Swarming Turns Off, So Does The Flow - (Building a Bee Business Vlog #50)

[@Tyze33]

The best series on youtube

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Thanks!

[@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog]

Scales are a great idea!! Solid data to help determine what’s going on !

[@DuckRiverHoney]

That's my thought. I hate looking around and thinking "Yeah, surely they've got enough coming in"....

[@MinnesotaBeekeeper]

Nathan do you leave any empty hives in your yards for potential swarms? It's almost comical how the lemon grass oil attracts the bees but also keeps the moths out. Great tip on offsetting the supers on the back of the hive!

[@DuckRiverHoney]

I don’t have great luck with bees moving into bait hives on stands within a yard. I have much better luck with a swarm trap 50-200 yards away from the yard, on a tree.

[@MinnesotaBeekeeper]

@@DuckRiverHoney Same here, kind of.

[@russellkoopman3004]

Busy, Busy Nathan. Thanks for sharing some of your tricks that make something out of an issue. Have a good week.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Thanks Russell, good to hear from you. Hope your season is going well!

[@russellkoopman3004]

@@DuckRiverHoney Like your season. Had a good start then the rains and wind have slowed down the bees. But for me honey is a hobby, not my living.

[@michaelstclair4476]

Not lazy at all with the shake downs. Smart!!! Best and highest use of your time.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

👍

[@daverowden-RowdyBeeFarms]

Having same rain problems here. No nectar coming in. I have usually harvested by now but only half the supers are full. I had a large swarm and then lost it right before I got everything I needed to get them out of a tall tree. Best of luck like usual on the rest of the season.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Thanks Dave!

[@robertstwalley3662]

I am learning timing is everything.

[@Mike_squarebeefarms]

Drawn comb is always the issue for me too. Always trying to maximum the amount of honey to fund the expansion of the business but also need to sacrifice honey production to generate drawn comb to expand. Great video this week! Take care!

[@jbnnm657]

Sumac is hitting hard here in Giles county. Smooth sumac has been honestly the heaviest part of the year flow wise. Aside from maybe the very start of the season. Hoping you’re seeing the same up near duck river. Great video as always man.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Good to hear, you must be a little ahead of me. I’ve seen a little smooth sumac in bloom last week, but it’ll hit its stride here next week. Hope it’s good.

[@aidanquick3151]

Nice work Nathan, how many colonies are you running now? Thanks for the vids mate.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Thanks Aidan, I’m up to 230 or so. Need to do a count.

[@nancynolton6079]

Next year you'll have more of that comb you so desperately need - just be sure to order more supers this winter as all those increases you are making will need 2-3 supers each next year! I've been culling comb that is less than desirable, drawn poorly or which has a lot of drone cells (now using drone frames) or just plain old and adding in foundation or last years partly drawn frames to get some fresh comb. Extracted 24 medium frames yesterday and managed just over 5 gallons of honey so very happy about that as there is only 90 lbs of 2023 honey left. Privet and clover starting to really kick in here... dog keeps getting stung walking on the grass. Hoping all the rest of the plant bloom goes really well for you and you have tons of honey to fill those new honey contracts! I too like the queen process and finding and marking queens. Have one hive wanting to swarm even though she has plenty of space so going to split her down and make more queens. Need to replace some older queens. Have my hives under mite treatments at the moment (formic) as we are having a "cool weather window of opportunity" as I like to call it during the summer months. One hive has had a large amount of mite drop (from the treatment) but it is also the best honey producing hive in the apiary this year?! Another hive has some deformed wing going on but hardly any mite drop?! Is it any wonder we cannot figure out bees? Appreciate all the videos as I know they take time away from the bees.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Thanks Nancy, it’s always great to hear from you!

[@haroldmarsh5156]

Awesome... With a laying worker then ya get a good Queen will they clean out the eggs of the laying worker?

[@DuckRiverHoney]

No they’ll raise that round of brood. I’ve heard you can spray the eggs with saltwater or diluted vinegar to cause the bees to clean it out.

[@dcsblessedbees]

Sounds like Nathan has has to many Honey Do's at home over the last few weeks. Time to get caught up on the bee work. Blessed Days Nathan you have your family have a Wonderful week.

[@carpenterandhisbees]

Nothing like being with family to recharge the battery. Might seem like a lot of work but years from now when you don't remeber the details of this year you will stipl be able to enjoy the video of your daughters dance recital.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

👍

[@ec9596]

Good stuff

[@framcesmoore]

You have a really good camera to pick up eggs like that hope your season gets better and you get lots of honey. I am in Virginia and our flow is over. I to work by myself I got my honey pulled took me 3 days. I ended up getting almost 6, 5 gal buckets I did not get as much as I thought I should have but the weather does play the major role in it Plus with me it is location I am in a growing city and what is here is trees and there is nothing else. I have problems with drowning with only some of the nukes I made I have floats in the frame feeders, It causes Bettle worms I hate that as soon as I open the hive, I can smell them. what do you think causes the bees to drown like that. u are in Tenn do you have problems with the bettles as well. I dump the syrup in a bucket and freeze it. hope you have a good week and make lots of honey

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Thanks! I see more drowning in weak nucs. Maybe they don’t have enough coverage to pull their sisters out?

[@Cody-fc5br]

Good stuff. All sumac is about played out here. Got white Dutch is strong crepe myrtle coming on now. Huntsville

[@MaryHarbage]

Thank you for your videos! Very informative!!

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Thanks Mary!

[@stanleylewandowski130]

Great videos. Thanks

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Thanks!

[@researcherAmateur]

Hi Nathan. So nobody has a habit to wash that workers brood out of the combs. Do you shake those bees out before merging with a nuck ? About the washing of the brood out.. a sprayer used for tomatoes, vegetables the small one that you pump the pressure in with the pump on it. I always have it in the car to wash hands and this. I'm not sure did I wrote it before here.. it's very easy and precise to wash even the capped brood off the combs. So you get rid of those small drones and save your combs. I wrote it so many times by now.. can't believe nobody got the idea of doing it before

[@DuckRiverHoney]

I’ve heard you can also spray the eggs with a vinegar solution to clean it out.

[@bradyjames2786]

Do you leave those PVC migratory covers on through the winter?

[@DuckRiverHoney]

Yes. On big hives I like them. On small nucs I prefer wintering with a telescopic lid.

[@killlinepestcontrol]

Do you ever ask someone like bob, What's the one biggest bit of advice he would give you after he's watched your videos? Be interesting to see what he makes of them.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

I talk to Bob relatively often, but not about my videos.

[@sunduck1]

Does white clover produce a strong flow? I have 100 acres of it but not sure how much it actually produces in terms of a flow.

[@DuckRiverHoney]

It can, but usually not where I am. Get Honey Plants of North America by John Lovell. White clover does best in glacial soil belts of Iowa to Indiana. I’ve got a more acidic clay based soil. We have lots of Dutch white clover, but usually don’t make a lot from it.

[@MinnesotaBeekeeper]

If its in rich soil, here is can produce a good flow with a wonderful floral flavor.

[@lilklondikeoutdoors4116]

I’m new so don’t laugh at my question, but would it be possible to arrest a swarm by feeding?

[@DuckRiverHoney]

What do you mean? Arrest as in stop a hive from swarming by feeding it? If that’s the question, then no. Ample food supply and ample capped brood are both precursors to swarming. Feeding a strong swarmy hive would make it more likely to swarm.

[@lilklondikeoutdoors4116]

Thanks. That’s what I was trying to say. makes sense.