Good Honey Flow and Swarm Season - Scale Hives June 12

[@joehedges8318]

I'm a little (ok, a lot) jealous in how quickly you found both those queens.

[@coreymatheson4132]

Me Too!

[@beebob1279]

It's practice and becoming used to seeing things in the hive. It's great when it happens. He's also keeping her in only one deep. It's easier than two deeps, or letting her lay wherever she wants without an excluder

[@CuriousCreature]

Best video yet. You know exactly what you’re doing and move deliberately and efficiently. Really useful. Boy, you see a sign and get after it.

[@franklotion8]

You work a hive like no one ive ever seen...such precision...love yer vids brotha.👍👍

[@SurlyPlatypus]

I’m a 4th year beekeeper from Northern NV. This series is great to follow along during the year to see how you manage your Bee’s. Thanks for the fantastic videos and sharing your knowledge!

[@NativeSteelPlayer]

Devan! Love your channel! I am a new bee keeper in the state of Florida, Gulf Of Mexico Your our favorite to watch and learn from, You just have such a calm disposition and just a pleasure to watch, you explain everything in detail! Thanks so much!

[@stephaniegeier7312]

Thanks for the extra effort to capture the slow-mo

[@coreymatheson4132]

Devan, your videos keep getting better and better. I really enjoy them, very informative. The series on weight gain and what to do along the way step by step is great! Your season is about a 30 days ahead of mine in Georgia US, so our main nectar flow is about done. I wish it was the other way around so I know what to see and do next. I've only had bees for one year now.

[@shawnzilla83]

Do a video on how to grab a queen. I’d think it’s pretty popular. I know I am curious.

[@elliewiltshire7001]

I am learning so much from your videos. Thank you. I am getting my first lot of bees next weekend. One brood box and one super. A friend of a friend got some bees and unfortunately for him he is highly allergic to bee stings (but fortunately for me he needs to rehome them!!).

[@warthog1086]

Devan I watch several KZbin videos about bee keeping and either they try to sell something or constantly repeat themselves. I’ve gotten more information from the first video I watch of yours compared to 2 weeks of several different others. Thanks wish you had more to watch. Keep doing what your doing.

[@strive4impact]

I love the slow-mo on this one. Also, I feel like if I got into the hive I have the way you're in that hive, I would be stung about 20 times. Defensive bees here in the mountains of Colorado with the hive I have this year.

[@strive4impact]

Oh... you did get stung... I'm sorry you got stung. It does make me feel better that I'm not the only one, but sorry that happened.

[@strive4impact]

Do you sell queens?

[@aaronharr6553]

Love your videos it's got me thinking about try the single brood method. Just started my 2 year of beeking these videos are very informative Thanks . God bless

[@capebee4839]

Great vid The main problem that I see causing the swarm cells is not the lack of space available in the supers, but the lack of space in the brood chamber. It seems like there is too much nectar /honey in the brood chamber and not enough space for the queen to lay. This can be fixed by removing frames with the most honey/nectar and replacing with drawn frames or foundation. In your case I would actually remove the queen excluder or move it one box higher. As the season draws to a close you could always replace it or move it down again. Remember the bees also need space to dry the nectar. James

[@DevanRawn]

I appreciate the comments. The one colony especially could have a frame of honey taken out of the brood chamber. But I'm definitely not going to move the excluder up on top of a honey super. The way I manage things is brood frames are for brood and honey frames are for honey. I like my honey comb to stay nice and light and not have brood raised in it or pollen stored in it. It definitely eliminates any wax moth issues when I store the honey supers most of the year.

[@scotthorne9079]

Thanks for all of the videos. They are all very informative! Can you explain why it would have been bad if the honey would have been capped?

[@larrytornetta9764]

Nice tool belt. I would add another undrawn deep super. Always think 2 weeks before the bees.

[@PaulSmith-tf9bn]

Really enjoy watching, wish I knew more about single hive management and where did you get the hat and veal I like the way it works.

[@rajbeekie7124]

Hi Devan, I do enjoy watching your videos. Thanks for all your hard work. I have a question. The brood boxes and supers I use all have the 1-inch hole at the front. I leave these holes open. I notice, no commercial beekeeper has the holes. Are the holes helpful for the bees or do they negatively affect the colony and honey production????

[@davidhornor6649]

Great videos Devan. Your strategy makes perfect sense to me. I learn a lot when you describe what you're doing and why it works for you. Thank you! I added a second super and moved the first super up. It's a new box with new frames and wax foundation. I checked it 8 days later and they haven't done a thing in the new box. They're still filling the last 10% of the first super and march right through the new super. I moved two frames down from the top box and put the new frames up in the first super. Any thoughts on this move or another way to get them drawing the new frames?

[@pamelawannamaker242]

Yes I agree this video was well done. I have also found queen cells, some unused, one with royal jelly. Problem is Devan I don't know how old my queen is. I have considered allowing the new queen to emerge while providing lots of room for honey flow and see if there will be a royal coup or the old queen emerge victorious in defending her right by killing the newcomer. What re your thoughts?

[@DevanRawn]

If they're building those cells with the intention of swarming, they'll just swarm. You're better off removing just your old queen and introducing a new one.

[@pamelawannamaker242]

Devan Rawn yes I will be looking into that also with my local bee supplieri just looked in before noon and caught two new queen emerging and dispatched them. One other was already dead . And one I tore open this past week.. the queen has been busy laying and there are many larva and capped brood so I may forget about queen replacement. Instead I think I need a mentor to look through with me to pick out what I am missing. Lol

[@rosemoore3311]

Very good videos thanks Devan, How soon after a swarm can I add another super? I was thinking they may need to build up numbers first.

[@TheMarky26]

Im starting to get ready to catch my first few swarms i was wondering when should i be putting out my boxes? Im in Saskatchewan and were a bit colder then you..

[@dadu63]

I enjoy your videos. Get back on here and do more buddy. Please.

[@apismellifera2629]

Another great Video Devan, thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. Which part of Ontario are you located? And do you typically sell nucs? Thanks

[@beebob1279]

I am surprised all you do it cut out queen cells. I've been taught that she will eventually swarm and there won't be anything left for the hive to raise a queen. I'm liking your single colony system better every time I watch your videos. Easy swarm detection and it's easy to find the queen when she's only in one box. I've always let the queen roam around and lay where she wants. It's a bear finding her.

[@unitedwestand5100]

Swarm cells? New Queen larvae? You're destroying them right? I'm trying to learn. You are the most knowledgeable bee keeper I've seen. There are a lot of pretenders, but even I can tell you really know what you're doing.

[@piershale]

this is a great series, thank you!

[@michaelrobinson1341]

Hi Devan. I have heard some people say using smoke is not a good idea when honey supers are on. What are your thoughts about using smoke, and is there a time when you don't like to smoke the bees? Thanks for your efforts, it's really helpful to see you manage these hives from start of season to the end (presumably?).

[@DevanRawn]

I've never heard that smoke is bad idea with supers on. I don't use a whole lot of smoke (at least I don't think so), and I've never tasted anything in my honey that could be residual from smoke. Maybe it depends on what you use in your smoker? I use plain softwood shavings. nothing with glue in it like cardboard, but I guess that's obvious. I don't know, I think it's totally fine.

[@KajunHomestead]

nice video Devan im just starting bee keeping this spring so my knowledge is all utube so far , and my question is why do you have only nine frames , is that a nine frame box are ten.

[@NS-neversaynever]

What kind of honey do your bees produce? I mean what plants are growing there?

[@vermontmapleman7504]

Hello Devan. Great video once again. I noticed that the new honey super you added to the yellow hive only had 9 frames in it (unless I counted wrong). I couldn’t count the one you put on the green hive because of the sun and glare so I was wondering if you do only put 9 frames in them so they have more room for filling them with honey? Thanks for all your time and effort you put into making these videos!

[@DevanRawn]

Ya, I run 9 frames in all my honey supers. Spaced evenly they draw them out nice and thick. It's one less frame to handle and they go through my automatic uncapper very nicely this way.

[@vermontmapleman7504]

Devan Rawn Very good to know, thank you for your response!

[@watchmanonthewallcouk6498]

Love your info .. thank you quick question I haven’t got that many honey supers drawn out yet. In that instance would you still put a super of foundation above the single brood chamber.

[@pauldow1648]

Could you have done a split with the yellow colony? Do you buy queens when needed or do you make your own ? Thanks

[@chriscarey6614]

Thank you once again for a great video. I am very interested in your leather belt every thing just at hand ,do you get from Mann lake Chris from uk Chris from uk

[@terrim.602]

I know Devan doesn't respond on his channel, so anyone who understands this, please respond. (Please be nice 😊) Re: Queen cells and preparing to swarm - what do you think about when they have queen cells with eggs and royal jelly, which indicates possible swarming at peak honey season? Do you think about replacing a couple brood frames with drawn frames so she has more room to lay and also to be able to make a nuc, or is that not what you do during peak honey flow season? I'm new and this is my first time being introduced to single box hives. My local commercial Beekeeper's would add another brood box. I'll have to ask my new mentor what he would do, but my other commercial beekeeping friend would just add another box. (I was always unclear why.) How can the hive grow? Do you eliminate the queen cells every week because it's peak honey season time? Are these 2 hives your test hives? I look forward to anyone's perspective as long as it's considerate, thank you in advance!

[@andrewrae6755]

Do you pick the Queen up by the wings or the Body and how much pressure to prevent her escaping your grasp. Show it up close to camera please.

[@pghoneybees9575]

Andrew Rae I practice handling drones before handling the queen, a tip i got from a friend. I pick up by the body, using my thumb and finger gently pinching the drone. You will quickly figure our how much pressure to use, and if you accidentally hurt one, the impact on the colony is limited. I let them crawl over my hand (I don’t wear gloves) its a strange but cool feeling. Good luck

[@DevanRawn]

I pick her up by the thorax, but wings can be fine too. I'll try to get a video done on it some time soon.

[@Diypics]

Devan Rawn Can you show how you set up your smoker too? Thx P.s. Only one sting in this whole operation?

[@philjanikjr9805]

When you space your frames are you spacing all 10 frames equally or only on the sides? Do you space your brood differently than honey frames?

[@darkodakic5640]

How many hives do you have? Seems very time consuming to check for swarm cells this way every week or so if large number of hives. Thanks for good videos.

[@DevanRawn]

I manage around 150-200 regular hives, and on top of that a pretty sizeable queen breeding setup. This is they way I learned to keep bees where I managed ~800 hives with 2-3 people. It's not a big deal if you want to maximize honey production, it's worth the work.

[@Sqeptick]

Do your bees ever swarm on you even if you cut down all the cells, leaving the hive queenless?

[@DevanRawn]

No, I've never seen that happen. Unless it's just hours before they actually swarm, but if you catch the cells early enough they won't leave.

[@traveler3626]

Are your tool belts available to the public?

[@calebpeek9418]

Devan- I like how you use the queen cage to isolate the queen and not hurt her as you shake the bees. I want to implement this but I have a question about it. Did you use the same cage for both of those queens just 20-30 minutes apart? If so, do the pheromones from the prior queen cause a problem with the workers in the second hive? Just concerned if there is a possibility they'll try to kill the second queen after she's released because she may have a different queen pheromone on her.

[@DevanRawn]

I use the same cage all day in every hive, no issues with pheromones.

[@calebpeek9418]

Devan Rawn thanks for the info and reply!

[@cricketscorner6514]

With the single brood chamber are you doing inspections weekly, btw taking those stings like a champ me and my wife have a pool on your age? And how long you've been in the bee biz.

[@DevanRawn]

Well, I try to get in to them at least every 10 days between may long weekend and the of June. After that probably a little less frequently. This would be the same whether they were singles or doubles or whatever. I'm 31 and have been working with bees for 9 years now.

[@cricketscorner6514]

Thanks bud also noticed you don't have to pull any backfilled frames that's been my issue with double brood boxes.👍

[@cricketscorner6514]

Devan Rawn Well she won I said late 20s she said early 30s great vids keepem coming.

[@Jknudsen0523]

Devan, here in Arkansas we only need 20 to 30 pounds of honey to over winter. I run all mediums and like the idea of two medium boxes as a brood chamber. Is it safe to say that the bees would do okay over the winter in a 2 medium box configuration?

[@DevanRawn]

Ya, 2 mediums should do just fine.

[@RyanMcDonnough]

What were the ages of those queens? Was that their first season or second?

[@matthewsmall7607]

If you found a capped queen cell would you make up a nuc?

[@leesommer5871]

How often do you check your hives for Qcells? Every week?

[@ronnieholloway9109]

Hello Devan do you clip your Queens wing

[@SuiGenerisBrewing]

I'm managing my first hives as single broods, using your videos as a guide. All my super-frames are undrawn foundation, and the bees don't seem to be using them much (brood chamber is pretty full). Should I remove the queen excluder - some people seem to think that may help the bees move into the super?

[@tpaige99]

Hi Sui, I add a second brood chamber without a queen excluder. After they've started laying in it a good bit, I shake them down to the lower brood chamber, add the queen excluder and set the second super on top. Nurse bees will come up through the excluder and they'll back fill it with honey after the brood all emerges. I feel it's a good way to get them using the upper super and once they get moving through the queen excluder they'll continue to work up as I add supers.

[@trenthansen3950]

Are single brood box hives usefully mainly because of how many hives you manage if so should a hobby beekeeper like myself use an extra honey super as an additional brood box

[@DevanRawn]

I don't think it matters how many hives you manage. It's just a choice of how you like to manage your bees. I know beekeepers that manage 1000 doubles, and I know some that mange 2 singles in their backyard, and vice versa.

[@trenthansen3950]

Thanks love the video! Keep on putting out more amazing content.

[@trenthansen3950]

Just got into my hive and found a skinny antlion larvae looking thing do you know what it is should I be worried I have it isolated with some wax in my house

[@savagestyle124]

do you think taking to full brood frames out and starting a small nuke and putting 2 fresh frames for them to build out would prevent swarming ,or does it effect your honey production to much?

[@DevanRawn]

Yep, I think it would probably prevent them from swarming, at least for a period of time. I thought I'd just manage these scale hives in an effort to produce as much honey as possible this year. Also to show some of the nay-sayers that a single brood chamber can be managed without pulling bees and brood out of it. It was just a plan form the start, but pulling a nuc out of it would be a good idea and really wouldn't set them back too much. your call.

[@SteveMcGuire2008]

Devan can you split the hive and build a new hive with that frame with the queen cell?

[@DevanRawn]

You can, but I have no intention of doing that. I raise my own queens from selected breeders. Basically a hive showing swarming behaviour probably wouldn't make the final cut of breeder queens.

[@michiwood6856]

Hey Devan, Quick question, i have a deep full of brood and a super on but very few bees going into the super. I do have an excluder and i think that's the hold up. How do i get the girls to use the super? This is my first hive and the bees were a package when i started. Any advice? Thanks

[@DevanRawn]

If you think the excluder is the hold up then take it off. I really don't know your bees, how strng the colony is, or how strong your honey flow is. But you'll have to experiment. I've never felt like a queen excluder prevented my bees from storing honey in the supers, even when I was starting and had to draw new comb, but every situation is different.

[@munibungbeeking1719]

Hi you should take over UoG channel since they don’t upload anymore bring back some of the old characters for cameos???

[@DevanRawn]

haha, Paul will be uploading some stuff later this summer, stay tuned. I'm hoping to make a video with them some time as well because they have some big things happening in the future at the bee lab.

[@Gord1812]

What type of maker do you use to mark your queens?

[@66gtb]

Does it make sense to move the outside frames to the inside of a super once they have totally capped the inside few frames? Seems like that may speed up the process of getting a super with totally capped frames. Mine seem to be less interested in capping the outside frames.

[@DevanRawn]

Ya, It's not a bad idea.

[@evanfairbanks2013]

Only 9 frames per box? Is this your standard practice Devan?

[@stanleyguedes2336]

He posted the following comment on another video answering this question: "Yep, 9 frames in the supers. I'm sure you've noticed that when bees put just honey into cells, they will often draw them out much thicker compared to a cell that's just used for brood. This means the surface area of 10 frames isn't as important in the honey super. They will simply draw 9 thicker frames with just as much volume of honey. This means 10% less frames to handle during extraction. And with thick honey frames there's no "low spots" that get missed by my automatic uncapper. NOTE: this works best after comb is already drawn nicely. Starting from pure foundation with 9 frames might cause the bees to do a lot of bridging and whatever between frames."

[@tygr7003]

Could you tell me where you got your veil? I have one similar that needs replacing and cant seem to find one.

[@DevanRawn]

dancingbeeequipment.com/collections/protective-clothing/products/dancing-bee-pull-over-veil

[@tygr7003]

Devan Rawn thanks so much!

[@Jknudsen0523]

When tearing down queen cells for swarm control don't you have to do this every 4 days or else risk losing a swarm?

[@DevanRawn]

7-10 days is all that's necessary.

[@benjamindori1684]

Are you only using 9 frames on your honey supers?

[@dougferrell7066]

I counted 9 on this video.

[@carlospasgal2952]

hola colega -trabajas con colmenas de doble reina por lo que veo como te resultan pra trabajarlas

[@campdavidsonfunctionaltrai8583]

why don't you move the queen to a new hive and save the queen cells for a new queen?

[@unitedwestand5100]

You think one stung you? Lol Not only would I know if one stung me, but every one within a hundred yards would know! Lmao

[@woodchucktinman9893]

If you manage the hives like this by removing the queen cups and cells about every 7 days does it work 100% of the time to prevent a swarm?

[@DevanRawn]

I'm not going to say 100%, because some smartass will chime in with some exception. But in my experience, with my bees, yes it always works. I imagine there are some extreme cases of swarmy genetics out there where this won't be enough.

[@woodchucktinman9893]

Devan Rawn thank you very very very much for your reply and for all the information you share with us. I completely understand your reply. This series is fantastic.

[@royreeves4081]

Hi I'm new to bee keeping and would like advice I post video's @ Roy Reeves on here they are not "how to" but "help me" vidios if you would view them and leave constructive criticism in the comments I'd really appreciate it.

[@northwestwrenchgarden6686]

Can you end up with smoke flavored honey from using smoke on the honey supers?

[@DevanRawn]

I don't think so, unless you really go to town with the smoker.

[@calebpeek9418]

I agree with Devan. However, one time I had pulled a super to extract and left it outside for an hour or so while I ate lunch. Well, the bees found it before I started extracting so I smoked it HEAVILY (like Devan mentioned here) to get the bees off of it and it did affect the honey flavor. I don't think a little, light smoke hurts anything though.