@@MinnesotaBeekeeper if they make it through winter. The packages we can get in canada aren't as good as what you can get. Ours are out of Australia and are pretty tired bees by the time they get here.
I have 8 five frame colonies and 4 eight frame colonies near Lansing Michigan. I used oxalic acid pads all last summer and all of this past winter. Once weather permitted, I added new oxalic acid sponge pads this spring. After approximately 24 days I treated all of my colonies with oxalic acid vapor. A week later I did a mite check. I found exactly zero mites in any of my colonies. I am more anxious than joyful because I can’t believe it could be that good. Thank you for your insights.
The plus side to what you do is, as you said, it works. Buying keeps you in business. It happens. You know when you get knocked down, get up, brush yourself off, and get back in the fight. You got this. There's your outside motivation speech. 😂
Thanks Ian! I had a near complete loss this winter (albeit on a much smaller scale). I struggled with whether to scale back or to replace bees and to keep building the customer and farm relationships I worked hard to get last year. I bought back in with bees coming back from almonds and need to keep working towards a sustainable system that works for my time and pocket book. I appreciate you being open about losses and the mind fu*k that beekeeping can be.
well said, in my 25 years in Canada some of the biggest yields were years the wheat was planted later than normal due to wet ground. remember the years of flooding in the valley during the 1990s
Well said. No Livestock = no honey production ( No Harvest). No Livestock = no beef production ( No Harvest). No Crops Planted = No Harvest. Sustainable = The Future of the business of farming. We have very cheap food compared to other countries that have production / transportation bottle necks.
I’m glad to see y’all have dry ground and good bee flight . Back in March I pulled 18 five frame splits and got 15 splits that raised their own queens and were successfully mated , one split absconded for some reason, one split ended up with a poorly mated queen and one split didn’t raise a queen so I gave that split another frame of eggs. So I figured 97% success in mating isn’t bad at all . Prince George, Virginia USA .
It's so nice to see things going your way finally. I have to say that I can't even imagine the scale of that operation in your climate. What pollen sub were you using? Here we are griping about it being 45 f today. I don't always catch your videos, but I am always wishing you the best as you take full advantage of every single weather break! I have to say that a 20% loss is a miracle considering the obstacles you face. Even here in PA, a commercial beekeeper friend, lost 80% of his apiary two winters in a row. I can't imagine that. Statewide, the winter loss average was 30%, so you have to be one heck of a beekeeper to make it where you are.
Totally agree with you on this and I am exactly of the same belief that sustainability has many levels. At the end of the day “you cannot make honey without Bees” as you so correctly said. I was in a position last year I had to buy Queens because I couldn’t raise my own because of the current conditions with Hornets and I’m jolly glad I did. It means I had my Nuc battery to use up which is completely discharge now , however now it’s time to rebuild the battery and I will do whatever means I need to to do it. What are your highlighting is exactly pertinent to your situation. You do whatever you have to do, you use what you have. 🐝💪🏻😎👍
Hi Richard, those hornets you have there are something that would keep me up at night. I really hope they get under control. Great to see your comment here. :)
@@FrederickDunn hi Fred, yes their a nightmare. We had a really bad year last year and coupled with a bad drought, horrendous temperatures and Varroa which is always worse in extremes, I lost a lot of colonies in Brittany, so did many. However the rebuild is underway. My nuc battery is empty but being rec charged as we speak. Hope your well? 😎💪🏻🐝
Ian I am having a tough time too. Bees were good coming out of sheds, then bad weather in Cali lost a few more. Brought them up to Washington and it was still cold and nothing blooming my bees went backward and lost some more. Finally have warm weather and can get some stuff done.
Undoubtedly, this is the dichotomy of maintaining the profitability of the agricultural business, we are dependent on the climatic factor, I believe that the great experience that you demonstrate gives you the solution to the issue, the rest is the state of mind that falters because we always want Everything is top notch for us, so cheer up, you are doing as consistent as possible with your technical management and it will surely give you positive results
Glad I don't have to manage those obstacles and worry about a bottom line. Just a hobbyist that luckily had 100% survival. I'm glad I no longer have a business to manage. I completely understand your situation though. Best of luck this season
As my grandfather used to say (he too was a farmer and I have roots in farming) "Farmers are the professional gambler". So much (weather, pests, and other) are so much out of the farmers hand so it is a gamble, the wild cards.
So I'm just a small fish in this large pond. I had a hive I captured as a swarm two summers ago starve this past February. It hurt and my wife saw it. I debated (internally) if I should even do this addictive hobby. After a bit of discussion I committed to buying two. The cost is down right silly I had to pay, but I get it and it is done now. I still hope to catch a swarm some day or spit a hive and make a new one, but until then buying is the only option. Having married into a farm family I hear first hand about the cost of inputs. Like my beekeeping mentor told me when I informed him of my starved out hive, " When you deal in livestock you will be confronted with dead stock". Sustainability in the apiary and on the farm is all well and good in good years, but in trying times the wallet takes the hit. The lessons learned, a plan is formed for the future, and we pray that it does not happen again. Keep up the good work and being open about the difficulties you encounter.
A fresh cover of snow on the ground this morning trying to figure out if i can split a few hives to make up for the few losses I have. We have been spoiled a little with some nice weather in the spring mother nature is just giving us a reality check the last couple years.
I love your insights Ian please keep it going no matter what i am hooked on your videos and it's because you make it a personal experience it's down to earth and honest, you got a Texas spirit for sure up there in Canada ....lol...
Appreciate the greater detail. I watch because of the appeal you have to my engineering mindset. Analysis, equipment, operation, etc. Excellence. Hundreds of living factories. Frankly, I was caught by surprise by the talk of buying in supplemental hives when losses seemed to have been within typical ranges. But I understand hedging risk. And while I understand you are on the fringes of geographic viability for what you are doing, I can't help but fret a little for what is happening to the vast majority of other bee herders whose operations don't hold a candle to yours. At least this isn't drought that you are contending with. Fingers crossed for a riot of pollen soon. Thank you for this video project of yours.
Last spring i lost almost 40% of my colonies due to mites and nosema problems. I consider myself as a local nuc producer, but for a first time in decade i had to buy some bees ... It was a hard decision. I have made some changes in varroa treatment, lot of surplus nuc wintered and this spring looks much better than any to this day. I wish you luck and good decisions.
House-cleaning. I work my hives all spring thru fall collect the honey and run. Go duck huntin. By spring I've got plenty of house cleaning to do. Burr comb sticking boxes together. 😅
Filter out the hobby folks. No shame in buying bees if they make money. I bought brood frames this year to cover some pollination. Crunch the numbers and do what you gotta do to keep moving and get a check.
Your observation regarding crappy spring weather in recent years is a good one. As referenced in a story in today's Minneapolis Star Tribune, Senior Minnesota state climatologists have noted this phenomenon over the past decade. As per the story, "There has indeed been a tendency to have cool or cold, and often very snowy late-winter/spring periods here in Minnesota." They hypothesized this phenomenon may be a local symptom related to rapid Arctic warming. I don't want to add to your (and my) heartburn, but this is yet another issue to think about.
You are making the correct business decisions, no Bugs, No money lol. The interactive aspect of your blog makes guys with less than 5 hives feel part of a big operation, when you cheer for a team you cheer without consequences to your guesses. You started the process last year and decision to buy packages last year when conditions dictated that you wouldn't have Nucs this year. Maybe keep them separate and use it as a study to compare queens of yours to bought queens. Maybe a hybrid, one frame of Brood to a package.
Ian is the bees you bought breeder quality. Or will you do a mix of breeder queens like marry ellen carter also willl vsh queens be part of this years program.
Makes sense to me. If someone wants to start beekeeping and wants to get one colony we suggest they get more than 1 right? A sustainable backyard apiary is generally not tiny, and even then new bees are brought in sometimes. At scale this is even more important im sure
I'm always fascinated by your ease of working the hives without much protection. If I worked a hive box in jeans and sometimes bare hands, no amount of smoking would keep me from 10 stings per hive the second I flipped the cover. You must have benign bees compared to my little warriors. Or is it your no-nonsense, no-hesitation, in-and-out manner? Envious in Ontario (nothing much blooming here yet ... coolest, darkest, wettest March-April that I can remember) Cheers, Farmer John, Ontario
Your going to have a busy year. Sounds like your going to have a bumper crop. You know they will explode. They are waiting for that first sign and they will go crazy.
🤷🏻♂️ life is a roller coaster . Our chiseled fields are at 200% saturation from the snow melt an daily rains. But spot probing fields the ground temperatures are not high enough for sprouting.. Equipment is ready but just have to sit back an go crazy waiting till Mother Nature gives a little. My Brother an I was talking over coffee an this ( could ) be a year where we plant right behind the disk chasing him 1 field at a time.. But my girls?? I can sence their frustration as when working the hives . Dandelions flowers are on fire but the cold temperatures an cold rains are keeping them in , or near the hive. The Queen’s had ramped up full force to the point! is more bees than available food sources. Do I want to invest money to feed them? Not really, but I do not have a choice I have to feed them or take a huge hit In loses from starvation.. My problem I am seeing this spring is mites. I was sure I was going into winter looking great. But it is obvious! My pre winter samples were not conclusively correct 😢 which means I may? Be in serious troubles. We do what we can an roll the dice an hope.. I think 🤔 you made a wise “ Business decision” for the unexpected future but will not elaborate more I said enough the last time 😂❤
Sustainability is the target but you need the tools to get there. Bees are the tools that run the honey farm and you cant produce honey from empty boxes. Retool the honey farm by filling those empty boxes.
I feel your pain brother!!! I wish you had some bees down here! We are in the middle of our flow here on the Gulf Coast . . . . . . the Tallow trees are blooming (an invasive species from China). If you could just put three frames of bees and brood into each of your weaker hives . . . . . you'd be rocking!!!!
Could you potentially bring in queens around the middle to tail end of your honey flow or make your own and use the excess field force that will be basically discarded after the honey flow and make nucs out of those and feed the crap out of them to get them built up before winter?
@@tjjastrem127 it's the young bees who care for the brood, and the post-flow old field bees wouldn't survive long enough, or have enough vitality left, to raise brood successfully.
Sustainable includes bringing in fresh genetics. If all you're breeding with is your own stock you risk increased issues. Fresh genetics is just good husbandry.
At first I struggled with your wanting to purchase bees with all the colonies you have…. But if the weather doesn’t cooperate then I understand why you need to buy colonies! Btw thanks for the videos! I’m sure it’s a pain in the ass at times!
What a shame you couldn’t migrate down here to Florida for Spring build up, then head home early summer with monster hives. This approach definitely lessens your home life though. The migratory life is definitely not for me, personally. As far as adding bees to boost your numbers, I’m reminded of a saying; “You can’t save your way into prosperity.” There’s a lot of truth in that! I’m sure soon the weather will crack, and you’ll be so busy the days will run together…
Intuition is your brilliant partner…. Worse case scenario, you knew ,you followed through and you were right!! You know what they say about “some” opinions😉
I mentioned to you in a comment around about 2020 that the general consensus was that we're entering a grand solar minimum cycle. You may look into that if intrested, these can last a decade or more and will be more of the same that everyone is experiencing these past couple tough years. We had the feast and well now times they are changing.
Sustainability is somewhat a myth. We don't harvest our own sugar nor pollen patties. Few have mills to cut wood etc. While vertical integration can save both time and money each decision needs to be based on the on the ground situation.
Russian bees seem to do well in Canada while Italian bees are notoriously fickle. Once they have both have survived a Canadian winter they both want to go home.
Hey Ian, you don't think you will be able to split any of yours to make your battery? I know once the weather flipped mine went from 4-6 frames to what you would consider a box of bees in two weeks lol. Thanks for your time sir!
The spring in southeastern of Europe is also hard. For 15 years with bees U dont rememeber such period of bad weather. Yesterday morrning late frost and high chances of aqacia flowers in some regions are destroyed.
Swallow away.... In the mean time. Have you considered upping your oxalic acid treatments in the spring along with or replacing Amitraz? The cold was never a problem before, It seems the bloody mites are creating this issue. Just my almost worthless sideliner opinion. Good luck with the operation!
I had mine swarming, they know when they should clean themselves from varroa, the problem was catching all those swarms, I had traps everywhere around the apiary. We have mediterranean climate here, they have lots of brood even in winter, I just let them do their thing, I had no idea what else to do. 2 years ago I lost almost all of them, beekeepers are giving up around here. At the moment I have no losses but a few unespected nucs. Could be worst, lets see how many queens will survive the birds.
At some point I’d like to hear about what difficulties you have with importing bees across national lines. I’ve heard you taking with Corey but not sure what the details there are.
I can't believe anyone would question your decision on how you do beekeeping,. 99.9 percent of people would of thrown in the towel last spring in one flood let alone two ., I know I would of
Vsh Queens это фантазии и желания пчеловодов не бороться с вароа, в России я знаю пчеловодов кto говорил что у него Vsh Queens и они потеряли колонии, ежегодно замена Queens и своевременное борьба с вороа.
Bee keeping f ing sucks but it also is fun as hell put your big boy pants on an get the job done u got it brother plus i have tried minnesota hygetic italians an they are awesome
We currently have a tropical Cyclone coming through Dark clouds , light showers , heavier showers are here so far This will be a five day event leading in to heavier rain and severe flooding Hotter air from the Equator is being pulled in to the winter season system ( Southern Hemisphere ) I will be battening down the hatches .... etc Luck favors the prepared Thanks for reading Edit This will be the fourth Tropical Cyclone in four months , January through April 2023 The younger generation is now well aware to take things seriously and to prepare , heeding warnings They will be a much strong , resilient generation " the words of its just a heavy rain storm and high winds " are not said , just questions are asked " have you put things away , lifted flood prone items ..... " Cyclones here aren't a newish event .... I've got stories of my mother , when a child of eight at her Grandparents being lifted up and sat on to a chair , on top of a kitchen table , which was floating in flood waters , during the flooding , ..... The areas stockbanks , ( levy walls had broken ) ...... 75 , 80 years ago There are stories of how the house was raised , lifted higher and each time the flooding event was greater Five Flooding events with water up to the window sills....... 1950s , 1960s eras approximately This generation is learning a life lesson " Heed The Warnings from the previous generations " Storm coming , Mother Nature Wins .
You mentioned concentration on nutrition to combat Fungal gut (Nosema) and Varroa. Why have you no mentioned the biggestt 'elephant' in the room, your Winter housing regime?
Hey Ian, half of the 5 litre buckets that i have been using have begin to leak badly! With in hrs of putting them, they just leak out! I am not sure from where the airbubbles have begin to enter into the vacuum! Did you ever face such an accute leakage problem, if so what did you do to fix it ? Thanks 🙏
Ian, A NO BRAINER - in my opinion. If you pay $150 for a package and they should make 100 lb. of honey at $3.00 a lb, that makes you $150 this year alone. You don't have to expand your equipment line so there is minimal costs associated with buying bees. My last year spring splits made 60 lbs of honey on average so with your canola fields they should out do my nucs. I would put them in separate yards and treat them with OA which should give you mite free bees going into summer but they will be off sync with your other wintered hives. Go do it and make some honey money.
I don't see an answer to someone's question about where you are getting your packages from. I know that you are trying to do a workaround to bring in VSH queens from the States. Hopefully you are not bringing in packages from there. That's still illegal,right? As well as risky (small hive beetles, tropilaelaps mites, Africanized bees).
Small clusters , at the end of the rope, nice weather, pushing out the brood nest which pushes their boundaries (going for broke), cold weather, cluster not big enough to warm and maintain nest, DEAD
exactly 5 years ago, in a comment I told you that you were doing things wrong and what exactly you were doing wrong... but, the ego was stronger and learning was much more expensive....
Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. The beekeeping world has changed since you started the channel. Your actions and how you run the business should change too.
I agree with you. Sustainability is the model to pursue but when nature confounds that, you need bees. Ideals don't produce honey, bees produce honey.
Package bees don’t produce a lot of honey either.
@@philbeeman But Phil aren't the packages basically large honey producing Nucs for next year?
@@MinnesotaBeekeeper if they make it through winter. The packages we can get in canada aren't as good as what you can get. Ours are out of Australia and are pretty tired bees by the time they get here.
@@philbeeman he’s got them from a Italy
@@piffy5594 yes i see that now.
I have 8 five frame colonies and 4 eight frame colonies near Lansing Michigan. I used oxalic acid pads all last summer and all of this past winter. Once weather permitted, I added new oxalic acid sponge pads this spring. After approximately 24 days I treated all of my colonies with oxalic acid vapor. A week later I did a mite check. I found exactly zero mites in any of my colonies. I am more anxious than joyful because I can’t believe it could be that good. Thank you for your insights.
The plus side to what you do is, as you said, it works. Buying keeps you in business. It happens. You know when you get knocked down, get up, brush yourself off, and get back in the fight. You got this. There's your outside motivation speech. 😂
Very much appreciated
Thanks Ian! I had a near complete loss this winter (albeit on a much smaller scale). I struggled with whether to scale back or to replace bees and to keep building the customer and farm relationships I worked hard to get last year. I bought back in with bees coming back from almonds and need to keep working towards a sustainable system that works for my time and pocket book.
I appreciate you being open about losses and the mind fu*k that beekeeping can be.
The endless question, what to do? What is the Best Overall answer? Awesome job you are doing!!! Great Channel
well said, in my 25 years in Canada some of the biggest yields were years the wheat was planted later than normal due to wet ground. remember the years of flooding in the valley during the 1990s
Well said.
No Livestock = no honey production ( No Harvest).
No Livestock = no beef production ( No Harvest).
No Crops Planted = No Harvest.
Sustainable = The Future of the business of farming.
We have very cheap food compared to other countries that have production / transportation bottle necks.
They are going through those patties like crazy
Excellent !!!
I’m glad to see y’all have dry ground and good bee flight . Back in March I pulled 18 five frame splits and got 15 splits that raised their own queens and were successfully mated , one split absconded for some reason, one split ended up with a poorly mated queen and one split didn’t raise a queen so I gave that split another frame of eggs. So I figured 97% success in mating isn’t bad at all . Prince George, Virginia USA .
It's so nice to see things going your way finally. I have to say that I can't even imagine the scale of that operation in your climate. What pollen sub were you using? Here we are griping about it being 45 f today. I don't always catch your videos, but I am always wishing you the best as you take full advantage of every single weather break! I have to say that a 20% loss is a miracle considering the obstacles you face. Even here in PA, a commercial beekeeper friend, lost 80% of his apiary two winters in a row. I can't imagine that. Statewide, the winter loss average was 30%, so you have to be one heck of a beekeeper to make it where you are.
Global Patty 🚀
Sure a nice product
I appreciate the kind words! 🐝
Totally agree with you on this and I am exactly of the same belief that sustainability has many levels. At the end of the day “you cannot make honey without Bees” as you so correctly said.
I was in a position last year I had to buy Queens because I couldn’t raise my own because of the current conditions with Hornets and I’m jolly glad I did. It means I had my Nuc battery to use up which is completely discharge now , however now it’s time to rebuild the battery and I will do whatever means I need to to do it. What are your highlighting is exactly pertinent to your situation. You do whatever you have to do, you use what you have. 🐝💪🏻😎👍
Hi Richard, those hornets you have there are something that would keep me up at night. I really hope they get under control. Great to see your comment here. :)
@@FrederickDunn hi Fred, yes their a nightmare. We had a really bad year last year and coupled with a bad drought, horrendous temperatures and Varroa which is always worse in extremes, I lost a lot of colonies in Brittany, so did many. However the rebuild is underway. My nuc battery is empty but being rec charged as we speak. Hope your well?
😎💪🏻🐝
Your brother statement is everything you need to hear. Make sure the stock is from a reputable source and keep going.....
That part is way out of my hands ,
But I’ve diversified my purchasing
A business has to be resilient! You do what you need to do and you need bees 🐝
And to collect pollen in the summer and return it in the spring? Mike Palmer's brood factories are another great solution.
OMG, pollen patties + open feeding. lol. It's a big buffet!
Ian I am having a tough time too. Bees were good coming out of sheds, then bad weather in Cali lost a few more. Brought them up to Washington and it was still cold and nothing blooming my bees went backward and lost some more. Finally have warm weather and can get some stuff done.
I watched that
Undoubtedly, this is the dichotomy of maintaining the profitability of the agricultural business, we are dependent on the climatic factor, I believe that the great experience that you demonstrate gives you the solution to the issue, the rest is the state of mind that falters because we always want Everything is top notch for us, so cheer up, you are doing as consistent as possible with your technical management and it will surely give you positive results
Dear Ian spring is coming and it will be so nice . .... i like to visit you
Glad I don't have to manage those obstacles and worry about a bottom line. Just a hobbyist that luckily had 100% survival. I'm glad I no longer have a business to manage. I completely understand your situation though. Best of luck this season
As my grandfather used to say (he too was a farmer and I have roots in farming) "Farmers are the professional gambler". So much (weather, pests, and other) are so much out of the farmers hand so it is a gamble, the wild cards.
Your right patience. But just remember bee's need water to. Just like wheat needs to grow
So I'm just a small fish in this large pond. I had a hive I captured as a swarm two summers ago starve this past February. It hurt and my wife saw it. I debated (internally) if I should even do this addictive hobby. After a bit of discussion I committed to buying two. The cost is down right silly I had to pay, but I get it and it is done now. I still hope to catch a swarm some day or spit a hive and make a new one, but until then buying is the only option. Having married into a farm family I hear first hand about the cost of inputs. Like my beekeeping mentor told me when I informed him of my starved out hive, " When you deal in livestock you will be confronted with dead stock". Sustainability in the apiary and on the farm is all well and good in good years, but in trying times the wallet takes the hit. The lessons learned, a plan is formed for the future, and we pray that it does not happen again. Keep up the good work and being open about the difficulties you encounter.
Exactly. In the end it's about the business not where the bees are coming from.
PS, dump Apivar. It's failure rate isn't worth the losses.
Just scrolling through the comments, and there's Mike!
A fresh cover of snow on the ground this morning trying to figure out if i can split a few hives to make up for the few losses I have. We have been spoiled a little with some nice weather in the spring mother nature is just giving us a reality check the last couple years.
Ok, that's one of the best Bee Farm names I've ever seen. I think Randy Oliver must have learned how to dress there.
I love your insights Ian please keep it going no matter what i am hooked on your videos and it's because you make it a personal experience it's down to earth and honest, you got a Texas spirit for sure up there in Canada ....lol...
My Dad always said "This is next year country!" 🥸🥸🥸
Who better than you is able to commit resources to quickly develop 300 nucs with high quality queens Ian? My goodness, that's a herculean effort~
Appreciate the greater detail.
I watch because of the appeal you have to my engineering mindset. Analysis, equipment, operation, etc. Excellence. Hundreds of living factories.
Frankly, I was caught by surprise by the talk of buying in supplemental hives when losses seemed to have been within typical ranges. But I understand hedging risk.
And while I understand you are on the fringes of geographic viability for what you are doing, I can't help but fret a little for what is happening to the vast majority of other bee herders whose operations don't hold a candle to yours.
At least this isn't drought that you are contending with. Fingers crossed for a riot of pollen soon.
Thank you for this video project of yours.
Last spring i lost almost 40% of my colonies due to mites and nosema problems. I consider myself as a local nuc producer, but for a first time in decade i had to buy some bees ... It was a hard decision. I have made some changes in varroa treatment, lot of surplus nuc wintered and this spring looks much better than any to this day. I wish you luck and good decisions.
House-cleaning.
I work my hives all spring thru fall collect the honey and run.
Go duck huntin.
By spring I've got plenty of house cleaning to do.
Burr comb sticking boxes together. 😅
Ah, Ian. I hear a little Bailey's in your coffee might help with that pride swallowing. Hugs from Florida.
Filter out the hobby folks. No shame in buying bees if they make money. I bought brood frames this year to cover some pollination. Crunch the numbers and do what you gotta do to keep moving and get a check.
Great stuff Ian. Important things to consider…
Your observation regarding crappy spring weather in recent years is a good one. As referenced in a story in today's Minneapolis Star Tribune, Senior Minnesota state climatologists have noted this phenomenon over the past decade. As per the story, "There has indeed been a tendency to have cool or cold, and often very snowy late-winter/spring periods here in Minnesota." They hypothesized this phenomenon may be a local symptom related to rapid Arctic warming. I don't want to add to your (and my) heartburn, but this is yet another issue to think about.
You are making the correct business decisions, no Bugs, No money lol.
The interactive aspect of your blog makes guys with less than 5 hives feel part of a big operation, when you cheer for a team you cheer without consequences to your guesses.
You started the process last year and decision to buy packages last year when conditions dictated that you wouldn't have Nucs this year.
Maybe keep them separate and use it as a study to compare queens of yours to bought queens.
Maybe a hybrid, one frame of Brood to a package.
We definitely will put those queens under scrutiny
A new genetic boost will never hurt.
Well said, Ian!
Keep up the video project, you do a great job bud.
Погода на 10 дней у вас хорошая , будет пыльца, 15-20мая вывод маток можно начинать,10 дней хорошей погоды делают с пчелами чудеса.
Ian is the bees you bought breeder quality. Or will you do a mix of breeder queens like marry ellen carter also willl vsh queens be part of this years program.
yep, I'm going to claim the theory that bees take in pollen first is not to raise brood but for the colony's health.
Makes sense to me. If someone wants to start beekeeping and wants to get one colony we suggest they get more than 1 right? A sustainable backyard apiary is generally not tiny, and even then new bees are brought in sometimes. At scale this is even more important im sure
I'm always fascinated by your ease of working the hives without much protection. If I worked a hive box in jeans and sometimes bare hands, no amount of smoking would keep me from 10 stings per hive the second I flipped the cover. You must have benign bees compared to my little warriors. Or is it your no-nonsense, no-hesitation, in-and-out manner? Envious in Ontario (nothing much blooming here yet ... coolest, darkest, wettest March-April that I can remember) Cheers, Farmer John, Ontario
Your going to have a busy year. Sounds like your going to have a bumper crop. You know they will explode. They are waiting for that first sign and they will go crazy.
🤷🏻♂️ life is a roller coaster . Our chiseled fields are at 200% saturation from the snow melt an daily rains. But spot probing fields the ground temperatures are not high enough for sprouting.. Equipment is ready but just have to sit back an go crazy waiting till Mother Nature gives a little. My Brother an I was talking over coffee an this ( could ) be a year where we plant right behind the disk chasing him 1 field at a time.. But my girls?? I can sence their frustration as when working the hives . Dandelions flowers are on fire but the cold temperatures an cold rains are keeping them in , or near the hive. The Queen’s had ramped up full force to the point! is more bees than available food sources. Do I want to invest money to feed them? Not really, but I do not have a choice I have to feed them or take a huge hit In loses from starvation.. My problem I am seeing this spring is mites. I was sure I was going into winter looking great. But it is obvious! My pre winter samples were not conclusively correct 😢 which means I may? Be in serious troubles. We do what we can an roll the dice an hope.. I think 🤔 you made a wise “ Business decision” for the unexpected future but will not elaborate more I said enough the last time 😂❤
Sustainability is the target but you need the tools to get there. Bees are the tools that run the honey farm and you cant produce honey from empty boxes. Retool the honey farm by filling those empty boxes.
I feel your pain brother!!! I wish you had some bees down here! We are in the middle of our flow here on the Gulf Coast . . . . . . the Tallow trees are blooming (an invasive species from China). If you could just put three frames of bees and brood into each of your weaker hives . . . . . you'd be rocking!!!!
Could you potentially bring in queens around the middle to tail end of your honey flow or make your own and use the excess field force that will be basically discarded after the honey flow and make nucs out of those and feed the crap out of them to get them built up before winter?
They aren't discarded, they die off from old age and heavy work.
@@ke6gwf I realize that but if you could use some of them to get nucs started he could rebuild his nuc battery
@@tjjastrem127 it's the young bees who care for the brood, and the post-flow old field bees wouldn't survive long enough, or have enough vitality left, to raise brood successfully.
Sustainable includes bringing in fresh genetics. If all you're breeding with is your own stock you risk increased issues. Fresh genetics is just good husbandry.
Or... another day, another Loonie? 🙂 Yes, patience is key up here in snow country.
At first I struggled with your wanting to purchase bees with all the colonies you have…. But if the weather doesn’t cooperate then I understand why you need to buy colonies!
Btw thanks for the videos! I’m sure it’s a pain in the ass at times!
I am already putting 3rd boxes on my hives.
Your on track, business is business, what I have found, being a finish carpenter is when I ran out of oak, I used maple instead. Payed off..
we just all know about buying in more losses when you bring in from others ,work you way towards vsh bees if you are going to bring in .
What a shame you couldn’t migrate down here to Florida for Spring build up, then head home early summer with monster hives. This approach definitely lessens your home life though. The migratory life is definitely not for me, personally.
As far as adding bees to boost your numbers, I’m reminded of a saying; “You can’t save your way into prosperity.” There’s a lot of truth in that!
I’m sure soon the weather will crack, and you’ll be so busy the days will run together…
Crappy weather here in Ohio also Ian. Patients is what I'm struggling with. These boxes are gonna explode once it flips.
Cold weather here in Ohio until May 6th at least
Intuition is your brilliant partner…. Worse case scenario, you knew ,you followed through and you were right!! You know what they say about “some” opinions😉
I mentioned to you in a comment around about 2020 that the general consensus was that we're entering a grand solar minimum cycle. You may look into that if intrested, these can last a decade or more and will be more of the same that everyone is experiencing these past couple tough years. We had the feast and well now times they are changing.
Maybe try to get some of Paul Kelly’s queens from the university of Guelph varroa breeding program?
Sustainability is somewhat a myth. We don't harvest our own sugar nor pollen patties. Few have mills to cut wood etc. While vertical integration can save both time and money each decision needs to be based on the on the ground situation.
Russian bees seem to do well in Canada while Italian bees are notoriously fickle. Once they have both have survived a Canadian winter they both want to go home.
Hey Ian, you don't think you will be able to split any of yours to make your battery? I know once the weather flipped mine went from 4-6 frames to what you would consider a box of bees in two weeks lol. Thanks for your time sir!
❤YOUR BEE KEEPING VIDEOS
THANK VOU
The spring in southeastern of Europe is also hard. For 15 years with bees U dont rememeber such period of bad weather. Yesterday morrning late frost and high chances of aqacia flowers in some regions are destroyed.
In south west no rain.
do you also need to add to the genetics ( as in some bees from a different area )out of your zone
What is the stuff you are open feeding them? Thank you
Uktrabee
Like Brad said.....
HI Ian,
Could you give some tips on how to lite a smoker and keep it lit. As i increase my hives i am going to have problems.
thanks joe in spokane
Cardboard, it stays lit. Then dry bark
If you render wax, save the wax filters
Swallow away.... In the mean time. Have you considered upping your oxalic acid treatments in the spring along with or replacing Amitraz? The cold was never a problem before, It seems the bloody mites are creating this issue. Just my almost worthless sideliner opinion. Good luck with the operation!
It’s mite stresses
I had mine swarming, they know when they should clean themselves from varroa, the problem was catching all those swarms, I had traps everywhere around the apiary.
We have mediterranean climate here, they have lots of brood even in winter, I just let them do their thing, I had no idea what else to do. 2 years ago I lost almost all of them, beekeepers are giving up around here.
At the moment I have no losses but a few unespected nucs. Could be worst, lets see how many queens will survive the birds.
At some point I’d like to hear about what difficulties you have with importing bees across national lines. I’ve heard you taking with Corey but not sure what the details there are.
I can't believe anyone would question your decision on how you do beekeeping,. 99.9 percent of people would of thrown in the towel last spring in one flood let alone two ., I know I would of
Vsh Queens это фантазии и желания пчеловодов не бороться с вароа, в России я знаю пчеловодов кto говорил что у него Vsh Queens и они потеряли колонии, ежегодно замена Queens и своевременное борьба с вороа.
Насколько я понимаю сила ваших колонии, менее 5 улочек, и у них дефицит углеводов, внутриннии кормушки показал бы лучший результат в этой ситуации.
Bee keeping f ing sucks but it also is fun as hell put your big boy pants on an get the job done u got it brother plus i have tried minnesota hygetic italians an they are awesome
We currently have a tropical Cyclone coming through
Dark clouds , light showers , heavier showers are here so far
This will be a five day event leading in to heavier rain and severe flooding
Hotter air from the Equator is being pulled in to the winter season system ( Southern Hemisphere )
I will be battening down the hatches .... etc
Luck favors the prepared
Thanks for reading
Edit
This will be the fourth Tropical Cyclone in four months , January through April 2023
The younger generation is now well aware to take things seriously and to prepare , heeding warnings
They will be a much strong , resilient generation " the words of its just a heavy rain storm and high winds " are not said , just questions are asked " have you put things away , lifted flood prone items ..... "
Cyclones here aren't a newish event
.... I've got stories of my mother , when a child of eight at her Grandparents being lifted up and sat on to a chair , on top of a kitchen table , which was floating in flood waters , during the flooding , .....
The areas stockbanks , ( levy walls had broken )
...... 75 , 80 years ago
There are stories of how the house was raised , lifted higher and each time the flooding event was greater
Five Flooding events with water up to the window sills....... 1950s , 1960s eras approximately
This generation is learning a life lesson " Heed The Warnings from the previous generations "
Storm coming , Mother Nature Wins .
You mentioned concentration on nutrition to combat Fungal gut (Nosema) and Varroa. Why have you no mentioned the biggestt 'elephant' in the room, your Winter housing regime?
You mean winter? ;)
Hey Ian, half of the 5 litre buckets that i have been using have begin to leak badly! With in hrs of putting them, they just leak out! I am not sure from where the airbubbles have begin to enter into the vacuum! Did you ever face such an accute leakage problem, if so what did you do to fix it ? Thanks 🙏
You either have very thin syrup or a vacuum leak
I haven’t see any drones yet
can you get queens that are immunr to mites is that possible Ive seen videos that state they have immune queens
Why move frame from outside to other side , against other box. ?
Centred so we can effectively manage them
Ian, A NO BRAINER - in my opinion.
If you pay $150 for a package and they should make 100 lb. of honey at $3.00 a lb, that makes you $150 this year alone. You don't have to expand your equipment line so there is minimal costs associated with buying bees. My last year spring splits made 60 lbs of honey on average so with your canola fields they should out do my nucs. I would put them in separate yards and treat them with OA which should give you mite free bees going into summer but they will be off sync with your other wintered hives. Go do it and make some honey money.
здравей Иън крайно време е да видим как използваш гъбите с ОА и глицерин по рецепта на РЕНДИ ОЛИВАР ,
I don't see an answer to someone's question about where you are getting your packages from. I know that you are trying to do a workaround to bring in VSH queens from the States. Hopefully you are not bringing in packages from there. That's still illegal,right? As well as risky (small hive beetles, tropilaelaps mites, Africanized bees).
US bees don’t have Tropi mites
@@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog I stand corrected. No Tropi mites.
These ones are coming from Italy
Why would you lose “30%” with a cold snap ? Brood chill ?
Small clusters , at the end of the rope, nice weather, pushing out the brood nest which pushes their boundaries (going for broke), cold weather, cluster not big enough to warm and maintain nest, DEAD
You dont owe anyone any explanations
🇹🇷🍯👍🏻
Cold climate problem is that the uninsulated hives you guys use. Vino farm has a video opening a hive in winter with His set up Amazing.
هنا لا ندفع ضرائب مهما كان حجم اعمالك ولكن هناك مشكل تسويق
exactly 5 years ago, in a comment I told you that you were doing things wrong and what exactly you were doing wrong... but, the ego was stronger and learning was much more expensive....
Buy more bees. Less profit.
Time to eat all your words
Swallow your pride
Open your eyes
Tears for fears
Live until next year
Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.
The beekeeping world has changed since you started the channel. Your actions and how you run the business should change too.
The trick is to be flexible enough to adapt.