How about a video explaining what to do once the supers are off? I think a lot of people are scared that their bees will swarm after removing the supers because all of a sudden you've got a lot of bees that had (maybe) 4 supers to bees with only a brood box.
Have just seen this. Great video and really helpful for a 1st season newbee. Also, love my suit!! Great fan of them, have told lots of folk about them now, really glad I got it! Thanks for all😊
How are you finding your Swienty Breeze suit?....visibility through the veil looks like it is better than the normal veil design?.....I would very much appreciate your thoughts, as I am thinking of getting one and I know you have had yours for a while now....Cheers ,Tim
Hi Tim, It’s a really good suit. Vail is totally different to what’s on the market. The only downside is you can’t drive in it as it doesn’t fold flat. But that’s the price you pay to have a solid rigid vail. I don’t drive in my suit so it’s not a problem for me. All other designs on the suit are good to. Velcro cuffs good pockets and sting proof. I would recommend that suit as well as the old castle farm suits. 😊
Gwenyn Gruffydd - extracted my honey today although left it on probably a week later than expected and due to the dearth here in Cardiff I lost 15/20% of production. Still got around 70lb so happy 😄
Hi Robert, On that site the bees are in a flood plain so I had to build the stands much higher to keep them out of the water. Most bees can be pushed down into a single brood box, some bees will need a super and be wintered on a brood and a half.
My bees are on a brood and a half. four supers above there seems too many bees to fit in that small space im in swansea there still working like mad. should i leave a super above after removing queen excluder this hive has so many bees.
I use a honey butler so the frames are in a plastic sealed box when they have been cleared. Will definitely use a clearer board in future as it’s such a long winded affair doing it by hand.
I saw a video elsewhere that suggested you leave the clearer board on for 1 day per super so if you have three supers you leave it on for three days. What do you think? Also what about multiple clearer boards for hive with lots of supers so a clearer board every 2 supers?
I liked this vid as soon as I heard your accent LoL. Re the blower.....have you heard of fumes tainting the honey a bit? A pro keeper suggested this to me when I enquired. I've used clearer board at it's good for 80-90% of bees but there is always a remnant. I know you are meant to remove the boxes first thing in the morning so that bees don't work their way back in the super again but it takes a couple of hours to warm my back up LoL.
Glad to hear it! 😄 I have never heard of that being a problem. The honey frames should be capped if your taking them off so the honey is completely sealed. I feel for your back! Mine is not the best either!!
@@gwenyngruffydd I think bad backs is a beekeepers hazard. It's not the weight so much but it's awkward as you lift the box away from you rather than deadlifting it. I'm friends with a pro keeper and they are using more mechanical lifters because of the increasing number of women he employs.
Lot of the bigger business use a loader, likewise it in the states and countries like Australia. They pretty much all use done kind of mechanical lifter. It’s definitely the way forward.
Hi, Yes you can. If you want to leave the super for the bees in the winter take off the queen excluder and remove the empty supers. If the bees have only just started to fill the super your probably going to need to top it up with feed unless the brood box if full of stores. For me though I would feed in till that super is full for them. Winter can be long.
@@gwenyngruffydd why do you have to remove the queen excluder? I’m just staying out in Australia got 2 hives each with a single honey super on and will leave on for winter. Wasn’t planning on removing the excluder though unless there’s a reason to?
That’s true but if it gets really cold they can’t break the cluster. If the bees are down the bottom and the food is the other side of the queen excluder they could starve.
At this time of year I don’t. 95% of cases I knock them back to a single brood box. 5% of cases I will winter them on brood and a half. The season is over now.
@@gwenyngruffydd thanks Gruff. As a first year beekeeper, I'm leaving with brood & half on my two hives. I'm guessing this should be done as my colonies might be weaker and I also don't have the opportunity to merge with several other hives if things go wrong mid-winter.
I’m not a fan of merging hives this time of year. Duds now are duds. You can’t really fix problems this time of year. The bees will do well on brood and a half. Make sure they are heavy with stores. Feed them if their not.
Thank you for your informative videos. My first year for harvesting and as I live near heath land can I leave the supers on a bit longer to take advantage of the ling heather? Also what do you do with the partially uncapped frames?
No problem 😊 I extract it all but test the moisture content. My extraction room is humidity controlled with a dehumidifier. Anything that’s over 18% moisture content can be dealt with easily in the room. Low level heat and a dehumidifier will resolve high moisture content honey. Bigger producers own honey dryers but we can control it easily with the heated honey sump and dehumidifier. But in fairness most of the honey is totally capped most years. My advice is always extract honey in a dry atmosphere. Honey will naturally absorb moisture from the air.
@@gwenyngruffydd Thank you, I have a small room with a dehumidifier so I have been doing it right! Can you leave on uncapped frames for the bees for winter use or is it best to remove them totally.?
Hi Gruff, great vlog mate , I always use the bee escape works great for me with only having 12 hives , I was going to start my treatments on the hives this last week for varroa mites but here in Liverpool it’s been way to hot well into the 90s so will wait until it cools down , how have your bees been in your polystyrene boxes gruff as my bees have been quite stressed with this hot weather I’ve had thousands of bees flying around my apiary. I’ve also had my bees returning from foraging covered in white pollen my kids say they look like ghost bees I’ve been told it could be Himalayan balsam which grows near me by the river Mersey . Thank you mate great job explaining your methods for honey extraction.
Hi peter, What treatment are you going to use this year? I know been a bad year all round. My bees have done ok in the poly. Do you have mesh floors on your poly hives? Yes that’s the balsam!! Can be a great honey crop but doesn’t yield all the time. Bees love it though!
Gwenyn Gruffydd , hi gruff I’ve been using apiguard for a couple of seasons but decided a change this year so I’ve bought apivar but it’s still too hot so will hopefully get treatment started this weekend, I have mostly langstroth hives with solid bottom boards but have 2 poly hives also with solid bottoms my wooden boxes are okay but my poly hives my bees are getting very overheated I’ve lifted the lid up a little and put a shim of wood between the brood and super box but there still flying around in there thousands I’ve even placed a board over the hives to keep them in the shade and they have good access to water, I’m gonna move them tonight so to have them in the shade all day. Thank you mate for your reply.
Very strange for a poly hive to have a solid floor. Normally they come with a mesh floor. All of mine are on a mesh floor. I would put a mesh floor on them. Apivar is a very effective treatment. 👍🏻 Remember the 3ft or 3 mile rule when your moving your bees. 😊
Very enjoyable Gruff ! Am I right in thinking each hive needs about 25-50kgs of honey stores to overwinter (whatever they have in the brood chamber + one super since I'm running BS National) ? I'm not after masses of honey so am happy for the bees to make use of their own stores. I presume as you're running a commercial operation you remove all the supers and then feed - Is that right ?
Thanks 😊 Each hive needs roughly 15-20kg to go through the winter. A single BS brood box is ample in most cases. When I take the supers off I give them a light feed. But then wait for the balsam and ivy to stop flowing before I give them a heavy feed as they may not need it. If we get a good September the bees in most cases will fill the brood box up with honey. But I monitor the weight by hefting them. Anything that’s light gets a feed. I monitor the hive weight over the winter and if anything does feel light then I feed them fondant.
I give them a quick smoke, then i move the truck about 50m, wait a while why the fly home, but before they come back for more i move another 50m, i do that 3 times then go
How about a video explaining what to do once the supers are off? I think a lot of people are scared that their bees will swarm after removing the supers because all of a sudden you've got a lot of bees that had (maybe) 4 supers to bees with only a brood box.
Good idea to put an empty super under the clearer board to give them more room so they don’t get rammed in the one brood box?
Yes. Some hives are massive and will never fit into a single brood box
Thanks so much. Just started with a hive this year in deepest Burgundy. Lifting off a super tomorrow. Absolutely crammed with honey :)
Your welcome😁 really happy for you!! Wishing you more full supers in the future 😊😊😊🍯🍯🍯
Have just seen this. Great video and really helpful for a 1st season newbee. Also, love my suit!! Great fan of them, have told lots of folk about them now, really glad I got it! Thanks for all😊
Thank you, glad you found the video useful 😊
How are you finding your Swienty Breeze suit?....visibility through the veil looks like it is better than the normal veil design?.....I would very much appreciate your thoughts, as I am thinking of getting one and I know you have had yours for a while now....Cheers ,Tim
Hi Tim,
It’s a really good suit. Vail is totally different to what’s on the market.
The only downside is you can’t drive in it as it doesn’t fold flat. But that’s the price you pay to have a solid rigid vail. I don’t drive in my suit so it’s not a problem for me.
All other designs on the suit are good to. Velcro cuffs good pockets and sting proof. I would recommend that suit as well as the old castle farm suits. 😊
Thanks Gruff.....
Your welcome 😊
Tim I have 2 Sentinel suits and are excellent. 👍
Gwenyn Gruffydd - extracted my honey today although left it on probably a week later than expected and due to the dearth here in Cardiff I lost 15/20% of production. Still got around 70lb so happy 😄
Hi. Great video.
I have two questions:
Why stand so high? And after removing super is there enough space for girls just in brood box?
Hi Robert,
On that site the bees are in a flood plain so I had to build the stands much higher to keep them out of the water.
Most bees can be pushed down into a single brood box, some bees will need a super and be wintered on a brood and a half.
My bees are on a brood and a half. four supers above there seems too many bees to fit in that small space im in swansea there still working like mad. should i leave a super above after removing queen excluder this hive has so many bees.
Shrinking them down to a brood and a half will be fine 😊👍🏻
What brand of bee suits are you both wearing?
It’s a swienty Breezer. We sell them on our website 😊
I use a honey butler so the frames are in a plastic sealed box when they have been cleared. Will definitely use a clearer board in future as it’s such a long winded affair doing it by hand.
Absolutely 😊
I saw a video elsewhere that suggested you leave the clearer board on for 1 day per super so if you have three supers you leave it on for three days. What do you think? Also what about multiple clearer boards for hive with lots of supers so a clearer board every 2 supers?
I leave them on overnight that’s it. Doesn’t matter how many supers there are on the hive
Excellent video thanks very much for sharing.
No problem and thank you 😊
I liked this vid as soon as I heard your accent LoL. Re the blower.....have you heard of fumes tainting the honey a bit? A pro keeper suggested this to me when I enquired. I've used clearer board at it's good for 80-90% of bees but there is always a remnant. I know you are meant to remove the boxes first thing in the morning so that bees don't work their way back in the super again but it takes a couple of hours to warm my back up LoL.
Glad to hear it! 😄
I have never heard of that being a problem. The honey frames should be capped if your taking them off so the honey is completely sealed.
I feel for your back! Mine is not the best either!!
@@gwenyngruffydd I think bad backs is a beekeepers hazard. It's not the weight so much but it's awkward as you lift the box away from you rather than deadlifting it. I'm friends with a pro keeper and they are using more mechanical lifters because of the increasing number of women he employs.
Lot of the bigger business use a loader, likewise it in the states and countries like Australia. They pretty much all use done kind of mechanical lifter. It’s definitely the way forward.
Tape is the best job for blocking them holes
That’s true.
One of my colonies is 1 brood box and 3 supers. 1 super they recently started to fill it. So, can I leave the supers for the bees to overwinter?
Hi,
Yes you can. If you want to leave the super for the bees in the winter take off the queen excluder and remove the empty supers.
If the bees have only just started to fill the super your probably going to need to top it up with feed unless the brood box if full of stores.
For me though I would feed in till that super is full for them. Winter can be long.
@@gwenyngruffydd why do you have to remove the queen excluder? I’m just staying out in Australia got 2 hives each with a single honey super on and will leave on for winter. Wasn’t planning on removing the excluder though unless there’s a reason to?
If the bees move up to the super the queen can’t follow the cluster
@@gwenyngruffydd Ah! I always figured the bees would stay with the queen as they like to protect her?
That’s true but if it gets really cold they can’t break the cluster. If the bees are down the bottom and the food is the other side of the queen excluder they could starve.
Wondering if you replace you supers when you take the honey filled ones away? If so, how many do you put back on?
At this time of year I don’t. 95% of cases I knock them back to a single brood box. 5% of cases I will winter them on brood and a half.
The season is over now.
@@gwenyngruffydd thanks Gruff. As a first year beekeeper, I'm leaving with brood & half on my two hives. I'm guessing this should be done as my colonies might be weaker and I also don't have the opportunity to merge with several other hives if things go wrong mid-winter.
I’m not a fan of merging hives this time of year. Duds now are duds. You can’t really fix problems this time of year.
The bees will do well on brood and a half. Make sure they are heavy with stores. Feed them if their not.
@@gwenyngruffydd thank you!
😊
Thank you for your informative videos. My first year for harvesting and as I live near heath land can I leave the supers on a bit longer to take advantage of the ling heather? Also what do you do with the partially uncapped frames?
No problem 😊 I extract it all but test the moisture content.
My extraction room is humidity controlled with a dehumidifier. Anything that’s over 18% moisture content can be dealt with easily in the room. Low level heat and a dehumidifier will resolve high moisture content honey.
Bigger producers own honey dryers but we can control it easily with the heated honey sump and dehumidifier.
But in fairness most of the honey is totally capped most years.
My advice is always extract honey in a dry atmosphere. Honey will naturally absorb moisture from the air.
@@gwenyngruffydd Thank you, I have a small room with a dehumidifier so I have been doing it right! Can you leave on uncapped frames for the bees for winter use or is it best to remove them totally.?
The bees will eventually Capp it over. Safe to leave it on for them. They will thank you for it 😊
Where did you get your clearer boards?
These were made for us by a local carpenter years ago.
Will have similar ones for sale soon on our website 😊
@@gwenyngruffydd do you have 1 clearer board per hive or do you rotate?
Hey I’m a welsh beekeeper and I once got stung on my eyelid and I got stung in the same place a few weeks after, can a pheromone last that long???
Great question....not sure but I would say doubtful. How did they get you? Was the vail off or did they get in the suit?
Hi Gruff, great vlog mate , I always use the bee escape works great for me with only having 12 hives , I was going to start my treatments on the hives this last week for varroa mites but here in Liverpool it’s been way to hot well into the 90s so will wait until it cools down , how have your bees been in your polystyrene boxes gruff as my bees have been quite stressed with this hot weather I’ve had thousands of bees flying around my apiary. I’ve also had my bees returning from foraging covered in white pollen my kids say they look like ghost bees I’ve been told it could be Himalayan balsam which grows near me by the river Mersey . Thank you mate great job explaining your methods for honey extraction.
Hi peter,
What treatment are you going to use this year?
I know been a bad year all round. My bees have done ok in the poly. Do you have mesh floors on your poly hives?
Yes that’s the balsam!! Can be a great honey crop but doesn’t yield all the time. Bees love it though!
Gwenyn Gruffydd , hi gruff I’ve been using apiguard for a couple of seasons but decided a change this year so I’ve bought apivar but it’s still too hot so will hopefully get treatment started this weekend, I have mostly langstroth hives with solid bottom boards but have 2 poly hives also with solid bottoms my wooden boxes are okay but my poly hives my bees are getting very overheated I’ve lifted the lid up a little and put a shim of wood between the brood and super box but there still flying around in there thousands I’ve even placed a board over the hives to keep them in the shade and they have good access to water, I’m gonna move them tonight so to have them in the shade all day. Thank you mate for your reply.
Very strange for a poly hive to have a solid floor. Normally they come with a mesh floor. All of mine are on a mesh floor. I would put a mesh floor on them.
Apivar is a very effective treatment. 👍🏻
Remember the 3ft or 3 mile rule when your moving your bees. 😊
Very enjoyable Gruff ! Am I right in thinking each hive needs about 25-50kgs of honey stores to overwinter (whatever they have in the brood chamber + one super since I'm running BS National) ?
I'm not after masses of honey so am happy for the bees to make use of their own stores. I presume as you're running a commercial operation you remove all the supers and then feed - Is that right ?
Thanks 😊
Each hive needs roughly 15-20kg to go through the winter. A single BS brood box is ample in most cases.
When I take the supers off I give them a light feed. But then wait for the balsam and ivy to stop flowing before I give them a heavy feed as they may not need it.
If we get a good September the bees in most cases will fill the brood box up with honey. But I monitor the weight by hefting them. Anything that’s light gets a feed.
I monitor the hive weight over the winter and if anything does feel light then I feed them fondant.
Gwenyn Gruffydd That’s great. Thanks very much for the reply.
Your welcome 😊
A very young griff
before all the stress!! ha!
I give them a quick smoke, then i move the truck about 50m, wait a while why the fly home, but before they come back for more i move another 50m, i do that 3 times then go
😊👍🏻