White Wax & Expanding Broodnests - Spring Management #3

[@randallcarter-carterhillho2277]

Enjoyed your presentation. Thanks for showing that.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Thanks Randal!

[@ZelmaBees]

Love your enthusiasm for the hobby...contagious.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Thanks! Hard to see how people couldn’t love bees!

[@wayne8873]

Hey Nath. Nice to see your hives powering on. Can I ask why your first hives have entrances that are painted bright different colours .I may have missed where you spoke about that in one of your videos .

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Hi Wayne, it’s a bit of an experiment to see if it helps with drift. I haven’t seen it make a lot of difference yet.

[@wayne8873]

@@DuckRiverHoney ah right. I thought it may have been something to do with the connection to varying colours of flowers and applying that principle to hives. I’ve seen many people paint their hives varying colours. Nothing like an old scientific method. Look forward the results

[@danielwhiteman9120]

Hello, nice educational video, it will help alot of beginners. I live a bit above you still freezing at night.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Thanks!

[@viklund2725]

my first spring and longing until the thick snow cover melts away so I can start working with my bees! It's so encouraging and instructive to watch your video how you do it even if it's a little different way than what we learned here at home, hope for a nice summer in Sweden.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Awesome Anders, thanks!

[@rodneymiddleton9624]

Your bees look really strong. Thanks for sharing!

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Thanks!

[@akbeal]

Your OSBN method is exactly what I have been doing since 2016. I start late march opening up sides and like you said I go back in around 7 to 10 days and they have built up that partial frame. I then do it again. Depending on colony strength I may just open one side if stronger I open both. This has been very effective for me at reducing swarms. It is labor intensive opening up the hives, manipulating and staying on top of them but it works. It is forcing wax makers to work and that seems to demoralize them a bit and keep swarm impulses down. I do it in East TN from mid to late March up until May. Of course I add supers also in addition to OSBN. If they haven't swarmed by May 1 here they "usually" won't as long as well supered up so I stop OSBN around late April early May. Of course it depends on the hive and its strength. It is an art and a judgment call for every hive as you know. Knock them down enough to keep them from swarming yet stay strong enough to take big advantage of the flow. It is a fine balance.

[@akbeal]

One other thing it does consume a lot of the partial frames. The bees tend to make worker brood in the foundation part and put drone brood on the open sides. I have gotten lazy in the past and just shaken the bees off the filled out frame then cut out the drone brood sides to take to my chickens and put the frame with the empty holes on the sides back in place. This isn't as effective as a totally blank frames but still slows them down a bit in a pinch.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Good to hear results! To be honest I saw so much white wax that I don't know if it was necessary to use the partial frames. I think I could have supered them and dropped a couple foundation frames down into the broodnest and done as well. My saving grace with these is that they are all second year colonies, and those seem to want to draw wax earlier and really expand the hive, vs just putting all effort into swarming. Hopefully the wheels stay on.

[@denniscounts1983]

Good approach to keeping bees!

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Thanks!

[@mriley528]

What is the big benefit of 2/3 of the waxed foundation vs the whole sheet with corners cut? Just trying to figure out if cutting my foundations is time well spent. Great stuff

[@DuckRiverHoney]

The advantage is that if the bees don’t want to draw wax then the “hole” in the broodnest will force them to as they see it as an emergency. In my case white wax was already there so I don’t think the partial foundations were necessary.

[@mriley528]

Duck River Honey good stuff, I did a variation unknowingly when I reorganized frames when reversing, the difference is I used frames that didn’t have foundation but honey comb from honey collapsing out of the frame on all 4 edges leaving 3 rows of comb on the perimeter but nothing in the middle. Keep up the good work

[@MikeBarryBees]

They’re on the move! Couple cold snaps I’m sure up your way, but other than that, you guys will be rolling.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

I’m surprised how far along they are!

[@sonofthunder.]

im adding some green drone frames too ,thanks for the info,and video

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Thanks Mark!

[@russellkoopman3004]

Have you caught any swarms yet? Mid April should be prime time the way your bees look. How high do you go before you put honey supers on? You may need a stepladder or stilts. LOL

[@DuckRiverHoney]

I have t caught any yet that I’m aware of. Still have the last 7 traps to get out this weekend, then need to get around and re-lure after all the rain. I doubt I’ll see any before April. Haven’t seen any scout bee interest at all yet.

[@2kings3queens]

@ 17:53 2nd hive, you didnt push frames together before you put the lid on, might want to take care of that so they dont fill the gap full of comb, looking good!! And i noticed you deviated from your stated plan from the beginning of the video, you stated you were going to introduce your 2/3 foundation frames at the edge of the brood nests, but it appears that you actually moved the brood nest into the top box? Seems like that is a bit more invasive than what you described in the beginning of the video, any reason why the change of plan?

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Sharp eyes! Thanks

[@2kings3queens]

@@DuckRiverHoney i just edited my first reply, enjoying watching you work your bees, still a few weeks behind you with the weather up here in NJ

[@DuckRiverHoney]

They were further along than I expected. Removing the feeder added two frames for them to work on, but with 5-6 out of 8 frames in the top box being brood, the queen wanted room NOW. So I added the partial frames to kickstart comb building, then tried to move them up a box. I bet by next week they'll have at least a couple frames in the top drawn out and they'll have eggs in them. Beekeeping is a series of educated guesses.....and I reserve the right to change my mind at any time! LOL

[@2kings3queens]

@@DuckRiverHoney thank you for explaining, I’m anticipating having to make the same decisions in early April. Based on Walt’s writings I think your in good shape, without adequate honey reserves overhead I don’t expect your colonies to back fill their brood nests. Seems like 1 more box should get you to the main flow. Looking forward to the next video on you managing your nectar!!

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Thanks, we’ll see how it goes. White Wax is a big deal...if I can get them drawing comb I can keep them in a humbling amount of work until after the flow starts.

[@MinnesotaBeekeeper]

It would be interesting to see if the hive builds queen cells on your paint sticks. I'm thinking cells for nuc splits over double screen boards. Hum.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

I’ll check those frames in a few days and see what’s up. I don’t want to mess with a potential Queen emergence but they should be out by then if they’re emerging at all.

[@sunsetheritage]

Pretty sure I heard a queen piping at 06:46 🐝😁 Lorie

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Cell phone alarm....;)

[@sunsetheritage]

@@DuckRiverHoney Seriously??? Shucks, I thought it sounded just like one. Oh well, now when my husband says I can’t hear, I’ll play your video and see if he catches it. I’m thinking I need to make a bet with him. I’ll be chiming “winner winner chicken dinner” 🤣🤣 P.S. I see a new Bostitch 7/16 stapler in my future after that bet 😆😂🤣

[@DuckRiverHoney]

LOL Lorie, thanks

[@BrooklandsHoneyBees]

Great video, thanks for sharing :)

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Thanks, I appreciate it!

[@jameshaneline5371]

A public question; I wonder why you use all mediums? I’m 65 and like the idea of lifting a much lighter box. I was gifted with all my equipment, all deeps and shallow honey supers, old school!!

[@DuckRiverHoney]

I need to do a video on all the reasons..... 1. Full 10 frame medium of honey ~50 lbs. Full deep = 85 lbs 2. A single medium I can use 4 ways - hive body, honey super, swarm trap, nuc box 3. Everything interchangeable - brood comb, honey supers, nucs, everything. 4. Only one frame size and box size to buy = bulk purchase = cheaper prices 5. Future proofing. I want to be an 85 year old beekeeper. If I need to go to 8 frame medium equipment to do that, well it's a lot easier to go from 10 frame medium to 8 frame medium than it is to go from deep to medium.

[@clintcristina206]

​@@DuckRiverHoney I'd like to see that video! We're using all medium equipment and I'm always looking for medium hive management info and there isn't much out there. Our hive died over winter so I only have about 10 drawn frames and 5 used permacomb frames to spread between 3 packages I'm geting in a few weeks. I used permacomb last year because i didnt have any drawn comb and wanted to give them a head start. they used it but its expensive. I like your swarm trap videos too, I've got 3 out there that are medium boxes and frames with basically 3 inch deep bottom boards plus dead bees, comb and swarm commander. Thanks and keep the videos coming!

[@michaelyoho4848]

Awesome information and great advice. Thank you for this wonderful video and all the help. From newbee Mike

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Thanks Mike!

[@user-adiluk]

Like and greetings from St. Petersburg!

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Thanks!

[@user-adiluk]

@@DuckRiverHoney ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@m.scotthern6306]

It is great to experiment, that's how we learn. I would have a couple of concerns. First with the open sideded brood combs I would think you would be inviting the bees to build cross comb. My bees take every opportunity to build it 90 degrees from the direction that is convenient for me. Also I would think they would tend to build more drone cells. Which is fine because drone cells hold honey just fine. My second concern is that adding more space and spreading that population too thin would invite small hive beetles which can be problematic. I am anxious to see how it works out for you. I run double deep brood nests and all deep supers. Once they have that basketball sized brood nest going in both boxes I pull the middle 2 frames of brood from the top box. Slide the frames to the middle. Add empty frames to th outside positions. Put on a queen excluder. Add the super and put the two brood frames in the middle of it. This keeps the queen in the bottom two boxes and brings bees up while expanding the brood nest in all directions. A decent colony will draw out backfill and cap a deep in 2 weeks. Food for thought. Good luck!

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Valid concerns, same as some of mine. I'm not too worried about hive beetles for a couple reasons. First, I run oil tray bottom boards which do a good job reducing the beetle population. Second, it's still early in the season. Thanks!

[@m.scotthern6306]

@@DuckRiverHoney I'm not sure where you are located but hive locations in full sun seem to have fewer beetles as well. Some southern locations have beetles year round.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

I’m in Middle Tennessee.

[@nancynolton6079]

Where are you located?

[@DuckRiverHoney]

60 miles Southwest of Nashville, TN

[@TheRussellrobertson]

I see you use alot of plastic foundation , do you ever have a problem with cross combing , I did a light coat of wax last year on mine like another pro bee keeper on here said in a video and ended up destroying alot of brood pulling frames from cross combing , I am coating my frames double thick this time hoping that doesn't happen again .

[@DuckRiverHoney]

I’ve had luck with rite cell and acorn double coated getting well drawn. No cross comb issues so far. Make sure your frames are tight.

[@soflynnobrien]

Great video. Can you do a cart tour

[@DuckRiverHoney]

I can. I want to get it a little more dialed in first though.

[@burtonsbeefarm3834]

melt some wax and roll it heavy on your foundation. The bees will use the extra to draw out walls to the cells. quick and easy..

[@DuckRiverHoney]

I'm using heavily waxed Acorn foundation which has a lot of wax on it. I have tried adding extra wax to some rite cell and didn't notice much difference. BUT, last year I was dealing with swarms or packages in their first year, so they WANTED to draw comb. This year I'm dealing with second year hives, which want to expand the nest. I suspect that more established older colonies will be more finicky in comb building.

[@campdavidsonfunctionaltrai8583]

why don't you checker board blank wired frames. same idea and it would be all wax

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Black plastic is my favorite and all I have on hand, so I used that. The source materials indicate you need a “hole” to encourage wax drawing, so if using wax foundation it said to only use a starter strip. After inspections my colonies are already in white wax mode so I don’t think it was necessary to use the hybrid 2/3 frames at all. We’ll see, and hopefully I’ll learn something.

[@campdavidsonfunctionaltrai8583]

interesting idea but I think blank wired frames would work better. try a few and see what happens. I add blank frames through out the year. This year I'm building a super to hold blank mini nuc frames so they will draw it in time for queen rearing.

[@campdavidsonfunctionaltrai8583]

Looks like you use mediums...no queen screens?

[@DuckRiverHoney]

I think foundationless is neat. I’m pretty sold on the ease and durability of black plastic though.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Yes, all mediums. I used a few excluders last year with mixed results. I believe the excluder caused one hive to swarm. My management plan going forward is very similar to Walt Wrights Nectar Management, and he spoke loudly against excluders. So I’m going without for now. I figure it will cause some frame juggling at honey harvest, and I may have to put some partial brood frames above an excluder to let it emerge and get backfilled. We’ll see.

[@kevinwright8823]

I'm like you and never have enough drawn comb! LOL I'm curious why you didnt go down in the hive and possibly rotate boxes? Thanks for the videos!!

[@DuckRiverHoney]

I went down to the bottom box a couple weeks ago and they were brooding down there. So no real gain to rotating if the queen already moved down.

[@downunderfulla6001]

🍺🍺

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Cheers!