Thanks friend for join in on our new adventure of becoming bee keepers! We are so excited and understand it is a huge responsibility being the ones in charge of caring for them. Thanks for all your tips! We are members of our local bee association which has been a huge help to us. I wish you the BEST weekend and can't wait to see you next time - Becky and Josh
Hi lovely lady! :D Just a tip...don't eat bananas before interacting with the bees...it smells like you squished bees to the bees and they may attack. :D God bless you and your wonderful family. Have an awesome day my fabulous friend! :D
@@BigRedNavyChick my neice says the same thing and she says not to wear perfume around them either as it can cause them to attack based on the chemicals involved in the perfume. Best of luck Becky and Josh. Can't wait to see how the beekeeping and honey resources come out. Love home grown honey from private beehives. So much better than the store bought stuff.
OMG!!! you are GOD's little helpers on Earth trying to help save this planet!!! Honey Bees are needed to keep this planet alive!!!! LOVE YOU SOOOO MUCH!!! THANK YOU! ....please beware of wild animals and their acute sense of smell to honey....maybe put them in the enlcosement where you have the deer fence....please be careful!!
I'm an experienced beekeeper! Here are my tips: -if you wear a baseball hat inside of your veil, it keeps the mesh off of your face -if you see a lot of drone comb or queen cells, that could be a sign that they are getting ready to swarm. you can crush the queen cells and drone comb with your hive tool and that will help signal to them not to swarm. -There is an organic method for controlling verroa mites using drone comb. you can get a green drone frame and put it in with the brood. wait a couple of weeks until they fill it with larvae and cap it, then take the frame out and put it in your freezer to kill the larvae. verroa mites prefer to lay their eggs on drone larvae, so this is basically like making a trap crop inside the beehive. -be sure to put a mouse guard on in the winter! i have had several colonies killed by mice. -Always use wooden frames with the black plastic foundation. it looks like the frames josh added didnt have foundation. while the bees might build comb in between an empty frame, that comb can easily fall out when you are doing your inspection if there is no foundation. Also, the wood frames are better than plastic because the plastic frames have little cracks that hive mites like to hide in. Black foundation is easier to see the eggs on than the yellow foundation -When you add a new frame, it helps to take extra wax from cleaning the frames and rub it onto the foundation. The girls will be more likely to build the comb ON the frame instead of getting creative! It also helps to spray down new frames with sugar water so to attract the ladies to it. -Good job cleaning the tops of your frames! :) -Make sure your frames are evenly spaced. They need a certain amount of room to crawl around and build comb. an extra 1/4 inch makes a big difference to a little bee! -You can catch swarms easily by setting out an empty hive and putting lemongrass oil at the entrance! I did that this year and it worked amazing! Can't wait to see your beekeeping adventures! It's a lot like gardening; hard work but a lot of fun!
A GREAT YT channel to follow is "Just Alex". A very fine young man who's THOROUGHLY documented his recent beekeeping adventure and his videos are not only entertaining but extremely informative regarding all he learns along the way about feeding, care & moving them but also about the diseases they're prone to and how to mitigate them.
Thats what I also wrote, the video from Alex about his first year is great. From what you need to do to become a beekeeper , to what you need and what the cost was. And I like that he did year 2 and 3 also. Being part of the local Bee Assoziation is a must here in germany and you also get the bee insurance very cheap. Beside that you have your mentor and always help. You can also use the equipment or get a starter bee hive. But here you have the first year where you have to make your first part of the Beekeeper’s license. Every beehive must be registered with the veterinary office and insured, and bees are not allowed to be kept everywhere. In Germany, it is not easy or cheap to keep bees.
I am also a seasoned beekeeper. A couple additional thoughts/tips: 1. Don’t stand in front of the hive, you are in their flight path 2. It appears you are in a fairly rural area and you might have bears. I suggest you ratchet strap your hives and consider an electric fence. I lived in suburbia on a half acre lot and never thought I would have bear problems. He hit my hives three times! Once they find them, they will be back. 3. Each day, usually during mid day the newly hatched bees will take an orientation flight. You will see hundreds of bees circling around their hive. Don’t panic, this is normal. 4. This is late in the season for starting a new colony. Don’t be so anxious to take honey from them the first year. They will need their own stores of honey for the winter. 5. Beekeeping is not a cheap hobby and you will have many discouraging things happen. It takes at least three years to gain the knowledge you need to manage your colonies. 5. Bees will be bees, they will do what they want. I wish you the best of luck. The favorite part of beekeeping was sitting on my deck in the morning and watching them emerge from their hive into the sunlight. It was like watching stars! My favorite beekeeper to learn from is Frederick Dunn on youtube. Wishing you lots of luck! Oh, one more thing. Flowers and clover are great but the bees get the bulk of their pollen and nectar from the trees blooming in the Spring.
In our area, we would definitely have to consider the wildlife. The evening before trash pickup, a black bear roams our neighborhood. Neighbors have spotted it on their security cameras. The hives I have seen on farms a bit further out do have an electric fence enclosure.
He can put a magnet in his pocket which will allow him to just hang to give tool on the outside of his pants instead of putting it back in his pocket each time.
I was at work a few days ago and one of our lot people told me that there was a swarm in one of our trees. I immediately went outside to look. Sure enough there was a wild swarm in a tree. I immediately called a local beekeeper. He was at our store within 15 minutes. It was great watching him gather the swarm and take them away to a safe place to start a new colony.
Becky, Jason on Cog Hill Farms plants African Blue Basil for his honey bees 🐝,They have several hives , and actually sell their honey, and have their own coffee they sell too
One tip...the way your hives are set up the screen bottom board (SBB) isn't providing any ventilation. If it's hot in your area you'll need to let the screen vent to air instead of sitting on solid board. I have bees in Florida & use a SBB. Even still, if it's really hot, the bees will hang out in front of the hive to keep the colony from overheating.
I have a bee joke: A guy walks in to a store and asks for 12 bees so the store keeper brings the bees and the guy says hey there are 13 bees in here, the store keeper responds its beecause the 13th bee is a freebie
Just had to tell you that my 5 year old grandson loves your videos! The first video he saw was your pumpkin harvest. He asks to watch the pumpkin lady videos 😁
So glad you have calm bees. Just be aware that even the calmest bees have bad days. To be safe, Josh would be wise to put his suit legs over his boots. Those little hummers can work their way into boots and before you know it - you have sore ankles 😬
I put out little saucers of water for the neighbor’s beehives. I have a pond and a birdbath but they seem to prefer the shallow water. So fun to watch. Looking forward to bee updates 👍
My husband and I are attending one of the best bee conferences in January 2025. There will be bee keepers there from all over the world. North American Honey Bee Expo in Louisville KY.
So exciting! You and @meggrowsplants also just started beekeeping. I’ve been having so much fun watching and learning from you and her! Thanks for sharing!!
Hello from a fellow beekeeper in the UK. Brassica flowers are popular with my bees and dandelions are also a good source. My tip would be to lose the thick leather gloves. I use washing up gloves. They are thinner so you have better movement and are easily sterilised to stop disease spread. Bonus is they can be used multiple times and less likely to squash bees. Enjoy the journey, it's addictive
Always a good idea to let your closest neighbors know you have bees, in case of a emergency!! Awsome job Josh! Honey I can see Becky wheel turning! Congratulations!
My grandpa was a bee keeper for years he taught all us grandchildren a lot the one thing I really remember was he taught us about robbing scouts from other hives will look for crevices to get in, so I suggest you ask about it from a local bee keeper because its been awhile since I have been around bee hives plus im sure each region is different. You will enjoy the delicious honey the taste is incredible.
My yard has some clover patches in it. While the clover is flowering, I love to mow around the patches so I get to watch the bees that visit the clover
Hi, I just got excited with this comment and went back on the video to try to find it but couldn't see it (sleepy and bout to go to sleep) hahahaha Could you please tell me the minute in the video to check it out tomorrow? I know my curiosity won't let me rest until I see it too hahaha Thank you beforehand 😊
The best thing you can do is talk to bee keepers that have been in it for years. Read, study. You can ask 20 beekeepers a question and you will get 20 different answers. We have been at it for 20 plus years. Keep in mind. Bees know what to do!!
Sunflowers too. They don't get a whole lot of nectar but the pollen is used as a "medicine" for the brood. Also high in nutrients. The seeds she has is great to plant but have little use for the bees. Coreopsis, daisies, clover are also good. There best choices are flowering trees. More bang for the buck. Very little is actually gotten from flowers on the ground.
They should be calm this time of year but when the nectar flow dries up they can get much more testy. There is lots to learn. The beekeeping joke is if you ask 10 beekeepers how to do something you will get 11 different answers. It's a balance trial and error, expert opinion, and trusting your own instinct. Get a mentor if you can through your local club. My only other suggestion is to feed the bees until they draw out comb. 1:1 sugar water with a bit of ACV.
So exciting. People don't understand how important bees are to our environment. Josh sure looks official😂. They're going to have a field day with all your flowers. Like hummingbirds,, bees love trumpet-like flowers. Are the hives secured to the bench they're on so not to get blown over from wind?
OMGosh you are going to LOVE having your own honey. And the nutritional benefits you’ll get from your own “local” honey is even better. And the ideas are endless, as I discovered. Wax candles are just one extra. We’re excited for you! Congratulations ❤️and love from SoCal.
Louud hums from the hive means they are agitated. They need time to calm down. Usually we move hives in the evening to a new location. They will wake up in the morning look around to get their bearings and then take off. 25 ft around the bee hives, the guard bees won't tolerate intruders. Foraging bees are older and not aggressive if you have a docile queen. They are interested only in collecting pollen and honey. In summer you should have a shallow tray of water with some flat pebbles for them and other insects to get a drink. If you move the hive a couple of feet they will look for where the hive was. The bees from one hive will not be allowed in the other, they will be treated as robbers.
Hello Becky, I am on my 2nd year of beekeeping. So glad to see you and Josh getting into beekeeping. It is a lot of work but so cool to see cool. I truly love doing it. The one suggestion I could make is if you have a local bee association near you to join. They are so helpful when you have questions or need help if you have any problems. Good luck on your new adventure
U do right by planting flower in a chaos mindset 😁 make sure there r early flowers (spring) bulbs around the hives for when they wake up! Crocus, snowdrop etc.
I love it that y'all are starting with bees and have planted a chaos flower garden right outside their door. The biggest tip I could give is if those empty frames Josh put in don't have guide wires, there may be a real headache when he next inspects the hive. TBF, even with guide wires, sometimes the comb is too soft to stay on them, so having some foundation (usually a textured plastic dipped in beeswax) in those frames is a great way to set them up. Otherwise, I would say to make sure you have a solid baseboard for cooler weather, along with mouse guards to help keep those critters OUT. :)
I have 3 flow hives at my inner suburban home in Melbourne Australia, our weather is mild and the bees can work all year round. It can take up to 2-3 years to establish a healthy calm hive. Swarming can happen if you don’t understand husbandry of bees, this can be a learning curve. I love my bees 🐝 ❤.
I’m running 30 colonies right now on my way to 100. Couple things i noticed. The frames in the first hive that you added did not look like they had a starter strip on them and no foundation. The potential problem is the bees are going to build rouge comb. With out at least a starter strip they are going to build perpendicular to the frames gluing them together and generally creating a mess. It looked like you only put 8 frames in the first colony and only the 5 from the nuc in the second. Those are 10 frame brood boxes and I would encourage you to put 10 frames in there as quick as possible. If not the bees will build comb in the empty space and again be a huge mess. Don’t get lulled into a false sense of security with how calm the bees are right now. They are a very tiny colony right now and do not have a lot of foraging and guard bees but trust me by the time they fill that 10 frame brood box you won’t be standing there filming with out protective gear 😁 you’ll also need it on when mowing and cleaning up around the hives. Do you best not to stand in front of the hive. That is the bee flight path and a sure way to get stung. The bees tend to become more aggressive during the dearth and in the late fall. Those are the times when resources are slim and other bees are trying to rob the hives. Historically you do not get honey from a first year colony as you want to leave what they are able to gather for them to survive over winter but if you have an over abundance of resources in your area and they are able to grow fast enough you might get some frames but I’d be surprised if they even touch the flow frames. I’ve heard it can be a challenge to get them to go into the plastic flow frames. I HIGHLY recommend Fredrick Dunn’s YT channel The Way to Bee. An exceptional source of information and education. Good luck and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Just for future reference, concrete block are designed to be used with their holes facing up. That gives them the greatest strength. In your application weight shouldn’t be an issue.
Josh is a natural. He is calm and Zen around the bees. Bees respond well to that kind of energy. I adore your set up...wishing you the best of luck with your bees.
We had a hive move in and start a home on our root seller. A friend who has bees came and removed them. It was very interesting to watch and learn some things about bees.
Just remember that what flower you have next to the 🐝 is what it well taste like . In California in the Bay area we have same of the best honey I have ever had.
It was fall and a local bee keeper was bringing his hives off the canola fields he had stopped for gas at our local gas station and when he left some of his bees stayed behind. The clerk was so upset she called him saying he had to come back and get the bees. We had a good laugh at the coffee shop at the whole situation, trying to picture how the bee keeper would ",call the missing bees". Was it going to be here bee come or maybe calling treat treat while holding a bunch of flowers! Enjoy your new addition to the homestead and btw he never came back for his wayward bees!
Make sure you have a water source for them. Im not familiar with bee keeping, but I had my swimming pool invaded by bees for a month. We contacted some bee keepers, and they said that there probably wasn't a water source where the hives were at.
My local bee keeper and monarch butterfly rescuer swears by a wildflower mix he gets on eBay. Can’t beat the price and I’ve seen it in bloom in his yard. Search for 700 SEEDS PER PACKAGE HONEY BEE 31 DIFFERENT VARIETY WILDFLOWER SEED MIX. He planted it in the “hell strip” next to his sidewalk, along with native milkweed for the monarchs, and it’s gorgeous.
There is so many great comments that a new beekeeper can learn from. One thing I noticed right away is where the hives are located. Right next to your driveway may not be the best location. A little away from frequently traveled areas will be less convenient to the keeper but safer for people passing by.
Good luck on your new adventure! A friend of mine have started their beekeeping adventure some ten years ago. In fact, he found a bee colony in the bell tower ( we ring church bells at our local church ) and has relocated them to his house. They been thriving there for 5 years now, he and his wife haven’t looked back.
If you want sweet smelling and tasting honey grow sweet smelling flowers. The honey takes on a hint of taste of the flower pollen they bring back. Grow some chamomile, lavender, freesia, cleome, iris etc. You may want to think of a way to shade the hives if it gets really hot.
A good tip. Never work around or near the bee hives on a cloudy or rainy day. There's a very high chance you will get stung. Bees like the sun cause that's how they navigate.
Becky just a little heads up don’t get discouraged if your flow hive takes a while to get set up…you have to have a pretty strong flow for the bees to be able to draw out the flow combs..where we are her in Florida we don’t have a flow that string enough for the bees to really make comb honey or a flow hive…but we still got over 1200lbs of honey this year, so just because you can’t draw out a Flow hive doesn’t meant you can’t have honey and a normal Langstroth hive of frames and get plenty of honey!!
Becky, My husband hauls Bee's from one location to another. We're raising our 11 yr old grandson and in the summer he goes with and helps. He looks adorable in his bee suit
Hello from Cork Ireland thank you so much Josh for doing this and taking us all along with you 😊 i know know youre the shy quiet type of man who doesn't like to be in front of the camera, so to do this for us just means the world! Thank you, you sweet man ❤❤❤
My dad was a bee keeper and we loved it. We love bees and all they do for us. We got so used to them that we didn't bother to suit up. We planted clover for the bees. Looking forward to honey harvest
Josh & Becky, I am so excited To see more about the bees --This is so cool ! Josh you look like a Seasoned beekeeper in your bee suit . I am so happy I feel like I'm right there to witnesses... Happy Bee Keeping!
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤😊😊😊 have Josh give the hives a name and paint it in different colors on the front of the hives, so the bee's know which hives they live in.... they can get confused on which hives they belong to.....I have watched a lot of bee keepers and they All say The same thing...
I know nothing about bee keeping, but since I was a little girl, I have been fascinated with honeybees. They are part of God's amazing creation! I have read many of your subscriber's comments. What a treasure trove of keen insight and helpful information they provide! I wish you much success as beekeepers. It's an ambitious undertaking but should be rewarding and enjoyable as well.
Bees can find their way to the entrance easily because there are bees fanning their wings to help other bees find their way. There’s only two tips I suggest are best to follow. 1. Research cross contamination. You never want to cross contaminate. American Foul Brood is the biggest reason and it would be best to read up on that too. 2. The honey from flow hives have a shorter shelf life because you’re combing nectar from uncapped cells with honey from capped cells.
Thanks friend for join in on our new adventure of becoming bee keepers! We are so excited and understand it is a huge responsibility being the ones in charge of caring for them. Thanks for all your tips! We are members of our local bee association which has been a huge help to us. I wish you the BEST weekend and can't wait to see you next time - Becky and Josh
Hi lovely lady! :D
Just a tip...don't eat bananas before interacting with the bees...it smells like you squished bees to the bees and they may attack. :D
God bless you and your wonderful family. Have an awesome day my fabulous friend! :D
My husband says I always chaos gardening. No matter what I am planning and planting.
@@BigRedNavyChick my neice says the same thing and she says not to wear perfume around them either as it can cause them to attack based on the chemicals involved in the perfume. Best of luck Becky and Josh. Can't wait to see how the beekeeping and honey resources come out. Love home grown honey from private beehives. So much better than the store bought stuff.
I still think clover is a better choice. Perhaps next year. Clover honey, IMO, tastes so much better than flower honey.
OMG!!! you are GOD's little helpers on Earth trying to help save this planet!!! Honey Bees are needed to keep this planet alive!!!! LOVE YOU SOOOO MUCH!!! THANK YOU!
....please beware of wild animals and their acute sense of smell to honey....maybe put them in the enlcosement where you have the deer fence....please be careful!!
I'm an experienced beekeeper! Here are my tips:
-if you wear a baseball hat inside of your veil, it keeps the mesh off of your face
-if you see a lot of drone comb or queen cells, that could be a sign that they are getting ready to swarm. you can crush the queen cells and drone comb with your hive tool and that will help signal to them not to swarm.
-There is an organic method for controlling verroa mites using drone comb. you can get a green drone frame and put it in with the brood. wait a couple of weeks until they fill it with larvae and cap it, then take the frame out and put it in your freezer to kill the larvae. verroa mites prefer to lay their eggs on drone larvae, so this is basically like making a trap crop inside the beehive.
-be sure to put a mouse guard on in the winter! i have had several colonies killed by mice.
-Always use wooden frames with the black plastic foundation. it looks like the frames josh added didnt have foundation. while the bees might build comb in between an empty frame, that comb can easily fall out when you are doing your inspection if there is no foundation. Also, the wood frames are better than plastic because the plastic frames have little cracks that hive mites like to hide in. Black foundation is easier to see the eggs on than the yellow foundation
-When you add a new frame, it helps to take extra wax from cleaning the frames and rub it onto the foundation. The girls will be more likely to build the comb ON the frame instead of getting creative! It also helps to spray down new frames with sugar water so to attract the ladies to it.
-Good job cleaning the tops of your frames! :)
-Make sure your frames are evenly spaced. They need a certain amount of room to crawl around and build comb. an extra 1/4 inch makes a big difference to a little bee!
-You can catch swarms easily by setting out an empty hive and putting lemongrass oil at the entrance! I did that this year and it worked amazing!
Can't wait to see your beekeeping adventures! It's a lot like gardening; hard work but a lot of fun!
Thank you for the tips! :)
I’m a new beekeeper this year and the tip about the baseball cap is brilliant. Next time I suit up I’m trying that out!
You’re all so brave-bees scare the h out of me😱
Great advice
me reading this intently knowing full and well Ill never bee keep lol.
A GREAT YT channel to follow is "Just Alex". A very fine young man who's THOROUGHLY documented his recent beekeeping adventure and his videos are not only entertaining but extremely informative regarding all he learns along the way about feeding, care & moving them but also about the diseases they're prone to and how to mitigate them.
I've watched that one a few times; SO good and so real ❤
Alex makes a lot of newbie mistakes, but learns quickly. I follow this young man and he explains his process clearly. Good suggestion 👌
Thats what I also wrote, the video from Alex about his first year is great. From what you need to do to become a beekeeper , to what you need and what the cost was. And I like that he did year 2 and 3 also.
Being part of the local Bee Assoziation is a must here in germany and you also get the bee insurance very cheap. Beside that you have your mentor and always help. You can also use the equipment or get a starter bee hive. But here you have the first year where you have to make your first part of the Beekeeper’s license. Every beehive must be registered with the veterinary office and insured, and bees are not allowed to be kept everywhere. In Germany, it is not easy or cheap to keep bees.
Thanks for the recommendation! I want bees 🐝 in my future 😉🥰.
Oh wow! Cool
I love that Josh is as excited as you about the homestead and trying new things! Great job, Josh.
When Josh moved the bees into their new hives, did they have a house swarming party?😂😅😂
I am also a seasoned beekeeper. A couple additional thoughts/tips:
1. Don’t stand in front of the hive, you are in their flight path
2. It appears you are in a fairly rural area and you might have bears. I suggest you ratchet strap your hives and consider an electric fence. I lived in suburbia on a half acre lot and never thought I
would have bear problems. He hit my hives three times! Once they find them, they will be back.
3. Each day, usually during mid day the newly hatched bees will take an orientation flight. You will see hundreds of bees circling around their hive. Don’t panic, this is normal.
4. This is late in the season for starting a new colony. Don’t be so anxious to take honey from them the first year. They will need their own stores of honey for the winter.
5. Beekeeping is not a cheap hobby and you will have many discouraging things happen. It takes at least three years to gain the knowledge you need to manage your colonies.
5. Bees will be bees, they will do what they want.
I wish you the best of luck. The favorite part of beekeeping was sitting on my deck in the morning and watching them emerge from their hive into the sunlight. It was like watching stars!
My favorite beekeeper to learn from is Frederick Dunn on youtube.
Wishing you lots of luck!
Oh, one more thing. Flowers and clover are great but the bees get the bulk of their pollen and nectar from the trees blooming in the Spring.
Bees will be bees! Love that 😂
Thanks so much! That is all very helpful!
Yes I have a rope holding my lid on because in strong wind, the flow hive lids fly off.
In our area, we would definitely have to consider the wildlife. The evening before trash pickup, a black bear roams our neighborhood. Neighbors have spotted it on their security cameras. The hives I have seen on farms a bit further out do have an electric fence enclosure.
He can put a magnet in his pocket which will allow him to just hang to give tool on the outside of his pants instead of putting it back in his pocket each time.
I was at work a few days ago and one of our lot people told me that there was a swarm in one of our trees. I immediately went outside to look. Sure enough there was a wild swarm in a tree. I immediately called a local beekeeper. He was at our store within 15 minutes. It was great watching him gather the swarm and take them away to a safe place to start a new colony.
Becky, Jason on Cog Hill Farms plants African Blue Basil for his honey bees 🐝,They have several hives , and actually sell their honey, and have their own coffee they sell too
One tip...the way your hives are set up the screen bottom board (SBB) isn't providing any ventilation. If it's hot in your area you'll need to let the screen vent to air instead of sitting on solid board. I have bees in Florida & use a SBB. Even still, if it's really hot, the bees will hang out in front of the hive to keep the colony from overheating.
I have a bee joke:
A guy walks in to a store and asks for 12 bees so the store keeper brings the bees and the guy says hey there are 13 bees in here, the store keeper responds its beecause the 13th bee is a freebie
lol
👏 👏 👏
oh Becky, I love how you called that one bee "sweetheart" ❤
Just had to tell you that my 5 year old grandson loves your videos! The first video he saw was your pumpkin harvest. He asks to watch the pumpkin lady videos 😁
That is so sweet!!
sounds awesome that you got some bees look forward to following your beekeeping adventure
So glad you have calm bees. Just be aware that even the calmest bees have bad days. To be safe, Josh would be wise to put his suit legs over his boots. Those little hummers can work their way into boots and before you know it - you have sore ankles 😬
This is so exciting. I've always wondered how all of this works in keeping bees. Good luck in your new adventure. 💛🖤
This is my favorite thing now. I really miss seeing your chickens too!
When I thought the airplane noise was the sound of the bees in the boxes LOL! Excited to follow you on your beekeeping journey!
I put out little saucers of water for the neighbor’s beehives. I have a pond and a birdbath but they seem to prefer the shallow water. So fun to watch. Looking forward to bee updates 👍
Congratulations. Great video. Thank you. Blessings
It is awesome that Josh is willing to share beekeeping with us. I appreciate it, since I know YT is not his thing.
You and Josh are a terrific team! And, Josh is a VERY BRAVE MAN!! Best of luck with the bees.
Those bees are going to be so happy in your beautiful garden. I'm sure you will have lots of honey. Happy bee keeping!
The opening is for ventilation. You need it to be open especially in summer
My husband and I are attending one of the best bee conferences in January 2025. There will be bee keepers there from all over the world. North American Honey Bee Expo in Louisville KY.
I feel like deer could nudge the bee hives and knock them over. So much fun thx for sharing!! 🐝🐝🐝🐝
In my experience deer don’t bother hives. If you live in an area around bears best to put up an electric fence
@@KatRN1000 bears will do more than nudge. Mass destruction!
So exciting! You and @meggrowsplants also just started beekeeping. I’ve been having so much fun watching and learning from you and her! Thanks for sharing!!
Awesome new venture! Learning along with you guys!🐝❤️
You need nectar flowers because that’s what bees collect.
Hello from a fellow beekeeper in the UK.
Brassica flowers are popular with my bees and dandelions are also a good source.
My tip would be to lose the thick leather gloves. I use washing up gloves. They are thinner so you have better movement and are easily sterilised to stop disease spread. Bonus is they can be used multiple times and less likely to squash bees.
Enjoy the journey, it's addictive
Always a good idea to let your closest neighbors know you have bees, in case of a emergency!! Awsome job Josh! Honey I can see Becky wheel turning! Congratulations!
Your bees are going to LOVE being that close to your orchard! I can't wait to see how they progress.
My grandpa was a bee keeper for years he taught all us grandchildren a lot the one thing I really remember was he taught us about robbing scouts from other hives will look for crevices to get in, so I suggest you ask about it from a local bee keeper because its been awhile since I have been around bee hives plus im sure each region is different. You will enjoy the delicious honey the taste is incredible.
Bees love sunflowers. And the bloom well keep coming on till a frost.❤❤❤❤❤
Boy, I can’t wait to see that flower garden when it blossoms!! ❤️
My yard has some clover patches in it. While the clover is flowering, I love to mow around the patches so I get to watch the bees that visit the clover
I caught a bunny in the background while josh was working on the second hive - that was fun! 🙂
Hi, I just got excited with this comment and went back on the video to try to find it but couldn't see it (sleepy and bout to go to sleep) hahahaha Could you please tell me the minute in the video to check it out tomorrow? I know my curiosity won't let me rest until I see it too hahaha Thank you beforehand 😊
2158 I looked also twice then found it
Thank you, @jchai1343 that that I saw the video during the day with more light on my phone and saw it clearly! What a cool thing! 🐰
The best thing you can do is talk to bee keepers that have been in it for years. Read, study. You can ask 20 beekeepers a question and you will get 20 different answers. We have been at it for 20 plus years. Keep in mind. Bees know what to do!!
Beekeeping is a lot of work and not much room for error. Do your homework, join a local society, and put in the work. Good luck to all of you.
You might want to put some wax foundations in the frames as the bees may form cross comb making it harder to harvest the honey.
THE 7 BEST FLOWERS TO PLANT FOR BEES:
Bee balm (Monarda spp.) ...
White wild indigo (Baptisia alba) ...
Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) ...
Black-eyed susan (Rudbeckia hirta) ...
Joe-pye weed (Eutrochium purpureum) ...
Marsh blazing star (Liatris spicata) ...
Wrinkleleaf goldenrod (Solidago rugosa)
Sunflowers too. They don't get a whole lot of nectar but the pollen is used as a "medicine" for the brood. Also high in nutrients. The seeds she has is great to plant but have little use for the bees. Coreopsis, daisies, clover are also good. There best choices are flowering trees. More bang for the buck. Very little is actually gotten from flowers on the ground.
She has a fruit orchard on the property and the bees will enjoy that. Hopefully they won't have already dropped their blossoms 😮!
Great info! Hope to see the bee favorites next spring!
Red clover too! Clover honey is soooo good!
Sunflowers and Borage are bee favorites as well!!
Wee! It's Becky, Josh and Acre Homestead off on a new adventure and we get to go along! Thank you for sharing, Becky!
I have clover. Bees love it, it’s always full of bees around it. Do try and get it eventually.
We keep bees- 3 hives, along with 4 horses (at the moment) 7 ducks (at the moment) and 2 dogs. You’re going to have so much fun! And honey!
And a partridge in a pear tree. 😂😂😂
Congrats! We fenced in around our bees to keep out skunks.
Skunks will eat bees like popcorn.
The Honeystead is a wonderful channel.
I think you guys would be amazing together ❤️
They should be calm this time of year but when the nectar flow dries up they can get much more testy. There is lots to learn. The beekeeping joke is if you ask 10 beekeepers how to do something you will get 11 different answers. It's a balance trial and error, expert opinion, and trusting your own instinct. Get a mentor if you can through your local club.
My only other suggestion is to feed the bees until they draw out comb. 1:1 sugar water with a bit of ACV.
Bees also love borage and comfrey, Becky! And berry bushes and bee balm and all the things!
So exciting. People don't understand how important bees are to our environment. Josh sure looks official😂. They're going to have a field day with all your flowers. Like hummingbirds,, bees love trumpet-like flowers. Are the hives secured to the bench they're on so not to get blown over from wind?
They are so important!
in our area, clover is very invasive!
OMGosh you are going to LOVE having your own honey. And the nutritional benefits you’ll get from your own “local” honey is even better. And the ideas are endless, as I discovered. Wax candles are just one extra. We’re excited for you! Congratulations ❤️and love from SoCal.
Love learning and watching the bee’s.
Never thought I’d be interested in bee keeping BUT you and Josh make it look wonderful!!
Def save up for beekeeping it’s an expensive hobby
Be careful not to give too much smoke, it could cause them to lose their queen’s scent. Use it when you need to, but less is more.
happy father's Day Josh.... hope y'all have a wonderful weekend 💖
Louud hums from the hive means they are agitated. They need time to calm down. Usually we move hives in the evening to a new location. They will wake up in the morning look around to get their bearings and then take off. 25 ft around the bee hives, the guard bees won't tolerate intruders. Foraging bees are older and not aggressive if you have a docile queen. They are interested only in collecting pollen and honey. In summer you should have a shallow tray of water with some flat pebbles for them and other insects to get a drink. If you move the hive a couple of feet they will look for where the hive was. The bees from one hive will not be allowed in the other, they will be treated as robbers.
When we planted clover, the pollinators came in droves! We were struggling to get pollinators until then.
Hello Becky, I am on my 2nd year of beekeeping. So glad to see you and Josh getting into beekeeping. It is a lot of work but so cool to see cool. I truly love doing it. The one suggestion I could make is if you have a local bee association near you to join. They are so helpful when you have questions or need help if you have any problems. Good luck on your new adventure
Lots of bees congrats on your new adventure.
U do right by planting flower in a chaos mindset 😁 make sure there r early flowers (spring) bulbs around the hives for when they wake up! Crocus, snowdrop etc.
I love it that y'all are starting with bees and have planted a chaos flower garden right outside their door. The biggest tip I could give is if those empty frames Josh put in don't have guide wires, there may be a real headache when he next inspects the hive. TBF, even with guide wires, sometimes the comb is too soft to stay on them, so having some foundation (usually a textured plastic dipped in beeswax) in those frames is a great way to set them up. Otherwise, I would say to make sure you have a solid baseboard for cooler weather, along with mouse guards to help keep those critters OUT. :)
I have 3 flow hives at my inner suburban home in Melbourne Australia, our weather is mild and the bees can work all year round. It can take up to 2-3 years to establish a healthy calm hive. Swarming can happen if you don’t understand husbandry of bees, this can be a learning curve. I love my bees 🐝 ❤.
I’m running 30 colonies right now on my way to 100.
Couple things i noticed. The frames in the first hive that you added did not look like they had a starter strip on them and no foundation. The potential problem is the bees are going to build rouge comb. With out at least a starter strip they are going to build perpendicular to the frames gluing them together and generally creating a mess.
It looked like you only put 8 frames in the first colony and only the 5 from the nuc in the second. Those are 10 frame brood boxes and I would encourage you to put 10 frames in there as quick as possible. If not the bees will build comb in the empty space and again be a huge mess.
Don’t get lulled into a false sense of security with how calm the bees are right now. They are a very tiny colony right now and do not have a lot of foraging and guard bees but trust me by the time they fill that 10 frame brood box you won’t be standing there filming with out protective gear 😁 you’ll also need it on when mowing and cleaning up around the hives.
Do you best not to stand in front of the hive. That is the bee flight path and a sure way to get stung.
The bees tend to become more aggressive during the dearth and in the late fall. Those are the times when resources are slim and other bees are trying to rob the hives.
Historically you do not get honey from a first year colony as you want to leave what they are able to gather for them to survive over winter but if you have an over abundance of resources in your area and they are able to grow fast enough you might get some frames but I’d be surprised if they even touch the flow frames. I’ve heard it can be a challenge to get them to go into the plastic flow frames.
I HIGHLY recommend Fredrick Dunn’s YT channel The Way to Bee. An exceptional source of information and education.
Good luck and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Just for future reference, concrete block are designed to be used with their holes facing up. That gives them the greatest strength. In your application weight shouldn’t be an issue.
Oh how exciting. It will be interesting learning how to raise honey bees. Looking forward to your experience.
Think about taping Josh's pant leg to his boots(around them), so the bees would not be able to go into his boots(hope that makes sense).
Josh is a natural. He is calm and Zen around the bees. Bees respond well to that kind of energy. I adore your set up...wishing you the best of luck with your bees.
Hi guys. Sooo excited for your bees & much respect. Noooo🐝🐝 for me🫣😁. Are the bees calmer in a colder climate opposed to hotter climates? ❤
We had a hive move in and start a home on our root seller. A friend who has bees came and removed them. It was very interesting to watch and learn some things about bees.
You're gonna love being a beekeepers! Join a local club. Theres much to learn!
4 seconds into the upload and I'm already giddy and armed to press the thumbs up button before the video's even loaded!! Good morning, friend Becky :D
I automatically hit the 👍🏻.😂😊
Same!
I always hit the 👍before I even listen! I haven’t been disappointed yet! ❤
❤ twin bee suits would be so cute. You guys are so wonderful together.❤
Just remember that what flower you have next to the 🐝 is what it well taste like . In California in the Bay area we have same of the best honey I have ever had.
I was wondering about their food supply. Plant accordingly because the honey will reflect that flavor.
If this was my property. I would put the hives further away from the house/shed.
It was fall and a local bee keeper was bringing his hives off the canola fields he had stopped for gas at our local gas station and when he left some of his bees stayed behind. The clerk was so upset she called him saying he had to come back and get the bees. We had a good laugh at the coffee shop at the whole situation, trying to picture how the bee keeper would ",call the missing bees". Was it going to be here bee come or maybe calling treat treat while holding a bunch of flowers! Enjoy your new addition to the homestead and btw he never came back for his wayward bees!
Make sure you have a water source for them. Im not familiar with bee keeping, but I had my swimming pool invaded by bees for a month. We contacted some bee keepers, and they said that there probably wasn't a water source where the hives were at.
Hello, Becky - Thanks for making my Friday fantastic with your latest adventure !
You will be able to render your own wax too Becky. It's so much fun! I love beeswax and I use it in face creams, lip balm, etc.
My local bee keeper and monarch butterfly rescuer swears by a wildflower mix he gets on eBay. Can’t beat the price and I’ve seen it in bloom in his yard. Search for 700 SEEDS PER PACKAGE HONEY BEE 31 DIFFERENT VARIETY WILDFLOWER SEED MIX. He planted it in the “hell strip” next to his sidewalk, along with native milkweed for the monarchs, and it’s gorgeous.
There is so many great comments that a new beekeeper can learn from. One thing I noticed right away is where the hives are located. Right next to your driveway may not be the best location. A little away from frequently traveled areas will be less convenient to the keeper but safer for people passing by.
Good luck on your new adventure! A friend of mine have started their beekeeping adventure some ten years ago. In fact, he found a bee colony in the bell tower ( we ring church bells at our local church ) and has relocated them to his house. They been thriving there for 5 years now, he and his wife haven’t looked back.
If you want sweet smelling and tasting honey grow sweet smelling flowers. The honey takes on a hint of taste of the flower pollen they bring back. Grow some chamomile, lavender, freesia, cleome, iris etc. You may want to think of a way to shade the hives if it gets really hot.
A good tip. Never work around or near the bee hives on a cloudy or rainy day. There's a very high chance you will get stung. Bees like the sun cause that's how they navigate.
I’m excited to watch your bee adventures but I hope that Josh takes care as Jessica from three rivers homestead was attacked by her bees ❤
I love seeing something Josh does. Happy for you and your family that he is home and helping your TH-cam.
Becky just a little heads up don’t get discouraged if your flow hive takes a while to get set up…you have to have a pretty strong flow for the bees to be able to draw out the flow combs..where we are her in Florida we don’t have a flow that string enough for the bees to really make comb honey or a flow hive…but we still got over 1200lbs of honey this year, so just because you can’t draw out a Flow hive doesn’t meant you can’t have honey and a normal Langstroth hive of frames and get plenty of honey!!
Becky, My husband hauls Bee's from one location to another. We're raising our 11 yr old grandson and in the summer he goes with and helps. He looks adorable in his bee suit
Hello from Cork Ireland thank you so much Josh for doing this and taking us all along with you 😊 i know know youre the shy quiet type of man who doesn't like to be in front of the camera, so to do this for us just means the world! Thank you, you sweet man ❤❤❤
My dad was a bee keeper and we loved it. We love bees and all they do for us. We got so used to them that we didn't bother to suit up. We planted clover for the bees. Looking forward to honey harvest
Josh & Becky, I am so excited To see more about the bees --This is so cool !
Josh you look like a Seasoned beekeeper in your bee suit . I am so happy I feel like I'm right there to witnesses... Happy Bee Keeping!
Love you seeing expand & getting new recipes, I get lots of motivation for our growing season’s.
Your fellow Washingtion 🥰❤️.
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤😊😊😊 have Josh give the hives a name and paint it in different colors on the front of the hives, so the bee's know which hives they live in.... they can get confused on which hives they belong to.....I have watched a lot of bee keepers and they All say The same thing...
This is an interesting addition to the Acre Homestead family, the bees have moved to a wonderful new home, Josh will excel at bee keeping!!!
Chaos flower gardens are my favorite flower gardens.
I know nothing about bee keeping, but since I was a little girl, I have been fascinated with honeybees. They are part of God's amazing creation! I have read many of your subscriber's comments. What a treasure trove of keen insight and helpful information they provide! I wish you much success as beekeepers. It's an ambitious undertaking but should be rewarding and enjoyable as well.
Fantastic job Josh 🤗 I’m delighted and excited for you both 🥰🥰
Just really demonstrates how incredibly smart bees are. I never realized! Thank you for sharing this new adventure with us! Really amazing!
Becky and Josh, I'm very much watching your new venture!!!! Sending you both best wishes going forward.
That was fun…..very interesting! Thanks!
We have had bees for years and had a great time with them.
Bees can find their way to the entrance easily because there are bees fanning their wings to help other bees find their way. There’s only two tips I suggest are best to follow. 1. Research cross contamination. You never want to cross contaminate. American Foul Brood is the biggest reason and it would be best to read up on that too. 2. The honey from flow hives have a shorter shelf life because you’re combing nectar from uncapped cells with honey from capped cells.