Bee Keeping Frequently Asked Questions No 7 Beginning with Bees

In this video we talk about issues that many beginning beekeepers face or have questions about. Frequently asked questions are posted by viewers in the comments section. Please post questions you may have that you think other beekeepers may also want to know about.
In this FAQ segment, we cover:
1 - What if honey crystallizes in the frame or in jars?
2- If I sell honey, do I have to be inspected?
3- When do I stop feeding sugar syrup?
4- Should we put fresh water sources inside the hive?
5- What are the health benefits of honey?
6- Spring Hive Box Rotation? & Bottom Supering?
7- Can you just put a Queen Excluder on to prevent swarming?
8- Do you have to collect the honey from a beehive?
Check in tomorrow and see how I have adapted my FlowHive boxes to perform better in cold climates to improve winter survival.
RAW HONEY HEALTH- www.healthline.com/health/foo...
Pennsylvania Bee Law: www.pastatebeekeepers.org/pdf/...

[@Adam.Holmes.]

1. What if honey crystallizes in the frame or jars? 3:45 2. If I sell honey, do I have to be inspected? 8:45 3. Should we put fresh water source in the hive? 12:15 4. When do I stop feeding sugar syrup? 13:25 5. What are the health benefits of honey? 20:25 6. Spring Hive Box Rotation and bottom supering? 28:36 7. Can you just put a queen excluder to prevent swarming? 38:03 8. Do you have to collect the honey from a beehive? 48:19

[@michaelburks6989]

" Do you have to collect the honey from a beehive?" When you discouraged hands-off bee keeping you missed the opportunity to encourage the husbandry of Mason bees, Monarch Butterflies and other species beyond planting bee friendly gardens.

[@bentonclayton2385]

dont know if anyone cares but if you're stoned like me during the covid times then you can watch pretty much all the latest movies and series on instaflixxer. Have been watching with my gf for the last few weeks xD

[@sergiobenton7837]

@Benton Clayton yea, have been watching on InstaFlixxer for months myself :)

[@alessandronoel4289]

@Benton Clayton yup, I've been watching on InstaFlixxer for months myself :)

[@weasleoop]

I really think Fred's bee FAQ videos are going to be some of his most popular ones.

[@masterbeekeeper30years18]

I agree though I disagree that it's for beginners as he says. I have learned a thing or two!

[@beefcurtains6691]

I'm not a beekeeper but I like your channel fred I've learned a lot about bees from you maybe one day I'll get some bees

[@argentvixen]

I know some people don't love this format of video but I do. I chuckled with delight at the end when you went off on a tangent and came back with "I don't even know why I started talking about that." This was because I felt the tangent was very insightful. I appreciate your tempered, even keel approach to things. You help tame the crazy, clickbaity, controversy-driven shag that youtube tends to bring. I am here to learn, not just be entertained. That is why yours is one of the few channels I am actually subscribed to.

[@kellydavis4330]

Very ironic. I'm a Home Inspector and did an inspection where a swarm had entered an abandoned wall vent on a solid brick end row house. The hive was in the interior wall stud space and you could hear and feel where the hive was. Now I'm here learning about bees as I've been interested in becoming a beekeeper ever since

[@mihaiilie8808]

Here in romania ,its the oposite,beekepers register to receive monney.If you have more than 50 hives you get paid anually for all the winter food or treatments(600 dollars) .The EU even pays for the boxes and bees ,but they have to be buyed legally and not made DIY like my hives ,so i didnt took advantage of that.10 dollars a year its verry little to pay and its a simbolic sum thogh.

[@mohammadsalah3319]

wooow I am not an old timer bee keeper and in each minute of your videos I just stop the video make a full search about what you say and then move to the next point Thank you very much for your great videos

[@58Kym]

I definitely learned something, not sure if I will ever use it but it will be great if I ever meet a beekeeper. I will be able to have a conversation

[@TheFarmacySeedsNetwork]

Honey is even used in taking plant cuttings sometimes. @36:00 thanks for re-clarifying the order! I like your perspective on why you keep bees.. that is also why I farm... test study, learn, try new things, improve processes and share that info. Haha! yes.. now that you told us that, they will swarm anyway.. nature likes to throw a wildcard next to the wildflower. Interesting on the red light response. I wonder how they react to LED Infrared emitters? Haha! We had a bee colony behind a chimney in a plaster wall in the old family farm house. We used to knock on that bedroom wall occasionally to hear the "buzz up". That hive was HUGE! Thousands and thousands of bees constantly during daylight hours cruising in and out. Ahh I see, so bees don't use FIFO buffers (First In First Out) :) Yes, excellent words of wisdom on how to contribute to pollinators with hands off tactics. This method ALSO improves native pollinators, who are JUST as important to healthy ecosystems! Yes... no bees, no food for parasites. Nature is so smart. Thanks Fred! onto 8...

[@nathanaelszafranski3952]

For a person desiring to host a colony in their yard without the maintenance responsibility, contact a local bee club and offer space in your yard for a member to place a hive. Property owner gets the bees, beekeeper gets an additional locale for a hive.

[@wadekolbe1559]

I am at FAQ# 8, very good info. I have been to the Weaver's Beekeeping Apiary, very nice set up. Have not started beekeeping yet,but will soon. Thank you, Mr. Dunn again. I am learning so much. I have been looking for something like this with all the info.

[@FrederickDunn]

Thank you so much!

[@trw481]

Fred thank you for taking the time I’m ordering my first nuc this week for spring delivery and guys like me are fortunate to have guys like you that take your time and explain your experiences, thank you so much

[@FrederickDunn]

Thank you so much! It means a lot to know that the information I'm sharing it helpful.

[@weasleoop]

I rotate to prevent swarming and give them room. I did not realize that helped them draw out comb better. Oh so that is why the frames look like that and the comb is not drawn to the end. Wow Fred, you are like a bee Rosetta Stone. Solving all the mysteries. How often do you swap out your acorn frames? You alternate acorn with wood? Is that to have fresh brood comb? Store the comb for another hive later? I cannot wait to see that flow video.

[@MohamedUAE]

Thank you for the thorough answer 👍🏼🙂

[@cindytedeschi1731]

I really enjoy listening and learning about bee keeping from you. I would one day like to bee keep, but for now love the learning process and will keep growing flowers for them. Thank you for all of your time and efforts that go into the study and knowledge of these amazing creatures

[@mandog2142]

Fred, excellent video, instruction and advice. I sincerely appreciate the time you invest in putting together your content for new beekeepers like me and the rest of your audience. Also, I really appreciate your sense of humor; it really cracks me up! Thank you!

[@FrederickDunn]

Thank you so much! :) I have a dry humor that often bombs, so nice to know someone understands :)

[@oneshoo]

Once again Mr. Dunn and outstanding video! I like your whole approach to beekeeping. It’s all about the bees! To a future 2 hive hobbiest, who has no aspirations other then to manage a couple hives of bees to multiply and flourish, it will also be all about the bees for me also. Can’t Wait!!

[@younginsong4355]

Fred, thank you, I finished watching all at 23/25. 23 as a last one due to the length. I'm so grateful for all the work you have done to the unknwon people in the world. I hope you get the credit that you deserve. All my gratitude ~ salute to you. Hope your health is fine in this Spring. Borrowing the words from Shakespeare, Thousand Times Thank you(TTTY).

[@weasleoop]

Awesome Fred. Yeah you hit the nail on the head. I have seen people mix all thier honey from a flow hive into one giant bucket. Don't do that, each frame is different. You can have clover in one frame, aka light, but a different and darker in another. It is better separate.

[@attilaelekes5534]

Thank you

[@FrederickDunn]

You're welcome

[@weasleoop]

Oh man I have been waiting for this video all week. You can tell, because I am the first comment. Lol well I got mentioned but I don't think that was my question. I do not put water in my hives. I might have replied to someone. I usually do 2 to 1 in the fall. Then switch to fondant over winter. My question was when do you bring in like water feeders in the yard, aka when temps get to freezing, so it was partly my question I guess. No biggy though, good info.

[@myaquariuminfo]

Pretty cool stuff! Nice job 👍

[@framcesmoore]

This was great thanks

[@framcesmoore]

I live in a city we have no Farrell bees I don't want my bees to swarm they die here. In the switching of the boxes I do that just because I had read it helps with giving them space to not swarm I all so checkar board my boxes when it gets warm enough. do inspections every week checking for swarm cells when I do the inspections I move all brood down and put emptys above I like the idea of moving the queen but wont that hurt honey production thanks ve the brood there again I read and seen that it helps prevent swarming what I read about it was

[@framcesmoore]

Thank you for saying if u do not want to take care of your bees do not get them u told the truth and thank u for that

[@SpiritBear12]

Hello Mr. Dunn, thanks for answering my question. I don't keep bees but I have some friends that do. I find the little critters fascinating. I often wondered how they get water in winter, but your condensation information makes perfect sense. It was one of those "smack my forehead as the light goes on" moments! LOL I said to myself "Well duuuuh! The bees drink the condensation! Why didn't I think of that before?" I always heard that condensation in the hive in winter is a bad thing. I suppose it would be if it's in excess, but seems that a little bit is alright, if not beneficial to the bees. I have gotten honey from my friends and they would tell me if it crystallizes to just put it in warm water. I never had much luck with it because I was afraid of putting it in too hot of water and ruin the good properties and possibly the taste of the honey. (I would never microwave it) I'm glad you mentioned the proper temperature to heat it up. I wrote it down. Thank you. A God child of my aunt gave her a jar of raw honey, but it crystallized and she thought it went bad. I told her it's not bad, it just needs to be warmed up, it's natural for honey to crystallize. But she wouldn't take my word for it and didn't want to deal with it, so she gave me the jar. A free jar of raw honey? BONUS! She thinks the stuff at the store never crystallizes. Not true! I've had store bought honey crystallize on me many times. Thanks for the registration and inspection info as well. Like I said, I don't keep bees myself, but I know 2 people who do and they never have more than 3 hives at any given time. They're just a family with a small farm that got smaller as the years went by. For the most part they keep the honey to themselves, but they do have a cart out by the road where they sell their extra veggie goods and eggs. Sometimes one can buy honey there too. I buy my honey from them too because I know where it comes from and I know no one in the area sprays chemicals around. I've never asked them if their hives are registered or have been inspected. Thanks for taking all the the time to answer my questions, and others. Pssst... I'm a gal, not a guy. LOL

[@FrederickDunn]

Oops... sorry about the gender mistake! Thank you so much and I'm glad I've answered your question to your satisfaction. It's a great feeling to be able to share information that others, like yourself, care about. Thank you as always for watching and for your frequent comments! I agree, if you can, always get your honey from people you know. :)

[@sojourner57]

Fred, I'm fascinated by these videos, having found them when doing research on bees and in particular, Flow hives. I don't have bees yet, and my wife and I have discussed having bees on the five acres that we're purchasing to build a house, but these FAQs have been invaluable. I see many analogs with other parts of nature. As you say, the bees are a "super organism", in some ways much as our own bodies. Their tendency to rotate members of a nuclear cluster in water reminds me of penguins in the Antarctic rotating individuals from the boundaries of their brood clusters to regain warmth. The idea that people wanting to simply have a hive without the responsibility of taking care of it is analogous to someone saying they wanted a dog, but only to observe, but not take care of. I want to thank you for the great information, and I believe in some ways superior information, because you're in it for the bees, not the commercial production of a finished product. In fact the information has been so good that I now have to evaluate whether bees would really be a good fit for us, and as in the dog analogy, getting information on what raising a puppy really entails is invaluable. Thanks again.

[@FrederickDunn]

Hi Tony, thank you so much for watching and for this wonderful comment. People like you are exactly why I make these videos. It means a lot to know that you've gained some valuable knowledge about beekeeping here. Wishing you all the best!

[@MarekArawn]

FYI: -6 °F = -21 °C in the rest of the world. :) I LOVE your videos! Always something to discover. My question is: when should I start feeding solid food (patties) to my bees?

[@FrederickDunn]

Hi Marek! Thank you so much, I've added your question to my next FAQ # 8 video which will be released on Friday! Tomorrow! I hope you can wait :)

[@MarekArawn]

Cool. I'll be eagerly waiting. 😊

[@GaryBoyd02]

Hi Fred. You have done your usual outstanding video. I did not know about the allergy relief that local honey can provide. I wanted to share with you what I do to remediate solidified honey. The temps I have heard are lower than what you mentioned to retain the health properties. It is here nor there everyone has there opinion. What I want to share with you is I use a Sous Vide circulator and put my honey in a water bath that I can precisely control the temperature by a single degree and I can hold it at a steady temp for as long as necessary to liquidate the entire jar. Yeah I am kind of fussy what goes on my toast! It's a great controlled way to remediate solid honey to liquid honey. You will never ruin a good raw honey. Fool proof!

[@weasleoop]

My daughter's allergies went away after eating local honey.

[@FrederickDunn]

That's great Gary, feel free to post a link to the equipment you're preferring. Precise low temperature control is hard to find, thanks so much!

[@critter9a]

I used to get hayfever every year started taking a spoonful of honey 2x a week my problem is I'm diabetic so my A1C jumped big time.

[@vansquebec2099]

Hi Fred, when you build your feeder and seal the side, what do you use to seal it? Thank you

[@FrederickDunn]

I use Minwax exterior clear varnish Helmsman satin.

[@gregoryircink8797]

Thank you for sharing your time and experience. I would like to use Hygienic bees as primary Defense against varroa. And I have to think your desire for genetic variety is good, but prompts my question - if I am going out of my way to select a genetic hygienic characteristic, why isn't allowing the more common, nonHygienic Italians genetics into my hives watering down the Hygienic characteristic of my Russians? Is that why you think you might have to explore OA?

[@FrederickDunn]

HI Gregory, I'm in a fortunate situation in that there aren't many other beekeepers very close to my location. I do allow my bees to swarm out and the new Queens to mate locally, but if I determine that a colony has lost its hygienic behavior traits, I'll just order in a new Queen to re-establish the line. Thanks :)

[@matthewsweeney2577]

Hello, when you cull out your old frames are you reclaiming the wax and refurbishing the frames? I have only used plastic frames but am going to broaden my horizons this spring.

[@FrederickDunn]

When I pull the old dark frames, I take the Acorn Plastic Frames and put them into recycling, the wood frames are just disposed of. Bacteria and other unwanted age-related chemicals from seasons of foraging build up in the wood frames as they are porous, so they are just burned and new ones installed. I am adding this to my FAQ 8 for the coming week as I think it's a great time of year to talk about this. Thanks for your question, Matthew!

[@SpiritBear12]

Ooh, ooh! As you were answering some one else about liquids in the hive and bees having to eliminate themselves in better weather, a thought came to me. Let's say you live in an area of the country that gets notoriously long and rough winters and the bees don't have a chance for long months to relieve themselves. (I'm not sure what happens to them if they're beyond waste capacity) What if one could install a temporary green house over and around the hives to get the hive to warm up and the bees to come out and have enough room to relieve themselves? Would they be healthier in the long run for winter? Would it mess up the bees even worse? Would it make too much condensation in the hive or cause other problems? Or just attach the "greenhouse" to the entrance of the hive only to heat up an area just enough to interest the bees to come out and poo for a day or two. Still a no go or what?

[@FrederickDunn]

I'm adding this to my next FAQ as the idea of putting bees in a greenhouse, or warming them up is a frequent suggestion. The problem with that is, a warmup would take them out of torpor and put them into production before the environment could support them. The goal is to match the bee cycles to the environment in which they are living, so artificial heating and sheltering that raises the temperature allowing them to prematurely fly out would, in my opinion, be detrimental. Minimal liquids and high sugars (honey being the best) will see them through natural weather cycles. My personal goal with the bees, is to bolster their individual health prior to winter so they can make it through unaided. This is a great question and it's high time I talked about it, thanks SpiritBear :)

[@SpiritBear12]

I'm glad you thought it was a good question. I was beginning to think my question was some how stupid. I do understand your explanation about taking them out of torpor too early with no outside resources to gather from would hurt them. I was not aware that when bees come out to poop that they go off and forage. I thought they just come out, do their "business" and then go back in and resume hunkering down for the rest of winter until spring really gets going enough for them to survive outside. Sort of like in the early 1800s in winter, people would have to go out to the outhouse, do what they need to do in there and run back into the house to get warm again. Not go to the outhouse, then travel to the store to get supplies and things and then come back home. Thank god for indoor plumbing! LOL Poor bees don't have that yet. I just figured it might be a way to relieve them of constipation. No one likes to be constipated, it's not very comfortable. But I guess bees are made to deal with it.

[@FrederickDunn]

OH no, they don't go a foraging after eliminating, BUT, if they were artificially warmed, the hive would wake and consume resources that couldn't be replenished. You are absolutely right, cleansing flights are often one way, or a circle right back to the landing board, although, I've seen them fly out in 45 degree drizzly days in spring and magically return with pollen. I didn't mean to suggest that they would fly out in winter and try to find resources other than the occasional drink from melting snow. And the old outhouse days aren't in the past for a lot of people in some of our remote areas ;) and that's why they wore those onesies with the buttoned-up back seat. I knew people with outhouses back in the 70's and I was never happier to have a home with indoor plumbing :)

[@SpiritBear12]

Indoor plumbing was a big step up into greatness! I love it! I've had to use outhouses on occasion too. It's scary to have to trot to one in the dark at a camp ground you are not familiar with. A good flash light is your lifeline! LOL It's not nice to open an outhouse only to find a wasp nest being built in there! No thanks, I'll take my chances with the trees and poison ivy.

[@stevebachman6661]

I'm considering putting a protein cake in my Ceracell feeder when I put my first Nuc in my Hive. I'm thinking of putting it in a small plastic dish to keep it dry because I also want them to have the sugar syrup. I could secure the dish in place with silicone before I add any fluid. I just want to build my colony as quickly as possible. Do you have any recommendations on protein cakes? I'm an organic gardener, and prefer to feed only organic things to my bees. So if you know of an organic option, I'd really love to hear about it. Do you see any problems with this combo of resources I'm planning in the hive feeder?

[@FrederickDunn]

I would just put the protein patties in without the syrup and then convert to syrup after they stop showing an interest in the patties? My bees don't take to the patties anyway, so I haven't evaluated many compositions/providers. I believe Mann Lake Tops the performance charts with pollen/protein patties and pollen substitutes.

[@framcesmoore]

Mr Dunn if u do not rotate the boxes will the queen go down to lay in the empty box. I was told she would not bees only go up I was told thanks I just love the videos they are great

[@FrederickDunn]

It's been my observation that they rise through the stored honey during winter and when spring truly arrives, the Queen descends to the lower comb for brood production. BUT, she may not go allllll the way down and that's when box swapping can help.

[@framcesmoore]

@@FrederickDunn Thanks u are great

[@linusritter9280]

How do you help to control Nosema? And what shipping do you use for ordering weaver Queens? They have a lot of options.

[@weasleoop]

The best treatment for Nosema use to be with Fumagilin B. The company went out of business though that made it so there has been sort of a knee jerk of what to do. Some do not treat, some use mixtures of essential oils like tea tree oil in feed. Etc. There is a new thing called hive alive that uses lemon grass and other essential oils to treat. Or you can watch David from barn yard bees. He tells you how to mix up the essential oil mix in one of his videos.

[@FrederickDunn]

Hi Linus, I don't treat. As for shipping options, I always buy in my replacement queens USPS Priority Mail and haven't had a casualty yet.

[@nelliechappell6193]

Frederick those small boxes do ewe sell them what do they cost I was thinking of having small boxes to start with or are they just for Nucs ???

[@FrederickDunn]

That's a model beehive just for educational purposes :)

[@janetgregory1039]

Hi Fred, in a beekeeper in England and started to use the vapourizer,March I trickled the cluster with oxilic acid because the weather was too bad to do them before,last week I put in my varroa boards in and they where drop about 5,I went in at weekend and they where putting up swarm cells so I did artificial swarm,I now want to vape them, so the hive that as no brood with the original queen do I just vape them once with one level on the vape ? The hive with the queen cell has brood of all stages so should I put 1/4 oxilic crystals and treat them once a week for 3 weeks ?

[@FrederickDunn]

You will have an opportunity to perform OAV before the new queen begins to lay and when all cells are open, then you can do it once and get full coverage. When you can't see any eggs in the brood frames, only open larvae, in 18 days you can treat :) If you are keeping the Queen, then yes, do 3 cycles of OAV 7 days apart. On warm days so they aren't clustered and in the early evening when most of them will be in the hive.

[@janetgregory1039]

@@FrederickDunn Thanks Fred your site is brill because sometimes you just need a fellow beekeeper to reassure yourself.

[@alteregos8949]

Hi there, sounds like you have had a pretty brutal winter up there so far. Hopefully it will begin to warm steadily in the next few weeks. Colonies have been busy here the past month collecting pollen and foraging. I’m sure you will welcome a good thawing out and the chance to open your hives to see how good or bad your colonies have faired. Before you know it, flowhives will be brimming with honey and then prepare for fall all over again. Time waits for no one. Here is what you need for your shop!! 40000-BTU Portable Forced Air Propane Heater www.lowes.com/pd/40000-BTU-Portable-Forced-Air-Propane-Heater/3772653

[@FrederickDunn]

Thanks for that link! Things are warming up finally and I was able to do what I needed to out in the shop today.

[@alteregos8949]

Thats good, i’m thinking we are seeing the last of the freezing sweeps that have been rolling through the North and Southeast. It’s amazing how one day it’s 87 A/C on and 12 hours later it drops to 33 and running the furnace again! Mother nature gets more confused every year it seems. Glad you were able to get into the shop and get things done! Hope you put the observation hive back up and another colony to enjoy. Keep up the great work:)

[@clivewilliams5815]

Here in the UK we have had 2 weeks of unusually warm weather, the bee's were flying in large numbers and bringing in lots of pollen and also nectar, my question is,now that the weather has turned cold again and the bee's have stopped flying will they be able to reduce the moisture level enough as not to create to much condensation within the hive ? Regards UK Clive 🐝

[@FrederickDunn]

Hi Clive - That's a great question and I think you'll find that the nectar they gather during those early warmups, becomes quickly consumed by the cluster without going through the normal dehydration process. If you had the hives on digital scales, you would likely see the rapid rise in weight during that period and an almost equally rapid decline as the cold returns. Also consider that humidity increases with increased temperatures, so the cold mitigates some of the normal evaporation processes. When you say the weather has turned "cold" again, is that below freezing, or just not prime flying temps? I'll add this issue to my next FAQ video, thank you so much for watching and sharing your concerns! I think others may have similar questions.

[@clivewilliams5815]

@@FrederickDunn Thank you, the temperature has not dropped below freezing but just cool with wind not ideal flying conditions.

[@wadebarnes6720]

Where do you get the small beehive from

[@FrederickDunn]

It's just an educational tool made from full size hive spare parts. I think you can get them from Dadant, or BetterBee? www.betterbee.com/gifts/mhive1-mini-hive.asp

[@148DMC]

Do you need a special license to sell nucs and queens in Pennsylvania?

[@FrederickDunn]

You do need to be a registered apiary - IF those nucs/queens are going across State LInes, it's the responsibility of the buyer to comply with State-Specific Regulations - I would recommend that if you're selling nucs or Queens, that you have paperwork for the buyer to sign that says they will comply with their home State, or that the bees are not leaving the Commonwealth of PA. www.pastatebeekeepers.org/pdf/paBeeLaw.pdf

[@barbaragray8018]

Do you have to have an inner cover?

[@FrederickDunn]

If you don't want your telescoping cover glued down by the bees you do.. it's a good thing to have in my opinion.

[@weasleoop]

I like how you mentioned Africanized bees. I have done a lot of research on them. The Africans cluster just as well our honey bees and they even put them in a fake winter situation and the clustered just fine. What happens is that the Africans swarm out a lot and want to move place to place a lot. They really cannot do that in far north environment because there is no resources. Another thing is you have to manually re queen those hives, as nature has found way and killer bee queens hatch out one day earlier than our honey queens do, so they have no chance. They have discovered the best way to fight against this is not trying to queen replace, but flood the entire southern apiaries with drones so the killer bee queens gets mated with a normal drone and not a killer bee drone. All interesting stuff. We are safe until global warming happens and its like Florida where Fred lives.

[@FrederickDunn]

I've been called to deal with several "Africanized" hives over the past several months. Irresponsible bee-sellers are bringing them up from the south. So far, they don't make it through winter, but the result is a dangerous summer. It's an issue that we are paying very close attention to in my neck of the woods. Some people feel that interstate laws just don't apply to them and there is no way of convincing them not to bring them up without proper Dept. of Ag paperwork. Too many backyarders consider the Dept. of Ag as the enemy. They are not willing for me to share their story. Only one couple allowed me to make a video about their situation. So Carlos... they are coming! It's just a matter of time. They are gradually becoming more cold hearty and have the ability to do a hostile takeover of existing colonies.

[@weasleoop]

@@FrederickDunn Yeah I saw your one video about that aggressive hive

[@framcesmoore]

​@@FrederickDunn This was very interesting I hope it never happens here that will be very bad. I watched a video from u about the mean bees they stung up every thing the pigs chickens u put a bag over there head and killed them , rather the beekeeper did that owned the bees. I had never seen a video of that sort

[@FrederickDunn]

@@framcesmoore I was at a hospital the following week and a beekeeper (nurse) stopped to talk with me in the hall - he said he had also been attacked by his bees and that they covered his veil so densely that he couldn't even see through them to walk away - he didn't want anyone to know about it and wouldn't go "on camera" - I expect that we are going to see more events like this in coming years as people transport bees under the radar.

[@rojopoops]

Do you have any experience with the Warre Hive?

[@FrederickDunn]

I don't, but several viewers are interested in them. I will continue to learn about them from others for now.

[@mikesmith8789]

What is your oppinion of all medium boxes?

[@FrederickDunn]

It's just my opinion that medium boxes don't provide enough surface area for the primary brood comb. They end up expanding and parking eggs and brood between the boxes as well as on the frames. It's just a matter of space/capacity. The medium and shallow supers were established to make lifting and managing the boxes easier on the beekeeper, not so much in favor of what the bees will use well.

[@mikesmith8789]

@@FrederickDunn Thanks

[@FrederickDunn]

@@mikesmith8789 You're very welcome!

[@jeremyjames3895]

Any idea how an artificial heat source "light bulb under hive" will affect the bees ability to over winter??

[@FrederickDunn]

I would personally never attempt that. Let the bees go into their natural torpor state. A heat source would create hot/cold interfaces which would more than likely result in frost/ice buildup and subsequent wet conditions. The bees won't be helped by being warmed up without having anywhere to fly or resources to collect.

[@jeremyjames3895]

@@FrederickDunn thanks Frederick... still knowledge questing....I have my notebook just a burning as I watch your videos .. thank you from northeast pa

[@FrederickDunn]

@@jeremyjames3895 It's always great to hear from you Jeremy! :)

[@jeremyjames3895]

@@FrederickDunn one more question .. would putting a inner cover between the deep brood and medium help with heat retention / air restriction.. or do you think it would just build moisture?

[@FrederickDunn]

@@jeremyjames3895 Hi Jeremy, I personally don't like doing that because it adds another joint and limits the upward migration of the cluster.

[@vansquebec2099]

Hi Mr. Dunn. I have plans for four hives thaïs year and one is going to be a flow hive. I buy a flow hive super on ebay. I see a lot of flow hive whit only one super of brew, but your whit two or a medium super more. To be the more productive what would you recommande me. I am not in for business to much, i sell a few to meet my fees and after i give alot just be cause i think it is a good product to eat. I want to make the more i can whit 4 hive and not more dont want to make a job of it, only for fun. Thank you very much and sorry for my english.

[@FrederickDunn]

Please watch the Flow Hive Wintering video that I posted last night, I think you will find your answers there! Thank you so much for viewing and commenting!

[@kitsolo9]

Where can I buy your honey?

[@FrederickDunn]

Sorry, I don't sell it.... my wife does and she has a long waiting list unfortunately.

[@kitsolo9]

@@FrederickDunn Out of luck, I guess! But thank you for taking the time to respond.

[@lizmichel8239]

Have you ever seen bees. That’s don’t like cloves.

[@FrederickDunn]

Cloves? Or, Clover? I don't have any cloves to make that observation.

[@wadebarnes6720]

It is really hard to get bees where I am at I was thinking about breeding my bees and sale some to pay for mine

[@weasleoop]

Bees see red as black I thought. They can see orange and pinks okay. When red though it is black. Yeah my co worker tried to sell me old equipment one year that he had. All his colonies died. Like I want your stuff. I don't know how your bees died. No thanks foul brood spreader. You have to inspect to be a KEEPER over a Haver. It is our responsibility to ensure thier health because we put them in the box and bees have so much against them as it is.

[@FrederickDunn]

I had this grand plan to set up my honey bee observation building and hive with all amber and red lighting, much like a darkroom for photography - they were more "bothered" by red light than simply bi-color white light LED panels. They definitely respond to red light, the question as to what color they truly see is left to science. Red light definitely gets them going. Of course, a cast red light is much different than an item that is red in color. So, walk up to a hive at night with a red-filtered flashlight and you will be greeted. :)

[@hadrast]

@@FrederickDunn I'd like to chime in here with some science on the subject, since I've heard the old saw about bees being unable to see red too. As I understand, there are 2 factors, rooted in the physics of vision, that can explain why this particular "trivia", at least as popularized, can be misleading. First, it's important to realize that very few light sources (direct or reflected) emit light in a concentrated enough band of wavelengths to be strictly one color or another. Unless your laser pointer or flashlight-with-red-nail-polish-filter is using industrial grade lasers, LEDs, metal ion lamps, or similarly specialized devices designed to emit light in only the reddest of wavelengths, it's probably firing a nice bell-curve-ish band of wavelengths that leaks up into the yellow and down into the infrared to a significant degree. Second, on the receiving end, visual pigments aren't all that picky about the wavelengths they pick up either. In illustration, let me link an article here: fieldguidetohummingbirds.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/do-we-see-what-bees-see/ that has a very nice comparative graph showing the sensitivities of human, bee, and hummingbird visual pigments to different wavelengths of light. Note that even humans don't have much going on in the red range, and yet we seem to be able to make out the color red just fine most of the time (aside: red/green colorblindness is surprisingly common). This is because our visual pigments can pick up wavelengths outside their resonant wavelengths, albiet at a lower intensity, and our visual neurons can calculate the approximate intensity and wavelength of a red light source by comparing the relative strengths of signal received from our "not-quite-red" and "green" pigments, weak as those signals may be. Since bees' "green" pigment is higher up the spectrum, they may have a harder time distinguishing between different shades of red and perhaps orange, but their "not-quite-red" pigment is close enough to ours that I doubt there would be much difference from us in the intensity of the light they see. In conclusion, it is more accurate to say that bees have more trouble distinguishing between shades of red than we humans, and while they are somewhat less sensitive in the longer wavelengths, you would have to find a very red and very dim light indeed, before you could discriminate between our species by its presence or absence alone.

[@hadrast]

It has occurred to me that my dissertation above can be summarized quite tidily by stating that "bees are not blind to red, but red/green colorblind instead" (from our perspective).