Utilizing Swarming Hives to Strengthen Hives in Trouble

[@roycarter6235]

I'm on the other side of the world sitting at my PC with my pen and note pad at the ready, absorbing as much information as I possibly can. Your videos are excellent and I thank you. I have learnt so much in a short time, far more than I have learnt from my beekeeping club.

[@zbeesapiary]

Keith, As usual, your videos are quite informative even for experienced beekeepers like me. It is obvious that you are a “beekeeper” and not a “person who just keeps bees.” Keep up the good work and maybe you could share your experiences with introducing queens of one variety into a queen-less colony of another variety. Example: I’ve introduced Saskatraz or Carniolan queens into colonies comprised of mostly Italians. In many instances the colony kills the queen while she’s still in the cage. Thanks for your excellent videos.

[@ronkkrop]

I'm not a beekeeper (yet) but I do read books about it and watch a lot of videos about it. I have to say, that on top of your videos being incredibility informative, I get the sense that you have a great respect for these animals. Thank you.

[@dawsie]

I have enjoyed watching the past 10 months of videos that you have posted, I have been looking into buying a flowhive which I have read a lot about and like the idea as it will help with cutting down on much of the work that is done with collecting the honey, it's not that I am lazy but as I will be confined to a wheel chair something in the next 24 months I have been looking at ways to keep bees to help with my garden but also not to make so much work for me that I won't be able to handle there are many Bee keepers in the area that I live here in the Outback of Australia so help is only a call away. I have watched 5 other people on KZbin other than yourself but YOU are the first one I have watched that has been so gentle with your bees that it's kept me watching all of the past 10 months of videos as I have more time I will watch the other ones to see what you have been doing leading up to the first video that I watched out of order on the differences of American and European hive problem can not remember what it was called but that was the first video that I found of yours. I was interested because I am looking at doing my own hive and so jumped in the deep end of learning as they say. I was going to buy a queen bee from a local man but after watching your KZbin I have decided to,contact the QLD Bee keeping guild and arraign to buy one from them so that it is not a local Queen to my area to ensure a good breeding stock. I look forward to watching more of your videos as I like to,learn as much as I can before I commit to buying the hive and Queen Bee.

[@davemaloneyvideos]

I really enjoy your videos. I am a lot older than you and am beginning to have some back aches and pains. Please take my advice: start now to demonstrate techniques to help beekeepers save their backs by avoid bending over so much. I would raise the hives at least to the height of a cinderblock. Then, when working on the bottom supper, sit on an empty deep positioned either on its side or on its end. While sitting, stagger your feet so one is placed a little in front of the box you are sitting on while the other is placed a little behind the box. Sitting so will allow you to keep your back vertical as you go fame-to-frame instead of your having to bend over while standing which places so much strain on your lower back. Thanks for so much great info,

[@honeybeehoney6132]

Thanks for the input and your support!

[@ccthepope]

Thank you for posting this video.

[@longwhitemane]

I absolutely love your vids. Once again, orderly, clear and easily understandable. Thank you for your time to explain these things. :)

[@BLHomestead]

Thank you so much for the priceless info. Will definitely help for the future.

[@spiritpanda8942]

Harley Roland i

[@karlstine3258]

Do you have a website? Publish? I really like the way you present the information. I would like to see a text on the subject from you.

[@MsDaddyrabbit1]

Great info....thanks

[@AkisGourgiwtis]

great video!!!well done!!!!

[@DuncanHeather]

Thank you for another great video. Hope you might be able to do more in 2018

[@honeybeehoney6132]

I'm trying, thank you very much!

[@utubedaveg521]

any follow up on this? I just added queen cells into ten hives. Very poor queens with the package bees this year. thanks

[@guedos]

good info thank you

[@StephenBiggers]

you mentioned you did not hear a queen...what does that sound like? Also a queen cell with a single hole in it means that it is not finished or already hatched. Please clarify thanks, I very much appreciate your videos.

[@honeybeehoney6132]

It is described as "piping". I have since filmed a follow up in which I did hear piping, but haven't reviewed the video or audio yet, so I'm not sure if it came through on the audio. Within a week or so I should be able to produce, upload and publish the video and hopefully you will be able to hear it. Until you do, it is hard to describe. This is how I refer to queen cells, though I may have made a mistake in the video, I will try to clarify. A queen cell nubbin is a small cell that looks like the start of a queen cell and has nothing in it (no egg or larvae). An unhatched queen cell is a fully capped and ripened cell. A hatched queen cell has been uncapped and sometimes you can actually see the cell capping hanging on very similar to opening a vegetable can where the lid remains attached at one small point. Otherwise, those cells have rough almost fibrous looking openings in the bottom of the cell. An uncapped cell is a cell that has an egg or larvae with royal jelly in it but has not yet been capped. In this hive I found all of the above, except a hatched cell (another reason I didn't see any sign, or hear any sign of a queen). The first one I show is an uncapped cell in which there is a larva inside the cell. When I point to the five different cells on a single frame, two of them were capped and two of them were not yet capped (but did have larvae inside), and I can't remember what the third one was but it was the one in the center. If I remember correctly, it was also capped. I did not find any hatched cells. All of the cells were capped. If, however, I say that there is a hole in the cell (and I may have accidentally said this, but if so it was a mistake) that would have been followed up with a story on Varroa mites which cause these holes. Otherwise, if the bees are capping the cell when I inspect it and they haven't quite closed to cell yet, which I rarely see, it looks smooth rather than a varroa might cutting its way out of the cell. Sorry for the confusion.

[@LADYKAT...]

cant wait to see follow up if you have time. thanks

[@jimrankin2583]

The hive doesn't recognize the drone laying queen is a problem so their natural process of superseding an old or substandard queen doesn't kick in in this case. The drones only function to mate with queens from other colonies, they cannot help their own colony. So the beekeeper has to step in and remove the drone laying queen.

[@honeybeehoney6132]

Thanks for the advice. I would like to add that the hive can't actually make their own queen when the queen is a drone layer because all of the eggs in the hive are un-fertilized, therefore, cannot produce females. Supersedure's are common when the queen is failing and starts to lay a certain percentage of un-fertilized eggs, but not 100% of them. The bees do recognize this. Also, when working a hive if the bees are moving pretty frantically (I usually refer to this as running on the combs) or are aggressive, or extra noisy, they have recognized a problem and are stressed. Sometimes, as is the case here, they just can't do anything about it.

[@dorothyorr4960]

Love your vids!I would love to see how you do your feed cans....where do uou get them from?

[@honeybeehoney6132]

They are just clean paint cans (never used) that I get from Sherwin-Williams. Punch a few little holes in the top. I have a video on feeding as well. Thanks for commenting!

[@bear09871]

Sliding the end bars down against each other is the best way to roll a queen. I personally do not like placing frames that way. A little too wide of comb and you have a good chance of rolling bees.

[@honeybeehoney6132]

You are right, in that you have to have good bee space. In this case, I didn't have a queen in the hive, but will go into more detail on a future video. Even with a wider frame however, you can tilt the frame slightly away. The issue is that I have repeatedly seen new beekeepers tell me they lost their queen, and I find her squished in between end bars. The point is to keep an eye on her when putting her back in the hive and making sure you are sliding frames with her protected in between them. I will address burr comb and comb in between hive bodies, which is ultimately a bee space problem with the frame to super configuration.

[@framcesmoore]

wont the bees u add with the queen cells fight with the hives u are putting them in thanks

[@wadebarnes6720]

Where do you get Caucasian bees from

[@rstlr01]

Winter Apiaries in Tennessee

[@willythemailman3911]

You need to include the name of the music in your description

[@honeybeehoney6132]

It's in the credits at the end of the video, but in case you're wondering, it's Vivaldi, though depending on which video you are watching could be either Spring or Winter.

[@willythemailman3911]

Honey Bee Honey thank you, I guess I have to start watching the credits Love your videos and music and photos

[@Irishtradchannel]

@@honeybeehoney6132 winter

[@leem6011]

Why did you kill the queen?

[@Richardmaclachlan]

Lee M the queen was killed cause she is laying drones. If she is not laying workers the hive will die.

[@framcesmoore]

never mind the question