This video was SO helpful. Getting ready to do my first real hive inspection during a couple of 60+ days we're having right now. This video has been super helpful to know what to look for and how to go about it. All the steps and all the detail and the commentary (and the camera work!) was all extremely helpful. Many thanks!
Thanks for sharing! I'm in MA going into my first season with an overwintered hive... I'm going to rotate the deeps and watching your videos is helpful in deciding when. Don't want to do it too soon... or too late!
Yes, it’s very important to do it correctly or you will set them back. Key is if there is brood in the bottom, don’t rotate them. Don’t ever split up the brood. If there’s like one brood frame in the bottom, you could combine it into the brood in the top and go ahead and.rotate. Usually hives I rotate will basically be empty on the bottom. I should have another video on this Saturday. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Looking good buddy! Love watching you mess with those bees. Just happy its through a camera and not in person. LOL. Those things give me the chills I tell ya. Keep up the awesome work my friend!
Hi Rick. You know, that's funny, I was just thinking about that. I usually do my rotations in March. As soon as I decide spring will be mild and early, We'll get slammed with a wicked northerly and kill all the fruit tree blooms. lol I don't want to think about it too hard and jinx it. Thanks for watching Rick.
@@JeromeBeeFarm Love your channel. Yep, I live in south west Arkansas and my weather is similar to yours. I did check my boxes today and they already had brood in both upper and lower deeps. They were a little light on honey but were packing away the pollen. I have mountain camp sugar on them, but I am thinking about feeding 1:1 soon.
Hello again you are doing a great job I have not heard a single bee of yours say a bad thing about how you are treating them . I did hear them say the smoke was no problem for them. Lol . A question at the beginning of spring how is the best way to tell if your stores are honey or sugar syrup that was left from feeding in the fall so I could get the syrup out to use the frames for honey. Does the bees cap the sugar syrup or not ?? . Keep up the great work you are helping a lot of people. Thanks
Hi Kathy. I don't know of any way of telling the two apart. If I've fed syrup within the year, I won't harvest a deep frame from the lower boxes. I rarely harvest them anyway. I always put honey supers on in the spring and remove after harvest, so I know there's nothing but honey in them.
After few years of beekeeping(about 10) I can say that rotation weak family(1st )= create slower progress. I try few things when I was young. 1st wait until higher box will be full of brood than rotate. 2nd put all frames to one box and wait to 6-7 frames of brood than give them another one. If u have small amount of hives U can uncapped frames with winter food to stimulate family(works perfect). Generally U have weak hives compare to amount of frames in box. still big thumbs up. Cheers
I try to rotate the weaker ones as well, or reduce them to a single deep. I like to leave them a deep with lots of honey for winter. Doesn’t always work out that way though. Thanks for watching and commenting 👍👍🐝🐝
Rotating brood chamber some times i do some times i don't Mostly depend how old the brood comb getting for me starts getting dark i will rotate it then pull it out top chamber I HATE DARK BROWN COMB and a MUST TO KEEP THE BEES WORKING or you will loose your construction bees! Then the hive can't boom always keep them making comb, brood and honey THATS OUR MAIN JOBS AS A BEEKEEPER working bees are happy bees ! LAZY BEES IS A DEAD OUT
Looking good Darren. You sure know a lot about the Bees. I never knew how you rotated them especially for what you keep and what you leave. You did a good job of explaining that at the beginning and talking about the queen excluder. I have always wondered about that part. What is bad about the Drone Comb?
Hey Steven. I usually rotate in March, so it rarely freezes in March, but sometimes it does. Key is not to split the brood. If there's any brood in the bottom box, don't rotate them. Thanks for watching and commenting.
If the bees won't draw out a blank plastic frame for whatever reason, yes, I will put melted beeswax on it to encourage them. You can always use foundationless frames with wire or fishing line to strengthen them. I have some just plain beeswax without reinforcement. They work, but you have to be careful not to turn them on their sides or the comb will fall out. Have a great day!
you know what, i really think its best to reduce the entrance a 3 inch opening let see my oil traps got 2 opening 1 1/2" long with a 3 " spacer between the middle of em and 3/8" high Just keep the 3 inch reducer on them I was noticing on these cut outs jeff rooster does the opening is about 2 or 3" long This should help the bees protect the entrance much much better and shouldn't restrict flow of the hive either
Hey David. Yeah, I could have. They bounce back pretty fast in the nectar flow. Saving my back some work. If they have less than 3 frames of bees I will usually reduce them. Thanks for watching and commenting.
🐝🐝🐝 another awesome update on the Beehives Darren 🐝🐝🐝
Hey Simon! Thanks for watching and commenting!
This video was SO helpful. Getting ready to do my first real hive inspection during a couple of 60+ days we're having right now. This video has been super helpful to know what to look for and how to go about it. All the steps and all the detail and the commentary (and the camera work!) was all extremely helpful. Many thanks!
Glad it was helpful MJ. Thanks for the great comment. Take care.
Another wonderful afternoon in the apiary.
Yeah, that day wore me plum out. Thanks for watching and commenting.
I am a big fan of your channel. You have some great videos keep them coming.
Thanks Mitchell. Comments like yours keep me going. Thanks for watching and commenting and have a happy new year.
Thanks Darren very informative
Hey Allen. My pleasure - thanks for watching and commenting.
Your animal cams and drone footage are really great. 👌
Thanks Mark. Appreciate your watching and commenting.
Thanks for sharing! I'm in MA going into my first season with an overwintered hive... I'm going to rotate the deeps and watching your videos is helpful in deciding when. Don't want to do it too soon... or too late!
Yes, it’s very important to do it correctly or you will set them back. Key is if there is brood in the bottom, don’t rotate them. Don’t ever split up the brood. If there’s like one brood frame in the bottom, you could combine it into the brood in the top and go ahead and.rotate. Usually hives I rotate will basically be empty on the bottom. I should have another video on this Saturday. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Always fascinated by bees
Hey so Steve. Thanks for watching and commenting
Great intro! I hope we are done with Winter now too. Thanks for sharing all of your processes! Love learning about this from you, Darren!
Thanks HTH! Hopefully done with old man winter. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Looking good buddy! Love watching you mess with those bees. Just happy its through a camera and not in person. LOL. Those things give me the chills I tell ya. Keep up the awesome work my friend!
Hey mr CB. Got your seeds started yet? Take care.
Did you miss that video? LMBO..
Thanks I am going to be doing this soon here in CT.. I run mediums though.
Yeah, need to wait until right before nectar flow. Thanks for watching and commenting.
It's been so warm this winter, are you rotating boxes early this year.
Hi Rick. You know, that's funny, I was just thinking about that. I usually do my rotations in March. As soon as I decide spring will be mild and early, We'll get slammed with a wicked northerly and kill all the fruit tree blooms. lol I don't want to think about it too hard and jinx it. Thanks for watching Rick.
@@JeromeBeeFarm Love your channel. Yep, I live in south west Arkansas and my weather is similar to yours. I did check my boxes today and they already had brood in both upper and lower deeps. They were a little light on honey but were packing away the pollen. I have mountain camp sugar on them, but I am thinking about feeding 1:1 soon.
Hello again you are doing a great job I have not heard a single bee of yours say a bad thing about how you are treating them . I did hear them say the smoke was no problem for them. Lol . A question at the beginning of spring how is the best way to tell if your stores are honey or sugar syrup that was left from feeding in the fall so I could get the syrup out to use the frames for honey. Does the bees cap the sugar syrup or not ?? . Keep up the great work you are helping a lot of people. Thanks
Hi Kathy. I don't know of any way of telling the two apart. If I've fed syrup within the year, I won't harvest a deep frame from the lower boxes. I rarely harvest them anyway. I always put honey supers on in the spring and remove after harvest, so I know there's nothing but honey in them.
After few years of beekeeping(about 10) I can say that rotation weak family(1st )= create slower progress. I try few things when I was young. 1st wait until higher box will be full of brood than rotate. 2nd put all frames to one box and wait to 6-7 frames of brood than give them another one. If u have small amount of hives U can uncapped frames with winter food to stimulate family(works perfect). Generally U have weak hives compare to amount of frames in box. still big thumbs up. Cheers
I try to rotate the weaker ones as well, or reduce them to a single deep. I like to leave them a deep with lots of honey for winter. Doesn’t always work out that way though. Thanks for watching and commenting 👍👍🐝🐝
Rotating brood chamber some times i do some times i don't Mostly depend how old the brood comb getting for me starts getting dark i will rotate it then pull it out top chamber I HATE DARK BROWN COMB and a MUST TO KEEP THE BEES WORKING or you will loose your construction bees! Then the hive can't boom always keep them making comb, brood and honey THATS OUR MAIN JOBS AS A BEEKEEPER working bees are happy bees ! LAZY BEES IS A DEAD OUT
I need to start removing old frames.
Looking good Darren. You sure know a lot about the Bees. I never knew how you rotated them especially for what you keep and what you leave. You did a good job of explaining that at the beginning and talking about the queen excluder. I have always wondered about that part. What is bad about the Drone Comb?
There’s really nothing wrong with drone comb. The queen won’t lay workers in it. It can be a sign the queen will swarm soon.
@@JeromeBeeFarm Oh I see. and is that good that she is going to swarm soon? You are the Bee man Darren haha.
Caney Brach Farm SC most of the time you don’t want your bees to swarm. You want them to stay home and make honey.
@@JeromeBeeFarm I see! Thanks for the information. You need to hit me up sometime about what I need to do to get started with my own hive.
I wonder what percentage of doubles need rotated. I'm sure it variable but is it more than half, or less than half?
It's a high percentage. I'm thinking I rotated all of my doubles this year, but it's not that way every year.
@@JeromeBeeFarm that's good info, thank you.
Top muito bom 👏👏👏
Thank You.
I rubbed wax on some frames and they drew it out as good as the melted wax I brushed on. Friction I guess had enough heat to make it stick.
Hey MM. I’ve heard if that, but never tried it. I have some wax I need to melt and get it on those frames. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Is there a minimum night time temp you’ll look for before reversing the supers?
Hey Steven. I usually rotate in March, so it rarely freezes in March, but sometimes it does. Key is not to split the brood. If there's any brood in the bottom box, don't rotate them. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Where are you located? I'm in central Washington and I am seeing some evergreen pollen, but not cedar yet.
We’re in central Oklahoma. We got a freeze this morning. 29 deg. Thanks for watching and commenting.
So, do you use brood wax on the new ones? The frames that don't have any wax that you mentioned.
If the bees won't draw out a blank plastic frame for whatever reason, yes, I will put melted beeswax on it to encourage them. You can always use foundationless frames with wire or fishing line to strengthen them. I have some just plain beeswax without reinforcement. They work, but you have to be careful not to turn them on their sides or the comb will fall out. Have a great day!
Jerome Bee Farm & Homestead we have done the wire but the base works better. I have brood comb wax that will not be for candles.
What is your plant hardiness zone? We are 5b so not warm enough yet to shift boxes.
Central Oklahoma. Zone 7.
Can you let me know which editing program you use for these videos ?
Sure thing Dan. I use Video Studio Ultimate 2018. It’s a one time purchase. No subscription. Thanks for watching and commenting.
you know what, i really think its best to reduce the entrance a 3 inch opening let see my oil traps got 2 opening 1 1/2" long with a 3 " spacer between the middle of em and 3/8" high Just keep the 3 inch reducer on them I was noticing on these cut outs jeff rooster does the opening is about 2 or 3" long This should help the bees protect the entrance much much better and shouldn't restrict flow of the hive either
Probably. Just don’t want a traffic jam.
👌!!!!
Thanks!
I would have left off the top box until they draw out those new frames.
Hey David. Yeah, I could have. They bounce back pretty fast in the nectar flow. Saving my back some work. If they have less than 3 frames of bees I will usually reduce them. Thanks for watching and commenting.
You know your own area best! 👍
David Walsh maybe. lol. It’s so unpredictable in Oklahoma. It’s supposed to get down to 28 tonight.