Inspecting A Yard Of Splits | Including The 4 Swarmy Nuc Splits!

[@HoneyStoneFarm]

Love that Katie is getting involved in the channel. My wife is also a huge help in the bee yard.

[@kathyhathaway8823]

Wow what a full box of Bee’s in that short time. They are doing great. Keep it up . Thanks

[@rogerbarnes7093]

Thanks Brad for the great videos. I appreciate you sharing your experiences and experience with us. Her is west Texas our flow is mostly over. Managed 50lbs of honey from two hives. It was our first year to harvest. Your videos help new beekeepers more than you know. Thanks again.

[@BKBees]

Thats awesome. I don't think we got 50lbs our first harvest, I'm pretty sure it was something like 18 or 20lbs. Enjoy it! Thanks for the support, Roger.

[@fishmut]

Great job you guys , a common Interest together makes things so much more fun, love the bees. 👍

[@BKBees]

For sure.

[@ssmith517]

Katie is awesome

[@BillyBobBrookTrout]

So very nice to see a partnership working so well, keep up the good work, love it!

[@TheSpidersoftheworld]

take a frame of egg's and larva and add it to the ones that are swarming it also works on newer swarms makes them less likely to swarm when they have fresh eggs and brood to protect.

[@BKBees]

That would certainly work with a recent swarm. I wouldn't suggest this as a swarm prevention technique though, unless you mean taking frames of capped brood from a packed colony before they cap cells and replacing it with eggs, but, replacing the frame with foundation would do the same.

[@SageandStoneHomestead]

Do they ever fly up your shorts? I'd like to start keeping in just a jacket with a hood but the shorts I wear are baggy and I worry about the bees flying up there. 😬 If it's a problem I guess I'll need to get some coveralls. I've only been keeping a few months and the stings I have recieved haven't even welted up or burned for more than a few minutes so I guess that's good!

[@BKBees]

Yeah I've had bees fly up my shorts and pants and shirts and in my beard and just about everywhere. In the hundreds of days I've spent in bee yards in shorts I've had that happen like twice. I don't worry about it too much.

[@SageandStoneHomestead]

@@BKBees awesome! I think! 🤣

[@BKBees]

lol awesome indeed.

[@AmericansBee]

Do you mite check before placing strips or do you just treat anyways? I did mite washes today and only found one mite on the last colony i checked. That's why im curious.

[@BKBees]

Just treating. I'd bet all of my worldly possessions that whatever mite load they have now would be problematic by August, at least in some of those colonies. In a perfect world I'd test every colony beforehand, but I don't have the time, and they hadn't been treated since last August.

[@noahriding5780]

How long does it typically take for a colony to decide to either abscond, or we have to go to a new home? This question came up when thinking about cloake board usage which can make the bottom box feel extra tight. I began to worry about how much time I'd have to take care of it when its so packed full of bees and then you cut off a significant amount of space. I also guess there could be a range of times that it'd take and its probably hard to pinpoint. But it seemed worthwhile to ask.

[@BKBees]

Bees don't usually abscond. If they really truly abscond that's a bigger issue than being cramped, usually mites are the cause. If they're cramped, they'll swarm, and before that happens they have to get some capped cells, so about a week or 8 days is my answer to your question.

[@noahriding5780]

@@BKBees Thanks very much. And hope you get lots of honey this year.

[@ME_MeAndMyBees]

Hey Guys... First time I see you Veil up.... Usually it's just the Beard ! 🤣 Why don't you clean up that Burr Comb on top of those Nucs, before x10 Boxing them !?! It soon builds up and makes the next inspection a bit of a mess. 🙄 Collect it up... Use to make own Foundation Starter Strips... (Its got a Double Mould Top /Bottom Hexagon Inprint.) Silicon Mat off Fleabay .... Melt, Pour, Set, Remove, Cut. 😏 Simples... Happy Beekeeping for 2021, From Scotland... Soon we will have Heather flowering. 🥳 (My favourite Honey !!! 🍯)

[@BKBees]

I do clean it up usually, well, I try to. I do get lazy sometimes though, this is a case of laziness mostly, but, most of those colonies aren't in the position to be making burr comb any time soon anyway, so I'll get to that stuff before they get treated again in August. After that, they'll backfill that whole box and create a whole new round of burr comb with honey in it that I'll leave for winter.

[@ME_MeAndMyBees]

Thanks for reply. 🥳 Have a good Bee Summer... Ours is Short. But Sweet. 🍯 (Rain is our National Climate, mostly.) But it does give us lots of Flowers. 👍

[@noahriding5780]

Curious what you guys think for the last day in the year that is safe to do splits, that can still get through the winter?

[@BKBees]

In the lower peninsula I would end my split times at around the end of July. Up here it might be the middle of July? I know people who overwinter nucs and split until September, but that's a risky game in my mind. End of July to be safe.

[@noahriding5780]

@@BKBees Dang it. So sorry. i realized I asked this about 3 weeks ago to you. sorry. haha. You are pretty awesome for being patient. Bees are so much fun. I do also like that you like to play it safe and go for survival.

[@timothymeuleners6589]

Bees are moody!!! One day can I can work my bees in shorts and a sleeveless shirt. The next day I have to suit up and still get stung threw my jean pants!!! I love it! Another great video 👍

[@BKBees]

Yeah, anyone who says they work bees ALL of the time EVERY time in shorts and a tshirt either get stung way more than they admit, or they don't really work bees ALL of the time.

[@pirateprospecting707]

Great vid!! Great team!!✅😁👍👍🏴‍☠️

[@russellkoopman3004]

Katie did a nice job and has a pleasant voice to listen to. She sure knows her stuff - maybe she trained you how to take care of bees?? LOL Will most of those new 10 frame hives become double deep by August?

[@BKBees]

Yeah she definitely knows her stuff. So, I'm still up in the air as to whether I'm going to try this winter with any straight singles. In the lower peninsula every hive I have would go through in a single 10 frame box. This winter, because it'll be our first in the UP, I plan to put an extra box on all of the production hives in August when the honey supers come off, and feeding to top those boxes full. My tentative idea as of right now is to have these splits go into winter as singles, but I could really pretty easily be dissuaded from that idea, and end up putting another box on and just feeding lots more.

[@russellkoopman3004]

@@BKBees I live in MN just south of your latitude and I don't know if you could winter them outside as a single. I used double deeps 10 frames last year and they all lived. I also did one double 6 frame and a double 5 frame and they made it also. But moving up for honey is easier than moving to the side. I'd suggest doubles for two reasons. Better chance of survival and 2nd if they have lots of stores left over they will blow up quicker in the spring.

[@noahriding5780]

So I've been wondering... they say to not go into hives except like 9 days or so. once a week for some. or once every 2 weeks. But when you are making queens and grafting its hard to not be in there like every 2 or 3 days. You have to check the grafts. And you have to pull the larva to graft from probably your best hive. And this means I've had to be in certain hives a couple times a week. This sort of worries me. I've tried to be gentle. But I lack feedback on how people not go in a lot when grafting, and how much this upsets them. How do you think about this? Thanks. ...

[@BKBees]

Don't worry about it. Do what needs to be done. Although when I graft I'm not really bothering any colonies too much, even the builders, I'll leave them until the cells are capped and ready for the incubator, day 9 or so, until I get into them after giving them the graft. Either way, don't worry about it, you need those bees to do stuff for you, and you do what it takes to get them to do it. You're not going to set them too far back.

[@noahriding5780]

@@BKBees Thanks.

[@kathyhathaway8823]

How long was those bees in that nuc or how long did it take them to build to that size . ?? You was working on the one in front of the blue nuc

[@BKBees]

I split those boxes in early June, so about a month.

[@mattmeiners39]

I bought a nuc in may and have been having some fun with it. I just found your channel and it has a lot of good info on it! I’m in the same type of climate as you so it helps to see what you’re doing in the winter. One quick question though. I see you only run one brood box and put a honey box right on top. Why is that? Currently I am running two brood boxes with a super on top. The brood boxes are mostly full of drawn comb brood pollen and honey. The person I have been working alongside with runs two bottoms and then stacks supers from there. Maybe you have answered this in the past and I just haven’t seen it yet haha. Thanks

[@BKBees]

I run singles because I think that's a great size to get the most out of your bees and equipment. It's a bit more of an advanced technique though, at the very least you have to have boxes of already drawn comb to attempt it. I do have videos on this subject specifically, just search "singles" in the B&K Bees KZbin page and you'll find a bunch of videos. In the lower peninsula I'd winter them in single 10's, I'm in the UP now though, about a mile and a half from Lake Superior, and I intend on adding an empty but drawn box on top of those singles after I remove the honey supers in August. So they'll winter in two boxes.

[@mattmeiners39]

@@BKBees thanks for the reply! I will search those videos now.

[@rickhermann7639]

is that a plastic queen excluder you are pulling off the nuke?

[@BKBees]

No, it's reflectix for inner covers, so they don't lock the lid down to the frames.

[@johnhoffman8203]

I got some bee love on my forearm 3 days ago and now it looks like Popeye's. Those three in one spot smart. Anyway I learn from your vids because I'm going through what you do in a small way and learning to relax and go with the flow.

[@BKBees]

Yeah, those multiple stings at the same spot really suck. Stay calm, that is the key, in my opinion.

[@crispernator]

Gday mate looking at some of the comments i have to agree how do you work bees without a jacket on? Me i wont go near the yard with my single hive in it without a jacket or suit on ,i dont like getting stung i used to use the rubber gloves but to many stings and i went back to the full leather i know they are not as sensative to touch but as i said i dont like getting stung . The silver insulation your pulling of your nucs here in aus we use a piece of flyscreen seems to work well as if you dont when you open the hive they have extended the honey crop and it becomes a real mess and the bees will be all over it and you . Enjy your videos as i said i am only a new beek one year hope to do a split in spring but wel see how the hive is going .

[@BKBees]

Some of it is gentle bees, some of it is experience, some of it is me being okay with a sting or two. Wear whatever it takes to keep you comfortable so that you can keep having fun with your bees!

[@tprater65]

Do you still have queens?

[@BKBees]

No, sorry, it was an ephemeral queen season this year.

[@stufarnham]

These old eyes really resent the ease with which you are able to spot eggs. No magnifier, no LED, nothing. Durned youngsters! While I have your attention, let’s discuss clickbait. The splash scree advertised Katie, but what do we get? 16 minutes of Brett followed by a meager 4 of Katie! Puh leeze! (JK, good job as always)

[@BKBees]

lol, I laughed out loud for real. Katie will love this comment. I always appreciate ya, Stu.

[@SageandStoneHomestead]

I have terrible long distance vision (really anything more than 8 inches from my face starts to get blurry WITH glasses on) but apparently my near-sight is okay because I can see eggs@ just not with white background.

[@PreppingAngel]

Love your video's but the camera is too far away. :(

[@BKBees]

Yeah, it was a bit far this time, but when it's closer I get comments that you can't see both the nuc and the ten that I'm working on.

[@ericshipplett3517]

Maybe its just me but I find the music unnecessary.

[@BKBees]

Thanks. Feedback is what I need. After editing video after video I thought the quiet was too much. Your take is a common one, so I'll do away with it.

[@wadebarnes6720]

I have a question I have a man ask me about buying some bees I told him right now I really didn't have nothing to sell when he kept coming by I thought about what you said about customers and future customers so I agreed to let him get a nuke didn't see him for a couple weeks then he stops by and ask about his nuke I showed him the one I'm letting get and he said okay I get back with you in a couple days a month and a half he comes back ask could he look at his nuke I told him that nuke has grown up to a bigger box so I showed him the new I made off of it right beside it said that was fun that's been two months he showed up and asked me about two nukes but he won't send to fill up a 10 frame box what do I do

[@BKBees]

Sounds like this is a rare case of the exception that proves the rule. I think you let this guy get lost. Don't be mean to him, but just tell him that you had it for him earlier in the year but now it's too late, you'd love to sell him one next spring, but otherwise if he's really looking for one join a facebook group or whatever. Just be nice but decline. Don't hurt your operation to make this customer who seems to not care about your time or effort happy.

[@jeffcotton526]

Why is Katie doing the weed wacking? C'mon that's a thing you should be doing.

[@BKBees]

Well that's an assumption on your part. I was unloading boxes of honey frames.