@@bobbinnie9872 I should’ve also asked about # of doses and frequency of dosage. How many doses do you apply in-total? Does it vary according to temperature or dosage amount? What is the frequency of dosage? Does the frequency vary according to temperature or dosage amount?
I have only just found this site but one thing that stands out here is the sheer professionalism of this operation and the calm way in which Bob narrates it. A real pleasure
I agree with Seth! Raising queens is a time consuming PITA. But it's too important to ignore. So I worked out a system of pull the queen, notch (in the mean time more brood is emerging), split off nuc starter frames with notched cells, then drop in a frame of grafts and 2 dipped cup grafts on popsicle pieces. Pull the graft frame cells and put those in the incubator and leave the dips to requeen that hive. I get nucs, I get queens for replacements on failing queens, extra nucs and sales. I do not limit the new queens to grafted from only my breeder queens so I am not bottle necking genetics badly. I am not losing time making cell builders. Not tending too terribly many queens in the incubator. It's just me...bees have to step up and do as much work as possible.
Total success. Yesterday i pulled all the inside feeders and replaced them with drawn comb . There were no drowned bees not one. floating several large pieces of milk jugs in the ladders 🪜 works great . They were emptying the feeders in 4 days . Now i have 1 and 2 gal pails on the hives with thicker syrup . Winter is coming soon . Its around 39f at night and around 68f during the day . Brrr.
Really, really helpful, especially the information about temperature specifications. Just gave my bees the first Apiguard treatment last week, so this is relevant in real time!
I always enjoy watching your videos! Thanks for sharing! I'm in central Oklahoma Temps will bee 100 plus for the next 7 days. It's 106 today 🥵. Just did my second OA vape treatment this am. 👍
Hello from TX Mr Bob thanks for all the educational videos and time I've learned alot from yourself let's not forget the queen bee stream team etc. Im still new to everything but I've experienced alot and haven't given up yet I'd like to add some hive beetle techniques I personally use beetle blasters I haven't tossed mine I smack em out and reuse to extent with vegetable oil along with few drops of dish soap also breath mints in lower or upper corners works great as well as have heard mentioned they hate mint scent also I've treated with mineral oil with spearmint essential oil in fogger but have noticed as mentioned shaded hives are more susceptible to hive beetles than boxes out in heat I've tried to stay away from oa treatment as I'm worried of health risk and know that out in wild they don't really get much defense but so far I've been getting the hang of things learned how to screen board split from you and have had success and been repeating to up my numbers this year almost up to 12 hives but it's definitely been an interesting ride and exciting never figures I'd ever be a keeper here we are though to stay keep up the good work thanks a million to all for such great info and comerodery very helpful to all beginner's most wouldn't make it out the gate without people like yourself when I first got started your name was one that came up you may not be Jesus nor the holy grail but plenty of followers that believe in your methods along with myself
I’ve had 100 degree days in MS. I just finished 3 treatments on 30 colonies for 3 weeks. 30 ML every week. I run solid boards but I crack lid with sticks. I was worried but checked and things look great. A few colonies have a few mites left in washes but now going to try some OA sponges to sustain levels through fall. Thanks Bob
I've noticed a similar situation here in central ga. After the harvest, there was much backfilling, some to an extent I was forced to gather an additional medium on several yards through the end of July! I'd say about 70% of the bees here backfilled and brought in heavy surplus AFTER the harvest.
I have mine all done and setting probably to heavy for this time of year I'm praying that 3 quarters of mine don't swarm on golden rod 🙏 I hate to put supers back on for fall but might have to
I guess I’ve been lucky this year , i only have 12 colonies now , I used to run 500 in my prime but it’s just a retirement hobby now , I’ve only used Randy Oliver’s sponge method with o/a and I’ve only found one varroa mite so I imagine if it keeps working for me I will keep doing it 😄
I am on the southeast coast of Texas and it has been 100+ since late July. No rain for 2 months and everything is turning brown. Only thing I can think of to treat with is OA.
Most of my experiments are less than sucessful however i checked the 10 feeders today . Absolutely no dead bees not one drowned while emptying the one gal feeders with 1.5water to 1 sucrose I added a couple extra discs of milk jug (some are round some were cut up with scissors and some are triangles etc )they dont float as well in lighter syrup . I pull one ladder smoke it and smoke inside the open hole of the feeder then fill it and replace the ladder i removed . No more bead bees fr that process 😂!!!!!!!!
Ha Bob this was great, I am calling your store today to get some more lids and get some of the sims you put on top of your hives for treating hope you make 8 frame, shims. God Bless and have a wonderful week glad your bees are doing good.
Sometimes the timing is right, Sunday morning coffee with the bee crew. Mite treatments taking place here in North Iowa. Stay cool, we’ll see you next week..
Hello Bob. I finished apiguard treatments yesterday, and the feeding begins next. I'm coming to the store in the fall to get some bottom boards and lids etc. I really like them.
I just watched a video which described the common vector for spreading mites colony to colony . It seems the drones are the most infected which changes to workers once the hives start reducing the number of drones in the hive . And when drones are in large numbers them drifting to other hives spread the mites
I sharpened a 3/4 " piece o f thin wall threaded pipe and cut circles of milk bottle for floats in my feeder ladders . Ive been hammering it on a block of wood 🪵 i think ill weld a chipping hammer to the pipe so i can use it as a hammer to instead of beating on it
When you put boxes out for bees to come clean out or just have stuff out that attracts them have you ever found a swarm try to move in and build a colony?Thanks for sharing Bob always a very informative video I have learned more about bees from you than I have anywhere else I would like to one day try to keep a few hives hope you have a great day
SO I put styrofoam pieces in my ladders in the frame feeders . Worked great at keeping the bees from drowning BUT they haul the foam out when the feeder is empty and or chew it to pieces . So back to the drawing board . Im feeding to stimulate more brood rearing ive had to move some feed around to make room
We did do some mite washes ahead of treating simply to know where we stood but I would treat in early August anyway unless the numbers were very low. We got washes between 1 and 9.
We have one on bottom boards "Making Bottom Boards for Commercial Use" th-cam.com/video/L6XQKY-YfSw/w-d-xo.html. We'll be making top boards this winter and we'll put it in a video.
I balled up some wax flatten it a bit so it doesnt spin when bees are on it . Checked today the feeders are empty 10 feeders 1 drowned bee !! 2 ladders had plastic milk jug chips about 1/2 ish No drowned bees The wax sticks to the bottom and gets shredded a bit . Ill switch to the plastic and keep you posted . I think its the answer im looking for
Tried a spruce cone fail Tried broken up wooden matches fail Today i put in pieces if plastic in one feeder ladder And i put in marble sized balls of new bur comb and flattened them out . The ball spin if a bee is on it if you leave them round . I hope the wax works 🤞
As always, thanks for all the great information Bob. In the video looks like all colonies are getting an Apiguard treatment of one dosage or another depending on size and temperature forecast. What do you think of the idea of only treating colonies with an elevated mite level as indicated by a mite wash (300 bee sample)? Also wondered what you think about Formic Pro vs Apiguard, (assuming acceptable temperatures) since it kills the mites under the cappings and therefore no second treatment is usually necessary?
I think checking each colony and spot treating is a good thing, especially if you are trying to choose your own breeder queens. I'm not currently in a position to check every colony we have but may start doing it in a limited number of yards. I know of several beekeepers using Formic Pro and they're very happy with it. I think it may be a bit trickier in high temps than Apiguard though. I may try it in spring next year but if I do it will be with two half treatments and not one full treatment.
First year using Apiguard and I was somewhat apprehensive applying it in mid summer. I'm on my 2nd half dose treatment now and all 30 hives look well including 3 nucs. Only gave nucs 12.5g with an extra box on top and they look great. I'll do a wash at the end to see where they're at. Thanks for all the insight and helpful advice. Your such a great asset to the bee keeping community.
Hey Nancy......My nucs are wood 5 frame but they're double stacked for the treatments and feed. The weakest is 3 frames of bees and the strongest is a full 5 frames. I gave them all 12.5g. I applied 3rd treatment today and checked the 2 weakest ones. Saw both queens with eggs and capped brood. I have had one abscond since 2nd treatment but it was a single with a 25G dose. Highest temps have been in the upper 80's to mid 90's. I have more hives than I need so if I loose some I'll gain experience and some needed brood fames for spring. Hope this helps...Hutch's Honey.
Great technical advice but I know it’s specific to your area. I have said this before , I wish we could get Apiguard in that gel in large tubs.it’s a very nice product to apply! And seems very effective. Great you just squeezed it through before your temps rise! Clean bees are all our goals for winter!!😁🙏💪🏻👍🐝🐝🐝
@@bobbinnie9872 hi Bob, well we have the Thymol in the little cat food type packets but that works out more expensive than Apivar. I can buy Apivar from our bee group and it’s an ok price, plus ex tax at the end of the year.🤷🏼♂️ However I use thymolised Sirop at 1:1 this time of year after I’ve released those queens from their “imprisonment “ for just over 21 days ( if no drone brood) so with Oxyalic Acid vapour on those phoretic mites I usually do pretty good. The nucs all get one strip and oxyalic stat! Single brood DADANTs all get their queens caged unless I can’t find them, then it’s Apivar. I am very nervous of using MAQ’s and the heat issue we can have it’s near 100f here again this week!!🙄
Hi Bob a question I have a hive that has not been opened in 8 years and the bees are still there, I am wondering if they may have built up an immunity against mite. 9 years ago I took off honey but as they were vicious bees I never went back into them. But the reason reason I never went in was that I went into business in a diffrent niche which took up most of my time. they were treated with Apivar 8 years ago. Now going into retirement I fancy doing bees again. Love you videos watched a bunch of them.
Great information on Apiguard, particularly about dosage variations and residual effects in the hive. I made the mistake once of using Apiguard on double deep eight frame colonies, and didn't adjust dosage for the difference in size, and cooked one. What is the smallest size colony you would use Apiguard on? Would you use it on those nucs in the background of the one yard in this video?
Great video. Hey Bob. Question. I’m going to start using OAV. Can this be used anytime of the year and and temp? And can I leave the queen in the hive during an OAV? Grateful.
Thanks for the wealth of knowledge in your videos Bob. I do however question your wisdom on having your supers robbed out like that.. I would think having so many bees robbing right there would increase mite migration during this time? What are your thoughts?
No doubt that it increases the chances of that. You can be sure that we'll be watching the two yards doing the robbing closely. As a side note I've been doing this for decades and know that the yards doing the robbing take a bit of a beating doing it. They're always a little smaller going into winter than the rest but we do make sure the mite numbers are OK and we do get them through. This "beating" is one of the reasons I don't like open feeding.
Bob, are you and your crews not worried about breathing in the Apiguard fumes? I see some people wearing masks, gloves and eyewear, PPP. Per the label. Dose, Zeth usually pack a gun, knife? He is well prepared for anything. Thanks for all your information and knowledge, much appreciated!!
We definitely use gear for everyone with oxalic acid but don't feel a need for everyone with thymol gel (Apiguard). You'll notice Jesse wearing gloves because he is coming in contact with it.
It's sort of funny I watched the videos and my wife. Also is forced to watch. We're passing through like Clayton setting a chick fil. And my wife looks up and the drive through. And says there he is, there he is. And says there he is in the Drive Three, we were 23 minutes late to make it to the store. But we were just passing through.
Bob, if your top deep of a double is all honey and the brood nest is in the bottom deep, do you ever put the spacer and dose of Apiguard between the deeps? Instructions say the dose goes over the brood nest; putting it on top of a double in which the top deep is all honey seems to be distant from the brood nest. Thanks!
Say Bob do you have a video on setting up a bear fence ?? My freind had a solar fencer with the built in battery it quit and the cows go into the garden and ate it down to the dirt.
Bob, any issues with absconding in your singles? I used 25g in my singles up here in Kentucky this year and I’ve had five colonies abscond on me. 😢 It was between the 2nd and 3rd week of treatment. Temps here were in the 80’s almost exclusively. Just curious if you had any issues. Thanks!
Hello Bob, about thymol treatmente over 95F I understand that has similar problems as Formic Acid. What about treating when for several weeks the temperature frequently exceed 95F? As in the last years in late July, august we have drought and such temperature we use Oxalic Sublimation to avoid any risk to queens. I see you let bees cleaning supers in open space you are not subject to robbing and varroa reinfestation? About supers winter storage I never use any treatment as we never had any moth problem (no brood no moth it works). Is it a precaution for Bee Hive Beetle? THX sharing your work. At min. 17:33 i could see a strange object: is it a local beekeping tool? lol
We don't try to treat with thymol (Apiguard) at those high temperatures. We usually can get a stretch of lowerr temperatures low enough to do it sometime in August.
Question, if I may ask, why would you not hit the hives right after pulling supers with OAV before other treatments? I am sure you have a good reason, I just am trying to learn as much as I can. Thanks as always for all the info.
Because the queen slows down when Apiguard is applied we like to get it finished before the colonies begin rearing brood that will become our winter bees. I guess "timing" is the short answer and we can still use OAV after if we think it is needed.
Bob, curious what the reasoning was to go to apiguard vs apivar. Was it strictly financial, was it due to the concern around efficacy of the apivar. Or is it a combination and the efficacy of both is around the same for you? And with only small amounts of brood would it makes sense to run OA now a couple of times and then do another OA treatment in 3 - 4 weeks when brood is all done. Or again is the cost of applying OA that much more that you have found that labor cost offsets the cheaper cost? And the efficacy of OA is not as good as apiguard.
Apivar is not working well for most people lately and the last time I used it it did a really poor job. One of the reasons I like Apiguard is that the thymol also creates an antiseptic condition in the colony while present and when the colonies begin rearing brood in earnest again they generally look very healthy. OA vaporization would work on the mites too but with even the smaller amount of brood it would still have to be used a number of times close together which we wouldn't be able to pull off.
Hello Bob. I enjoy all of your videos. I have a question. I used apivar last year around october. I pulled a medium that i had on the hive last october when i treated with apivar. Do you think the bees used the honey that was in that box and refilled it? Im trying to decide if i should use the honey for human consumption? TIA
Bob that's awesome information, but I have a question about the feeding of single deep boxes. How many frames should have honey or syrup that you don't feed or how many frames open for brood in your area? How many frames with stores going into winter are you looking for going into winter, if you don't mind.
Hi Malcolm. At this time, and considering that Apiguard slows the queen down, two frames is plenty. Once brood rearing kicks back into high gear in a few weeks we'll have to begin feeding a colony with only that much food but not so much that they gain weight too fast. We like to see the equivalent of 7 to 8 frames of food once brood rearing stops and they go into winter.
@@bobbinnie9872 thank you so very much for this information I do appreciate your knowledge. I may have over fed my single deeps. But since we don't get a fall flow, hopefully it will work out. I'm also trying some deep and a medium hives this year. Many of us are learning so much from you and your information will help so many generations of new beekeepers in the future. Thanks again.
I plan on using Apiguard here soon. With the recommended treatment duration, how long will the queen stop laying (does she slow down or stop laying?). Will this break in egg laying cause a drop in population and possibly open the colony up to SHB infestation? Hope you are well Tim
They often stop completely through the first treatment and pick it up slightly in the second half. Yes this will reduce the population slightly compared to non Apiguard colonies but they seem to catch back up later. SHB are not phased by Apiguard so beware.
Hi. I'm a queen breeder from Australia and don't need to treat yet for the mite but it isn't far from me and will have to start treating as soon as it arrives. I'm wondering when you treat for mite, does the treatment stop you from selling the honey or is it fine to harvest?
Research has shown that even massive doses of oxalic acid vaporization doesn't contaminate the honey very much and it was still well below the acceptable limit.
Bob I agree with your dose sizes on the days that are in the low 90° area and not dosing at all above that. The question I have is the feeding. The instructions say feeding could cause the bees to ignore the Apiguard for the feed. I think feeding at the right time this time year is crucial to build up of winter bees. How do you handle this problem?
I have never experienced feeding being a problem during treatment except that it could slow it down. With Apiguard treatment we're only feeding if they're light. Feeding to stimulate will begin after we're done treating. We're feeding a few now without issue.
@@bobbinnie9872 Thanks for the reply Bob. I have some that I want to treat but the temperature for the next 3 or 4 days is forecast in the high 90s with one or two over 100. I won't be treating during that period. And....the goldenrod is starting to bloom around here so that means I need to be putting feed on to encourage brood rearing. I guess I can feed the ones that test low enough to not need treated and treat and feed the ones that need treated when the temps cool off and hope for the best.
Do you rotate your treatments over the course of a year (e.g.; spring -> Formic Pro, summer -> Apivar, fall -> Apiguard)? PS: Looking forward to meeting you at the Alabama Beekeepers Association conference in September.
You mentioned hive beetles @24 minutes or so. What do you do to rid yourselves of these? Some of my weaker colonies have them or if it's an area not tended by the bee's, I notice that's where they live. Thank you
We're lucky that we don't have a big hive beetle problem so we don't use any mechanical or chemical treatments for them. I do know that deep shade can cause problems and stay away from that and I'm careful not to let colonies or nucs get too small late in the season.
Hello Bob, first year bee keeper. I have a Hive that has 4 frames of brood in the bottom and filled the medium above with honey. Would you take the super off and back fill the bottom with honey and over winter with a single? Thank you!
10/4, I've been removing any boxes they don't appear to be using to prevent space for shb. For anyone having trouble with small hive beetles, One thing I learned from someone's video was breaking up soft peppermint candy's and sprinkle across top of frames, shb hate peppermint. I also emulsify a little peppermint essential oil with water in a squirt bottle and squirt around hives as a deterrent.
Hi Bob, I notice your boxes have bee space above the frames, do you prefer that over bee space below the frames? and how much space do you recommend exactly? i think you may have done a video on this already, but i can't find it for the life of me. Thanks Kind regards Tom
The frame rest on the boxes we use are generally 5/8 inch deep which should provide a 1/4 inch gap above the frame top bars and most box heights should give a 1/8 space below the frame bottom bars which adds up to 3/8 between frames. Not all manufactures are the same but usually close enough. 3/8 is ideal but anything between 5/16 and 7/16 works good with 1/4 to 1/2 being acceptable. I talk a little bit about dimensions in the video "Beekeeping Equipment for Beginners" th-cam.com/video/SRNFXMMdE1Y/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for the added info Bob hope to meet you at the NAHBE in January have my tickets! Much appreciate your down to earth common sense beekeeping tips and info which has made me abetter keeper of my bees.@@bobbinnie9872
You might notice that our entrances are 3/8 inch rather than 3/4 like many people use. We do this for a variety of reasons and one of them is reducers are less necessary. We will block part of our entrances in small colonies that are in windy spots.
What dosage of apiguard would your recommend for a 5x5x5 medium nuc that has 5 to 6 frames of brood (no full sheets of brood), some empty comb and pollen resources and a full box of honey?
Three medium nuc boxes (5 frame) stacked on top of each other. Bottom box is brood all stages with perhaps some pollen and empty comb area, middle box may have more brood and empty comb maybe some nectar and top box has a box of capped honey (for overwintering on) more feeding to follow. New young queen. Population of bees fills all three boxes. I've successfully overwintered nucs like this for years and then sell a nuc out of it in April/early May. Have about 8-9 weeks before hives needed to be ready for overwintering. Mainly wondering if apiguard would be a good option to try. Normally I'd put Apivar on them. The rest of my big hives are 3 medium box 8-frames@@bobbinnie9872
A lot of folks are doing OA treatment right now every 5 days for 5 weeks instead of Apiguard. I know it's problematic with capped brood but any reason why you would not choose to use OA now? Thoughts? I know you do it in December.
I like the antiseptic condition that thymol contributes at this time, just before the colonies start to raise winter bees. Also, getting to every colony every four or five days like clockwork would be tough right now.
Another Question, its 95° here in taft,tn and i hit my hives with 2.5g oxalic acid with my instantvap (because its fast and easy) to check rough mite count on bottom board tray. Too hot and time consuming to do a wash. I haven't seen anyone doing OA right now, was that a bad move on my part?
Those duds that you placed over escapes over the apiguard and rim, do you harvest the honey from them? I understand the thymol fumes travel down but curious if that would make minty honey
Those boxes will not be extracted but will be placed in a cooler for the winter. Thymol is absorbed by honey and wax but if it is in the comb I think it would dissipate off in time.
Until we need them in the spring. It's not actually necessary though. Once winter and cold weather sets in we could store them in a barn if we wanted to.
I’ve noticed some of my hives don’t remove all the Apiguard after a week. Is this just a less hygienic hive or a population issue Do you ever encounter this issue?
In this video we are only treating and going through them very fast with each person having an individual chore. When we inspect colonies closely we only open the ones we're working on.
Question, we treated a week ago when weather was good. Now calling for 98 2 or 3 days this coming Tues. Tennessee,. Should we remove or open up our bottom boards as the heat comes. It will be 8 days in on full treatment on double deep hive. Screen bottom board with tray in. Thanks. Just looking for advice.
By this time much of the treatment should be gone. I would probably leave it and if the colonies are suffering too much crack the lid or something similar.
Bob-Need your guidance. I recently received a new queen and she has been caged inside the hive for 42hrs now. When we cked on her today the cage had fallen to the bottom of the hive. After retrieving her she quickly escaped and the bees attacked her. I got her free and back inside the cage and back inside the hive. Before we closed things up we went through each frame and found 15 live queen cells. All were removed. How long should I leave her caged? What would you do?
I am in the middle of mite treatment with all this heat. The box is due the next dose, but I'm worried with the heat. I've already been giving half doses every 5 to 7 days. Should I continue or hold off a few more days? Any advice?
If you have a refractometer you could check the uncapped portion to see if it's dry enough. At the tail end of a flow it's often good even though it's not entirely capped. If it's not, perhaps give it a little more time or pull it and create a drying space which is what we do. For an example see our video "Removing Moisture in Honey before Extracting" th-cam.com/video/B2-w4P8BPsQ/w-d-xo.html This can be done on a much smaller scale.
To clarify:
Normal 2x deep dose = 50g
Low 2x deep dose = 30g
Normal 1x dose = 30g
Low 1x dose = 20g
Normal dose for
Yes, I should have printed it like you have it here. Thanks.
@@bobbinnie9872
Thank YOU, Bob 🍻
@@bobbinnie9872
I should’ve also asked about # of doses and frequency of dosage.
How many doses do you apply in-total? Does it vary according to temperature or dosage amount?
What is the frequency of dosage? Does the frequency vary according to temperature or dosage amount?
With half doses we do it twice as many times but with half the time between doses so it takes the same amount of time.@@RyanMcDonnough
@@bobbinnie9872how would you recommend adjusting for 8 frame boxes?
Bob is a walking book of knowledge. Thank you for all you do. Nice to see Seth, he has become camera shy lol
I have only just found this site but one thing that stands out here is the sheer professionalism of this operation and the calm way in which Bob narrates it. A real pleasure
I agree with Seth! Raising queens is a time consuming PITA. But it's too important to ignore. So I worked out a system of pull the queen, notch (in the mean time more brood is emerging), split off nuc starter frames with notched cells, then drop in a frame of grafts and 2 dipped cup grafts on popsicle pieces. Pull the graft frame cells and put those in the incubator and leave the dips to requeen that hive. I get nucs, I get queens for replacements on failing queens, extra nucs and sales. I do not limit the new queens to grafted from only my breeder queens so I am not bottle necking genetics badly. I am not losing time making cell builders. Not tending too terribly many queens in the incubator. It's just me...bees have to step up and do as much work as possible.
Thanks for sharing your work Bob! Great learning!🎉
Thanks Bob!
Total success.
Yesterday i pulled all the inside feeders and replaced them with drawn comb .
There were no drowned bees not one. floating several large pieces of milk jugs in the ladders 🪜 works great .
They were emptying the feeders in 4 days .
Now i have 1 and 2 gal pails on the hives with thicker syrup .
Winter is coming soon .
Its around 39f at night and around 68f during the day .
Brrr.
We're currently running around 10 degrees warmer than you in the daytime.
Awesome video as usual Bob. Thanks for sharing.
Bob your the second best thing that I spend time to watch or attend next to Sunday services…
Thanks for making these videos I love them
I'll gladly go second after that.👍
👍👍👍
Really, really helpful, especially the information about temperature specifications. Just gave my bees the first Apiguard treatment last week, so this is relevant in real time!
I always enjoy watching your videos! Thanks for sharing! I'm in central Oklahoma Temps will bee 100 plus for the next 7 days. It's 106 today 🥵. Just did my second OA vape treatment this am. 👍
Very important information regarding tempture and dosing amounts for treatment .
Thank you Bob , stay cool 😎
Hello from TX Mr Bob thanks for all the educational videos and time I've learned alot from yourself let's not forget the queen bee stream team etc. Im still new to everything but I've experienced alot and haven't given up yet I'd like to add some hive beetle techniques I personally use beetle blasters I haven't tossed mine I smack em out and reuse to extent with vegetable oil along with few drops of dish soap also breath mints in lower or upper corners works great as well as have heard mentioned they hate mint scent also I've treated with mineral oil with spearmint essential oil in fogger but have noticed as mentioned shaded hives are more susceptible to hive beetles than boxes out in heat I've tried to stay away from oa treatment as I'm worried of health risk and know that out in wild they don't really get much defense but so far I've been getting the hang of things learned how to screen board split from you and have had success and been repeating to up my numbers this year almost up to 12 hives but it's definitely been an interesting ride and exciting never figures I'd ever be a keeper here we are though to stay keep up the good work thanks a million to all for such great info and comerodery very helpful to all beginner's most wouldn't make it out the gate without people like yourself when I first got started your name was one that came up you may not be Jesus nor the holy grail but plenty of followers that believe in your methods along with myself
I just bought 2 sheets of HDO @ $130 each. Your stash is very impressive!
I’ve had 100 degree days in MS. I just finished 3 treatments on 30 colonies for 3 weeks. 30 ML every week. I run solid boards but I crack lid with sticks. I was worried but checked and things look great. A few colonies have a few mites left in washes but now going to try some OA sponges to sustain levels through fall. Thanks Bob
Добрый день. Спасибо. Многое подчерпнул от Вас, Россия Курск.
Спасибо
Morning Bob, I’ll be coming up there this week to get some supplies form your store.
Ask if I'm there.
I've noticed a similar situation here in central ga. After the harvest, there was much backfilling, some to an extent I was forced to gather an additional medium on several yards through the end of July!
I'd say about 70% of the bees here backfilled and brought in heavy surplus AFTER the harvest.
Good colonies Bob💪. I also did the treatment today. Greetings from Serbia🍻
Hello to Serbia. 👍
I have mine all done and setting probably to heavy for this time of year I'm praying that 3 quarters of mine don't swarm on golden rod 🙏 I hate to put supers back on for fall but might have to
I guess I’ve been lucky this year , i only have 12 colonies now , I used to run 500 in my prime but it’s just a retirement hobby now , I’ve only used Randy Oliver’s sponge method with o/a and I’ve only found one varroa mite so I imagine if it keeps working for me I will keep doing it 😄
I am on the southeast coast of Texas and it has been 100+ since late July. No rain for 2 months and everything is turning brown. Only thing I can think of to treat with is OA.
I would agree.
👏👏👏👏👏
Morning Bob!
Good morning Nathan.
Most of my experiments are less than sucessful however i checked the 10 feeders today .
Absolutely no dead bees not one drowned while emptying the one gal feeders with 1.5water to 1 sucrose
I added a couple extra discs of milk jug (some are round some were cut up with scissors and some are triangles etc )they dont float as well in lighter syrup .
I pull one ladder smoke it and smoke inside the open hole of the feeder then fill it and replace the ladder i removed .
No more bead bees fr that process 😂!!!!!!!!
There's a lady here where I live that has been bitten by brown recluses and she doctored her bites with honey and they healed up fine.
Bueno día es un genio yo también soy apicultor que linda sona tienen 👏👍👍👍👍
Ha Bob this was great, I am calling your store today to get some more lids and get some of the sims you put on top of your hives for treating hope you make 8 frame, shims. God Bless and have a wonderful week glad your bees are doing good.
Hi Frances. If we don't have any 8 frame we will make some for you.
Ha I called she said they did not have any who do i talk to for to get some made thanks
@@bobbinnie9872
Ha just got off the phone they are ordered thanks
@@bobbinnie9872
Sometimes the timing is right, Sunday morning coffee with the bee crew. Mite treatments taking place here in North Iowa. Stay cool, we’ll see you next week..
Hello Bob. I finished apiguard treatments yesterday, and the feeding begins next. I'm coming to the store in the fall to get some bottom boards and lids etc. I really like them.
Hi Mark. You're ahead of me! Look forward to seeing you. Call ahead to make sure we have what you need in stock.
I just watched a video which described the common vector for spreading mites colony to colony .
It seems the drones are the most infected which changes to workers once the hives start reducing the number of drones in the hive .
And when drones are in large numbers them drifting to other hives spread the mites
I sharpened a 3/4 " piece o f thin wall threaded pipe and cut circles of milk bottle for floats in my feeder ladders .
Ive been hammering it on a block of wood 🪵 i think ill weld a chipping hammer to the pipe so i can use it as a hammer to instead of beating on it
When you put boxes out for bees to come clean out or just have stuff out that attracts them have you ever found a swarm try to move in and build a colony?Thanks for sharing Bob always a very informative video I have learned more about bees from you than I have anywhere else I would like to one day try to keep a few hives hope you have a great day
What, wait a minute, no way!! After all the times I've seen your name you don't have any colonies? Times a wasting my friend. 😊
@@bobbinnie9872lol no sorry I worked on a farm as a teenager and they had a couple hives I got to help with a few times but I’ve never had any myself
SO
I put styrofoam pieces in my ladders in the frame feeders .
Worked great at keeping the bees from drowning
BUT they haul the foam out when the feeder is empty and or chew it to pieces .
So back to the drawing board .
Im feeding to stimulate more brood rearing ive had to move some feed around to make room
Sounds good. Perhaps something denser, that the bees can't chew.
Thanks for a great vid. Do moths lay eggs in comb that has never had brood in it.
Yes, but very few and any damage that occurs is minor.
Great video Bob
Do you do any mite washes are just go ahead and treat -thanks!
We did do some mite washes ahead of treating simply to know where we stood but I would treat in early August anyway unless the numbers were very low. We got washes between 1 and 9.
Thanks - on your single boxes if they have
A frame of honey you don’t feed them sugar water right ?😊
Bob...could you please do a video on how your guys make your lids and bottom boards?
Thanks!
We have one on bottom boards "Making Bottom Boards for Commercial Use" th-cam.com/video/L6XQKY-YfSw/w-d-xo.html. We'll be making top boards this winter and we'll put it in a video.
I balled up some wax flatten it a bit so it doesnt spin when bees are on it .
Checked today the feeders are empty 10 feeders 1 drowned bee !!
2 ladders had plastic milk jug chips about 1/2 ish
No drowned bees
The wax sticks to the bottom and gets shredded a bit .
Ill switch to the plastic and keep you posted .
I think its the answer im looking for
Tried a spruce cone fail
Tried broken up wooden matches fail
Today i put in pieces if plastic in one feeder ladder
And i put in marble sized balls of new bur comb and flattened them out .
The ball spin if a bee is on it if you leave them round .
I hope the wax works 🤞
As always, thanks for all the great information Bob.
In the video looks like all colonies are getting an Apiguard treatment of one dosage or another depending on size and temperature forecast. What do you think of the idea of only treating colonies with an elevated mite level as indicated by a mite wash (300 bee sample)?
Also wondered what you think about Formic Pro vs Apiguard, (assuming acceptable temperatures) since it kills the mites under the cappings and therefore no second treatment is usually necessary?
I think checking each colony and spot treating is a good thing, especially if you are trying to choose your own breeder queens. I'm not currently in a position to check every colony we have but may start doing it in a limited number of yards.
I know of several beekeepers using Formic Pro and they're very happy with it. I think it may be a bit trickier in high temps than Apiguard though. I may try it in spring next year but if I do it will be with two half treatments and not one full treatment.
First year using Apiguard and I was somewhat apprehensive applying it in mid summer. I'm on my 2nd half dose treatment now and all 30 hives look well including 3 nucs. Only gave nucs 12.5g with an extra box on top and they look great. I'll do a wash at the end to see where they're at. Thanks for all the insight and helpful advice. Your such a great asset to the bee keeping community.
What is the configurtion of your nucs (size / type of box, population, # of brood frames?)
Hey Nancy......My nucs are wood 5 frame but they're double stacked for the treatments and feed. The weakest is 3 frames of bees and the strongest is a full 5 frames. I gave them all 12.5g. I applied 3rd treatment today and checked the 2 weakest ones. Saw both queens with eggs and capped brood. I have had one abscond since 2nd treatment but it was a single with a 25G dose. Highest temps have been in the upper 80's to mid 90's. I have more hives than I need so if I loose some I'll gain experience and some needed brood fames for spring. Hope this helps...Hutch's Honey.
Always willing to try something new on the mites but apprehensive all the same. Thank you for the info and your experience.@@hutchshoney2031
Great technical advice but I know it’s specific to your area. I have said this before , I wish we could get Apiguard in that gel in large tubs.it’s a very nice product to apply! And seems very effective. Great you just squeezed it through before your temps rise! Clean bees are all our goals for winter!!😁🙏💪🏻👍🐝🐝🐝
Thanks Richard. Do you have any thymol products?
@@bobbinnie9872 hi Bob, well we have the Thymol in the little cat food type packets but that works out more expensive than Apivar. I can buy Apivar from our bee group and it’s an ok price, plus ex tax at the end of the year.🤷🏼♂️
However I use thymolised Sirop at 1:1 this time of year after I’ve released those queens from their “imprisonment “ for just over 21 days ( if no drone brood) so with Oxyalic Acid vapour on those phoretic mites I usually do pretty good.
The nucs all get one strip and oxyalic stat! Single brood DADANTs all get their queens caged unless I can’t find them, then it’s Apivar.
I am very nervous of using MAQ’s and the heat issue we can have it’s near 100f here again this week!!🙄
Where are you? You can get it from dadant.
Hi Bob a question I have a hive that has not been opened in 8 years and the bees are still there, I am wondering if they may have built up an immunity against mite. 9 years ago I took off honey but as they were vicious bees I never went back into them. But the reason reason I never went in was that I went into business in a diffrent niche which took up most of my time. they were treated with Apivar 8 years ago. Now going into retirement I fancy doing bees again. Love you videos watched a bunch of them.
Great video as always. I am trying slow release OA sponges this year. Would you use them if legal?
Yes.
Good Morning Bob !
Hello Bob, would you treat with aprivar at 100 to 102. Thank you for all your videos.
No, he mentioned that in the video.
Good morning sir.
I would not but if you felt like you really had to I would recommend cracking a lid or something for extra ventilation.
I trust you. Better than formic acid?
I wouldn't say better but different. Formic is heat sensitive and can cause damage to colonies if not handled properly in hot weather.
Great information on Apiguard, particularly about dosage variations and residual effects in the hive. I made the mistake once of using Apiguard on double deep eight frame colonies, and didn't adjust dosage for the difference in size, and cooked one. What is the smallest size colony you would use Apiguard on? Would you use it on those nucs in the background of the one yard in this video?
I would use it on those nucs if they needed it. We'll be looking closely at those next week to see where they stand on mites.
Thanks for this video, Bob. If queens shut down because of treatments, do you recommend a light feed to get her ramped up again?
Yes. In our case the golden rod pollen will also be starting in earnest so with a bit of light syrup things will ramp up.
Hi Bob Did you get your table saw sliding table yet? Have a great week Jody from Michigan
Not yet. The price for a high quality brand is giving me pause. I definitely want one though.
Hi Bob. Very informative video. What dosage of apiguard do you for your 5 frame nucs?
Normal temps would be 15 grams.
Great video.
Hey Bob. Question. I’m going to start using OAV. Can this be used anytime of the year and and temp? And can I leave the queen in the hive during an OAV? Grateful.
I believe it's fine. We're doing OAV on some nucs today with temperatures in the low 90s f.
this year have a lot rain
كيف صنعت تلك الشرائح اعطينا الوصفه شكرا
Thanks for the wealth of knowledge in your videos Bob. I do however question your wisdom on having your supers robbed out like that.. I would think having so many bees robbing right there would increase mite migration during this time? What are your thoughts?
No doubt that it increases the chances of that. You can be sure that we'll be watching the two yards doing the robbing closely. As a side note I've been doing this for decades and know that the yards doing the robbing take a bit of a beating doing it. They're always a little smaller going into winter than the rest but we do make sure the mite numbers are OK and we do get them through. This "beating" is one of the reasons I don't like open feeding.
@@bobbinnie9872 Makes sense! Thanks for your response
Bob, are you and your crews not worried about breathing in the Apiguard fumes? I see some people wearing masks, gloves and eyewear, PPP. Per the label.
Dose, Zeth usually pack a gun, knife? He is well prepared for anything. Thanks for all your information and knowledge, much appreciated!!
We definitely use gear for everyone with oxalic acid but don't feel a need for everyone with thymol gel (Apiguard). You'll notice Jesse wearing gloves because he is coming in contact with it.
Have you ever fed bees a mushroom extract ever ? I just heard that can give a massive immune boost for bees
I've not tried that.
Bob - how often do you have to mow/trim your bee yards? They always look well kept and you don’t have weeds/grass growing up in front of entrances.
I have an employee that hits them every two to three weeks. I'll have to show him in a video some time.
It's sort of funny I watched the videos and my wife. Also is forced to watch. We're passing through like Clayton setting a chick fil. And my wife looks up and the drive through. And says there he is, there he is.
And says there he is in the Drive Three, we were 23 minutes late to make it to the store.
But we were just passing through.
Bob, if your top deep of a double is all honey and the brood nest is in the bottom deep, do you ever put the spacer and dose of Apiguard between the deeps? Instructions say the dose goes over the brood nest; putting it on top of a double in which the top deep is all honey seems to be distant from the brood nest. Thanks!
It is much easier to apply on top and still works well. At least that has been my experience.
Say Bob do you have a video on setting up a bear fence ??
My freind had a solar fencer with the built in battery it quit and the cows go into the garden and ate it down to the dirt.
"How To Protect Bees From Bears". th-cam.com/video/k8-tmulErMA/w-d-xo.html. It's old and needs to be redone better, but it can give you ideas.
Regarding "Paramoth" what is the problem with using it? Thanks for the videos.
Many beekeepers see no problem with it but I'm personally trying to stay away from synthetic chemicals. Just a personal choice.
Bob, any issues with absconding in your singles? I used 25g in my singles up here in Kentucky this year and I’ve had five colonies abscond on me. 😢 It was between the 2nd and 3rd week of treatment. Temps here were in the 80’s almost exclusively. Just curious if you had any issues. Thanks!
It's a legitimate concern but we not currently having that problem. I have when not using a rim and also when treating in the 90s.
Hello Bob, about thymol treatmente over 95F I understand that has similar problems as Formic Acid. What about treating when for several weeks the temperature frequently exceed 95F?
As in the last years in late July, august we have drought and such temperature we use Oxalic Sublimation to avoid any risk to queens.
I see you let bees cleaning supers in open space you are not subject to robbing and varroa reinfestation?
About supers winter storage I never use any treatment as we never had any moth problem (no brood no moth it works). Is it a precaution for Bee Hive Beetle?
THX sharing your work.
At min. 17:33 i could see a strange object: is it a local beekeping tool? lol
We don't try to treat with thymol (Apiguard) at those high temperatures. We usually can get a stretch of lowerr temperatures low enough to do it sometime in August.
Hi Bob! Thoughts on the new Amiflex amitraz flash treatment? Thanks!
I honestly don't know much about it so I couldn't say. I will probably not use it because I'm trying to stay away from chemicals.
Question, if I may ask, why would you not hit the hives right after pulling supers with OAV before other treatments? I am sure you have a good reason, I just am trying to learn as much as I can. Thanks as always for all the info.
Because the queen slows down when Apiguard is applied we like to get it finished before the colonies begin rearing brood that will become our winter bees. I guess "timing" is the short answer and we can still use OAV after if we think it is needed.
Would MAQS fall into that category as well, @@bobbinnie9872
Bob, curious what the reasoning was to go to apiguard vs apivar. Was it strictly financial, was it due to the concern around efficacy of the apivar. Or is it a combination and the efficacy of both is around the same for you? And with only small amounts of brood would it makes sense to run OA now a couple of times and then do another OA treatment in 3 - 4 weeks when brood is all done. Or again is the cost of applying OA that much more that you have found that labor cost offsets the cheaper cost? And the efficacy of OA is not as good as apiguard.
Apivar is not working well for most people lately and the last time I used it it did a really poor job. One of the reasons I like Apiguard is that the thymol also creates an antiseptic condition in the colony while present and when the colonies begin rearing brood in earnest again they generally look very healthy. OA vaporization would work on the mites too but with even the smaller amount of brood it would still have to be used a number of times close together which we wouldn't be able to pull off.
Hello Bob. I enjoy all of your videos. I have a question. I used apivar last year around october. I pulled a medium that i had on the hive last october when i treated with apivar. Do you think the bees used the honey that was in that box and refilled it? Im trying to decide if i should use the honey for human consumption? TIA
If I had to guess and not being there I would say that most of it or all of it was likely gone.
@@bobbinnie9872 thank you, sir
Bob that's awesome information, but I have a question about the feeding of single deep boxes.
How many frames should have honey or syrup that you don't feed or how many frames open for brood in your area? How many frames with stores going into winter are you looking for going into winter, if you don't mind.
Hi Malcolm. At this time, and considering that Apiguard slows the queen down, two frames is plenty. Once brood rearing kicks back into high gear in a few weeks we'll have to begin feeding a colony with only that much food but not so much that they gain weight too fast. We like to see the equivalent of 7 to 8 frames of food once brood rearing stops and they go into winter.
@@bobbinnie9872 thank you so very much for this information I do appreciate your knowledge. I may have over fed my single deeps. But since we don't get a fall flow, hopefully it will work out.
I'm also trying some deep and a medium hives this year.
Many of us are learning so much from you and your information will help so many generations of new beekeepers in the future.
Thanks again.
I plan on using Apiguard here soon. With the recommended treatment duration, how long will the queen stop laying (does she slow down or stop laying?). Will this break in egg laying cause a drop in population and possibly open the colony up to SHB infestation?
Hope you are well
Tim
They often stop completely through the first treatment and pick it up slightly in the second half. Yes this will reduce the population slightly compared to non Apiguard colonies but they seem to catch back up later. SHB are not phased by Apiguard so beware.
When you are looking at the temperature for a treatment, do use the humidex factor as the final determination for the temperature threshold?
I do with formic acid but not with thymol.
Seth beekeeping with a gun!!!! You guys have it rough in the US...
He calls it snake spray.
Hi. I'm a queen breeder from Australia and don't need to treat yet for the mite but it isn't far from me and will have to start treating as soon as it arrives. I'm wondering when you treat for mite, does the treatment stop you from selling the honey or is it fine to harvest?
Research has shown that even massive doses of oxalic acid vaporization doesn't contaminate the honey very much and it was still well below the acceptable limit.
Bob I agree with your dose sizes on the days that are in the low 90° area and not dosing at all above that. The question I have is the feeding. The instructions say feeding could cause the bees to ignore the Apiguard for the feed. I think feeding at the right time this time year is crucial to build up of winter bees. How do you handle this problem?
I have never experienced feeding being a problem during treatment except that it could slow it down. With Apiguard treatment we're only feeding if they're light. Feeding to stimulate will begin after we're done treating. We're feeding a few now without issue.
@@bobbinnie9872 Thanks for the reply Bob. I have some that I want to treat but the temperature for the next 3 or 4 days is forecast in the high 90s with one or two over 100. I won't be treating during that period. And....the goldenrod is starting to bloom around here so that means I need to be putting feed on to encourage brood rearing. I guess I can feed the ones that test low enough to not need treated and treat and feed the ones that need treated when the temps cool off and hope for the best.
Do you rotate your treatments over the course of a year (e.g.; spring -> Formic Pro, summer -> Apivar, fall -> Apiguard)?
PS: Looking forward to meeting you at the Alabama Beekeepers Association conference in September.
Yes, we're currently using Apiguard in August and oxalic acid vaporization in mid winter when the colonies are broodless. See you in Alabama.
You mentioned hive beetles @24 minutes or so. What do you do to rid yourselves of these? Some of my weaker colonies have them or if it's an area not tended by the bee's, I notice that's where they live.
Thank you
We're lucky that we don't have a big hive beetle problem so we don't use any mechanical or chemical treatments for them. I do know that deep shade can cause problems and stay away from that and I'm careful not to let colonies or nucs get too small late in the season.
Hello Bob, first year bee keeper. I have a Hive that has 4 frames of brood in the bottom and filled the medium above with honey. Would you take the super off and back fill the bottom with honey and over winter with a single?
Thank you!
If you can sell the honey feeding sucrose syrup to over winter on would work fine.
Bob, do yall plan on adding supers back on for fall flow? Or are they ok leaving just single deeps?
At this point all of our single will remain that way. Some years we may add a box and feed depending on our needs but not this year.
10/4, I've been removing any boxes they don't appear to be using to prevent space for shb. For anyone having trouble with small hive beetles, One thing I learned from someone's video was breaking up soft peppermint candy's and sprinkle across top of frames, shb hate peppermint. I also emulsify a little peppermint essential oil with water in a squirt bottle and squirt around hives as a deterrent.
Hi Bob, I notice your boxes have bee space above the frames, do you prefer that over bee space below the frames? and how much space do you recommend exactly? i think you may have done a video on this already, but i can't find it for the life of me. Thanks
Kind regards
Tom
The frame rest on the boxes we use are generally 5/8 inch deep which should provide a 1/4 inch gap above the frame top bars and most box heights should give a 1/8 space below the frame bottom bars which adds up to 3/8 between frames. Not all manufactures are the same but usually close enough. 3/8 is ideal but anything between 5/16 and 7/16 works good with 1/4 to 1/2 being acceptable. I talk a little bit about dimensions in the video "Beekeeping Equipment for Beginners" th-cam.com/video/SRNFXMMdE1Y/w-d-xo.html
If you have a double deep... do you put the rim at the top of the hive or between the two boxes to treat?
We treat on top. Years ago I put it in the middle but now I think it works best on top.
Thanks for the added info Bob hope to meet you at the NAHBE in January have my tickets! Much appreciate your down to earth common sense beekeeping tips and info which has made me abetter keeper of my bees.@@bobbinnie9872
Something I've been wanting to ask, do you ever use entrance reducers? I'm wondering if I'm wasting money buying them.
You might notice that our entrances are 3/8 inch rather than 3/4 like many people use. We do this for a variety of reasons and one of them is reducers are less necessary. We will block part of our entrances in small colonies that are in windy spots.
What dosage of apiguard would your recommend for a 5x5x5 medium nuc that has 5 to 6 frames of brood (no full sheets of brood), some empty comb and pollen resources and a full box of honey?
Could you describe the 5x5x5?
Three medium nuc boxes (5 frame) stacked on top of each other. Bottom box is brood all stages with perhaps some pollen and empty comb area, middle box may have more brood and empty comb maybe some nectar and top box has a box of capped honey (for overwintering on) more feeding to follow. New young queen. Population of bees fills all three boxes. I've successfully overwintered nucs like this for years and then sell a nuc out of it in April/early May. Have about 8-9 weeks before hives needed to be ready for overwintering. Mainly wondering if apiguard would be a good option to try. Normally I'd put Apivar on them. The rest of my big hives are 3 medium box 8-frames@@bobbinnie9872
A lot of folks are doing OA treatment right now every 5 days for 5 weeks instead of Apiguard. I know it's problematic with capped brood but any reason why you would not choose to use OA now? Thoughts?
I know you do it in December.
I like the antiseptic condition that thymol contributes at this time, just before the colonies start to raise winter bees. Also, getting to every colony every four or five days like clockwork would be tough right now.
Seth what are you packing?
Bob answering here. 9mm, affectionately known as "snake spray" and yes we do see poisonous snakes in our yards from time to time.
Huge colony = plenty of bees 😀
Another Question, its 95° here in taft,tn and i hit my hives with 2.5g oxalic acid with my instantvap (because its fast and easy) to check rough mite count on bottom board tray. Too hot and time consuming to do a wash. I haven't seen anyone doing OA right now, was that a bad move on my part?
I don't think so. Our video tomorrow morning is on OAV.
Thanks Bob, you've been a huge reason for my success with bees. Jesus first....Bob and Kaymon 2nd:)
Bob do you perform alcohol wash on every single colony or is there a percentage of colonies that you perform alcohol wash?
We don't do every one. We'll do a few in a yard to get an idea of what's going on.
@@bobbinnie9872 Ok, thank you very much
Those duds that you placed over escapes over the apiguard and rim, do you harvest the honey from them? I understand the thymol fumes travel down but curious if that would make minty honey
Those boxes will not be extracted but will be placed in a cooler for the winter. Thymol is absorbed by honey and wax but if it is in the comb I think it would dissipate off in time.
Thanks for clarifying
How long do you leave your honey supers in the cooler?
Until we need them in the spring. It's not actually necessary though. Once winter and cold weather sets in we could store them in a barn if we wanted to.
@bobbinnie9872
Here in Kentucky I have to use Chemicals to control waxmoth
I’ve noticed some of my hives don’t remove all the Apiguard after a week. Is this just a less hygienic hive or a population issue
Do you ever encounter this issue?
Yes we see it occasionally and it could possibly be either one of the things you suggest.
Why do you leave hives open rather than open inspect manage close ?.
In this video we are only treating and going through them very fast with each person having an individual chore. When we inspect colonies closely we only open the ones we're working on.
💥👍🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🇺🇦
Whats the average lifespan of HDO plywood tops and bottoms?
Average 15 to 20 years. Some last longer. The lids in this video range from a few years to 15.
Will a queen lay if there’s no pollen or nectar?
A few eggs can be found in some colonies without food stores but not if they go completely in to starvation mode.
How do you go about treating a nuc
We just went through a bunch of nucs today and decided they will get a couple of oxalic acid vaporization treatments in the next ten days.
@@bobbinnie9872 thanks that what I was thinking of doing but wanted to as an expert. Love watching your videos 👍
Question, we treated a week ago when weather was good. Now calling for 98 2 or 3 days this coming Tues. Tennessee,. Should we remove or open up our bottom boards as the heat comes. It will be 8 days in on full treatment on double deep hive. Screen bottom board with tray in. Thanks. Just looking for advice.
By remove I mean bag the treatment for a few days and put back on after the heat.
By this time much of the treatment should be gone. I would probably leave it and if the colonies are suffering too much crack the lid or something similar.
@@bobbinnie9872 thank you...
What do they charge roughly for the cold storage?
We get a very good deal that I don't really understand. We use the cooler freely, come and go when needed and only pay a few thousand a year.
Bob-Need your guidance. I recently received a new queen and she has been caged inside the hive for 42hrs now. When we cked on her today the cage had fallen to the bottom of the hive. After retrieving her she quickly escaped and the bees attacked her. I got her free and back inside the cage and back inside the hive. Before we closed things up we went through each frame and found 15 live queen cells. All were removed.
How long should I leave her caged? What would you do?
I would wait another day or two which will let the colony settle down. Be as quiet and gentle as possible when releasing her.
@@bobbinnie9872 ok! Could it help to spray the hive just before her release with a light sugar-water spray with a couple drops of lemongrass oil?
Sugar water should be Ok as long as it can't start any robbing. I think I would also skip the lemongrass oil to avoid robbing.@@bradgoliphant
@@bobbinnie9872 thx Bob. You are a great help to me
I am in the middle of mite treatment with all this heat. The box is due the next dose, but I'm worried with the heat. I've already been giving half doses every 5 to 7 days. Should I continue or hold off a few more days? Any advice?
Not knowing your temperatures I might consider cracking the lid or adding good ventilation and proceeding. Adding shade over the colony can help.
@@bobbinnie9872 I should have mentioned that I'm near Chattanooga.
It looks like Chattanooga cools down on Monday. That may be your best shot.@@mindylabean8363
I want to remove honey to treat for mites, but it isn’t all capped. Should I wait until it’s all capped and dried down?
If you have a refractometer you could check the uncapped portion to see if it's dry enough. At the tail end of a flow it's often good even though it's not entirely capped. If it's not, perhaps give it a little more time or pull it and create a drying space which is what we do. For an example see our video "Removing Moisture in Honey before Extracting" th-cam.com/video/B2-w4P8BPsQ/w-d-xo.html This can be done on a much smaller scale.