Making a Start, the Honey Flow Will Come Fast

a Canadian Beekeeper’s Blog

[@user-pi8us8dp3b]

Good day sir: Today is the day I drive 5.5 hours to pick up my bees from Wild Antho. I saw your hives from BC, asked where you got them and now I am off to get some. It is impossible to convey gratitude I owe you for the education I have gleaned from you. Five months ago bees were insects that made honey. Now I have a new hobby to obsess over. I grew up a farmer, I am from a line of farmers, 6 generations back on the male side and 12 on the female side. I farmed for 15 years but quite as the market tanked on the main BC export. NOW THIS. I am thrilled to be back farming and obsessing over things that matter to me. Dirt rooster is a character, Mr Ed is a comedy waiting to happen... you are like an uncle that is just "showing you how to fish" May the nectar flow. cheers

[@tmcuevs7988]

Amazing video as usual Ian. Your camera doesnt shake. Doing almost everything alone. Sometimes im beginning to think you're not human 😊

[@jasonstahl7042]

Ian I prefer that treatment to be done after honey flow before feed. Everything sits better after honeyflow. Full hives handle fumes better, brood breaks are more affordable/ tolerable.

[@strenderfad8482]

You can't watch what happens to the bees after the formic acid treatment. I gave it up completely 25 years ago. In my opinion, it is animal cruelty. In addition, the bees that are still bred have a very short lifespan. Temperature regulation in the bee colony can no longer take place optimally when formic acid is used. All of this damages the bees' immune systems. It is very valuable that this is shown here and that you are sharing your experiences with it. Greetings from Germany.Thank you!

[@hallapiariesnh]

Keep up the good work, Ian. I personally feel that formic is best used after your honey crop is secure and realized.

[@illumi-Nate]

Well atleast u tried the formic, but now u know...u already had an amazing bee building program & have literally showed the world some of the best & biggest colonies imaginable!! U have set the bar high of what colonies have the potential to do! Don't overthink it

[@tsor9]

I’d never used formic, but I always use oxalic acid during the flow when I need to kill mites. Hello from Argentina!

[@10peteo]

Good work picking the right queens for the bulk bee splits. I have wondered, if the FA is to much for the bees at the treatment level that you use, why not experiment with a lessor amount, half a strip... I understand the associated risks. I very much enjoy your experiments, even the failures. I hope that it's a profitable season for you. Pete

[@hamburghoney]

There is no doubt that Formic Pro will stop your queen from laying for several days and set back your colony a bit. So does Api Guard and several other treatments. I look at it as a tool to use for several purposes. It can be used to slow down buildup during swarm season to keep your bees out of the trees. I checked on 16 of the 40 colonies I treated with 1 strip(single box management). Lost one of the queens, and the rest started laying again after 6 days. Your season may be too short for this type of setback. I am located in central wisconsin

[@aidanquick3151]

Love how the feet fit into the lids when stacking, smart

[@sidelinerbeekeeper]

You would have to forget to put the honey supers on to get a kona to swarm. Slow to build up here in Nova Scotia to be able to split before pollination vs an Italian but Konas are great queens and gentle. They are good at requeening themselves every year also.

[@russellkoopman3004]

One plus for Formic is it will reduce swarming pressure. I hope they can rebuild their population when the flow hits but I doubt it. Your short season complicates things.

[@18Yoav]

"Not sure where to start" if that doesn't sum up beekeeping life

[@Drewjober]

I can’t say I’ve ever seen them pull dead brood when I use it in the august heat, and then I have full healthy hives in October and 90-100% overwintering

[@farmer998]

OA and fresh starts are the way to go

[@michaellavazza960]

Formic is perfect for hives w huge mite loads you need to hammer and post flow dearth…

[@jenohrasko6390]

Thank you this video! I can see the difference from formic acid! 😉

[@tonyjenkins272]

I didn’t have that great of mite kill from it either…. Along with snuffin several of my queens. I went back to rotating from apivar to apiguard and OAV. the girls are doin good 😊

[@dcsblessedbees]

You have to get up way to early in the morning Ian, no wonder you need all that coffee.😂 It maybe a great product in locations that have longer seasons, in my opinion with a short season the set back isn't worth it. We don't have as much time for our bees to build back up. Blessed Days Ian...

[@cwood7380]

A question can be posed. Is formic directly effective, or is it actually the brood break it imposes that reduces the mite load?

[@paulmadore2933]

I Formica pro is used, try treating them earlier when temperatures are cooler. I this method is not effective, start using Mite away strips. This method is not so toxic.

[@apiariopuromel9762]

Muito bom esse jeito de fazer a carga

[@hootervillehoneybees8664]

Need more invasive plants around like autumn olive honey suckle

[@aaronparis4714]

Now your smart I’m very happy you decided not to use that shit I been thinking about your bees for the last 3 days I’m happy 😊

[@larrylindokken8527]

It takes 6 weeks to determine if the treatment of formic pro is effective. It kills the male mites in the cell. Your time of analysis may have to expand. Check of results after 6 weeks.

[@MinnesotaBeekeeper]

How would it not kill the female mites? Where did this information come from? Thank you.

[@Bri_bees]

If interrupting the brood is how Formic kill's the mites, couldn't you just take out all the open brood.

[@hootervillehoneybees8664]

This time of year 70% are in the drone brood not until Aug they lay off the drone production they migrate into the worker brood.. pull the drone brood is working for me

[@lenturtle7954]

Do you use two frames of drone frames at staggered intervals so the mites are always moving into drone comb without a break

[@MinnesotaBeekeeper]

@@lenturtle7954 I keep green drone frames in the 2 spot but in every deep. More to keep my brood comb clean and make sure I have a good male population for mating.

[@hootervillehoneybees8664]

@@lenturtle7954 no I use medium honey frame they draw it down drones...but yes can't remove all the drone larva at once just trigger a migration early

[@robertosilvera9231]

Hola soy apicultor en uruguay . Muy bueno lo suyo una lastima que no entiendo el inglés. Pero lo demás me es familiar abrazo grande

[@johniac7078]

IMHO, FP is great. It is the only treatment that kills mites under capping. It definitely slows things down, so I never use it until after the flow and only on doubles. The other issue is that the hives need to be ventilated. Over the last three years, FP treated colonies on my tiny apiary (24 hives) keeps my counts low low low. What ever happened to your investment in OA vaporizers? That doesn't hurt the bees at all in my hands (4g per double). But yeah, it is more work, every 4 days times 5. Lots of visits for a guy like you makes lots of bees.

[@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog]

OA vapour is my fall stand by treatment

[@beekeepinggarden165]

Thank you for feedback Ian Questions about queens are clipping your queen? I have been clipping for the last 3 years and it works really well for me

[@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog]

I actually have no experience with clipping

[@jeremiahbrock1450]

What kind of lift do you use?

[@abeeforallseasons]

Never experienced that with formic - but I've never had treat during a dearth. Been a heavy nectar flow in Southern Ontario for over a month.

[@86offroad]

Where in Ontario? I am 1 hr east of Toronto near Rice Lake. Hardly no flow yet at all here.

[@abeeforallseasons]

@@86offroad I'm in Mono, Hockley Valley. Heavy flow for over a month now.

[@86offroad]

@@abeeforallseasons very strange. I have had supers on for 2 weeks and nothing being stored.

[@tomfuller9010]

😮would caging queen for 2 weeks do same with out dead bees then oa

[@MinnesotaBeekeeper]

GP sales will be down.

[@jamskinner]

What about thymol?

[@dianetaylor6751]

Formic ain't worth it for sure!

[@justinsorenson]

When are you thinking about shaking back down to singles?

[@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog]

This week

[@LaraLovesBees]

@@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog I like Phil's method of the "shake down". With a little choreography, I imagine you and Carrie could use the EZLoader to get through an apiary pretty quickly. When I saw his method, I was envisioning your escape board procedure.

[@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog]

Elaborate on that thought

[@LaraLovesBees]

You would remove all the lids and reflectix, then set the excluders on top of those. If you have two spacer boxes, you lift the top brood box and insert the first spacer, then replace the top brood box. Then, while Carrie is blowing down the bees, you lift the next hive's top brood box, insert the second spacer, and replace the top brood box. You move back to the box Carrie is finished blowing down, lift the now-empty top brood box, she removes/shakes the first spacer and inserts the excluder. She sets that spacer box in front of the next hive in line from the one you've prepped with the second spacer (leap frog, anyone?). While you're replacing the top box on the hive that is blown down, Carrie moves to the hive you just prepped with the second spacer and starts the blow-down. You move to the next hive and prep it with the first spacer that Carrie set in front of. Whoever has a few spare seconds in the procedure would replace the reflectix and cover. You might have to switch jobs since you're taller and it might be easier for you to operate the blower. Does that make sense?

[@jwca35]

Eon why are you moving your bees after daylight what about all the forage bees that are out of the box you’re going to lose them I always take my boxers up at night or get out real early in the morning and tape them up and then move them so I don’t lose them..I’m just curious, keep up the good work

[@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog]

I’m looking primarily at the nurse bees on the brood nest

[@Draintheswamp2024]

what if a feller were to go to the hives take all the brood out and use oxalic acid 1 time and take the brood back to a holiday inn sacrificial hive that just backfills all the boxes you pulled off. you're not going to lose honey you would just have the world's largest beehive though.

[@bigrig9702]

Try apiguard, i think you will have a better result with it then the formic.