Beekeeping: DO THIS to Fix a Honey Bound Hive & Save the Bees

[@brucesbees]

DISCLAIMER: I had a couple of folks comment that it looks like the follow up video is not the same hive as the one we fixed. Upon further observation I think that is true. I think there is still some good teaching and learning opportunities in the video so I will leave it up unless y’all think I should take it down. Not sure how I got that confused. I am a bit embarrassed. What do y’all think?

[@beeamazzzinghives]

The video is fine. I get the idea and it's about the method in dealing with it, not so much which hive. I was watching for that marked queen. Was it in a different hive?

[@sarashappyhives1828]

I didn’t notice it was a different hive. I understood the lesson of how to deal with honey bound colony by pulling the honey and giving the queen room to lay. 👍

[@brucesbees]

No I am pretty sure she’s in there. But I will see when I go back down there.

[@brucesbees]

Good Sara. I think I am going g to leave it up and then come back and do a follow up with the correct one.

[@sarashappyhives1828]

@@brucesbees Sounds like a plan! I will be sure to catch the follow up video!

[@BohemiaBees]

I agree Bruce, got to stay on top of those hives for honey/pollen bound indicators. We manage single deeps so its even more important for us. As long as you have a small nest, honey/pollen bound can be a good thing to pull excess resources for splits or a weaker colony. Another great video ;-)

[@brucesbees]

Hey thanks for checking in Jason. And thanks for the insight.

[@mikesbeesllc3352]

Great looking colony of bees Bruce. Strong and gentle. God Bless

[@CastleHives]

5:10 is a beautiful brood pattern. Nice demeanor also on that colony. Good stuff Bruce.

[@dcsblessedbees]

Ty for the video Bruce, honey/pollen bound can happen quicker then many beekeepers think given the right circumstances. It's a situation I keep an eye out for, ran into it last year when I was working with mostly undrawn foundation.

[@brucesbees]

Yes it can happen very fast.

[@beverlysteen]

I like it when you call out a mistake that you as made so others learn from it.

[@brucesbees]

Glad you like that. I hope to help others avoid the mistakes I have made.

[@YappyBeeman]

Great video as always. You have a wonderful style for narration.

[@brucesbees]

Thanks my friend. Glad you enjoyed it!

[@emilandrusko8597]

id say you were spot on with that hive. it looks awesome with all that capped brood. Thanks for sharing.

[@GeorgeCMcRae]

When I lived in the SF Bay area, we had 12 months a year of flow. Nectar and pollen from something in bloom. I learned that after seeing hives get both honey and pollen bound to regularly strip out the honey and pollen frames as needed. It's individual colony by colony, but I had to be vigilant. Here in Butte county... it's more hand to mouth this time of year. With a real winter of zero flow.

[@brucesbees]

Yes it is good to be vigilant and it is interesting how each hive is different.

[@GeorgeCMcRae]

And something comes into bloom all at once the bees are on it like me at a buffet. In a matter of days, you've got too much of a good thing.

[@GeorgeCMcRae]

And the colonies can't share the where abouts of the new bounty. So one colony is clogged and the one next to it never gets the good word.

[@glennsnaturalhoney4571]

Right move.our flow in NE Fort Wayne came fast and early and I ran into the same issue especially with overwintered nucs.

[@brucesbees]

Yes it can happen fast in a good flow.

[@shakamuni01]

So how many empty frames do you want to see in general. I get a feeling my hive is also honey bound. I did notice a lot of it on the frames when I was going through it about 3 weeks ago. Also what do you do with those frames being that they were made when sugar was being feed to them? Do you feed it back to them later in the season. Are most of the brood more in the lower box? how much would you say is too much honey as a percentage?

[@brucesbees]

Those are all great questions. I think as long as they have some open cells to lay in they should be good. Or even if you see a significant amount of brood that will emerge so the queen can re lay in those cells. As long as you have a couple of frames with some space for her to lay you should be good. I think you could save the frames and feed them back later or you could move them to another hive that might need them. Yes I like to see most if not all of the brood in the lower box. If you have a couple of frames of brood you are probably fine. How much honey is too much? That’s hard to see and can depend on your location and goals. Here in south Alabama I try to condense the bees down into one or two deeps after the honey flow depending on strength on the colony.

[@derekdavidson6738]

With two full deep boxes, is there is certain number or ratio of frames that should be brood and storage?

[@brucesbees]

Hmm. In that case would be good to have 6 or 8 frames of brood if possible. Of course the amount of brood will vary depending on time of year etc. as long as the queen has space to lay they should be fine. Even if only a few frames of brood. But if everything is plugged with honey or pollen and she has nowhere to lay then it can become a problem.

[@sentimentalbloke7586]

Toward the end of the season the queen is frequently in the bottom or the sides of the box, I guess that she gets a little bored with laying and takes a stroll.

[@beeamazzzinghives]

Bruce, Didn't think I would get honey from my three hives with the slow start on one and splitting the one but the girls came through and I pulled 15# of honey Tuesday! Had a little issue with my strongest starting to look honey bound and just today while doing a mite wash I moved one frame of honey into my weakest from the earlier split. Mite count, Strongest hive.. 2 mites, Weakest from split....0 mites and other from split...5 mites(ouch) so time to hit them hard with OA. Plan on treating 4 times, every 6 days to get through the brood cycle. What do you think? I enjoy every video and learn a lot from watching. Thanks for continuing to put out content!

[@brucesbees]

Sounds like a plan. I am actually HL hitting mine with OAV right now too. Not the best option I’d brood in the colony. I think Apivar is the most effective this time of year. But OAV knocks the phoretic mites off the bees even though it does not penetrate the brood cappings. Will be interesting to see how your mite counts look once you complete your treatment plan.

[@timbervalleyhomestead]

Mannnn at the bees at the beginning. Good to see your hives doing well.

[@brucesbees]

Thanks for checking in!

[@DMTCNursing]

Thank you I am new to beekeeping and found this really helpful. I would like to see your inspection of the original honey bound hive.

[@brucesbees]

Should be getting it out soon.

[@bradgoliphant]

Hey Bruce. In a honeybound situation, could I not add a empty Super with drawn comb? Won’t the bees move honey up and give room for the queen?

[@brucesbees]

I have heard they would do that but in a situation where they are really plugged up I think it is a better solution to put empty comb in the middle of the brood chamber. Then she can lay immediately.

[@brucesbees]

But there are many ways to accomplish a goal and your method might work just fine.

[@bradgoliphant]

@@brucesbees thx Bruce. I know worker La move things around according to their need. I have a hive that is mostly full of nectar in two brood boxes so I gave them an empty FliwHiveSuper just to see what they would do, and in 48 hour they had moved 50% or more of the stored nectar below up into the super. I’m learning they know more than I do. With that said, I know your way to be the sure thing to do. I posed the question to offer help to those that don’t have empty frames to add. An empty super would surely be the next best thing. Grateful for you. By the way, have two full hives now growing into a third soon. Their names? Fu, Fme, and Fthemall! How hilarious is that?!!!!

[@brucesbees]

@bradgoliphant I like it. Thanks for the input. As you say, the bees really do know best.

[@davidlaing7684]

I have 3 hives and one is bearding over the entrance for the past 7-10 days. There is plenty of space inside. Should I be concerned as they are a new hive this year as a package.

[@brucesbees]

I wouldn’t worry too much about it as long as the health of the hive looks good inside. This time of year they do a lot of bearding.

[@davidlaing7684]

@@brucesbees thanks

[@mikeconley3031]

A man who never made a mistake never did anything

[@brucesbees]

#truth

[@redfish440]

Great looking hive Bruce !

[@theboonecountybeekeeper]

I got some of those plastic frames, they really seem to like them. Good video!

[@brucesbees]

Yes the plastic frames are my favorite.

[@parkinsonga3092]

Great video as always. One of my hives has the complete opposite problem, they don't want to store honey they just want to build comb. 😕

[@brucesbees]

Yeah that can happen. Could be genetics. Some bees are all about storage and others about brood production. Ideally they keep a happy medium of both.

[@StanGore-mk8ow]

very well done and explained!!

[@GrammyMidwife]

Thanks for sharing!!

[@davidsoloninka7742]

R those black gloves sting proof?… if so where did u get them? Thx Ds

[@brucesbees]

They are not sting proof but the bees rarely sting through them. Here is a video I did about them. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jZCoq6mKZs56jbM

[@jamestownsendjrtbees3226]

I switched over to Bruce's black gloves this spring from heavy sheep skinned gloves. The bees can sting through them whenever they want but they usually don't unless you smash onto a bee. Beekeeping has become so much more enjoyable since the switch, I will never go back to heavy duty gloves. Give it a try. It's good to get stung a bit anyway. My hands don't swell anymore and it only hurts for a few minutes.

[@brucesbees]

@jamestownsendjrtbees3226 #truth. I do get occasional stings but couldn’t imagine trying to use the big beekeeping gloves again.

[@Mike-z7j]

Thank had the same problem

[@hillbilyjed1318]

just opened my have since August. the honey on the frames looked weird. like a brain would be the best way to describe it. can't find anything about it. kinda looked the one's in the beginning of this video, but you were talking about brood and honey. I use a queen excludor, so it's not honey and brood. curious why it's like that, is it safe to eat? because looks like rain got in the super and inside top cover and top of the super frames turned kinda black. new to beekeeping, don't have a mentor. worried the honey is unsafe. thanks.

[@brucesbees]

Without seeing it it’s hard to say. I imagine you are talking about capped honey but not sure. My guess is it’s ok but cannot be certain.

[@framcesmoore]

Bruce the video was great and the hive is just beautiful that brood pattern wow just great. My hives are looking good to I am equalizing everyone. I am pleased with what I am seeing at this point. I do have a couple of hives that are trying to staple my jeans to my legs so I have to go back full suite to check them. but for the most part all is well with my bees. anyway again u did a good job with the video it was really good. Hope u have a Blessed week.

[@brucesbees]

Hey thanks for checking in and good luck with your bees.

[@hootervillehoneybees8664]

Nice looking box of bees.. lan says it all starts with box of bees

[@brucesbees]

Yes it does.

[@a708mkw]

The colony that was in the clip was not the same one you went back and checked they are back to back but we will blame it on the high heat index because it makes me get things mixed up with my bees

[@grantsimpson9211]

Not the same hive. Two new foundation frames in this hive. No new frames in the first hive.

[@brucesbees]

You know what. I think you are right. Just realized that. Do you think I should take it down?

[@brucesbees]

@grantsimpson9211 I just went back and looked and I think you are right. Ugh.

[@StephenBiggers]

Sometimes pollen bound is difficult as they don't move it. At least with honey you can scrape the caps and they might move it.

[@brucesbees]

True. Pollen can also be part of the problem.

[@kushtrimmuja866]

On single brood management, if the 1st box has more than 1 frame with pollen can I move on 2nd box up the QX?

[@brucesbees]

Not sure I understand the question🤔

[@kushtrimmuja866]

@@brucesbees 😳 I was in hurry sorry. If in brood box are 3 frames with pollen I was thinking to move 2 frames with pollen on 2nd box so the queen has space to lay, but do bees use the pollen on 2nd box? Thanks 😊

[@brucesbees]

@@kushtrimmuja866 yeah you could do that but I would have them towards the outside of the box. I would tend to leave the pollen down below and move honey up. Just leave space in the middle for the queen to lay in.

[@CCCRApiary]

Great looking colony

[@brucesbees]

Thanks. They were looking good for sure. Hopefully that will continue to be the case but this time of year can be brutal on bees.

[@lindajohnson2950]

What can you do if you have no drawn comb? 😟

[@brucesbees]

Just I would say put some foundation in the hive. Or you can harvest a little honey from the honey bound frames to free up some space.

[@brucesbees]

If you need to draw comb and there is no flow it can be tough. The only way to really have a chance is to feed them syrup. But it just takes time to get comb built up.

[@994bamanark]

How do you keep the bees 7:20 so calm

[@brucesbees]

Mostly has to do with genetics, environmental factors (weather, food availability etc) and handling techniques.

[@geckoproductions4128]

nice video thanks

[@brucesbees]

Thanks for watching!

[@sarashappyhives1828]

👍

[@GranadoOutdoors]

I’m going through 50+ colonies tomorrow doing that

[@brucesbees]

It certainly is important to check the colonies and stay ahead of them. Really helps. Good luck!

[@سالمابوغالب]

استاذ هل يمكن أن اخذ دورات تدريبية معك في العمل من اجل الخبره

[@apatriot1762]

Different box

[@brucesbees]

Very astute of you. Good eye! Watch the next video for my response. Thanks for checking in and for watching so closely!