🐝 Layen's Hive Inspection - Full 19 frame hive

Inspection of the colony after moving them into their winter/permanent hive from the nuc.
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Books:
Keeping Bees with a Smile: amzn.to/2MQRmoh
Keeping Bees in Horizontal Hives: amzn.to/2Lio68e

[@ricdenali4213]

Great tip on the follower board.

[@ricdenali4213]

Great tip on the filler board

[@fritopg285]

Hey, Love the video's hope spring is going well for your bees

[@bradgoliphant]

Such great videos, and loving these deeper frames. Make soooooooooo much sense.

[@brianb6603]

excellent as usual!!!

[@BeeBoyBill]

Thanks for watching!

[@Lincolnpipe]

Im looking forward to seeing how your bees are doing in the spring.

[@BeeBoyBill]

Me too! I did put some rock wool insulation in the lids and strapped them down. They are snow covered this week.

[@lukepalmer9957]

Thank you I will definitely try this and yeah I've never had this happen so it was very confusing and unexpected. I might be able to send a video as a link in the description and if that works you could see the video of what happened. Just for more information it was about a two year hive in an old bath house that I caught with a layens hive. So I hope that helps thank you and I will try to send a link of the video

[@scottieshawn4814]

”i haven't even used smoke yet....". Smoker was 2 ft upwind fogging them on autopilot.😉

[@lukepalmer9957]

Actually what I think I'll do is make a video of me talking and explaining everything and then if you would be willing to watch that that would be amazing! I'm just very happy someone with a better knowledge is helping

[@SnoopytheAce]

Hey I have really enjoyed watching your videos keep them coming! From one big guy to another, where did your find that ventilated jacket?

[@BeeBoyBill]

Hi Aaron, It's called a bug-baffler and I think it's a 2x. I got the idea from a couple of long-time beekeepers that have always used them. I've never tried anything else but I don't think it gets more lightweight than that.

[@connermcelroy4415]

So how are your hives lately? I notice you haven't uploaded videos recently and I'm curious! Thanks for your content. I liked some of your woodworking tricks in the shop!

[@BeeBoyBill]

Hi Conner, The bees are doing great this year! Only lost 1 hive over winter and were looking to go into winter with 8-10 hives. Haven't made any new videos due to time constraints. I do have some I would like to get out there on some new things I've done, hopefully soon!

[@bushhippi]

Really like your videos, do you have plans for your 19 frame Layen's hive that you can share? I'd really like to make one before the spring.

[@BeeBoyBill]

Hi Bushhippi, you can find the plans I used for the Layens hive on Dr Leo’s website here: horizontalhive.com/how-to-build/hive-frame-swarm-trap.shtml

[@Dennisdmossyahoocom]

Hi Bill. I see you are a fan of Layens hives. Have you thought about adding a flow super to horizontal hive?

[@BeeBoyBill]

Hi Dennis, I'm not really sold on flow hives, but if you end up installing one on a Layens let me know how it goes!

[@nunyabeeswaxri7358]

Bee Boy Bill, what do you leave for reserves for the bees over the winter? Thinking about building a couple of these for next spring. I know with the traditional langstroth in the cold parts of the country you like to see two brood boxes for the winter as a rule of thumb. What do you try and leave in your Layen's hives for honey reserves. Great videos, thank you

[@BeeBoyBill]

Hi Nunya, My main focus has been developing my stock. For that reason, I mostly only harvest honey when the comb is out of place, leaving the majority of the honey on the frames for nucs in spring. If I was interested in harvesting, I would definitely error on leaving too much in the hive. I've read it's typical to leave 9 frames with a Layens, but I think this would be dependant on your location, length of your winters, and size of the clusters going into winter. Leaving them enough for winter is one of the reasons I went with a 19 frame Layens. Some of the splits I made this year have comb and honey built out to 18 frames. I would think harvesting up to 5 frames of honey from a hive with 18 or 19 would be a conservative amount. Taking too much honey leads to feeding, and feeding, as well as feeding methods, leads to other issues in the hive. I have fed bees when I bought some in packages, but I do not recommend winter feeding. I guess to sum all of this up, with any type of hive, leave your bees enough to be successful overwinter and error on the conservative side so you don't take so much that you will have to feed them. I hope this helps and you give the Layens a try! Bill

[@StrangerInAStrange]

Nunya BeesWax RI, I'm also just getting started with the Layens and have this same question. I'm only about 1/4 of the way into 'Keeping Bees With a Smile' so may come up on the answer yet . . . Have you gotten that answered? I've built two 14-Frame Layens and am kind of wishing I had built longer. Getting ready to install my first swarm, taken May 2 in a Layens Swarm Trap, into one of the 14-Frame Hives.

[@predator627]

Always put empty frame in the middle between brood,then stimulate them with sugar syrup and in 48h it's gonna be full.

[@ctyank4946]

BBB, First off, great videos so far. In your Layen's build out video you reference making the dimensions larger than Dr. Leo's original to have the ability to host multiple hives. Would you share your experiences with multiple hives in the same horizontal configuration (i.e. best way to accomplish, frame separators, queen separators, pros/cons, etc.)? Perhaps in the comment section or maybe another video. Best!

[@BeeBoyBill]

Hi CTYank, I didn't end up filling up all my hives this past year and didn't need to split them, but my friend Mark had only 2 hives and caught 2 swarms so we ended up splitting his hives. He also is running Layen's 19 frame hives. I recorded the process here kzbin.info/www/bejne/f5qqqGiJr82ta5Y Regular 2x10's work great for this because they are the same width as a frame. I think this is a great way to overwinter nucs and first winter swarms as they do not need the entire 19 frame hive the first winter. Pros are overwintering more bees in less equipment, closer to natural hive size (My math according to Seely's recommended trap size works out to 7 Layen's frames), the possible benefit of 2 colonies heating the same enclosure but at very least only having outside weather on 3 sides. Cons smaller space may encourage swarming (good or bad depending on your methods) and may have to be managed earlier to prevent, need to take care that there are no gaps between top bars or divider so that bees stay on their own side. Hope this helps!

[@ctyank4946]

@@BeeBoyBill Awesome response. Like you in NY, we have to be prepared for long cold winters in CT. I am still very new to beekeeping. But from your videos and speaking with Dr. Leo, it sounds like a well built 21 frame is the most versatile design. It allows you to expand accordingly just as long as the top bars and separators are snug. Also, I notice you have your videos with friends/mentors. In CT, I've had a difficult time finding Natural beekeeping mentors. Guess it's slow to catch on....but still ultra important.

[@BeeBoyBill]

Actually, my friend Jim is a more traditional beekeeper with langs and OA treatment. He is the one who got me interested in Beekeeping and has a ton of knowledge he has shared with me on beekeeping and other things. After putting a year or two of research into it I decided I would try a more natural approach but I have a great respect for those with more experience and knowledge with any style. My friend Mark is brand new at beekeeping, even more than I, and I am in a sense mentoring him on my methods. If you want natural beekeepers near you, teach your friends! Haha

[@ctyank4946]

@@BeeBoyBill Very funny. Doubt they will listen. All kidding aside, having difficulty ramping up my base knowledge. But your youtubes have done a great job keeping me informed. Perhaps you can explore videos that include: gear lists, various hive setups that you created and their pros/cons usages, building the strongest winter hive (what to look for/how to assess strength going into the cold season), best practices for honey, wax, comb extraction, etc. Thanks

[@BeeBoyBill]

@@ctyank4946 Thanks for the input! I'm always looking for new ideas and when I get a chance to make some new vids I will definitely explore these options!

[@Graves876]

Hey Bill, I’m just curious what extractor you used with the Layens frames? Thanks!

[@SecureAcresNaturalBees]

Hey Bill! Where do you get those awesome bee suits?

[@BeeBoyBill]

Hi, The bee suit I'm using is called a bug baffler recommended by some longtime beekeepers near me. They work great, are lightweight, and reasonably cheap. It's good to keep in mind, I do not have Africanized bees near me or this might not be an option, but they work great for my purpose!

[@irvincereynolds6540]

Hey big boy Bill! How are the bees?

[@BeeBoyBill]

I’m hoping they’re clustered up staying warm. It’s 2° F here this morning!

[@claytoneads6842]

Hi Bee Boy Bill...Just curious if you supplement feed your hives for the Winter? Are you going to use pollen Pattys for the Spring buildup? It is February 15 in Arkansas, & some of the "early" pollinater flowers are in bloom, which is a little disconcerting this early in the year... My 1st swarm trap I'll put out next month in case some early girls are looking to shack up at my place...lol... Best to you & your hives...that polar vortex is quite the vex I imagine...Clay

[@BeeBoyBill]

Hey Clayton. I don’t use either sugar or pollen patties because I’m focused on making self sufficient bees.If they don’t prepare themselves for winter and I supplement them they will be eternally dependent on me fiddling with them. No lazy bees in my yard! I have used sugar with package installs or during a split out of necessity and starting with no comb. There is evidence that the ph in sugar changes the ph of the hive and that it’s not healthy for the bees. No winter supplementation will definitely lead to higher losses and may not be suitable for every beekeeper. My hypothesis is that the bees that make it through will be only the strongest. What’s your thoughts on winter supplementation?

[@claytoneads6842]

Very well thought out & cogent@@BeeBoyBill e fittest" in the hives, because my goal is to produce "wild" honeybees for the future generations. Honey production is of secondary concern to me. I did purchase a couple of in hive feeders from Dr. Leo, but am unsure if I will really use them after the first week or so. (if I can catch a wild swarm this Spring!). The only consideration that I built into my prototype hive is a screened bottom board for varroa mites, with a "never wet treatment" below the screen board. Hopefully this will keep any of those rascals from climbing back up into the cluster. Do you treat your hives with anything? (Oxcilic acid, etc,) or are you trying to go as organic as possible? Any problem with small hive beetles or wax moths? Thank you for your videos, as I feel a kindred spirit to them & you...Keep us informed on your survival rates this Spring Buddy!!! @@BeeBoyBill

[@claytoneads6842]

LOL The first two sentences self edited themselves...They were about agreeing with you about the survival of the fittest in our hives...;-)

[@josephwoodall832]

That hive looks cool and easy to build but how do you extract from it?

[@BeeBoyBill]

Hi Joseph, I answered almost the same question yesterday so I will post it here as well: If you are looking to extract 'tons' of honey they do make extractors that will work with the Layens frame. You can find some extractors on Dr. Leo's site here: horizontalhive.com/buy-hive-bees/swarm-trap-top-bar-sale.shtml Personally, I plan on using the crush and strain method to do small batches as I won't be producing a lot of honey for the time being. My goal is to make more bees so I will be using any honey that is made as resources for splits and can just put the whole frame in without extracting. Hope this helps! Bill

[@citrumpet1]

Hi. I just started using the layens hives this year. I bought some of the layens frame feeders but was wondering how you feed the bees over winter in the layens hives? Do you leave a frame out and let them access a top feeder?

[@BeeBoyBill]

Hi Standollar, I only ever fed bees when getting packages or catching a swarm when there isn't a nectar flow. I never feed established hives or nucs. Hope this helps!

[@dougdorrer4622]

Good info, but how do you extract out a layen's frame? Will they fit in a langroth extractor?

[@BeeBoyBill]

Hi Doug, If you are looking to extract 'tons' of honey they do make extractors that will work with the Layens frame. You can find some extractors on Dr. Leo's site here: horizontalhive.com/buy-hive-bees/swarm-trap-top-bar-sale.shtml Personally, I plan on using the crush and strain method to do small batches as I won't be producing a lot of honey for the time being. My goal is to make more bees so I will be using any honey that is made as resources for splits and can just put the whole frame in without extracting. Hope this helps! Bill

[@lukepalmer9957]

Hey so I have a very important question. So I recently caught I have and I used a layens hive to put it in and what happened is half of the bees went into the hive and the other half just stayed on the wall so it's like they split so some advice on what to do would be great if you have any

[@BeeBoyBill]

Hi Luke, I’m not sure if you caught them in a trap but it sounds like you caught them hanging somewhere. If you did catch them hanging somewhere and put them in a box they should make their way in before nightfall, if the queen is in there. If they don’t make their way in it could be because the box is too small, the queen isn’t in it, or they do not like the box for some reason. If you are using a full Layens hive (not a trap) you could mist them with some water to encourage them or scoop them up and put them in. I’ve never had this happen but these are things I would try if I encountered that. Hope this helps! Bill

[@spitrock33]

great job, what is your ideas of handling deeper frames?

[@BeeBoyBill]

How deep were you thinking? I imagine you could make the frames as big as you wanted but it would be difficult to transport and extract them. In the book "Keeping Bees With a Smile" pg 276 it specifies bees consume about 1mm of honey vertically for winter days. By my calculation we have about 195 days under 50degrees F where I live (zone 5) so the bees would need about 7.68 inches of stores above the cluster for wintering. Thats why the Layen's hives seemed like a good fit for my area as my main concern was getting bees through the winter without treatments. The thick walls and tall frames I thought were closer to the natural habitat. It would be interesting to see some really tall narrow frames that really mimic the inside of a tree! Are you using something deeper than a Layen's?

[@dylanrodrigo7677]

Do these frames fit inside a regular honey extractor ?

[@BeeBoyBill]

Hi Dylan, Depends on the type of extractor you consider regular? You would definitely want to measure them if you're thinking about purchasing an extractor or hive one already you're considering. I know Dr Leo has one on his site that will extract horizontalhive.com/buy-hive-bees/swarm-trap-top-bar-sale.shtml I haven't extracted any yet and probably won't for a long time if I do. Crush and strain is a great low cost method if you have a small operation. Hope that helps!

[@AlpineWarren]

Looks like you putting empty frames between partially started frames to help avoid cross-combing?

[@BeeBoyBill]

That's the plan! It works pretty well too with minimal fussing around with it.

[@StrangerInAStrange]

Bill, I'm new with the Layens and trying to figure out how much honey I need to leave for overwintering. I know it's somewhere between 35-50 pounds of honey . . . how many pounds of honey in a Layen's Frame? I've built the 14-Frame Layens and, inferring from something Dr. Leo wrote, I'm guessing I might be able to take 2-4 frames out in the Fall? John

[@BeeBoyBill]

Hi John, This is a tough question and depends on how long and how cold your winters are. The best advice I can give you is to leave more than you think you will need for a couple of years and if you find out you don't need to leave that much you can take another frame out. From what I remember reading, people left the bees 9 Layen's frames to over winter. Hope this helps!

[@davec.5204]

What happened to you? Did you give up on the bees? Really like your videos!

[@BeeBoyBill]

Hey Dave! Definitely not, bees are doing great this year. Winter went well with 1 loss and caught 3 swarms this spring. Haven't done any videos due to the amount of time available. Glad you like the videos!

[@baddestbees5924]

I got some built ,but that seems like an awful lot of room for no bigger than that colony is, I think they'd grow faster if you used the follower board to block off frames not drawn or being used,that's just more space to guard and heat,when they need it ,THEN give it to them,bees do alot better cramped a lil than stretched thin.These are nice hives u built, I insulated my top with one inch foam board everything else basically the same except I haven't added bees yet,I waiting on bees lil longer before I split. I really hoping to catch feral bees and put in one, we'll see..GOOD build and video

[@BeeBoyBill]

Hi Baddest Bees. I use a follower board on all of my hives for the reasons you mentioned. You can see my 2018 follower board design at 1:05 in this video. I opted not to insulate the lid of the hive because it didn't seem to make sense. There is an exchange of cold/warm air that occurs between the tops of the frames and the bottom of the lid. For the bees, the frames actually make up the ceiling of their hive. If you are trying to prevent condensation on the ceiling or heat loss, insulation directly on top of the frames would work best IMO. For that reason, I adopted Dr. Leo's method of adding insulation directly on top of the frames before winter. I had trouble finding real wool locally to accomplish this so I settled for rock wool. I decided to use the rock wool because it should allow moisture to escape and the rigid foam does not "breath." Let me know if you though up another reason to insulate the lid that I didn't think of and if you have a picture or video to share of your hive! Thanks for your comment and watching!

[@jstormclouds]

Dr Leo's triangular roof also holds a lot of air which is excellent at retaining heat. . . . i.e. that large pocket of air allows a considerable amount insulation. . I would recommend placing polystyrene above wool, or wool blanket. The polystyrene is close to the aluminium which itself is also not moisture permeable. . . Its common knowledge that the ceilings/roof is the most important part to insulate. Because heat rises.

[@BeeBoyBill]

I do not recommend poly in the roof of beehives because it does not allow moisture to escape if it is below the vent holes and is useless above the vent holes. If you’re venting below the poly all the heat is escaping. I’ve yet to see a setup where it makes sense to use poly in the top of a beehive, but I’m always looking. If you see one that makes sense please share!

[@jstormclouds]

@@BeeBoyBill my 3 hives are sealed plastic and poly on top. Top entrance is 50mm from top. I'm thinking to move top entrances down slightly after noticing Sam Comfort's set up. My hives are all plastic walled too, and mostly sealed bottoms. The next hives I make will have breathable thick wooden walls up near top. Consider a tree is very thick wood. The thick wood is not very breathable. And T Seeley did mention most tree hives have entrances near bottom = very little ventilation.

[@jstormclouds]

@@BeeBoyBill in your set up poly could be used over top middle of hive while allowing edges of frames to vent. Or just use a lot of wool. Or lot of wood.

[@andreibanari7667]

what kind of honey extractor do you use 4 frames this large?

[@BeeBoyBill]

Hi Andrei, I use the crush and strain method but you can find a large extractor for sale here: horizontalhive.com/buy-hive-bees/swarm-trap-top-bar-sale.shtml Hope this helps! Bill

[@wesluther8298]

Bill did you catch your bees or did you buy them? I've never caught a swarm before we're trying for the first time this year.

[@BeeBoyBill]

Hi Wes. I caught some and bought some! I ended up catching 3 swarms this last year in brand new equipment. I think this year will be better because I can use used equipment that has that "lived in" smell. I think swarm trapping is definitely worth the time because you get local bees that are adapted to your climate and thriving enough to cast a swarm. It's possible that you catch a swarm from another beekeeper but if they are managing theirs it's more likely you will catch a swarm that is already surviving without treatments from a beekeeper. Finally, it's super fun to swarm trap, like Christmas and fishing combined! I think traps are much more convenient than swarm calls but if I get the chance this year I would love to catch an active swarm! Are you building traps or taking swarm calls?

[@wesluther8298]

@@BeeBoyBill Thanks for your great response. We will be building swarms based off Dr. Sharashkin's plans, and will also be using your great videos for example. We're located in the upper mountains of NC. We've kept Bees over the past 5 years. Started with package bees but after a few failures moved to nucs. We always used langstroth hives, but unfortunately have failed to combat disease. We never treated our bees with chemicals and wanted high gene bees just like you but we just kept failing. We lost hope until we found Dr. Sharashkin and when I saw the weakness of the langstroth I didn't blame myself as much anymore. We're now gonna follow his teachings with the layens hive and only use bees we can catch in a swarm. Keep making videos, they're very educational. We're gonna be making videos too and when we do Ill show them to you.

[@timstoltzfus8408]

Which hole do you have open? There are three, if I am not mistaken, spread out on the front. I would guess the hole on video left was open, since that is where the brood was, correct? Also, when do you pull your honey? One more thing....do you have plans for a layens frame extractor? Thanks Bill

[@BeeBoyBill]

Hi Tim, Both holes are open on the hive, they end to use the left side the most because thats where I always start my frames. I don't have a set time to pull honey, I usually only take the messed up frames to make honey so when I find one I harvest it. Occasionally, I will take a couple frames out before winter if they are loaded and I want to make creamed honey for Christmas gifts. I do not use an extractor, I find for the honey I harvest crush and strain works awesome. Hope this helps!

[@bradgoliphant]

Hello Bee Boy Bill. I have a question for you. Do you find that honeybees prefer longer frames to work on? Like those in your Layens hive? I have langstroth hive and I had an idea of glueing one of my deep and shallow boxes together and doing the same for the frames to create a longer frame. What do you think of this idea?

[@BeeBoyBill]

I think it would be worth a shot!. The one thing I read about before deciding on Layen's hives was that it helps during winter because bees do not have to break the cluster to move to a different frame or span the gap between two boxes.

[@hankkennedy5330]

How do you extract honey? Those frames don't look like they would fit in a spinner.

[@BeeBoyBill]

Hi Hank, I personally don't due much honey as I'm focused on breeding. Occasionally I have to remove the comb and in that case, I would crush and strain. If you're interested in using an extractor with a Layens frame they do make them big enough and one place you can get them is here: horizontalhive.com/buy-hive-bees/swarm-trap-top-bar-sale.shtml Hope that helps!

[@runningdogapiary5009]

hello, are you still keeping bees in the layens hive? Hope you are doing well.

[@BeeBoyBill]

Absolutely! The apiary is doing well and so am I. Thanks for your comment.

[@mehmetonbasi5890]

How do you actually earn the honey? Are there any differences to other hives (e.g. Langstroth or Dadant) regarding the amount of honey harvested?

[@BeeBoyBill]

I've never ran any other hives, but I've been surprised with the amount of honey produced by the bees. Based on your climate, you need to leave a certain amount of frames in the hive. I wouldn't leave less than 9, and leave more if the winters are longer.

[@wesluther92]

Bill how are your bees doing? How did they fare the weather in the horizontal hives?

[@BeeBoyBill]

Hi Wes, The inspection in April left 3 out of 8 hives which I thought was great considering I was expecting a 20% sruvival. We had a late freeze in April that finished off one of those. One of the two that was left was only laying drone but in great patterns not like a laying worker so I'm thinking 1 of two things happened. Either they made a new queen and she was/is sterile or, because I'm using natural comb, comb from the largers bees ended up in a smaller sized bee hive. Either way is fine with me as I only want to make more bees from the ones that make it through the winter. I split the good hive into 4 nucs and they've been building up!

[@wesluther92]

@@BeeBoyBill Thanks for the great response, you had me worried because we hadn't heard from you in a while! I'm sure your Bees that survived will have very strong genes. We're in the mountains of NC going into our first winter with these horizontal hives. We've caught four swarms so far this season and we expect to catch at least one more before winter. Thank you for being a good source of knowledge.

[@jstormclouds]

@@BeeBoyBill I think the lack of insulation is the primary cause of why you lost 75% of your hives? (but you did infer only 1 hive survived). . . Regardless, thanks for updates. I watch every video i can on layens's. I've got a couple of horizontal hives started 1 month ago. . I just watched a video with Dr Leo mentioning about importance of insulation. Remember a tree will typically have a lot more insulation than a couple of inches. Especially up top

[@BeeBoyBill]

@@jstormclouds hard to tell, there's a lot of factors including starting with packages, buying nucs that were previously treated, and catching of swarms that may or may not have been previously treated, equipment, starting from all-natural comb that had to be built the first year before honey could be stored for winter. From what I've read and heard, it is typical to lose about 80 percent your first year of treatment-free beekeeping and that it flips to about 20% loss in year 3. I would suggest that too much intervention, insulation, in this case, could also lead to weaker stock. For instance, I could build heated hives and keep them just warm enough to stay in a cluster, but what if they swarmed, would they still survive in their new home? What if they get sick from holding in their fecal matter because it's too cold to fly? Every intervention has potential side effects. No matter what the reason they didn't survive, it makes my job easier to decide which hives to split from. I like to think of winter as the great deciding factor on which bees will get to procreate and only the best that make it through will produce only the best offspring! Thanks for your comment and for watching!

[@dlbraly]

Great video Bill, how's it going?

[@BeeBoyBill]

Hi David. The bees had a great winter and came through with only losing one hive. We just got another 3-4 inches of snow, but I'm thinking they will pull through just fine!

[@dlbraly]

@@BeeBoyBill Hope you bust out another video when it warms up. I'm in the South. I built my first frames and box the other day. Going to try and catch a swarm. We are excited about it.

[@BeeBoyBill]

@@dlbraly I really enjoy swarm trapping. It's like Christmas in summer when you find a trap full of bees!

[@dlbraly]

@@BeeBoyBill Are you going to catch any this year?

[@BeeBoyBill]

@@dlbraly I sure hope so. I built about 20 traps a couple years ago. Hoping to get half of them in the field this year at a minimum.

[@fudogwhisperer3590]

why don't you have the boards over top of the frames?

[@BeeBoyBill]

Hi Fu Dog, One of the cool things about Layen's hives is you do not need a board on top. All of the frames touch each other directly creating their own ceiling. This works out really great during inspections because it minimizes the disruption. BBB

[@edgreywolf]

where did you get that jacket?

[@BeeBoyBill]

It’s called a bug baffler. Works great!

[@ExarKenneth71]

I've noticed that you haven;t posted anything this year hope everything is alright.

[@BeeBoyBill]

Everything has been great, and extremely busy. So far I've caught 2 swarms this year and still need to make another round to check traps. Currently, I'm looking at wintering 7 hives. I've been keeping up with the bees but haven't had time to put together any videos. I am getting some ideas together and hope to start making videos again soon. Thanks for your support! Bill

[@MrBobberino01]

How do you harvest honey from this setup?

[@BeeBoyBill]

Hi MrBobberino, I use crush and strain, but because I'm still growing my stock I only harvest if I get cross combing. You can buy extractors that fit these frames if you have a larger operation. I know Dr Leo sells them here: horizontalhive.com/buy-hive-bees/swarm-trap-top-bar-sale.shtml Bill

[@dangolfishin]

How much of a gap is there between the sides and bottoms of the frames and the walls and floor of the box?

[@BeeBoyBill]

Hi dangolfishin, I don't know an exact measurement without taking the ruler to the bee yard, but if you build them to the specs there is enough for the bees to get around and not enough for them to want to build comb. Hope this helps! Bill

[@dangolfishin]

@@BeeBoyBill thanks for the reply. Do you think they primarily use the floor to get around from frame to frame or the walls once they are completely filled? Would an inch be a suitable gap between the floor and bottom of the frames?

[@dangolfishin]

After checking the horizontal hive website it looks to be a half inch to an inch gap on the sides and floor. I'll go with that. I'm thinking of using custom dimensions based on what tongue and groove board I can find. Thanks again for the input.

[@BeeBoyBill]

I think half inch is closer. You could probably do a search for bee spacing to get better idea. Basically you want enough room for them to get around and not enough that they want to build that area out. I remember the number 3/8” standing out from my readings. Good luck!

[@davesull3144]

Are you planning to make more video

[@BeeBoyBill]

Hey Dave, that's the plan! Been a busy spring but hope to tackle some soon.

[@raincoast9010]

Hmmm... where did you go?

[@BeeBoyBill]

Hi Rain, I'm still here answering questions and chatting about bees! If you're asking why no recent video, I pressed for time with college and a new baby! I have video recorded but the editing takes much longer than the recording. For a recent school project I made a website for the channel you might be interested in, it's not live yet, but here's a sneak peak: sites.google.com/view/beeboybill/home BBB

[@debrajakel757]

Bee Boy Bill, what state are you in?

[@BeeBoyBill]

Hey Debra, I’m in NY

[@reivenwolf]

What does the aluminum top do?

[@BeeBoyBill]

I use aluminum flashing to protect the wood from rain and snow

[@reivenwolf]

@@BeeBoyBill thank you 😊

[@mnbrown25]

Are you going to have any content this year? I hope you do.

[@BeeBoyBill]

Hi Nate. I’ve been working on a couple videos fighting the work and weather. Hopefully be getting new stuff up soon. Anything in particular you would like to see?I’m always curious and looking for ideas. Thanks for watching!

[@mnbrown25]

I am running a Layens hive myself. I’d love to see continued information on your experiences. Id really like to see how you extract the honey from the Layens frames. Hope to see you catch some swarms too. I’m putting out 12 Layens swarm traps myself.

[@erwin757]

Bee Boy Bill how did the live cam setup go? I would love to see the swarm nesteling in

[@BeeBoyBill]

@@erwin757 Unfortunately, the bees never moved into that swarm trap. Didn't someone say "a watch trap never catches a swarm"?

[@beeqool]

what do you think about selling raw cut honeycomb out of these hives?

[@BeeBoyBill]

I done this but I don’t foresee a problem with it. I don’t use foundation in my hives so it would be easy to cut it and sell it. Have you sold raw honeycomb before? What types of problems have you had?

[@beeqool]

@@BeeBoyBill no im just learning and thinking about starting to keep bees on my dads farmland so no problems yet. i wanted the work to be as simple as possible, and cut comb seemed simpler and faster to do with less equipment than throwing or pressing honey.

[@BeeBoyBill]

It does require less equipment, but in order to sell cut comb, you need very freshly drawn wax that is also full of honey which isn't always easy to get. I would say start with the bees, you won't have honey for a least a year and then you can decide if you want to use it to make more bees or if you want to process it. Crush and strain method doesn't require much equipment but just like cutting comb you give up your drawn comb when you crush.

[@beeqool]

@@BeeBoyBill ok thanks

[@michaelharvey7613]

Do you have long Langstrom hives?

[@BeeBoyBill]

Hi Michael, I do not have any long Langstroth hives. Have you used them?

[@michaelharvey7613]

No just looking at them so I can repurpose all my old frames. Wanted to know if you had the knowledge I am missing.

[@BeeBoyBill]

@@michaelharvey7613 I do appreciate the value of using Langs in a long hive, but I don't think they would perform well in my area. One of the reasons I went with the Layens was because of how deep they are. We have long winters here and when I was calculating how much honey the bees need for a winter, I hypothesized that by using the deeper frames the bees would not have to break cluster to move to the next frame for honey. I may try out a long lang conversion someday to get bees back on to Lang frames for nuc sales when I've developed my stock a little more. I've heard of people using two Lang deeps zip tied together in a Layens. You may want to consider Dr Leo's version of putting 2 mediums together to make a deep Layen's. You can find that here: horizontalhive.com/how-to-build/convert-langstroth-layens.shtml Hope that helps!

[@StrangerInAStrange]

@@michaelharvey7613 There are two types of plans on www.horizontalhive.com/ for using Langstroth Frames. www.horizontalhive.com/how-to-build/long-langstroth-plans.shtml is a Long Langstroth www.horizontalhive.com/how-to-build/convert-langstroth-layens.shtml is for converting Langstroth frames to deeps, by turning them 90 Degrees. It looks like Bee Boy Bill goes into the rationale of Layens Deep Frames below, so I won't duplicate that. It does argue somewhat against using a simple Long Langstroth.