Backyard Beekeeping Questions And Answers LIVE Episode 242

it's time to go so hello and welcome happy Friday  to everybody today's backyard beekeeping questions   and answers episode number 242 and it's uh Friday  January 26 and the last Friday um of every month   will be the live Q&A from 4:00 to 5:00 pm Eastern  Standard Time I already know that you guys know   that that's why you're here so what's going on  outside let's start with that 37 Dees Fahrenheit   which is not that bad but had temps in the 50s  earlier this week so bees were actually flying   if you can believe that I had a lot of people  checking in with me wondering what they should do   what they should feed uh should they check fondant  and things like that absolutely so what's the uh   percent of relative humidity outside 99% relative  humidity what's that mean it's raining yep and the   wind is low so we're talking 0er to 1 to two miles  per hours that's nice it's it's a pretty decent   day out there so we're going to kick it off with  um questions that were submitted because I don't   want the people that sent their questions in to be  ignored and this is your chance because we're live   to send your own questions in right there in the  live chat and I'll check in with that from time   to time so the very first question that we're  talking about today comes from Linda who's in   Yarmouth Maine and can you go over how you Mass  plant for ators I'm starting with Eden Cosmo   sensation and a 20x 40 taed plot transplant direct  seed Rose scattered what do you do so here's what   I do here in the northeastern United States state  of Pennsylvania um keep in mind I've been working   with my land here it was nothing but a Hayfield so  an eight and a half acre Hayfield actually and now   it's trees and Meadows mixed together and here's  the thing I'm going to when it comes to prep   for planting and stuff people have very strong  opinions about it I know that that's shocking to a   lot of you some people say don't till you destroy  your soil in the microbiome but I have to till I   have to till so that the seeds will take otherwise  what's already existing out there golden rod Aster   we have Joe pie weed we have iron weed and uh a  lot of native plants out there some stuff has to   go so what I do I wait until spring I don't plant  in the fall um so what I do is um I mow it down   close and I'm not doing the entire field so I keep  the stuff I like what's an example of something I   like milkweed I have a really dense area of milked  and there are a few different varieties in there   so that's great for honey bees and that's kind of  how I look at the landscape honeybee related so we   leave the milked that means I till what looks like  crop circles you know the alien crop circles so I   till in circles in a spiral because it's easier  and I mow it all down what I did last year last   spring was a big mistake uh I try to plant uh  perennials as much as possible but I do Cosmos   which are annuals and they're really good for  your honeybees I also plant a lot of sunflowers   so those have to be prepped and planted every  year so the question about starting indoors I   don't those get direct sewed moow till and then  I wait a day and I till in the other direction   and then I just broadcast them by hand and then I  roll them with a set 00 lb roller now last year I   made a mistake because I went by the calendar and  not what the weather was we didn't have rain for   two to three weeks after I planted my seed so what  happened the birds got in there and started eating   all the seed and the seed was very expensive the  next question people probably ask is where do you   Source your seed I get it from Eden Brothers  but you can also go on Amazon and just read   the reviews to see how good it was I am starting  several hundred plants inside this year and that's   going to be HS up giant blue HS up it did really  well last year and that's going to be like nothing   because uh if we're talking about the acreage but  so I have rows that I follow Serpentine rules and   I'll be interspersing my hiss up plants and by  starting them early starting them in February   indoors uh they transplant really well and they  all flowered this year and they got up to four   feet tall so that was fantastic so Cosmos I plant  I plant the sunflowers even though a deer her two   fonds as cute as they were got out there and ate  99% of them so this year I'm sending out uh the   grandsons with don't be mad but they're going to  be out there with their Nerf guns patrolling the   territory and making sure that animals stay off  of my sunflowers and the stuff that we want for   the pollinators so anyway just I throw the seeds  out plant roll and this year I'm going to wait   until I know there's rain coming in the forecast  so if there's rain forecast in the next two or   three days I'm definitely going to get out there  and plant it so I'm planting around the rain not   around the season so weeding I don't do anything  about weeding other than you know we might dig   out some rose bushes wild roses and things like  that uh the rest of it we kind of leave plus uh   if you have land under your control it's good  to intersperse some decent trees they're also   good for everything including the bees so that  was question number one we're just going to look   at the feed real quick here see if anybody has  a question or comment that we want to talk about   people are talking about their stuff Ross Miller  is in the house good to see you Keith of course   is here Louise says hello uh what else do we have  Justin from checking my hives all 27 are alive and   eating Hive alive fondant yeah the fondant by the  way I'm glad that was brought up someone that I   mentoring wrote to me last night worried about the  Beast being able to get into the fondant she cut   slits in it so what we're talking about fondant  packs like this just she cut an X with a knife   in it and the bees didn't seem to be accessing  the fondant very well so while we're all on here   I would much prefer that you cut a circle out of  it cut the side with the uh main label on it 3inch   diameter circle remove that plastic and set that  right on top of your inner cover into the hole so   the bees can access it really quickly cutting  slits in it they may may be able to get to it   but it is a little more difficult than if you cut  the circle out and of course it's what the makers   of high life on recommend too so that works really  well and I think a lot of people with the warmup   here in the 50s I 40s where I am 50s in the lower  elevations uh the bees were definitely active so   that's something good to think about this time of  year uh here we go from beekeeping for nerds do   you think you will incorporate an i PM screened  board or trays in your long Lang design okay we   do have that in the design and interesting that  if you notice Ross Millard is in the conversation   over here you can talk directly to Ross because  he drew up my designs for me and we do have uh a   long L that has with or without removable trays  and the screen bottom boards some people wonder   why didn't you run the screens the full length of  your horizontal long length rooth Hive and I'll   tell you why because where's The Brood located  we really want the screen boards underneath the   brood area so where you see the most pollen  and detrius and stuff like that bits of wax   and things falling on the bottom it tends to kind  of centralize itself and near that first third by   the entrance so what we did is we got together  and talked about putting the screens in just in   that area because it's passive integrated Pest  Management which means Vero distructor mites can   fall through the screen and if see now here's the  thing saying putting trays in there is a good idea   because you can see what's going on you'll find  dead mites from time to time but if mites fall   through there and there's nothing to hold them on  the tray then they're going to crawl out and get   right back up inside your hive mites can crawl a  long distance so you have to spray it with your   favorite cooking spray so spray your tray I can't  think of a rhyme for killing mice spray your tray   if you want them to not get away so anyway spray  your trays but IPM is part of those designs so   for those of you who are wondering what we're  talking about if you go to the wayt be.org and   don't be alarmed that it's also fredine fowl.com  so it's all the same website and there's a page   marked prints or plans or drawings or something  like that and they are free and that's thanks to   our friend Ross Millard who's on here right now  he drew them up for me I gave him the you know   the illustrations that I sketched out myself and  he transposed those into actual prints you get   to download those you get to do what you want  with them modify it use it as a basis for your   own design they're not intended to be the final  thing so when you check back on the website uh   years or months later you will find the most  recent and current updated plans and prints   for nuke boxes the langth boxes and the horizontal  long Lang rooth boxes and uh I want to thank Ross   for that so what else are we looking at here have  you ever looked at the slavian bee house I am in   British Canada in BC Canada and thinking about  the system to protect from winter weather okay   so for those of you who don't know what that is  um these are hives that uh are inside a building   and they're designed to be inside a building so  they come from areas where for example you might   migrate your hives around so the whole building  is self-contained they actually had one of these   at at Hive life so a year ago and I did not see  one at the current North American honeybee Expo   but uh they're buildings and that's a great idea  because you know what it's super convenient you   work inside and the hives are a special design  right so you can pull the frames out there are   trays underneath and all your work is done indoors  and you're not impacted by weather but one of the   things I don't like about it is so many hives are  right next to each there's usually a couple levels   of them all on the same wall and that's great um  but if you're in an area where your hives would   make it out on their own exposed to the weather  they would be much better off with space between   them so packing them all in a dense setup like  that is convenient it can be a static setup so   it can be a shed or a small building or a cabin  or something like that and of course it would   all be ium on your south facing wall and uh they  work really good but your hives are right next to   one another so there are several out there a lot  of companies are making them now I don't want to   say what the name of the hive is I want to call  them aives or something like that but they're all   in a building so I had a friend that was going  through the master beekeeper program with me and   she happened to own an Old Farm and a great big  barn and so it was interesting that the long axis   of the barn ran north to south which means she  had an east facing wall and a South and a west   facing long wall so we decided that wow couldn't  you just take your hay loft cut little holes in it   because this building's really long 160 feet and  you could spread out your hives and have them all   in the ha Loft Hay Loft and then you avoid all  predation the bees have lots of distance to fly   out and they're not hitting snow right away plus  when you're harvesting honey from up there you can   gravity drain all of your honey down and process  it down below and where the old manure wagon used   to pull up you could pull your truck up and take  your honey barrels away so guess what she did it   it works fantastic so buildings work buildings are  nice I'm not against them I like having it for my   observation hives and if I had unlimited funding  of course I would have what's called a row Barn   I don't know if you've seen these long barns  my grandfather had a ro Barn up in craftsbury   Vermont uh near Little osmer Pond if you of you  know where that is and it's where all your horses   are in a row and of course they all stick their  heads out one side of it so it's a Long Barn with   one horse stall after another something like that  for beehives I think would work fantastic but if   I were building it right now it would match the  Contour of the land of course but they would all   face south or Southeast so if I had unlimited  funds that's the kind of structure I would have   because it would protect your hives from heavy  winds heavy weather and the the bees would have   open access to all of that great forage so let's  see what else is going on uh Keith spilman I don't   know if you guys are talking to me or if somebody  else is talking oh it's Mr approachable that   questions for let's see uh Ross Millard says you  can double up a tray at either end if you prefer   great Hive to modify I agree Steve Amos afternoon  Keith I've noticed that you really have to put the   Hive alive right over the cluster I moved one  less than 4 in they didn't touch it now they've   eat a 4 inch circle so yes Center your hive alive  fondant Center over that inner cover um the reason   I don't put it below the inner cover is because  we don't want to pull the hive apart to get down   in there to feed them I'm just talking about what  I'm doing but it's been successful so uh centered   up most inner covers have a center hole are ready  but yes don't move it off to the side somewhere   because bees do tend to get stuck in a specific  location unless something is directly above them   where that passive warmth is going up they may not  get to it so quickly but when we get these warm-up   days like high 40s low 50s they'll spread out and  get access to resources throughout the hive but   if you want them to have that access during the  cold periods then directly above them is going to   be very important so that's a good point to bring  up let's see all right we're going to move on to   another question this comes from Ginger from I'm  going to mess this up it's Haula Hawaii ants have   uh created a nest in the upper channel of one of  my flow frames where the keys go I've harvested   the honey and I'm wondering about the best way to  get rid of the ants I was thinking of submerging   the frame into a bucket of soapy water made  with a few drops of Seventh Generation dish   soap and then spraying the frame out with fresh  water and letting it dry there is a fair amount   of beeswax on this Frame as it has been in use  for a few years now do you think there would be   any soap residue left over after the beeswax that  would be harmful for the bees so here's the thing   ants and bugs right here I used to kill off a  bunch of the Japanese beetles because they're   really dumb and they're easy to track and I used  to put them in soapy dish soap water I used that   just in case I had it handy this Dawn free and  clear dish soap because it's biodegradable and   it doesn't harm the environment and stuff but  then I realized I don't need that all I have   to do is take a bucket and fill it with really hot  water and the bugs that I throw in it in that case   it was Japanese beetles but it works in all bugs  the really hot water just kills them without any   chemicals then they go and dump their bodies in  the yard for the chickens or or I can dump them   right in the pond and the fish eat them so with  that thought in mind we're talking about flow frames can't believe it don't have a flow frame  sitting right here somewhere anyway the flow   frames are they have a lot of leaves in them  so there's a lot of movement pieces and stuff   and there's little tabs that cover them so here's  what you do for those with flow frames that want   to clean them up because this is on the top of  my list for this year I had to look at melting   points of the plastic because we don't want to  overheat the plastic and damage it so here's the   thing uh we need to get those hot enough so yes  I'm going to recommend that you create a tub and   that you heat the water really hot so that you  will melt out the wax the propolis and it kills   the ants all without any uh chemical treatments  no residue so you're going to take it to 145   degrees Fahrenheit that's 63 degrees C and when  you get it that hot it's hot enough to melt all   of the residue out of it because a lot of those  areas are not accessible this would also work if   you've got you know plastic Foundation frames and  things like that but in this case we're talking   about specifically the flow frames which are very  expensive um and so we get it past the melting   point of the wax of the upper end of that is 145°  and that keeps us well below the 190 5 degre fhe   or 90° CS which even lowgrade Plastics would have  a problem with so you don't want to overheat them   but you want to get that out so a hot bath dip  clean it out and that's enough we don't have to   use uh pesticides or soaps or anything else beyond  that unless for cosmetic reasons but you can dip   that and I'm a little bit disappointed that um  the people that designed it at Flo honeyflow.com   I haven't come up with a really set hard and fast  cleaning system there is somebody online who took   all the leaves apart and scrubbed every individual  piece but hot water should do the trait so let's   just check in over here can I use a this is from  Victor it says can I use a qmp noodle to stop a   hive from making Queen cells while Rec queening to  make it hopelessly queenless before introducing a   new Queen yes to answer Victor's question can I  use a qmp noodle some of you are wondering what   the heck is a qmp noodle it is called temp Queen  qmp stands for Queen mandibular pheromone and it   is sold by better be and others but that is the  purpose of it so for example you think you might   be queenless and you don't want them making a new  Queen so that means there are no new Queen cells   in production yet but you know you're queenless  and you're going to bring in a queen and you're   going to replace it so put that temp Queen noodle  in there it tricks your bees into thinking there's   a queen present therefore the worker bees are  suppressed so not only will they not make a new   Queen with any existing eggs or if there happen  to be larae around which probably there won't be   considering that you've already discovered that  it's queenless so they're probably pretty far   along so what we're really trying to do is stop  those female workers from becoming laying workers   and they've discovered or observed that it takes  an average of three weeks for them to do that from   the moment they realize they're Without a Queen  pheromone to the time they activate their ovaries   and begin to lay those drone eggs that's about 21  days out so a qmp noodle definitely will suppress   that and prevents them from getting that going so  that's what it's designed for I just use it for a   lot of other stuff let's see any other questions  here before we move on this ISS uh Zelma be says   having a clipped Queen does not prevent swarming  does it what happens when the clipped Queen fails   do the bees kill her and make make a new Queen  they sure do Zelma and you're right for those   of you who don't know what we're talking about  here um if you've watched any of the University   of wealth uh instructional videos Paul Clips  the Queen's wing on all of his Queens uh the   reason they do that is it doesn't stop swarming  absolutely doesn't so what the bees do is when   they decide to get rid of their Queen it just  means that when she leaves the hive she's going   to fly out and land right in front of the hive in  the grass somewhere she doesn't get very far and   that's when you find these little clust of bees  around them so the other thing is we can't trap   the queen or keep her in there and force them to  keep her once they've decided to get rid of her   and this year after all the years I've been  keeping bees is the first year I've seen the   workers actually turn on a queen mob her start  biting her legs chewing her wings and driving   her out and when she wouldn't go they ultimately  killed her they killed two queens in that Hive so   something's up with those bees but they showed a  preference for a specific Queen and they allowed   her to live so this wasn't queen to queen combat  this was an older Queen being eliminated by the   bees and then being dragged out if I had not been  there to watch it happen in the observation Hive I   never would have known the drama that took place  in there and uh when they otherwise would have   just dragged out we'd find a dead Queen in front  of the hive if we're paying attention to what's   on the ground there so the bees definitely make  that decision and you're right clipping the queen   does not prevent uh the colony from producing  replacement Queens any more than putting a   queen excluder on the front of your hive would  uh keep them from replacing the queen you just   end up with a trapped queen or a queen that can't  fly and start a new Colony elsewhere what's the   benefit of that well we're talking about it if  you clip the Queen's wing and she can only fly   out and land on the ground you'll find out that  a cluster of bees do join her there but when they   realize she can't fly they very soon abandon her  a lot of them return to the hive that she came   from so the advantage is you don't lose up to 70%  of your Workforce in that Colony so clipping the   Queen's Wings gives you a chance if you're V vill  if you're Vigilant and you're out there every day   you'll find these uh queens that get cast out  like that and as I mentioned before Paul Clips   all of his wings so uh it keeps them from sealing  all your bees as well so there are many levels to   that now other people will tell you I might as  well talk about this uh clipping the Queen's   Wing is mutilation of the queen and should not be  done is what they will say and I'm going to tell   you that I'm fine with it either way clipping  the queen wing and not clipping the Queen's   Wing one of the things you'll hear is that their  wings are under pressure the veins going through   the wing of course if you clip them then that  opens up the pressure for their hemolymph and   that the bees will die well uh they've been doing  this for a very long time with the University of   wealth and those Queens are not dying so once  their wings are out and fully formed and fully   dried they're going to hold that position  so uh don't worry about that being the issue so and uh dirt rooster is here oh man I wasn't  drinking out of his cup this time so if you guys   don't know dirt rooster Randy mcaffrey is here  I don't know how you have time to be here but   I'm glad you are and uh let's see if anybody  else as we got Rodney Keith is keeping Law and   Order Lester's here DC's bees is here so we'll  just go down the line really quick it's after   900 PM in Scotland from MMB so you know what  I'm really glad that you're here from Scotland   it's just fantastic Community uh let's see so is  timing feathers on a chicken mutilation timing I   think you mean trimming chicken feathers and is  it mutilation no because here's the thing about   chickens let's talk about chickens for a minute  gas domesticus you uh trim off their primary   flights on one side sometimes to keep them  from being able to fly over a fence you just   trim their feathers now the feathers get replaced  they go through a Mt and they grow new feathers so   for those of you who don't know if you grabbed a  feather and you pulled it out the entire feather   right through to the quill Point they'll grow a  new feather so I've seen people at these these   really wacky doodle National poultry shows that  realized they had a white feather where they it   would have been a disqualifier or defect for the  bird and you watch those guys reach in and pluck   that feather out and I talked to a guy that was a  master exhibitor a Hall of Famer that said why do   you pull the whole feather out like that when  you just clip it off well because it'll grow a   new one if you pull the entire feather so there  not mutilation keep in mind your Queens cannot   grow a new Wing the way that a chicken can grow  new feathers but I see what you're going for and   that's okay so let's see the like button says  Steve Amos yeah I wouldn't hate you if you guys   clip the like button there's Robert hello and uh  let's see what else any other questions real quick   before I go dirt rooster you're responsible for  my wife getting two hives five years ago now I   have 12 hives and I have sold a hundred gallons  of honey so thank you yes say thank you to dirt   rooster Randy is good people Sydney Australia Ross  Patterson thank you for being here all right we'll   move on to another question uh Here Comes Eric  from I'm gonna mess up this one too Yuma Sweden   anyway where I live can inspect expect a constant  minus10 Celsius for winter and uh periods of the   month and minus 30 Celsius I have been told by  beekeepers around me that I need to insulate my   hive all around to keep them alive not the bottom  what insulation would you recommend I now have a   hard 7 cm ground insulation no top vent for better  weather resistance I don't know it's available in   Sweden but uh now we get into the discussion of  natural insulation organic insulation versus the   synthetic so I think it could be argued that  the poly hives the polystyrene uh hives have   the greatest insulation R value but those that  want to use natural materials could follow uh   the designs of um Dr Leo sharashkin maybe and  create an outer wall and use sheep's wool for   your insulation uh I like double bubble these days  it's right here you can create an airspace double   bubble airspace double bubble and then you get a  really high art factor for that so there's a lot   of material so I think it depends on what's  around in your area but probably considering   where you live other people are keeping bees and  they're the ones that are telling you to insulate   I would find out what they're insulating with and  have discussions with those who the most who are   the most successful in your climate with their  bees so the other thing is if you're looking for   a hive that comes ready to go all insulated and  is a langth style design I have I like the aame   hives right now because they're weather tough and  they're pretty well insulated so you can also add   insulation to them if you want to particularly  on the covers above those feeder inserts so I   actually like those pretty much right now too  so there's a lot of insulation material out   there but being that you're in an area I'm  unfamiliar with I would find out what other   local beekeepers are successfully wintering  with so what else we have here's Robert says   question for you Fred in Montana as well as here  in Florida around wintertime I see these round   small objects that are black on on hives I don't  believe it has anything to do with feeding small   black objects round on hives I have no idea what  you're talking about does anybody else know what   these small black objects are in hives I I don't  know that's I don't have enough information and   uh dcsp says I have watched videos of Queen  Wing clipping I'm to chicken yeah if you're   not comfortable with it don't be clipping those  wings if you can't hold your hands out and they're   not rock steady don't you dare take scissors  to your queen but if you buy the Paul Kelly B   belt it comes with all the stuff on it including  scissors for clipping Wings marking Queen cages   it's a One-Stop shop for everything M's out in  the Beed so I don't have it here but it has it   just in case so my chickens and Ducks are near  to molting guess it takes time to sprout new   feathers it does when they go into the Mt they  go off lay for a long time in some cases about   12 weeks what's really bad is if you get those  chickens up mol all at once and just drop all   their feathers and they look really awkward and  uh it's really sad when it happens to roosters   because they don't look cool anymore and of course  they can't fly some of them Mt in you know in   variable ways to where you never see the entire  chicken looking bad but it's one of the number   one reasons why they go off lay and hopefully  they don't do it when winter sets in they need   their feathers the most for insulation chickens  aren't smart uh let's see what else is going on my clip Queens are coming from be Weaver yeah  be Weaver they offer it as an option to clip on   be Weaver good Queens by the way uh let's go to  James stro 40 552 that's the YouTube name first   winter new beekeeper here so far so good I have  a springtime question I haven't seen anything   on when feeding is it possible to use a food  coloring in my onetoone to visually see if my   honey I'm pulling is actually Honey or the one to  one I'm going to talk about this because a lot of   people will be thinking about boosting their bees  in Spring here I don't generally need to do that   uh because the forage will kick in when you see  those Dand lines they're going to get all the   nectar that they need to keep going but if you  are feeding your bees sugar syrup 1:1 two to one   whatever it happens to be although the spring  feeding for sugar syrup for your bees if you   really want them to kick off and use that energy  because we're not talking about freezing nights   anymore it wouldn't be two to one two to one is  something that people feed their bees at the end   of the year when they realize the colony's too  light and they really need to try to get them   to back fill and store some of it that's where  two to one kicks in so the thing is if you're   feeding the light syrup the one to ones and some  even go lighter than that by the way with a lot   of success so uh once they start feeding that  though you would not have your honey supers on   so never provide open feeding or in Hive feeding  on a hive that has honey supers on where you plan   to use that honey for consumption or if you're  going to sell it it's a matter of Ethics do   not feed sugar syrup once you start to Super  your hives for that reason now to answer the   question if you added food coloring to the sugar  syrup would it show up yeah it would in fact this   is one of the experiments a lot of people do  when they're first learning about bees and how   the storekeeper bees uh move resources around in  the hive and they use colors to do that and food   coloring is one of the common things to do see  it does work um I wouldn't do it in a regular   Hive because you're going to have to check it  all the time to see where it's being placed and   uh you can even see if if you're doing backyard  experiments and you've got you know homeschoolers   or something like that and it's early spring or  it's a colony that you know you are not going to   be taking honey from because they're small or just  getting started you can feed for one week let's   say red food coloring in it and then the next  week you do blue and then you can start to see   when you finally do your inspections where they  organize that and you'll see that they cluster   those together so it is kind of interesting  personally never when you have honey supers on so that's it for that what else we have James  BSA Fred would you recommend spending over $100   Queen shipped just because it was inoculated  for American F brood seeing that this at TBS   thoughts okay a lot of people don't know but  there is vaccination for Queens right now   you're going to hear a lot more about it and  it is for what's the vaccination for it's for   American F brood for those of you who don't know  if you're new American fou brood once you get it   you have to destroy your hive that has it so it's  devastating here's the good news though and why   personally I'm not a queen I'm not a breeder  okay so let's remember my target audience is   backyard beekeepers small scale beekeepers um so  would I personally pay for a vaccinated Queen no I   wouldn't and here's why the state of Pennsylvania  that I'm in we had zero incidents of American fou   breed that's great news so fou BRD is something  we don't want to get you know complacent about   it obviously we need to understand what American  fou brood looks like we need to have the kits on   the Shelf ready to go so you should have American  foul brood kit and a European foul brood kit so   that you know what you're dealing with when you  start to see some problems with your brood area   you want to be able to do the Rope test with  your uh toothpick or whatever you use and be   able to do a field test on it because if it does  show up to be American foul brood then we want to   make sure and report that to our Department of  Agriculture so that others around us also know   to test for it because that colony is doomed now  would I pay for a vaccinated Queen no if I were a   breeder and if I were giving or selling bees to  a lot of people if I'm developing packages if I   have a big Queen breeding program um I might look  heavy into vaccination if there are any instances   of American foul brood with a 100 m here's where  we get messed up people bring in hives packages   and things like that um nukes in particular can  transport American fou brood American foul brood   can subsist or persist in the comb and frames  and Hive equipment for more than 40 years that's   why it's such a big deal this is also why I tell  people do not buy used frames do not take frames   of drawn comb old brw comb and stuff like that  from other people's hives if you do not know the   history of their hives and the health of those  brood areas that they've come from why wouldn't   you just start fresh and guarantee that you're not  starting with American fou brood here's another   part about American fou bre that I want you to  think about which I think is kind of fun uh we   think about things like colonies of bees that  are subsisting in trees right so that's a feral   Colony living in a be tree nobody's checking them  for foul brood so what happens if one of them had   American or european foul brood and they ABCA it  or they just died out because it affects the brood   remember but it gets past onto the nurse bees  who attending to The Brood and there it goes so   this is interesting what moves in once these old  Combs are abandoned in an old tree the wax moth   flies in there lays its eggs wax moth larae are  produced and those are the wax worms and what do   they do they consume the comb guess what they  found out happens when they consume honeycomb   in old old hives and it has American foul brood  present they destroy it their digestive system   mitigates the American foul brood and so what  then the residue that's left in the hive is clean that's interesting stuff so anyway there  we go uh let's see second any equipment it cannot   be so dcsb says almost all of my equipment  is secondhand without secondhand equipment   I cannot be a beekeeper okay then I will say  that for DC's bees and others that are in that   situation know The Beekeeper you're getting  your hive equipment from know the history of   that apiary and it better be somebody with  a lot of integrity that's all I have to   say okay next question comes from David wer  Massachusetts I hope I said that right it's   spelled wichester but I think it's Wisher it's  the way they say it I have a fun question for   you on April 8th of 20124 you will experience  a full solar eclipse what preparations will   you do or be doing so your bees don't get  lost for the three and a half minutes of Darkness a more serious question and requests will  the forging bees just stop Flying for a bit would   it be interesting to set up a camera Okay so  let me just explain it right now I have a solar   filter for my largest most obnoxious camera system  already so I'm ready for that that's how you shoot   directly at the eclipse so we'll do a time lapse  for that we have several cameras that are going   to be out on Landing boards and we're going to see  the behavior of forging bees here's what I think   is just going to happen they're just going to stop  bees cannot navigate in the dark they can't that's   why they don't fly at night so I think the bees  are just going to hunker down a place I think   it's going to catch them off guard and they're  just going to stay stay where they happen to be   if they're hovering over a flower they're going  to land on it I'm just forecasting that I'm just   saying what else are they going to do and it's  not the end of the world three and a half minutes   of Darkness and Light begins to come up again I  think they're going to go everywhere but because   so many people have asked me I'm going to set out  several cameras monitoring several locations just   to see what the bees do while uh the eclipse  happens and by the way I am in what's referred   to as a path of totality so every motel room in  my area this is Northwestern Pennsylvania uh is   booked for that day like they're getting a great  economic boost because people are coming from all   over the place to be here there's something  also about being near the great lakes that   the atmosphere is clear or something I'm not an  astronomer I don't know all the ins and outs all   I know is I paid fat stacks for a solar filter  for my largest lens that's all I know but uh   yeah I'm going to shoot it anyway so there we go  Southern Cali be says Fred have you tried strong   microbial probiotics now the probiotics are super  dfm and they also have their um fondant patties I   spoke with them at the conference by the way and  uh the probiotics that they have are beneficial   to the bees but the biggest selling point for the  strong microbial super dfm direct fed microbials   uh is that they tailor that to help your bees  metabolize uh industrial agricultural pesticides   that your bees are going to likely be exposed to  so it can help them do better and improves the   microbiome and everything else now the other  part of that is have I noticed a difference   so I do have it by the way and uh without you  know dissecting the bees and looking at their   gut and looking at the microbiome specifically I  probably can't really tell much of a difference   and here's the thing because I already don't see  a detrimental impact on my my bees and that may   just because I'm not that detailed about it so  because there are sublethal impacts that affect   the honey bee longevity so a bee that might  have five more weeks of foraging could end up   with three weeks of foraging after the sublethal  impact of neonicotinoids or something like that   on the pollen that ultimately does end up in your  worker be's digestive system as well we know that   the nurse bees are using the pollen to produce  bee bread and of course to raise brood so that   would be the high impact area but uh it also  shows up the pollen shows up in the midgut of   your regular workers to as the age and may have  see I don't have conclusive information but I'm   not I'm not a lab I'm not the Beltsville lab for  example I will tell you this I have a bunch of   uh stuff sent off that I'm waiting lab results  on that I've been waiting for six months for   lab results uh because my bees were collecting  pollen from uh the corn so a lot of bees were   on the taceline corn and bringing that pollen  in in decent amounts so I gathered it all sent   it in and we want to know what the neonicotinoid  and other pesticide levels will be in the pollen   which of course ultimately is going to be fed to  your bees and impact potentially their longevity   but uh I know that uh you know strong microbials  has really good science behind what they're doing   uh I'm just not at the level where I can say it's  really good or it doesn't work at all uh I can say   that I didn't see a noticeable Improvement but  that's basic backyard observation so MMB says   question Fred please make a French War Hive  for the inspector he would love it both would   be the height of each other and it would also  recommend frames over top bars for the trainee   okay don't get me started on Quinn and all the  hives that he thinks he needs to have for his   own backyard official Junior beekeeper research  but I will say that the wor hiive isn't on his   list he's doing a lot of reading he's looking  at all the hive types he's made his choices so   we're gonna see how that goes and I'm not going  to spoil it by telling you what he chose because   he has to build his own hives that's part of  his wax on wax off learning process he has   to earn everything he gets in the beard and uh  he's going to be putting these things together   himself so we're going to see how it goes but I  can say it's not going to be a war hiive at this time let's see oh here goes Mark who says I was in  Wyoming for the total solar eclipse back in 2017   right in the path of totality I don't remember it  getting dark enough to prevent bees from flying   it was a cool experience though there you go and  uh we'll just do it we'll do the video we'll see   what happens and uh yeah so anyway the camera's  already here I have all the equipment I might as   well make a video why not now what if it rains or  what if we have a bad weather day that would just   ruin everybody's joy and happiness everybody's  selling the glasses too by the way don't buy   your glasses off of eBay and all that there is  a national uh astronomy group that has a list   of recommended safe glasses for you to look at  the eclipse I would go to those sites and find   the proven safe glasses don't just get them from  you know Etsy ear wherever somebody decided to   sell them that's just my recommendation I'm just  saying save your eyesight you stare at the Sun   at the wrong time before that eclipse happens and  you can fry yourself the same next question comes   from David from oh I guess I already did that oh  no David from wer snuck two questions in here how   did that happen good one I'm a third-year beeh  and this may be my first winner that turn into   a beekeeper my hives are still alive in the new  year for winter feeding you are consistent in   your approach of not feeding liquid sugar syrup  during winter it seems from what I've heard and   read that the main reason for most cited reason  for not feeding syrup in the winter is that the   cold syrup will chill the bees the hives have 2  and a half inches of Styrofoam insulation on the   size four and half of foam above place of glass  in cover I have temperature monitors inside my   hives currently the temperature outside the  hives is 22.8 Dees fight inside the inner   cover is 68.2 currently have a wraid round feeder  with granulated sugar on top of the inner cover   but below the insulation and it is 62 inside the  feeder with the temperature of the feeder being 63   I would think that two to1 syrup would stay warm  would this setup be a chilling Hazard okay this is   timely actually why we don't put syrup on in areas  where we have exterior temperatures the inside   Hive temperature doesn't play although if Hive  if liquids inside your hive or in your feeding   super or your feed are shim or whatever you have  if it were at 50 degrees Fahrenheit or lower you   do chill your bees and they do go into kind of a a  chill coma it's call so anyway but that's not the   reason that's not why we don't put sugar syrup in  our hives for winter time it's not because of the   warmth it's because of the additional moisture  your bees are suck inside in regard and this   is true of people that have observation hives for  example um if they have to fly outside even though   inside it's nice and warm uh they can't fly out  and eliminate when it's below freezing outside so   if it's really cold outside giving them a lot of  liquid inside is just like giving you three brand   muffins and three big cups of coffee and then  getting you stuck in New York City traffic for   five hours hours with no way to pull off see what  just happened your bees have to be able to get   out and do cleansing flights so if you're in an  area where they can do that year round then sugar   syrup would be okay year round uh the real thing  is of course the amount of liquid that the bees   have to hold in their bodies and they're holding  it because they do not want to eliminate inside   the hive and uh if they do you have a real problem  with infection inside your hive so they need to be   able to do cleansing flights a lot of quid causes  them to do more cleansing flights so there you go any other questions always needs next gen  started as teen I made some double bubble cozies   and put over my feeder jars for the spring they  will work instead of putting empty box around them   by the way the the double bubble I created Hot  Pockets for my observation hives I got called out   by my friend bill who said hey you didn't follow  your own rules where you do one or two with and   one without which is true I created Hot Pockets  and put them over all of my observation hives I   didn't want to test them out and lose one in the  winter time under the Hot Pocket in an unheated   building each of my observation hives averages 10  to 15 degrees warmer than the room temperature in   the building so and the temperature sensor is  outside the observation I have sitting on top   of it under the hot pocket so a single layer of  this stuff that's all I did that's all I put on   there and they do great and they're doing great  right now it's very interesting so yeah you can   create just thin layers and have a terrific  uh benefit for your PES let's see what else   this comes from Tandy Beth in West Kentucky two  days ago our atts were close to 32° and sunny I   used the thermal imaging to check on the status  of my hives one seemed to be a dead out today   I open the hive to retrieve the frames and I  heard the bees I immediately stopped and put   it back together I don't think there's enough  to actually survive the rest of winter as the   temps we were experiencing in windshields are  below zero overnight and there wasn't enough   to register on thermal I'd be happy to share my  photos of The Thermals okay so here's the thing   and why I wanted this question to be brought up  today because we're people we're curious and we   look at our hies and whether we have the fancy  thermal stuff I know Randy mcaffrey has one I   have one I have the Fleer system um when you see  a colony that does not have a good heat signature   on it let's say all of the others do and you come  across one and it just doesn't right first of all   all insulated hives it doesn't show very well at  all you never know where the bees are in that so   um let's see to say oh they must be dead I'm going  to open it up and I'm GNA start breaking down that   Hive right now please don't here's why uh they  could be alive in fact I've had colonies that   didn't even fly at all it happens winter after  winter after winter it'll be you know nine out   of 10 15 out of 20 colonies will be flying one  day and then you see the others no activity on   Landing board nothing going on no heat signature  what does it benefit you to open up that Hive just   because you get curious and you feel like now  is the time to pull apart all those frames and   go ahead and start cycling out that equipment you  are not getting a jump on anything so please do   not open any of your beehives in the DEA winter  wait for spring wait for resources to be coming   in and you know what you'll often be surprised  that you'll find what Tandy Beth found here is   that when you open it up they made a noise all  of a sudden you have bees and they are alive and   here we mess with them it is so exciting in  Spring to walk out and look at a colony that   you know is dead and all of a sudden they're  flying and you see pollen coming in they had   all the resources they need they didn't need to  fly out they were doing great some of the most   insulated hives have that exact same behavior on  these warm sunny days by the way I want to say a   quick thank you to Zelma for the capital gains  I really appreciate it thank you so yeah please   don't open your hives in the winter time wait wait  until there's a nectar flow on the pollen flow the   pollen is Flowing everything is great and then  see because you'll often be surprised that they   make it and uh it's going to be all over but the  cry when you open it up and you see that little   tight cluster bees and do it I make my grandson  do if he thinks bees are dead he brings them in   to the kitchen table he was just out here and  uh they're not they're not they're in a state   of torper they could have made it and we like to  make it I'm not I'm not picking on Tandy Beth here   is it Tandy Beth yeah I'm not picking on Tandy  Beth but it makes ourselves feel better later   to say they wouldn't have made it anyway there's  only a handful of them they were they were doomed   anyway I was n the one that ruined it for him  actually I think you were I think I think you   ruined it for them I think I think they would have  been your best Colony ever and it's your fault now   that they're not gonna make it okay so moving on  uh breakfast with bees like to shoot mine at night   or early morning let's see this is Mike scotson  love your videos I'm in Portland Oregon seems like   timing on bees is different are their temp timings  to judge my beekeeping uh the temps and day length   and all that stuff are really not the big Keys  the big keys are uh environmental resource cues   those are the biggest impact for your bees and  that's why keeping records is so important get   your calendar out the first day you see any kind  of pollen come in mark it on your calendar which   hives were bringing in the pollen what was the  color of the pollen was it seix discolor did it   come from [ __ ] will is it coming from some  other source you haven't identified yet and   there's a lab by the way right now I saw it in  uh the American B Journal that they're offering   pollen analysis services so you can send in your  pollen if you really want to know what the source   of it is I don't know if it changes anything  for you they're going to bring in pollen and   when they do uh that's when you'll see what the  resources are that things are going on and that's   what kicks off your brood for the year so because  weather Dynamics are going to be in flux a lot I   think we all kind of have accepted that so what  your trees what your flower sources are what's   going on in the environment year after year the  consistent Trends are really what you're going to   base that on if you want to know if you're going  to have a dir period you know just a historical   dir that happens year after year where you  live get your pen out and write this down .org and then you put in your address and you'll  find out you have a dir what time of year are   you be going to be receiving the greatest  resource from the environment and that thing   is constantly updated almost spooky how accurate  they are sometimes so you definitely want to pay   attention to things like that but really it's  seasonal what's going on with your flowers the   environment the trees and it's just it's a cycle  that repeats over and over and you will be able   to plan your beekeeping on that most of the people  listening to me right now are going to be caught   off guard in spring when a hive suddenly swarms  and they looked normal they didn't even seem like   they were building up we need to know what's  going on so that you can super up your hives   if you're hoping to keep them around longer and  give them additional space and get that honey from   it and I want to thank Southern C beekeeper for  that cup of coffee so I really do appreciate it um still happy with your new weather station  installation from last year likes or dislikes   okay so that is the ambient Weather Network and  uh I like it a lot I still have the atlas and   I have the other weather stations I have three  weather stations because I'm a weather nut and   uh they're doing great and I particularly like the  anomet that is ultrasonic it is accurate my other   anomers on my Atlas weather station which was one  of the most expensive ones um does not accurately   record particularly wind gusts or sudden wind  events it under reports those so I like it a lot   and I have more sensors to add actually I have a  soil moisture sensor that all reads on that same   panel and for those you are wondering what we're  talking about uh often I open my videos with a   screenshot of a weather station so that is my  ambient Weather Network station that's out in   my yard and uh it shows all of the all the stuff  you ever wanted to know about including indoor   temps and things like that and humidity but uh  I really like their equipment and you can add   stuff to it so the soil moisture meter I also  have a satellite sensor that I put out in my um   observation Hive building so I know what's going  on out there but it's basic Temp and humidity   which is all I really want to know anyway so I do  like it it's good in fact for the price I think   it's it's the best one and if any of you want to  check it out if you just go to my YouTube channel   and type in in the little search bar up there  weather station uh you'll see all the ones that   I've reviewed and I've reviewed three different  weather stations and that's by far my favorite so what else are there any other questions  for me and did I miss a question by the way   don't want to be skipping over anybody because  I've covered all the questions that I've that   were submitted I'm going to back track here a  little bit I think you're all talking to one   another I don't even think you need me here  right now so what else and I should have my   dirt roster cup I was the first one to buy it  when it came out by the way and they had it on Facebook all the RO on M hives last fall with  sheep's wool as far as seems to be working   great so Le L's High especially the roof do you  know of any study that shows the hygienic trait   loss from mother to daughter that's from Kyle  nice or is it nce um you're going to have to go   to Google Scholar and look up honeybee genetics  and this trait transfer is something that I never   personally get a grip on genetics seems like  it should be very straightforward it's not uh   recessive traits traits that carry over dominant  traits are just they leave me lost in the dust so   go to Google Scholar and type in Queen be genetics  traits passed on and you're going to find whatever   the current scientific study is and it's going to  be very involved and uh I just that's it here's   from Reverend Liz it says what is your best advice  for a firsttime beekeeper well your best advice   for a first time beekeeper is to get yourself  a local Mentor somebody that you like and uh I   got slammed by my own be club members this past  week when they said don't watch YouTubes okay I   agree with that but I want you to watch YouTubes  obviously that's how I share the information that   I glean however it does not uh compare with  having a mentor somebody that you develop a   relationship with somebody that's going to be your  friend who's going to take you through who already   keeps bees in your region join a bee Club if you  can get along with those people and try to find   somebody that you're compatible with that will  walk you through it and before you get bees of   your own I know it's hard to be patient because  we want to get bees right away try to go through   an entire year with another beekeeper in your  area help them out be friend ly be an observer   always show up with coffee whatever it takes and  then you're going to learn really what's going on   in your area the other thing is try to get a hold  of somebody that's been doing uh bees for at least   four years uh third year is kind of the charm and  that's where a lot of people kind of they either   quit or continue some people are just continuing  because they invested so much money that they   can't face the fact that they might have failed  so looking for people with at least three or four   years experience would be a good start starting  point too uh because they have already hopefully   figured it out and they're still in the game 80%  of new beekeepers quit at the end of their third   year that's because diseases and things like  that tend to build up in your hives and that's   when you suffer the greatest losses and kind of  the honeymoon's over you know you walk out there   and you had 15 beehives and 13 of them survived  winter is a hard hit but that's what I guess   that's what I would say and watch some YouTubes  you know but if if you don't have have anybody   else around and maybe take an online course by  the way there are lots of those out there too   which will make sure you check all the boxes you  know so here's something from Moren question lots   of dead bees today T is 73 degrees Fahrenheit  first time I cleared out the dead in two weeks   how often should we be doing this in Winter I'm in  Maryland okay sir for marine and everyone else um   don't be alarmed that you see a bunch of dead  bees okay because they can't actually pile up   these are bees that are trying to get out of the  hive that are expiring anyway remember that bees   are getting to the end of their life even though  they're inside the hive if it's too cold to fly   they end up piling up on the bottom of your  hive that's why it's very important to clean   out the entrances now if you find a a huge pile  of dead bees like if you look in front of a hive   and there's an inch thick or two inches thick of  dead bees right in front of it that's very bad so   I don't want want to alarm you but that's bad news  if you see a shotgun pattern of dead bees spread   out in front of your hive and you scoop out you  know a quarter of an inch thick or 38 of an inch   thick of dead bees and you're scooping them out  with your your be smart designs entrance cleaner   that I give to all my grandsons and they have to  use these when they come here U that's normal so   you'll see dead bees but you'll also maybe you can  put your head on the side of the hive and listen   and you'll find out that the news isn't all bad  but when you see also here's here's another thing   that's a good point to notice is when you clean  out the dead bees if you come back a day or two   later and you find there's more dead bees at that  entrance you're cleaning out that means there were   bees still alive so they're not just dead and  done they're dead and dying that's marginally   better because you still have bees inside so I  think uh just wait and see but definitely clean   those entrances out because when they have an  opportunity to do a cleansing flight you don't   want them to be blocked by a bunch of dead bees  because kind of this is the order of business when   there is some kind of warmup that we just recently  had for me it was high 40s lower elevations it was   in the 50s bees were flying so their first order  business is to get out and eliminate second order   business is to get water they're licking up water  from puddles and we've had a lot of rain here and   a lot of melt off from the snow so the bees are  actually drinking water on the landing Boards of   their hives and going right back in and then the  last thing that they do if the warm-up continues   is you'll see Undertaker bees dragging out their  dead so if you see bees dragging out dead bees on   those Landing boards during these kind of warm-up  spots that we get that's a healthy Hive because   they're cleaning house that means they've got the  Surplus energy and bees to do that activity if   they're barely getting out the door getting water  going back in and they're avoiding all the dead   bees they don't have the time or Surplus work  reforce work reinforcements to do the removal   of dead beast that's where you can help them out  so I hope that was helpful Here Comes Pete by the   way mentioning because this jumped out at me skunk  cabbage dirt rooster up Northeast here usually I   think similar there skunk cabbage by the way is  fantastic if you don't know what we're talking   about I did videos about it it's a lot of fun  it was on my bucket list of videos I wanted to   shoot skunk cabbage where I live I happen to  own a plot of wetland skunk cabbage comes up   and uh when it opens scun cabbage is a warm blood  plant generates its own heat will melt right up   through snow and ice and then it opens up and then  you'll see a little ball inside where the pollen   is it generates its own heat which means it's  like a sauna so when the bees fly to it and it   smells strong maybe why they call it skunk cabbage  because of the smell so when you walk down wind   of it you can smell where it is and that's how I  track whichever ones smell the strongest and then   I sit out there in the swamp and I stare at the  skunk cabbage and I see when bees fly out because   because I want videos of bees flying out so they  get early pollen from it it's a very interesting   plant and then somebody immediately said I had no  clue what skunk cabbage looks like and they showed   pictures of the big leafy green cabbages in the  wetlands correct that is what it looks like when   it's mature but they're more of the color of my  shirt here they're kind of a burgundy color when   they're new and they're spotted and when they're  first coming through they look very different   bears eat them too when they're mature so scunt  cabbage a lot of fun look into it it's amazing let's see what else is going on I see the small  black objects on my hives that are painted white   the spots are black and look like the size of a  pencil might be typical fungus okay don't know   anything about that uh bought a cheap used  deep freezer years ago to freeze my supers   after extracting never had any trouble with wax  Moss doing this yeah wax moth those of us are in   really cold areas uh the wax moths die out anyway  any way wax moth are only going to move into your   hives that have already died out or don't have  bees defending them they just don't make it in   a healthy colony of bees so but yeah if you  have a storage shed and you're in areas like   where I am where it freezes at night anyway  you are running them through a freeze cycle   so no problem there all right RX makes a good  dead B remover so RX for those of you who don't   know that's household electrical wiring that has  the plas the coding on it but yeah anything that   you can reach in there and make a little hook  with it and pull stuff out um it's good to go so let's see all right you guys it's been  it's been an hour if anybody has a question   ask now otherwise I think we're going to wrap  things up let me just do a back check [Music] here skunk cabbage thinking to BU  chess freezer we're still talking about that I think we're good maybe right that's it well  when it comes to next Friday we'll be right back   to the pre-recorded Q&A let me know if you like  the live discussions live Q&A I know you're all   saying hello to each other it's pretty nice  you get to say hey and see how everything's   going and uh I hope that wherever you are your  bees are it says is it over well if you have a   question I'm happy to stick around and answer  the question but I don't want us all just to   sit around and stare at our computers because  nobody's asking me a question right now so yeah   is probably over so I want to thank you for being  here I think that uh some of the things you want   to really stay on top of uh whether or not your  bees are fed and they have emergency resources   I think uh if you have the chance to get out  there and check them please don't pull apart   your hives for no reason also if you think your  bees are dead if the colony is a dead out do not   pull it apart until warm weather is here and  you get a nice mid-60s nice day when you won't   be doing harm to the bees and you'll know for  sure whether they're in there so um if you've   got fondant dry sugar whatever it is you put  on there an emergency resource is an emergency   resource it should be located directly above  your bees in the center not off to the side   here is uh Susan who says just a suggestion if  people will put their question in all caps it'll   be easier for you to see in the chat but that's  like shouting yeah I think that's a good idea so   if you have a question for me I will give you  90 seconds to write it in all caps and I'll   do my best to answer it right now otherwise  you're gonna exit the chat the live stream so Keith spilman says hit the like before  you leave and he has a bunch of exclamation   points so that's probably a good idea and  Lester says thanks you're very welcome I'm   glad you all were here I hope it was  beneficial oh printable science I have   a question what is it are you going to ubo to  be ubo testing I will not I just don't need it so let's see what else this is  from Dwayne how to make starter seed oh it says created honey but I think  it means creamed honey I am not a creamed   honey maker so I'm going to have to leave you  high and dry on that and uh printable science   says have you ultraviolet photographed bees  that's interesting ing I used to actually use   ultraviolet film that we had to carry around in a  cooler and we were actually though photographing   reptiles which was interesting but no I've not  used ultraviolet for photographing bees is it   okay to use B smart robber screens year round  I personally would all right the B smart robber   screen I was about to say I personally wouldn't  but here's the thing this is what we're talking   about this is a robber screen could you use  it year round yes you could and here's why   these pins that are up here that come with it  you can take these off and you push them into   this front piece right here and it raises this  up 38 of an inch which means it's also a mouse   guard and your bees can come and go through the  bottom so I was about to say no because I don't   like the idea of making your bees go up through  the top the robber screen openings but I forgot   you can put these through here through the pin  at the bottom it raises the whole thing up and   now you have a 38 inch open opening so yes  in theory you can use it all year round the   Smart Designs robbing screen so yeah you  could do it lift it up though I wouldn't   make them climb through the top all the time  so let's wow that idea of making everybody   top and all typing all the Caps that's SC okay  uh is it okay to use okay can we get a notify me when is the next Friday live Q&A date wise  lazy to reach for the calendar okay it's always   the last Friday of the month so it'll be the last  Friday of February will be the next live stream   Q&A so when does live stream start the weeks  you start it thanks for the good info you're   very welcome Mike it always the live stream is  always going to be the last Friday of the month so   do you ever post anywhere your schedule for your  presentations some of us close enough to travel to   them would be interested so these are in-person  presentations that I go to um I suppose I could   make a page on my uh the way to be.org and have  a page Mark presentations and I'll just post them   there so we have a lot of them coming up this year  so that will be interesting uh what else do you   ever post any that's the schedule you already did  that new to your channel live in Arkansas would   like to start raising bees but how would I start  thank you so that's for Travis Warner and anybody   else that's just starting out try your best to  find a local beekeeping group and try to get a   local Mentor that can help you get started other  than that really good books out there on starting   with bees Kim flum uh published several and I just  noticed in the Stream that Kim flm Kim Flom by   the way just passed away and he was a beekeeping  Authority for a long time published a lot of great   books and he has one of the the best uh beginner  beekeeping books that you can get your hands on   and I just noticed that they're selling his latest  book so they must have published it postmortem   and uh it's going to be available on Amazon so Kim  flums beginning with bees I would highly recommend   that book um Rhonda says your observation hives  have issues of swarming or are they like any other   Hive so I will answer that by saying yes they  have issues with swarming just like any other   Hive that's small so because that's the thing um  and why I don't actually mind that they do that   we have three observation hives in our education  building uh we like to see them cycle through and   demonstrate to the people that are looking  and learning uh what their preparations for   swarming look like what their Queen cells look  like and they are small so they are they're 12   frame colonies so it's just the equivalent of  a deep and not even a full medium so they are   small which means they cycle out regularly uh but  because they're for teaching we like them to do   that and then we see these Replacements and how  the hive recovers and the numbers come back and   how The Brood builds up and everything else but  yes small colonies are just swarm machines they   really are now we really hope that at the end of  the year uh we can control swarming with those   hives by removing the queen for a while and uh  getting a brood break which also gives us an   opportunity to treat with ayic acid vaporization  and then restore the queen later within two weeks   to 14 days you know two weeks to 14 days so right  around 14 days we can reintroduce the queen and   still have the brood break and not run the risk  of them replacing her so uh it can can work uh   but uh observation hives left of themselves will  just continually swarm and cycle out like any   small colony of bees uh it says here this is from  Delise Palumbo I know you have posted comparisons   on pollen sub but could not find it I can give  you the order of pollen Subs right now ap23 number   one mega b number two and man legs Ultra B number  three for nutritional value brood buildup and lab   results that were published so if you look at now  we look at the three that I just mentioned dry uh   pollen substitutes when you put them out uh they  exponentially go for the ultra B first even though   it's less nutritious so then you have to balance  if they're getting more of it is that actually   more of a benefit because the way the science was  done it showed like amounts in other words they   were consuming the same amount of pollen Sub in  each one and then they established brood buildup   and then the controls were of course no pollen sub  at all and then uh they found that they had the   greatest um brood buildup from ap23 so and AP just  stands for artificial pollen and it's of course   their 23rd formula for that so they're getting  the best now they're all pretty much the same in   price but for backyard just observation the man  Lake Ultra B dry pollen sub was preferred by the   bees and visited by the bees many times more than  the others and they actually consumed ap23 last   so if it's the only thing you put out though  it's probably what they'll take but that's it um guess the next one starts at  4M USA time that will be 9:00   p.m. is Colin okay that's true 400  p.m. to 5:00 p.m. is what I do on Fridays so what program or app do you use with  brood minder brood minder has their own app for   your phone and uh mine are sitting unused so  because I just get a lot of data that I wasn't   using so to do but Others May answer if you're  using brood minder what apps are you using you   go to The Brood minder website and see what  they recommend and I think that's it we're   going to wrap it up so I want everyone to have a  fantastic weekend and take care of your bees keep   your entrances clear keep the emergency feed on  align your boxes be ready for heavy weather some   people uh have their hives blow over and stuff  like that the rain softens the ground zipping   things up and everything else is great so I want  to thank you all for being here and joining me on   another Friday so next Friday will be normal and  uh thanks for being here have a fantastic weekend

Channel: Frederick Dunn

Views: 5,305

Keywords:

Id: 1amlE8OVWEg

Length: 79min 23sec (4763 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 26 2024