My Bees Are Honey Bound-No Really

I told everyone in my first inspection video that I was opening hives or opening comb. What in the world is that you might be asking? Well, in this video I aim to show you. It's what I do when bees need more space. Nothing monumental here, just an elementary task that needs to be done or else I'll be watching most all my colonies of bees from the ground as they begin to hang out in the trees. Let's take a trip to the bee yard and get this done.
Some of my favorite Beekeeping channels:
‪@brucesbees‬ ‪@thesidelinebeekeeper-craig6924‬ ‪@ThatBeeMan‬ ‪@CastleHives‬ ‪@628DirtRooster‬ ‪@JeffHorchoff‬ ‪@BeekeepingWithNatalee‬ ‪@NaturesImageFarmGregBurns‬ ‪@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog‬ ‪@TheCaliforniaBeekeeper‬ ‪@bobbinnie9872‬ ‪@josephrawls‬ ‪@guardianbeeapparel1036‬
Great beekeeping protective gear at
Guardian Bee Apparel:
guardianbeeapparel.com/
FaceBook: / guardianbeeapparel
Great prices and an excellent beekeeping equipment supplier that I use:
HillCo Bees: hillcobees.com/
‪@hillcollc‬
FB: / hillcobees
Brian at Castle Hives:
Store: www.youtube.com/@CastleHives/...
KZbin: www.youtube.com/@CastleHives/...
FaceBook: / castle.hives
Thanks for joining me in my bee yard here in Louisiana as I share how I maintain my beehives. My videos are not meant to be 'How To' videos, but simply me sharing my experiences in beekeeping as I learned it from my mentors, teachers, and studies.
#bees #beekeeping #beehive #honeybees #hiveinspection #savethebees #honey #honeycomb #beeswax #swarming #swarmtrap

[@keithdevillier1459]

Love your videos and especially the way you end them with God Bless You and may God Bless you also Brother

[@MikeBarryBees]

So glad you like the videos and thanks so much!!

[@mikehill9888]

Thanks for the video. The expansion of the hives are Great. 😊

[@MikeBarryBees]

You're welcome and thanks for the support and comment!!

[@melvinyoder1954]

Thanks for the video mike

[@MikeBarryBees]

You're welcome Melvin and thanks for the support!!

[@daverowden-RowdyBeeFarms]

Thanks for the Video

[@MikeBarryBees]

You're welcome Dave and thanks for your support!!

[@willisseymour4207]

Great info, thanks

[@MikeBarryBees]

You're welcome!! Glad it was helpful!

[@angelalott9370]

I hope all is good

[@MikeBarryBees]

All is well, thanks!!

[@matthewsweeney2577]

Go gettem on the new job! Appreciate the videos 👍

[@MikeBarryBees]

You're welcome and thanks so much!!

[@williamkn621]

So, I overwintered a hive here in central texas in 3 deeps. They too were full yesterday. Added another deep. Hope to split them next week or two. Thanks for your video Mike👍

[@MikeBarryBees]

Thanks William. Yea, I et you guys saw a similar winter. They just didn't consume much honey whatsoever. I guess the warm weather kept something blooming for them to eat on instead of the honey.

[@628DirtRooster]

I like the music you used.

[@MikeBarryBees]

Thanks, came in the app I use.

[@ECP]

Looking Good Mike

[@MikeBarryBees]

Thanks Chris!

[@Ashby_Farms_NC]

Those sure are some pretty frames of Capped brood Mike! Wish you the best luck this season!!!

[@MikeBarryBees]

Thanks Ashby and same to you my friend!!

[@brucesbees]

There ya go Mike. Looking good. Game on!

[@MikeBarryBees]

Thanks Bruce and yes, game on for sure!!

[@dcsblessedbees]

🤨Bees did you today did they😅Hi Mike, I hope you had a good day.😁

[@MikeBarryBees]

They have me running. I'm slowly closing in on them though...LOL!!!

[@donbearden1953]

Mike, we have the same thing going on here! You have those girls looking good. I have my supers airing out getting them ready to go.

[@MikeBarryBees]

Supers starting to go on here Don. Only a few, but in about a week, I'm going to start adding some on the colonies I don't split.

[@MFB7000]

My hives look like this also. I had to take a bunch of honey out. I won't leave them as much honey this year as last

[@MikeBarryBees]

Yea, it's tough to judge sometimes. If it had been a cold winter, I think it would've been enough. We just never know. Although, as you said, pulling more out in the fall helps, but we'll just need to feed more to be sure they have what they need. Always a challenge....

[@jpthedelawarebeeman7887]

Wow those girls weren't too happy Mike :)

[@MikeBarryBees]

Howdy JP. Yea, they were a bit testy...LOL!

[@icymountainhoney9940]

Good info. Thanks Mike!

[@MikeBarryBees]

You bet! Thanks!!

[@jonclemons1421]

This has started out as another wild weather year here in OK. We've gone from 70's to 20's this week. How in the world can we get into the colonies and even do an inspection! 70 degrees is when I'm at work.

[@MikeBarryBees]

Same here except wamrer. &5 yesterday, 30's at night. Supposed to be 30 Sunday! It's wild for sure!

[@gallowaylights]

00:17:04 Your a magician! Cool transition.

[@MikeBarryBees]

Thanks!! Took me a couple tries to get it close.

[@badassbees3680]

Land of Honey releasing a Bumper crop year it looks like! Congrats on blessing and more work lol

[@MikeBarryBees]

Yes, we truly are blessed down here. I do not take it for granted and was just telling someone that the other day. even with feral bees and swarm catching, we just have a good thing.

[@badassbees3680]

@@MikeBarryBees totally well tell em watch and weep 😂🤣😂

[@eppdso]

Nice first to see

[@MikeBarryBees]

Thanks for watching!!

[@lambbrookfarm4528]

Mug up Mike, good morning from NH. Just watched Charlie and Jeff. Chatting now with JP the Beeman right now. Thanks to JP I hope to give you guys a tour up here soon. Thanks for the bee fix, you guys are great!

[@MikeBarryBees]

Howdy from the deep south! Looking forward to it!!

[@danschneider9219]

My bees are snow bound ha top that

[@MikeBarryBees]

Snowbound...Ha, Ha, Ha!!!

[@lomavistabeeco]

I’ve been watching your videos for years Mike. I enjoy all of them, but I have to say that I’m not yet used to that new veil with the seams on both sides of your face. I’m sure I’ll get there though. 😂

[@MikeBarryBees]

Well, thanks for the long time support!! I'm still getting used to it myself. I've been switching back and forth with my old jacket. I love the jacket material in the new one though.

[@lomavistabeeco]

@@MikeBarryBees I am in no way making fun or complaining about your jacket and veil. Guardian makes a great suit. All I’m saying is that I am always used to seeing you in the “round” veil.

[@aussiebeekeeping]

That transition from video to editor to talking was some of the best I’ve ever seen. Nice to see your season kicking off. Ours just coming to an end.

[@MikeBarryBees]

Thanks so much!!! It took me a few takes to time it up, but it’s something I’ve been wanting to try for a while. Thanks again and hope your off season over there affords you a great rest and your bees a nice break.

[@maryjanebeatty6030]

Bees do you?? LOL Either way you are a great teacher to learn things from. Laundry does me LOL never ending, like bees!! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and part of your day with us!

[@MikeBarryBees]

LOL!!! Thanks so much, always appreciate and value your comments.

[@brentstastny5179]

Great video, you said they hate the camera and it wasn’t as bad as it seemed and I didn’t see them going after your face. Where they not? I wonder why they decided the camera was the enemy? I have never had a camera around my girls but if I could set up a decoy it would be handy at times. Lol

[@MikeBarryBees]

I tell ya Brent, they truly hate the camera. Specifically the mic. Without the mic, they don’t attack it as bad. They were not messing with me at all. Well, there were a few bumping my veil, but nothing like you heard. You got a point about a decoy camera😂😂😂

[@CastleHives]

That is nuts Mike, already bringing in Nectar like that and getting bound up. Enjoyed the video. Can't wait to crack my colonies open.

[@MikeBarryBees]

Yea Brian, actually adding supers already on a limited basis and in a week, more will start going on. You have an issue on your hands this season You did so well that you'll have to split most of them. You know what that means, right? INCREASES!!!!

[@GEEZBEEZ]

Enjoyed the video. It’s really crazy in your world of bees. I guess that is a good problem to have. Looks like you are staying on top of them. Thanks Mike. Take care.

[@MikeBarryBees]

Thanks Garry. We do have a good thing down here as I just commented above, I don't take it for granted. We are blessed with bees and nectar.

[@tommychew6544]

Thanks for the video!

[@MikeBarryBees]

are welcome and thanks for watching!!

[@hootervillehoneybees8664]

We had very mild winter I expect great year swarm trapping. Good luck Mike

[@MikeBarryBees]

Same here and thanks. I went ice fishing by the way!!

[@goofycur]

Glad I found this channel! We are not far from y’all and just starting with bees so I’m watching to see what I should be doing versus what I think I should be doin 😂

[@MikeBarryBees]

Glad you are here and thanks!! Hope it helps you out with your new adventure!!

[@togo3624]

Another great video. Greatly appreciated. I am also very close to you. Its great to see someone in my immediate area so I can better understand local timing. You touched on scheduling task. If you are looking for video ideas Id bet I’m not the only one that would appreciate a month by month bee task calendar.

[@MikeBarryBees]

@@togo3624 I made one for the club I was in. Not video of course, but printed copy. If you can make the meeting, I can bring a copy. We meet in Franklinton every third Thursday at 6PM at the LSUAg Center. Should be the 20th this month I believe.

[@brucesouthernsassapiaries8316]

Great video Mike....glad to see your season is off and running!!!

[@MikeBarryBees]

Thanks so much Bruce!!

[@louiseibbotson588]

To cold here Mike in Uk ❤

[@MikeBarryBees]

I bet!! Thanks for watching from across the pond. Planning in being on a live stream from KZbin beekeepinggardening channel tomorrow. It will be 2300 UK time.

[@kathyhathaway8823]

Ya this season I think there are quite a few people that are getting caught with this odd season . I know it has got me running around like crazy. In that early nectar an honey do you ever freeze much of if for a dearth or late season feeding. Also do you have enough nectar going in now to get foundation frames drawn out or is still to little enough to keep them from swarming as far as having a place to expand. I really enjoy see what all is going on to see what may be heading my way as far as timing. Congratulations on new work hope it goes well . THANKS

[@MikeBarryBees]

It's a crazy season, a lot like we had about 6 years ago. I only keep back about 15 to 20 frames of honey in the freezer. And really that is too much. I rarely ever need any for the bees for later. But just in case....As far as the nectar, we're right on the edge of them drawing or not drawing. In February and early March, it's usually not enough except for very strong colonies. But by mid-march, they will draw good coated foundation, or wax foundation pretty well. Come April, they'll draw comb on a piece of cardboard if you let them. But in march and late February, putting in foundation, especially in the brood nest, seems to hurt more than help. Not quite enough nectar for them to pull out a lot of wax. Since the blooming flowers and such are about a week or two early, I am seeing them draw now.

[@tommywise1702]

Thanks for another great video Mike. Have a good day.

[@MikeBarryBees]

You are welcome Tommy and thanks so much!!

[@christyledgerwood7564]

Hi Mike! I've watched your channel for quite a while now and really like how you do things. I do have a question. Why choose to pull honey instead of adding another box then pulling up a few frames? Would it be to much? Thank you for sharing your seasons!!

[@MikeBarryBees]

Christy, great question!! One thing is that would really tax me for equipment. But the main reason is I want only two brood chambers and I want them packed up with as much brood as possible. In the end, with that much honey, it’s just too much for them since they won’t eat it. So I could very well move it up and have a third box, but that honey would sit for the entire season and at the end of the season they would load another brood chamber. So I guess the main reason is it tends to be wasted space since it won’t get used by me or them. I took it up to some property up north and fed it all back to the feral bees. I hope that answers your question. Let me know. Thanks for your support of the channel Christy. Very much appreciated.

[@joer5627]

I’m seeing similarly in Atl. 3 swarms already. It’s nuts with this warm weather

[@MikeBarryBees]

Wow!! That's still a ways north and three swarms. It's a crazy start for everyone.

[@KajunHomestead]

Mine are packing out also, I just started making walk away splits to fill in some of the dead out spots I had from the winter losses. Hopefully I get some queens back. If not, I’m going to drop in queen cells when I start grafting next week , great video Mike God bless.

[@MikeBarryBees]

I finally dropped in some cells and was able to drop some of my own this past week. Had to do another walk away since I ran out of cells. Well, actually I only brought one cell to the out yard, so I did the walk-away. Mean time I now have a virgin that came out of one of my cells that I should have taken with me. Oh well, I have another place for her. Thanks for the support and comment!!

[@horizontalbees3480]

Wow 😮 Mike!! So amazing there already honey bound.

[@MikeBarryBees]

I know Rickey!! I'm just trying to keep up!!

[@davidlewis4179]

That's encouraging maybe I can do some walk away splits this year. With having over a foot of snow 2 days ago I'll have to wait though. I've given up trying to make sense of the weather. The only thing constant about the weather is change! Last year 70° days in March led to the blackberries dying back to the ground because of the freezing weather in April. This year February and March have swapped places weather wise. Spring like February and winter like March. 60° days in February and lows below freezing every day in March.

[@MikeBarryBees]

Walk away splits are so easy and forgiving. If I didn't want to increase my honey production, I'd still do all my splits like that, but getting queen cells in them gives e a laying queen 2 week faster and that makes a difference in production. I'm like you, I don't try with the weather anymore. It'll be what it'll be. We're supposed to get back down to 30 tomorrow night and it's been in the high 30's for three mornings now. 78 yesterday....Who knows anymore...

[@davidlewis4179]

@@MikeBarryBees in my local Amish community there are 3 beekeepers. One of them raises treatment free survivor stock queens. So local queen availability is not an issue for me. Look up Resilience in Bee Culture magazine. These guys are very integrated with each other. Like last year one sold queen-less packages to the other for mating boxes and I transported the boxes. I do Amish Uber as a side hustle. It's convenient for them as not many drivers would haul honey bees in their vehicles.

[@cathymontgomery7295]

With that nuc you put in a 10 frame, what qould happen if you put another box on it now of honey and empty frames checkerboarded?

[@MikeBarryBees]

That would be an option and would work fine, but I couldn’t get to two boxes loaded with brood and then cutting down on the workforce. I like to pack out the doubles with bees so that when the flow hits, I’ve got hearty and populous colonies that will make more honey. My goal is to have two full deep boxes of bees prior to adding medium honey supers. In about a week, this box will get some foundation and drawn comb which is similar to what you’re asking, but just no honey to take up space. They really don’t need the honey right now with the nectar coming in. Thanks for the question Cathy!!

[@russk3931]

Mike, your bees still have a buzz to them. Hopefully they will start calming down soon. If you gave a strong hive some undrawn comb this time of the year would they have enough flow to draw them out? Snowing like crazy today again. suppose to get below zero this weekend again. Spring is slow coming here.

[@MikeBarryBees]

Yea Russell, they're still a bit hostile. This past Wednesday I was in them and they are getting better. At this time we are able to put in foundation and they should draw it out. Stronger colonies were drawing a couple weeks ago, but everyone should have enough nectar to begin producing wax. In about a week or two, it will be ideal for them, although we're forecasted for a freeze down to 29 or 30, so that could shut all that down if it kills off the blooms. I'd say in a normal year, adding foundation anytime prior to mid March does not do a whole lot since the nectar in February and early March is not quite heavy enough.

[@wadebarnes6720]

Bee's you get out your swarm how do they winter

[@MikeBarryBees]

They do great!

[@terryhagen2711]

How does the blackberry honey taste?

[@MikeBarryBees]

Kind of different. It’s very good but not as sweet as our tallow and it has a different aftertaste.

[@spider2914]

Great video Mike! Do you save the honey for splits or extract some of it? Things slow here in central Illinois.

[@MikeBarryBees]

No, I don’t. I keep back about 20 frames in the freezer for any situations that arise, but I fed the rest back to the feral colonies about 20 miles north. As for extracting, I’ve never used chemicals in the hives, only compounds that are legal for use with supers. But the issue is that the frames are old brood frames and those frames tend to absorb pesticides over the years since they’re in the hives for so long. So I opt not to extract. Thanks for the question. Hope that answers your question!!

[@jerry2593]

Hello Mike. Bees hate bee brushes and got nasty when we used them. For whatever reason they don't get near as upset when we use a turkey wing feather. Just a suggestion.

[@andrewklahold2880]

I think it not the brush, it the fact that they don't make them with camel hair any more camel hair is very soft and natural

[@jerry2593]

Whatever they make them out of the bees hate it.

[@andrewklahold2880]

@@jerry2593 yes I know they sure do hate it, the bristles are a synthetic, I know even real house hair or camel hair is better, hours hair is soft and can be gentle, camel hair is softer, them foam shaving brushes back in the 50s and 60s even farther back then that were made of camel hair, they were nice, my late father and grandparent had them slaving brush that were of real camel hair

[@MikeBarryBees]

The brush I’m using in this video is actually a very soft more natural material. It does well and I rub it down the bees. I had a feather, but I lost it. This one was gifted to me and I really like it. Appreciate the suggestion!!

[@nancynolton6079]

@@MikeBarryBees I find turning the frame upside down and then brushing the bees off works better... seems the bees cannot grip the frame as well and brush off easier.

[@bullwinkled790]

mike - this honey bound business, I take it is nothing u are going to extract. Is it sugar syrup from last fall? What ya gonna do with it?

[@MikeBarryBees]

Ok, so, it is extractable since I don’t use chemicals, but only compounds that are allowable with honey supers on for my mite treatments. In these hives that have this honey, they were heavy in the fall, so it’s free of any sugar syrup. The main issue is the majority of frames are old, which means a build up of pesticides in the wax. Old brood frames get that since they are always on the hives. So even though not all are old, I decided to not even extract them. Would there be a harmful amount of pesticide? No, I’m sure there wouldn’t. But the honey would also be very dark and older, Some maybe even by a couple years. I did think about it with the newer frames since we don’t have a lot of agricultural around here anyhow, but decided not to break out the equipment and then have a lot of darker, and older honey. So in the end, I took it 20 miles north to some family property and left them out for the feral colonies.

[@mitchellcampbell3521]

I went a hive about 2 weeks ago and it look good no cells or nothing. I went out yerseday to give them a little food and I heard a queen piping. Do u think they could have hatch a queen out or does the old queen do that sometimes.

[@MikeBarryBees]

Interesting situation. As I’ve understood, only virgins pipe in the hive or in their cell. And normally if piping, there is at least a second queen in the hive. Could there have been a supersedure cell that you missed? If they swarmed and there are a couple other virgins, it is common to hear, but if your numbers of bees are still there and no emerged queen cells at all, seems it’s a superseded queen. Or, maybe they lost there queen on an inspection or something and made some emergency cells and a couple of the virgins emerged and are about to fight. They can tear down those old emergency cells quick and additionally if there are a lot of bees on the frames, it’s super easy to miss those smaller emergency cells. That’s the only thing I can think of if no swarming took place. Hope that helps answer your question Mitchell.

[@eddiebeshoner238]

Hi, I'm a new beekeeper in southeast Louisiana and am trying to learn as much as I can. I've been watching your videos and was wondering if you ever need any help. I would love to be able to lend a hand and try to pick up any knowledge and experience that I can. I sent you my contact information on Facebook messenger, I promise I'm not a stalker, I'm just trying to learn as much as I can.

[@MikeBarryBees]

Replied to messenger. It went to some holding folder…. I don’t do well on messenger😬😬