What is a double screened dividing board, and how is it used?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 มี.ค. 2019
- www.studiobeeproductions.com
This may sound crazy to many folks up north, but here in the deep south, we are getting ready to split our hives. With the early appearance of Spring, and the abundance of trees and plants in full bloom now, our hives are literally busting at the seams with bees and swarms are happening daily. The beginning process I use to split my hives, the placement of a double screened dividing board, will be the topic of discussion on this video.
There are countless ways a bee keeper can split a bee hive, and the process that I use is just one of many different styles of achieving the same end results. In this video I will explain what a double screened dividing board is, how it is installed, and the purpose of installing them.
Because our weather has turned warm so quickly, the bees have anticipated the arrival of an early nectar flow, and in many cases, have produced an abundance of swarm cells in the hive, adding to the task of installing our boards......those cell have got to go.
Also, at the end of the video I will have the first entrants of the Annual Swarm Catch Challenge. I'd love to put you picture in there as well, so, if you are interested in participating, send in your picture, ( it would be great if you could get in the picture with the swarm ) the date of the catch, and the location as well. By sending these pictures to me, you give me the right to publish them on my video all for the sake of having a good time. My address is oscelata@gmail.com and I look forward to seeing you pictured with your swarm catch. God's peace to all. Mr. Ed
AHA! I just asked myself this question while watching one of Mr. Ed's recent videos, and TH-cam musta heard me, cause here it is! Came up in my "suggested" feed. :)
It is kind of freaky that goggle knows even what we are thinking. I'm going to start wearing my aluminum foil hat. Thanks for watching, again. God's peace Thea.
Mr. Ed
You’re a great teacher! Love the simplicity of your method.
Thank you very much Patty, it's a pleasure sharing the tricks I know. By the way, I have a much more recent video on the same subject if you care to check out my channel. Thanks for watching, and I hope you will check out more of my bee wrangling/ bee rescues adventures and let me know what you think of them. By the way, I post a new video every Friday morning, and I look forward to hearing from you again soon. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
I will never have the chance to do beekeeping but so enjoy all of your videos. You are unfailingly smiling, and your love of education is our blessing. Thank you so much for sharing what you do with us.
I can not express enough my appreciation for your so kind and thoughtful words, thank you for them and the time you spend watching my bee wrangling adventures. I derive great joy in sharing my experiences, and I look forward to doing so for as long as God wills. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
Find a beekeeper near you, they would love to have you see the bees in person. Not knowing your situation, maybe you can become a beekeeper.
When I split hives for the largest beekeeper in Washington State (8,000 hives), we would tear the entire hive open to find the queen and isolate her in the original location. Then we would equalize brood and honey/pollen stores in both hives. The queenless split would be hauled to what we called a "Nuc Yard" and checked for queen cells before introducing a queen from Kona Queen in Hawaii. We found this method very effective. I can't believe you have dozens of swarms already. We still have 6 inches of snow on the ground and 20 degree temps at night. I like watching the joy on your face when you work your bees Mr. Ed. Keep the videos coming.
There are so many ways of making splits, each bee keeper needs to find which way works for them best, and then perfect the method. I loved hearing how you split hives in Washington. Thank you for your kind words and for watching. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
Hey Mr Ed I was in the backyard with my family yesterday when my wife pointed out some honey bees which got me started spouting off all these things I've learned about beekeeping like robber bees and swarm cells. It really caught me by surprise how well I understood so much about beekeeping especially since I had given up on trying to understand it about 10 years ago. It was like the knowledge just came out of nowhere but I guess I've been watching your work a lot more than I realized. So thanks for sharing and keep on sharing and God bless you for teaching us about one of His most amazing creatures He has subjugated to the benefit of man.
Thank you for your blessing Sam, and I'm delighted to hear you have gained insight on bees from following along with my channel. Thanks so much for watching. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
Those double screened bottom boards seem to make making slips a breeze! Thanks Mr.Ed!
That's how I have been making my split for almost 10 years now, very simple. I'm waiting for your pictures. God's peace Chris.
Mr. Ed
You're not competitive at all.. your excitement and laughter is contagious. Haha Get crackin Mr. 628!
Growing up with 5 siblings, one can not help but be competitive. Life is good when you can laugh....especially at yourself. God's peace Leann.
Mr. Ed
Thank you for taking the time to teach us this method of splitting.
It may not bee the correct solution for everyone, but it has worked successfully for me for almost 10 years now. There is more follow up to the process, and I plan on posting that next week. God's peace Kelly.
Mr. Ed
Hello from the Pacific Northwest in Washington state...Great vidoes! Love your personality as well. Makes them more easy to watch then some others.
And hello to you as well Erik! Delighted to hear you enjoy the content and my craziness, I do have fun sharing the little I know. What I don't know is what kind of fish you are holding, my guess is a salmon, what is it? As a Louisianan native, born, raised, and continue living here, fishing has always been a passion in my life.....until bee keeping pushed it aside. As we are blessed to have both salt water and fresh water fish, I have caught dozens of different species fishing the waters off shore as well as in shore. Salmon is one of the few species I have never had the privilege of hooking yet....one day though. God's peace brother.
Mr. Ed
@@JeffHorchoff Hi Mr. Ed, That is a 25lb chinook or king salmon. That is a about average size for that river (Nisqually river in Olympia, WA). They can grow to over 100 lbs up in Alaska. I lived there for three years and it is just fishing heaven. I would imagine the gulf is pretty good too. I also have not been going much in the past few years. Def something I should do more often as there is not much more relaxing than being out on the water first thing in the morning. I always felt closer to God in nature than I ever did in any church. I always called it Gods natural church..haha. You should DEFINITELY make a trip to catch a king salmon though. Its called King fever for a reason. I will warn you though, that once you catch one, you will be sick with it. They run around Memorial Day through early July up in Alaska and then down here in WA around mid to late august through September. The other species of salmon are fun too, dont get me wrong. They others just dont get nearly as big. Any other species at 25lbs would be a trophy. Kings make the best smoked salmon due to their high fat content and SIlver (coho) and Red (Sockey) are the best grilled. Pinks are often tossed back, and chum salmon are called Dog Fish in native alaskan cause they feed those to their dogs..lol..Anywho, that is my brief Salmon lesson. I really need to take a long fishing trip someone soon. I sure do miss it. Like you, time just gets taken up by so many other things at this age..lol..
Mr. Ed, great video as always. The only thing I would suggest is getting in the habit of setting you hive bodies on "end" and not "sideways". There's a lot less chance of having your frames slap each other, possibly injuring your queen. It's just something I was taught early on and have always made it a practice. Keep posting vid's, we're enjoying them.
Good advice David, thanks for the tip. god's peace.
Mr. Ed
I know it’s an older comment but also another reason for stacking the box vertical (not horizontal) is if say it was a honey box there would be honey running through the whole box as well not something you want happening . The other thing I noticed was the lack of inspecting the brood frames properly, queen cells are not just on the bottom of the frames , they hide queen cells everywhere so checking frames 1by1 properly so none gets over looked is important or you will end up with failed results and a swarmed colony regardless.
Agree (*)
But if Frames have Spacers (Triangle/Square edges) along full depth of Frame : like with Langstroth "Bee Space" remains. So not squidged Bees. * Other Hive or Frame types might not have these Spacers built in. Just saying.
Tip :
Best to Transport with Ends facing Direction of Traffic : that's when Frames bump and Flap each other in Transit :
if Frames are the "same way as back Seat" etc. 👀
Hope this helps. 😎
🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
Happy Beekeeping 2023.
🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
This is so fascinating! How did I not see this video on Friday. You are a good teacher. Bees are cool. :) Have a great week Jeff!
Bees are way cool, and I'm a blessed fella to have such a passion for them. God's peace Juliana.
Mr. Ed
I’m a full fledged TH-cam bee keeper now. You just taught me the last thing I needed to know😊 Go swarm catchers!!
I hope you got your badge when you got fully fledged, if not, the Dirt Rooster has a ton of them to pass out. Thanks so much for following along and enjoying the fun. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
I love your Great, and thankful attitude. You always make me smile. Keep up the great videos. God bless.
Thank you for your blessing, receiving them is the best perk I have for having a channel on You Tube. Also, your kind words and support make me want to continue doing what I love doing. Thank you for all of that as well as for watching. God's peace Kelley.
Mr. Ed
Completed my second divider board split on another hive on March 20. gave the new nuc to a beekeeper friend and figured I was OK for a couple weeks. Went outside tonight about 0730 and noticed a small tree behind that hive was bent way over. Checked it out and it was a swarm. Has to be from the hive I just split because my other hives are at least 20-30 feet away. Never had that happen before but I captured it in my nuc setup and now I have another haive to manage.
It's not uncommon to have multiple swarms from the same hive. I know we don't expect it, but it does happen. Glad you caught it. God's peace Bill.
Mr. Ed
Great video Mr Ed, nice to see the swarm cells and how they are managed.
The way I manage swarm cells does not mean it is the only way, many bee keepers will use them to grow more bees. For me and my operation, removing them is the most expedient procedure. God's peace Matt.
Mr. Ed
I'm always learning something Jeff. Thanks. My hive is looking great btw. Can't wait to split it. Need the weather to warm up.
You have come a long way in a short time, keep up your good work Sean. God's peace brother.
Mr. Ed
You're awesome Jeff, we're massively losing bees in Europe thanks to the weather changes and imported ravenous insects, especially Asian wasps, but thanks to people like you we can be certain that there will always be bees on this beautiful planet of ours.
Trying to do my part in the little corner of the world I'm living in. It is a true joy to see the bees flourish. Thanks for your kind words and for following along. Till the next time, God's peace Sebastian.
Mr. Ed
Really good split method there. Those double screen boards are good for helping the bees in drying down honey too. I know guys that run them under the top cover during flows for that purpose.
Not only brawn, but brains as well. thanks for passing that bit of bee info along, I never heard of it, but I know it would work. One question, are you ready to concede yet? God's peace brother.
Mr. Ed
@@JeffHorchoff You scared already? We just started.
Just want to give you a chance before it gets really ugly, like the last 2 years. I really don't like watching you cry, I don't think it's very becoming of a man of your stature. God's peace brother.
Mr. Ed
Put the double screen board on top and upsidedown so they also have an upper entrance.
Oh wow I am early again. I am not missing anymore. I woke up early saying "waiting for Mr Ed here to upload"
Agora é o que eu chamo de dedicação, você é um espectador fiel. Obrigado! A paz de Deus.
Mr. Ed
Just use your technique with the double screen board on the 23 April 21 here in he UK as the hive was a double brood box with bees covering 8 frames both in the top box and the bottom box. I will check for QC on the 1 May. Thanks Mr Ed.
Way to go Chris, glad to bee of some help. God's peace brother.
Mr. Ed
Very interesting. We have only had bees 4-5 years. There is an amazing amount of things to learn! I haven't heard of these screens before. Seems like a great Idea.
There are many, many different ways to split a bee hive. This particular way of doing it has proven very successful for me over the years, and on top of that, It's a VERY simple method. Still, I will always recommend that a person find a way of keeping their bees that way they are comfortable with, tweaking it until it fits really well, and then going with that, but always willing to learn and try something new. I wish you continued success and fun on your journey. Thanks for watching, and I hope you will check out more of my bee wrangling/ bee rescues adventures and let me know what you think of them. By the way, I post a new video every Friday morning, and I look forward to hearing from you again soon. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
Oh, wow. The girls want to swarm early this year. Thank you for the amazing info. Good luck. God's blessing and a lot of hugs and love from Israel
They are just itching to swarm early this year. Our weather is almost 3 weeks early, and I'm working hard to keep ahead of them.Thank you for your blessings, hugs, and love. Till the next time Hagit.
Mr. Ed
Hello Mr. Ed. I'm learning something new about beekeeping all the time, watching your videos. Fascinating. Thank you and God bless.
Blessings and compliments, what a great comment, thank you so much. Till the next time, God's peace.
Mr. Ed
Very informative! Thank you! Bee keeping is a LOT of work I see!! 🐝🐝
There is most definitely work involved with keeping bees, but what a joy it is. God's peace Gail.
Mr. Ed
This had to be one of the most informative videos ever! Great job on your entire video , God bless
Thank you for your blessing and very kind words, they are both greatly appreciated. Till the next time, God's peace.
Mr. Ed
Mr. Ed where is the life alert? 628 Dirt Rooster is going to be upset when he see's your not wearing it...ya know he is worried you are gonna get lost hahahaha. Love all of your videos and that friendly smile..thanks for sharing keep on sharing and see you on the next one!
The Life Alert is smashed and sitting on the bottom of a pond at the abbey due to the tracking device that was secretly planted in it. The Rooster was trying to learn all the locations of my swarm traps, but I foiled his scheme. Needless to say, he was greatly disappointed that another one of his plans bit the dust. Thanks for watching. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
Hello Mr Ed! Great Ingenious stuff !!! Nice to see that all goes well for you. Blessings. Timothée
I do love wrangling bees and I'm happy to share what little I know. Thanks so much for watching. God's peace Timothe'e.
Mr. Ed
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Rooster, you got your hands full with this guy!
I literally scrapped hundreds of swarm cells from the hives this year, never seen that many before. Of course, I've never had this many hives either. You are correct, even with the Rooster's big ol watermelon hands, they are still going to bee full. God's peace Carole.
Mr. Ed
You know, I can't help but wonder whether all the swarming bees are trying to do this year is part of God's plan to save and expand the numbers of our precious pollinators. Maybe we should let some of those swarms go or at least save some of those swarm cells once they're capped to grow out those queens and create more splits or something... Despite the many skillful, loving and devoted bee keepers like yourself, I am very worried about these creatures and their future survival. Mankind seems to be a runaway train at this point... Can we collectively make the changes and sacrifices we need to in order to allow Mother Nature to recover from our greed and destruction. I pray so every single day in word and deed. Working on walking & cycling everywhere vs driving and only flying to see Mom. Wish I lived next door to her in my home town (Michigan), but my husband's work has us way out in Oregon. You're so lucky to be right there with your precious Mom. God's peace to you sir.
Happy Friday Mr Ed have a great weekend . God Bless
Love the blessing and well wishes, thank you so much. I hope you have a great week as well. Till the next time, God's peace Jcrm.
Mr. Ed
Pretty similar to the snelgrove method. Went to a beekeeping class yesterday on doing splits. The girls are pretty busy this year. Love the videos, keep them coming.
I never heard of the Snelgrove method, but the principal I use is a very common practice. Keep working those bees, we need the honey. God's peace brother.
Mr. Ed
Thank you so very much!
You are very welcome, and thank you for watching, I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Till the next one, God's peace Faye.
Mr. Ed
Love the T-Shirt!
The Monk Run is a 5 K /1 mile walk held at the abbey every year. this year it will be on April 27, and there are usually around 500 runners. It is a trail run/walk held on the abbey's 1,200 acres. It is the only time the trails are opened to the public for use, all other times they are reserved for the monks use only. Thanks for watching. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
your a bee wizard thanks for sharing the knowledge Mr.Ed!!!
And you are the lip ripping ninja of the north. I'm looking for your next post. God's peace brother.
Mr. Ed
Hyyyyaahhhh 😆 Trout on a stick fellow ninja!!!
@@aaronnelson1099 They never see the flash until it's to late.....suckers!!!! God's peace.
Mr. Ed
I used my own board early last March in Virginia and it worked! I got a second hive that has done well. Only problem is the original hive swarmed about 3 weeks later and I had to capture it the old fashioned way. Now I have 3 hives. Getting ready to try again this year.
I wish you all the best! Grow those bees! Thanks for watching. God's peace Bill.
Mr. Ed
I've got 7 swarms this month so far ... they are all over the place right now . I just finished a cutout and got at least 30lbs of orange blossom cut comb !
Jeff Horchoff Bees: Mr. Ed you confuse the heck of me; all you need is a Snelgrove double screen board: @
There are other videos about the Snelgrove method. It was developed back in 1936 !
Snelgrove boards work fine, this is just another alternative. Thanks for watching. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
Hi 👋Mr Ed love 💕 your Channel, 🐝 keep saving those 🐝 xx
Thank you so much Tina, it's great to have the support and love. Till the next one, God's peace.
Mr. Ed
Good info. I hope you do an update on your top bar hive soon. I built my loosely based on yours and it is very strong going into the 2nd year. I am going to do first inspection of the season tomorrow.
I did an inspection of the TBH yesterday in the hopes of splitting it, but I could not find the queen, and there were no swarm cells present. I did video it, but I think I will wait till I actually split the hive before posting a video on it. The hive was VERY full of bees and looked fantastic. I am hoping you will have the same results when you inspect yours. let me know. God's peace Dana.
Mr. Ed
so when you put the double screen dividing board on do you first locate the queen and put her in upper box? --great video!!
Great info, thanks! I have learned so much..
I'm delighted to pass along the little I know, and so happy to hear it is of benefit to you. More to come next week. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
lmao What i'am doing today? is Staying inside out of the cold and pollen! Get Ready the swarm season is ON! set out 6 more traps with in 10 min they was checking them all out BIG TIME! at less 20 bees per trap. They was even bunching on em. WoW Now just get the weather right> ALL WE NEED Cheers bub
The weather has been chilly the last 3 days from the front that went through your part of Texas. It will warm up tomorrow, and I will be out working the yards once again. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
Oh my aching back!
Now whenever heavy lifting is involved, I have help. Still, I take ibuprofen at the end of the day even with help. Thanks for watching. God's peace Joe.
Mr. Ed
THANKS FOR SHARING
You'r welcome Gary, I'm more than delighted to share the little I know. God's peace brother.
Mr. Ed
Awesome! Haven't seen any swarms yet in East TN. I have 7 traps out and hope to send pictures of a swarm catch soon. God Bless!
Thank you for your blessing, and I look forward to seeing your swarm pictures....they will make it to a video. Good luck and God's peace James.
Mr. Ed
You know it's Friday when Mr Ed appears. 💝💝💝
You can set your clock by it. God's peace Chelsea.
Mr. Ed
Hey Thanks for the helpful video
My pleasure, thank you for taking the time to watch and leave a comment. Till the next time, God's peace Allen.
Mr. Ed
Would it make sense to take frames that have swarm cells and put them in the bottom box (without the queen) which allows a higher quality queen to develop? I've been operating under the misconception that the "swarm cells" are the queens that swarm, when in reality, they don't but rather induce the existing queen to pack up and take her 1/2 with her.
The swarm cell queens would ensure an intended queen emerges even if emergency cells are produced in the lower box.
Please help me logic through this. BTW, I love how you make us think.
That is how I made over 75% of my splits this year, using swarm cell. The other great thing about using swarm cell as opposed to letting the bees draw out an emergency cell, there is a higher percentage of successful split using swarm cells. Of course it is risky because it does increase the chances of the hive swarming because you were to late in moving the cells, but in my opinion, it's worth it to get a superior queen. The link below shows me using swarm cells and not double screened boards. Thanks for watching. God's peace Bruce. Mr. Ed
th-cam.com/video/4OIW-wPeQWg/w-d-xo.html
I see and hear it is officially on for 2019. Good luck to all and remember it is all in fun.
$$ I still think your plastic double screen bottom board is marketable $$ HBM
I'm working on getting them marketed, I think it is a good thing as well, we shall see. God's peace Phil.
Mr. Ed
You and the dirt rooster crack me up. Lol
Happy to spread a bit of joy, even if it is at the Rooster's expense. God's peace Jose.
Mr. Ed
It's good to see you
شكراً يا ميلاد ، من دواعي سروري دائمًا أن نسمع منك. شكرا جزيلا لمتابعة على طول. سلام الله أخي.
السيد إد
The way you explained this video was quite educational! My crazy friend got out of beekeeping years ago because fireants killed his seventeen hives. He misses it but now health problems prevent his re-entry. I'm thinking about trying if I can find a way to keep the fireants away from hives. It's a constant battle in blackland dirt of North Texas. The abundance of wildflowers here and my flowers and shrubs attract big numbers of pollinators so it appears to be a good area. I thought you were going to forget to fire a salvo at the dirt rooster but glad to see you were on target.
You could try to keep DE under your hives. It will keep pretty much all bugs out. One of the main drawbacks to using DE is that it becomes ineffective once it gets wet, so you would have to keep applying unless your hives were under some sort of cover.. Just an idea...
@@erikfischer-qraac3962 thanks Erik am considering combining several techniques because after I retired my memory did too. So I could forget to refresh and when its dry here it is rather windy so it may possibly be dispersed also. Maybe some other ideas combined will beat the demon ants. I had about 70 mountain dad s an acre when I first built my house
@@mikes1345 I just watched this video about making an ant
proof beehive stand: th-cam.com/video/hE9kr96bI9E/w-d-xo.html
Erik Fischer - QRAAB I liked the black pipe as building material of stand. PVC wouldn't last a summer on his prairie. Leaning more to the oil bath to set legs in and surrounding that with DE on the ground. He mentioned the dust covering the grease making a bridge and that could cause a problem in an oil bath also. That's why I'm gathering ideas to see if I could beat my ants. I do spot treat the ants on my two acres around the house and some of my pasture but am surrounded by wheat fieds and woods. They restock me regularly. Thanks for the input!!!🐝
Mike, I'm in East Texas and I have all kinds of ants and I've tried everything. The only thing that has worked 100% for me are my hive stands with ant moats. I have 2 videos on my channel. If you have any questions about how to make them, let me know.
Nice one, tank you.
Glad you liked the video, it's a pleasure for me to share. God's peace Lois.
Mr. Ed
Hallo mr. Ed ,
Very interesting way of bees splitting ,
easy to do and take minimum space
But i think first you mast be sure they are sufficient eggs in box without quin .
And second are drone in the air .
Without drones and 4 days larva you can make a good split
Rudi , Haarlem , Nedelands ....... is 12 degree and for splitting hives is too early
When you watch the video I post tomorrow morning, you will see that the need to check for eggs is not necessary. I have done almost 60 checks, and only 2 hives did not have queen development. Thanks for watching. God's peace Rudi.
Mr. Ed
@@JeffHorchoff Thank you for explanation .
If you have good experience with 60 splits then is this method working . And if bees are zworming are sufficient drones in the air . Excellent method . I try it this year ....Regards Rudi
Up here in Oregon, our bees haven't even really started buzzing about yet, but I have to reckon they'll get going soon lol
They will soon enough, just be ready for them when they start. Thanks for watching.God's peace.
Mr. Ed
Great video as always! Hope you are doing well, God bless...
All is well, and your blessings help with that, thank you. I hope I'm not embarrassing you with the condition of my suit, but it works great. I'm just very hard on my equipment. God's peace Terry.
Mr. Ed
It looks well used to me! Need to set up another competition for you and Randy.
@@waltertchapman32 I don't know if he can handle any more defeats, I'm already better looking than him, and I've caught more swarms than he has in the past 3 years. I guess it's really not fair, he can't do anything about either one of those. Maybe if we have a bacon eating contest he'd have a better chance of winning. God's peace brother.
Mr. Ed
Mr. Ed, I'm loving the videos man! I have a question: When you look in and notice the swarm cell present, would you just be able at that point to put that box on a bottom board, add a second deep and let them raise the queen? or wold they still swarm out? Why is it necessary to use the double screen and wait a week if they already have a queen cell?
Great video, thanks! In the hive you were working the queen cells were in the top box and not the bottom. Did you find that was the case in the other hives you worked? or was there no particular preference.
I worked over 100 hives, and found swarm cells in at least 75 of them, and all were in the top box. I still did check all the bottom boxes just to be sure. Thanks for watching. God's peace Stephen.
Mr. Ed
Hi Mr Ed. Love your upbeat and informative videos. I needed some extra queens so thought I would give the double screen board a shot. I set it all up with the queen in the bottom box. I thought it was working great when I looked in after 4 days and saw 10 queen cells on 2 separate frames. Those got capped but over the next few days, they steadily disappeared until by the time they should have hatched, none were left. Any idea as to what went wrong?
My guess, you had a queen in the box and she killed them. To my knowledge, only a queen bee will open a queen cell after it has been capped. If I were you, I'd give it another go, and make sure you know where the old queen is. Thanks for watching. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
could you do a video on making these? I would love to do my splits like this, but have no idea how to start making one of these!! thanks so much for your vids!!
I have made a video on them, and here is the link to it. Good luck with the project. God's peace. Mr. Ed
th-cam.com/video/JcAlBIDVJbk/w-d-xo.html
I don't know if you have heard of Bob Binnie, but he has a lot of youtube videos on beekeeping, including one on double screen boards. In one of his videos he said that swarm cells make the best queens. Have you ever harvested swarm cells for the purpose of queen rearing?
I now use the swarm cells to make my splits because they do make the best queens. The link below is a video I made showing the process I use. I still do use my double screen board when swarm cells are not available. Thanks for watching. God's peace Jason. Mr. Ed
th-cam.com/video/4OIW-wPeQWg/w-d-xo.html
I am new to beekeeping. I have all the equipment just no bees in Ohio. Hoping to catch a swarm but I really respect your knowledge and appreciate your videos. THANK YOU
Where in Ohio Mike?
Northeastern Ohio
@@mikeschickensandgarden3370 OK. I''m in SE Ohio, Cambridge area
Shakenbake 68-69 Youngstown area for me. I used to pick up at a place in Cambridge when I worked for the last company I drove for
@@mikeschickensandgarden3370 If I could contact you I could show you how I made my swarm traps that worked great for me last year. I am building some more of them later this week.
Jeff,, I liked the video on the double screen divider board. My question is this, When you turn the top box around and all the bees go into the bottom box, ( which will let the queen have lots of room to lay), when the new queen in the bottom box emerges, is she going to want to swarm very quickly since she will not have a lot of room to lay? Just curious. Have a Blessed day my friend, God bless, and keep on making more video's.
No, she will not want to swarm because I have already added another deep super to the hive to ensure she will not, and moved the top box with the old queen in it away. Thank you for your blessings and for watching. God's peace Kenny.
Mr. Ed
Mr. Ed. The nucs with captured swarms shown in this video made me think of a question, if you do not mind. I am going to be a new beekeeper. I have been watching many hours of your videos and trust your knowledge. What is your opinion of using five frame nucs as permanent hives, stacking supers to increase the size of the hive instead of placing the colony in a ten frame hive? I am pondering this because I am getting older and standard hives are going to be harder for me to handle in the coming years. Thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge. Take care.
That was interesting.
Glad you liked it, and I'm hoping to post the follow up video next week. I hope you will watch. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
great video mr. ed what type of material are your double screen bottom boards ? be safe and have a blessed day !
I built the screened boards and use a food grade plastic. I am working on getting it marketed right now. God's peace John.
Mr. Ed
I've seen a few of your videos on dividing boards, one thing doesn't make sense to me.
If the queen is almost always in the top box, how are there new eggs to be turned into queens in the bottom?
Because prior to placing the board between the boxes, the queen is going between the top box and bottom box regularly. It can happen that if she had not frequented the bottom box, there may not be larva young enough to produce an emergence cell. If that is the case, remove the board, rejoin the hive, and give it another go. Thanks for watching, and I hope you will check out more of my over 600 bee wrangling/ bee rescue adventure videos and let me know what you think of them. By the way, I post a new video every Friday morning, and I look forward to hearing from you again soon. God's peace Scott.
Mr. Ed
Do you use vented tops? My first year didnt end well due to mold buildup so i figure i would vent the hives this year.
Hopefully next year my hive, my one little hive, will be at this point.
I hope so too Heather. Keep the faith. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
Mr. Ed nice video very simple and quick I like it. You forgot to mention when do you place the double screen board. Like here in New England when would you do the split. I know you just did it down the south. But normally if you didn't have any swarm when would you determine to place the double screen. God bless from dudley Massachusetts
I did say that I place the board between the hives when there are at least 5 frames of bees in both the top and bottom box. If the bees are that developed, swarm cells will be appearing soon. Because the screen is used to prevent swarming, it is placed in the hive at that point. The exact date will vary depending when Spring finally arrives in your area. For us here is Southeast Louisiana, I installed the boards beginning on March 9th. Thanks for watching.God's peace.
Mr. Ed
If that swarm cell you cut off, if it was sealed could you put it in a small box and start a split ?
I do that all the time. Making splits using swarm cells is my favorite way of making a split in the early Spring. Check out the video link below, it shows how I do it.Thanks for watching, and I hope you will check out more of my bee wrangling/ bee rescues adventures and let me know what you think of them. By the way, I post a new video every Friday morning, and I look forward to hearing from you again soon. God's peace Patrick.
Mr. Ed
th-cam.com/video/asttghT_XGU/w-d-xo.html
Jeff, I'm getting ready to try this as my hive swarmed 3 times last season. From my inspection last week, I know the queen is in the upper box. If I use your board, doesn't the bottom box need fresh eggs in it for the bees to make a new queen? Thanks for the great info you provide us newbies.
Generally, there will be eggs in your bottom box young enough for the bees to draw out a emergency queen cell. There are instances when that does not happen, and if it does, I simply go into the top box and use a frame that has newly laid eggs in it and switch them up with one form the bottom box. This way, the bees in the bottom box now have eggs to do the job. If swarm cells are present, you can cut the swarm cells and place them in the bottom box and forgo the waiting to form emergency cells. Of course you still have to place the double screened board between the boxes. Good luck Bill. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
Caught our first swarm today, in the mix of a swingset, cherry tree and Maple tree. How do I enter the contest ?
Hi and thanks, why do you use different type mesh on your screen board?
For the most part, I will only use mosquito screen for the double dividing boards, it's the least expensive. Thanks for watching. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
Thank you Mr Ed great info. When you remove the top hive with the screen board, do you place it in the same yard or move it at least 2 miles away?
Bees Bugging You? ... good question. I was reviewing the comments for that question and hopefully the answer. I have no doubt Mr. Ed has the answer. Have a good day.
It will be placed in a yard about 1 mile away. I am not concerned about bees flying back, in fact, I'm counting on it so as to further demoralize the queen. I will talk more about that in my next video. Thanks for watching. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
Have you not needed to add a honey supper on top of each brood super so the bees don't start backfilling nector into their brood box which is a swaming indicator? Great video.
I use the bottom two deep supers as brood chambers, and after that, anything above them becomes honey supers. Glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for watching, and I hope you will check out more of my over 450 bee wrangling/ bee rescue adventure videos and let me know what you think of them. By the way, I post a new video almost every Friday morning, and I look forward to hearing from you again soon. God's peace Kelly.
Mr. Ed
Swarm cells and cups with eggs are often down the side of frames as well as bottom and even on face of comb in my experience. You must miss a lot if you don’t shake bees off to inspect each frame.
Your are correct, and I learned that lesson, this video is almost 2 years old.Thanks for watching, and I hope you will check out more of my over 450 bee wrangling/ bee rescue adventure videos and let me know what you think of them. By the way, I post a new video almost every Friday morning, and I look forward to hearing from you again soon. God's peace Debbie.
Mr. Ed
Mr. Ed first of all God bless you brother! One question is it to late to split this way if Ive knocked down queen cells a couple times already? I’m in Michigan and we’ve had more rain than usual, getting into a flow again and trying to find a good way to knock them out of swarm mode which isn’t always easy. Thanks again for sharing and all you do.
Thank you so much for your blessing Phillip, it is greatly appreciated. Splitting a hive is the easiest way of preventing the bees from swarming. As I am not familiar with keeping bees in Michigan, I really can't say if it's a good time to do it. However, if I kept seeing swarm cells, that would be a indication you can split the hive. I wish you well in your bee keeping adventures, and I'm happy to share my experiences on my channel. Thanks for watching. God's peace brother.
Mr. Ed
Can the swarm cell queen be placed on a queen cell frame for a spare queen? Will it make s good queen or is it always destined to create a swarm?
The swarm queen cell can be used anywhere a queen is needed. I did use 4 of them to requeen a hive, and it worked just fine. Why 4, the first one out will kill all the other ones, and by placing 4 in the hive gives me a better chance of one making it. Good question. Thanks for watching and asking. God's peace Nicole.
Mr. Ed
hey Jeff love your videos, keep them up.. watched this video several times and I know ur busy but have a question regarding ur double screen board. Whats the advantage of using the double screen board, couldnt u just set the new hive on the ground next to the original hive? why not just use a queen excluder board between the hives with newspaper? and finally why is it so important that the top bees can not touch the bottom bees? thank u PAT
This method, making a vertical split, is just one of the many ways to split a hive. The big advantages of a DSDB is the shared heat and shared pheromones. If the split does not take, the bees can be rejoined and you can start again, you cant do that with a walk away. By not allowing the bees to touch, this reinforces the idea that there are 2 separate hives, and one does not have a queen in it. I hope this clears things up. God's peace Pat.
Mr. Ed
If you do this division in the mornin,g before they go out for the day, can the upper bees be locked in for a few days and then let out to recalibrate their location for them?
The point is to steal the field bees from the top box to reduce the chance of swarming in just a few weeks, and to increase the number of field bees in the bottom box to aid in the bringing in of nectar. God's peace Bruce.
Mr. Ed
So interesting to the layman. Could you nurture the queen cells and create new colonies?
Yes you can, it's just not what I do. God's peace Joey.
Mr. Ed
Hey Mr Ed, thanks for the interesting content. I have a couple of questions I may have missed you explaining or i just didn't understand!
Firstly, how do you know the queen is in the top box, and it wouldn't matter which box she was in would it other than the number of bees in the top box will be less eventually? And secondly, why does the dividing board have to be screened? Wouldn't a solid dividing board prevent the scent of the queen getting into the other box and help the bees there to realize they are queenless? Thanks again for the content, keep making more! :)
These are the same two questions I have.
Thanks for the video Mr Ed
95% of the time, the queen is going to be int the top box, it's just the way it is. We want her in the top box so when we do the split, more field bees will abandon her, as well as when we move her and her field bees leave, there is even less chances of her swarming. I guess the board could be solid, it's just the way I learned. good questions. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
The screened board lets the top box benefit from the heat generated by the bees in the bottom box. The queen is likely in the top box because over the winter as the eat the honey in the bottom box they move up, again because heat rises and that is where there is more food.
ks
You'r welcome Paul, God's peace.
Mr. Ed
@@KevinSmith-dx6xq Thanks for the great response Kevin. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
This looks like an ideal solution for me since I'm not able to "bee" around my hive every day. Part time in the city and part time at the farm. Question - how close is too close to my hives to set a swarm trap? I have 140 acres and 4 traps. Thanks as always and God bless.
Love the blessing, thank you Zalma! I would set the traps 40 or 50 feet from the hives and elevated at least 4 feet. When you catch the swarm, make sure you send me a picture, and I'll post it on a video. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
@@JeffHorchoff Thanks, and I will.
I have no idea what your doing ,I think your trying to make two hives.but it's very interesting
That is exactly what I am doing, splitting one hive to make two. Very good assumption. Thanks for watching. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
Do you ever save bottom swarm cells and make a split with them??
What is the reason for 2 different kinds of wire mesh on the screen? And which mesh goes on top?
Mr Ed do you have time to answer this Question ?
I fed mine this winter using the mountain camp sugar method, laying sugar on newspaper on top of the honey super. Wonder what happens when I use the divider board and the bees in the lower box cannot get to the sugar or the honey super?
I only place the double divider board when there are at least 7 frames of bees in both boxes. By that time, you probable will have stopped feeding them. Thanks for watching. God's peace Bill.
Mr. Ed
@@JeffHorchoff Did my inspections and had something funny in one hive. Single deep on the bottom, 2 mediums. Some brood in all three boxes, swarm cells on the bottom of the upper medium. I scraped them off and put the divider between the deep and first super. Will check next week and see what I have. All 3 boxes were loaded with bees.
Just a question. How did you confirm the queen was in the top super.
It's by my experiences I've learned that in over 95% of the time, by March, the queen has moved up into the upper supper and begins to lay. Thanks for watching. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
Very accommodating of the bees to put swarm cells where they can so easily be removed! Beekeeping made easy!
I didn’t see you look for the queen. So how do you know the queen is going to be in the top box?
Bees are simply remarkable. In almost all the hives, well at least 95% of them, the queen is always in the tip box, and I just don't have the time to look for her. Since the odds are greatly in my favor, I'll take the chance she's in the top box. Merry Christmas and God's peace Willa.
Mr. Ed
Hi Ed great content !! Did you buy or make those double screen boards??
Konrad
Happy to hear you found the video informative. I built the screened boards, and I'm working on getting them marketed. God's peace brother.
Mr. Ed
Good info. Just one question. How would I do this if I wanted to introduce a mated caged queen? We live in central maine and that month lost of the bees doing it themselves sets them back to much. I like the screen because it helps with the heat retention in the early months. One more thing, after it is essentially two hives after a couple of weeks how do you move it to a new location? just beside original or different yard? I only have access to my own yard for bees so I cant move them miles away.
Thanks
Given your much shorter window of growth than here in the deep south, I think it would be a very good idea to introduce a mated queen to the queen lees hive. It would give you a 40 day jump before you see new eggs, and in your area of the woods, that's a really important fact. As far as your other question, stay tuned for next weeks video when I show moving the hives. I will talk all about it. God's peace Kerry.
Mr. Ed
I am trying this right now! I’m in Northern IL and didn’t want to lose the time waiting on a new queen either. Fingers crossed!
One question though - where do I put my supers? Right now I’ve got it: bottom board, hive one, double screen, hive two, queen excluder, then super, notched shim (so both hives can get into supers) and another super. This setup was recommended to me but I’m wondering if the supers should be between the hives? Thanks!!!
Mr Ed, how do you know that the queen is in the top box when you put your separator board on? Many thanks
95% of the time she is, I do not know the reason, but it's just the way it happens. Thanks for watching. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
how did you know the queen was in the top box, and will the bees not put more swarm cells in the bottom box? How do you know they will make an emergency cell in the bottom box instead?
95% of the time, the queen will be in the top box. Why, I don't know, but she just is. Because she is in the top box, the likelihood of finding swarm cells in the bottom box is VERY small. I went through over 100 boxes and never found 1 swarm cell in the bottom box. They will make an emergency cell because they have to use an egg that is already in the comb as the queen has no way of laying one herself because she is separate from the box. Good questions. God's peace Steve.
Mr. Ed
Hi there, thanks for this video... What if the next week you don't have any queen cells on the bottom box? you're still waiting another week?
Charlz
Stay tuned for the next video, I explain everything. Thanks for watching. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
Jeff two issues. The regular screen on the bttm will trap scrap. Any problem with this building up and having a nesting place for SB Beetles, and bee removed Wax Moth eggs? Also with the Queen up top there is the possibility of no eggs in the bttm box to start a new Queen from. How successful are you with method?
This method has been the only way I have split bees for the last 10 years. It is simple, and over 95% of the time, it is successful with one box having the queen in it, generally the top box, and the other box with multiple queen cells in it. If queen cells are not present, the double screened dividing board is removed and the hive becomes one again. Because the double screened dividing board is used for only about 4 weeks at the most, it does not provide a spot for the SHB to go to. Thanks for watching. God's peace Louis.
Mr. Ed
I was taught to tilt the boxes so the frames are vertical. Reason is that no bees would be crushed when vertical. Is this not true?
I never heard of that one, but if it works, I'll use it. I hate killing bees by accident. Thanks for the suggestion and for watching. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
So this is only something you would do early in the season, correct?
Very early in the season just before the hives swarm. Here is a link to the video I just posted concerning the use of a double screened dividing board. Thanks for watching. God's peace Mike. Mr. Ed
th-cam.com/video/RzR2zzU5HBE/w-d-xo.html
Hello Mr Ed. Instead of breaking the queen cell off could you cut the swarm cell off on put it in a hive that does not have a queen in it or one that has a bad brood pattern and dispatch that queen for a new queen?
Yes, you could do that. God's peace.
Mr. Ed
Did I understand correctly that bees swarm due to overcrowding? If so, why don't you just add a third box with 10 frames. Or is swarming just something that bees do in the Spring to reproduce?
Bee do swarm due to over crowding, and in the spring time when hive grow very fast, often they swarm before you can add another box. Still, the natural instinct of bees to swarm is very strong, and this instinct, to propagate the species, will compel them to swarm even if there is enough room. Bees are just to cool, and I don't think we will ever totally figure them out. Thanks for watching and I hope you will check out more of my be wrangling adventures and let me know what you think of them. By the way, I post a new video every Friday. Till the next time, God's peace Superman.
Mr. Ed
When you find a swarm cell that has royal jelly (waiting for queen to lay egg) how do you dispose of it?
I simply scrape it off.....and then eat the royal jelly. thanks for watching. God's peace.
Mr. Ed