Apiary Hive Survival Walk Through, March 4th All Hives, some are dead.

[@captbriansbees]

Good afternoon Mr. Dunn. Both my hives have survived winter!!! 1st year Beekeeper who beat the odds. 👍

[@FrederickDunn]

I hope you can keep that up for the next three years! I'm glad you have healthy colonies.

[@salembeeman370]

I went into winter with 3 hives - one was really weak to begin with. My killer hive was a disaster - I forgot to strap the lid down and a wind storm blew the top off. I covered them and assumed they were dead. I went into to clean the hive and darn a small ball of bees with a queen are still in there. They have resources and as soon as my other hives broods up I'll rob to help them. They deserve it!

[@IanUK.]

Hi Fred, thank you for taking the time to make the video. I really enjoyed the tour "too many bees" lol. I am so looking forward to my 3rd season, your video sure has increased my excitement.

[@FrederickDunn]

Thank you so much, spring is always full of surprises! :)

[@artmonk5907]

What a beautiful day! Just north of you in west Springfield. Cracked open a few hives today. Lost a late season swarm in a 5 frame nuc. Also lost 1 10 frame double deep. Must have went queenless in late fall. They left me a good 80lbs of honey though. Lots of pollen coming in today. Our 4 other hives are going strong. Thank you for all of the great information that helped our bees get through winter. Enjoy the day!

[@dixsigns1717]

Thank you for this video, Fred! You have a lot more hives now than you did when I first started watching your channel. Thank you for the great education and the good entertainment.

[@FrederickDunn]

Thank you. Yes, I've utterly failed at keeping my apiary numbers down. But, I do like the ability to field test so many hive and configuration variations. Thank you for being a long-time viewer!

[@sgradaigh]

Your inspiring success has prompted me to model my Apiary after you. You are the best Beekeeper on KZbin! Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

[@FrederickDunn]

Thank you! I don't know about being the "best on youtube" but I'm super happy that I've provided some inspiration :)

[@vicpinto1970]

Last year was my first year bee keeping with 1 NUC, 2 packages and a swarm I got in late July. All 4 made it here in south-eastern Massachusetts. All were bringing in pollen yesterday, March 3rd during the beautiful 60 degree day we had.

[@FrederickDunn]

That's fantastic news! I hope that continues.

[@beesandbridge7284]

Dear Fred, Last year I built a long Lang according to your plans and put in a late swarm. I only had ten frames, and they made it through, I couldn't believe it. I saw your latest video and you adressing the issue of the bee space below, and thank you for that and a great thanks to Ross Millard for providing me with plans for creating a base if I am uncomfortable with so much bee space. Thank you for everything you do Fred, it is great to have people like you sharing so much.

[@FrederickDunn]

It's always so nice to know when things are going well. You're right, Ross Millard is and has been very generous with his time and talent. I really appreciate that too.

[@craigo4dds]

I love that you have so many different styles of hives.

[@FrederickDunn]

There is a hive for every beekeeper these days. It's a pleasure to be able to make recommendations based on what I observe here. Thanks so much.

[@anthonylandis]

Heading into my second spring. One loss from 13 colonies headed into winter

[@mihaiilie8808]

I envy you Mr Dunn. Unfortunately here in the visigoths capital in Romania, we had another winter with no snow( the 9th). So il not buy new bees this year because there will be another year of drought and i would loose them in the fall. But i still have the Delon beehives and i am a subscriber to your channel( with all the notifications on) , wich gives me hope for a better future.

[@lizrd4me2]

34! I do believe you had a bee-utiful year in 2023.😊

[@FrederickDunn]

Can't complain, but spring isn't here yet.

[@teddyc32963]

That was quite the tour👍🏼 @15.24 I spotted something white going into the hive. Is there such things as albino bees. I took a snap shot with my IPad and will post it on the way to bee FB page. Thanks again for the education.

[@ChristieAnnMitchell]

Yes it was just after hive 4. I saw it too.

[@FrederickDunn]

The White Bees are just covered with AP23 Pollen Substitute. I still have dry pollen sub out at a feeding station as I try to get rid of my current stock. That's all, just powder covered.

[@FlemingTeaSC]

Thank you Fred for the walk thru, can’t wait to see the process of Ivey-B hive honey harvest. Judging from activity, what are your thoughts on how to manage/prevent swarming from the Ivey-B? Thank you for teaching us! Jim- Florence, SC

[@FrederickDunn]

My only approach to reduce their swarm instinct in that hive will be to remove six frames of honey and put the comb back in the same day. It's high on my list this spring.

[@FlemingTeaSC]

@@FrederickDunn Moon 🌙 shape cut comb? 🤣

[@khraila_RockyRillFarm_Apiary]

Were you able to harvest honey and not feed hives? I look forward to seeing your video of inspections, hope you show you and your grandson moving bees into his new hive as well.

[@FrederickDunn]

Yes, we harvest the honey above the second box. With the horizontal hives, everything past the 10th frame is up for harvest. If you make splits, harvesting is likely not something you'll do. Swarms did produce a surplus if they were the prime spring swarms. It's hive by hive. I did not harvest anything from the Layens Hives. But they needed to be harvested as they are solid with honey. I may pull those in spring.

[@Backyard_gardening_beekeeping]

Fred, I wonder when you took the skunk cabbage visited by a honey bee video. Interesting shot! Skunk cabbage in Indiana is probably done blooming.

[@FrederickDunn]

I took that video sequence this morning :) So that's all from today.

[@Backyard_gardening_beekeeping]

@@FrederickDunn I thought you had an earlier spring:) Are you still in Zone 4b or is it now 5a?

[@FrederickDunn]

@@Backyard_gardening_beekeeping Because of my altitude here, we're more of a zone 4.

[@thegr8stm8]

Gr8 vidéo… gunna have your work cut out. Your Mentees will learn lots and, perhaps, get free bees!😊 😉😉

[@NKYHoneyBees]

Bees are looking good, Fred. It's awesome 👌 that box looks like it should be in museum 😅

[@FrederickDunn]

Thank you :)

[@guiart4728]

It would be good to know if the dead outs still have resources or were they robbed…speculation on why they didn’t make it. Love the Ivry hive!!!

[@FrederickDunn]

One lost its queen and then just migrated to other hives I think. The Ivry B Hive is a great design for the bees, accessibility will be another topic.

[@ericgunter45]

Nice tour. Came out of winter with 2 out of the 3 I went in with. The one is toast, less than a frame of bees, but still had a queen. She must have been a late supercedure that didnt get mated well or was just a dud. The only brood in the entire hive have 5 bullet drone brood. My brother came out with 7 of 8 hives. One of his double deep hives is already packed out with bees and brood for days. Gonna be a busy spring.

[@FrederickDunn]

Ah yes, the next test will be to keep up with their spring expansion at just the right moment! :) Bee Ready! Glad all is going well.

[@Darren_Nicola]

Thanks for the tour Fred , looking absolutely fantastic , the supervisor has done an impressive job keeping those entrances clear let’s hope it’s not a crazy swarm season for you but looking at it you might get 40 hives by summer lol TC Fred have a fantastic week

[@FrederickDunn]

I do have some hive designs that I need to add here, but not going to truly expand much. Thanks, Darren!

[@lambbrookfarm4528]

The Full Monty, sorry to hear about your dead-outs. I just got back from my bee buddies, where we inspected his Layens hive with 2 dead-outs. I just spun out a lot of uncapped 23% moisture content syrup/nectar. I think we will make mead with it. There is still capped honey in the frames that I will spin out when it warms up. Not the best way to get honey. I have double deep 5 frame hives, 10 frame hives and various Layens hives. Out of 11 hives starting the winter, I have 10 that have made it this far. No pollen yet, but it may be less than 2 weeks away...I hope. I do have Erica in bloom and yesterday with temps rising to 51 f, the Erica was buzzing with bees foraging for pollen and nectar. Thanks for sharing, take care, Brice

[@ready2land]

Thank you for the tour! .Very curious about those red solar bear deterrents, what do they do,where did you find them please? Nice variety of hives, gives me some great ideas now …. Thanks, greetings from Vancouver Island!

[@FrederickDunn]

I buy the flashing light/audio alarms on Amazon. I'll add that link in the video description. They are solar charged, and I set them to position "3" which is for audio and flashing lights at night only.

[@ready2land]

Thank you, we will be getting some for sure since we are are the invasive species into bear country 😊

[@michelearmstrong4060]

Thanks for showing how the insulated inner cover "fits" on an 8 frame hive. I wondered if having that overhang on the side would be a problem because it seemed to leve a gap.

[@FrederickDunn]

The bees glue up that gap pretty fast. I remove the alignment pegs from all of my BeeSmartDesign inner covers and the bees do the rest :) Thanks for commenting.

[@wrad8292]

N.W. Ohio - I lost 1 out of 7. The 10 frame was just too much space. Yellowish white pollen was flying in like gangbusters on Tuesday.

[@FrederickDunn]

That's great news, I hope that trend continues for you and your bees.

[@glennsnaturalhoney4571]

Congratulations...I guess😂 I'm having the same "problem" here in NE Indiana, too many bees. Mild winter and better mite control? I'm 74 and really don't want more hives. I have around 50 and I was stopping at 20 LOL!

[@FrederickDunn]

I'm with you, Glenn, my optimum number used to be 10 :)

[@DialedN_07]

Hi Fred, it was interesting to see all the different hives and your configuration of each. I'm wondering about the discs that are on the front entrances of some of your drilled boxes. I noted that one of them was shiny metal. I wonder in the summer in direct sunlight how hot that disc would become and if the bees would have problems walking over or landing on that part of the front of the hive since there is no landing boards there. Have you ever noticed any difference between that disc and the plastic ones?

[@tommychew6544]

I've wondered about that myself; it would seem the SE facing ones might be shaded from the late afternoon direct sunlight. I guess a lot of things come into play though, trees, buildings and such.

[@FrederickDunn]

The heat on those Layen's hive discs hasn't been a problem so far. I'd bet they would really get hot if they were black. Remember that in summer they are in shadow with the sun directly above. We can do thermals just to see. The metal clad standard hive covers have shown to reach 135 deg. F.

[@tjjastrem127]

You’re going to have a lot of bees on your hands looking good Fred

[@FrederickDunn]

I think so, that's really not a terrible problem. I have some mentees that can use them :)

[@kevinkessell3540]

at 15:23. Did I see an albino bee? on second view maybe covered in pollen from feeder.

[@FrederickDunn]

That forager has been in the AP23 pollen substitute feeder that is about 100 feet from the hive. They get covered as it's very fine.

[@ruthbrew8131]

Exciting to see Spring! I’m sure the bees are happy to be able to fly outside. Great filming!

[@FrederickDunn]

Thanks, Ruth, we are happy also!

[@beckieeldred5816]

Good job with your beehive

[@FrederickDunn]

Thank you!

[@redfish440]

Thanks for the tour Fred, see you Friday ✌️

[@FrederickDunn]

Thanks for watching, as always ! :)

[@caven930]

So excited about this year !!

[@FrederickDunn]

I'm glad! Things are looking good so far.

[@bradgoliphant]

Looking good. We too are just seeing pollen being brought in. Our queens just started laying

[@FrederickDunn]

I think you're going to have a great beekeeping year, Brad! :)

[@bradgoliphant]

Nice of you to say-but I think so too. I’ve learned a lot-especially from you. Three hives now! Buckfast and Caucasian queens!

[@kennith.]

Thank you for sharing. Great going 2 out of 36 is a great survival rate. I seem to recall you were mentoring some people. You can always spread the genetics around.

[@FrederickDunn]

Yes, it is great to be in a position to help our local keepers replace their winter losses. AND spread the genetics as you've mentioned :)

[@neilfrozenoak5438]

Hey Fred 👋 great vid as always. It's always nice when the 🐝's prove me wrong. fearing that lil old colony won't make it through, yet they tough it out. One i enjoy being wrong about 😊

[@FrederickDunn]

I could not agree more :)

[@Huntnlady7]

Sorry for your losses, but overall its a win. I'm happy for you. Did you harvest any honey last fall? All of mine lived- even the Africanized one. Thought that it had died during a prolonged cold snap; hundreds of dead at the entrance, but no such luck. The queen has been clipped, marked, and caged in the two-frame cage from BetterBee. Thanks for showing us that; I'm not worried that the Killer queen can get away before I can re-queen in April.

[@FrederickDunn]

You could put that queen in a double-frame queen isolation cage as insurance that she goes nowhere, or Clip a wing on one side.

[@Huntnlady7]

@@FrederickDunn That's exactly what I did. Thank you

[@sonofthunder.]

Congratulations , looks very good,....ive got nuc boxes ready for splits, and swarm traps goin up😊

[@FrederickDunn]

I wish you all the best as you gather those swarms and hive them :)

[@Steele_Wings]

Good luck. I have 17 out of 23 made it for me. CHARLOTTE NC

[@FrederickDunn]

That's fantastic!

[@tommychew6544]

Nice walk through, it was great to see! It looks like the bees are trying to force you to go larger though. I look forward to seeing how you deal with that this year, trying to stay small is something many of us would like to see lessons in. Thanks for the great video!

[@FrederickDunn]

Thanks Tommy, keeping them contained will surely be a challenge. I do not want more hives here, I think we're at that beneficial limit.

[@honeyandthecoop803]

Fred, great video as always. i know you did a video where you talked about those red solar powered alarms in front of your hives, what was the brand again? I bought some on Amazon to help keep deer off my young Cypress trees in the fall and they kept randomly going off for no reason.

[@FrederickDunn]

HULPPRE Solar Outdoor Motion Sensor Alarm-129db Loud Siren Lamp Noise Maker, 4 Working Modes Strobe Light with Remote :) they aren't very good at dispatching deer, but are perfect and making bears nervous enough to avoid my yard.

[@russellkoopman3004]

Fred, you're going to have to have a "barn sale" - Lots of bees for sale. LOL If you don't get rid of some you are going to become a "Sideliner". Maybe you can actually make a profit this year if you sell some hives. Have fun. I guess I have about the same survival rate 17 out of 18 so far here in MN. I killed the one hive by not noticing I didn't have the cover on in Jan. when the cold spell hit.

[@Jeff_and_Jenny_M]

Fred, at 20:42 you said you are only going to be using Apimaye deeps in the future. Can you elaborate why? Great video. Cheers, - Jeff

[@FrederickDunn]

I like the deep frames, and can then exchange frames from box to box without any compatibility issues at all. I'll add this to my Friday Q&A.

[@colene77]

Thanks again for an informative video. I’m soooooo hoping I catch a swarm this year, I’ve had a Deep frame 10 frame Nuc and a longgggg hive ( from Leo) waiting for swarms going on the 4th yr. We’re retired and on a fixed income so I’m not wanting to buy bees. Live on 37 acres in Sw MO near Ava. There’s gotta be swarms around here!!! A few days ago I “painted” a mixture of bees wax and propolis around the entrances of each hive. My longggg hive is painted yellow…does color matter?? I just heard bees don’t like yellow…I’m doubtful that’s true!! Soo just waiting patiently here in MO Colene

[@FrederickDunn]

I've added this to my Friday Topic List :)

[@bobdinsmore482]

Hello Fred, I thought you were going to have a hive gate on all your hives. I must have missed an episode as I didn’t see a hive gate on any of your hives. Did you have a negative experience with them? I have them on my Layens hives that I’m putting bees in April. Did you have a bad experience? Can you update me? Thanks

[@FrederickDunn]

The Hive Gate hives didn't have significantly more success through winter. They have a very strong benefit for those who are dealing with yellow jacket attacks, or other intruders. The thermal advantages are somewhat less apparent. I had them on several colonies, I didn't have a plan to put them on all hives. That's the insulated inner covers.

[@MarshallKrueger]

15:23 there is a white bee going in. What's with that weird color??

[@FrederickDunn]

That's a forager that was well dusted in the pollen substitute that is still out.

[@gloriayoder5173]

Beautiful day Fred! What is the advantage of using the “slatted bottom rack”?

[@FrederickDunn]

Provides an additional barrier from winter winds, and also provides a spacer if you're using Oxalic Acid Vapor.

[@brianbennett4374]

What's the red things hanging with the solar panels on them 😊

[@FrederickDunn]

Those are my noise makers, they activate at night and go off whenever something approaches. I use them instead of an electric fence these days.

[@brianbennett4374]

@@FrederickDunn u have a link to them Thanks

[@mrw2403]

Am I losing my mind or is there no volume or music?

[@FrederickDunn]

There is audio, the issue must be at your end. I hope you got it resolved. :)

[@mrw2403]

Ok so it was my Roku. Reset my Roku and it fixed it. For some reason it's been doing that lately where it randomly shuts off the volume. Kind of odd

[@cLeTuS87]

Do you angle your hives 10-15degrees during the winter so the humidity does not drip on the bees inside?? Thanks 🙏

[@FrederickDunn]

I do not, though I do tip them toward the landing boards around 1 degree. 10 to 15 degrees is very steep.

[@KrzysztofDzierlatka]

Hi fred ? buying frames double waxed or triple waxed is it worth the extra money to do the triple what's your option i was looking at the acorn or pierco

[@Huntnlady7]

I don't think it makes any difference. But we'll let Fred answer- he's the bee researcher.

[@FrederickDunn]

They draw the heavy waxed foundation much faster. The difference between double or triple dipped acorn frames isn't dramatic, but does give them a jump start. I've looked into was sprayers and they are incredibly expensive. If it's 20 cents more per frame, I'd call that worth it. My triple waxed foundations arrived yesterday, I'll be doing that evaluation this spring. Acorn has come out as the clear winner with my bees.

[@salembeeman370]

Fred, you said you will not use the Apimaye Mediums anymore. However, for honey?

[@FrederickDunn]

I like the deeps just so all the frames are the same. Also, my plan it so go forward with the 7-frame Apimaye hives and they are easier to lift even with deep frames. I don't think I'll be buying full size Apimaye Hives.

[@robertmalis4493]

Hey Fred, at 15 minutes and 24 seconds there’s a bee going in the hive that has something all over it. What could that be?

[@FrederickDunn]

Hi Robert, that's pollen substitute :)

[@brewman1drummer]

I lost 5 out of 6!!!!!! Unsure what went wrong. Time to catch some swarms

[@FrederickDunn]

The worst case would be a 100% loss. I'm glad you have at least one hive to work with. I hope you can determine what happened to those that didn't make it. Always keep good records. :)

[@Huntnlady7]

Oh no. I'm so sorry.

[@jedsackett5255]

Are your 3 observations hives the same? I would like to get one. If there different, which would you recommend. Thanks

[@FrederickDunn]

They are Little Laru Hives. I have larger/altered versions that are not yet installed. I was going to swap a deadout, but that's not happening.

[@jedsackett5255]

@@FrederickDunn Thanks

[@peteGbee]

congrats on survival Fred. you know me I just can't fathom paying 135$ for a hive stand that I can get with 5$ of cinder blocks and free pallets

[@FrederickDunn]

If you have a cinder or concrete block stand, nothing at all wrong with that :)

[@allenhunter3707]

Ghost Bee at 15:24 😅

[@FrederickDunn]

Ah, the pollen substitute buffet marks them well.

[@robertmathurin739]

🇱🇨👍🏽❤️

[@cbbees1468]

Thought the thumbnail was of a honeybee in a pitcher plant, glad I was wrong.