My Hives Jan 9 2019

This is simply on the condition of my hives in early January after losing 4 of them recently from unknown causes.

[@justinmills8084]

I would recommend a top entrance. I use a 3/4" hole in the top box it helps ventilate out moisture.

[@houstonsheltonbees814]

Awesome. Looks like you will have plenty of comb for spring splits. Man your gonna have lots going on. Best of luck to you. Hello from Kentucky..

[@lialos]

First of all, I love your videos. Just tore down an old structure and going to use the wood to make a bunch of traps like yours. Now I see your frame storage, and I love it. Can I get some dimensions on what you’ve built there? Or a link to your google drive with pictures and dimensions like you did the swarm trap build?

[@beecatcher6653]

Thank you for watching my videos. Don't have plans. Just threw them together. You need 4 treated 2x4s 8ft long. Make the frame 8 ft long. Use 5/8 treated furring strips screwed to inside of frame to hang frames same dimension as inside of honey super. Legs are 32" long cut about 10 deg angle on ends. Use old windows to protect frames and discourage wax moths. photos.app.goo.gl/cawKL5Qwxf4BrZsw6 Hope this helps. It is pretty simple to make.

[@Dstick1Spearfishing]

Nice to see you are back. If something has killed a hive, are you freezing the frames first for a few days before feeding them to the other bees? Just wondering if you are risking spreading something to your bees? Have a good new year!

[@beecatcher6653]

I hung all frames from the dead-outs in open outdoor racks. They are frozen most of the winter. Nothing went back into another hive. Freezing is not possible in the springtime when making splits and moving frames around. Bees in this are having a lot of problems. It is getting tough to keep them alive more than a year or two. We never saw a hive beetle until last year. Now they are suddenly a big problem. Thanks for your comment.

[@scottmaschino1927]

Cool idea storing your drawn frames. Might have to borrow that idea.

[@SakimasRidgeHomestead]

Ours were out today as well. Back up to 5 hives from the one we came out of last winter with last year. Glad to see you're back to making videos.

[@irvincereynolds6540]

How many swarms did you caught last year?

[@beecatcher6653]

I caught 15 swarms in 2017. Only 3 in 2018. Bee colony losses were very high in NE Ohio. Our bee club members reported very few swarms last year. It concerns me that the the honey bee population in this area is declining. I am concerned 2019 will be bad. We just had a week of minus temps.

[@irvincereynolds6540]

@@beecatcher6653 thanks for the reply.

[@godsstandards]

How long have you been storing frames that way? Everything looks good.👍 Glad to hear from you.😊

[@beecatcher6653]

Several years. I have had very few problems with wax moths so far.

[@MsDaddyrabbit1]

Excellent

[@mrcshoneybees]

Nice frame storage. Do you have any problem with mold on the frames. Sorry to hear about loosing hives already. Do you know why? The others look busy.

[@beecatcher6653]

I have had some minor damage from mold. Very minor damage from wax moths. Never had to discard any frames. I live in a wooded area where there is more shade than I would like for storing frames with drawn comb. I think storage in full sun would eliminate most of those problems. It is aways tough to determine what causes bees to die. These hives were lively two weeks earlier. They were eating candy board, then died suddenly. We have very high losses in this area and we are not sure why. Thanks for your comment.

[@mrcshoneybees]

@@beecatcher6653 I live in North Royalton Ohio, Sounds close to you. so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

[@williamstidham1443]

Welcome back Bee Catcher. Missed your posts......

[@konradrueb1567]

Hi Mike glad your back enjoy your videos.bee safe 🐝🐝🐝🐝 Konrad

[@woodchucktinman9893]

Interesting frame storage. Wax moths hate the light. And bees rob any honey, so nothing for hive beetles. I like it. Please share your evaluation of the dead outs if time allows, it gives us great ideas to learn potential ways to prevent them!

[@sergepajcin1255]

My survival rate is for now %100 not using any med only oxalic acid in November and living apivar till end of February

[@sergepajcin1255]

Is so high hopefully why not just single or double never go so high bees can’t cover loosing heath

[@scott7359]

Good to hear from you sir! Glad all is well.....

[@dkaiyumi]

Hello from Brazil Im also a Beekeeper here in southeast of Brazil. Dont you have problems with ants? Here i had problems with ants crawling to my hives

[@beecatcher6653]

We do not have a problem with ants in northeast Ohio. You have a good point about freezing frames, but I hung all of the frames from the dead-outs in outdoor racks. They are frozen most of the winter.

[@dkaiyumi]

@@beecatcher6653 Thanks for the fast answer. Now its Summer here so now we will collect the honey and split the Hives

[@rmcefhuff]

Nice to see you again. I like how you store your frames. I'm down her in southern Ohio, caught two swarms this year. One early spring and one late summer (Aug).

[@beecatcher6653]

The number of swarms in NE Ohio last year was down significantly from 2017. Many beekeepers noticed bee-tree dead outs where there had been colonies for many years. That concerns me, but I am hoping for a more robust swarm season this year. Thank you for watching my video.

[@baconneggs2406]

How was the pollen stores in those dead outs?

[@beecatcher6653]

Two weeks prior to finding the deadouts the bees were vibrant, eating candy board. There was plenty of honey and pollen. Had to dump it all. Mystery! Check out these photos: photos.app.goo.gl/ogZ3tykXbZhAvob39