Hi Casey, I absolutely agree, I think he's headed down a fantastic path that may benefit all of us :)

No kidding. Very professional.

I just hope the capitalists influences don't buy him off, seems they always win.

@@carlsledge3868 Well, it's hard not to fall for the big bucks when you're a research scientist. My family moved a lot because my Stepfather got a better offer. Bigger funds, better labs :)

Hi Jim, yes it is, I just ordered their dry pollen sub AB23 to see what the foragers go for. I guess I've been living in a cave as I didn't know about that formula until this interview :)

Hi Sean! I was absolutely impressed by the things he knew, and how quickly recalls information. I think we're going to see him do great things :)

@@FrederickDunn agreed.

Me Too.

Thank you! It's always a treat to see what our youth are doing and where they are headed. There are definitely some shining stars out there.

HI Bill! Yep, we've already talked about that. I think we'll be seeing more of Atreya. Thanks for stopping by! :)

You are very welcome :) It was a pleasure to talk with him.

I have to agree, he's one in a million. I'm so glad you enjoyed it. Were you the one who recommended him to me? I can't recall.

Glad you enjoyed it

That's a great way to make that comparision, please keep us posted.

@@FrederickDunn After one week I have noticed they are deep digging into the Hive Alive , and I know it is way early to be giving it. But the unusual year we've had for Spring and Fall it may be they need it. Even the certification class I am in right now the instructor is in a quandary as to feeding her hives. Absconding is becoming a problem with the wildfires near us. So much smoke. Am waiting for a handheld digital microscope with a screen to quickly get photos to try determining ages of bees on each feeder. They are just way too testy now for me to keep it open and try to get a good long look at them.

people are glueing themselves to roads?! (';') what?

Were the pollen patties expired? Those things are expensive :) glad it's working.

Every region has its customs and speech patterns :) I'm not judging :)

Because I've been living under a beekeeping rock apparently. I think I focused on Ultra Bee after Randy Oliver's testing series and didn't go further. I've ordered the dry powder version of AP23 to see how the bees go for that or the Ultra Bee. Just for fun, I don't rely heavily on supplemental feeding, save for emergencies.

@@FrederickDunn I only keep supplements for emergency situation! The little research I did for AP/23 is that it is association with Dadant. In what capacity I don’t know. Will check that out with my friends in France to see if they know anything about it. Always surprises in your interviews. Keep it up Mr Dunn. It is always eye opening.

HI Deanna, lots of beekeepers were doing the peppermint. I think we need to know more about that. I'm glad we have so many great minds approaching the issue from many angles, scientific as well as practical. :)

I agree :)

You're very welcome :)

Hi Carl, the beer bait sounds like a winner, and I'm looking forward to feedback from those who try it out :)

Are you going to try beer as bait? That sounded promising. That's unfortunate about the other apiary so nearby.

@@FrederickDunn I will certainly try the beer; there is an abundance of SHB in one of the yards, and they do love laying eggs on the feeders; they are pretty much forcing us to us the round top feeders as larva has a tough time getting out of those, as opposed to frame feeders where you can see the larvae pouring out by the dozens. Yes, the other apiary is truly sad, most times I open feed next to them before I work on mine as robbing becomes a real issue and it becomes impossible to work sometimes; they also place a lot of stress on mine as they are varroa, SHB and wax moth factories, I've volunteered to check his hives from time to time and see some completely slimed and other absolutely covered with thousands of wax moth cocoons, those hives keep me in my toes with ours, but at the same time let's me test if our bees are indeed displaying the VSH genetics we are promoting.

Hi Rob, I completely agree :)

I agree, and you're very welcome.

Someone emailed me and suggested that he'd be a great individual to look into.

He's under the guidance of Dr. Jamie Ellis, I don't think Atreya decided the parameters. Nurse bees are the largest consumers of the pollen resources. Are we talking patties, or Pollen subs in powder form?

@@FrederickDunn I believe he was referring to pollen sub, but I'm not clear if he meant powder or patties. Are newly emerged bees nurse bees right away? Does consumption volume correlate with the actual nutrition of a substance? I don't actually know.

@@Swarmstead He noted that the best and most attractive protein was the actual pollen. Subs are never going to completely measure up but can serve as a nutritional stand-in when the real thing is absent. These are lab-controlled experiments, and it really teaches them the process of experimentation, and how to present results. They also dissect and evaluate the digestive system of the bees and that's beyond the scope of what most keepers will be doing. I'm looking forward to reading the completed study. He only has a part in the research. Newly emerged workers are cleaning surfaces, but are also ingesting a lot of nutrition. It's broad in scope for sure. We need both practical beekeepers and those who are willing to work in the lab environment. Thanks for watching and commenting.

@@Swarmstead You're correct, they were presented in patty form.

@@FrederickDunn oftentimes for me, the research methods themselves are as interesting as the research results or takeaways. Good stuff.

He was very easy going :) I remember when I walked into my first physics class in High School, I did not feel like I belonged with those brainiacs! :)

I asked him about keeping his own bees, he's under a HOA restriction situation where they don't allow beekeeping, so he has to visit other apiaries. It would be fantastic if he had his own hives as that's where the true joy of beekeeping can be had.

@@FrederickDunn Yep that's to bad he can have hives, maybe someone close will let him have a hive or two in their apiary.

@@dcsblessedbees I wish he'd help the elderly gentleman that he was first inspired by :)

@@FrederickDunn Should mention it to him. He is kind of caught up in the science side of honey bees, so he might not have thought about that? A great way to give back to the inspiration.

He obviously does get his hands in bees. He says, quite clearly, he took a lot of stings for one experiment with Dr Ellis. He is exactly what we beeks need. A new approach, unbiased by anecdotal evidence, hearsay and old habits. "If he hasn't been keeping bees for 20 years he knows nothing" syndrome is so damaging to our hobby. He knows more about bees than you and I combined and has earned the right to speak. We never demand would-be pilots own a 747 for 20 years before they learn to fly. To dismiss his work is akin to refusing to fly unless the pilot owns the plane.

I think you are correct.

That's very interesting, thanks for that update. I look forward to your follow on information. Based on your other baits, it doesn't sound like you have many small hive beetles at the moment. Are you seeing many that aren't in the traps when you open the cover?

Frederick, I was going to expand the beer traps to 10 hives. I am reassessing that decision. Today, Monday, I decided to see if the beer had evaporated from Sunday and discovered that a little had evaporated but worse, white mildew or mold was growing in the beer. I don’t have a lab so I can’t verify except by observation. I am going to follow through with six hives as the mold causes me a lot of angst. The temperature is forecast to fall tonight to the mid to high 30’s with day time temps in the 50’s until the weekend when it rebounds to the 70’s. It is currently 74 degrees here now. That may help with mold in general but, not in the hive with a temperature in the 90’s. I found only 1 beetle in the beer traps and 2 in the oil trap. The beetle barns continue to have most trapped with 5. I have been using the peppermint candy since I heard about it at the Hive Life conference in January. My spring beetle pressure was light with the peppermint. I had a few but not near as many as last year. Fall has been harder with an average of 11 beetles in the barns and several “got aways” on the inner cover. I was not using oil traps because I make a bigger mess with them than I can stand. I spill some oil, way to often to suit me. I am being extremely careful with both the beer and oil traps in the installation and removal from the hives. Do you have any thoughts on putting some type of mold and mildew inhibitors in the beer? Perhaps you could ask the speaker about it. He is in The South too. Did he find any in his hives? Feel free to phone me if you have any questions. I think I gave my card to your wife at the conference with my number. I would love to talk with you about this new angle and see what a smart man could tell me. Thanks for your help. Jim

I think the beer (guessing here) would already have a lower surface tension than water? That could be easily observed. I just don't have any beer around here :)

@@FrederickDunn I love beer. Especially the German Ales. I just can’t afford it anymore in this economy. Kaymen Reynolds’s recently did a vid and he found pollen patty’s and oil worked best for him. I don’t think he tried beer. I’ve heard beer is the best bait for slug traps.

I suppose that being slimed out by beetle larvae would cause a strong response from any beekeeper. I'm glad this research is progressing.

Hi Jim, I think I'd shut down the liquid feed and substitute the fondant pack instead of trying to do both at once.

I think beer sounds a little cleaner. I'd likely fill a syringe with it and just squirt if into the beetle traps. But then, I don't have them to try it out on. Packing them with pollen patties seems messy, but whatever works as they say.

@@FrederickDunn the clear pkastic beetle jail is a bit different than the beetke blasters,the jails are able to open the tops and a central bait compartment, which also opens so easy to fill with a small peice of pollen pattie, like the size of a dime ,i havnt found the small blasters like shown in the video by your guest,but yes a syringe is what i use to fill blasters,abiut a quarter full to avoid spilling and killing bees,kaymon has shown a reusable beetle trap,the top slides open for easy cleaning, but great interview,so intellectual his parents have nurtured a great mind,thanks frederick and his helpful info...

Glad you liked it!

@@FrederickDunn mister Frederick my wife and I always watching you videos and thanks of you I think this is my best year with bees. I can’t thank you enough

@@wilvertperez That's fantastic! Thank you for watching, and I'm so glad the information helped with your beekeeping :)

I never liked beer anyway, so I'll take your word for it Brian :)

HI Brenda, what you've mentioned here is problematic. The shipping of packages with varroa and beetles already pre-loaded is something that's a big negative in my book.

@@FrederickDunn yah. It is unfortunate. I didn't have many and hoping since I'm in Wisconsin they won't overwinter with the bees.

:)

Remember that the final results are not in. These are just experiments.

We need more like both of them :)

I agree, we need many more dedicated to the bees and all pollinators, lol but Miller High Life beer attracts SHB, I'll try em on what I drink first, then some Keystone my son in law left in my fridge about a year ago, that's some really cheap and nasty tasting stuff. Who knew SHBs were alcoholics and tasted beer through their namdibula?

We need some to do research on Kakogo virus in honeybje*es. It's rMNA is only 2% different than deformed wing virus, but it makes guard bees much more aggressive than normal.