As you are standing, Why do you leave only half a bee space against the opposite wall? I always center my frames so they have their bee space on both sides of the Hive?Thanks very much for the very informative videos that you produce. Glenn.
As you are standing, Why do you leave only half a bee space against the opposite wall? I always center my frames so the bees will have their bee space on both sides of the hive body.Thanks for the very informative videos that you produce. Glenn.
Hi Glenn, thanks for commenting. The reason I set it up with just single bee space at one end and a dummy board at the other is to make it easier to remove the first frame for inspections without rolling and damaging bees. It allows me to get quickly into the inspection knowing I have plenty of room. The bees draw out the comb to leave just a single bee space regardless of how much room I leave so it suits me to have more room at one end when inspecting. As with most things beekeeping, there are so many different ways to tackle each job so it's a case of what works best for you. I'm glad you are enjoying the videos, trying hard not to look too self conscious! God help me if I had to read a script! Stewart
thanks for this wonderful channel. i really like your videos. as for varroa concerns, in this case brood cycle is broken (due to absence of laying queen) for at least 25 days and this should minimize varroa presence in the hive by the time the hive becomes queenright again.
Hi Meir Chanan, Thanks for your comments. I'm glad you are enjoying the videos. Yes you're right about the varroa, all the mites in the colonies will be phoretic, that is, attached to the bees and not in cells, so no reproduction of varroa mites will occur during that time. Stewart
Thank you. Very nicely done. I'm a new beek my self and wondered how you split a hive. My first hive was bursting at the seams. I did not get a super on it soon enough and the bees made a honey barrier on the tops of all the brood frames. After I added the super the queen was not going up. Only honey in super, So I had to add a brood box below it. (Yes I know you only want honey in super anyhow, but they needed room) I questions my mentor about splitting it but she recommended I just give them more room for now. (And yes I believe her!) they do look to be doing very well. FLB
Hi FLB,Thanks for the comments. It's great that you have a beekeeping mentor to help and advise. Always good to have advice from a more experienced, local beekeeper who is willing to share knowledge. Great the bees are doing well, they sound like a nice healthy, strong colony. Stewart
Hi Yury, Welcome to my channel and thanks for commenting. The reason the existing queen cells are removed is to set the timer on the new queen cells that will be raised so you know exactly when they will be capped, emerge etc. The process to follow is destroy all existing queen cells then go back in a few days later and destroy all but one queen cell so that they only have one queen cell left to produce a queen from. Of course it is possible to leave them but if you destroy all but one queen cell there is an opportunity that they will raise more queen cells and still swarm. Stewart
Hi Stuart, I love your channel, it is by far the best on bees and bee keeping out there. I am going to take the plunge next year 2023 and get my first Nuc. The queen cell hive remaining is also producing a drones. Will the drones of the same colony as her mate with her? If yes, isn't that kind of like interbreeding? Thank you for your most interesting videos.
Btw great videos! I can't only find good beekeeper games videos in German, but don't speak, read en understand German. The americas don't make that good videos and in the Netherlands the videos are now coming. You're channel is great.
The Norfolk Honey Company hi thanks for your response. I'm keeping bees in the Netherlands, province Limburg, started in 2015 with a basic course. Have 7 hives now, 1 in a TBH, the rest in spaarkast (as they call it I Dutch). I bought more hives to expand next year and planning to start keeping the European black honeybee (Apis mellifera mellifera) for the next years. I have a Dutch website: www.mathijsherremans.nl where I wright about nature and beekeeping.
That's fantastic, I hope my videos will help you. I am going to take a look at your website now. I am going to set up a TBH next year to see if I can help people who want to use that type of hive, they look like quite good fun if you only have a few hives but I don't think I would want too many of them. Stewart
The Norfolk Honey Company I have my TBH on "warmbouw" the entrance right to the comb not parallel on the comb. One thing I will do in the spring is to make a following board at the entrance. If I want to have a quick look from the front of the hive I just take the following board out and see what's going on. Now I have to go from all the way back to the front. Was a tip from Phil Chandler. I learned with an artificial swarm, the "veger" to take the queen and 3 frames of bees in a hive with 6 frames, no brood because of varroa, bring it minimal 5 km away. If you don't bring it away than take 6 frames of bees and the bees that bring in the pollen and nectar fly back to the old hive. In the old hive you break after 13 days the queencells after 4 pm (16.00) and the strongest queen will win that night. In the veger you spray oxalis acid and then it's almost varroa free, because there is no brood and all the varroa is on the bees. If the queen in the old hive is start laying eggs you also spray oxalis acid, but without the super on. I think you know this method, maybe not to spray the oxalis acid.
Hi David, Thanks for your comments. I currently use two types of hive the British National and the Commercial hive. The reason for this is that I started using the national many years ago but found the brood area a little restrictive for my bees and so switched to the commercial which although it has a bigger brood area is the same footprint as the national so I can continue to use the same floors, supers, crownboards and roofs. Stewart
Hi Stewart, great videos, really helpful. My question is why do you kill all but one of the queens in their cells? Why not let them all hatch and duke it out?
Hi Mimi, Thanks for the comments. I often find that if more than one queen cell is left they don't actually fight it out between themselves, rather, they all take to the air and swarm multiple times leaving a hive that is almost empty of bees! Hence, I remove all except one queen cell. Stewart
Thanks from Australia for your videos.....always learning about our wonderful little bees.... was wondering if u made an update to the drone laying video past the second one ....how did it go?
Hi Lesley, Thanks for commenting. I'm not sure that I did. If you have watched the badly behaved bees video and update those bees were united with another colony that have overwintered well and I will be splitting them in the near future to create a new queen (and making a new video about the process). Stewart
Hi again Stewart. Just trying to get ahead of myself for next year! That's if my bees haven't all frozen!!!! These are really good vids on AS. Something that seems rather complicated, but really isn't!!! A couple of questions tho. I notice that the two hives are quite close together....is there an optimum distance for placing the old and new hives? Also pleased to see that they don't have to be facing the same way as this would be a problem for me in my garden! Secondly, I was interested that you knocked down all the QC they made originally, thus putting the bees on your own timeline. Would you still do this if there were mature QC present or would you leave one.....then having to guess when it might hatch? Lastly, how do you decide which is the best QC to leave...what should I be looking for?
Hi Dorothie, I think we are all feeling the cold at the moment! Regarding the AS, I only move the hive 2-3ft away following the method described in Ted Hooper's book A Guide to Bees and Honey. Seems to work well enough most times. Turning the entrance helps to prevent drifting back into the original hive position. Removing the already formed queen cells is a step further than in the book where the suggestion is to remove sealed queen cells to prevent new queens drifting into the old site and being killed. I works well to remove them all but only if you have eggs or very young larvae from which queen cells can be produced. So to answer your question, yes, remove sealed, mature queen cells but newly formed ones can be left. You saved the best question til last, the choice is mostly guesswork! Look for well formed, large, plump queen cells with a good covering of wrinkled wax on the outside. That said, I have had some great queens emerge from tiny, twisted and bent emergency queen cells so who knows really! Stewart
Hi Jim, The purpose of the artificial swarm in this instance is to separate the queen and the flying bees from the rest of the colony. If you move the queen away she wouldn't retain any of the flying bees as they return to the original hive location. I hope that helps. Stewart
Ha I really like your videos they are great u do a wonderful job teaching about bees watching the videos is better then any book that u can read on bees. I seen your gloves I have bee gloves but they are ok but you can hurt the bees i do not like to wear the bee gloves, the gloves u use do u find the gloves u use are better, do u get stung though them thanks for all the teaching videos on the bees keep them coming the are great
Hi Frances, Thanks for commenting. I like the gloves that I use because they are thin enough to feel the bees but provide some protection against stings. You can feel when a bee is trying to sting and move it away. They are long cuff, nitrile gloves, I'll be talking about gloves in a video in a few weeks time once the season is getting started so watch out for that one. I don't like the leather gloves because as you say you end up killing bees because you can't feel them and just end up squishing them! but I understand that some people need to wear thicker gloves because of allergies etc. Stewart
Having watched your video on artificial swarming (very clear, concise and calm with the bees), I today used this method on my single hive and now (hopefully) increased my hives by 100%. Questions how long can I carry on with the old queen and in Ted Hooper's book he recommends swapping the original hive to the other side of the AS hive after 7 days, is this necessary?
Hi Mark, Thanks for commenting. The process won't harm the old queen so a lot depends on how well she was mated and how old she is. I have a few queens that are approaching four years old and still going strong. Swapping the hive to the other side of the original position allows flying bees to drift into the original hive position and therefore build up numbers within that colony. It is not essential that you do this but it will increase the number of flying bees in that colony. It also reduces the number of flying bees in the original hive and therefore helps reduce the swarming impulse so if the bees are really keen to swarm it will help give you time to deal with any further attempts of swarming. The great thing about beekeeping is you can choose the approach you want and see how it works out. Stewart
Hi Stewart, love your channel. I find your videos incredibly helpful and educational. I have a colony that's bursting with bees (judging from what I saw when I added fondant yesterday) and I plan to do this myself when the timing is right. Maybe this was already asked and I didn't see the question posted...what criteria do you use to determine which cells you destroy and which one is the lucky choice to become the queen? Thanks much!
Hi Jeff, many thanks for your comments. I always choose the best looking queen cell in the best position. Now I know that really doesn't help you, so let me explain a little more, I will be posting a video in season to show how I choose. I like to choose an nice long, straight, fat queen cell, the outside of which is nicely dimpled with wax. I choose a position that is somewhere I am not going to crush it (close to the side for example) and where the virgin queen can easily emerge (not tight against the bottom bars). That's the simple, quick answer, full video coming sometime in the Spring when I will be going through all of this in detail. Stewart
Hi Stewart, Thank you for your superb and informative series. Apologies if you have answered this question elsewhere but what qualities do you look for when selecting a queen cell to leave to develop in the new hive? Thomas
Hi Thomas, Thanks for the question. A nice large, well-dimpled queen cell wide at the base and narrowing uniformly to the tip. Light coloured wax, fresh looking with bees in attendance. That said I've selected queen cells like this only for them to fail and I've been left with stunted, ugly, twisted queen cells that have produced brilliant queens, so who knows! MOstly, though, the large, good looking cells do produce decent queens. Stewart
Hi, In the new hive with the old queen, will it have enough time to produce a honey crop for harvesting? and the same question for the hive with that will produce a new queen. thanks for your videos, they're so helpful- Dominic
Thanks for the great video! Once the new hive has established itself and has a new queen is it possible to move the hive back close to the original location next to the new hive with the original queen? Thanks
Yes, that's ok to do. Many people will use this method to produce a new queen and replace the old queen with new by uniting the two colonies together. Stewart
I'm Dutch, and it isn't clear for me what's the difference between an artificial swarm and a split (in English terms). A artificial swarm is always a split, but a split is not always an artificial swarm? Just some bees and brood in a nuc (is a nuc simply a hive with 5, 6 or 7 frames?) without a queen is a split but not an artificial swarm?
Hi Mathijs, Thanks for stopping to comment and asking a question. So an artificial swarm is the process of removing the queen and foraging bees from the original colony and leaving the old colony queenless and with very few if any flying bees thus making them produce queen cells. The process is carefully controlled and the exact timing of the new queen can be managed by removing any existing queen cells and forcing the bees into making new queen cells on a new timeline that the beekeeper has set. A split (For me) is basically a similar process but not quite so controlled. For instance, if I find a colony with several queen cells I might make a split by turning it into two nucs and retaining the parent colony with the original queen. I have a video of this which you might have seen, I'll put a link below in case you haven't seen it. th-cam.com/video/E-W3XCv4OaA/w-d-xo.html Does that make sense? I hope I have explained in a way that helps. Stewart
OMG so very helpful. I asked a question in Part 1 of this series, so hopefully you will get back to be before I do my A.S (I'll do my inspection Thursday 17th May) Can I ask please the reason you don't fill the brood box with 2 more frames when you clearly have the space to do so?
Hi Lisa, If you notice at the start of the video there is a frame with a dummy board attached. When the video finishes it is still missing, I replaced both frame and dummy board after the end of the video so this closes up the gap. I just didn't include it in the video, sorry to confuse you. Stewart
Hello Stuart, Thank you for the very helpful videos. I am a brand new beekeeper, so I have found your videos especially helpful. My question is: Is there a best time to split a hive or can you create a false swarm anytime during the year? Thank you.
Hi Scott, Late Spring is a great time to split colonies. The overwintered colonies have had time to grow in strength and it allows the newly split colonies time to expand and become strong colonies in their own right before the Autumn shut down. You will also get some honey off well managed and healthy hives. Stewart
Hello stewart I'm a new beekeeper, and I'm wondering if i don't want to split my hive or make an artificial swarm in spring, do i need to check my hive every week for queen cells, so they don't swarm? Should I destroy the queen cells? Or is there a better way, and what would you recommend.Thank you
Hi Sebastian, Thanks for stopping to comment and ask a question. The simple answer is yes, when the season begins you need to inspect each week throughout the beekeeping season to check for queen cells (along with other things) to make sure they are not going to swarm. If you find queen cells and there is also an active egg laying queen present then you can destroy the queen cells but always make sure you see eggs before you destroy any queen cells. I'm going to be making some videos about exactly this as we start the new season so check out my getting started series of videos for more info. Stewart
Fantastic video again Stewart long story but i'm introducing a queen to a small colony in a poly nuc on Friday this week. I will need to destroy 2-3 queen cells (which are ok) as i don't have enough bees to give a frame of brood to the queen cell to support. Is there any other option or how few bees would be ok to leave in a nuc with a queen cell? Paul
Hi Paul, Thanks for the kind comments. As long as the queen cell is capped you can get away with just a handful of bees in warmer conditions. As it has been cold it might be wise to give them a few more bees but a frame with a good covering of bees should be enough. I run queen mating nucs on two frames a lot of the time and they do just fine. Stewart
thanks Stewart...and does it need to be brood in all stages or can the capped brood on the same frame look after the emergent queen? In this colony there is now only capped brood...
HI Stewart, Just wondering why you knocked off all the queen cells the day you did the artificial swarm, then let the bees start with eggs to create a second round of queen cells before you save one to be the future queen? Thanks!
The first one to emerge may tear the others down before they hatch. If the first to hatch is unable to lay eggs properly or not at all then this is a massive set back, thats why he chose the best looking cell. Also if two do happen to hatch at once they may fight to the death. Worst case scenario both die in the fight or the remaining one is so badly injured she functions poorly or not at all as a queen.
I have one "swarm" queen cell forming, so I was going to do this. Can I just do the split and leave that one queen cell to develop or remove it and let them make another? hopefully that makes sense.
Hi Christina, Thanks for commenting. It's a really simple way of making a split. The reason we remove all the queen cells is to prevent the possibility of the virgin queen flying out on a mating flight and on her return getting confused and flying into the hive on the original stand position, then being destroyed by the old queen and her workers. Of course, it doesn't always happen that way and you could leave the existing queen cell and see how they get on. Remember to check for production of further queen cells if they still have eggs and young larvae. Good luck with it. Stewart
The artificial swarm can be used to replace the queen and not increase the number of colonies you have. Once the new queen has mated and is laying well you can destroy the old queen and unite the colonies together again.
Hi David, It's just about the timing and not something that is needed unless you want to manage the timing of the virgin queen's emergence. This could be due to drone availability for instance, or to suit your own time frame. Have a great season. Stewart
Hi Solomon, The old queen will head up the new colony with the flying bees. After a while, she will start laying eggs, produce more bees and build back up to full strength. Once this has happened and there is another queen in the other hive you have the option of removing the old queen and combining the two colonies into one (uniting) or running two compeltely independant colonies and creating an increase. Have a great beekeeping season. Stewart
hi stuart. i think im missing something here. you took the original queen out. you then went to this hive and removed all the queen cells. now a week later it has several more....where did they come from lol? im hoping to get a hive next year but as you can see by this question i have a way to go before im confident enough to buy a hive.
Hi Jay, Just keep soaking up the info and see if you can get to visit with a beekeeper to experience beekeeping first hand. The fist set of queen cells appeared when I was inspecting and decided to spilt the colony. The second set of queen cells appeared because I had removed the first batch and the workers need to produce a queen for their colony. I then leave just one queen cell to emerge as the new queen. Stewart
The Norfolk Honey Company yeah but surely there needs to be a queen to lay the egg and you had removed her from this hive? can they turn brood in a normal cell in to a queen? thx for the advice i will be going on a few bee courses this year and hopefully joining a club so im sure omeone there will help.
Hi Jay, Yes the workers use the remaining eggs and/or young larvae to produce the second batch of queens and after that point if you were to destroy all the queen cells they would have no more viable young larvae to produce any queens from and would be called "hopelessly queenless". Stewart
The Norfolk Honey Company thx so much for the reply. i never realised they could just do that i thought the queen cells had to be made and an egg laid then fed royal jelly in that order but i guess they can just improvise and extend a worker cell in to a queen cell. thx again stewart your videos havelots of great information and are well made.
Hi Sean, Thanks for commenting. I do normally use 11 frames in my brood boxes, if there's one with only ten frames it's probably because I've miscounted or run out of spare frames on that visit. I usually use a dummy board with 11 frames to make it easier to remove without rolling and killing bees. Stewart
Hi Paras, Great question and one I'm still trying to work out how to answer! It's pretty much a guessing game. We normally go for large, fat, well formed queen cells that hang nicely from the comb. Smaller or twisted cells could be problematic but having said that I have had nice queens emerge from fairly ugly looking queen cells so you never really know! Sorry I can't be more specific. Stewart
Being a beginner and performing an artificial swarm for the first time you have doubts weather you doing it right, after doing it successfully I can say I am now confident to do it again. But the first time is always a nerve breaker, lol.
Hi David, My bees are a mix of different subspecies. I don't have any pure strains here and unlikely to have given the imports and other beekeepers buying in bees. Stewart
Wondering why you chose to kill queen cells on two frames when those frames could be used to produce more hives. In nuc boxes each of those frames could produce new colonies. Even though single frame splits are not strong colonies perhaps they could be. Using your assumption of 'inferior' queen cells i should not exist per cutout. I am not six feet, rich, and handsome. Yet i do exist. Who decides what is 'inferior'? A viable queen is a viable queen. Does not make a difference if she lays 800 a day or 2000. Life is life. Why does this video repeat itself?
Hi M.U.H.F., Thanks for the questions. It's simply that I do not have unlimited equipment. You are quite right that the additional queen cells could be used to produce more colonies. If you are only using one or two of the queen cells then you have to select which one to keep and that is a difficult choice. I have had very successful colonies from small, emergency queen cells so I understand your comment perfectly. Not sure which bit repeats itself, either my poor editing ability or "on camera nerves". I'm a beekeeper first and still find it awkward to stand in front of the camera and try to remember all the things I'm trying to convey. Hopefully, I will get better the more I try, anyway, stick with it and thanks for watching and commenting. Stewart
HA! My middle name is Stewart. Personally, in the struggle of life and death, queens have a stinger for a reason. To dispatch competition. Is it brutal? yes, but part of the struggle. Let them choose as they will. We are not bees, they are. They know best how to manage themselves. Some decisions are best left to the bees in management. You do just fine conveying the information you wish to. You may find offering nuclear colonies for sale have more orders than you can complete. Bees are in limited supply and demand is quite high. Bees are a resource.
![ออกพรรษาน้ำตาหล่น - แอน อรดี [OFFICIAL MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/PFZtOcY9ONA/mqdefault.jpg)
Very thorough on hive manipulation Stewart, this is one of your better vids.
HiJohn,
Thanks for the comment.
Stewart
At minute 13:04 - 13:06 you can hear the songs of the new queens! So nice!
Hi Stewart. Very good video, and an excellent demonstration of a full inspection.
Hi David,
Many thanks for your comments on this and other videos.
Stewart
Great watching. Thank you :)
Hi Katy,
Thanks for your comments.
Stewart
Great to see this option demonstrated. Swarming season here in Aus so am gonna try this. The usual proficient presentation Stewart. Thanks
Hi Linton,
Keep me posted on how it goes. Good Luck.
Stewart
As you are standing, Why do you leave only half a bee space against the opposite wall? I always center my frames so they have their bee space on both sides of the Hive?Thanks very much for the very informative videos that you produce. Glenn.
As you are standing, Why do you leave only half a bee space against the opposite wall? I always center my frames so the bees will have their bee space on both sides of the hive body.Thanks for the very informative videos that you produce. Glenn.
Hi Glenn,
thanks for commenting.
The reason I set it up with just single bee space at one end and a dummy board at the other is to make it easier to remove the first frame for inspections without rolling and damaging bees. It allows me to get quickly into the inspection knowing I have plenty of room. The bees draw out the comb to leave just a single bee space regardless of how much room I leave so it suits me to have more room at one end when inspecting. As with most things beekeeping, there are so many different ways to tackle each job so it's a case of what works best for you.
I'm glad you are enjoying the videos, trying hard not to look too self conscious! God help me if I had to read a script!
Stewart
thanks for this wonderful channel. i really like your videos. as for varroa concerns, in this case brood cycle is broken (due to absence of laying queen) for at least 25 days and this should minimize varroa presence in the hive by the time the hive becomes queenright again.
Hi Meir Chanan,
Thanks for your comments. I'm glad you are enjoying the videos.
Yes you're right about the varroa, all the mites in the colonies will be phoretic, that is, attached to the bees and not in cells, so no reproduction of varroa mites will occur during that time.
Stewart
Thank you. Very nicely done. I'm a new beek my self and wondered how you split a hive. My first hive was bursting at the seams. I did not get a super on it soon enough and the bees made a honey barrier on the tops of all the brood frames. After I added the super the queen was not going up. Only honey in super, So I had to add a brood box below it. (Yes I know you only want honey in super anyhow, but they needed room) I questions my mentor about splitting it but she recommended I just give them more room for now. (And yes I believe her!) they do look to be doing very well. FLB
Hi FLB,Thanks for the comments. It's great that you have a beekeeping mentor to help and advise. Always good to have advice from a more experienced, local beekeeper who is willing to share knowledge. Great the bees are doing well, they sound like a nice healthy, strong colony.
Stewart
Hello. I'm a beginner. Why did you remove existing queen cells (in Part 1) and made them build new one? Yury
Hi Yury,
Welcome to my channel and thanks for commenting.
The reason the existing queen cells are removed is to set the timer on the new queen cells that will be raised so you know exactly when they will be capped, emerge etc. The process to follow is destroy all existing queen cells then go back in a few days later and destroy all but one queen cell so that they only have one queen cell left to produce a queen from.
Of course it is possible to leave them but if you destroy all but one queen cell there is an opportunity that they will raise more queen cells and still swarm.
Stewart
Thank you very much!
I really enjoy your videos, keep up the good work.
excellent video
Thanks Mark
Hi Stuart, I love your channel, it is by far the best on bees and bee keeping out there. I am going to take the plunge next year 2023 and get my first Nuc. The queen cell hive remaining is also producing a drones. Will the drones of the same colony as her mate with her? If yes, isn't that kind of like interbreeding? Thank you for your most interesting videos.
constantly getting swarms in my field so decided i'm going to have a go lol wish me luck im gonna need it
Btw great videos! I can't only find good beekeeper games videos in German, but don't speak, read en understand German. The americas don't make that good videos and in the Netherlands the videos are now coming. You're channel is great.
Thanks for the nice comments. Where are you keeping your bees? Have you been keeping bees for long?
Stewart
The Norfolk Honey Company hi thanks for your response. I'm keeping bees in the Netherlands, province Limburg, started in 2015 with a basic course. Have 7 hives now, 1 in a TBH, the rest in spaarkast (as they call it I Dutch). I bought more hives to expand next year and planning to start keeping the European black honeybee (Apis mellifera mellifera) for the next years. I have a Dutch website: www.mathijsherremans.nl where I wright about nature and beekeeping.
That's fantastic,
I hope my videos will help you. I am going to take a look at your website now. I am going to set up a TBH next year to see if I can help people who want to use that type of hive, they look like quite good fun if you only have a few hives but I don't think I would want too many of them.
Stewart
Great video of the swarm on your website and I love the colour of your hives with the blue and yellow colours.
The Norfolk Honey Company I have my TBH on "warmbouw" the entrance right to the comb not parallel on the comb. One thing I will do in the spring is to make a following board at the entrance. If I want to have a quick look from the front of the hive I just take the following board out and see what's going on. Now I have to go from all the way back to the front. Was a tip from Phil Chandler.
I learned with an artificial swarm, the "veger" to take the queen and 3 frames of bees in a hive with 6 frames, no brood because of varroa, bring it minimal 5 km away. If you don't bring it away than take 6 frames of bees and the bees that bring in the pollen and nectar fly back to the old hive. In the old hive you break after 13 days the queencells after 4 pm (16.00) and the strongest queen will win that night. In the veger you spray oxalis acid and then it's almost varroa free, because there is no brood and all the varroa is on the bees. If the queen in the old hive is start laying eggs you also spray oxalis acid, but without the super on. I think you know this method, maybe not to spray the oxalis acid.
Great videos. Really clear. Did you feed the colony with the queen? They pulled the frames so quickly!
Hi Richard,
Yes, the bees need a nectar flow or some food to enable them to produce lots of wax.
Stewart
Super Video - very helpful
Hi Jonathan,
Thanks for commenting. I'm glad they are of use.
Stewart
hi hope your doing well just wondering what type hive you use is it a british hive and by the way you are a great teacher thanks for sharing
Hi David,
Thanks for your comments. I currently use two types of hive the British National and the Commercial hive. The reason for this is that I started using the national many years ago but found the brood area a little restrictive for my bees and so switched to the commercial which although it has a bigger brood area is the same footprint as the national so I can continue to use the same floors, supers, crownboards and roofs.
Stewart
Hi Stewart, great videos, really helpful. My question is why do you kill all but one of the queens in their cells? Why not let them all hatch and duke it out?
Hi Mimi,
Thanks for the comments. I often find that if more than one queen cell is left they don't actually fight it out between themselves, rather, they all take to the air and swarm multiple times leaving a hive that is almost empty of bees! Hence, I remove all except one queen cell.
Stewart
Thanks from Australia for your videos.....always learning about our wonderful little bees.... was wondering if u made an update to the drone laying video past the second one ....how did it go?
Hi Lesley,
Thanks for commenting. I'm not sure that I did. If you have watched the badly behaved bees video and update those bees were united with another colony that have overwintered well and I will be splitting them in the near future to create a new queen (and making a new video about the process).
Stewart
Hi again Stewart. Just trying to get ahead of myself for next year! That's if my bees haven't all frozen!!!!
These are really good vids on AS. Something that seems rather complicated, but really isn't!!!
A couple of questions tho.
I notice that the two hives are quite close together....is there an optimum distance for placing the old and new hives? Also pleased to see that they don't have to be facing the same way as this would be a problem for me in my garden!
Secondly, I was interested that you knocked down all the QC they made originally, thus putting the bees on your own timeline. Would you still do this if there were mature QC present or would you leave one.....then having to guess when it might hatch?
Lastly, how do you decide which is the best QC to leave...what should I be looking for?
Hi Dorothie,
I think we are all feeling the cold at the moment!
Regarding the AS, I only move the hive 2-3ft away following the method described in Ted Hooper's book A Guide to Bees and Honey. Seems to work well enough most times. Turning the entrance helps to prevent drifting back into the original hive position. Removing the already formed queen cells is a step further than in the book where the suggestion is to remove sealed queen cells to prevent new queens drifting into the old site and being killed. I works well to remove them all but only if you have eggs or very young larvae from which queen cells can be produced. So to answer your question, yes, remove sealed, mature queen cells but newly formed ones can be left.
You saved the best question til last, the choice is mostly guesswork! Look for well formed, large, plump queen cells with a good covering of wrinkled wax on the outside. That said, I have had some great queens emerge from tiny, twisted and bent emergency queen cells so who knows really!
Stewart
Thanks Stewart! wondering why you would not move the hive with the old queen. seems backward from a natural swarm! Thanks Jim
Hi Jim,
The purpose of the artificial swarm in this instance is to separate the queen and the flying bees from the rest of the colony. If you move the queen away she wouldn't retain any of the flying bees as they return to the original hive location.
I hope that helps.
Stewart
Ha I really like your videos they are great u do a wonderful job teaching about bees watching the videos is better then any book that u can read on bees. I seen your gloves I have bee gloves but they are ok but you can hurt the bees i do not like to wear the bee gloves, the gloves u use do u find the gloves u use are better, do u get stung though them thanks for all the teaching videos on the bees keep them coming the are great
Hi Frances,
Thanks for commenting. I like the gloves that I use because they are thin enough to feel the bees but provide some protection against stings. You can feel when a bee is trying to sting and move it away. They are long cuff, nitrile gloves, I'll be talking about gloves in a video in a few weeks time once the season is getting started so watch out for that one.
I don't like the leather gloves because as you say you end up killing bees because you can't feel them and just end up squishing them! but I understand that some people need to wear thicker gloves because of allergies etc.
Stewart
Having watched your video on artificial swarming (very clear, concise and calm with the bees), I today used
this method on my single hive and now (hopefully) increased my hives by
100%. Questions how long can I carry on with the old queen and in Ted
Hooper's book he recommends swapping the original hive to the other side
of the AS hive after 7 days, is this necessary?
Hi Mark,
Thanks for commenting.
The process won't harm the old queen so a lot depends on how well she was mated and how old she is. I have a few queens that are approaching four years old and still going strong.
Swapping the hive to the other side of the original position allows flying bees to drift into the original hive position and therefore build up numbers within that colony. It is not essential that you do this but it will increase the number of flying bees in that colony. It also reduces the number of flying bees in the original hive and therefore helps reduce the swarming impulse so if the bees are really keen to swarm it will help give you time to deal with any further attempts of swarming. The great thing about beekeeping is you can choose the approach you want and see how it works out.
Stewart
Hi Stewart, love your channel. I find your videos incredibly helpful and educational. I have a colony that's bursting with bees (judging from what I saw when I added fondant yesterday) and I plan to do this myself when the timing is right. Maybe this was already asked and I didn't see the question posted...what criteria do you use to determine which cells you destroy and which one is the lucky choice to become the queen? Thanks much!
Hi Jeff,
many thanks for your comments.
I always choose the best looking queen cell in the best position. Now I know that really doesn't help you, so let me explain a little more, I will be posting a video in season to show how I choose.
I like to choose an nice long, straight, fat queen cell, the outside of which is nicely dimpled with wax. I choose a position that is somewhere I am not going to crush it (close to the side for example) and where the virgin queen can easily emerge (not tight against the bottom bars). That's the simple, quick answer, full video coming sometime in the Spring when I will be going through all of this in detail.
Stewart
Hi Stewart,
Thank you for your superb and informative series. Apologies if you have answered this question elsewhere but what qualities do you look for when selecting a queen cell to leave to develop in the new hive?
Thomas
Hi Thomas,
Thanks for the question.
A nice large, well-dimpled queen cell wide at the base and narrowing uniformly to the tip. Light coloured wax, fresh looking with bees in attendance. That said I've selected queen cells like this only for them to fail and I've been left with stunted, ugly, twisted queen cells that have produced brilliant queens, so who knows! MOstly, though, the large, good looking cells do produce decent queens.
Stewart
Hi,
In the new hive with the old queen, will it have enough time to produce a honey crop for harvesting? and the same question for the hive with that will produce a new queen.
thanks for your videos, they're so helpful- Dominic
Thanks for the great video! Once the new hive has established itself and has a new queen is it possible to move the hive back close to the original location next to the new hive with the original queen? Thanks
Yes, that's ok to do. Many people will use this method to produce a new queen and replace the old queen with new by uniting the two colonies together.
Stewart
I'm Dutch, and it isn't clear for me what's the difference between an artificial swarm and a split (in English terms). A artificial swarm is always a split, but a split is not always an artificial swarm? Just some bees and brood in a nuc (is a nuc simply a hive with 5, 6 or 7 frames?) without a queen is a split but not an artificial swarm?
Hi Mathijs,
Thanks for stopping to comment and asking a question.
So an artificial swarm is the process of removing the queen and foraging bees from the original colony and leaving the old colony queenless and with very few if any flying bees thus making them produce queen cells. The process is carefully controlled and the exact timing of the new queen can be managed by removing any existing queen cells and forcing the bees into making new queen cells on a new timeline that the beekeeper has set.
A split (For me) is basically a similar process but not quite so controlled. For instance, if I find a colony with several queen cells I might make a split by turning it into two nucs and retaining the parent colony with the original queen. I have a video of this which you might have seen, I'll put a link below in case you haven't seen it.
th-cam.com/video/E-W3XCv4OaA/w-d-xo.html
Does that make sense? I hope I have explained in a way that helps.
Stewart
OMG so very helpful. I asked a question in Part 1 of this series, so hopefully you will get back to be before I do my A.S (I'll do my inspection Thursday 17th May) Can I ask please the reason you don't fill the brood box with 2 more frames when you clearly have the space to do so?
Hi Lisa,
If you notice at the start of the video there is a frame with a dummy board attached. When the video finishes it is still missing, I replaced both frame and dummy board after the end of the video so this closes up the gap. I just didn't include it in the video, sorry to confuse you.
Stewart
Hello Stuart,
Thank you for the very helpful videos. I am a brand new beekeeper, so I have found your videos especially helpful. My question is:
Is there a best time to split a hive or can you create a false swarm anytime during the year?
Thank you.
Hi Scott,
Late Spring is a great time to split colonies. The overwintered colonies have had time to grow in strength and it allows the newly split colonies time to expand and become strong colonies in their own right before the Autumn shut down. You will also get some honey off well managed and healthy hives.
Stewart
Thanks Stewart. Love the vids. What happens if the one queen left doesn’t mate or doesn’t even survive? Nick
Your videos are very very good...but I'm curious as to where you get that invisible smoke you use :)!!
Great videos...many thanks. Do you move the split very far from the original brood box with old queen? If so how far?
Hello stewart
I'm a new beekeeper, and I'm wondering if i don't want to split my hive or make an artificial swarm in spring,
do i need to check my hive every week for queen cells, so they don't swarm? Should I destroy the queen cells? Or is there a better way, and what would you recommend.Thank you
Hi Sebastian,
Thanks for stopping to comment and ask a question.
The simple answer is yes, when the season begins you need to inspect each week throughout the beekeeping season to check for queen cells (along with other things) to make sure they are not going to swarm. If you find queen cells and there is also an active egg laying queen present then you can destroy the queen cells but always make sure you see eggs before you destroy any queen cells.
I'm going to be making some videos about exactly this as we start the new season so check out my getting started series of videos for more info.
Stewart
Fantastic video again Stewart
long story but i'm introducing a queen to a small colony in a poly nuc on Friday this week.
I will need to destroy 2-3 queen cells (which are ok) as i don't have enough bees to give a frame of brood to the queen cell to support.
Is there any other option or how few bees would be ok to leave in a nuc with a queen cell?
Paul
Hi Paul,
Thanks for the kind comments.
As long as the queen cell is capped you can get away with just a handful of bees in warmer conditions. As it has been cold it might be wise to give them a few more bees but a frame with a good covering of bees should be enough. I run queen mating nucs on two frames a lot of the time and they do just fine.
Stewart
thanks Stewart...and does it need to be brood in all stages or can the capped brood on the same frame look after the emergent queen? In this colony there is now only capped brood...
HI Stewart, Just wondering why you knocked off all the queen cells the day you did the artificial swarm, then let the bees start with eggs to create a second round of queen cells before you save one to be the future queen? Thanks!
Hi Niki,
It puts me in control of the exact timings. It's not necessary but useful to know the more specific timing of emergence etc.
Stewart
Hi Stewart,
THanks again for the great content,
What would be the consequences of not removing any queen cells?
Dominic
The first one to emerge may tear the others down before they hatch. If the first to hatch is unable to lay eggs properly or not at all then this is a massive set back, thats why he chose the best looking cell. Also if two do happen to hatch at once they may fight to the death. Worst case scenario both die in the fight or the remaining one is so badly injured she functions poorly or not at all as a queen.
Hi Stuart, Rather than destroying the queen cells, could they be grafted to produce queens?
I have one "swarm" queen cell forming, so I was going to do this. Can I just do the split and leave that one queen cell to develop or remove it and let them make another? hopefully that makes sense.
Hi Christina,
Thanks for commenting.
It's a really simple way of making a split. The reason we remove all the queen cells is to prevent the possibility of the virgin queen flying out on a mating flight and on her return getting confused and flying into the hive on the original stand position, then being destroyed by the old queen and her workers. Of course, it doesn't always happen that way and you could leave the existing queen cell and see how they get on. Remember to check for production of further queen cells if they still have eggs and young larvae.
Good luck with it.
Stewart
What are the advantages of an artificial swarm over splitting into two nucs?
The artificial swarm can be used to replace the queen and not increase the number of colonies you have. Once the new queen has mated and is laying well you can destroy the old queen and unite the colonies together again.
Hi Stewart. Why did you remove the existing queen cells ahead of new queen cells being formed. Doesn't this just delay the production of a new queen?
Is it just about controlling timing (just seen the comment below to the same question) or is there another reason?
Hi David,
It's just about the timing and not something that is needed unless you want to manage the timing of the virgin queen's emergence. This could be due to drone availability for instance, or to suit your own time frame.
Have a great season.
Stewart
Is there a follow up to this video?
Hello Stuart
Will the original colony with the old queen re-queen itself .
Thank you
Hi Solomon,
The old queen will head up the new colony with the flying bees. After a while, she will start laying eggs, produce more bees and build back up to full strength. Once this has happened and there is another queen in the other hive you have the option of removing the old queen and combining the two colonies into one (uniting) or running two compeltely independant colonies and creating an increase.
Have a great beekeeping season.
Stewart
Do the supers stay with the old queen?
hi stuart. i think im missing something here. you took the original queen out. you then went to this hive and removed all the queen cells. now a week later it has several more....where did they come from lol? im hoping to get a hive next year but as you can see by this question i have a way to go before im confident enough to buy a hive.
Hi Jay,
Just keep soaking up the info and see if you can get to visit with a beekeeper to experience beekeeping first hand. The fist set of queen cells appeared when I was inspecting and decided to spilt the colony. The second set of queen cells appeared because I had removed the first batch and the workers need to produce a queen for their colony. I then leave just one queen cell to emerge as the new queen.
Stewart
The Norfolk Honey Company yeah but surely there needs to be a queen to lay the egg and you had removed her from this hive? can they turn brood in a normal cell in to a queen? thx for the advice i will be going on a few bee courses this year and hopefully joining a club so im sure omeone there will help.
Hi Jay,
Yes the workers use the remaining eggs and/or young larvae to produce the second batch of queens and after that point if you were to destroy all the queen cells they would have no more viable young larvae to produce any queens from and would be called "hopelessly queenless".
Stewart
The Norfolk Honey Company thx so much for the reply. i never realised they could just do that i thought the queen cells had to be made and an egg laid then fed royal jelly in that order but i guess they can just improvise and extend a worker cell in to a queen cell. thx again stewart your videos havelots of great information and are well made.
They really are incredible in every way, and why I am so fascinated by them
Stewart
hello from the West of Ireland. Why do you keep only 10 frames in your brood box, when 11 or 12 can fit?
Hi Sean,
Thanks for commenting. I do normally use 11 frames in my brood boxes, if there's one with only ten frames it's probably because I've miscounted or run out of spare frames on that visit. I usually use a dummy board with 11 frames to make it easier to remove without rolling and killing bees.
Stewart
The Norfolk Honey Company
How do you manage to keep your frames running so smoothly, mine always get stuck with propolis.
You could try a bit of Vaseline on the runners. I find this helps and no sticking
@@joncotn thanks I'll try this.
Hi Stuart, how do you know which queen cell is the best one?
Hi Paras,
Great question and one I'm still trying to work out how to answer! It's pretty much a guessing game. We normally go for large, fat, well formed queen cells that hang nicely from the comb. Smaller or twisted cells could be problematic but having said that I have had nice queens emerge from fairly ugly looking queen cells so you never really know!
Sorry I can't be more specific.
Stewart
Thank you Stuart, At least I know I should not panic if I don't have a beautiful queen cell, lol
hi Paras,
Never any need to panic with beekeeping :)
Stewart
Being a beginner and performing an artificial swarm for the first time you have doubts weather you doing it right, after doing it successfully I can say I am now confident to do it again. But the first time is always a nerve breaker, lol.
Hi Stewart what kind of honey bees do you have ?
Hi David,
My bees are a mix of different subspecies. I don't have any pure strains here and unlikely to have given the imports and other beekeepers buying in bees.
Stewart
Wondering why you chose to kill queen cells on two frames when those frames could be used to produce more hives. In nuc boxes each of those frames could produce new colonies. Even though single frame splits are not strong colonies perhaps they could be. Using your assumption of 'inferior' queen cells i should not exist per cutout. I am not six feet, rich, and handsome. Yet i do exist. Who decides what is 'inferior'? A viable queen is a viable queen. Does not make a difference if she lays 800 a day or 2000. Life is life. Why does this video repeat itself?
Hi M.U.H.F.,
Thanks for the questions. It's simply that I do not have unlimited equipment. You are quite right that the additional queen cells could be used to produce more colonies. If you are only using one or two of the queen cells then you have to select which one to keep and that is a difficult choice. I have had very successful colonies from small, emergency queen cells so I understand your comment perfectly. Not sure which bit repeats itself, either my poor editing ability or "on camera nerves". I'm a beekeeper first and still find it awkward to stand in front of the camera and try to remember all the things I'm trying to convey. Hopefully, I will get better the more I try, anyway, stick with it and thanks for watching and commenting.
Stewart
HA! My middle name is Stewart. Personally, in the struggle of life and death, queens have a stinger for a reason. To dispatch competition. Is it brutal? yes, but part of the struggle. Let them choose as they will. We are not bees, they are. They know best how to manage themselves. Some decisions are best left to the bees in management. You do just fine conveying the information you wish to. You may find offering nuclear colonies for sale have more orders than you can complete. Bees are in limited supply and demand is quite high. Bees are a resource.