Expanding my Beekeeping Operation - building hives and treating for disease

[@phossilphil4201]

Hi Alex, I'm a 32 year old beekeeper in New Zealand, and it is really awesome to see how different the beekeeping styles are. I work for a company that has around 20,000 hives and have been working here full time for the last 15 years, and a few years ago I decided to get some hives of my own as well, and am currently sitting at 23 hives. If you're interested in seeing how our hives are different from yours, let me know and I can send you some pics of my hives at my house, it's insane how different they can be set up around the world. Keep up with making such awesome content, I'm really enjoying all your vids, and am hoping to be able to get into some home gardening as well

[@kirstievapron4705]

NZ honey is the best. In fact NZ is the best in many many ways 💚

[@Euro.Patriot]

@@kirstievapron4705 If you were given 5 unlabelled jars from a market and told one was from NZ you'd spend a good few minutes trying to work out which one it is because you can't tell the difference.

[@kirstievapron4705]

Having lived In NZ I’m pretty sure I would you know !!!! I eat honey daily. Id know 👍

[@vexed832]

@@Euro.Patriot bro let kirstie enjoy their nz honey lmao

[@SilverSabertooth]

5th reply cuz ik this is gonna blow up lol

[@bastaartp7855]

Hi Alex, Painting your wood is good for more than just the looks. Originally, paint was applied to wood to make sure the wood stays good for longer, and this still is the case. If you want to give your hives a longer lifetime, applying some paint, or even varnish/lacquer or whatever it is called, will keep the wood from being weathered down by the elements for much longer. I would definitely recommend it.

[@sarahsleamanova2072]

Is using the bees wax an option too? Would be nice cycle with all the bees offer.

[@brunoquelhas8786]

@@sarahsleamanova2072 You can use wax to coat your hives, but paraffin wax is used, not bee wax. You'll need also some micro-crystaling wax. Here you see how it's done: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXyVYoWMdr1kb9U

[@plasticlobster23]

This is one of the reasons why they use cedar. Cedar contains weatherproofing oils and weathers beautifully instead of degrading. In America, many high-end homes have cedar shingles on the roofs because they last many years in the elements and look beautiful once weathered.

[@wess1405]

What he said. Also, pay extra attention to end grain of the wood, as it sucks up most moisture.

[@Someguy98498]

Just make sure your paint is vapour open, and that you dont use plastic based paints. Vapour open solutions as oil or limestone based paints are better for the enviroment and the wood itself. As wood acts somewhat of a sponge, its important to let the wood drain and dry out. Placticpaint is vapour closed, and can cause fungi and deteriation. Furthermore, the plasticpaint will crack eventually, and leave big "chips" plactic in your garden. You can also make your own paint from linoil, oxidepowder (natural coloring minerals) and buttermilk, which is quit fun.

[@MrJudgementday99]

It is very good of your dad to let you have more hives. One thing I wondered is if you asked locally if anyone would let you keep bees in their gardens, it could spread the word and would expand you flock or whatever the collective is for bees

[@Acudit]

I think the word would be "colony". However, that seems more like it would refer to the bees within one hive in particular, instead of all of the bees he owns collectively. I don't know.

[@MarshmallowBoy]

His dad is based

[@Cringeneth]

@@MarshmallowBoy *vineboom*

[@MarshmallowBoy]

@@Cringeneth *BoomVine*

[@FigaroHey]

He did ask for people to let him put bees on their land. See the full-length one-year video. It's at the end.

[@JensenHess]

Never thought I'd enjoy watching a kid and his bees so much. You make me want to get into beekeeping as well.

[@Tejendra542]

Me too 😊

[@oldman1111]

Yep. Definitely pretty crazy to have caught this video.

[@SpacesDaily]

Why don't you, I have the most Aggressive African honey bees, 26 hives now.

[@Kay-xb9cp]

Hi Alex. Great to watch you develop as a beekeeper. A couple of things to help you from a Scottish beekeeper with 6 years experience: put your fondant blocks directly on top of your frames, not on the crown board, your bees can then access it across several frames rather than through a small hole (a mistake I made in my first year and my bees starved!). Also have a water source close to your hives, a shallow bowl with pebbles and moss and water from a water butt (not tap water). Enjoy your bee keeping!

[@el_nyuki]

Im a beekeeper from Kenya 🇰🇪🇰🇪. Your videos are really enjoyable to watch. All the best with your expansion Alex!!👍🏾

[@rngithinjifx]

How can I start bee keep am in meru

[@lecutter9382]

Just three suggestions. #1. You should keep a water source close by the hives for them. Just a small birdbath filled with small stones and pebbles with do - sloping up the sides so they can walk down to the water. #2. If you want to protect your new bee boxes - going forward - give them the viking treatment. Get some raw linseed oil and organic pine tar, then do a 50/50 mix. It'll preserve the wood for decades, and it's food and insect safe - and pine tar smells so good! Just leave them to dry for a week or two before you introduce bees to them. I do this for all my raised garden beds too. #3. You can easily build an insulating frame box to go over your bee boxes for the winter. Just need to cut out around the exit of the box for air circulation. Pop it on in the winter, take it off in the spring. Happy, warm, bees, also use less energy to stay warm, so less food required for them. Keep at it, love your work, man!

[@frani172]

😂 love how your dad is adamant his garden still looks good!! Hope your honey business takes off, what an amazing story that would be.

[@atharvabhide9375]

Hi Alex, awesome video. I'm a biologist (although more into the microbial field) so always into data collection and analysis. Might I recommend you draw a grid on the white board you insert at the bottom of the hive, so that you can get an average square inch concentrations/infestation of mites. Depending on how often you swap out the boards, you can track if the mite concentration is increading/decreasing over time. It'll let you know how effective the strips are as well, if you get a sudden increase and then decrease. Hope it helps and keeps the bees healthy. Best wishes from New Zealand.

[@MrsHenny91]

I originally started watching you for your beekeeping. Then your recent 3 hour video was playing as I woke from a nap, I continued to watch all 3 hours of it. Your voice is so calm, your adventures are calming. I love your channel already and only been watching you for the last couple of days.

[@happycamper4329]

Hi Alex, a tip for you: never wear dark clothing around bees, including gloves. This will sound stupid but I've had numerous beekeepers tell me that it's something to do with bees thinking you might be a bear! I thought it was a myth, until I was mowing my lawn (about 5 metres from the nearest hive) wearing black gardening gloves and a few of the guard bees came charging at me and stung me on the hand! Also, bees are generally a little more defensive when there's a strong nectar flow on. If you have aggressive bees, then it's best to swap out the queen and replace her with a new docile queen, especially if you have neighbours.

[@joshuahowlett3586]

Your bee videos are top tier , hidden gem of a channel

[@thelazychefuk4410]

From what I have heard painted hives help prevent drift, they provide visual cues so returning bees can easily locate their own colony. Different hive colours or blocks of colour help bees hone in on the right hive. Seeing you have more hives now it seems worth doing that.

[@joatmofa0405]

VERY VERY informative - it is amazing that a "newbee" (pun intended) like yourself makes it easy for ALL to understand! Really a very good EDUCATOR!

[@halleyevans1980]

Your dad is a gem Alex! I started beekeeping in 2022 :) im on my journey with you lol :)

[@Elsa-wq1ep]

painting or even varnishing the wood is really good to protect it from rotting or being weathered down by the elements as easily

[@tammycastleberry6184]

Hi Alex, You can put another brood box on top of both of your hives to give your queen more room to lay. So you will have two brood boxes on each hive. If there isn’t more room for the queen to lay they make more room by swarming. Plus you will get more honey because the queen can lay more worker bees 😊 Watch Bob Bennie or Kamon Reynolds they are very helpful and David Burns. Just passing along with I have learned ❤ love your videos

[@xanmontes8715]

Man I wish you all the best! May your bees swarm right when you want them to, may the mites die off when you need them to and may the honey flow as heavily as you wish it to!! I'm a beekeeper in Spain so I like to think of these videos as an update from a fellow brother in the hive :P

[@adamyaffe]

Thank you for your videos Alex, you're quite wonderful to watch. I admire what you do and all you learn and you teach. Please keep doing what you do!

[@cryptopeter1]

Good stuff Alex. I'm Peter in Palm Beach, Florida. I loved that KZbin directed me to you and your bees. Would love to meet you. Pete

[@Meethejarate]

I am amazed that he literally made *eating breakfast* entertaining 17:32

[@menschemaschine]

Thank you for using independent local businesses like ours Alex 👍 and for me being in the video 😀

[@MattHolstein]

Hey amigo! 30 years experience here from California. Always happy to see the next generation following the passion. Look forward to seeing you get into splitting hives, learning about requeening, and more!

[@natandessie]

If you look into VSH Bees. They are more Verroa mite resistant. Researchers are working on making colonies that can fight mites better. When I went to VSH bees it was life changer. Varroa mite and and too strong hives are my weakness.

[@natandessie]

I also here Saskatraz bees do well in the cold. I will be trying them this year. :)

[@laurenloertscher1319]

favorite moments: (knocks on fondant) (the dad's evil giggle after shutting his son in the van) "They have a few less than they did before" "this is an egg. it came from a chicken" "huddling together like penguins" "the bees don't need them to be painted..." (the dad and his orchids) "it's so good to see my little friends agaaaain" "it's like a drive thru, but for bee equipment" "I am surrounded by lots of pieces of wood" "I'm already confused" (skips to a KZbin tutorial) "you don't really want baby bees...er, inside your honey"

[@billsalt2206]

The planet needs more guys like you!

[@scott701230]

I’m glad your dad finally conceded to your request. Happy days!

[@emmkinn1808]

Started following a few days ago. Really relaxing and inspiring content

[@Byrd_Gaming]

Never cared about bees until that last big video i found of yours, now I look forward to them and supporting the channel!

[@kiknadzeknits]

When I was little, we used to have hives that opened from the back instead of top, so they could be stacked on top of each other. My grandfather and dad had them stacked on top of each other in rows. Nice memories 😊

[@simonharris3709]

Alex - you crack me up. I own a Practice in Herts. and keep bees. At the moment we have a skeleton dispensing team and so after a day of Optometry, I spend evenings doing the dispensing and any admin. I’ve watched / listened to several of your videos here in succession and some of your comments make me laugh spontaneously out loud. I love your enthusiasm and dedication as much as your researched nuggets of wisdom. Keep up the good work.

[@littii]

Thank you for sharing your journey, I wanna keep bees now

[@lampshade6579]

Impeccable Timing. I just finished the day 1 to a year video and still wanted more.

[@zaltyshydra1927]

Should maybe try and put a little slanted style roofing on the lids of the hives so that way the water falls off of the hives instead of sitting on top. Just a little food for thought 😊 enjoying the videos though amazing content!!

[@marionchase-kleeves8311]

Free rm and brd for bees and painting the bee stands? Sounds fair to me! Anything for the bees! Pine rots quickly in wet weather. Make bee stands out of cedar and wet westher is no problem. Love the program 24:09 and admire your parents!

[@robertforrest7956]

Dec. 21 2022, my 66th birthday 🤣🤣🤣. Enjoy your 🐝🐝 content. 👍🏻 If you're worried about roof leaks, what about coating it with Flex Shield.. that rubber stuff sealant. ??? I grow miniature Orchids. Love your Dad's Cymbidium!!! Nice Bloomage!! My mini orchids are like my pets too... 😅👍🏻👍🏻 Rock It Dad! 🤣

[@robertforrest7956]

@OfficialJustAlex. SCAM. YOU'VE BEEN REPORTED.

[@moniquehebert178]

Let the bees where the flowers are, your honey will taste like the flowers of the fruits the flowers were on. It’s great to see all the flowers Go Canada!!!🇨🇦

[@yosoyhansolo]

I can't seem to get enough of Alex's Bee Keeping videos. Cheers from Southwestern U.S. 🤙

[@floppysquid2036]

I've been watching your videos for the past two weeks, and they've honestly been so inspirational. Wishing for your success in the future! 🙏

[@stephencrabtree3161]

You got 12kg of honey man, that’s awesome 👏. Very educational stuff about mites, pests and diseases etc. You are learning loads ( and so are we). Keep it up matey

[@chellebaker7729]

I absolutely adore your videos Alex. You are such a kind soul, with an amazingly relaxing energy. Keep up the fantastic work, and let me know when you harvest some of your honey. I'd gladly buy some to support more hives and future projects!!! Your Koi are also gorgeous!!

[@King_Bob_The_Third]

So no disappearing on holiday during swarm season this year then. I hope you'll be able to catch them before they get up in the trees and split the hives easier than last year. Really enjoy watching you learn and do new things and I look forward to your upcoming Bee antics and whatever else you get up to. Never stop learning and all the best for 2023. 👍

[@lukedominicodonnell2347]

Alex, Yours is my new favourite channel.

[@arysmethic6422]

Hello Alex! I am loving this bee keeping content because just like your brother, I'm horribly allergic to bees but seeing you become a bee keeper and teaching me more about bees, I've grown sentiments towards bees and understand them much deeper now. they are such lovely beings and knowing we can co exist with them without harming them and really taking care of them is making me want to do bee keeping myself! I've learned about bees and how important they are for our ecosystem, keep it up! 💯

[@MelissaM83]

A record is soooooo important!!! And extremely helpful! Well done!

[@TheBuddyBunch.]

Well done alex you have done so well with every thing from your van to your bees and just your life in general i love these videos i watch every single one of them you've done so so well to get people to watch your videos and like i said keep it up 👊🔥🇬🇧

[@RosemaryChambers]

I love your positivity and adventurous spirit. You are inspiring people all over the world to try new things and live life with intention. I showed one of your traveling videos to my husband and he looked at me and said, "Let's buy a van!"

[@daveylocker8]

You have inspired me to try my hand at bee keeping. Thank you Alex! I’ve thought about doing it for a few years now here on my farm in Northern New Mexico, as one of my friends kept a few hives here years back. The biggest problem he had was bears destroyed his hives several times. We finally discovered the best way to keep them safe was to put them inside of a cattle trailer with a roof on it. After he put them in there, we heard the bear angrily trying to get into the trailer at night several times. But never successfully. Haha

[@GPH2474]

Another great video. Does dad want more bees! Of course, they quietly help he's work grow...

[@Benjamin.A.]

love watching bees, thx keeping bees!

[@thomasswenddal772]

"And there we have a complete cedar beehive." You've inspired me and my heart skips a beat for you. Carry on bold explorer, I'm enjoying watching your progress and joy of being young, teachable, and scaling the heights of a mountain. Most Excellent!

[@DameAndThatGame]

YOu have come a long way Alex in VERY short time, well done lad, such honest, kind careing person, an amazing positive outlook on life, your definalty a breath of fresh air in my nto so bright life atm, cheers.

[@bluerose4995]

I love how much effort, money and time you spend on your videos and I hope you the best for your growing bee keeping business. As you expand your business you might be interested in a bee invention we have in Australia. its basically a hive where honey can be extracted without carrying heavy load of honey and using expensive processing equipment instead it pours right out of the hive as pure honey. keep up the good work and thanks for sharing your journey. I can't wait to see what you have in plan next!

[@chrisfogg8018]

Alex, you should treat the ends of the 4x4 post that touch the ground and slip some slate under to keep them off the dirt. They should last a lot longer that way. Love the vids mate, watched you and your brother pretty much since you first started years ago.

[@TT-id3dp]

excited to see the future of these bees!

[@tlaren]

I cannot *wait* to see how things go with this! I've been captivated by your earlier videos and I'm so excited for what comes next for you, Alex!

[@lucymason4142]

Alex, sounds like you could do a world tour of beekeeping?! The beautiful environments and landscapes you would see would be fascinating, as well as the people involved..

[@shinuizabusa2180]

Thanks for sharing your life with us, you are awesome buddy. Much love

[@JJekyll]

Power to ya man,youre an inspiration to the world in my opinion. Ive never even thought bee keeping was for me but after watching you i really wanna try

[@E11JiimBo]

Been watching since the secret lake! I’ve not fished for years. But I have become a keen gardener. Now I’m onto bees! You have always had a wise head on young shoulders 🤙🏾🤙🏾 Can’t believe I’ve found your content after all these years and it’s on a completely different subject. 👍🏾👍🏾

[@mirandaandrea8215]

Bees I believe are one of the most sacred magical creatures on the planet and you are doing a wonderful job of nurturing and being their guardian! Humanity would be lost without them and so many people do not realise how critical they are for so much of the food we eat! Bless the bees!!!

[@gaelcalloch3200]

I like how your dad embraced you beekeeping operation!

[@deniseahearn1002]

Just when I think I understand it all, there is always more to learn. Thank you for your awesome videos. Please keep them coming.

[@CheeseWithMold]

The apiary looks beautiful with the painted stands and the mulch you added in afterwards! Well done!

[@myleahrydberg2478]

This is quickly becoming my favorite channel. Thank you and keep up the great work!

[@hassanifaz6866]

I really like your video. Like I can watch your video peacefully. The video will be calm and you will be explaining everything very sweetly. I really like your video. I want more videos like growing garden and sharing your information 💋❤

[@TheArtisticGardener777]

Your parents’ garden is lovely and your bees look great! Very nice of your dad to give up space(and bushes!) in the garden to support your bee venture😊. Not to mention turning the kitchen into a bee box building studio workshop!lol. Fun seeing where the apple came from…you with your “pet” bees and your dad with his “pet” orchids and tortoise.❤. Cheers!😊

[@Terryb31]

Nice one Alex, your presenting style has really come a long way over the last couple of years. I found that this latest vlog was so educational and informative so well done. keep up the good work and may you have the best of luck this year with your Bees.

[@colly1952]

Your dad must love what your bees do for his plants.

[@superbalaur1297]

Thank you for sharing your experiences with us! I am of the opinion that all the wood kept in the open should be painted-including the beehive boxes! Stops them from rotting, being eaten by woodworms and/or mice and as a bonus they look great if you use different, vibrant colours.

[@kadshahnisa1259]

Building is satisfying

[@DementiaSurvivor]

Thank you, I am really enjoying watching you enjoy life.😊

[@EarlsFishingAdventures]

I cant wait to see how you get on. I wish you all the best and hope your plans for having more bees becomes a reality. I know you have more plans for the garden like your veg and also planting more flowers to also help the bees. Please please keep us updated and again i hope everything goes well.

[@jacobking3361]

out of all the videos ive watched from you, it seems that bee keeping is something you look super comfortable and confident in. and you aren't teaching people. you're taking us along your journey as a humble person. that is invaluable. glad i found this place.

[@benkermen8360]

Hello Alex, we have Almond and Prune orchards in Northern California. Many years ago - before the time of KZbin - I read a book on bee keeping because I love honey and thought it would be a great hobby. After reading about what was required it felt like a bit more than I was willing to do. In addition I get honey from the bee keepers that pollinate our orchards in the spring. After watching your video I have been re-inspired to give it a try. The challenge for me will be protecting my bees when we are applying pesticides since my bees will be kept on site year round. Typically bee keepers will remove their hives when we notify them of an application. I have a plan on how to navigate this but we shall see. Thank you for the inspiration to give it a go again.

[@RDMGAMER]

Just gonna point this out cause sometimes we need a reminder of how grateful we need to be. I don't hate my parents and I love them for who I became. However my parents would never support my passions and goals like yours do. I am a expert psychologist and I can recognize your dads hesitation as you prob do but he's supporting it anyways and that's worth a world of gold anyhow.

[@jacksfacts20]

Great video! Though you really need to learn how to lift with your legs and not your back, you’re going to blow a disk that way. Keep your chest up more and get lower with your legs so that you can basically do a squat up with it. Might be worth getting a trainer to learn some basic lifting movements so you don’t hurt yourself when expanding the bee population.

[@georgigeorgiev6402]

Alex, I have no idea what is it about your beekeeping videos but I can't stop watching.

[@2013MyMusic]

Great watch Alex, my sister and I really enjoy your bee keeping 😊

[@justinsmeltzer2295]

I've been doing a lot of research myself cuz I plan on having my own bees and I ended up stumbling across your videos so it's definitely helping out. And another thing I seen is it's good to have a certain type of mushroom around your bees to keep them from getting a specific type of disease that causes their wings not to develop correctly

[@omrdnb]

Even scramble yer eggs like a pro 👌🏾🤣 love how you fully apply yourself mate . Stay blessy 🙏🏽👊🏽✌🏽💜

[@BertClanGaming]

I saw a video of you from last year, Me and my friends got really excited of that video. We are getting ready for the summer to get our own hive going. We hope it is as much fun as your bee hives! Thanks for the content, I hope we also get honey this year :)

[@daviddeane7293]

Nice one, Alex. Nice to see you're extending your bee collection. You're becoming a pro 👌🐝🐝🐝 and it's always very interesting to watch. I can't wait for the next one keep up the amazing work, Alex, as always 🐝😁👍

[@randomstufftvgoodstuff3981]

Hi I am my name is Chayton I am from the USA and I am part of the FFA . I have a SAE which is a supervise agriculture event . I am doing mine is on bees and my adviser says for the winter it helps not needed but helps to make a insulated box and it will helps to keep the bees heat that they make so they do not need to work as much to keep the warm in the winter P.S I have only doing this for one year I am a sophomore in high school love what you are doing keep it up

[@illeatthat]

I love your care for the most amazing insects in the world. They're amazing - even as a none beekeeper; I appreciate bees and always will. They never harm you unless you are a threat. Love you for it too Alex! You're a keeper of the bees and that's amazing. Youre amazing. Thankyou for taking care of my best friends x

[@KayiFarmJaHoneyBees]

a little extra protection is good. so, painting will go a long way to preserve them longer. all the best!

[@FlyingGameerz]

i can't wait for more beekeeping updates! exited to see what's to come of this adventure

[@Topazzzzzz]

I was wondering about more hives since the compost bin video had a second hive stand! Love that your dad decided to allow more hives- he really mustve liked last year's honey haha And you did say gardening is his thing so bees are great for him too anyway!

[@e7erni7y15]

These videos are so amazing and wholesome Alex. Love your channel. 🥰

[@macksir8938]

Alex I loved this video your so knowledgeable of bees now so awesome keep us informed more please.

[@dougstucki8253]

Hi Alex, I'm a beekeeper and a woodworker in a similar climate as yours. While the cedar hives look very nice in their natural unpainted state, you can make them last much longer with some sort of protectant. I really like the look of the natural wood, so I treat mine with a mixture of 50% paraffin wax and 50% microcrystalline wax. I then apply that to the outside of the hive with a heat gun until the wood will absorb no more. I'm 4 years in and my hives still look brand new. Cheers!

[@PenguinzWatchYou]

I just found your channel today and watched all your beekeeping content only for you to post more! thank you for the good information and entertainment you bring to the subject. I wish you luck with homesteading!

[@abdalhamed1491]

I would like to come back here in 10 years maybe to see that you run the biggest bee operation in the world I would really love to see the whole thing !

[@downeyjoshua31]

your dad was right about the paint. it does look much better

[@1968Zedar]

Absolutely fascinating as always. Great job Alex!👍

[@LeeShand]

Another banger video. I find these so relaxing Alex. Helps me forget about my daily worries for a little while!

[@chupachupsik95]

After watching a few of these bee videos, I'm convinced beekeeping is the coolest thing ever

[@shanewhite4256]

As a carpenter I’d probably screw something extra supports under your stands because the screws can snap over time and the weight of 200kg from the 3 hives might compromise the strength of the screws all you need is just a block into the legs supporting the timbers that the hive base sits on. Really enjoy your content looking forward to seeing you grow in knowledge and the subs 😇🙏❤️☮️🌟

[@michalgalik5395]

Great video Alex cant wait to see honey harvest again and good luck with the bees❤

[@1965Ady]

Bet your folks love you hammering on top of their kitchen table Alex 😂😂