Feeding bees 🐝 & stopping 🛑 SHB | Beekeeping

Today on ‪@BohemiaBees‬ we are feeding our bees much needed #pollen substitute and attempting to stop those pesky small hive beetles (SHB). We are testing a new technique to ward off those SHB by applying some crushed peppermint candy powder to the surface of the #pollenpatties . (King Leo Fine Crushed Candy, Peppermint, 5 Pounds amzn.to/3UhRoVe)
In some tests performed by the Hill Billie Beekeeping group - ‪@houstonsheltonbees814‬ ‪@HillBillyEarl‬ ‪@TennesseeMountainBees‬ and several others they found peppermint candies to be a successful, so we thought we would give it a try and it actually did repel the SHB and the bees were able to consume the pollen patty and even ate the candy sugar coating.
We recognize that techniques like these can be somewhat controversial and not endorsed by every beekeeper, however, we believe that in order to grow as a beekeeper, one must embrace new ideas and strategies to give our bees the best chance they have for survival.
If for some reason you DON'T endorse this practice, it's easy to just scroll on to another video and dismiss it, but we found a slight benefit and love BEEing Innovative!
TOOLS WE USE
Hive tool : amzn.to/3nRB6nM
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VIDEO CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro
0:08 What are we doing in the apiary today?
0:54 Providing a pollen (protein) supplement to your bees
2:12 Testing a new way to prevent SHB
3:00 Using crushed peppermint to coat our pollen patties
4:08 Installing these coated patties into a hive
5:36 Recap what we did
6:55 Wrap up/Outro
Videos are produced, edited, and published by Jason Crook, Owner & Operator of Bohemia Apiary. Jason is a University of Montana Master Certified Beekeeper, who has been keeping bees for almost a decade and enjoys sharing his experiences with the craft of beekeeping. Remember beekeeping is local, our videos outline are what works for us and are not intended to be a prescription for your bee colonies or how to operate your apiary. Although these concepts are generally endorsed by many beekeepers you have to listen, watch, and learn from your bees as well as other resources in the craft of beekeeping.
"Beekeeping is more than a hobBEE, it's an obsession" - J.Crook
Thank you for your support.
Comments are welcome, we try to respond.
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#honey #peppermint #smallhivebeetle #SHB #pollenpatty #feedingyourbees #honeybeevideos #honeybeebusiness #howtokeepbees #beehive #beekeeping101 #bohemiabees #beehive #beekeeping101 #bohemiabees #honey #honeybee

[@houstonsheltonbees814]

Very cool brother 👍 excellent idea on buying the peppermint already crushed. Thanks 👍 good health and God bless

[@BohemiaBees]

You gave me the idea 💡 thank you 🙏🏻 I’ll let you know how it goes.

[@houstonsheltonbees814]

@@BohemiaBees thanks brother 👍 but I took it from Earl LoL.. and he got it from his mentor. But it was all shared among beekeeper's. That's why I'm a big supporter of sharing information. So thanks for sharing this again. Looking forward to hearing how it works in your apiary. God bless my friend 👍

[@GEEZBEEZ]

Like the crushed idea on the patty. I used whole peppermints on found they reduced beetle numbers drastically. Anxious to see how that works for you. Thanks for the information. Take care.

[@628DirtRooster]

Good idea with the crushed peppermint.

[@WildwoodsBeekeeping]

That is very cool Jason! Great method! God bless

[@BohemiaBees]

Thanks

[@lkmary1]

Looking forward to your results.

[@BohemiaBees]

Our preliminary results were positive. The colonies we did this had a boost of pollen this fall. And we didn’t seem to have any excess SHB running around. Cannot say empirically that it is a “silver bullet” solution. But I believe it helped.

[@MyRestoRide]

Great Video!!!

[@WildlifeAdventuresWithVincent]

Howdy Howdy Jason! 🐝🐝🍯

[@BohemiaBees]

Hey Vincent

[@dcsblessedbees]

Very cool, they sure look to be helping many keepers with those beetles. Earl was reading that the peppermint is a potential additive for a good bee gut also.👍

[@markmiller4047]

I luv watching a good experiment and seeing the results from it we all learn from the hard work thanks Jason God bless

[@honeyandthecoop803]

I've tried pieces of peppermint but I like the idea of crushed straight on the patty.... let us know the results when you get them.

[@tlcraig9033]

we purchase 3 lbs at a time is eaten in three weeks ..... beetles are at bay anyway being the start of Mississippi fall/winter....bees love this minted type of sugar

[@BohemiaBees]

Great to hear. Thanks for sharing

[@jkbeekeeper9459]

First Comment sir. Vedio running..

[@BohemiaBees]

Thank you for the support

[@CastleHives]

Good stuff Jason. We have so little brood right now in my area, our season is about done.

[@BohemiaBees]

I always like to give them a small boost in brood going into early winter.

[@nickford5549]

A90 degree fitting at entrance will stop the beetles from entering. Also alittle gap under the the entrance that leads to a tray of de also works well. Hive defender design from down under

[@BohemiaBees]

Entrance guards are one of several mitigation techniques. But it’s not the silver bullet. Thanks for the comment.

[@woodlandharvesthoneycompanyllc]

Wonder if dusting the crushed peppermint around on top of the frames and in corners would repell the SHB.

[@BohemiaBees]

I’m sure it would but then you get it all over the place and we would rather just use it to deter them from nesting in the pollen Patties

[@woodlandharvesthoneycompanyllc]

@@BohemiaBees Good point. I've used the peppermint candy and I have definitely noticed a lot less beatles when I did. Also I tried putting peppermint extract in the sugar syrup when feeding. That seemed to help keep the number of beatles down. They definitely don't like it.

[@CMPearrow]

Nice Drake shirt !

[@BohemiaBees]

Love that clothing line