Plan Comes Together While Splitting Bees
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ก.ค. 2024
- I decided to tweak my method for splitting bees by incorporating the Stevens Queen Introduction Method into my early splits this year. Everything indeed came together but, as always, it was an adventure. For the first step of the process Brian Lee drove all the way from Birmingham (3+ hours) to help and thanks to him we got a lot of work done that first day. Then a few days later I had to battle rainy weather in the evening time to try and plow through in order to get the second step done. But as always I was amazed when I placed the queen cells into the newly created splits as I watched the bees show interest in what will soon become their queen. Bees are so much fun and they are constantly teaching me new things. There so many ways to do things with bees. Theoretically tweaking my technique in this manner makes a lot of sense to me. What do you think?
Cory Stevens explains the Stevens Queen Introduction Method here: • The Unique Way Cory St...
Link to Turning 1 Hive into 4 here: • Complete Change of Pla...
#brucesbees #beekeeping #beesarecool
@brucesbees is a beekeeping channel, a vlog of sorts. Here we discuss apis mellifera, aka the honeybee. We give people a look into our sideliner beekeeping operation. We share successes and failures. We show how we feed bees and treat bees for pests, such as varroa mites, small hive beetles and others. I am not a treatment free beekeeper though at one time I thought I wanted to be. We also discus things that are important to us that I think apply to beginning beekeepers and more seasoned beekeepers alike. We also show the beekeeping techniques we use to manage the bees and harvest our honey and sell our honey. We talk about beekeeping equipment and tools. At times we also catch swarms of bees and have even done a few cutouts, though I usually leave that for the professionals. This is not Beekeeping 101, though hopefully the information here is useful. As my good friend @Mike Barry says, this is not a necessarily a "how to" channel. It's a "how I do" channel. I hope you will continue to join us as we continue to perform hive inspections, discuss important matters in the beekeeping world, meet other beekeepers, perform splits, grow our operation and just continue down the path of this wonderful beekeeping adventure. Let's GO!!! - บันเทิง
Hey everybody FYI. This video covers the process of these splits from start to finish. There are 3 basic steps (all included): Split setup, pulling of splits and queen cell introduction. I could have done 3 separate videos but thought it would be good to put it all together in one. Let me know what you think!
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Hey Hey its my TH-cam debut. Haha! Great Video, Bruce! Thanks for having me! I Learned a lot! I plan to split my 6 hives tomorrow using the Steven's method. I hope this method helps with my acceptance level. We'll soon see.
Awesome. Good luck!
I’m picking up my first nuc next month for my first hive. I’m nervous but looking forward to give this a shot. This was awesome to watch. Thanks
You will do fine. Just go into it with a positive and willing to learn attitude. You will certainly have some failures but just build on them and get better. There is a learning curve but if you are determined and stay humble you will succeed.
Great video Bruce! Glad to see your season is going well so far! We're wide open up here.
Yep it’s already crazy and only going to get more so.
Good stuff. Thanks for sharing
Fantastic Video showing the full process! Great job!
Thanks for checking in Ashby!
Great content, I like the method. Couldn't have picked a better guest, Brian is a great guy.
Thanks for checking in Terry. Yes he is. He drove over 3 hours to help out. It was a good day!
Bruce, those splits looks great! I would think those Queens should have emerged and going on their mating flights if they haven’t already been on one. I’m glad Brian got to help you because he’s definitely eager to learn.
Yes he is great. I put those cells in Friday so hopefully they are emerged now and getting ready to go on mating flights.
Great looking splits think ill try corys method looks pretty simple. Thank you for your time you put into the videos
Hey I really appreciate that you mention that. I do put a lot of time onto it but absolutely love it. Cory’s method makes sense. Will see how it turns out!
Nice strong splits. Enjoyed the video. Can’t wait for the results. Thanks. Take care.
Thanks for watching!
If you want to find the queen by shaking. Place an excluder on the brood box then place an empty box on that then shake. Just make sure she can't get under the excluder or escape through the empty box.
Wow that queen is busy! Were just starting to ramp up here in WV. I was able to split doubles and get my Apivar strips, HA fondant and pollen patties in today. 38/40 still alive 90% of them are crazy big for this time of year!
Sounds great. It will be crazy for you very soon!
Great splits Bruce. Looking great. I used a similar method of using a queen excluder to make a split. It works. 👍🏽
Yes it does. Have used this method or a variation of it to make many splits over the years.
Great video, Bruce. I'm starting to arrange my splits tomorrow and getting my starter/finisher going. I'm also going to try Gus's flyback split on one colony to experiment.
Sounds great. That is the right thing to do. Try different strategies to figure out what works best for you. Thanks for watching.
Just a tip for Brian. Hold the frames above the box, not in the box when shaking bees.. He will destroy a queen real quick if she runs onto a side wall. You showed the correct method, Bruce. But I was getting queen nightmares.
I shake them inside the box at times. But your point is valid. I try to always make sure there is plenty of room in the box when I do that. Thanks for the tip!
@@brucesbeesBob Binnie shakes inside the box too. I do get the point made cause it’s very accurate. Everyone has their own way.
Yes he does. Many people do. But as you say there are many ways to do it.
Another option to prevent them from spilling out the sides and not requiring you to shake them inside the box for the very real reason you may kill your queen on the sides... Put a completely empty box on top to sort of act as a "Funnel" you have lots of room to shake inside that box (especially if you go diagonally)... and there is no risk of your queen falling outside the hive or getting smashed by a shaking frame.
Thanks for the tip!
HAH! That drone looked a little agitated after being poked. 🤣
Bruce: Look at that Big Ol' drone!
*Pokes the drone in the face with hive tool* 🔧🐝
The Drone: MY EYES!!!!
Lol. He was just minding his own business…
nice,ive got a few of those cell protectors ,lookin great
Great looking splits
Yes! Lots of fun. Hopefully we will have a good acceptance rate.
impresive indeed. look at nice nature You are realy lucky beekeeper.
Thanks. And yes I am blessed in many ways. As a beekeeper and in life.
Awesome video, I love how you take us through the process. Would love to see a video of how many of the splits were successful
Will do some kind of follow up. I tend to lose track sometimes of what is where but I’m sure we will have a general idea. Whew. Have several follow ups to do. Thanks for watching!
I think you have got it whipped. What great looking nucs . Did you say these are going in to production??. How many colonies are you running now ??. Also are still sending bees for pollination if so how many do you send for that ?? . Real good information an very informative video. HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT SEASON. THANKS
Thanks for checking in Kathy. I have 53 in California right now for pollination. Not sure what I will do with these nucs. Will see how they turn out. Probably gonna sell a few and then keep a few for growth. Will see how strong they are by honey season. We seem to be a little ahead right now so not sure if they will be strong enough when the flow hits but time will tell.
Looking good Bruce, Good strong Splits, It's Game on down Here, Just caught a swarm from a 5 Gal Bucket down the road so that Indicates is swarm time for the bees. Good stuff Bruce
Yes it really is bee season for sure. I still need to watch that video Grayson.
@@brucesbees Hoping to upload that Video Today. It Not the biggest swarm Catch but an unusual One.
Oh ok. I thought you have already uploaded it.
Those are some good looking frames.
Thanks.
Went through mine today. My double deeps were just loaded up. I was able to move several brood frames to a couple hives that wasn't doing so well. If I would have had queen cells I would have made some splits myself.
Sounds like they are doing well.
Great video, I was planning to do splits just like this last month but couldn't find queens available until mid March. 4 out of 6 of our hives haves swarmed already.
Yikes! Hopefully they will make new strong queens and continue to be productive colonies.
Caught my first swarm on March 1. They're blowing & going.
Swarms can be amazing!
Thanks for sharing this video. What material are you covers mad out off?
I have all kinds of lids but many of these are made out of HDO. Lasts for years.
@@brucesbees Hey Bruce, where do you get the plastic insert for your covers for when you are not feeding?
If you are talking about blocking the holes I just put an empty mason jar lid in the hole. Or cover it it duct tape.
Ha good video where did u get the queen cells from in fla, and how did u get them
Thanks have a blessed week
Got them from Josh Ray. You can reach out to him on FB. Not sure of availability. One of my friends drove over and got them. We are within driving distance. Josh is near Quincy, FL
Dang 😅. Those are easy to shake. If you shake mine like that 80% would still be on the frame. Those shook them self even before you did it. Nice brood frames
This would be a no shorts day for me. That was awesome of Brian to drive down and help out. So this year it'll be #bruce200?
Yes it would lol. And yes it was awesome for him to come down. I don’t think any day is a shorts day when it comes to my bees haha. They are better but not that docile yet.
How soon after introducing the queen cells will you go in and check them?
Will give them at least 2 weeks.
So how much time you save by introducing queen cells, two weeks?
The cell protector has hole in the bottom, right?
Yes it has a hole and that would be about right. Of course the quickest way to have a queen laying is to introduce a mated queen. But I have had good success with cells in the past.
Cold nights coming in a week to atlanta…..I want to split but that concerns me. Thoughts?
Really need to look at drone population. If you start to see drones walking around you are probably good. Will be even better if you wait a little while. I am always a little nervous about early split but I think we are a little ahead of schedule this year.
Well done! Splits look great.
How come you can split that early? What are night temperatures there? Like + sub
It is warm here. Lows in 50s and 60s and highs in 70s and 80s. We do have a few cooler days coming in the next few days but nothing really bad. Looks like some low in the 30s and highs in the 50s about a week from now. I don’t think it will have much of an impact on the bees.
What’s the purpose of the third deep on top?
I guess maybe in didn’t do a good job explaining it in the video? We pulled brood above an excluder and on some of these it worried out that we added a third box temporarily.
Where you getting your queens
These cells came from Quincy, Florida. Josh Ray. He is on FB. Not sure what supply is.
How do you know drones are flying?
You will see them walking around on the frames and also returning to the hives.
Running & flighty I hate them but I got them
I know your bees have a reputation lol but I’m curious are yours Russian hybrids or what breed are there? Mine are what I call spicy. They are Russian hybrids, I’ve heard straight Russian are calmer. He makes the same jokes I do about being a bit aggressive when someone comes into my home which I think is funny. I love watching split videos. There’s so many ways to do it.
Most of my bees are fine but there are a few that are a bit over the top. Gradually improving. This year they have actually been much better overall though I have a few that definitely need an attitude adjustment. I have a mixture of a lot of things. A lot of local mutt genetics. Have introduced new genetics gradually over the years from reputable queen breeders via mated queens and cells. Yes I love the fact that there are so many ways to do things. Makes it fun and challenging at the same time. Thanks for checking in!
Where she at work my bees just with my hat on second-year some time with my hat on sometimes not 3rd year I ordered to Queens and when they got into A deep they'd lit me up I thought maybe it just rained after getting stung that year by them I killed them let them make a new Queen just as bad now every year I have that one I just don't allow them to raise drones
Sounds good. I think the only way to really alter attitude is to bring in new genetics.
I am working on that now.
@@brucesbees I got the hot ones from Was Texas they made a lot of honey and they really big bee's . But I couldn't even cut grass
Yeah it’s no fun when they are mean like that.