I am really enjoying your videos. I did humane pest control and removed many hives years ago but never got into beekeeping. I decided to get back into it and do free hive removals this year, I contacted you about the first queenless hive I ended up with with asking for advice and while I didn't get much I was happy to have you respond. My first hive made a new queen after giving then some brood and I'm now up to 3 hives, I have given away more hives to other beekeepers than what I have kept doing free bee removals. While I call them "free" bee removals I've actually been making good money when people feel like they have to give me something but I only ever ask that they help pay for gas if they really want to give me something. I am happy to be saving bees from being killed by tempo dust, saving homeowners money and helping beekeepers.
I'm a rail fanner,no more trains where I live so I watch them on youtube,some of them are 4 hours long,heck 35 minutes!? but then it is your dime and your time. I knew a beekeeper who died 30 years ago at age 96,he worked with his bees just like you no protection ,hardcore all the way,he had skin like iron,but he was gentle as a lamb,I love your channel,it brings back memories of my dear departed friend,God Bless you.
JP I've been watching your videos for a while now, but just wanna say thanks for helping to educate me on bees and beekeeping! I've had a phobia of bees & wasps ever since I saw that terrible Lifetime movie about killer bees taking over a family's house when I was little. Now I know better. You're so courageous!
TEKaTEK Twitch when I saw the 35 minute mark, I was like, okay, let's see how this goes! I know 35 minutes is a pretty long time in youtube land but I tried my best to keep things moving along. Lots going on in this video, covered over 5 days worth of visits because of everything involved, including a few days of heavy rain. this video was like doing 2-3 in one. if y'all don't mind the extra length I can definitely try to offer longer videos. Thanks again for the feedback!
@@JPthebeeman One of your many skills is your patience. You carefully read every situation, and you plan your approach very carefully. I am trying to learn from those moments when you back away, or take more time, or slow down, etc. The only way to really convey this is through these longer videos. Great stuff!
You are so bold!!! You are Absolutely, Positively, Amazing, Fantastic Super, Excellent, & the MAN THAT SHOULD BE CALLED 4 THE JOB!!!....Absolutely love to see u working it🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🎖🎖🎖🎖🎖👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿
Amazing-amazing-amazing! Just love watching your videos. Because of what you do and teach, I was able to save a bee today. Just one, but I hope to start a hive this year and enjoy them for many years. Thank you!!
Thanks JP loved it like always. Longer videos just means I get a little more of my JP fix. You are one of my favorite shows to watch. How about a follow up sometime showing the colony and if they produced any honey the following year or how they're getting along for their new keepers and that sort of thing?
Always love your videos JP... How cool are these home-owners for wanting to take up beekeeping from this project. You'd be the perfect mentor too. LOL. Thanks again for sharing this video. Hope you have a fantastic day
Hey JP, I used to be afraid of any bee that came near me. Even bumble bees. But watching your vids have me realise how cool they really are. Thanks for the bid, Cb
"Hat tip" to you JP from the Fl. West Coast. I'm a Newbie here & I'm just getting started with Bee Keeping. Really enjoying the videos you've shared & you're calm approach
Charles Rockwell thank you for that Charles. I have good friends in difference parts of Florida, from Pensacola all the way to Boca Raton. You're in a great beekeeping state my friend. Best of luck to you! 👍🐝👍
JP You have so much respect to these fine animals ,I have watched bees swarm and followed them to thier new home and bees would go from one hive to the other .I think they went in to rob it! Iseen bees come out with pollen legs.I SMILE the whole time I watch your vids keep up the love .PEACE
Jp i thank you been watching for a few months i was telling my sun that i would like to have bees at our new 2.5 acres in the woods of central florida we have been clearing well long story short went out today to do some digging with a backhoe and have a friend 3 lots away i have had an old pull behind camper well the last big storm tore. A piece of siding off and low and behold i walked to look at damage and hunny bees have moved in thank you lord building boxes soon .
I really enjoy your videos. It's pretty clear that you love this job and those beautiful creatures. Please keep up the magnificent job and keep posting videos of your newest catches! Bravo from Italy!!!
I can't get over how you don't get stung, although it sounds like you do. We all ways gear up for doing cut outs, in fact we always gear up full stop. it looks so uncool when you get stung infront of a customer while just looking at their colony, even worse when they get stung because they think its safe not to wear protection because we aren't wearing any. we even wear protection for swarms as you never know how long they have been swarming from. You ought to look up Kounis syndrome - its interesting. Also - have had bee keeping friends that carry out pest control, that have had to give up beekeeping because of one too many stings. Just is not worth it for the sake of some simple protection. One friend just got down the ladder before collapsing on the bonnet of a car, was rushed to hospital having had an anaphylactic shock, now carries an epi pen.,
I thank JP for explaining probably why that queen from the second colony got killed. She landed too close t the first colony which killed her. Too bad. This was a very interesting clip.
Could you possibly show how the house was repaired after the removal! When I see the siding lying about, I get the jitters! I can't help thinking that's going to cost a fortune!!!🤣🤣🤣🐝🐝🐝
Hi JP, Keith from AZ. Love your videos, and the music too. More Iron Maiden! On my 2 acres we just had a swarm of Africanized Honey Bees stay in one of my mesquite trees. Luckily they left in one day. I posted a video of it if you have time to check it out. "Killer Bees Invade Arizona". I have watched every one of your videos, and think you are a great guy with a cool job. Have a good one bud.....K
Okay, three and a half years old video, but I am just getting to it. I see your problem in finding the queen. You do not have Yappy or Schawee finding it for you! :-D
+Maidenlord 666 Glad you did. I enjoy painting a full picture of what went on and 5, 6, 7, 10 minutes can't always do that. Thanks for taking the time to view it in its entirety, appreciate that!
Wow that's a lot of bees! I've only recently started getting interested in bees, could someone please tell me why these bees haven't swarmed yet? Is it because there was plenty of room for the colony to continue growing?
Wow this video was pretty wild , however also sad how nature works sometimes with the queen from the swarm being killed by the other colony. It is good to hear though this bee catching story has a happy ending .
Question: at 9:44 in the video, you showed how you put the queen in the cage then put the cage in the frame with the comb, how long do you keep her in there, and why do you cage her to begin with. Love the videos by the way, learning A LOT! Thanks for the great info!!!
Stephen Woodin usually keep her caged 3-4 days. Cage her in case the colony decides to abandon their new set up. If so they must come back as she's important to their survival.
That was a complicated catch brother...at least to me. Trying to figure out the queen situation takes a real pro. We're not worthy! We're not worthy! Cheers! Chris.
So the whole time you are gathering up the two colonies of bees are you not getting stung or anything like that? Or are you just use to getting stung if there were ever such a thing ? Appreciate your videos sir. And would you think that a person that is diabetic could do that on the side? Thanks again for sharing your knowledge
It is obvious how deeply you respect and care for your bees- which is lovely to see, but I’m worried about you! That is why I asked about smoking the hell out of them. Wouldn’t that make it safer for you? Would it hurt the bees?
Don’t understand why you left the first big colony so close to the second small colony or did not wait to be able to take away the first big colony further away before attempting to do the second smaller colony???
+LongBinh70 You know, that's one heck of a question & I have no answer for you. Really never paid attention to the white patch until you pointed it out. The people who hired me I can assure you did not try spraying them as they were a group of Tulane University professors who had me remove the colony & move it to one of their backyards so that person could manage the hive. Perhaps the person who owned the building I removed the colony from did something in the past. Believe it or not many building owners try spraying an over the counter product on a colony which practically amounts to doing hardly anything to the colony. Most products have a very short residual life. Most all liquid products breakdown within 48 hours or even less than that, The sun is the main culprit in that respect.
I love your video's, I'm new to beekeeping, caught my first swarm this year and have learned a lot from your instructional video's. What kind of camera do you use?
+cityhawk80 great question! Ive removed a few colonies that I believe had darn near or even slightly more than 100,000 bees. One was in a town called Kenilworth, Louisiana in an old building that was being torn down. The building had 10' ceilings & 3 bee colonies. The big one was contained in 3 wall sections.
JP, in regards to bees joining another colony: I caught a swarm a week ago on July second that was only a pound of bees without a queen. It's too late to give them a queen in Wisconsin because they'll never be able to build a hive up and make it through winter. The old adage: A swarm in July ain't worth a fly. Is it worth trying to join them to another existing hive (a super productive swarm I caught four weeks ago) or does that just cause too many problems? I have never attempted that before. Your advice is much appreciated. Thanks, Ron
Ron Beatty D.V.M. if you want to combine them do a newspaper combine with the queenlless colony on top. If you had a queen to give them & at least 3 frames of capped brood you could build them up quickly but they'd likely be better off in a nuc, just not sure if they'd make it though in a single nuc. If you had them in a single nuc with another with five frames of honey on top, they just might survive.
JPthebeeman Do you find that combining colonies often doesn't work well because of fighting and/or bee stress? I take it you prefer to requeen for that reason, is that right? Thanks being gracious!
On the contrary Ron, I often combine colonies & they do well with it. Remember this: a smaller queen right colony will yield to a larger queenless colony.
JPthebeeman The scenario I described above: I have a small queenless swarm/colony I'd like to attach to a successful large queen-right colony. I did it with a screen between the hives for 4 days. I removed the screen late in the afternoon and the next morning I saw a couple hundred dead bees in front of the hive. The small swarm/colony was about 2,000, so the casualties are not bad. The successful established swarm colony is about 20,000. They could have annihilated the the smaller group if they wanted to do it. I still see a bit of fighting, but It seems to have settled down. No new dead today which is day two after introduction.
I am really enjoying your videos. I did humane pest control and removed many hives years ago but never got into beekeeping. I decided to get back into it and do free hive removals this year, I contacted you about the first queenless hive I ended up with with asking for advice and while I didn't get much I was happy to have you respond. My first hive made a new queen after giving then some brood and I'm now up to 3 hives, I have given away more hives to other beekeepers than what I have kept doing free bee removals. While I call them "free" bee removals I've actually been making good money when people feel like they have to give me something but I only ever ask that they help pay for gas if they really want to give me something.
I am happy to be saving bees from being killed by tempo dust, saving homeowners money and helping beekeepers.
I'm a rail fanner,no more trains where I live so I watch them on youtube,some of them are 4 hours long,heck 35 minutes!? but then it is your dime and your time.
I knew a beekeeper who died 30 years ago at age 96,he worked with his bees just like you no protection ,hardcore all the way,he had skin like iron,but he was gentle as a lamb,I love your channel,it brings back memories of my dear departed friend,God Bless you.
Roberta Williamson 👍✌️🐝
JP you are the reason I got into beekeeping and when I'm stressed I go to my bee yard and just sit and think
Casey Tuttle Awwwwwww, glad to hear it Casey & aren't bees great stress relievers!
This is one of your best videos, JP. So many unusual things happening here. As you said, "very cool." Thanks for sharing!
great video JP! Loved this! What a fun filled and exciting day for you, thanks for taking us along!
JP We are going to have to get you a Sherlock Holmes hat & pipe to wear while you are solving these mysteries. :)
David Harris Lol David
JP I've been watching your videos for a while now, but just wanna say thanks for helping to educate me on bees and beekeeping! I've had a phobia of bees & wasps ever since I saw that terrible Lifetime movie about killer bees taking over a family's house when I was little. Now I know better. You're so courageous!
That was awesome! Love the extra length with the commentary to go with it, please keep them coming!
jacki comber you got it Ms Jacki!
When I saw that 35 min on the bottom left, I was like YES
TEKaTEK Twitch when I saw the 35 minute mark, I was like, okay, let's see how this goes! I know 35 minutes is a pretty long time in youtube land but I tried my best to keep things moving along. Lots going on in this video, covered over 5 days worth of visits because of everything involved, including a few days of heavy rain. this video was like doing 2-3 in one. if y'all don't mind the extra length I can definitely try to offer longer videos. Thanks again for the feedback!
JPthebeeman Longer videos = more knowledge for the novice beekeepers such as myself. May God bless you and yours.
Jimmy Brooks thanks Jimmy!
@@JPthebeeman I'm great with longer videos!
@@JPthebeeman One of your many skills is your patience. You carefully read every situation, and you plan your approach very carefully. I am trying to learn from those moments when you back away, or take more time, or slow down, etc. The only way to really convey this is through these longer videos. Great stuff!
i loved the ending on this one , loved how you added how the colony was doing and how it went . AMAZING
Blondie Smith thanks Blondie!
You are so bold!!! You are Absolutely, Positively, Amazing, Fantastic Super, Excellent, & the MAN THAT SHOULD BE CALLED 4 THE JOB!!!....Absolutely love to see u working it🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🎖🎖🎖🎖🎖👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿
They are very relaxing I started with 4 hives I now have 600
Wowww!!!Super Fantastic 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🎖🎖🎖🎖🎖🎖🎖👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Amazing-amazing-amazing! Just love watching your videos. Because of what you do and teach, I was able to save a bee today. Just one, but I hope to start a hive this year and enjoy them for many years. Thank you!!
+Susie Q Oh, that is just wonderful, thanks for your feedback!
Here I've been trying to catch swarms for nearly ten years and only caught my first one last year. And here you are with them coming at you like this.
I didn't notice the intro till now . It is perfect short and to the point.
Thanks JP loved it like always. Longer videos just means I get a little more of my JP fix. You are one of my favorite shows to watch. How about a follow up sometime showing the colony and if they produced any honey the following year or how they're getting along for their new keepers and that sort of thing?
wv mike I'll see what I can do Mike!
Wow - that was one massive colony.
Great removal and great video. 👍🏼😊
I have a great daytoo now I got watch you do your family of bee thing. Love it.Joan
Loved the longer video. Shows how unique each situation is and how you have to be flexible to get the best outcome for the bees.
Balconygarden each one is unique in their own way which makes it challenging & fun! Thanks for your feedback!
Always love your videos JP... How cool are these home-owners for wanting to take up beekeeping from this project. You'd be the perfect mentor too. LOL. Thanks again for sharing this video. Hope you have a fantastic day
Tim Huffman thank you Tim, you'd be surprised at how many want to take up the hobby!
Hey JP,
I used to be afraid of any bee that came near me. Even bumble bees. But watching your vids have me realise how cool they really are. Thanks for the bid,
Cb
Ciaran Broderick glad to hear it!
Always like your videos. I would have to say that was pretty cool that you were there when they swarmed! Thanks for the video!!
bigred74699 thanks for watching!
Great video, JP! Lots if good info and different scenarios in this one. Thanks for posting.
Peggy King you're quite welcome Peggy! Thanks for your feedback!
"Hat tip" to you JP from the Fl. West Coast. I'm a Newbie here & I'm just getting started with Bee Keeping. Really enjoying the videos you've shared & you're calm approach
Charles Rockwell thank you for that Charles. I have good friends in difference parts of Florida, from Pensacola all the way to Boca Raton. You're in a great beekeeping state my friend. Best of luck to you! 👍🐝👍
you post the best stuff JP keep it up.You're the bee man lol
Awesome video!!! The nuc---WOW! Love the happy ending. You do great work!
I watch You, Dirt Rooster, Mr. Ed Crazy Russian, and like you all, by you have got the best music selections. Thanks.
Digging ur vids. . I am a bee keeper to. I've learned alot from you...
JP You have so much respect to these fine animals ,I have watched bees swarm and followed them to thier new home and bees would go from one hive to the other .I think they went in to rob it! Iseen bees come out with pollen legs.I SMILE the whole time I watch your vids keep up the love .PEACE
glenn stonehouse thank you Glenn!
love your videos man, I used to be so afraid of bees but now after watching most of your videos I realize that most bees are actually really nice.
Jp i thank you been watching for a few months i was telling my sun that i would like to have bees at our new 2.5 acres in the woods of central florida we have been clearing well long story short went out today to do some digging with a backhoe and have a friend 3 lots away i have had an old pull behind camper well the last big storm tore. A piece of siding off and low and behold i walked to look at damage and hunny bees have moved in thank you lord building boxes soon .
That is massive. Another great show.
Great video - kept my attention the whole time. Loved it!
I really enjoy your videos. It's pretty clear that you love this job and those beautiful creatures. Please keep up the magnificent job and keep posting videos of your newest catches! Bravo from Italy!!!
I can't get over how you don't get stung, although it sounds like you do.
We all ways gear up for doing cut outs, in fact we always gear up full stop. it looks so uncool when you get stung infront of a customer while just looking at their colony, even worse when they get stung because they think its safe not to wear protection because we aren't wearing any. we even wear protection for swarms as you never know how long they have been swarming from.
You ought to look up Kounis syndrome - its interesting.
Also - have had bee keeping friends that carry out pest control, that have had to give up beekeeping because of one too many stings. Just is not worth it for the sake of some simple protection. One friend just got down the ladder before collapsing on the bonnet of a car, was rushed to hospital having had an anaphylactic shock, now carries an epi pen.,
Those girls were so hungry they ate the tar paper too. lol
Love the green anole lizard in the video at 33.48 mins....just sitting there on what looks like an air conditioner overflow line...(top left).
I thank JP for explaining probably why that queen from the second colony got killed. She landed too close t the first colony which killed her. Too bad. This was a very interesting clip.
Great video .Thanks JP.
***** thanks mike! You see that pic of the fish & frog legs Schawee put up on Facebook, that rotten dog! ::-))
2 min. into the video. Every time i see you work i'm amazed..........
Your videos are so peaceful to watch
FancyDerp thank you!
It's time for some new siding!
Theres that music again, lol off goes my speaker, lol I just love J P but the music makes my ears hurt , lol great job J P, see ya next video,,,
Could you possibly show how the house was repaired after the removal! When I see the siding lying about, I get the jitters! I can't help thinking that's going to cost a fortune!!!🤣🤣🤣🐝🐝🐝
Hi JP, Keith from AZ. Love your videos, and the music too. More Iron Maiden! On my 2 acres we just had a swarm of Africanized Honey Bees stay in one of my mesquite trees. Luckily they left in one day. I posted a video of it if you have time to check it out. "Killer Bees Invade Arizona". I have watched every one of your videos, and think you are a great guy with a cool job. Have a good one bud.....K
Amazing how all those bees fit into an itty bitty box- if you had queens you could get a ton of nucs out of the deal
Another great video! Thanks JP.
oldcaptainrusty thanks for watching!
Well this is a good video made me look at bees different an actually like when u find the queen 👑, till a new one 😘🥰
love the longer videos! even with the sped up footage.
More long videos coming!
YAY!! LOL!😃
:-)
a hammer, a cats paw an a flatbar . a wiff o' pine needles and hes off to work .
Wow! Busy bees! Busy you! PandamoniumLoving every minute of it!
she kinda looked like a little girl! very pretty queen though. keep up the good work JP your awesome!
That was a very interesting vid mate. Nice bit of work there in the end.
I hope that dog gets a nice bite of honeycomb.
The bee whisperer!
Bees have amazing cent nature at it's best
Great video I loved the longer version. Hey, I hope you managed to put the building back together for Miss Jane? 😂😂😂👌🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
Major work on that one JP!
That was a marathon, but enjoyable.
Okay, three and a half years old video, but I am just getting to it.
I see your problem in finding the queen. You do not have Yappy or Schawee finding it for you! :-D
I really liked how long this video was
+Maidenlord 666 Glad you did. I enjoy painting a full picture of what went on and 5, 6, 7, 10 minutes can't always do that. Thanks for taking the time to view it in its entirety, appreciate that!
April 25th. Anzac day here in Australia. Lol. 👍👍👍👍👍🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺
Cool video!
Wow that's a lot of bees! I've only recently started getting interested in bees, could someone please tell me why these bees haven't swarmed yet? Is it because there was plenty of room for the colony to continue growing?
dashn64 I guarantee you that colony had swarmed some time in the past. Its inevitable really.
Wow this video was pretty wild , however also sad how nature works sometimes with the queen from the swarm being killed by the other colony. It is good to hear though this bee catching story has a happy ending .
Right on brother 👍🏼🤠🇨🇦
Wow first video J P has blue jeans on, lol
This would be an excellent time to show us, where the honey, the brude etc.....is at within the hive.
Question: at 9:44 in the video, you showed how you put the queen in the cage then put the cage in the frame with the comb, how long do you keep her in there, and why do you cage her to begin with.
Love the videos by the way, learning A LOT! Thanks for the great info!!!
Stephen Woodin usually keep her caged 3-4 days. Cage her in case the colony decides to abandon their new set up. If so they must come back as she's important to their survival.
great video as always
tim beaty thanks Tim!
any time brother
That was a complicated catch brother...at least to me. Trying to figure out the queen situation takes a real pro. We're not worthy! We're not worthy! Cheers! Chris.
I wonder .. whey alga didn't stick to the Wood shingles from the bees side
Good job
April 25th my Birthday, its almost here again.
So the whole time you are gathering up the two colonies of bees are you not getting stung or anything like that? Or are you just use to getting stung if there were ever such a thing ? Appreciate your videos sir. And would you think that a person that is diabetic could do that on the side? Thanks again for sharing your knowledge
It is obvious how deeply you respect and care for your bees- which is lovely to see, but I’m worried about you! That is why I asked about smoking the hell out of them. Wouldn’t that make it safer for you? Would it hurt the bees?
The picture at the end is hilarious.
628DirtRooster just ran across it & found it totally fitting to use :-) Hey, enjoy your videos as well brother!
JPthebeeman Thanks bro.
welcome!
How do you determine whether to put the rescued bees in a deep hive box or nuc? Fascinating stuff by the way!
Don’t understand why you left the first big colony so close to the second small colony or did not wait to be able to take away the first big colony further away before attempting to do the second smaller colony???
Big hive
Lots of honey
Name of music please?! So dreamy at 16 mins in.
I don’t recall the name of the song. It’s from TH-cam’s free music library in creator studio.
JP, when you demo a wall like that to get to the hive, do you in your contract, with the customer, effect repairs or is that up to the home owner?
She a big queen
What is the average stings per hive removal, and what is the effect on a person over a long period????
Great video. Could you have stapled a piece of black poly over the hive instead of using the boards?
GotBees didn't have any with me & a rain storm was heading our way fast! Had to act quickly!
ANZAC Day
Who repairs the structural damage?
Ok. I have to ask. Just how many hives do u have now?
Another goodin' JP...how many bees do you guess were in the big colony?? 30,000?
MrAirman812 Probably like 20, 000 -25,000
Wow, cool one
WOW.... THATS INCREDABLE..2016.
that was like an intense war
Super cool
Thank you! What did you say about robbing while you were holding the queen? Were the workers attacking the queen?
a horsley the queen from the smaller hive went airborne, landed in front of the big hive which proceeded to ball & kill her. 🙁
Do you run into aggressive hives?
Do U charge homeowners to remove BEES from their homes , if so , how do U charge ? I need an extra income . Thanks . Have a great new removal .
Was the white patch on the siding from an attempt to spray them out before you were called?
+LongBinh70 You know, that's one heck of a question & I have no answer for you. Really never paid attention to the white patch until you pointed it out. The people who hired me I can assure you did not try spraying them as they were a group of Tulane University professors who had me remove the colony & move it to one of their backyards so that person could manage the hive.
Perhaps the person who owned the building I removed the colony from did something in the past.
Believe it or not many building owners try spraying an over the counter product on a colony which practically amounts to doing hardly anything to the colony. Most products have a very short residual life. Most all liquid products breakdown within 48 hours or even less than that, The sun is the main culprit in that respect.
I love your video's, I'm new to beekeeping, caught my first swarm this year and have learned a lot from your instructional video's. What kind of camera do you use?
Randy Rayfield its a Sony HandyCam & I film in 720p. Of all the cameras I've used I prefer Sony
What's the biggest colony you've seen with 1 queen?
+cityhawk80 great question! Ive removed a few colonies that I believe had darn near or even slightly more than 100,000 bees. One was in a town called Kenilworth, Louisiana in an old building that was being torn down. The building had 10' ceilings & 3 bee colonies. The big one was contained in 3 wall sections.
JP, in regards to bees joining another colony: I caught a swarm a week ago on July second that was only a pound of bees without a queen. It's too late to give them a queen in Wisconsin because they'll never be able to build a hive up and make it through winter. The old adage: A swarm in July ain't worth a fly. Is it worth trying to join them to another existing hive (a super productive swarm I caught four weeks ago) or does that just cause too many problems? I have never attempted that before. Your advice is much appreciated. Thanks, Ron
Ron Beatty D.V.M. if you want to combine them do a newspaper combine with the queenlless colony on top. If you had a queen to give them & at least 3 frames of capped brood you could build them up quickly but they'd likely be better off in a nuc, just not sure if they'd make it though in a single nuc. If you had them in a single nuc with another with five frames of honey on top, they just might survive.
JPthebeeman Do you find that combining colonies often doesn't work well because of fighting and/or bee stress? I take it you prefer to requeen for that reason, is that right? Thanks being gracious!
On the contrary Ron, I often combine colonies & they do well with it. Remember this: a smaller queen right colony will yield to a larger queenless colony.
JPthebeeman The scenario I described above: I have a small queenless swarm/colony I'd like to attach to a successful large queen-right colony. I did it with a screen between the hives for 4 days. I removed the screen late in the afternoon and the next morning I saw a couple hundred dead bees in front of the hive. The small swarm/colony was about 2,000, so the casualties are not bad. The successful established swarm colony is about 20,000. They could have annihilated the the smaller group if they wanted to do it. I still see a bit of fighting, but It seems to have settled down. No new dead today which is day two after introduction.
Its always a gamble introducing a smaller queenlles colony with a much larger queen right colony but sometimes combining is the best option.