Hi Ivan, good to hear from you. It would be great if he wants to keep bees but perhaps better as a hobby than a job. He and his little brother are a constant source of joy for our family. 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🤝👏👍🐝🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
They are nice and calm on a windy day, that's nice. Blessed Days... I get a steady breeze to wind where I live and I am always happy when my bees are nice on a windy day. My guess is they just get use to the breeze to wind, just becomes a way of their life.
I think they are adaptable to a certain extent but the main criteria here, I think, is the time of year. All my bees are fairly placid and amenable in April and early May but that can change with a vengeance when we start taking a spring honey crop.
Foundation that’s gone hard over winter put the frames in a super and leave them in a greenhouse for a few hours works perfectly but they must be stood up or the foundation will sag 👍👍
Sadly she had lost her crown or more likely had it stolen by yellow legged hornets! 😁 Seriously, she has to be a queen as like all wasps and hornets only the queens survive the winter. She will build the first part of the nest and lay eggs. She then has to forage for and feed the first workers until they can take over the gathering and she can lay more eggs and expand the nest. In late summer the colony produces new queens and drones (males). The queens fly out and mate and go into hibernation as fertile queens ready to found their own nests the following spring. The rest of the bees die off as the old nest collapses.👍
Good to see the old fashion ways of warming foundation , let’s hope the water drys up soon on that site . Do you produce your own queen’s Trevor? Great vid as usual
Thanks Colin and yes we all need some warm dry weather. Some years I do some grafting but it’s not a very scientific approach. Perhaps graft a few cells from one or two decent stocks. Other years I just don’t seem to have the time. I often make up nucs with queen cells from vertical/demaree type splits. Again not the best system but sometimes needs must.
Thanks for the comment and I’m delighted you’re enjoying the honey. My bees are the famous (infamous) localised mongrels. I have reared queens by grafting and hope to again but the eyesight’s not getting any better. I sometimes do a vertical split and make nucs up later with the brood and any queen cells they build. I can hear the howls of derision for using such a system but I do it anyway.🫣 I have tried various bought in queens but never found anything suitable.
Thanks for the question Kevin. My usual method of varroa control is oxalic acid vaporisation using a sublimox powered by a small generator.This is done in December or early January. Unfortunately this site has been part flooded for almost all the winter and therefore I couldn’t use the generator. I had to find an alternative varroa treatment for these hives and another 12 which had to be evacuated from here as the water rose ever higher.
I've also got some dried out foundation, now I've two ways to wake it up. Thanks so much, I was expecting to have the bees chew out large sections and rework into drone comb
@@dougpeterson5257 A 1 to 1 sugar syrup solution sprayed on to stale foundation works as well. Wait until the right time of the year - you need bee's, heat and a flow - and place it in the centre of the nest and they'll do the business.
@@swaleshoney You are very welcome! Too many people think they know it all and I like your humility. Bee's can humble us all - never think you know it all because whoever you are... you don't !
Thank you Stefan. I take your point and I have tried a clip on microphone but there were issues. Clipped onto my bee suit top pocket I kept on losing the mic as I lifted boxes. They would catch and dislodge the mic. I tried clipping it onto the inside of my bee suit but then all you could hear was the rustle of bee suit rubbing against my shirt. I even tried fastening it onto the loops of the suit zips but that meant a lot of clicks as the mic touched the zip. It’s a work in progress but difficult to achieve whilst doing physical work in a cumbersome bee suit.
Another enjoyable video Trev 👍
Thank you Lorna. 👍
Glad to see your video again, Trevor! A little helper, then there is a future beekeeper and grandfathers joy! 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🤝🤝🤝🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🐝🐝🐝✌✌✌
Hi Ivan, good to hear from you. It would be great if he wants to keep bees but perhaps better as a hobby than a job.
He and his little brother are a constant source of joy for our family.
🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🤝👏👍🐝🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
Anyway I wish them good luck!!!@@swaleshoney
Great Video as usual Trevor.
Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
They are nice and calm on a windy day, that's nice. Blessed Days...
I get a steady breeze to wind where I live and I am always happy when my bees are nice on a windy day. My guess is they just get use to the breeze to wind, just becomes a way of their life.
I think they are adaptable to a certain extent but the main criteria here, I think, is the time of year.
All my bees are fairly placid and amenable in April and early May but that can change with a vengeance when we start taking a spring honey crop.
It's good that you are drying out, that water was UP THERE for a while. They seem to be doing well for almost flooding.
It’s amazing really but they are in excellent condition. Better than a lot that have had a fairly straightforward winter to deal with.
Great video, I use one of those hot air guns for stripping paint for my foundation.
Thanks for the comment. I think a hot air gun is an excellent idea and less risky than my blowtorch.👍
Another lovely video. The queen bumble bee was a lovely touch.
Looking forward to the spell of good weather that is coming in 3 days time or so.
Thanks Jim, yes I am a huge fan of bumble bees.
We all desperately need better weather.
Foundation that’s gone hard over winter put the frames in a super and leave them in a greenhouse for a few hours works perfectly but they must be stood up or the foundation will sag 👍👍
Thanks John, another great suggestion. 👏👍
Brilliant tips on the wax but how do you know its a queen bumble bee? Are they also bigger or did she have a crown on
Sadly she had lost her crown or more likely had it stolen by yellow legged hornets! 😁
Seriously, she has to be a queen as like all wasps and hornets only the queens survive the winter. She will build the first part of the nest and lay eggs. She then has to forage for and feed the first workers until they can take over the gathering and she can lay more eggs and expand the nest.
In late summer the colony produces new queens and drones (males).
The queens fly out and mate and go into hibernation as fertile queens ready to found their own nests the following spring.
The rest of the bees die off as the old nest collapses.👍
Good to see the old fashion ways of warming foundation , let’s hope the water drys up soon on that site .
Do you produce your own queen’s Trevor?
Great vid as usual
Thanks Colin and yes we all need some warm dry weather. Some years I do some grafting but it’s not a very scientific approach. Perhaps graft a few cells from one or two decent stocks. Other years I just don’t seem to have the time.
I often make up nucs with queen cells from vertical/demaree type splits.
Again not the best system but sometimes needs must.
Trevor, might I suggest a hair dryer for reviving those frames of unused foundation
Yes John you’re right. The consensus of opinion is for the hair dryer but I just have the blowtorch to hand.
Thanks for your input.
Great vid are your Bees just local or a particular type do you rear your own queens. Got some honey off you last week amazing stuff.
Thanks for the comment and I’m delighted you’re enjoying the honey.
My bees are the famous (infamous) localised mongrels.
I have reared queens by grafting and hope to again but the eyesight’s not getting any better.
I sometimes do a vertical split and make nucs up later with the brood and any queen cells they build. I can hear the howls of derision for using such a system but I do it anyway.🫣
I have tried various bought in queens but never found anything suitable.
Could I ask why you have Apivar on in spring? As opposed to Aug/Sept? A bit of pro insight would be appreciated 👍👍
Thanks for the question Kevin. My usual method of varroa control is oxalic acid vaporisation using a sublimox powered by a small generator.This is done in December or early January.
Unfortunately this site has been part flooded for almost all the winter and therefore I couldn’t use the generator.
I had to find an alternative varroa treatment for these hives and another 12 which had to be evacuated from here as the water rose ever higher.
Ordinary bees learn my beekeeping techniques and then raise them
Thank!you for your comment.
Hairdryer works better than blowtorch
Thank you and yes so I’m being told and I completely agree it’s far safer. However the blowtorch is always to hand in my shed.
Blow torch - with my eyes I'd have no fingers left! I use a hairdryer.
Thank you for your comment and suggesting an altogether better and safer way of achieving the same result.
Excellent advice.👍
I've also got some dried out foundation, now I've two ways to wake it up. Thanks so much, I was expecting to have the bees chew out large sections and rework into drone comb
@@dougpeterson5257 I think the hair dryer approach may be the better option. Thanks for your input.👍
@@dougpeterson5257 A 1 to 1 sugar syrup solution sprayed on to stale foundation works as well. Wait until the right time of the year - you need bee's, heat and a flow - and place it in the centre of the nest and they'll do the business.
@@swaleshoney You are very welcome! Too many people think they know it all and I like your humility. Bee's can humble us all - never think you know it all because whoever you are... you don't !
I really like the videos a slight improvement would be to get a clip on microphone
Stefan
Thank you Stefan. I take your point and I have tried a clip on microphone but there were issues.
Clipped onto my bee suit top pocket I kept on losing the mic as I lifted boxes. They would catch and dislodge the mic.
I tried clipping it onto the inside of my bee suit but then all you could hear was the rustle of bee suit rubbing against my shirt.
I even tried fastening it onto the loops of the suit zips but that meant a lot of clicks as the mic touched the zip.
It’s a work in progress but difficult to achieve whilst doing physical work in a cumbersome bee suit.