1) Can VSH traits be spread to other colonies, and can those traits be learned from bee to bee? 7:20 2) I have a European Hornet Colony by my mail box. How aggressive are they? 13:30 3) What's the process of packing down a hive for winter? 22:39 4) I have concerns about my horizontal hive not having additional venting with hot weather ahead. 35:50 5) I came upon some research where fungi may kill varroa mites. I'd like to hear some interviews. 44:23 6) Will colonies draw out frames during a fall flow without feeding? 47:50 7) Just got my BetterBee Smoker. I finally have a quality smoker. The ring is to retain the spark arrester. 52:34 8) How long will the pellets last in perfect conditions? 58:36 9) I have cultivars of the same plant species, will bees pollinate flower variations? 1:00:52 10) How would you feed Hive Alive Fondant in a 7-Frame Apimaye Nucleus Hive? 1:04:35
Great explanation of the dew point,and why we pack down,when too much space can be detrimental, even too much capped honey acts as a cold battery,I believe this one practice has helped me overwinter bees by keeping the entrance small,and a top insulated cover,with fondant where needed .. .game changer🎉keep the warmth ,keep the bees
Thanks Mr. Dunn. I'm going to do just that. I know a couple of farmers who keep bees and said the same thing as you. My next battle is how to keep capped honey away from the critters for a couple months. Also where I live we haven't had a hard winter in a long time. The joke is you can feel all the season in one day in Maryland in the winter
Great show Fred, always is. I listen for the entertainment value I guess because I'm not beekeeping. I think It might be fun to work with someone in my neck of the woods but it's more fun to watch you pro backyard keepers do the actual work. I think I'd have more fun making the woodenware bee hive's. Anyway, That's a great niche of service you give to the bees with the best care. Your grand kids coming along too. They will sure remember you. Thanks for this great education you give to all who are interested in tuning in, and entertainment to the somewhat disabled of us out here who simply dream of being able to work again.
Wow, thank you for such a great comment :) I'm glad you find some infotainment here :) The grandkids are definitely making some memories, and I appreciate having them here :)
Two days ago 10/23/2024 I did my final honey pull in Central PA. I have a Dadant smoker. I put a paper towel tube in the center and then filled around it with the switch grass pellets almost to the top. Then used a chunk of Weber starter cube to start the smoker dropped into the tube. I started it at 9am and finished the day at 5:30pm and it was still smoking. Barely but still some smoke. I also ordered 3 bags when you mentioned they might not be available in the future on another video. When that thing is rocking you don’t want to be down wind if you like breathing 😂 I am going to switch to the smoker with a spark arrester that you recommend on another video I think it was from Better Bee and you gave the highest rating in your testing.
Fred, you are great at looking at me through your camera lens. It is a gift to me and my four colonies of bees every Friday. Thank you! We are in Sonoma county, California. We have mild winters here at sea level. Eucalyptus trees, transplanted from Australia a hundred years ago, start giving nectar in January here. I know you are just looking at the business end of a lens. However, I and hundreds of others are in there watching back at your left eye and then your right eye and back again with high quality eye contact interest. When you thank us for being here we know you can see us, too. Thank you! Well, logically you cannot see us. But it sure looks like you do! To see my right eye, look there just left of lens center. Just right of lens center is my left eye. If you look at everyone all at once it will get truly confusing! Your B roll intro this morning -- can those bees see us, too? -- is spectacular! Big carpenter bee, too. In Sonoma county we have those too, and mason bees, and mimic flies, and bumble bees and ground nesting yellow jackets, and tiny green sweat bees that like big purple thistle blossoms. So... what is a story keeper?
I did buy a “honey refractometer” for about $25 on Amazon and it was not what I needed for honey. Ended up going to Mann Lake and spending about $83 for the right one. Please be sure that the one you buy is exactly what’s needed for honey.
Fred I'm in Pittsburgh and Japanese Knotweed an invasive spiese (also called Japanese bamboo) makes the best fall honey and we have plenty in my area. It Just started blooming and always has a cloud of bees on the white flowers. They work it nonstop for weeks.
Flows smoker has the spark arrester also,....good info about the snap ring wire...I like the longer cone,I see some in bulgaria,, ebay with spark arrested and longer cone....but quite rare,the heat sheilds are nice too,the corneil smoker is my favorite with goose neck top,im still looking for one for collecting
Thanks for sharing! Yes, that longer cone does come in surprisingly handy :) Maybe there is room for some innovation with smokers even though they have been around a very long time.
Hey Fred, love the channel.................here in Texas we plant our flowers/wild flowers seeds in the fall (oct). This is the second spring in Texas when the weather finally cools down and bees actually get a short month- month 1/2 long nectar flow before winter and stock up their honey stores. The seeds germinate and then pause in Nov until the end of Feb/Mar when the Texas spring begins!
Not sure if I should thank you or not, but you mentioned the Bee Expo last week. I just arranged my trip today. Not cheap coming from the West Coast, but I am going to bring my sister from PA, so we are making it a Sisters weekend, lol.
I like the better bee smoker but noticed it lacks a feature I use all the time. My smoker has a hanging hook on the top front of the canaster that hooks to the top inner side of the five gallon bucket I use to carry all my hive tools. I put a liner with tool pockets in my bucket. A bag of smoker fuel goes in the bottom of the bucket and the smoker goes above but hooks on the side of the bucket so it never touches the stuff under it which also includes a mini torch, tape and gumbands. The outside tool pouches hold hive tools, pliers, flash light, bee brusk, bread knife and screw drivers.
Hey Fred I have 5 bee yards with no more than 10 hives in each yard to minimize loss due to bears. There are hives that produce twice as much honey as other hives in the same yard so I don't think you have too many hives as long as you don't exceed 40 hives at one yard. I think the honey production has more to due with the type of bee. The Italian bees produce twice as many bees as some other spices there fore they produce more honey. They also swarm more than other hives and eat their winter stores faster than other hives due to population. I give the the italians double emergency sugar because they produce so many bees that they can starve to death in late winter and early spring. I hang a streamer on high producing hives so I know to give them more emergency sugar and check for swarm cells earlier..
I think you have something there! Now that you mention it, when I had the Italian genetics, they produced large amounts of honey, the survivor stock produces far less. Genetics definitely have something to do with it. I appreciate that.
We are in NW PA and have 2 hives, only a year old, with acres of resources, yet they didn't produce any extra honey this year. Very strange. Maybe this fall will be different.
Oh rats.. I finally signed in “on time” and it’s not the livestream… oh well. Here in SE coastal VA, the Goldenrod is early. The bees aren’t on it so much since the cotton is in full bloom here, the sourwood is blooming, but there isn’t much of that, the bees are bearding, the nucs are stuffed full, and the mite washes show that I need to treat my colonies. The VSH queen colonies are at less than 1%, the non VSH are at up to 3%. All the non honey colonies are getting Apivar strips, honey colonies will get oxalic dribble or OAV. About planting flowers: I’ve decided to focus on trees.. got a tulip poplar, a bunch of mulberry trees, a holly, and some red and Japanese maples. I figure one tree is worth about a quarter acre of clover… and that one bee came and got me for apparently no reason… rats… great videos. Thanks!
I study a book...it says the great creator,designed all genes,and behaviors ,like waggle dances,and navigation by sun angle,same designer also made the sun,some traits express themselves by the preprogrammed adaptation that was there from the start,built into the genes,as we try to figure all those things out,and try to bee accurate😊in our observstions,and he loves his creation because he said it was good 👍
It's Fred-day! Thanks for answering my question on air. Thanks for the second opinion. I have stood within 6 feet of the entrance and other than the close fly-by because I was standing the beeline, they were not aggressive at all... indeed I would never stand that close to Bald faced hornets unprotected. Back to the V. crabro, it's a shame but I agree with you about the safety to folks around me...one more photo shoot and I think death Dawn will come. Have a great weekend, Brice
I don"t use fondant for emergency food because the bees will consume fondant before their stored honey so you think they are out of food and continue wasting money on more fondant. Sugar is only consumed when the bees are out of homey. I had hives starve in our warm March 2024 due to a string of rainy or cold days. The hives had several frames of brood to feed and. I didn't have any sugar bricks left so I dumped loose sugar in the hive and that saved those hives.
This is why I say wait until the cold sets in before you use the fondant or they will go to that first just as you've described. I don't recommend just dumping dry sugar into a hive. But glad you were able to save your bees. :)
Hi Fred, In the “Fluff Section” a shortage of “Double Bubble” was mentioned… could the Backyard Beekeepers use postal bubble wrap spray glued to Aluminium foil sandwiches on both sides? Foil might be a bit stiff… just a thought 😊😉🍻
I actually purchased a bunch from Amazon and cut them down to match what I need. I'm sure you will likely be able to get some political signs when all the dust settles! Until then, this is what I've purchased: (this is not an affiliate link) www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079TZWD29/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
Recently watched a documentary on wasps. I knew that they were important, especially for feasting on other insects such as aphids, but did not realize HOW important they can be. Incredible variety of species. Not the yellow jackets. They don't seem to do anything nice for anybody. But paper wasps - give me a nest in a nearby tree!
Thanks for answering my question about bee learning. Maybe we could try a 5 frame swap and see what happens? I can’t as I do not have officially VSH queens.
Hey Fred, Question 6 was very helpful to me!!! Thank you as always. Question Fred. I'm guessing Im confused about heavy syrup when you mentioned 15lbs of sugar to one gallon of water! So is light syrup like 3/4 of a 5lb bag of sugar to one gallon of water? Grateful.
Yes, it's just about the weight, Brad. 2:1 "Heavy Syrup" is twice the weight of sugar as the water you're adding it to. So a gallon of water at 8 lbs would require 16 lbs of sugar, and that's a lot! I'm far more fond of using light syrup in-between 1:1 and the 2:1 fall mix.
@FrederickDunn only issue I've had with done bubble is that it doesn't always lay flat against the top bars and gives a place for shb to hide and run around.
Saw some varoa on two of my trays. Didnt have time to do a mite check so decided to start my oav treatment regimen on all my hives. Had pressure washed my trays, and 24 hours after the first treatment. Some of my hives are vhs bees i got from Golden West bees. (Randy Oliver), and some are from a feral colony. The vhs bees had no mites on their trays next day. The feral bees had average around 25 mites. 2nd week I again washed the trays. One colony had 26 mites next day and the other had 152. Wow. Another had 10. Didn't treat the vhs hives. Today I did the 3rd treatment, all hives. We'll see what tomorrow's count is. Wondering if you have any ideas why or how unusual that 152 mite count on tray in one colony. They are all about the same strength hives. All splits this spring trying to increase my apiary. Not looking for honey this year. Am going to try breeding some queens from the vhs queens, and continue to expand my apiary. Sorry so long winded. Have a blessed day!
I think if I had a collection of VSH colonies, I'd keep those well away from any low-performing genetics. They can drift around and spread the mites at an alarming rate. I agree, always work from your top performing colonies when splitting or expanding to the best of your ability. Thanks for sharing. :)
Hey Fred…you had mentioned in a previous video that you were going to video honey bees on soybeans. Did you have any luck? I walked our fields at different times of the day on a few days and heard nothing.
Yes, the bees visited the soy-flowers, BUT, they do so very fast and don't appear to be getting much nectar from them. So, it may benefit the farmer a tad, but here they aren't bringing in significant soy nectar. There may be other varieties that produce more for the bees, not the case here. :)
Hi mate, Just a quick question from one living legend to another .🕯️🐝☕️🫖🚬 What’s the best way to de- crystallise honey? I’ve heard some people say put it in the microwave. Put it in hot water for long periods, of time. can you buy a slow cooker and just have it on the lowest setting to keep it at a certaintemperature? ? have you come across this problem? And do you know how to solve it without damaging the honey? Cheers yours faithfully The Candleman🕯.
Yes, I place jars of crystalized honey into a large stove-top pot... then I put a Anova Culinary Sous Vide Precision Cooker Nano 2.0 on the side of the pot... I put all jars of equal height in. Then I fill the pot with water up to the height of the honey. I turn the Sous Vide on at 110 deg. F. / 43.3 Celsius. I run it until all honey is liquid again. All properties are preserved, and RAW honey is still RAW honey :)
1) Can VSH traits be spread to other colonies, and can those traits be learned from bee to bee? 7:20
2) I have a European Hornet Colony by my mail box. How aggressive are they? 13:30
3) What's the process of packing down a hive for winter? 22:39
4) I have concerns about my horizontal hive not having additional venting with hot weather ahead. 35:50
5) I came upon some research where fungi may kill varroa mites. I'd like to hear some interviews. 44:23
6) Will colonies draw out frames during a fall flow without feeding? 47:50
7) Just got my BetterBee Smoker. I finally have a quality smoker. The ring is to retain the spark arrester. 52:34
8) How long will the pellets last in perfect conditions? 58:36
9) I have cultivars of the same plant species, will bees pollinate flower variations? 1:00:52
10) How would you feed Hive Alive Fondant in a 7-Frame Apimaye Nucleus Hive? 1:04:35
Hi Fred, another good video. I went on my Lowes app and they have double bobble wrap it's listed as Reflective 16 in w 25-ft L for $19.97.
Thank you Fred.
Anytime :)
Terribly late getting to listen but as always, I'm glad I did! Thank you for the info, hope that you have a great week!
Thank you so much, Steven :)
This has quickly become one of my favorite resources. Thanks for the effort you put in sir.
Thank you so much, I really appreciate that :)
Great explanation of the dew point,and why we pack down,when too much space can be detrimental, even too much capped honey acts as a cold battery,I believe this one practice has helped me overwinter bees by keeping the entrance small,and a top insulated cover,with fondant where needed .. .game changer🎉keep the warmth ,keep the bees
Thank you so much, It's how I lost my largest colonies in the past. Very surprising to find them all dead and so much moisture.
Thanks Mr. Dunn. I'm going to do just that. I know a couple of farmers who keep bees and said the same thing as you. My next battle is how to keep capped honey away from the critters for a couple months. Also where I live we haven't had a hard winter in a long time. The joke is you can feel all the season in one day in Maryland in the winter
Great show Fred, always is. I listen for the entertainment value I guess because I'm not beekeeping. I think It might be fun to work with someone in my neck of the woods but it's more fun to watch you pro backyard keepers do the actual work. I think I'd have more fun making the woodenware bee hive's. Anyway, That's a great niche of service you give to the bees with the best care. Your grand kids coming along too. They will sure remember you. Thanks for this great education you give to all who are interested in tuning in, and entertainment to the somewhat disabled of us out here who simply dream of being able to work again.
Wow, thank you for such a great comment :) I'm glad you find some infotainment here :) The grandkids are definitely making some memories, and I appreciate having them here :)
We love your video's looking forward every friday, we want to wish you also a happy laborday weekend.
Thank you so much, I spent the weekend up in Vermont :)
Thanks Fred, have a great weekend!
i seed my wildflower meadow in the fall . mulch over with this summer's seed harvest and cuttings
Thanks for sharing :)
Two days ago 10/23/2024 I did my final honey pull in Central PA. I have a Dadant smoker.
I put a paper towel tube in the center and then filled around it with the switch grass pellets almost to the top. Then used a chunk of Weber starter cube to start the smoker dropped into the tube.
I started it at 9am and finished the day at 5:30pm and it was still smoking. Barely but still some smoke.
I also ordered 3 bags when you mentioned they might not be available in the future on another video.
When that thing is rocking you don’t want to be down wind if you like breathing 😂
I am going to switch to the smoker with a spark arrester that you recommend on another video I think it was from Better Bee and you gave the highest rating in your testing.
Thank you for sharing your startup tip. Yes, my all-time favorite smoker in my review is from BetterBee - th-cam.com/video/vJhcdzRDsCk/w-d-xo.html
Fred, thanks for another great video!
Thank you for taking the time to watch and comment :)
Fred, you are great at looking at me through your camera lens. It is a gift to me and my four colonies of bees every Friday. Thank you! We are in Sonoma county, California. We have mild winters here at sea level. Eucalyptus trees, transplanted from Australia a hundred years ago, start giving nectar in January here. I know you are just looking at the business end of a lens. However, I and hundreds of others are in there watching back at your left eye and then your right eye and back again with high quality eye contact interest. When you thank us for being here we know you can see us, too. Thank you! Well, logically you cannot see us. But it sure looks like you do! To see my right eye, look there just left of lens center. Just right of lens center is my left eye. If you look at everyone all at once it will get truly confusing! Your B roll intro this morning -- can those bees see us, too? -- is spectacular! Big carpenter bee, too. In Sonoma county we have those too, and mason bees, and mimic flies, and bumble bees and ground nesting yellow jackets, and tiny green sweat bees that like big purple thistle blossoms. So... what is a story keeper?
Thank you so much for this comment :) I'm so glad it's as if I can "see you" !
I did buy a “honey refractometer” for about $25 on Amazon and it was not what I needed for honey. Ended up going to Mann Lake and spending about $83 for the right one. Please be sure that the one you buy is exactly what’s needed for honey.
Yes, only buy those that are listed for honey water percentage. th-cam.com/video/JyuiVrz7_oA/w-d-xo.htmlsi=XFmo8QCFrinS9HTb
Here in CA, it’s best to plant just before we get a good rainstorm, so this is in the Fall.
Sounds like a lot of viewers are doing just that. Thanks, Gigi! :) I may give that a go this year.
These pellets are great
I'm so glad, I agree :)
Oa sponges seem to work ok
Oh good, we are back to the bees! Save the murder hornets for Halloween, Fred! 😄
:)
Fred I'm in Pittsburgh and Japanese Knotweed an invasive spiese (also called Japanese bamboo) makes the best fall honey and we have plenty in my area. It Just started blooming and always has a cloud of bees on the white flowers. They work it nonstop for weeks.
Another example of an invasive flowering plant having an upside for bees and beekeepers :) Thanks for sharing.
Kangaroo Ground is a place! Green rolling hills and acreages on the outskirts of Melbourne. I live near there.
@@XxBloggs … g’d onya, m8… Daughter in Thornleigh with TCM practice… if you have aches n pains…
Flows smoker has the spark arrester also,....good info about the snap ring wire...I like the longer cone,I see some in bulgaria,, ebay with spark arrested and longer cone....but quite rare,the heat sheilds are nice too,the corneil smoker is my favorite with goose neck top,im still looking for one for collecting
Thanks for sharing! Yes, that longer cone does come in surprisingly handy :) Maybe there is room for some innovation with smokers even though they have been around a very long time.
65 QT plastic boxes from Depot with some cleats work very well!!
Talking about for empty frames? Thanks for sharing :)
Hey Fred, love the channel.................here in Texas we plant our flowers/wild flowers seeds in the fall (oct). This is the second spring in Texas when the weather finally cools down and bees actually get a short month- month 1/2 long nectar flow before winter and stock up their honey stores. The seeds germinate and then pause in Nov until the end of Feb/Mar when the Texas spring begins!
Do you ever experience issues when those mid-winter warmups occur? Do they germinate prematurely? Thanks for sharing.
@@FrederickDunn The native plant tolerate this and go with the flow, that's why I stick to native wildflowers, but yes to all others..................
Not sure if I should thank you or not, but you mentioned the Bee Expo last week. I just arranged my trip today. Not cheap coming from the West Coast, but I am going to bring my sister from PA, so we are making it a Sisters weekend, lol.
Oh! I hope you come up and say hello! :) I hope you'll find it to be well worth the investment :)
I like the better bee smoker but noticed it lacks a feature I use all the time. My smoker has a hanging hook on the top front of the canaster that hooks to the top inner side of the five gallon bucket I use to carry all my hive tools. I put a liner with tool pockets in my bucket. A bag of smoker fuel goes in the bottom of the bucket and the smoker goes above but hooks on the side of the bucket so it never touches the stuff under it which also includes a mini torch, tape and gumbands. The outside tool pouches hold hive tools, pliers, flash light, bee brusk, bread knife and screw drivers.
@@ronlogreco876 the Flow Smoker has the hook, and works great!
Hey Fred I have 5 bee yards with no more than 10 hives in each yard to minimize loss due to bears. There are hives that produce twice as much honey as other hives in the same yard so I don't think you have too many hives as long as you don't exceed 40 hives at one yard. I think the honey production has more to due with the type of bee. The Italian bees produce twice as many bees as some other spices there fore they produce more honey. They also swarm more than other hives and eat their winter stores faster than other hives due to population. I give the the italians double emergency sugar because they produce so many bees that they can starve to death in late winter and early spring. I hang a streamer on high producing hives so I know to give them more emergency sugar and check for swarm cells earlier..
I think you have something there! Now that you mention it, when I had the Italian genetics, they produced large amounts of honey, the survivor stock produces far less. Genetics definitely have something to do with it. I appreciate that.
Fred put some of your hives up for Auction
I'll keep them for now :) But that may be a future possibility :)
Or donate them
We are in NW PA and have 2 hives, only a year old, with acres of resources, yet they didn't produce any extra honey this year. Very strange. Maybe this fall will be different.
I think they are making up for lost time around here :)
My apimay(knock offs) the bees even propolise the bottom board vent slits,separating the pollen trap tray,from the bees,
Oh rats.. I finally signed in “on time” and it’s not the livestream… oh well. Here in SE coastal VA, the Goldenrod is early. The bees aren’t on it so much since the cotton is in full bloom here, the sourwood is blooming, but there isn’t much of that, the bees are bearding, the nucs are stuffed full, and the mite washes show that I need to treat my colonies. The VSH queen colonies are at less than 1%, the non VSH are at up to 3%. All the non honey colonies are getting Apivar strips, honey colonies will get oxalic dribble or OAV. About planting flowers: I’ve decided to focus on trees.. got a tulip poplar, a bunch of mulberry trees, a holly, and some red and Japanese maples. I figure one tree is worth about a quarter acre of clover… and that one bee came and got me for apparently no reason… rats… great videos. Thanks!
I hope you can get those mites under control! We don't need any infestation surprises :)
I study a book...it says the great creator,designed all genes,and behaviors ,like waggle dances,and navigation by sun angle,same designer also made the sun,some traits express themselves by the preprogrammed adaptation that was there from the start,built into the genes,as we try to figure all those things out,and try to bee accurate😊in our observstions,and he loves his creation because he said it was good 👍
It's Fred-day! Thanks for answering my question on air. Thanks for the second opinion. I have stood within 6 feet of the entrance and other than the close fly-by because I was standing the beeline, they were not aggressive at all... indeed I would never stand that close to Bald faced hornets unprotected. Back to the V. crabro, it's a shame but I agree with you about the safety to folks around me...one more photo shoot and I think death Dawn will come. Have a great weekend, Brice
You have to do what you have to do :) I'm glad you enjoyed my response :)
Double Bubble!
Not sure you saw Jeff's cut-out vid today. It wasn't even a cut-out, the hive was open air!
I've been out of State, but will have to look in on Jeff! Sounds like an interesting find.
I don"t use fondant for emergency food because the bees will consume fondant before their stored honey so you think they are out of food and continue wasting money on more fondant. Sugar is only consumed when the bees are out of homey. I had hives starve in our warm March 2024 due to a string of rainy or cold days. The hives had several frames of brood to feed and. I didn't have any sugar bricks left so I dumped loose sugar in the hive and that saved those hives.
This is why I say wait until the cold sets in before you use the fondant or they will go to that first just as you've described. I don't recommend just dumping dry sugar into a hive. But glad you were able to save your bees. :)
With all the drift between colonies you would think that VSH behavior would be naturally spread if bees learned by observation.
Just a very difficult thing to prove... I think genetics rule in this case.
Hi Fred,
In the “Fluff Section” a shortage of “Double Bubble” was mentioned… could the Backyard Beekeepers use postal bubble wrap spray glued to Aluminium foil sandwiches on both sides? Foil might be a bit stiff… just a thought
😊😉🍻
I don't think there is a shortage, it's just a matter of who is carrying it. But if you have an idea for home innovation, maybe try that out. :)
Do you happen to have a favorite corrugated poster board for screened bottom boards? The ones I have recently found are disintegrating.
I actually purchased a bunch from Amazon and cut them down to match what I need. I'm sure you will likely be able to get some political signs when all the dust settles! Until then, this is what I've purchased: (this is not an affiliate link) www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079TZWD29/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
@@FrederickDunnThat’s a great idea! Thanks!
Recently watched a documentary on wasps. I knew that they were important, especially for feasting on other insects such as aphids, but did not realize HOW important they can be. Incredible variety of species. Not the yellow jackets. They don't seem to do anything nice for anybody. But paper wasps - give me a nest in a nearby tree!
I have an interview coming up on this topic :)
Thanks for answering my question about bee learning. Maybe we could try a 5 frame swap and see what happens? I can’t as I do not have officially VSH queens.
You're welcome :) Always try things out, it can't hurt :)
I can’t imagine NOT keeping records! Every single hive activity is on GoPro video… easier than managing notebooks in the apiary.
Is this Saint John NB?
I do like the voice activated digital recorder unless I have my grandson with me as he talks non-stop :)
I see Double Bubble on Amazon - 10 ft for 30.00
If you can buy it in bulk, you can cut your cost by 60% Amazon is convenient for sure :)
Hey Fred, Question 6 was very helpful to me!!! Thank you as always.
Question Fred. I'm guessing Im confused about heavy syrup when you mentioned 15lbs of sugar to one gallon of water! So is light syrup like 3/4 of a 5lb bag of sugar to one gallon of water? Grateful.
Yes, it's just about the weight, Brad. 2:1 "Heavy Syrup" is twice the weight of sugar as the water you're adding it to. So a gallon of water at 8 lbs would require 16 lbs of sugar, and that's a lot! I'm far more fond of using light syrup in-between 1:1 and the 2:1 fall mix.
Question: what is the variety of Borage did you plant?
Borago officianalis
@@FrederickDunn I am under the impression that you may think that Borago officinalis is a perennial. Is that the case or did I misunderstand?
Look for reflectix, never seen a big box home supply store that doesn't carry it, Lowes, Menards, etc. Will not find it called double bubble.
If they perform the same, I see no reason why you can't just use that. There are some thickness variations available.
@FrederickDunn only issue I've had with done bubble is that it doesn't always lay flat against the top bars and gives a place for shb to hide and run around.
Saw some varoa on two of my trays. Didnt have time to do a mite check so decided to start my oav treatment regimen on all my hives. Had pressure washed my trays, and 24 hours after the first treatment. Some of my hives are vhs bees i got from Golden West bees. (Randy Oliver), and some are from a feral colony. The vhs bees had no mites on their trays next day. The feral bees had average around 25 mites. 2nd week I again washed the trays. One colony had 26 mites next day and the other had 152. Wow. Another had 10. Didn't treat the vhs hives. Today I did the 3rd treatment, all hives. We'll see what tomorrow's count is. Wondering if you have any ideas why or how unusual that 152 mite count on tray in one colony. They are all about the same strength hives. All splits this spring trying to increase my apiary. Not looking for honey this year. Am going to try breeding some queens from the vhs queens, and continue to expand my apiary. Sorry so long winded. Have a blessed day!
Also got the smoker fuel today from your club. Haven't had a chance to use it yet, but looks good.
I think if I had a collection of VSH colonies, I'd keep those well away from any low-performing genetics. They can drift around and spread the mites at an alarming rate. I agree, always work from your top performing colonies when splitting or expanding to the best of your ability. Thanks for sharing. :)
Trivia: fungus (singular)
fungi (plural)
Thank you so much :)
Hey Fred…you had mentioned in a previous video that you were going to video honey bees on soybeans. Did you have any luck? I walked our fields at different times of the day on a few days and heard nothing.
Yes, the bees visited the soy-flowers, BUT, they do so very fast and don't appear to be getting much nectar from them. So, it may benefit the farmer a tad, but here they aren't bringing in significant soy nectar. There may be other varieties that produce more for the bees, not the case here. :)
Hi mate,
Just a quick question from one living legend to another .🕯️🐝☕️🫖🚬
What’s the best way to de- crystallise honey? I’ve heard some people say put it in the microwave. Put it in hot water for long periods, of time. can you buy a slow cooker and just have it on the lowest setting to keep it at a certaintemperature? ? have you come across this problem? And do you know how to solve it without damaging the honey?
Cheers yours faithfully The Candleman🕯.
Yes, I place jars of crystalized honey into a large stove-top pot... then I put a Anova Culinary Sous Vide Precision Cooker Nano 2.0 on the side of the pot... I put all jars of equal height in. Then I fill the pot with water up to the height of the honey. I turn the Sous Vide on at 110 deg. F. / 43.3 Celsius. I run it until all honey is liquid again. All properties are preserved, and RAW honey is still RAW honey :)