you are a good man, and, don't take it personally when I constructively criticize you here and there, like the last time, but with that aside, in such a large space, if you in the future decide to install about the same size of bees, use some propolis juice and paint the inside with it, least the corners like in a swarm box, that, might've convince that nuc that the horizontal box is a good home for them; maybe some of the smell of glue, if you used glue to put the box together, even the overwhelming smell of fresh paint can spook the bees to say goodbye; the horizontal hive is better for a full hive, not a swarm or a nuc; I told you previously, I split mine, the ones I use for brood storage, I made them to home 40 frames and split it in two, thus can handle two solid hives. Best of luck.
To help keep them from blowing over. You can use a dog screw in tie out stake. Screw it in the ground in the middle, underneath the hive then use a rope or ratchet strap over the hive. This will keep the hive from coming up in high winds. If it won't blow up; it won't blow over unless the legs break. I got this trick from the Top Bar Hive people on Beesource.
I built a long hive here in the UK with a steeply gabled roof (we get a LOT of rain). The roof is heavy, so I used a gas-ram to help open it and keep it open. I works like a charm.
Also, when you move your colony into a different hive, make sure to cage the queen for a few days. If she can’t leave, then neither will they. After about four days, they’ll be used to the new home and are more likely to stay.
I am late to the party, but here is an idea. To make it less top heavy, add another spaced area towards the bottom where you can storage all the unused frame. It's space efficient and adds weight to the bottom.
Put some Tanglefoot around the bottom of the legs, all the way around. Make sure it’s about five inches up from the ground. Ants will not cross it, and neither will SHB when crawling up from the ground. It’s an awesome product!
It was already perfect-the front entrance needs to be lower than the back because moisture will run out the entrance, and dead bees can be removed more easily push out the hive by the cleanup crew.
Too late now that you have added the stability boards, but to combat the ant problem, you could have put a metal dog bowl under each leg and filled them with vegetable oil or even water. That is similar to the ant mote I normally make for my humming bird feeder.
You need your hive to lean a little towards the front.You dont want it to be level as it may hold a little water on the bottom board.Its also easier for the bees to remove hive debris from the bottom board.Debris on the bottom board and water can cause molds,beetles and wax worms breeding grounds and disease breeding grounds.Lean towards to let it be sure to drain.
Just a thought on the hives: I would get some used drawer pulls for the cover boards to help with pulling and replacing them, or just drill some angled finger holes, but I’d always be worried about spiders making them a home, lol.
Screws are often weak for shear strength. As the wind tries to push the hives, there will be some slight rocking. That can stress and weaken the metal and the screw could break as the hives grow and fill up with nectar. If you can, you may want to put a lag bolt through those legs, or more screws going in from the other side of the legs to spread the load and thus reduce the weight bearing put on each individual screw. Those crazy ants are...well...crazy! They look like sugar ants, but they are different type. Be sure to check your outdoor electrical boxes. Apparently, they are very attracted to the boxes. They will eat through the waterproofing material to get inside and cause shorts across connections. Saw a video about them in Texas. Look up “crazy ants”. We got them in FL when I was still there and they were challenging to keep away from the house. They are so small they can go through minuscule openings. They are very disorganized (hence the name “crazy ants”) and they don’t create visible mounds that one can treat. Because of this, the other ant species don’t fare well in “ant wars”. On the plus side, the crazy ants will out compete fire ants for food: in a matter of months, I realized I had no fire ants left in my yard. Totally gone and those little biters didn’t come back. The crazy ants do bite/sting, as well, but it feels like pulling a single hair on your arm. I’d say it is just annoying with minor pain. It didn’t leave any noticeable damage or long term itching for me. Keeping them out of your hives is going to be a challenge. You could try wrapping the legs in tangle foot, but it would have to have a perfect seal to keep those miniature ants from going under it. A borax bait in a covered container with tiny holes might help knock the population down. Try it in the hive the nuc absconded from. One with honey and borax, and one with pollen and borax to see which bait the go for...carbs or protein, or both. I do love those hives!
On your veal jet a small role of window flexible screen and cut a square or circle and glue it with super glue, then trim the screen to make it less sightly. And on the boards that cover the frames,put some pull knobs to make it easer to remove the boards when needed, and the cover open or make a escape hole for the bees that may get stuck between the door and the cover boards. Also you may want to put a metal top, and a little lean to the front to let the water off the top from the rain or dew.
For the antproblem... diatomatious earth. Sprinkle the ground around the hive. Insects of all kind, especially those with exoskeletons donť like the stuff. Itś highly dehydrating, so try keep it separated from the bees. If u have a screen bottom board, put some there too. When mites fall through into the stuff theyŕe toast.
Big hell yeah to this comment. I DE around my hives for these pesky Argentine black ants and though they exist around the hives, they never have access to them since I did this. Its just darn hard for them to lay a scent trail and pick that glass like structure of the DE in their mouths. I think his first hive swarmed as a result of being bothered by the ants.
We have out hives back into the tree cover not out in the open, better summer sun protection but bees like and protected more from winds never had a problem but a tie down would not be a bad idea. I have concrete long paver/blocks on each end that were all leveled for it to sit on, so may use an L bracket anchored into that block to each leg.
In 'leveling' your hive, you might want to consider giving it just a tiny bit of front-to-back incline. This is so that if you get a good rainstorm, or you have any interior condensation, it will drip out the front entrance as opposed to collecting in the bottom of the hive.....which can obviously be the start of all sorts of problems down the rod.
With the winds we get here at my place I would have used four 2 foot star pickets (metal stakes) banged into the ground next to each leg and screwed the legs to the stakes. That way you can level the hive and it is also held firm to the ground with no possibilty of blowing over.
We added bracing around the legs and concreted ours into the ground, we are in tornado alley. For ants I put marine grease or tanglefoot 2" band around legs close to the hive body. I also add at least 2 bee escapes under roof so you don't have to worry about bees getting trapped between coverboards and roof.
Which direction are the entrances facing? And which direction did the entrance of the Nuc face before you moved it to that yard? Local forage (flowers) are always a good idea, sow some wild flowers or better yet some Sainfoin - Onobrychis viciifolia, which is a perennial and rich in nectar and pollen, takes no looking after, apart from a little water to get it going. A good variety of species will ensure you get flowers most months of the year from March to October. Got a swarm trap? Go find your bees!
I'm liking the horizontal. As a new potental bee keeper would you suggest the traditional langstroth, horizontal, or top bar and why (if you don't mind)? Thanks!
put some diatomaceous earth around all the legs of the horizontal hives. I plan on building one of these in a few weeks. newbie here! thanks for the videos!
I have the same ant problem on top of the inner cover. Have to say the ant might be taking advantage of the dry warm space. Sorry to hear about the bees leaving. I know that feeling. I've had 1 swarm capture so far and when I returned after dusk there was only a hand full of bees left.
Just a cheap idea but, have you considered driving rebar down by each leg and screwing a strip of thin metal like a bean can lid across it to attach it to the leg ? Make the rebar long enough to go up the leg far enough to have two anchor points and it should stay in place for years no problem. What can I say, I'm an old farmer and have to be very frugal to survive.
I've enjoyed this video. Actually this is my second video I have seen you. I found your channel today after looking at ways to start my fig cuttings. I watched a video you did about 4 years ago on some fig cuttings you got from a neighbor. I was wondering how did those come out after all these years?
Hi. Beekeeper from the UK here in my first year. I've got a hive like yours but much deeper, it will take 18 inch frames, I put in a 12 frame NUC of 9x12 in early Aug 2019, now Mid Sept, Hive is banging, now have 12 14x9 and 5 14x12 deep frames with a false bottom. They are prepping for winter with 15 frames full of capped honey and nectar. the bees love the space. let me have your email and I'll send you a photo of it. Great Vid.
Agreed. The horizontal hive is best used with Layen's Frames, which are 18 inches deep. Check out horizontalhive.com I believe you can turn the frames 90 degrees, and have 2 frames side by side, if you want to continue to use Lanstroth foundation.
I've had mine all year. It never toppled over. But I'm pouring a slab to bolt mine to this fall. Had trouble only one time and that was my fault. My roof was built way WAY too heavy and I left it open after a dead out, to kill out any shb larva and to keep the wax moths out. Well it got waterlogged and pulled off the top. My bad. Luckily I was wanting to move it and that lightened it up enough to be moved. So all in all I'm very happy with my hive.
I had a feeling that nuc group was going to abscond. Hate to see it though. I also didnt realize you were right up the road; I'm in Northwest Austin area.
I got a Grease gun and put it around each leg and no more ants but it’s messy. My hives at home I put dog bowls under each leg filled with salt water and zero ants.. it’s a hassle to fill them every other week but I figure my girls have enough pest to deal with.
Warning. I and others have had a lot of problems with heat. You may want to vent the bottom or the bees won't like it much. That may have been a reason they absconded. Just my thoughts.
This is a simple but inferior way of bracing. In the future, I would go ahead and brace the boxes on level ground to square/plumb, and then level/float the area they are to go.
To fix the ant problem spread cinnamon powder around the legs. Cinnamon powder not cinnamon sugar.😉 ants will not cross cinnamon. Please credit me if you have success which i promise you will.
Get those ants under control. Orange oil legs... Tanglefoot goop. Diamataceus Earth on ground near bottom of legs. If but were me, I'd replace the wooden legs with metal poles and place feet in old metal coffee cans filled with used oil... Hate the ants.
I had strong winds over the weekend. Enough to blow stuff across the yard. My horizontal hive had its long side to the wind and was still standing the next day. With the long legs it give a lot of area for the wind to blow under and between the legs. I think I'd be more worried about my vertical hives blowing over in a strong wind.
you are a good man, and, don't take it personally when I constructively criticize you here and there, like the last time, but with that aside, in such a large space, if you in the future decide to install about the same size of bees, use some propolis juice and paint the inside with it, least the corners like in a swarm box, that, might've convince that nuc that the horizontal box is a good home for them; maybe some of the smell of glue, if you used glue to put the box together, even the overwhelming smell of fresh paint can spook the bees to say goodbye; the horizontal hive is better for a full hive, not a swarm or a nuc; I told you previously, I split mine, the ones I use for brood storage, I made them to home 40 frames and split it in two, thus can handle two solid hives. Best of luck.
To help keep them from blowing over. You can use a dog screw in tie out stake. Screw it in the ground in the middle, underneath the hive then use a rope or ratchet strap over the hive. This will keep the hive from coming up in high winds. If it won't blow up; it won't blow over unless the legs break. I got this trick from the Top Bar Hive people on Beesource.
I built a long hive here in the UK with a steeply gabled roof (we get a LOT of rain). The roof is heavy, so I used a gas-ram to help open it and keep it open. I works like a charm.
Also, when you move your colony into a different hive, make sure to cage the queen for a few days. If she can’t leave, then neither will they. After about four days, they’ll be used to the new home and are more likely to stay.
I am late to the party, but here is an idea. To make it less top heavy, add another spaced area towards the bottom where you can storage all the unused frame. It's space efficient and adds weight to the bottom.
Put some Tanglefoot around the bottom of the legs, all the way around. Make sure it’s about five inches up from the ground. Ants will not cross it, and neither will SHB when crawling up from the ground. It’s an awesome product!
It was already perfect-the front entrance needs to be lower than the back because moisture will run out the entrance, and dead bees can be removed more easily push out the hive by the cleanup crew.
Be keeping is fun. To watch. Thank you from Ontario Canada
Too late now that you have added the stability boards, but to combat the ant problem, you could have put a metal dog bowl under each leg and filled them with vegetable oil or even water. That is similar to the ant mote I normally make for my humming bird feeder.
What I have found with my bees is that if you sprinkle ground cinnamon all around on the borders of the hive will keep the ants out!
Enjoyed the video, amazing how the bees didn’t react and they stayed calm
You can sew it up with regular thread, that's what my wife did and it works fine.
You need your hive to lean a little towards the front.You dont want it to be level as it may hold a little water on the bottom board.Its also easier for the bees to remove hive debris from the bottom board.Debris on the bottom board and water can cause molds,beetles and wax worms breeding grounds and disease breeding grounds.Lean towards to let it be sure to drain.
Get some steel fence post, drive them into the ground and bolt them to the hive. Stabilizes it and theft proof it in one swoop.
Just a thought on the hives: I would get some used drawer pulls for the cover boards to help with pulling and replacing them, or just drill some angled finger holes, but I’d always be worried about spiders making them a home, lol.
how did the cooling vest work? I live 2-3 hours NW of you and the heat has kept me out of the bee yard not a few times.
Screws are often weak for shear strength. As the wind tries to push the hives, there will be some slight rocking. That can stress and weaken the metal and the screw could break as the hives grow and fill up with nectar. If you can, you may want to put a lag bolt through those legs, or more screws going in from the other side of the legs to spread the load and thus reduce the weight bearing put on each individual screw.
Those crazy ants are...well...crazy! They look like sugar ants, but they are different type. Be sure to check your outdoor electrical boxes. Apparently, they are very attracted to the boxes. They will eat through the waterproofing material to get inside and cause shorts across connections. Saw a video about them in Texas. Look up “crazy ants”.
We got them in FL when I was still there and they were challenging to keep away from the house. They are so small they can go through minuscule openings. They are very disorganized (hence the name “crazy ants”) and they don’t create visible mounds that one can treat. Because of this, the other ant species don’t fare well in “ant wars”. On the plus side, the crazy ants will out compete fire ants for food: in a matter of months, I realized I had no fire ants left in my yard. Totally gone and those little biters didn’t come back. The crazy ants do bite/sting, as well, but it feels like pulling a single hair on your arm. I’d say it is just annoying with minor pain. It didn’t leave any noticeable damage or long term itching for me.
Keeping them out of your hives is going to be a challenge. You could try wrapping the legs in tangle foot, but it would have to have a perfect seal to keep those miniature ants from going under it. A borax bait in a covered container with tiny holes might help knock the population down. Try it in the hive the nuc absconded from. One with honey and borax, and one with pollen and borax to see which bait the go for...carbs or protein, or both.
I do love those hives!
maybe put a bunch of vasaline on your leggs to keep ants from crawling up.
On your veal jet a small role of window flexible screen and cut a square or circle and glue it with super glue, then trim the screen to make it less sightly.
And on the boards that cover the frames,put some pull knobs to make it easer to remove the boards when needed, and the cover open or make a escape hole for the bees that may get stuck between the door and the cover boards. Also you may want to put a metal top, and a little lean to the front to let the water off the top from the rain or dew.
For the antproblem... diatomatious earth. Sprinkle the ground around the hive. Insects of all kind, especially those with exoskeletons donť like the stuff. Itś highly dehydrating, so try keep it separated from the bees. If u have a screen bottom board, put some there too. When mites fall through into the stuff theyŕe toast.
Big hell yeah to this comment. I DE around my hives for these pesky Argentine black ants and though they exist around the hives, they never have access to them since I did this. Its just darn hard for them to lay a scent trail and pick that glass like structure of the DE in their mouths. I think his first hive swarmed as a result of being bothered by the ants.
We have out hives back into the tree cover not out in the open, better summer sun protection but bees like and protected more from winds never had a problem but a tie down would not be a bad idea. I have concrete long paver/blocks on each end that were all leveled for it to sit on, so may use an L bracket anchored into that block to each leg.
Check with 628 dirt rooster, Mister Ed AKA Jeff Horchoff, David with Barnyard bees, or JP the bee man
In 'leveling' your hive, you might want to consider giving it just a tiny bit of front-to-back incline. This is so that if you get a good rainstorm, or you have any interior condensation, it will drip out the front entrance as opposed to collecting in the bottom of the hive.....which can obviously be the start of all sorts of problems down the rod.
Good tip. Thank you.
With the winds we get here at my place I would have used four 2 foot star pickets (metal stakes) banged into the ground next to each leg and screwed the legs to the stakes. That way you can level the hive and it is also held firm to the ground with no possibilty of blowing over.
We added bracing around the legs and concreted ours into the ground, we are in tornado alley. For ants I put marine grease or tanglefoot 2" band around legs close to the hive body. I also add at least 2 bee escapes under roof so you don't have to worry about bees getting trapped between coverboards and roof.
Which direction are the entrances facing? And which direction did the entrance of the Nuc face before you moved it to that yard? Local forage (flowers) are always a good idea, sow some wild flowers or better yet some Sainfoin - Onobrychis viciifolia, which is a perennial and rich in nectar and pollen, takes no looking after, apart from a little water to get it going. A good variety of species will ensure you get flowers most months of the year from March to October. Got a swarm trap? Go find your bees!
If your base is 2/3rds the height it can't fall over, and get yourself an impact wrench. They are so much better than a drill.
I'm liking the horizontal. As a new potental bee keeper would you suggest the traditional langstroth, horizontal, or top bar and why (if you don't mind)? Thanks!
I use those same gloves. I like your leveling idea...going to implement that for my horizontal hives.
put some diatomaceous earth around all the legs of the horizontal hives. I plan on building one of these in a few weeks. newbie here! thanks for the videos!
The Texas Exit DE is harmful to bees DONT do that
Wouldn't it be safer to add some tent stakes to tie it down? Just thinking. Thanks for you videos.
thoes are some neat bee hives they look like there easy to get Into
Do those horizontal hives even need legs? Wouldn't it be safer if they were flat on the boards the old hives are on without the legs?
I have the same ant problem on top of the inner cover. Have to say the ant might be taking advantage of the dry warm space.
Sorry to hear about the bees leaving. I know that feeling. I've had 1 swarm capture so far and when I returned after dusk there was only a hand full of bees left.
Using the small regular screening for a air barrier, I have found the bees will eventually propolis it until it is completely sealed up.
how much space do you have between the top board and frame? Thanks
Just a cheap idea but, have you considered driving rebar down by each leg and screwing a strip of thin metal like a bean can lid across it to attach it to the leg ? Make the rebar long enough to go up the leg far enough to have two anchor points and it should stay in place for years no problem. What can I say, I'm an old farmer and have to be very frugal to survive.
I've enjoyed this video. Actually this is my second video I have seen you. I found your channel today after looking at ways to start my fig cuttings. I watched a video you did about 4 years ago on some fig cuttings you got from a neighbor. I was wondering how did those come out after all these years?
Do you sow wildflowers in the bee yard? They might love it 👍
Did you put trays along the bottom with DE earth like Doug and Stacey have on their horizontal hive?? They also have a wind break to help cut the wind
I didn't add the trays. Maybe in a future version I'll do that.
Hi. Beekeeper from the UK here in my first year. I've got a hive like yours but much deeper, it will take 18 inch frames, I put in a 12 frame NUC of 9x12 in early Aug 2019, now Mid Sept, Hive is banging, now have 12 14x9 and 5 14x12 deep frames with a false bottom. They are prepping for winter with 15 frames full of capped honey and nectar. the bees love the space. let me have your email and I'll send you a photo of it. Great Vid.
Agreed. The horizontal hive is best used with Layen's Frames, which are 18 inches deep. Check out horizontalhive.com
I believe you can turn the frames 90 degrees, and have 2 frames side by side, if you want to continue to use Lanstroth foundation.
Cool vest is a great idea!!
You might want to even make those additional stabilizers a little longer
Maybe drive some scrap 3' rebar into the dirt and a fix it to the stabilizers. Then it ain't going nowhere
I've had mine all year. It never toppled over. But I'm pouring a slab to bolt mine to this fall. Had trouble only one time and that was my fault. My roof was built way WAY too heavy and I left it open after a dead out, to kill out any shb larva and to keep the wax moths out. Well it got waterlogged and pulled off the top. My bad. Luckily I was wanting to move it and that lightened it up enough to be moved. So all in all I'm very happy with my hive.
On the nuc you provided more entrance than they could secure. Look at the condition of the honey frame at 6:12. That's a rob out.
I thought the same
Fix your veil with flexible screen door patches.
Great new hives. How is the cool vest working?
I had a feeling that nuc group was going to abscond. Hate to see it though. I also didnt realize you were right up the road; I'm in Northwest Austin area.
I got a Grease gun and put it around each leg and no more ants but it’s messy. My hives at home I put dog bowls under each leg filled with salt water and zero ants.. it’s a hassle to fill them every other week but I figure my girls have enough pest to deal with.
#AllHivesMatter 🐝☮️☯️
Warning. I and others have had a lot of problems with heat. You may want to vent the bottom or the bees won't like it much. That may have been a reason they absconded. Just my thoughts.
I would 100% not do that! You need to add wood under those post. In time those few screws won't hold once it's full
Put cinnamon in the hive. Don't know why but ants hate cinnamon and the bees could care less about it.
You need to feed these guys pollon patties. They need it to feed the lava and can't grow without it.
I think you can put grease on legs and it will keep ants and mites out of hive. Can anyone confirm this?
We use marine grease it lasts longer. You have to make a 2" wide unbroken band.
Use plastic trays on the legs and fill with sand that's saturated with citronella oil... No more ants
They sell a product called orange oil will take care of
This is a simple but inferior way of bracing. In the future, I would go ahead and brace the boxes on level ground to square/plumb, and then level/float the area they are to go.
too bad that nuc absconded. The other LL looks good!
To fix the ant problem spread cinnamon powder around the legs. Cinnamon powder not cinnamon sugar.😉 ants will not cross cinnamon. Please credit me if you have success which i promise you will.
If the legs were crossed, they'd be far more secure.
Check out pine city apiary. He has horizontal hives. He's on you tube. Tell him Bill Mitchell sent you.
Oh yes. Mr. Paul! Bill, you'll have to join us on Saturday mornings for my live show. Paul is there just about every Saturday.
just skew the legs say 10 degrees out the it would have a base bigger than the top.
Good idea. I'll keep that in mind for when I build more hives. Now that I have a workshop (almost ready to go) I can start building my own hives.
Get those ants under control.
Orange oil legs... Tanglefoot goop.
Diamataceus Earth on ground near bottom of legs.
If but were me, I'd replace the wooden legs with metal poles and place feet in old metal coffee cans filled with used oil... Hate the ants.
I thought bees need a Queen? I have not heard you say anything yet about her yet. The area doesn’t look bee friendly. No pollen, no flowers there.
Splay the legs out next time you build one mate. Think giant X shape.👍
Darn, it stinks your bees left 😕
Why would you not just make sure the ground was level and screw the board on level with the bottom of the legs
tweeted
Thank you!
Great video. I make chicken videos
Where in texas are you?
Hi
Hello
Don't Texas soils move?
I had strong winds over the weekend. Enough to blow stuff across the yard. My horizontal hive had its long side to the wind and was still standing the next day. With the long legs it give a lot of area for the wind to blow under and between the legs. I think I'd be more worried about my vertical hives blowing over in a strong wind.
Paint 🎨?
Small torch for ants. Bees come 1st in the hive. Torch the ants. Eventually the ants get the hint. Plus, chemical free.