Tips to a big honey crop
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 มิ.ย. 2024
- A glimpse of my summer honey flow operating strategies from hive split straight to stripping boxes in the fall. I manage my hives in single brood boxes,and because of that I employ many strategies to manage swarming and to maximize my honey crop. I don't focus at all on the split, even though it is a major part of this strategy, I will leave the brood nest management for its own video.
During the 2018 crop year, my honey crop came in hard off the start and then ended extremely early. I typically get flows that run well into August but this year my flows ended in last week of July. Too hot and too dry.
With these type of unpredictable weather conditions it is very important to capitalize on that nectar flow the moment it starts to flow. This is the reason why I put so much attention towards colony population brood nest management.
Last year within roughly 4-5 weeks, we gathered 197,000 lbs off 1200 production hives. Very little came in on the nucs because they matured later in summer. But we did fill some boxes in some yards :)
We never know whats ahead of us so that is why I manage to grab it when its there! without capitalizing during the opportune times, we risk missing our main stream of income.
when I was younger, I wanted to learn how to make bronze sculptures, I found an old well known Master sculptor in the next city, called a few times then got the chance to meet/interview with him in his studio. I told him I would come here and work for free 5 days a week, he agreed, I worked for him for free for 2 years, a learning experience I couldn't have bought if I was rich. The good part was I was working a weekend job as a nurse at the time that paid the bills while I swept his floors, helped him as an apprentice, OMG, an unforgettable couple of years and now, I can make any sculptor in bronze or resin, and can run a metal studio if I would like and run it well, what a gift he gave me, it pushed me up many levels as a 3D artist. Man, you should have that place swarming with free apprentices! Just let it be known
I keep bees in Brazil - Africanaized bees. I cant imagine working the hives so peacefully! With our bees if you even open them without smoke you're in for it! Also having hives so close to the ground - we would lose them all to ants in a few days! Thanks for the tips, great work!
Try a little liquid honey at the front of colony as a distraction...
They should go for the distraction more rather than yourself
" This is the current agreement I have with the Bees in my Hives " LoL
Previously they would give me a twenty minute window to check on them ( opening the Hive Colony Boxes )
Then at the twenty two minute mark the dive bombing started..... LoL that's their Final warning
At the Twenty Five minute mark stinging began to happen " You've been warned "
Honey distraction works
Lmao .
Also with Africanized bees, if you have other hives close to the one your working on, the other hives go nuts too.
seriously this videos worth a million dollars ,
We thank you very much for documenting your efforts and experiences
amazing job.
Love how you keep the door open!
Great information. The summer season sure looks great when here in mid Michigan it's only 2 degrees
Excellent video. Can't wait till winter is done. Thanks for the video!
Greeting from North Africa
It's rare to find a video like this explaining the entire process, I do appreciate your efforts and I'm grateful for your informations.
With for your a great 2019 season.
Ian, thank you! These combination videos are so useful. Cheers from the UK
I found you after watching Frederick Dunn's videos and I'm glad I did! WOW!!!!!!!!
I like how quick you are and how you explain things cheers this will be my first year
Amazing job
Man i love your job bro
Thanks for sharing knowledge
Thanks for this beautiful gift Ian!
Thanks Ian I needed a good fix 😊 missing my bees and being out in the bee yard. Ton of great information as always!
This is a good one, appreciate the work and time you are investing into producing these blogs, thanks Ian.
Thank you so much for taking the time to make that video! I watched all the way through and rewatched several parts. You answered several questions and made me analyze my beekeeping. I’m just a hobbiest in South Carolina.
Ian, thank you for your insight, hive analysis and management strategy. Very valuable information for a new beekeeper!
Absolutely love this video! I don't have any bees but I love watching about them. Bees truly are a miracle!
holy moly! this is a one man show! from beekeeping to movie production to teaching. you're unreal man. and i dont watch video more than 5 minutes. even the camera job was perfect. a million thanks for sharing. subscribeD.
Thoroughly enjoyed the combination of your videos. You have definitely got it down. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. May you bee blessed.
Like your robbing protection cover!!!! Great idea, never though of that!
Awesome video gonna share with my Bee club, live in Missouri not the same climate but principles are similar. Thanks for the great video!!
Wonderful. You are creating a library of information for all to see. Beginner to Pro. Very much appreciated. Thank you
Loving watching these again.
Wow! Thank you so much! An amazing video. You covered so many details through the honey making process. This was really helpful )))
Many thanks for what you do. You are helping numerous people and having a significant impact on the lives of many. May God protect you and your family and always be healthy and happy InshaAllah.
M. Karbaschi and saving many bees
We need more people like you in the world! Wow what an amazing feat that you have achieved with all your help and without smoke! I was surprised that you shut down so early in the year. I live in the Ottawa Valley and I shoot for September first to shut down for winter. I won't argue though. It really looks like you know what you are talking about
best documentary i have ever seen thank you ian
My favorite bee video producer! Thanks for sharing your wisdom! There are organizational gems for everyone, no matter the size of your apiary.
great to see someone share......Very informational for anyone considering doing bees
Thank you Ian, this was very informative. I’d like to start a hive just to practice at first.
Thankyou for your time in making such an informative video! Kind regards from Down Under!
Thank you for the video. You provide great insight into commercial beekeeping.
This video is so full of information, even for us in Australia. Thankyou
An exceptionally valuable year in the life of a commercial beekeeper! 👌 So much of what you share is transferable to a hobby beekeep like myself. Much appreciated.
Ive been keeping bees for 5 years now, and thought I was reasonably smart of how I managed my hives, however, I have not been tuning/prepping my hives for the flow. Because of your work and putting the effort into sharing your knowledge, I will be getting ready for the flow next season with a fresh understanding of balancing the hives and the impact that will have on my honey harvest. I appreciate your work, thanks Robert in Auckland NZ
Hi did you see any difference ?
Thanks for the tips i'm gearing up my bees for a honey flow now here in NZ roughly basing on this video ,makes alot of sense the shake down method cheers appreciate your cool vids!
Well done Ian!
Really great video! Very well explained.
Excellent Beekeper! Cheers from Poland.
Great Beekeeping Teaching Aid....Well Done!. Also like your BeeEscape desiign
Hi there from NZ!
Thanks so much for this video, it is quite hard to find information about the day to day of a commercial keeper. I appreciate the effort you have gone to putting this video together!
You are an excellent Beekeeper, employing skillful manipulation of frame and Bees for a great harvest.
Another Kentucky beekeeper chiming in, really enjoy your videos Ian.
Thank you , Thank you, Thank you, These videos revolutionize commercial beekeeping lecturing. I am one guy who have adapted to learning from illustrations and demonstrations
and you have done very well in teaching me something which provides hope for success. Thanks again for that.
thank you
what i enjoy ,if a heavy thunder storms if coming they all cone in together,
Hi, I am an Australian beekeeper and love to watch your vids, I too was very forgetful and forgot the smoker on several occasions, i normally work in shorts and singlet with bare feet as it gets hot here, on one occasion I opened a touchy hive and the result was I couldn't walk for 2 days, now I keep a smoker at bee each site along with other essential items and never again am I without my smoker. I hope you do well this season, all my sites have just been burnt out with the NSW fires here in east coast Australia. Cheers and bee happy.
21:06 those guys look themselves like well organized, hard working bees during honney flow :)
Great video!
Great video mate.
I'm a hobbyist beekeeper in New Zealand. I'm a master carpenter in my professional life.
I really like that you left the "inappropriate crew chatter " part in the video.
Cheers bro.
Thanks for the full coverage, well done 🙏🏼🤲🏼👍
Thank you very much for this very informative video. So many subjective decisions to be made that can only be learned through experience. You’re to be commended for so freely sharing your knowledge. Bee keeping at scale looks like a very difficult business. I’m sure you are very helpful to both the commercial and hobbiest alike. Best Regards.
Superb videos
Like great movies
I can watch everyday
Thank you
So educational and relaxing
Still easy to see how hard you all work
Nice work very interesting, greets from New Zealand 🇳🇿
Great information! Im in Saskatchewan and have been seriously thinking about getting into bee keeping for my own use.
And I've forgotten my smoker again. lol
Awesome videos as usual, great information for all.
Just watched again, excellent, thanks Ian.
I forgot to mention, when I used to keep millions of bees in the family orchard we didn’t have to tie our bees down like the farm I have now by the ocean central east coast in the states , it’s so freakin windy here all the time I would never be able to run 3,000 colonies here , it would have been crazy hard work putting ratchet straps on everything, not to mention my hat goes off to you guys now days for running 1-3,000 colonies because of varroa and all the other pests that weren’t around when I started in 71’ it’s just as challenging for me at 60 with 20-40 hives with all the things you have to do now to keep bees , hat is off to you for sure!!
Incredible, this was an hour long video!? did not feel like it, felt like fifteen minutes. Well Done. :) Thank you
You sure are forgetful about that smoker! Thanks so much for the video! Come on spring!
Hi Ian, I follow you from France where Langstroth hive are not so common, most of beekeepers uses Dadant ones. Personnally, I use Langstroth so you are a kind of God for me ! MAny thanks for all : you improve my beekeeping skins AND english level. Wish you the best for the end of the season and coming winter ! Nicolas
Ha Ha, "inappropriate crew chatter", that is too funny. Got to love working with the youth. I teach at a CC so I know the chatter can get pretty raw some times. Great video, and you are teaching the youth the value of Work, that alone is a priceless experience that not everyone understands.
Fantastic video! beekeeping goals! So much good information!
Best videos yet and you're brilliant sir will and lots of passion
Can't wait to try your techniques in the spring but it'll probably be Midsummer before I get my nuke, hopefully I can break that into two or three hives by the end of the summer
@@Bigbarry20 depends on what you are after. I got bees last year June 17 just before the honey flow. I was lucky enough to find a commercial honey producer that was selling 10 frames. My intention was to propagate bees simply because we had no pollinators around. I didn't want or care about the honey. My wife however had other ideas. The hives had decent population but they weren't like Ian's power houses and they also had chalk brood issues due to the crappy spring. I had a choice: make bees or make honey because I didn't have the population to do both. For the wife I decided on honey. Out of the two hives we got 260lbs of the best honey I've ever had due to the natural forage source and at the end of the main flows I took two late season splits. if the bees make it to spring this year I'll finally be able to play with more of the bee propagation because I'll have some numbers to play with.
Don't know where you're from or your seasons. Just saying I've watched hundreds of videos from other bee keepers. Many newbies make the huge mistake of splitting the bees too thin and then are disappointed with no honey crop and many experience total winter loss or almost total loss due to the fact that they don't have adequate populations to make the winter nest. So it all depends on what you want. If you get a single nuc in mid june and want some honey you might get 1 single late season nuc split, a bit of excess honey and that's it in the first year. Ian's monster honey crop come from building a great 2 box hive then restricting that down to one. All the nurse bees allow the queen to lay that bottom box wall to wall so almost every drop of nectar goes into the supers. But the key is that monster nest restricted to a single box. In my case even starting with a good 10 frame I got 1/2 the amount of honey per hive as Ian gets because I had 1/2 the population in that box. i also got one - two brood frame nuc split off of each 10 frame . Everything went into winter decently strong. Only this year if they make through winter strong will I maybe have a shot at one or two hives pulling off a crop like Ian's. but my chances aren't great unless they come out of winter strong.
My hives were good but neither of the 10 frames or the nucs went into the shed with the same strength as Ian's production monsters. They have no shot at coming out as strong as his either. If my bees don't come out decent? I don't have population to boost other than sacrificing the nucs and that's if they make it. But that's the purpose for the nucs. I know that strong hive populations get stronger and weak hives struggle or go the other way if they become demoralized. A ton of folks out there that experienced CCD were clearly absconding due to demoralization of the bees. Too few bees and way too much room is a recipe for disaster. So many splits are great only if you have the population to split and smaller boxes to put them in. But split them too much and you give up the honey and split them thinner than that and you are rolling the dice on loosing everything.
With a nuc you will be starting with 1/2 of the population of what I had to start from on June 17th,2018 in 10 frame box and 1/4 or less of the population of one of Ian's production monsters.
Maybe you know all of this already. But if you don't? I just don't want you to suffer the losses or disappointment as I have seen by many many beginning beekeepers. I am not trying to disappoint you . Just talking about realistic expectations.
Hopefully I didn't bore you too much :)
@59:06 on time laps, i can see the truck is getting lower and lower as the time laps.. amazing.. that shows how much honey you've collected.. Good job 👍😀
Very nice video, you have a 100% proffesional apiary, what you are doing now is what most beekeepers are dreaming to reach some day. I wish you good health and good luck going forward!
Hi from Belarus bee's forests! Thank you from the other side of the world! Thank you for interesting video. best wishes in beekeeping!
Nice to see how fellow beekeepers in other countries are working. Greetings from the Netherlands
Thanks for taking the time to put together all the information you have on these videos. They will help the community many times over. Thanks again from Kentucky
Another shout out from Kentucky. Great compilation here Ian. Well done. We'll be getting a blast of your arctic air the next few days. Hang on girls.
Man i really like you. Not like a man crush, yuk. But im filled with gratitude that a master is willing to share all your experience. I dont agree with everything but 99%. U da man.
I’ve been watching Horizontal Hives
you’d Never Need that Lift truck again. Faster, easier, quicker, Cheaper
you really know what you’re doing !!
Those things are not scalable. Mr Steppler needs to bring thousands of boxes into the shop and process the frames with machines. Realize that the gimmicky horizontal hives could never work for him. It's like telling a UPS guy to travel on a bicycle.
Even though we live in far away hawaii your sharing of life experience with the girls is inspiring . We are a small apiary , 60 Hive for the first year , and your single hive management has been the encouragement to step into the optimal management and stepping in to give the girls exactly what they need . We are moving the bee yard 4 times during the year to different nectar flows available on the islands . Much mahalo's and thank you for your selfless sharing !!
Wow, what a operation
Ian! once again, I want to thank you! I like these compilation videos. They give a good taste for what needs to be done while I still go to the individual topic videos to get it all. Hell of a lot of work on your part to help folks out.
More importantly, I want to thank you for all of your work this past year putting out videos. I know for me, your page was a god send. I mean a literal godsend, There is no one doing detailed videos of what and when this far north. There are thousands of videos from all over the world on how to do things but it left me scratching my head as to when. How I even found your page was that I started researching wintering bees. 99% of what I found and watched was from southern climates then I found 1 from Alberta where they showed the insulated tarps but not even how to put them on or the prep before hand. Then I stumbled onto your page and have recommended it all over TH-cam. It was like the lottery. Same climate and this dude is showing exactly what he does and when. Plus plus plus as you are a large commercial producer taking weeks to do any operation, the when is a window. I could watch you then go look in my own hives. Yup same same then calmly prepare to do the same operation which might require equipment purchase. Too my knowledge, NO ONE discusses the winter shed or the environment requirements on video other than you. Simply from your discussing requirements I was able to build my own shed and then modify it after the bees were in the shed to as closely match the environmental condition you laid out. You not only helped me and saved my bees. You also saved the guy I bought the bees from a whole wack of bother. Between the 1000s of videos on how and yours on what and when I never bothered anyone. I just went out to the shed last week and saw healthy clusters of bees in all four of my hives. It was my labor that is responsible but that labor was only enabled by your charity with your experience and time. I thank you! But more importantly all the bugs in my boxes thank you! Chances of them being alive right now or any surviving to spring would be far far lower without you. Spring isn't here yet so I'm not counting my bees, However I know they and I have they best shot possible thanks to you. we aren't that far apart so don't be too surprised if I show up on your doorstep one day with a bottle or a case in way of thanks. After calling ahead and arranging it, of course.
Best part of watching your videos, outside of education, Is you are exactly like my last boss. He too would get an idea then talk himself into it. He was also a stressed perfectionist. A golf course greens keeper. I was the Night waterer. I worked alone as the only night crew. We'd be talking about aerating after the rest of the staff had gone home and I'd watch him talk himself into it. Not soon but right now. 4 In the morning, he and the crew would come in and the crew would freak out. He had me coring the greens all night with 4' walk behind aerator and a flash light and i'd be through the front 9 and halfway through the back 9 by Dawn besides my manual watering duties. They thought they'd have an easy Friday and instead had to go hard picking cores and top dressing all day. Much the same as you discussing bottom boxing in the spring. it's a hell of a lot of work but it has to be done. I loved working for him because he was willing to do the work. I did 24 hour shifts for him and countless 16's and 18's. I can't even say how many hours I donated because, I like him, believed the quality and pride in it made the work worth while. Never got a cent of overtime due to budget and I don't regret a single cent I lost. He's not at that course any longer and neither am I. It shows. I learned very quickly watching you that those monster hives and monster honey crop is the result of a ton of work and dedication over and above on your part. it isn't the norm or a fluke. It's just awesome to see that kind of dedication because in my life experience it's seriously rare. I actually laugh out loud just watching you stressing. My old boss would be exactly the same. So do I in the same shoes. " I like to leave them and not disturb them for a week but I just wanna have a peek as you then start with the peek then root through the whole hive and a couple more just to be sure. Or Carrie would kick my ass if she knew i was in here but? Well! I'm the boss! Ha ha ha. I'm crying just thinking about it. That's what I love the most. A lot of your personality comes through in the videos. They are more like a conversation then a how to.
Rough And Wretched R.A.W.
I appreciate the feedback
It’s all basics, it doesn’t always translate but a lot of it does
@@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog It actually translates great if people see it for what it is. It's not a newbie how to. What you are showing is pro tips and how to get from intermediate to pro. I got the gist in my first year only because I'd watched hundreds of beginning and intermediate how to videos before I found yours. I started off with two healthy 10 frames and ended up with about the same honey you get from 1. Did I screw up? Hell no! I got a full split just before flow without the chance to build the population you have in one of your monster production hives. Half the population logically equals half of the honey in a crap year. I'm happy.
To create a single production hive like you are running is at least a dedicated two year project of being Johnny on the spot plus having some luck on top. Even though I started with a 10 frame in late June instead of a nuc there was no possible way to build the brilliance you had. That's one of the things unique about your page. Most of the how to's are done by breeders or amateurs. You actually have to watch a whole whack of videos because there is a whack of bad info out there also. They discuss honey. Breeders don't want any as the amateurs celebrate a full year's take of 50 or maybe 120lbs total. K That's beginning and intermediate. Then i look at your page and that's pro. You show what and when the basics of how others teach if tweaked and managed professionally will build monster hives and a monster honey crop. I had to watch your single hive management video multiple times to get the full knowledge of how you pull it off. I get it now and know for a fact that no one is stumbling into a hive like you have by accident. It's gonna take dedication and work. You are offering pro tips and showing what managing like a pro can accomplish. Whether folks want to go pro or not. No one out there who has bees or even just likes honey can be anything but in complete awe when you're doing a video pulling 5 supers of honey off of each hive. Or when you flip back your boxes showing 8 and 10 frames of brood.
My main point wasn't feed back. My main point was to offer sincere thanks. All the words were my effort to describe why I'm offering it and why you deserve it. I type with two fingers and I suck so my long comments, while probably boring you out of your skull also shows my sincerity in my offer of thanks! Every single time I go into my kitchen I glance at the temperature and humidity reading in my little shed. As that shed was only set up based on requirement knowledge I learned from you. Every single time I glance at the temperature and humidity I get a flash of alternate reality. That alternate reality is me trudging through snow banks up to my ass. I owe you! My bees owe you. my snow free ass owes you. Lmao. As I said! Don't be surprised if I call making the request show up one day this summer bearing gift!
Cheers! I love that connected spirit the bees have brought to you! As they do to me, they are my life 👍
I don't have any bees but love to watch these video it so relaxing. Just love them
This was a GREAT video! Thank you so much for sharing!
Да! Мне такой грузовичок с лебедкой пригодился бы) Автору ролика респект!
μελισαβασιλ
Если-бы он так махал около моих пчёл его выебли пчелки!)))
Он молодчик
thank you Ian for your wonderful and passionate videos, ive been watching your videos for few months now, i am inspired. i have a question about your lids. what kind of wood are you using that are not warped? i use plywood.
Thanks for posting! Keep on posting!! A person is lucky to get ANY honey off of the Canola anymore in ND. The state is so packed full of beekeepers that the Saturation makes for nearly no honey up there. heh. Down here in the states. we aren't making money anymore on honey because of the importation packers. So I hope you are making an income! Cheers!
Ian, it is so good, I'm back, to watch your great videos, COVID turned us all into hermit's, down herein Australia but now we've all swarmed, like the 🐝, now it's all onwards, ever up wards. We don't kick off again till September, with the 🐝, it's mid winter, in NSW, ath theo, hope you have a super 🍯 season, cheers Keith 🙂🙂😘💐.
Very well done. Thank you.
Had to go eat a spoonful of honey while watching this. Thanks bees and bee keepers! I appreciate your hard tasty work
Applied these tips this year, and then no flow came except for 5 days between the rain showers. Still managed to get 100 kilo out of 8 production colonies.
I tried to make small NUCs out of brood I pulled out of hives when all colonies became large and there was no equalization left to do, the NUCs got robbed out almost the same day and killed off so fast.
Bad year, but next year I'll be ready with more experience under my belt.
wow what a great video. thanks so much
Good jop. Like from syria.great one you are professional
Great Video. Thank you!
Thanks for sharing your experience with us novice/hobbyist beekeepers! Actually seeing each colony as you judged them weak, on the money, or too strong helps tremendously!
Question....do you have an opinion on metal excluders over the plastic ones other than durability? I’ve wondered if my plastic ones hindered production because they were too thick/tight for easy passage
Sou apicultor a 30 anos realmente amo as abelhas ,minha vida foi a apicultura seu trabalho é diferenciado top mesmo os equipamentos tudo né esse caminhão, que jóia muito bom amigo abraço
Woooo you have sooooooo much HONEY!!!😍 Here there’s only 1 or two extension on the top of the hive to make honey!
Great videos ian. Awesome information even if you are on the otherside of the world.
Do the frames of brood still go back into top box after bees are shaking off?
it is a really good video! I really WISH we could all somehow get paid fair prices for our honey when we drop it off in barrels or tanker it to the packers though. WOW what a crop!
Wow! How do you handle when the brood chambers start to get back filled with pollen and nectar when having so many hives. For the Amazing work I have 3 hives I’m new to this but after watching how you keep your bees always amazes me. Thank you for the education! I’m open to suggestions if you have time. Yes I do treat as well for Veroa
This operation is the ' Real Deal ' .... by yet...the best info yet on youtube...gets a like from me..and gets a subscribe from me...lot learned i will re watch this a few more times to catch all the tips and skills... great Job
Hello from neighbouring Ontario
I’ve watched this amazing video over and over, learning every time.
But I just can’t seem to recall what you do with mainly uncapped frames or those that are, let’s say, just 25% filled with nectar, at the end of the season.
I know you mix with capped honey and they will only slightly alter general moisture content. That’s what we also do. But the other half-filled ones, we just freeze them for the next year. You certainly don’t do that.
Do you let your bees clean them out?
Cheers and enjoy the winter rest :-)
Words alone cannot express how thankful we are for all your efforts in sharing information that applies to bees and beekeeping! Can you please tell me information as to where you get your ESCAPE BOARDS? They offer plenty of ventilation between supers and I would like to use them for my bees during honey harvest. Can't get them here in USA. Thanks much!
Christine Remy
Www.lewisandsons.ca
I learned alot here i know this will help me alot this honey season im predicting at least 4000lb of honey i will update this when the flow comes
please do I would love to see your extracting video : )
I'm not sure where I picked up what by who but this guy Ian got me trying using single deep brood chambers in Illinois.
"IT WORKS". Watching this video series actually did increase my honey production and I had already been accused by other beeks of "working my bees too hard". Now I work them even harder. I'm one slave-driving SOB.
I own millions of females.
😎
Ian, this build up and honey flow culmination showing us how successful proper management can be is brilliant and very well done. I will share it with all whom I mentor. Your success negates 3 common myths. 1) that a queen excluder is a 'honey excluder' 2) the need for upper ventilation, and 3) the need for screened bottom boards! Thank you for taking the time and efforts from your very busy life to share your experience and knowledge. You leave us at Aug.28th. when then do you treat for varroa?
cheers!
just remember, we all beekeep in different regions and areas, not all practices translate to everyone
Man you are a professional I love your job man my dream is to have an apiary like yours
How does this vid get 346k veiws and he doesnt even have 50k subs. He deserves way more then that
Ive been trying out your single brood box strategy down here in new zealand. Every single hive swarmed on me. I gave them room early, didnt seem to matter. However the conditions in spring were phenomenal, amazing weather and resources available even early through winter. Hopefully an aberration as i am trying it again this year. Just started pushing double brood down to single brood, thankfully i look to be averaging 30kg of honey per hive, but i can only imagine how much if swarming had of been light. Ps. i got lots of practice at swarm collection, tearing off weather boards and balancing on ladders etc lol.
Bel Rick
Population thresholds, it all hinges around management around the nest size timed to the flow
It helps to have a few semi trailers full of drawn combs. ;)
Great work and education!! How do you change the old comb in the broodbox? How many years you keep one set? Seems like when its the right time, you swap two brood boxes before driving the queen back to the lower box before main flow? And remove those old black frames with honey?