My First Beehive - Weekly Inspections
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 พ.ค. 2017
- In this ongoing series of video's for the beginner beekeeper I take a look at the newly housed nucleus colony that we placed into it's full sized hive in our allotment apiary and show you how to move a faulty frame so that it can be replaced with a new frame.
In this series of video we aim to help the beginner beekeeper by setting up an apiary from the start of the 2017 season and establishing a new bee hive by selecting a nucleus colony as if we had purchased it and following it's progress through the entire season.
Week by week we will show you all you need to know about making your first season in beekeeping as simple and as straightforward as possible.
Check out the playlist for all the previous videos.
The hive tool I am using in this video was supplied to me by Bee Equipment the UK based Beekeeping Equipment Suppliers.
Check out their website at bee-equipment.co.uk/
We can only produce our regular video with the help and support of many people. You too can help us continue to provide quality beekeeping videos by becoming a Patron.
Please a take a moment to visit out Patreon page at www.patreon.com/norfolkhoney
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Check it out here at
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Wednesday: Getting Started in Beekeeping
Friday: More Beekeeping Basics
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Looking for a great first book for beekeeping? Check out two of my favourites below:
Affiliate links ( I receive a small commission if you purchase)
UK:
Try The Best Selling Beekeeping Book Ever!
Guide to Bees and Honey by Ted Hooper
Click here for Link: amzn.to/2eWHB42
The Honeybee, Around and About by Celia Davis
Click Here for Link: amzn.to/2eVa2la
USA: The Backyard Beekeeper by Kim Flottum
Click Here for Link amzn.to/2mcz27k
Or Try The Best Selling Beekeeping Book Ever!
Guide to Bees and Honey by Ted Hooper
Click here for Link: amzn.to/2nqkdzg
DISCLAIMER: This video and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, we’ll receive a small commission. This helps support the channel and allows us to continue to make videos like this. Thank you for the support! - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
You could see a bee doing the wiggle dance on frame 2 with a group watching. So cool to see that.
The waggle dance is super cool to see even after all the years I've been beekeeping.
Stewart
Hi Stewart.
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply.
Best.
Stuart
Thanks for uploading, I found out of the dozens of inspection videos I've watched this was the most useful it was the first time I have seen the larvae in detail.
Hi from nz. Thanks, these are just what I need. In my third year now and almost know what I'm doing. I will watch all your posts as it's like getting experience by default.
Hi Bruce,
Thanks for the comments, As each year passes you'll find more and more that you learn and confidence will grow.
Good luck with your beekeeping.
Stewart
Excellent inspection video! Very nice job explaining the steps accurately. Cheers, from New Jersey.
Hi Vin,
Thanks for commenting, I'm glad you are enjoying the videos.
Stewart
Hi Stewart, great vids. I wonder if you have ever experienced this. I've just carried out a super inspection to see if any was ready to take off. The last super that was placed on was one of just foundation. The bees haven't drawn out any of the wax but have made their own that just hangs from the top bar, for what reason is his? I'm thinking bad wax or irregular spacing,but the frames looked like they all line up ok. Many thanks for any info.
Yes! Another REALLY helpful video. Like Fran, I transferred my first nuc last week, so this video is really timely for me too :)
Hi Nicky,
I'm glad you are finding the videos useful.
Stewart
Fantastic video. Nicely done
Thanks Tim :)
The most frustration thing for me starting off was lighting the smoker - I used to use long matches (a waste of time) then I got a gas torch (now we're sucking diesel there!) But in all fairness, I would love to see a smoker demo and what people put in their smoker to combat Varroa and other tips for cleaning the tar out of it. Your videos are brilliant Stuart. You wouldn't find that practical learning in a book. Go raibh maith agat.
Egg cartons!!!!
I find a nice dry egg box lights every time and then whatever I choose as fuel seems to sit nicely on top of that. Get a good base lit and they should keep going all day, with a little luck! I don't use anything in the smoker to combat varroa preferring to use set treatment dates so I know what's going into the hive and when.
Stewart
Very Good. I was using wood shavings, a bag of bought wood pellets (no chemicals) and some dried lavender flowers, sometimes it got too hot. Egg cartons seem a lot more sensible. I'll give that a go.
Hi Stewart I keep flitting back and forth between your videos which are so helpful and regularly hear you mention a playlist. Try as I may I have yet to find it and would be so grateful for a link or something to point me in the right direction.. Thanks for the help pls keep em coming. Regards gregg
Hi Gregg,
Thanks for your comments.
If you go to my channel home page you should see a tab section that lists videos and next to it playlists.
Stewart
Yep nice t shirt. It's always the way the broken frame always has the most brood.
Hiya,
I love my t shirts lol!
Yes the broken, twisted, out of shape frames are always stuffed full of brood :)
Stewart
I'm not clear in how moving the broken frame one position helped. It's still broken and it's still full of brood. I guess when the brood hatch, the queen will not lay in it because it's too far from the centre. Although in space seems not that far...if that's the plan do you need to move it out further next time? Also won't the bees fill it with stores? Sorry for the loads of questions 😁 ...love all of your videos by the way - thank you!!
Spencer Halil Dont stress too much it’ll all come out in the wash use it to make up a nuc
@@munibungbeeking1719 fair enough 👍🏻
Thank you
Hi Brigid,
You are most welcome.
Stewart
Nice t-shirt Stuart
Hi leadswinger300,
it's one of my favourites!
Stewart
Hi Stewart isn't bee equipment formerly know as Mann lake.
If it is we use them as well for rite cell plastic foundation.
The foundations great for supers as during extraction the foundation won't break as some wired wax foundation might.
Hi Shaun,
Yes I believe they were formerly Mann Lake UK. I've never used the plastic foundation. Perhaps I will give the rite cell foundation a try and of course make a video about it too!
Stewart
Just got my nuc. Friday.
Hi Jim,
Congratulations and good luck, I wish you a successful beekeeping season.
Stewart
Hi Stewart. Loving these particular videos as they are just about ahead of me and my nucleus which I transferred into a national hive last week. Do you have any advice about when to add a super please?
Thanks. Fran
Hi Fran,
Thanks for commenting. The brood box needs to be fully drawn before you add a super otherwise the bees will ignore the outside brood frames in favour of going up into the super. Then when you remove the super you can leave them with little food and late in the season they are unable to draw the wax comb enough to store enough food for the Winter. Don't be in a hurry to add a super.
Stewart
I use cardboard or brown paper grocery bag in my smoker.It works well and lasts a while
Hi Lineflyer1,
thanks for commenting. I normally use old egg boxes and then a variety of fuels but I think local hay is my favourite.
Stewart
My work has a shredder which gets used very regularly and it's extremely good. Lights very quick and smokes hard.
Hi Stewart.I understand, why you want to replace that 5th frame. But how come, you only move it one position out, and not all the way out? Secondly, if it was later on in the year, and you had a super on that hive (and a queenexcluder), would it be possible to put that frame in the super? That way, the brood would hatch without the queen laying additional eggs in the frame.Nice video, keep it up.
Hi GNS,
The reason I only move the frame one position is to keep it close to the brood nest so that workers maintain contact but also flood the frame that I have moved into the No.5 position. That way any brood on frame 5 that is very young will be taken care of and not ignored, remember there are still not enough bees to fill the brood box and I don't want to split the brood nest.
I use shallow supers so it isn't possible to move the frame up into the super if I had been that far advanced. There are lots of ways of replacing comb, this was the first way I was shown and it works really well for beginner beekeepers.
Stewart
hi Stewart
Thanks for a nice vedio....
why you keep an empty space in the hive?? it can take onemore frame?? isnt better to keep the hive full of frames without spaces?
thanks and keep going
Hi Sultan,
Thanks for commenting,
I prefer to leave a space at one side to help with inspections. Having a full brood box of frames means that bees are rolled and crushed when the first frame is removed each time you inspect. There is enough space in the brood box generally for all of my colonies so I would rather have the space to work with rather than crush bees.
Stewart
Hi Stewart.
My two new cedar national hives arrive today. Do you recommend Danish oil, varnish or paint to the outside surfaces?
Thanks again.
Stuart
Hi Stuart,
Cedar hives need no treatments at all prior to use, however, over the years I've used creosote, creocote, Cuprinol "shades" products, and others. My current preference is a 9:1 mix of raw linseed oil and beeswax. This brings out the grain of the wood nicely, is harmless to the bees and keeps my hands nice and soft at the same time!
Hives can be painted with most products but some will need to be thoroughly aired prior to putting bees inside.
Stewart
hi again Stuart as you might of Guessed am very keen to learn and especially from someone with your experience and knowledge and on that note can a ask you why the bees are storing food in the corners of the brood frames again thank you Stuart for answering my Questions
They surround the brood nest area to ensure food supplies are close at hand.
Stewart
thank you
Oops sorry just seen i got your name spelled wrong sorry Stewart
I probably missed it, but why did you switch frame nr5?
Hi Stuart, what happened to sugar stored in comb? does the bee eat it? Or they make honey wit it ? If you feed your honey sugar is your honey pure? Thanx
Hi Hishi,
The bees store the syrup and use it when they need it. They don't move it into the super to make honey for extraction so the honey I collected later in the year is pure.
Stewart
Hi Stewart.what do you think about plastic frame?
Hi Mostafa,
I've never used plastic frames so can't really comment on their effectiveness, I have heard they work well but also that some beekeepers have found them to be problematic. I'll be sticking to beeswax foundation I think.
Stewart
was i seeing things?? in the number 2 frame when you did the close up,i saw red dots inside a few cells,would that be anything?? or nothing??
Hi Shane,
thanks for commenting. The red dots are simply where the sun is catching the cell and reflecting making it look like the larvae are using laser pointers to blind the beekeeper when looking for queen cells lol. Nothing more sinister than that.
Stewart
Thx Stu,doesn't hurt to ask,just in case
Where do you get your T Shirts from Stewart?
Hi Gem,
It's part of a range of t-shirts I'm about to put out via my website :)
Stewart
How do you top up the feeder without drowning the bees?
Hi Stephen,
As you pour the syrup gradually into the feeder the bees move up the inside ridges as the syrup rises. It is possible to trap bees if you pour the syrup in too quickly but a gentle pour gives them time to move higher on the feeder.
Stewart
The Norfolk Honey Company thanks so much. I love your videos
what's the difference between just putting on another brood box and putting on a so-called super? Wouldn't a super require a queen excluder to develop without eggs and brood?
Hi Joanne,
Thanks for the question. The main difference between a brood box and super is that of size. Some people use a brood box in combination with a super to increase the size of the brood nest area if they have large colonies. In some instances with very large colonies some people do use a system known as a double brood which is two brood boxes without a queen excluder. You are right in saying that if you add a super and want to use it for honey only you would need a queen excluder to prevent the queen laying eggs in it.
Stewart
so a super does not necessarily mean that it is a honey "super" or that it is an upper full deep box. Then why not just call it an upper box or a second brood chamber. So confusing for a newbee when one is trying to completely understand.
Hi Joanne,
yes the terminology can be confusing. Traditionally here in the UK the brood box is the deep bottom box and the Super is the shallow upper box used solely for honey. This was the case for our beekeepers some years ago as the native honeybee only had a small brood nest and didn't need any extra space other than the single brood box. As beekeepers tried to improve their stocks of bees by crossing different sub species of honeybees they found that the traditional bottom box for the brood was not always big enough and so started adding different boxes of varying sizes, hence the potential for confusion.
Stewart
How many time did you get stung during this inspection ?
Hi 3D Motor Maker,
I don't recall being stung at all. It's not often that I get stung to be honest unless I'm careless or have some very unfriendly bees, I do have a couple of colonies like that and will produce a video or two if I can be brave enough to show you!
Stewart
Hi Stew, thanks for the reply. I would like to have bees, but I don't think my garden is quiet or big enough - sadly. I like to watch your vids, so keep up the good work !
where can one get those feders
Hi Edison,
They are available here in the UK from Maisemore apiaries. Here's a link:
www.bees-online.co.uk/detail.asp?ID=378&name=Maisemore-Jumbo-Rapid-Feeder
Stewart
sorry that's feeders