from it.
Once brood emerges from the standard deep top nuc, rather then remove the empty nuc you could leave it as a narrow super. Unless you only want honey in medium frames
If the double nucs build up like I’m hoping, it’s possible to super the whole thing with a 10 frame medium. Put a queen excluder across the top like I have it in the video and then the super. The queens stay on their sides and the workers use the super. They do not need to be divided. I’ve heard this is possible, but haven’t had strong enough nucs to try it before.
❤️
whoooo!
There’s something very satisfying about that view of the mitre joins over your fat walls. I hope you’ll be able to share whether the insulation has made a difference to colony timing/progress.
I'm posting a lot about it on my Instagram. @vinofarm The InstaFam gets news first!
You've got cool names for everything else you've built - (Just a terminology naming thing). Since you invented this size frame, you can name them whatever you like..... Can I propose apt name? What if you call them *Hybrid Frames* (which is sort of what they are) OR *Square Frames* rather than "Big Deep Frames", or "Extra Deep Frames"? I'm not sure if they are square - exactly... Did you release the dimensions of the barn hive and frames? Great idea to use the same ones on your resource hives.... Great job on opensourcing the ideas - and next year I'll build my own, (lumber and insulation pending) - and outsource the ideas back to you. Keep up the good work!
WOW! Great video. 2 quick questions, hopefully they were not explained in a video I missed. 1) is the resource hive you made painted to help ensure the mating queen returns to the proper side? and 2) Did she return to the proper side? You will probably let us know next time, but I am curious how well that design works. Thanks again for all the effort you put in, I have been learning a lot from your channel.
Yes. That is the concept. I will let you know if the queen made it back, but I still have not checked. I'll go over it all in a future video. Thanks.
Any chance you might create a Playlist of the first videos of the Bee Barn? It's a great piece and would tie things better. Even here in Georgia, it gets very hot. I believe the Bee Barn would work here for the summer heat too. I have a 3 hive stand I may consider building 2 barns like yours.
"6th Year Beekeeping" Playlist is basically what you're describing: th-cam.com/play/PLRWcJng54KzoFvr4xv2xv-E3TCtgEqhfm.html
Hello, love your videos and live in your neighborhood. I plan on starting beekeeping this Spring and will be getting my bees is Barre. I wanted to ask if you purchased the VHS queen and if you find them more hygienic in behaviors? Lower mite counts?
Honestly, I have not found any bees to be more or less resistant to varroa. My opinion is that (especially when you are just starting out) you will need to treat when mite loads get too high. You might get lucky and have very few mites and not NEED to treat, but eventually it will happen. Don’t expect the type of bees you buy to free you from the responsibility to test and treat when necessary.
@@vinofarm Thankyou so much forbtaking the time to respond. I appreciate it. I've been researching the treatments as well and plan on using them as part of management.
Make sure when you do an alcohol wash you take a frame that has open brood as most nurse bees will be on those frames. And mites like to hang out close to brood that is about to be sealed.
Good tip.
Jim, you call your new frames “extra deep”, I call them “JV” frames. Good luck I hope you have a great season.
Junior Varsity?
@@vinofarm I figured someone would say that.
@@donbearden1953 I don’t think I’m following!
@@vinofarm Jim's Vino frames, maybe?
@@vinofarm Jim, since you invented the frame that holds a deep and a medium I named it after you with your initials. Instead of Jim Vino frame I shortened to JV frame. I’m not making fun of them at all, you knew what you needed so you built them. Good Job! Sorry taking so long to respond but I’ve been harvesting, extracting and bottling honey.
How do you plan to harvest honey from them with the modified frames, not sure if the Western and Deep frames are detachable?
PS: I also strongly dislike having to kill 300 bees per colony per month but completely agree with you that it is necessary. Sugar shake is so inconsistent, you don't know what the real count is and some of the bees die a prolonged death from being tossed around in a Mason jar. All of my colony notes and Varroa counts/treatments get plugged into Excel to help identify trends etc. We have 11-12 months of brood in Ag Zone 9B so have learned that Varroa needs monthly monitoring especially given your bees can be robbing other colonies.
Once more, a little louder this time: THESE ARE NOT HONEY SUPER FRAMES. THEY WILL NEVER GO IN AN EXTRACTOR. THEY ARE BROOD FRAMES. THEY WILL LIVE IN THE BROOD BOX. I will super the brood box with regular Langstroth Medium boxes and extract the Langstroth medium frames in my standard Langstroth sized Maxant Extractor.
I hope more people see this comment. It’s been asked 50 times.
I agree about the sugar shake. It seems to be somehow MORE inhumane than just giving them a swift death. It’s not a “roll” if you actually want to dislodge mites. That shaking against a jar has got to do some damage.
@@vinofarm Thank you for your patience, forgot about the Western going above the XL frames.
@Vino You don't need to yell, a lot of people could be newcomers who don't have context from the other videos. Getting asked the same question over and over is definitely frustrating (I've had to deal with that a lot) but in my experience nothing really stops the questions anyway
@@carlotta4th I know... this is the fourth video after the introduction video and the same question comes every time. I wasn't yelling. Just "projecting"!
Have you tried CO2 mite checks? If so do you rate it? I'm going to try my first one soon.
I have not.
Who made this frames for you? If you don’t mind me asking. I’ve been thinking for past month or so to set my hives like you are doing, but I can’t find anyone who could make frames like this for me. I would probably just need the longer side pieces, and I can use my tops and bottom from regular frames right?
I made them. Yes, top and bottom are standard. Sides are custom.
Ok so this is gonna sound weird but what would happen if you had a resource hive, 2 nucs that are separated but one box on top of a super with a queen excluder, so the workers could mingle but the queens would never see each other
Not weird! It’s called, “How you super a resource hive”. I’ve tried it in the past and they didn’t work the frames at all, but I don’t think they were strong enough or there wasn’t enough of a nectar flow. I’ll try again this summer!
I dunno why people are trying to over complicate matters. Personally I think, reducing the different frame size to only deep frames is the way of the future. If people want a lighter hive box, use a 5 frame box. If you want a horizontal Langstroph hive, make one that houses deep frames. If you want a top bar hive, GREAT, but make its box dimensions fit a normal Langstroph deep frame so you can drop them in mixed with your top bars to later pull to drop in a nuke to sell or start a new hive. This all deep frame approach will save a lot of trouble.
Cool, man. Whatever works for you.
I'm thinking to start bee keeping do you think the bee barn will be a good option to start with. I live in ohrid macedonia. we have prety similiar climate. Hot summers with a dreath period in august. and similar winters low temperature, and heavy snow.
What do you plan to do with the new hives? I thought you were trying to simplify the apiary.
6 full hives and 6 resource nucs. That’s it. The nucs are the backups. I will make 4 more nucs before July. Then, management.
Did you ever put the building plans for these new Vino hive boxes?
I don’t have “plans” and they would be up somewhere if I did. I will eventually make a video, but I tried to spell it out as clear as I could in the initial video if people want to reverse engineer it.
You would espect with these bigger frames that they make less queencells because they have all this extra space
Hi Jim
Brand new bee keeper also from Massachusetts. I just installed my bees the 15th. This weekend I was going to inspect but as you know weather is miserable. Any thoughts on my first inspection being so late? I’m in a bit of a panic!
No need to panic. The bees are probably very busy setting up their home. Get in there as soon as it warms up.
You're I'm my prayers, David. I hope your bees are fine
@@barnowl8563 thank you sir! I haven’t opened it yet but at least there’s activity today
Your underarmor pullover looks breathable. I'm in the south and thinking it would be nice to work in rather than my full bee jacket. Do you remember the style of it, I can't seem to find it.
This was my reply to your other comment: It's one of these: amzn.to/3pHyCsh But I don't think they make it anymore. I found it on clearance a couple years ago.
What are all the little crawlies in the lid @ 17:11 ?
Ants. Our Beekeeping Club jokes that Argentine Ants never forgot the results of the 1982 Falklands War and so they still cause a nuisance for her Majesty.
I don’t worry about the tiny little picnic ants. Everyone’s gotta eat.
What are you using for the temperature and humidity gage??
Broodminder
Can you explain why you named your hives, and how you came about their names? Maybe a short video to explain? Just curious. Thanks
Do you mean Adrian? It all goes back to 2016. I inherited two colonies in October who were basically left for dead. One looked stronger than the other and a lot of people thought I should just kill the “weaker” queen and combine the hives. I decided to just start feeding them and the “weaker” queen took off and laid out a 10 frame medium box in about two weeks. They went into winter and I didn’t expect much, but the sole survivor that year was the “weak” queen and about 300 bees. That spring they came back from the dead AGAIN and built up to a totally awesome colony. Since they were Italians and had been up against the ropes multiple times and always pulled through, I said they were “The Rocky Balboa of Beehives”. A commenter referred to the queen as “Queen Balboa” and the name stuck. As time went on, Queen Balboa continued to survive winters and produce other survivors. One of her top daughters was a giant colony in 2018, that I decided to name Queen Adrian (Going with the Rocky theme, Yo Adrian!) Adrian produced a queen cell in 2019 that I split off and that queen wound up being the sole survivor last winter. So every winter, at least one Balboa has survived.
All that being said, I’m not going to name queens anymore. I’m just naming the boxes they live in. The colonies will evolve over time. The boxes will always be the same. The boxes are named after trees.
@@vinofarm I kinda caught on to the Rocky theme for sure. Really cool back story. Thank you for sharing that. And thanks for your videos. Love watching them. First year here. One hive. Nuc installed 2 weeks ago.
What happens if you Queen exclude two parts of a hive and have a queen on both sides of the fence. Will the bees try to kill one of the queens?
Not sure I understand your scenario. If they were separated by ONLY a queen excluder, maybe there might be trouble, but the double nuc setup where they're separated by the wall with the excluder on top, it is no trouble. You can even super the top with one big super and the workers will go up and store honey and mingle with the neighbors.