Honey Bees Vanish! So disappointing...Why we almost lost them all!

Honey Bees Vanish! So disappointing...Why we almost lost them all! Come along with us today as we clean up, repair and fix all of our honey bee hives and put new packages of bees in them! It's fun, educational and a life lesson! Our bee supplier: triadbeesupply.com/
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[@billseibel2563]

Beekeeping is how I found your channel way back when

[@kopenhagenkid]

Have a great time Ms Stoney Ridge

[@RodneyLinzay-lf7ls]

Loved the show today. Bees are very interesting. Would love to try it someday. Thanks y’all.

[@kopenhagenkid]

Great video Josh and Miss Stoney Ridge

[@kwantao69]

Josh, that was fascinating. thank you!

[@great0789]

Swarm traps are the answer. Caught bees are exponentially stronger than bought ones. Layens style hives help tremendously as well.

[@kopenhagenkid]

Good luck with your bees Josh

[@JCsBees]

Lots of neglect. Bees need management just like cattle my friend. When you neglect them varroa mites make them weak and they die over winter. Don't blame moths, it was the beekeeper. I understand though, I also manage a grass fed cow calf herd and it can be tricky to balance management. Good luck with the new Bees and remember to manage mites.

[@Beeloft]

Yes partnering with an active beekeeper would help. Need to treat for mites. Like your videos too Jason. Keep the videos flowing Josh. I hope to start a small farm. Learning a lot. Thank you

[@terresiagregg9326]

Good morning Josh n Ms.Stoney Ridge love your videos have fun with the bees todsy

[@terresiagregg9326]

No i dont think i want to deal with bees they are great but not for me have a great day whooooo

[@davemachoukas6175]

Thank you real learning experience!

[@alh9338]

Can't tell anyone what to do but if you are doing something and see yourself dragging someone along its a wise choice to move on.. Keep up on that keeping bro 🍻 😊

[@chipprice1174]

My dad had bees. To keep ants and other "crawling" critters out, Dad had several ways to do this. Mainly, they all had the protection of oil. Mostly he had stands that the legs were sitting in oil, which prevented most everything from crawling in and destroying the hive. I do know this, dad added a hive or two every year, and as far as I know of, he never lost a hive.

[@SCHomestead]

@@arthurdewith7608 The last research I saw said 2 mile radius. I'm lucky that there is no one doing any industrial farming that close to me.

[@countrybygirlandgrace]

I figured with Monsanto genetically modifying with pesticides it would be messing with the bee population. You've got to realize that if it destroys pests from the inside out it's not going to only effect Bees but eventually humans too.

[@carolinahillcountry]

Hank and I went to Trinity High. Triad Bee Supply is just up the road here in the Randolph County Red. Great video. And tell Josh the video editing is on point 😁.

[@inothernewsradio24]

Great video, if you're allergic to bees and want to beekeep, you could use the urine therapy that Andrew Norton Webber suggests. Once stung by a bee, wait 1min or so. Pee into a cup and put some urine (maybe 20 drops or so) under your tongue. Hold it there for 10-15 minutes. Once stung, the antigens are in your urine. Holding it under the tongue will give your lymph system instructions and that should do it. Works with food allergies too. Would recommend professional supervision if needed.

[@jerrywalker2699]

Very interesting 👌

[@ClickinChicken]

I'm taking a break. Done this 4 seasons. Top Bar. It's really expensive. 188.00$ They have Russian bee hybrids. I wanted to try them, but didn't bite. That's the point they die up here over winter. So it's a wash money wise, even less now... Possible tech tip Josh, plant white Dutch clover after aerating lawn WOOO! They fly 2 miles... That's what I thought. My least year was when I didn't have flower garden and the clover. Get out-put in. Whoops. You get out honey, what you put into it. Like sugar water going into Autumn. Up here. Wooo!

[@gordonwilloughby8793]

I am a former commercial bee keeper. At one time my parents and I had close to 1,ooo swarms of bees. I don't remember how much was was worth per pound but it was and probably is still worth more per pound than Honey. Melt the wax if you can't use the frames. Two reasons, money for the wax and kills disease. The place that you buy frames and foundation would buy the wax. Helps of set the cost of foundation .Not sure if the Bees can survive the winter with the vented bottom board in the winter. They would freeze to death with a vented bottom board in the winter in Michigan. Use a queen excluder above the first two hives on each swarm until fall. Bees and queens have strange rules Queens go to the top of the hive to lay eggs if they can. Workers won't store honey below the queen. Since the queen lays in the middle frames the only place they will store honey is in the frames at the sides meaning the coldest part of the hive in the winter is where the queen and bees will be in the winter. This is why a queen excluder is necessary. Also when the queen lays at the top of the hive they will likely leave a lot of frames empty below where the queen is laying. When this happens they believe they don't have enough room so they build queen cells causing the bees to swarm reducing the amount of honey the swarm produces possibly to the point the swarm is too weak to live through the winter and they may not have enough honey to live through the winter. Check them every 2 weeks to make sure the top frames aren't full of honey. Remember swarms captured in July just cost you to feed them through the winter.

[@christopherhindle1174]

I recommend that you re-queen the sole surviving hive from your previous beekeeping efforts, the initial queen has probably been replaced several times by the colony, or lost through swarming, and the genes of the curent queen are probably encouraging aggressive behaviour. The attack in the early part of the video when you first went near the surviving hive suggests this is the case.

[@gordonwilloughby8793]

A swarm that has been there for a while usually is more aggressive. The other swarms will likely be the same after they have been there a couple of months.

[@keithhillis4855]

Awesome Josh, awesome !!! 👍👏

[@chipprice1174]

Had another memory. Dad had a pan he melted some wax in. As each section of the hive went on, he had a small paint brush and put some "hotish" liquid wax on the connecting surface. This was only to kinda "glue" them together, so a little bump from an animal or what ever wouldn't separate the parts of the hive. Oh and yeah I love the mat idea, Dad always said you had to keep their entrance clear of tall grass or weeds so they didn't knock off their pollen . So yeah, I did a lot of mowing in the dark to keep the grass down.

[@petermavus4131]

Made a B line to view you and your honey fixing this sticky problem.

[@romancharak3675]

My uncle would work his bees without the suit. He just used a smoker to calm the bees down. Old School knowledge from Ukraine !

[@terresiagregg9326]

Bye Ms.Stoney Ridge have an awesome day

[@silvercollector434]

FlowHive systems way easier to upkeep and direct honey pour

[@funnyfarmdad9997]

Josh, I’m not sure where you’re buying your frames and foundation but a medium with wax foundation is almost $5 each. I’d cut the bad foundations out and save the frames.

[@lambsquartersfarm]

Love the fact that you do bees, small farmers have so much to offer when it comes to saving this planet! I'm so grateful for your channel's success which will hopefully boost some of the other small farm channels. Thank you!

[@natevanlandingham1945]

I see that old little Yanmar! Love those old tractors simple, efficient and reliable!

[@timziegler9358]

It is good to see all the smiles in your videos! Best wishes.

[@garethnelson6863]

Love your work buddy, hello to Miss Stoney Ridge. Fellow bee keeper in the UK 🇬🇧

[@dougdorrer4622]

You dont need to burn your frames or old comb. o boy. I wish I were closer. I would come over and mentor you with bees.

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

you do when they are old, rotten and contaminated with wax moth and hive beetle eggs my friend. It's about time consumption...not about trying to save $1 by spending 1/2 hour cleaning it. Money well spent replacing what's rotten and bad. I could spend 40 hours cleaning 200 frames....or spend $400 and replace them with a better product. Look at that pile of mess....again...its about time..our most valuable commodity!

[@ClickinChicken]

Funny story, My first year. My neighbor didn't give me the instructions with the box. He picked them up. The Queen took off. I Did it in reverse. I had to use a paper shopping bag, heart pumping, to knock hive off eve of out house and I made it work. She was in there!

[@williamsnipes7608]

Great video for education on bee hives.

[@jankotze1959]

That was fun Mr and Ms Stoney Ridge

[@lovelylisawarriorqueen7923]

That is such a great idea to get a mistint of good quality paint. Also, thank you I learned a lot.

[@batpherlangkharkrang7976]

Hi.... Josh Stoney Ridge Farmer nice to see you both love watching your videos beautiful good job 👋 bye 👋 bye 👋 bye 👋 👕🐔🐓🐣🐥🐕🐈🐄🐝🐠🐟🎣 🌱🏡🎥👍👍👍

[@DPete33039]

Hey Josh, have you ever considered placing swarm traps out on the farm in the spring? This is my third spring putting out a couple and I've trapped 2 or 3 swarms each spring to keep as backup for a couple of hives. It's just an empty box with a 4 frames and baited with a cue tip rubbed in lemon grass oil around the entrance to get the bee scouts to come check it out and then hopefully move in. Free bees for the taking.

[@Telluridepilot]

I can imagine the possible nightmares of a gigantic beer standing over you jumping up and down yelling “ how do you like the shaking up and down farmer Josh”

[@loganh6736]

You talked about setting up a greenhouse would a in ground greenhouse be feasible in your area or what are the pros and con maybe a topic when putting yours up like the green grass we’re still melting snow here in northern Minnesota we may have green grass by June fingers crossed

[@jeffjeffers9810]

Josh to keep the foundation straight in the frames, use Bobbie pins through the frame to hold the foundation in place

[@graybeardgarage9638]

Great video as usual. We have been kicking around the idea of bee keeping. Nice to see you both together

[@bishopkinlyside8477]

Hi guys, here in Australia, we have native bees there’s over 1700 different species most of them don’t bite or something, but there is 11 different species that will still keep up the good work. Love your video. Good to see Mrs Stoney Ridge back on the same cliff from Logan city, Queensland Australia from the big island.

[@ronlowenstein9489]

Great to see the team working together

[@tonytango6676]

See Vino Farms channel for how to build hives to survive winter. Basically 4 inches of Styrofoam on six sides over winter with the Styrofoam top, removed for summer and conventional hives placed on top of the honey.

[@bay9876]

Angry bees need a lot of smoking to slow them down. Too angry bees sometimes have to be removed and a new colony started up. Nice Video to show us where a man finds his honey.

[@bcgrittner8076]

Little Canada, Minnesota

[@AHomesteadingHustle]

We are in Minnesota also!

[@jeffeubanks370]

I would use your “wild” bees to make queens!! Those are survivor bees!! I stopped buying packages 3 or 4 years ago. I’m having much more success with swarms that I’ve caught. I had 7 hives survive last winter, started with 10!! You have plenty of property and I’m sure you have more wild bees. You should put out swarm traps! We are still in swarm season!!

[@scottsmith6846]

Hey Josh thank you for the video and the information that goes along with it but many years ago I got stung I would say at least seven times on my back I was walking along the railroad tracks in the woods and those things had to be under the ground well IHOP on my bike and I got out of there and they were still attacking me just like those bees there that don't like you to woo

[@laupalatv]

waw madu super🙏🙏

[@tthomson1006]

Money does grow on trees😂

[@mikedavis2969]

👍

[@georgesmith1938]

I use crest toothpaste on bee stings, works great

[@SCHomestead]

I've never been able to over winter a shallow nuc and I'm a bit further south than you. I have over wintered a few deep nucs but they are usually a 50-50 proposition. I have to feed them up in the fall and feed them early.

[@SCHomestead]

I just saw further on that they are mediums not shallows.

[@billwilliams9527]

Do I see signs of fire ants all around the hives? If so, malathion mixed with water in a regular garden watering bucket will kill them for sure. Should not affect the bees since they don't normally go to ground.

[@AHomesteadingHustle]

Have you ever considered catching a swarm rather than ordering bees? I'm just learning about bees so I like to know each persons opinion on why people choose a certain way.

[@AHomesteadingHustle]

Partially answered question during apple tree part in video. 😊

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

there ya go, so we've captured many swarms on the farm...but swarms aren't guaranteed so we are brining some new genetics on the farm with these packages

[@AHomesteadingHustle]

@StoneyRidgeFarmer makes complete sense! I want to do bees next year so I'm building up the knowledge now!

[@connieguillot6999]

Very interesting !! They say honey is good for u to eat everyday with a plastic teaspoon ! Is that true ? But I’m from Louisiana so buy America made .

[@nancykorsman8246]

What did you do with your old hive that survived the winter? Just curious. 😀

[@texgibson6236]

I smoked pot wonders. It calms them down yeah she's not be so close. Because I could cause war between each of he hides.

[@start6858]

Shouldn't paint the inside bees don't like it

[@charleswise5570]

Josh, will having that many hives close to each other be beneficial for hive development, or does it not matter? My first reaction or thought was to separate them a little, but I don't know enough about 🐝.

[@outdoors_life7544]

Hey Josh do you still use and recommend AG1 ? And any advice?

[@dannygoin6552]

🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸👀👀👀👍👍👍☕️☕️☕️🥃🥃🥃🍻🍻🍻🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@JB-70]

What are your plans for managing the honey supers when you add them and work them? Some of my hives get to be 7 or 8 boxes high.

[@ShortbusMooner]

Hope you might have enough to sell soon! 🍯

[@JeffZiegler76]

What do you do for mites?

[@davea4675]

In our part of the United States, varroa mite colony activity is highest in August and September. The typical treatment is to use a vaporizer to heat either formic acid or oxalic acid into a vapor underneath the hive and you may have to do it several times with two to four weeks between applications. (Oxalic acid is a naturally occurring chemical found in many vegetables such as spinach). They're also pads soaked with formic acid/oacillic acid available commercially or with DIY recipes that you can place at the bottom of your brood box. Or you can get cakes of formic acid/oxalic acid, break it into four pieces placed in a cage so the bees won't remove it and placed in the four corners of your brood box. The pads/cakes are an alternative to the vaporizer method if you're uncomfortable with that. There are also commercial chemicals that can be used, the most common in our part of the US is Apivar since it will complete a 42 day treatment cycle. While trying to find the name of the formic acid/oxalic acid, the internet also reminded me there are two bee breeds that are resistant to varroa mites VSH stock bees, standing for Varroa Sensitive Hygiene, this trait was selectively breed by USDA researchers using classical bee breeding and instrumental insemination techniques. The bees have been selected to detect varroa mites in the cells of developing pupae and remove them before the mites can reproduce. Bee hygiene and a strong queen to keep the hive hygienic are very important methods for the bees to protect themselves from varroa mites, both in the two strains listed here or other strains that are not technically resistant just lucky. There is a Russian strain of bees that researchers from the USDA Honey Bee Research Lab in Baton Rouge, LA have imported bees from the Primorsky region in far-eastern Russia because they co-exist with the original host species of varroa (the sister honey-bee species, Apis cerana). Because these Russian bees have been exposed to the mite for a longer period compared to other strains, it follows that they may have developed a resistance to the mite. And yes I did copy some of the breeding info from the internet site I found it on because they're better at explaining it than I am. Other helpful information is look on Facebook / social media for local beekeeping groups, they'll have resources specific to your area. Also universities are a good source of info and most states have a state beekeeping association that have resources and members that can be very helpful.

[@stevensaxon8888]

What happens to the bees that are flying around after you close the lid?

[@BlaineNay]

In 60 years, I've never needed to wear gloves, veil, or jacket to shake packages.

[@jdboyd1861]

Hi Josh, I'd love to do what you're doing with the farm, minus the youtube part. But pretty sure I couldn't ever make enough to survive on just the farm income. Do you think you could make it work without youtube revenue and the related merch sales, etc?

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

we are building a first generation farm here....diversification of income in the modern age includes social media....so on a small farm like mine...my "town job" is the social media business. Would you like me to do a video on this?

[@jdboyd1861]

@@StoneyRidgeFarmer That would be a great video! Thanks for the response!

[@stephenreese5921]

A Famer works for himself and his family. A man or woman slave works for his employers family. Work till you die for your family or your employers family.

[@eagle2019]

Josh, they don't like your Microphone because it's black and furry!! They think it's an intruder.

[@johnschlegel7309]

Curious. Why don't you use smoke? Also, why aren't your hives stacked? All the videos on bees show multiple boxes stacked. And seems each box functions differently. One as a brood, another wax, then honey and so forth. Why the difference? Really curious as I want to introduce bees on my property. I've been watching tons of videos.

[@wazywek]

Znowu straci pszczoły. Weź zajmij sie innym hobby, a nie maltretuj tych pszczół.

[@tannenbaumgirl3100]

This guy hasn't done anything with his honeybees in years, total neglect, now has the gall to benefit himself again by showing off again with a video to fill his video quota. Can't go along with these abusers, and mis-users anymore by "clicking" on their drama that tgey create themselves.

[@dallasburgess5329]

If he had not 'neglected' them (ie allow them to live naturally, albeit in a nicely fabricated home) Would you then complain he's exploiting them for harvesting the honey?