Happy New Year - Beekeeping Plans for 2017 -

[@toddharris8764]

Really enjoy all your videos. I will be a first year beekeeper this spring here in the Midwest of Illinois USA and have watched quite a few of your videos. Have been studying and reading for almost a year.

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi Todd, Thanks for commenting. Sounds like you are pretty much prepared for your bees. good luck with it and keep me posted. Stewart

[@roystheboy]

Hello Stewart i know this video is now 2 years old but for the new 2020 season will be my first i have watched your begenier & almost the beekeeping basics and all of John beeman saunders videos i have booked my self on a course not far from me in cambridgeshire so lets hope i have a good one.

[@Zine2me]

Hello. I'm enjoying the series very much. It is helping me synthesize a lot of what I've been learning this last couple of years, and has better prepared me for bees. We are real short of mentors in the area partly due to a lot of attention being drawn to the hobby generally. Some of the attention has resulted in scrutiny of laws, ordinances, and all manner of issues that come up during all of the different bee-keeping meetings I've traveled round to attend. Everything I'm getting from your videos is something I'm glad to go into it knowing. Thanks!

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi Jane, I'm glad the videos are helping. Are you planning on getting bees in 2017? Stewart

[@Zine2me]

I ordered 2 Nucs just today. One Italian and one Carniolan reared in the north for my cold climate. I'm giddy! I'm doing all I can think of to make it go well. (I have an elderly lady insisting I get a swarm that forms in her yard annually and I'm trying think ahead of that and hoping for the best too.) I have enough equipment and am working on spares.

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

That all sounds very exciting and well organised Jane. Do keep me posted on how things progress. Stewart

[@MansfieldPestControl]

Cant wait to get started... thanks for all your vids.

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Thanks Martyn, As always the season seems so far away in January but it will soon be upon us. Stewart

[@lintonmacnamara1469]

Hi Stewart from Qld. Sounds like an interesting yr ahead.thanks so much for such great presentations. Down here it is a long hot dry summer so honey production is down. We rely on eucalypts for a summer flow in this area. Flowering varies considerably from yr to yr but wonderful honey.

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi Linton, Thanks for the comments. I must search out some honey from your area to try. Stewart

[@jimblack1630]

I too am looking forward to following your cut comb efforts. Here in the US cut comb is not a big demand but those who favor it are willing to pay a premium price. Producing an attractive cut comb offering seems to be a bit tricky. There is great value for comb that has a " clean" appearance. (That nice white capped comb ) Thick comb is also prized. I am also interested in your Nosema efforts. We are seeing a lot of Nosema Cerena here in the northwest. thanks for the videos.😀

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi Jim, Same here regarding the price of cut comb, it was very profitable for me last year. I've found some interesting techniques for producing the clean comb so will share those once I get set up in the Spring. The nosema video will be coming a couple of weeks, it's a straightforward process but is very revealing. Stewart

[@pauldymott8024]

Hi again Stewart. As mentioned before I am start the process of installing a flow hive in my woods. I am erecting a fence around the hive area to protect from badgers and deer knocking it over. I am going to attempt your split method you filmed with the green and blue nucs. I will keep you up to date with the progress re the Flow hive and see how accurate your comments were re the woods. Happy new year to you. thanks for all your help and please keep these videos coming.

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi Paul, I'm looking forward to hearing how you get on with the Flow hive. I was talking to a couple of "wise, old" beekeepers over the Christmas period and one said never keep bees in a wooded area and the other said he always keeps his bees in a wooded area and they do great! Typical of beekeeping, ask one question and get a dozen different opinions! I wait to hear how your bees perform. Stewart

[@DeadEyeRabbit]

Looking forward to that cut comb project. Seems many customers are asking about this product, even though I personally don't see the point of it, other than the novelty of it all.

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi Rabbit, I thought exactly as you say, didn't see the point of it, until I tried some in 2015 and thought "wow". I really enjoyed it, although it was just a small piece the honey flavour just explodes in your mouth when you crush the comb. The other advantage is that it has a premium price to it so is well worth the effort. Stewart

[@patrickwalsh6873]

Hi Stewart, thanks so much for all the effort you're putting into this resource. I was wondering if you had considered maybe doing a piece on Demaree, as a swarm prevention method ? It seems to me to have a big advantage over the Artificial Swarm in that it requires a lot less kit, yet the AS is the one that all the books describe for us beginners. Thanks, Patrick

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi Patrick, Thanks for the comments. I tried a Demaree a few years back with the help of my brother, we didn't have a great deal of success but I'm happy to set it up again to show how it works. You're right about needing less equipment, as I remember there was a bit more lifting but otherwise not terribly tricky to set up. I will add it to my list. Stewart

[@patrickwalsh6873]

Thanks for replying Stewart. I'm sure your list is long enough already, and we are looking forward to it all in due course ! Do you know why Demaree wasn't overly successful for you, or do you have any observations about it in general ? Seems like the lifting is the easy part. Happy New Year, and best wishes for 2017.

[@sueviner9075]

Hi Stewart. I love your videos..thank you! I've been keeping bees for a couple of years and am planning to take my Basic Exam this year so your videos are perfect.I also want to get my Top Bar Hive going this year - I havn't managed to get a colony through a whole season yet so that is a target. One question....I want to paint some of my hives having cleaned them up as I inherited some equipment from a retired bee keeper. Any suggestions? Many thanks Sue V

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi Sue, Thanks for the comments. I'm hoping to get a top bar hive up and running this year to show in some videos but like you have tried in the past and had bees abscond so failed. I do have a member of my local beekeeping group who has managed to stock and keep a TBH through the Winter so I might take my camera round to visit her if she is willing. As far as the painting of hives goes I use Cuprinol Shades simply because it comes in a good range of colours and goes on well. I think for the most part as long as you leave the boxes to air for a decent period of time you can get away with most things. I also use masonry paint on my mating nuc boxes which are poly boxes and that works well. The hardest question to answer is what colour! Stewart

[@sueviner9075]

Good luck with the TBH! A boat builder friend made mine for me and I'm determined to make a success of it this year..... Thanks for the paint advice....you are right...choice of colour is the big question!

[@IcemanMobile]

Another great video Stewart, thanks. It will be my first spring, with only having gotten my 1 colony in June last year. Up here (Gateshead) our season will be shorter than yours, so I'll be splitting the colony at the earliest opportunity. I thought the Miller Method, but what do you think for a beginner? I probably don't have the luxury of being able to wait for any video you produce on splits if it's after April. Thanks again and happy new year.

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi IcemanMobile, Thanks for the comments. If you only have the one colony I would go for something like an artificial swarm or the two nucs from one colony while keeping the parent colony intact (check out my video for both). I wouldn't rush into splitting the colony until you have a confirmed spell of good weather (tricky I know) but splitting too early can result in the loss of the split and a severely depleted parent colony that then struggles to make up the loss through the Summer. You really need more than one colony for the Miller method and will probably result in too many queen cells depending on how many splits you intend to produce, I have had upwards of 15-20 queens cells successfully emerge and go into nucs using Miller. Stewart