BEEKEEPING THEORY: HOW TO CARE FOR HONEY BEES | In-depth Guide to What the Beekeeper Does

[@RobertZackMountainBees]

As usual, your video has a huge amount of valuable information for any beekeeper. I caught a Wild Bee Swarm in June 2023. This was the beginning of a new challenge, how to work with the bees. My bees have a “comfortable pied à terre” in a Layens Horizontal Hive in my backyard. I recently performed my first inspection of the Layens Horizontal Hive (video is on my channel) the bee colony survived the winter without any problems. I do not use any treatment or supplemental feeding for my bees. I am very happy that the family of backyard beekeepers is growing thanks to beekeepers like you.

[@tommywise1702]

Well, while watching this video a friend called me. He had a swarm in a tree in his yard. We now have a new batch of bees in our yard.

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

Nice! Free bees are the best!!

[@hillkid4mountains]

Thank you for an interesting and enjoyable video once again. The steps you line out about caring for your honeybees as a keeper of them are notable. Like the quote "I kid you not" that queens take or receive classes on how to hide from a beekeeper was very humorous! :)

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

Thanks :) I have had some queens really test my patience. Doing a beekeeping tour twice a day for a few years gave me a lot of experience finding her. I would watch her react to being out in the open while I would show her to a group of 15 people who all wanted to see her. The things she would do!

[@jimjohnson2881]

Hi Laryssa You mentioned in this video that you had to remove your screen bottom board because of humidity reasons. I just ordered two screen bottom boards to replace the solid ones for better air flow through the hive. We do have humid weather in CT so I guess I need to add that to the check list if I start seeing mold. Without you I would be dead in the water! Thanks

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

Thanks Jim! Your humidity is probably nothing compared to what we have here so you'll probably be fine. The area my bees are in is called the cloud forest. It literally looks like youre in a cloud because of the mist and fog that comes by 10am. Screened bottom boards will probably be good for you over winter as well. Cover up most of the screen but let some space for ventilation and water to escape.

[@amydupree6490]

Great information. Thank you. I’m studying this year to plan on beekeeping next spring. While you were talking about resources for the bees, I had a question. Is there a formula for how many frames of honey for how much brood/bees? How do you determine the bees needs and how much can be harvested?

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

My formula is at least one frame of honey for every four frames of brood is the minimum you want for your bees. Here where the small hive beetle population is high, if the hive is small, I don't want more than 2 frames of honey for every 4 frames of brood to prevent an infestation. When the hive has over 8 frames of brood, you shouldn't have to worry about SHB though.

[@amydupree6490]

Thank you - this will help me when I begin :)@@BeekeepingMadeSimple

[@alamenahlesetif]

الشيئ الوحيد الذي يهدد تربية النحل هو تغير المناخ في العالم المبيدات الفلاحية و الفاروا كل هاته الامور تغير من سلوك النحل الطبيعي الى سلوك اخر

[@JohnShanley-m4h]

Thank you following you my bees seem happy and a happy laying queen keep up the great info amazing 👍

[@offshoot1008]

We had a problem with yellowjackets last year. Im in Canada. Would haveing your hives closer to each other make it harder for the yellowjackets to get in? Also does it matter which direction the door of the hive faces? Very interesting and informative video. Thank you

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

Having the hives further apart can make it harder for the yellow jackets to find the other hives. One hive might have attracted a wasp's attention, but once there also notice another hive nearby. But at a time of low nectar, yellow jackets do a good job finding bee hives to rob. The best thing to do is have your bees in a location where there is food throughout the spring summer and fall. A lot of people say an East or SE entrance is best so it gets the morning sun. I have my hives in all different directions. It is warm here year round, so I'm not looking for my hives to get warmed up by the morning sun.

[@pamelabeauty1063]

I love your videos. I have learned so much

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

Glad you like them!

[@T-Man252]

How do you prepare for an area that has black bears ? I'm thinking of using a solar powered electric fence but would prefer an alternative. All ideas appreciated

[@missypin7520]

Thank you so much for your very informative video! Looking forward to more!❤

[@TogetherChinaecherem]

Place my question goes on What can I keep for the bees to enter into a frame box

[@TogetherChinaecherem]

Honestly whenever I watch a video I feel you so blood I really want my to be like yours

[@colinmcintyre1769]

What's the concern with starting with something like the Flow hive (or a off brand version) instead of starting with the older/standard bee boxes? I plan on going in that direction anyway and feel as though it would be easier, but slightly more expensive. Im not worried about occasionally having to open the top of the hive and replacing, then fix the auto sheer comb.

[@adkfoothills1973]

Thank you for another great video. 😊

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

Thanks for watching!

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

Thanks for watching!

[@yaasiinnuurcabdi1877]

New bee keeper in Africa I have four bee hives, three with no super and one with super. I want to know if possible how often do bees produce honey per year

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

Here in Hawaii, they bring in an excess of honey from mid February to August. It depends on what flowers are in your area and how much competition there is with other bee hives and pollinators

[@debbiepring2236]

Appreciate your informative blog. Just wondered how do you know how much honey to take since they use it to survive and thrive. Honey better than sugar water of course.

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

I usually tell my students to leave them all of the honey and weigh it before closing the hive up for winter. Come spring, see how much is left and that will give you a starting point. Here where I live, it's warm year round but the nectar bloom decreases a lot. It's really important to take out the excess honey before small hive beetles take over the hive. I store extra frames of honey in a chest freezer and give it back to the bees as needed. Even when I lived in a small studio apartment and had a handful of hives, I bought a 3 cubic foot chest freezer and stored frames of honey in there. It's an incredibly helpful thing to have as a beekeeper. You can also talk to other local beekeepers and see how much honey they usually leave their bees. Bee clubs or taking an in-person class would work. A general rule of thumb is to leave the bees about 35lb of honey if you have an average winter. Colder winters, people tend to leave their bees 50+lb of honey. Sugar water should never be fed to bees when it is cold out. The beekeeper makes a hard candy or feeds bees dry white sugar. This should only be an emergency feed to prevent starvation, not to feed bees through a time when no flowers are blooming.

[@BackBeeBrokenBeekeeping]

Beekeeping is a very localized thing. The best way to know how much honey you need to leave on in your area is probably best discovered by speaking to local beekeepers in your area that have successfully overwintered their hives for several years. That is why your local bee club is such a great resource!

[@mustafagunes.09]

Your video is very nice, thank you.

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

You are very welcome. Thanks for watching and commenting! It's great to hear from viewers 😊

[@stitchlabproductions6818]

Question: I've had to have two swarms removed from my house, two separate occasions. Is this an indication of a good location?

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

Once a swarm settles on a spot, it is likely that another swarm will settle there as well. They just smell the last bees that were there and it attracted them to the spot. When a hive swarms, it can mean that there is a good amount of food. However, that is not always the case. Bees will also leave the hive when they are infested with mites or hive beetles or if their home was small and the beekeeper didn't give them more space in time. A large swarm, 10,000 bees or more means the bees were healthy and the location is probably great. A smaller swarm of a couple thousand bees often means the colony had issues that caused them to leave their home (baseball size).

[@stitchlabproductions6818]

@BeekeepingMadeSimple would it be unusual to have had honey from the hive they created during the swarm? Would that have been a sign they were establishing? I read somewhere they are attracted to sweet smells. I use my oil diffuser a lot and enjoy cherry blossom. I wondered if that may have attracted them. We did remove them within 24hrs and they had established honeycomb and honey inside. It was a very unique experience for me and my family, twice. I feel bee-keeping may be a calling. We did enjoy some of the honey and they were ethically/gently removed by bee farmers. 🐝 🍯.

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

When bees swarm they fill their bodies with an much honey as they can so they when they settle on a spot they can start building honeycomb immediately. They build A LOT of comb really fast after swarming. Check out my newest video about honeycomb. Without any comb, there's nowhere to store their food or for the queen to lay eggs.

[@luckeychuckey70]

Love your videos. Can you do a very detailed video of how to catch a swarm naturally? Size of hive box, time of year Ohio, location in yard, natural attractants, color of box, odds of success.

[@cluelessbeekeeping1322]

Set out as many swarm traps as possible. I catch many each year. (I use 5-frame nuc boxes, it's not optimal, but it's very practical).

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

I would if I could! LOL I have tried to lure swarms many times and not a single swarm has landed on my property. I don't believe there's enough bees in the area. I live in a pretty residential area and my hives are on other people's property so I can't put swarm traps there. I've tried setting out old beehives, nuc boxes, spraying swarm lure, lemongrass oil. Nothing has worked :/ Thanks for the suggestion!

[@garryforsythe6274]

Read Dr Tom Seeley's book Honeybee Democracy. Very useful info on swarms and what they prefer in a new home.

[@luckeychuckey70]

@@garryforsythe6274thanks

[@KongposhApiaries]

I am an Indian Beekeeper

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

Aloha! Are you new to beekeeping or have you been doing it awhile? I am working on uploading my videos translated into different languages. You obviously speak English well but which language would you recommend translating videos to to help more Indian beekeepers?

[@panaglaw]

Hi Melissa, thanks for your amazing videos. Did you know your name means 'honeybee' in Greek 😊

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

I did know that Melissa means honey bee. My name is actually, Laryssa 😊 but there is an island in Greece called Larissa. I actually heard it's not a very nice place 😂

[@panaglaw]

@@BeekeepingMadeSimple :)) Laryssa-Melíssa, that's pretty close! :)) Keep up the good work and God bless