Final Steps as we Prepare for the Honey Flow

a Canadian Beekeeper’s Blog

[@francisbalzer9324]

Floats like a butterfly, lays like a queen.

[@neilbush9873]

Funny how even with 1000 colonies 1 hive can stick in your mind and the memory of its adventure is never forgotten.

[@GEEZBEEZ]

Things are so much better. Thanks for allowing us to watch through the good and the bad. Good on you.

[@ranbirsingh7088]

Great. Love from A bee keeper from India .

[@richardnoel3141]

Have a great break!! Enjoy yourself!! What a spring you had!! Recharge those batteries!!🐝🙌🎉

[@TheCaliforniaBeekeeper]

Amen🤙

[@MrMigrantman]

“No wonder she floats” lol. I wish I had a bunch of those ark queens!

[@tjjastrem127]

That ark queen is something else talk about resilience. Shows the brilliance you have promoted in your apiary. Love a good underdog story. I’d love to have me one of those queens wow

[@earlsneller8932]

Great to see another video from you folks. I'm about 170 miles southeast of you in Minnesota. I watch every video for cues of when the flows start and end and prep my bees accordingly with local adjustments. Thanks for the insights and energy you put into the presentations. 8-+ IceBoxHoney International lFalls, MN

[@TheFarmacySeedsNetwork]

What a great recovery! You guys are really pulling it back together! So glad to see you persevere!

[@drjmarkrodgers1428]

Love how you never give up on the ark hives! Great job Steppler team!

[@robert12345678912312]

We are with you, Ian for your harvest this year. "Bee" assured, we are following your progress wanting a wonderful honey harvest for you. It is fascinating the productivity of your bees. It is like magic! I will "BEE" happy for you!👏🤠

[@heehaw8401]

Beautiful scenery and light!

[@calvincheney7405]

Enjoy your break Ian, thanks for showing us how it's done!

[@bobbebbington5356]

What a beautiful queen you rescued from the water. You should be breeding from her.

[@denniscounts1983]

Wow, your nectar flow is starting, here in NW Arkansas it has ended. Your videos are so educational, thanks!

[@ThatBeeMan]

I loved seeing what you're doing with those lagging colonies. That's exactly what I decided to do with mine. I just bust them up into nice mating nucs in six-frame boxes and add a vigin from my grafting program. What a great use of resource! Nice to see another video! It's been a while but I know you've been busy. I hope you have a good rest at the lake with the family.

[@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog]

I’m exhausted

[@דודלשם-ו9ז]

@@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog Do you think working with bees ultimately justifies itself financially despite all the hardships, and physical burnout?

[@DRIECUTHoney]

Dang, that’s a good looking queen.

[@youn9567]

밀원수를 심어 꿀벌 🐝 일시키고 양봉인은 더불어 좋아지는 생산 정말 좋아요 ~~~ 👍

[@whoeverit9087]

You should consider having a stand at Hive Life conference. I reckon you would sell a shit lot of "Arc Honey, Produced by scuba diving bees, Canada's most extreme Honey"

[@yukonjeffimagery]

The fireweed flow is just starting here in western Alaska. Fingers crossed I get some honey this year if its not rained out again.

[@Hunter-ys5yq]

Awesome job bro 💪👌

[@gibbsadventures12]

To the lake for a well deserved break before things go wide open. I have had two swarms in 2 days weather continues to be brutal.

[@andrewmallard2301]

Great works

[@tonyjenkins272]

Lookin good !!

[@larrytornetta9764]

Keep a queen catcher in your pocket. Time to retire the white box under the yellow box.

[@ddtompkins5961]

Do you have a video on how you make the grey tub?

[@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog]

Yes, look up shaker tubs

[@michaelrsmith334]

When does the fall honey flow begin and end there?

[@omellisourgos]

How many days doing this with the queen excluder and the queen down before honey flow

[@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog]

21 days minimum

[@taylorboysoutdoors]

Enjoy the lake

[@cynthiastandley5742]

What is and the purpose of a "nectar shake"? Are you shaking bees or nectar off of the comb or both? Or what?

[@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog]

It’s the start of the flow,

[@robotron7]

Ian, why do operations like yours don’t consider combining two hives just prior to main flow. Or at least give all brood from second hive to the first. I am certain you know that benefit is more than 2x the harvest. Really curious what the draw backs might be, that cause no one to do that.

[@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog]

I do with my nucs , my singles already produce me the large crop

[@robotron7]

@@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog do you think that 3 brood boxes vs 2 brood boxes would be counterproductive. The third brood box would be stolen from another hive.

[@larryjungwirth7493]

My hive is totally queenless there is no eggs or brood. Two weeks ago this hive had two brood boxes and full of capped brood when I inspected it. So what happen and what can I do. I only have the one hive. Can I get a new queen? The bees are filling up the empty brood area.

[@clarke7637]

The hive will requeen itself if something happened to the queen. Check for queen cells in the upcoming weeks. It usually takes about a month for a new queen to hatch out.

[@aremedyproject9569]

Lickity split!

[@raysbees7650]

How many times a day do you get stung? I’m going on my 4th year and still wear gloves. I’m amazed by you and Kamon not wearing gloves. How can I transition and not get lit up?

[@apisincognito8173]

Genetics. Not his, the bees.

[@rajbeekie7124]

Those guys are holding out on us. I have kept bees for years and every time I check them I am stung. Today, I was stung 3-5 times though my glove and my hand is now bit swollen.

[@clarke7637]

Eventually after enough stings it doesn’t bother you anymore. A docile type of bee also helps, My Italians are very gentle. Just remove your gloves if you don’t want to wear them. I stopped wearing gloves after my first year and I haven’t been stung in quiet a while. If your getting stung a lot your doing something the bees don’t like. Slow your movement and use your smoker and they won’t see you as a threat.

[@rajbeekie7124]

@@clarke7637 I think I am slow and gentle and I always use a smoke. A couple years ago, I did try the no glove thing, but I felt the stings were more intense and more in #. Many times when they sting through the glove the sting doesn't even touch your skin. This morning I counted 5 stings on my hand, but there were at least a dozen stingers on my glove. Now, an interesting observation. Over the years, I can't remember being stung on my left hand. It has always my right. I should probable get new gloves. For me the stings are still irritants. I do have a friend and she can tolerate ton of stings. My favorite line from her is, "Come on girls, don't do that. You know you are going to die." She gently says this and continues to check frames, etc.

[@clarke7637]

@@rajbeekie7124 interesting perhaps there is a pheromone on your gloves that could be signaling an attack. I would try new gloves in that case as I haven’t experienced any aggression with my bees unless I go into the hive at a bad time like when a storm is approaching. What type of honey bees do you have?

[@TylerJSpry]

Are you guys still making queens?

[@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog]

Just finished off the last of the queens

[@marekbily8677]

What does Arc yard mean?

[@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog]

Look back to my spring vids

[@daverowden-RowdyBeeFarms]

What’s spurge

[@apisincognito8173]

When you shake down into a single, if you see a queen cell do you dig down into the bottom to knock them all out? I don't get it, I watch your videos and rarely see much attention to queen cells. It takes up huge amounts of my time... What's going on?

[@carriemartindale-wetherup5243]

Queen cells in the super only get torn down if there are queen cells in the brood box. If there isn't any in the brood box we leave the ones in the super and place a queen excluder on top of the hive to give them a chance to requeen themselves.

[@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog]

Apis, embrace the queen cells

[@apisincognito8173]

​@@carriemartindale-wetherup5243 What % of your queens swarm do you think? If I didn't do swarm control (demaree) than 75% of my bees would be off. We have a longer season here in the UK and very have different bees here too.

[@carriemartindale-wetherup5243]

@@apisincognito8173 the way we split and equalize the hives, we are usually able to prevent many swarms. I would say no more than 5 maybe 10% would slip by if that, but Ian would know more.