Are the bees Swarming, Being Robbed, or Orientating? Let's find out.

[@mbgal7758]

I love watching them in slow motion. They’re so clumsy bumping in to each other. This is a great idea for a video. New beekeepers are always asking about this so it’s nice to have a visual representation.

[@FrederickDunn]

Thank you so much!

[@mountainhobbit1971]

I recently found a wild honey been colony in an oak tree about 6 feet off the ground and their entrance was a natural round hole that was 1 1/2" in diameter, it was so fun to watch them going in and out...the guards we all around that entrance. Looked to me like the trunk diameter of this tree was about 12-14". First wild hive I've ever found.

[@FrederickDunn]

Hi Sean! We can learn so much from feral honey bee colony observations. I'm glad you have them and so accessible. I have several that I'm loosely keeping an eye on but they are a bit of a trip for me to visit.

[@mountainhobbit1971]

@@FrederickDunn Hi Fred! Happy last days of summer.

[@carlsledge3868]

I'm thinking about finding an old oak hollow tree, and splitting in halves cleaning out plenty of room with my chainsaw then putting it back together maybe 6' tall and putting wild swarm in it to see how they fair over time, BTW Frederick my hives are all on a common boxed metal tubing hive stand about 4" apart they all washboard alot, but recently I noticed they even washboard the metal tubing as well, my hive bottoms only have an inch landing space, this metal was painted long ago and we cut it up to make the stand, the paint has oxidized into a dull dark gray, but where they've washboard it, it's a semi gloss colored like you rubbed with a magic eraser.

[@billymac9330]

@@carlsledge3868 Hey Carl, I've got 5 log hives about 5-6' tall and I hollowed them out with a large saw at both ends. Put wired screen on tops and bottoms to keep rodents out and 4" bases and tops. I'm sure you will really enjoy watching go in and out of the logs. I sure do! Back in May had a swarm move into a log I had set up 3 weeks prior, that was really fun to see!

[@billymac9330]

Very cool! I'm still looking for my first feral bee tree and while I wait, putting up some natural habitat for them on my farm.

[@jcbethke1]

Thanks for the great description of a fast inspection..did about the same thing today on my layens hive. Loved the slow motion of the hive entrance

[@FrederickDunn]

Glad it was helpful!

[@peterg2569]

Excellent information Frederick.

[@FrederickDunn]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@bradgoliphant]

Always great watching!!! Hey, Video day with the Flow Team was AMAZING! Sooo much fun. Boy these guys got amazing footage--and you will soon get a look into my hive--excited to share it with you. I told them you said hi, they they said," yes, we love Frederick; he does a lot for us." All the best to you.

[@FrederickDunn]

Hi Brad! I'm so glad you had that experience with the Flow-Cinematic Team :) everyone at Flow is great and a joy to associate with. I'm sure they got great sequences and I'm looking forward to seeing that entire presentation!

[@GaryManess]

The three workers that rolled out head frist to the deck back flipped off wings still going. Made me laugh. Great video as always Mr Dunn. Great information. Seems my bees are in wash board mode, have a great weekend

[@FrederickDunn]

Glad you enjoyed it, and it's fun to see what they are really doing.

[@framcesmoore]

This was great Fred, always enjoy your videos Thanks and have a blessed week

[@FrederickDunn]

Thanks, you too!

[@ZAaron-wq5jd]

Always something new to learn watching Fred's videos. Great delivery too. He's like the "Bob Ross" of beekeeping.

[@FrederickDunn]

Wow, thanks! It's an honor to be compared to Bob :)

[@marybarratt2649]

Fascinating video once again. Im learning so much. The slow motion filming is great to see. Thank you for posting.

[@FrederickDunn]

Glad you enjoyed it, and you're welcome!

[@CastleHives]

Good info Fred. The slow motion, I really love watching it. The clumsy movements, we might think so but as you said they are much faster than us clumsy humans. 20% drones, did not know that. Hope you have a great Labor Day weekend.

[@FrederickDunn]

Thanks Brian! You too.

[@carlsledge3868]

I always glean some new knowledge from your videos, Thx Frederick.

[@FrederickDunn]

Hi Carl! Thank you so much.

[@carlsledge3868]

Since you are foremost expert in photography I know, could one use a Flir thermal camera or something simular, to look at and make reasonable cluster evaluation and save the data on a per hive basis to know if their bees are near starving when it's too cold to open the hive for a formal inspection? I ask because last spring when we had the artic bomb cyclone and it below freezing all the way into mid Florida, I don't have anything like that, but a friend has a night thermal hunting scope and I used to look at my triple deep that had started bringing in pollen so I knew they started spring build-up and I could tell they had a cluster size of about 6-7 frames wide and it was about a frame tall with 1/2 into the second box, more oval shaped from the front of the hive, kind like football stood on end, but longer from the side of the hive like a football lying down. lol that whole week I wrapped the hive with some old moth eaten quilts we had stored in out building and used bungy cords to hold it in place, only the small entrance was left uncovered, in the mid day a few bees came out to do cleansing flights, but as soon it warmed back up to our normal weather they were back at it finding pollen, that's the hive I got 2 splits off In early April.

[@UTsnowsailor]

Enjoy your videos so much. Always learn from them and you can count on them being beautiful to watch. 🙏

[@FrederickDunn]

Than you VERY much!

[@kennith.]

Thank you Fred.

[@FrederickDunn]

You're welcome, Kennith! Thanks for watching.

[@raymschmidt6032]

loved the slo mo and info!

[@FrederickDunn]

So glad!

[@lambbrookfarm4528]

I have been watching my bees and I was just wondering, wow, Fred, you're the man! Very timely, thank you

[@FrederickDunn]

Glad to help :)

[@denisebrady6858]

I am brand new to learning about Bees & go to a Beekeeper just near me every 2nd Wed. & Saturday with others that actually have their own hives. We have just moved out of winter & are in our 2nd day of Spring here in Brisbane Australia. I have a fabulous market garden & we do trades but I have so many Bees in my garden at the moment it is terrific to see. Thank You for your videos as they are so informative & have helped me greatly. Cheers Denise-Brisbane Australia

[@FrederickDunn]

Hi Denise, thank you so much for watching and sharing what's going on in your part of the world. I hope you have a fantastic year there.

[@agaperootsurbanhomestead962]

Always a pleasure watching your videos!

[@FrederickDunn]

Glad you like them!

[@pomicultorul]

Thank you for your continuous efforts, amazing quality at all levels!

[@FrederickDunn]

Thank you so much!

[@sassischassis7187]

Great info and guidance. Thank you so much. Well done

[@FrederickDunn]

Glad it was helpful!

[@dcsblessedbees]

That is way cool Fred, but I have a question 😏why do they keep running into my bald head😉Ty this was very interesting.🐝bumper cars, makes me laugh.🤣

[@FrederickDunn]

If you are getting head-butted... they are politely asking you to leave :)

[@rickwarner516]

Always good thank you Fred

[@frankcastle1216]

Thank you so much for these videos! I'm considering keeping bees eventually and trying to learn all I can beforehand.

[@FrederickDunn]

You're welcome, Frank. Definitely tak your time and learn all you can before jumping in. :)

[@jimhughes6794]

Great Job and instructive. Thanks so much for your efforts.

[@FrederickDunn]

You're very welcome.

[@Darren_Nicola]

Great watch , fabulous to see how they are doing hopefully a strong happy winter ahead for that hive . Have a nice evening /day , good night from me 😀

[@FrederickDunn]

Thanks, you too!

[@ramomoody8120]

Wonderful footage like always .

[@FrederickDunn]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@GrowCookPreserveWithKellyDawn]

Very helpful information. Thank you!

[@martyavalos5913]

Very helpful information! Thank you! ❤ 🐝

[@FrederickDunn]

You are so welcome!

[@umustbbornagainActs2-38]

Wish I would've seen this a couple weeks ago. This exact behaviour was happening at my hive and me being a new beekeeper since April this year panicked. So I got a garden hose and sprayed it in the air standing about 8' away from the hive to mimic a rainstorm. Within 5 minutes all was calm and stayed calm the remainder of the day. Maybe it wasnt being robbed after all. Thanks for another great video.

[@GaryManess]

The frist robbing I seen was a feral hive that swarm late. It was a battle, bees everywhere not just at entrance. Bees locked up on ground. They got clean out in one day the robbers stayed the night and left the next day. It can happen fast You have to act fast I've seen that frist hand

[@FrederickDunn]

You definitely want to get on top of any robbing incidents... but prevention will go a long way if you can reduce entrances on less productive colonies.

[@offshoot1008]

Irish spring soap cut in quarters and placed around the hive during robbing period helps to blanket out the smell of honey.

[@bonsaicann9659]

Thanks so much what a great presentation the slow motion explaining what the bees where doing, I appreciated it very much. Your calming voice matched with this video A+.

[@FrederickDunn]

Thank you so much, I really appreciate that compliment :)

[@wpankey57]

The video. I learned a lot. It was interesting to see that kind of hive. I’ve never used one. Thanks!

[@FrederickDunn]

Glad it was helpful!

[@MsNicAlexander]

Amazing. Thank you.

[@FrederickDunn]

You're very welcome :)

[@thegr8stm8]

Gr8 video, Fred… always amazed at your capabilities and thanks for the personal background info… we are kind of like minded. I did Technical Sales and Marketing in 14 countries in Asia Pacific for 7 years.

[@SteveDratwa]

really kool slo-mo for someone like me interested in flying behaviors and patterns,,,u wer right that bees dont need pollen sub this time of year

[@firefly4f4]

Just after 1:40 or so Was that a couple of bees falling and bouncing off the landing board, and if so what happened there? I think I saw this happen a few other times in slow motion sections.

[@FrederickDunn]

They do that often and we miss it because it just happens too fast. They even collide and fall to the ground or fly out just prior to hitting the ground. Just bees disrupting one another.

[@firefly4f4]

@@FrederickDunn Thank you!

[@wendygrant2735]

Very well explained the situation that was going on and again amazing footage. A+++

[@FrederickDunn]

Glad you enjoyed it, and thank you so much!

[@timcaron9049]

Excellent filming. I love your detailed explanations during the video. Very clear and precise details. I noticed some of the bees were carrying in white pollen. What flower does this come from? I have never seen that before. Thanks again. Take care and bee safe. Tim

[@FrederickDunn]

Thank you very much! We have lots of jewelweed around here aka Touch-Me-Not, and it produces white pollen. Just one of many, but that would be my guess this time of year :)

[@cbbees1468]

This was fun to watch!

[@FrederickDunn]

Thanks!

[@beeginner7681]

Thank you for another wonderful video, so interesting and informative, as always!

[@FrederickDunn]

Thank you.

[@francinekeane9900]

Hi Fred thanks for another great video, always learning lots from them love the slow mo as well. When do you have time to do all the normal things of life ha ha. Just coming into spring here in Sydney we have had so much rain this winter poor bees. Just wondering do you reduce your entrance even further than the 2-3 inches in the winter? Also so much mould in the frames and in the flow frames do I need to clean them before they fill them with honey that we are going to harvest?

[@FrederickDunn]

Hi Francine, the mold that often can occur on the hive interior when cold or damp conditions are present is easily removed/cleaned by the bees as they take control of their interior surfaces. When it comes to Flow-Frames, there are mating surfaces that the bees can't get to, after a few seasons I soak those in a 10% bleach solution with the frames in the OPEN position and that solves that issue. I dont' try to remove the wax or propolis from those frames as the bees re-use it. I hope that helps :)

[@orlandojohnson5742]

I know wasp have a purpose too! But I always try to leave bees alone & not step on them when I see them! But wasp/hornets too close to your active areas…. gotta go! This was a very educational video & thanks for taking care of these bees 🐝 🤘🏼👌👋🏼

[@gregorycooper7962]

How much honey will you harvest and how much will you leave in the hive for winter

[@FrederickDunn]

I leave around 50 lbs on for winter, everything above that gets taken off. This horizontal hive provided 4 gl of honey beyond what they needed for winter. Last year. This year they are even more productive.

[@erinlieb4535]

That small world feeling when I hear you're in PA. It's makes me really curious how close by you might bee.

[@trishwestberg6982]

Great video! How far away is your apiary from your house? Our bees have been angry lately so difficult to spend time in our backyard. We are feeding 2:1 feed at the moment.

[@FrederickDunn]

That particular hive is just 75 feet away. If you count the garage, the primary apiary is 80 feet from the kitchen.

[@blakemcneill1083]

I'm a 'big' person so I should be easily seen but when I walk by my hives on my way to the garden or shed, I know a couple of bees are going to fly into me on their way to the hives, so I'm not so sure about that bee motion detection frame rate :)

[@sonofthunder.]

just caught a small swarm august 30,and relocated ,odd late season swarm,so far so good

[@FrederickDunn]

Hi Mark! I've had September swarm captures make it through winter just fine. I think your chances are good this year!

[@enricotoesca3941]

Hello Frederick 🥰🥰🥰🥰

[@dravyss]

What camera did you use to get this? It looks amazing

[@FrederickDunn]

For most of my video work, I use Sony cameras, the rest are Nikon. Lots of options... this sequence was shot at 1080p 1000 frames per second, so the two minute segment in this video was really just a 12 second capture. www.krontech.ca/product-category/cameras

[@isaacsmith8746]

Busy bees are a pleasant sight

[@sonofthunder.]

love the translucent abdomens ,...and big clouds at the end

[@mattgiardina6533]

i have a dumb quistion for you have you thought about puting flow frames in that kind off hive i am thinking about getting back into bee keeping in the spring hear in the finger lakes of new york i cant lift all the heavy boxes and more and that hive whould be great and with flow frames even beater just was looking for ideas and why or why not off use in that idea thank you

[@FrederickDunn]

That's a somewhat complicated configuration, being that the flow-frames don't match the space for standard deep Langstroth frames, you need a custom access and the hive must tilt for harvesting honey from flow-frames. BUT, now that I've said that, you can surely try it out and see if they do what you want them to :)

[@karinjohnson6649]

Do you do anything to the Bee Vac to make it safer for the bees (so they don't get injured in the vacuum)?

[@FrederickDunn]

I'll talk about this on Friday, there are some very important tips! You're the second person to ask about this.

[@joeelam1]

This is so timely, sometimes I really need a bit of advise that helps me learn and help care for my bees. By the way, how is the progress for your school?

[@FrederickDunn]

Thanks, Joe! The School is great, we've has a couple of groups through already and the kids LOVE it!

[@martenapperloo1055]

Thanks for the video Fred ,another good one, well up here in northern British Columbia it hasn't been a really good year for honey production, got some but not what we were all hoping for, I took what I could from my five hives,and checked them for Varoa, suprising very low counts ,2to 3 in each hive, starting treatment with Apavar strips, since I have helped myself to their hard won honey since the season is coming to a halt should I continue with 1to 1,syrup or change to 2to 1so they can get in enough for winter,thanks in advance, always enjoy your videos, Marten.

[@FrederickDunn]

I hope they do well! Thanks for watching and taking time to comment :)

[@Peter-od7op]

Hi fred. What was the resource hive 5 over 5. I have a hive in really bad shape. I think like convert it over to resource hive.

[@FrederickDunn]

Hi Peter, depending on how small the initial swarm was, I start them as a single 5-frame deep, then add up as they build. A full sized swarm of 2+ lbs would go into a double- 5 over 5. This year, I've had to add a third level to some of them as they are just too productive. But I grow the boxes with them and insulate/cap the top box. I hope that makes sense :)

[@Peter-od7op]

@@FrederickDunn yes it does ty so much

[@ChristieAnnMitchell]

Can you tell what kind of bee it is by looking at it? Also, do you turn your flow hive bottom tray upside down in winter? Thank you ❤️

[@FrederickDunn]

Only in very general terms, the genetic lines are becoming very muddy. The old "white" trays I would turn upside down for winter, the new yellow trays are ok right side up but still need to be periodically emptied.

[@ChristieAnnMitchell]

@@FrederickDunn emptying the tray won't chill the bees in winter? It is super cold here, -20c 🫤

[@ChristieAnnMitchell]

@@FrederickDunn today I was shocked to find about 20 dead Yellowjackets in the yellow tray and 2-3 dead bees. They may be entering through a gap at the entrance. Will sticking propolis in any gaps solve the problem?

[@susanmarich5487]

I noticed robbing gets really bad when the California beekeeper takes all the honey supers off their hives (all over the fields here). They become robbing machines! I always reduce way down. BTW I found wearing double nitrile gloves don't stop stings but you can quickly take the outer glove off and prevent that pheromone from spreading.

[@FrederickDunn]

Hi Susan, when it comes to commercial beekeeping, they really don't have a lot of choices and have to push through or they would never keep up with what they need to have accomplished.

[@susanmarich5487]

Not a judgement at all. The guy is super generous (gives ranchers honey), brings diversity of drones and stays on top of things pretty well. I think the bees are just looking for more than sugar water if they can get honey.

[@beeamazzzinghives]

You mentioned that the bees in this hive are Varroa Sensitive Hygienic to help defend from Varroa mites but didn't mention the type. Being new to your channel, you may have answered this in another video but I'm trying to decide what type of honey bees I should start a hive with in Pennsylvania. Thanks for another lesson in my journey in starting a colony hopefully next spring!

[@FrederickDunn]

Hi David, there are lots of popular VSH bees from lots of reputable breeders. When and if I purchase stock, I go with BeeWeaver Queens from Texas. They have demonstrated excellent traits and are my go-to stock. They went down the treatment free path decades ago. You can learn more about why I chose them by watching this interview with Daniel Weaver: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qaepXmOmbqd8hJo

[@Mimeault]

Yes I am also interested in this bee ...and how we can get these genetics. Thanks.

[@beeamazzzinghives]

@@FrederickDunn I watched the video link and now realize that BeeWeaver is basically it's own strain compared to Italian, Carniola ect. Before I had a chance to watch it, I submitted a question on your "ask a question page" but maybe it would help others if you touched on it in an upcoming video. Problem... I am in the same boat as most where I am just starting out and can't just purchase a queen without a colony. What would the best way to approach that? Start a hive this year with a local nuc them switch out the queen the following year once the colony is established?

[@etripp111]

What about the bees around 3 minutes who seem to be tumbling backwards out of the hive? Are those drones? Thanks.

[@FrederickDunn]

They are just workers with heavy loads from foraging. It's something you only observe when there is slow motion :)

[@brendawydeven2934]

I can't find area to ask a question on your website so I will just ask here. Is their such a thing as to many full frames of pollen. My horizontal top bar hive has 6 bars of fully drawn pollen then brood frames, then honey. I dud put a couple of pollen frames in between some brood but will they need all this for winter and should I put this closer to honey in winter or pull some out. Combs are a little larger than langstroth frames.

[@FrederickDunn]

Hi Brenda, I make it a practice to never divide/checkerboard frames of brood. They work hard to keep their brood cells facing each other so they can conserve energy and warm them. When we put something else in-between brood frames, they are instantly challenged to compensate for that unplanned gap and now it takes twice as many bees to control the climate there. So, I'd suggest sandwiching the brood frames with the pollen, and then honey frames beyond that. I hope that makes sense :) I personally wouldn't toss frames of pollen as they can go through that remarkably fast.

[@davidpatrick1813]

Just yesterday I was at one of my hives and I thought of three possible things. swarm, robbers and maybe clearing hive to make room for easier faster air flow to cool it. .. not to the video .... honey picken soon.

[@rodney9799]

I will go to the restroom outside at work and there is honeybees on the ground are they after something

[@FrederickDunn]

Honey bees are always "after something" could even be minerals on pavement or something they know they want/need.

[@masoudmon3411]

Where do you get the bee wac

[@FrederickDunn]

The link to that vac is in the video description, it's from Amazon, probably available elsewhere also.

[@eliinthewolverinestate6729]

I had to setup another feeder because of larger honey bees. They were fighting with my smaller bees. The larger bees have mites too. I leave a spacer at bottom corner of my follower board. I leave the hive full of frames. Lesson learned. Day 2 of feeder my smaller bees got early start and took over 2nd feeder. My bees would rather go after soda cans and buck wheat than golden rod. The larger bees are more aggressive too. I saw a sign at main road neighbors are selling bees. They are the reason I started keeping bees and because of amount of bees at camp. Watched carefully slowly driving down 2 track for bees. Does seem like a gap between my bees and theirs. Noticed some smaller honey bees coming from the south and larger from the north. I will get video of the honey bee sizes end of month. The larger bees could be winter bees. Making a swarm trap from hollow tree I cut up. The bees like the new hive. Didn't even mist the bees as I swapped them into the hive. I did when I did my last check before heading home from camp. Bonus I smashed lots of choke cherries for the bees setting up the hive. That's why I set up feeder away from the hive. Even watched a bee roll a cherry pit around. The bear bait pile was swarming with all kinds of bees before I left.

[@daletowe6180]

I got package bee's back in May and about 2 months later I couldn't find a Queen I don't know if they killed her or what happened to her and then I bought another Queen the same thing happened after about 2 months something happened to her thing happened to her I would like to know what's going on

[@FrederickDunn]

Hi Dale, waiting two months to follow up on a queen is just too long. When you put a new/replacement queen into a queenless colony I'd do an inspection within 12 days to see that she's laying. If you allow them to be potentially queenless for more than 3 weeks you run the almost certain risk of having laying workers. Once that begins, you've got an uphil climb as the laying workers will actively reject and attack a new queen. Now, you'd probably like to know what to do. I think your numbers in that hive may be way down as they haven't been producing replacement workers. You may be too late to recover that colony this year. Are they producing drones? How many frames of worker bees would you say are still in the hive? IF there are still plenty of bees even without brood, you could install another laying queen if you can find one this time of year. Just prior to her arrival (24 - 48 hours), I would shake out the bees from every single frame in your hive onto the ground 10 or more feet from the hive. The foragers will just fly back to the hive, any heavy-bodied laying workers will be grounded and have difficulty getting back. It doesn't sound like you have other hives? So, when the new queen arrives, put her into the hive and observe how they attend or attack the cage - I leave you with this video showing how new queens can be introduced: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pJC3m3euo614iqM If you have fewer than 3-frames of bees in your hive, I would not invest in a new queen this time of year.

[@jedsackett5255]

Down in the 40's I WISH. 70's here at night.

[@enricotoesca3941]

❤️🐝🐝🐝🐝❤️

[@robertmathurin739]

🇱🇨👍🏼♥️

[@treybie1]

Orienting.

[@defeatSpace]

Sorry, as a person who semi-professionally plays video games, I guarantee humans can resolve far more than 20 hertz, let alone 200, and bees can definitely resolve more than 200 hertz.

[@FrederickDunn]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on that, but the science doesn't support your statement. It's about motion detection, and it's been well studied. Here's my reference: journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/217/11/1933/12155/Can-bees-see-at-a-glance I invite you to share your research as my mind is always open to scientific debate.

[@FrederickDunn]

In this study, humans could only resolve a picture at 13 ms. Our brains fill in the gaps for our eyes which is possibly why gaming gives you the feeling better motion awareness. mollylab-1.mit.edu/sites/default/files/documents/FastDetect2014withFigures.pdf