My First Layens Beehive Inspection of 2024

[@Dimitri.Angelopoulos]

Thank you so much for all the information that you share. It's so valuable specially for new bee keepers like me. I started my beekeeping journey last August by getting a nuc layens hive from a local beekeeper. I live in southeastern Wisconsin. So far my bees are doing great. A few days ago I checked on my bees through the entrance with the wire (endoscope) camera and everything looked really good. Thanks again for your very informative videos

[@SuburbanSodbuster]

I'm glad to hear that your bees are looking good, too!

[@tomfoydel]

Great information - would love to see a video about how you can help a new hive with some brood and honey frames make a new queen! Is it possible?

[@huckleberry4487]

Thanks for another thorough explanation.

[@pmlm1571]

That hive is HAPPY, beautiful Spring inspection, well displayed and explained. I love how you don't squish the bees and are soft in your movements. Love your Layens setups. I notice this hive box has the extra layer of top slats: do you think the extra layer provides significant benefit? I thought the top slats were for the older iteration of Layens hive boxes, where the top of each frame did not meet the next frame leaving a small gap in between all along the top, so that the top slats were actually needed to roof in the hive... Congratulations on such a successful over-winter!

[@SuburbanSodbuster]

Thank you! This hive was originally built as a double-deep Langstroth/Lazutin hive, so the cover boards are an artifact of that configuration. They probably don't provide much insulating value, but I still use them for whatever benefit they might give. I do keep 2 colonies in this hive so the cover boards also help to keep bees from going over the middle divider.

[@pmlm1571]

@@SuburbanSodbusterThanks, I see. I do remember a Dr. Leo episode where the Layens hive (which he had built) he was inspecting had all the cover boards too, but I never see them anymore in the layens' hives I see in the utube beekeeping world. Cheers!

[@hardstrugglehomestead9310]

I have started adding similar top bars to the top of my hives. I do it because I use a sheet of insulation for the top and have had the bees chew themselves a top entrance through the insulation.

[@jimlight6952]

I live in south west Ohio, and caught two swarms the first week of May last year. I built two Layens insulated hives from scrap lumber I had stored for several years instead of buying new plywood as shown on Dr. Leo's web site. The weather has been above normal temps so far in Feb, so the bees have been flying a lot. I noticed both hives had several bees taking orientation flight about 2 weeks ago. I checked both hives two days ago and both had caped brood, so I did not look any farther. I did remove the wool pillows from the top of frames as long range forecast shows no really cold temps. I do have a question: Both divider boards were partially black and appeared to be damp like a thin layer of mold was forming on the frame side. I did not notice any on the side walls. The side walls are 3/4" thick x 4" scrap boards, then 1-1/2" raw wool insulation, then the outer wall. The divider boards are 3/4" plywood that I purchased from a big box store. Is this anything I should be concerned about? Both divider boards showed no discoloration going into winter. Thanks, and do enjoy your helpful videos on your Layens hives. Jim Light, Goshen, Ohio

[@SuburbanSodbuster]

This is my opinion, but I would not worry about the effects of moisture on the divider board. Because that's the thinnest barrier between the hive and the cooler outside air (in this case the cooler air in the open end of the hive) it's a logical place that condensation is going to occur. When I rebuilt the hive in this video to hold Layens frames, I didn't add insulation to the end walls so they are 3/4" plywood and I see the same darkening from moisture as you describe. But, with a good population, the bees tend to clean everything up and "treat" the wood with a good coating of propolis. Do you leave a gap at the bottom of the divider board? If not, then doing so might help to mitigate some of the "issue" by letting some of the excess moist air vent to the other end of the hive. Also, since I started completely insulating my hives, with no ventilation besides the entrances, I haven't noticed such moisture impact on my divider boards.

[@jimlight6952]

Thanks for your opinion on the situation@@SuburbanSodbuster

[@daleorthman]

You have me craving for southern weather Monty! I feel left out up here in the freezer of New Hampshire. Maple sugaring should be hapening next week so there is hope. My Russians are ready for maple flow and brooding in due time. For that reason, I don't miss Italians at all. Good video bro! You give me hope.

[@dkoshuba]

Thanks for sharing your videos. Could you please in your next video show how your beehives look inside at the bottom? Do you have any moisture there after the winter, thanks

[@SuburbanSodbuster]

That's a good idea; I'll try to do that in the future. I've already recorded my next hive inspection video so didn't take that opportunity to get video of the inside bottom of the hives, but will try to do so in the future. I will say that I don't typically notice much moisture on the bottom. This particular hive is actually not insulated on the ends, so I do sometimes notice condensation on the end walls after winter. Otherwise there's not much evidence of excess moisture within the hive.

[@hardstrugglehomestead9310]

My hives are looking similar to yours. It looks to be a very promising season. Last week I saw orientation flights seems crazy this early in the season

[@SuburbanSodbuster]

Yes, it seems kind of crazy not only to see bees building up so well already but also signs that they're on at least a second generation of brood.

[@tommychew6544]

Great video, thanks for sharing!

[@SuburbanSodbuster]

Thanks for watching!

[@rossgraham8776]

I recently found your channel and have been enjoying your presentations. Currently, I have only have Langstroth hives but would like to move to horizontal hives to make it more convenient to manage and inspect as you are demonstrating here. I am reluctant to pull the trigger and go whole-hog with Layens frames right now. What are your opinions about using modified Layens hives with Langstroth frames. Thanks

[@SuburbanSodbuster]

That depends on what you mean by a "modified Layens hive". If you just mean a horizontal hive with Langstroth deep frames in their normal, horizontal orientation, that's just a long Langstroth hive. Many people use them successfully, but I prefer deeper frames. Others make the Layens hive a couple inches deeper and will use two Langstroth frames hung vertically as one frame. That gives the benefit of the deeper frame but I, personally, don't like the division of the frame bars in the middle. My preference doesn't make the approach "wrong", though.

[@rossgraham8776]

I was thinking of the "Long Langstroth", thanks for the reply

[@RomanicusSparticus]

Quick question… first time beekeeper this year. Built a 20-frame insulated Layens off Dr. Leo’s website and plans. I have 20 frames, was checking everything and I looks like there is enough space for a 21st frame as well? Is that to make it easier to pull frames?

[@SuburbanSodbuster]

You might be able to fit another frame when the frames are new and clean, but when propolis starts to build up the frames will take more space. Besides that, the additional space is for a 3/4" divider board.

[@RomanicusSparticus]

@@SuburbanSodbuster thank you!! I’m learning. Or doing my best to learn!

[@simplytopbarbeekeeping2107]

I live in Southern Illinois. March 2 I got into my two layens hives, and they look exactly like yours. Also, my two top bar hives are the same. I feel like our weather is about three weeks early. My bees have been bringing in pollen and nectar heavily for almost 3 weeks. And a lot of the capped brood is already hatching. Mostly they’ve been bringing in tree pollen and nectar but now a few other things are showing up as colors of pollen go. I did not hear are you located close to my region or climate zone?

[@SuburbanSodbuster]

Pretty close - just across the Mississippi river in Missouri.

[@bradgoliphant]

Question for you. How is it that hives are brooding up without a pollen coming in? Are bees capable of building brood without pollen? My hives are just starting to lay lots of eggs but zero capped brood. I’m in the NE

[@SuburbanSodbuster]

As I was editing this video, one thing I really wish I'd clarified in my explanation is that a colony's ability to manage their own resources through winter hinges on keeping bees acclimated to the local environment and nectar/pollen flow. As the days start to get longer the bees will naturally brood up, but if that instinctual timing is not synchronized with local pollen availability then much of that earliest brood may be lost. Italian bees, for example, when kept in a northern climate, are notorious for raising brood later into winter and earlier into spring than they should, and may require supplementation to avoid losses. That's a long explanation to get to the answer that yes, the bees need pollen to raise brood. Some of that might be stored over winter, but when the bees are locally acclimated their brood rearing should coincide with pollen availability. I will say that I see my bees bringing in pollen long before I notice things blooming. I don't know where they're getting it from, and maybe some is from grain dust from other feeds, but the varieties and colors suggest to me that some of it is the real stuff.

[@bradgoliphant]

@@SuburbanSodbuster thank you so much. This all makes sense.

[@kristinwalker8405]

Great video! If you split this hive later, how will you know when is the right time to do the split? Thanks!

[@SuburbanSodbuster]

Thanks! If you're splitting and adding a mated queen, then a split can be made at any time. But if you let the bees raise their own queen (as I do) then the timing is more important. Optimally, splits can be made anytime from when drones start flying until a hive swarms. But there are a few considerations: - After drones start flying, a hive can be split and the queenless side will make a new, emergency queen if they have eggs or young enough larva (< 3 days). But splitting very early may not suppress a colony's swarming instinct later. - When the bees start making swarm (queen) cells and raising queen larvae, the hive can be split to take advantage of these purposefully raised queens. Some say these can be superior to emergency queens; I don't know for sure. - When swarm cells are closed but before the existing queen swarms with 1/2 the colony is the ideal opportunity to split but this is a very narrow window of time. The queen can be moved to a new location ("artificial swarm") leaving the existing bees to raise the new queen. Depending on the strength of the colony and number of swarm cells, multiple splits could be made, and doing so could help to minimize the risk of secondary swarms. This timing may result in the best combination of making new colonies and reducing swarm instinct. - Splits can still be made after a swarm is cast, but this will depend on the remaining population of bees, and unless there are additional queen cells available it will have to wait until the new queen has started laying. - The later in the season a split is made, the more of a challenge the resulting colonies will have to build up without supplementation.

[@kristinwalker8405]

This is so helpful, thanks!

[@johngalt5504]

I built a hive the same size as yours. Getting a nuc next month. How many frames do you recommend to start with? Thanks

[@SuburbanSodbuster]

Whatever the bees can cover, with some space to grow. That # is going to depend on the colony, as is how quickly frames should be added. Some keepers will fill a hive with empty frames at the beginning of the nectar flow and then let the hive be. While I like that hands-off approach, it can result in multiple partially built or partially filled frames. I prefer to add a few frames at a time, and then add more when those are about 75-80% built out. But one colony might build and fill 5 frames in record time while another takes their sweet time to fill three. Sometimes it's more of an art of paying attention to the hive rather than a science of following specific numbers.

[@PapaBee165]

If you wanted to feed this hive sugar water, how would you do it?

[@SuburbanSodbuster]

There are frame feeders sized for Layens hives. I've also heard of people putting an entrance feeder in the open end of the hive.

[@jasperg357]

Do you make your own frames?

[@SuburbanSodbuster]

@@jasperg357 yes, I do.

[@jasperg357]

@@SuburbanSodbuster do you have any videos on how to do that or any recommend videos on how to do that?

[@SuburbanSodbuster]

@jasperg357 here's a video I made a couple years ago on the topic: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m3a3oHd-fZh4p9U. Some of my techniques have changed since then but this gives the general process. I also list wired frames for sale on my website, suburbansodbuster.com.