Bee Colony Reinforcement With a Twist, Boosting Hives with Swarms, Queen Introduction Inspires Swarm

Рет қаралды 2,772

7 күн бұрын

This Video has a Twist!
Once your backyard apiary is at maximum capacity, it's time to take a look at your existing colonies and discern which of those may need a boost in work force, or a new queen.
In this video, my good fortune continues as I manage to spot a queen in the swarm box.
I collected her with my One-Handed-Queen-Catcher, mark her with the appropriate color for 2024, and then use her to inspire remaining honey bees to occupy the Lyson Nucleus Hive.
Will it work?
Watch and see how it goes... Expect the unexpected when it comet to honey bee management.
Affiliate link to the One-handed-queen-catcher that I use to park queens while new paint dries on their thorax.
amzn.to/3xIFEFm
NOTE: Periodically soak your queen catcher in fresh water and dry it out so the soft pad remains pliable. This is a CHEAP version of the more expensive queen marking holders. It will need some maintenance.

Пікірлер: 56

@craigo4dds 4 күн бұрын

What I love about bees is how every time I check on them it is like a puzzle or riddle that I need to figure out. A game of 3D chess where they know the rules and I have yet to figure out the game completely 😜

@FrederickDunn 4 күн бұрын

The real charge comes when they do what we expect them to :) and then they toss in a surprise or two to keep us guessing :)

@aaronparis4714 5 күн бұрын

I love 6 frame poly nucs

@kimberlypaulson4545 5 күн бұрын

Bee soap opera! The best ever!

@FrederickDunn 5 күн бұрын

I'm so glad you liked it :)

@alyb731 5 күн бұрын

Wonderful filming, they are amazing to watch especially slowed down.🇬🇧

@FrederickDunn 5 күн бұрын

Thank you :)

@rodneymiddleton9624 5 күн бұрын

Earlier this spring I had a swarm that had 3 queens in it. It's hard to predict them bugs!!! Thanks Fred!

@iditarod4081 4 күн бұрын

Wow stupid bees? Or maybe it's a redundancy thing. Or maybe just established Queens aren't as threatened by virgin's as we thought.

@FrederickDunn 4 күн бұрын

It's a fun game to figure out where they are in a swarm cluster. There are some tells... Thanks, Rodney! :)

@schammond8993 5 күн бұрын

That was fun.

@hillkid4mountains 5 күн бұрын

Very interesting idea of a not known two queen swarm. Was the virgin maybe from supersedure? When hatched did she tolerate her larger production mother and not fight to the death of her that you mention and show at the end of your video clearly alive? If so, maybe she, the virgin, was just at the beginning of going on her first mating flights. If the hive was so congested, starved for extra space and ventilation, maybe she pulled those bees out thinking it was time for them to swarm. It will be fascinating to learn your outcome. As an old timer I remember the saying, a swarm in May is worth a load of hay. A swarm in June is worth a silver spoon. A swarm in July isn't worth a fly. Because that was a time before late summer early fall feeding of sugar syrup would help get a late in the year swarm to begin from a start to get through winter. It hinged on whether they would or would not build enough stores up in time for their own supply of honey needed to make it thru to early spring the next year. Just my thoughts. Thanks. Gary 🐝 P.S. Wonder if a double screened division board would have worked between the bottom and upper boxes, putting your caged queen in the top with a back door entrance and see if the green marked virgin would go out and mate. The larger not marked egg laying queen in the bottom to resume her duties?

@timan2039 5 күн бұрын

Be sure to inform the supervisor

@FrederickDunn 4 күн бұрын

He's on his way over here right now to make sure we have enough supers on the hives... (';')( ';')... I hope I pass inspection!

@sonofthunder. 5 күн бұрын

Wondering if they'd fight it out,nice video Mr dunn

@FrederickDunn 5 күн бұрын

At this point, I "think" the workers will reject one and keep the other. The Queens won't necessarily engage each other...

@SIBEEMAN 5 күн бұрын

Great video Fred! It should be called “As the hive turns” or “one hive to bee” what a soap opera.

@FrederickDunn 5 күн бұрын

These are The Days Of Our Hives... (';') I own that domain already :)

@SIBEEMAN 5 күн бұрын

lol!!

@michaelhansen6481 5 күн бұрын

👍

@oneeyehives 3 күн бұрын

It has been a very weird year for queens for me also in Central PA. Given I’m in my 4th year I assumed it was just something with my hives so glad to hear I’m not alone in this and it’s isn’t necessarily my fault 😁 It started right from winter for me. 4 of my hives opened in spring were packed with bees but not a single sign of any brood, eggs, or larvae.

@FrederickDunn 3 күн бұрын

So glad to provide some hope, and additional information :)

@kennith. Күн бұрын

WOW Fred, how did you even spot the "real" queen while she was flying in ......

@FrederickDunn 16 сағат бұрын

She flew from the box that was just 4 feet away, for me it was a miracle grab shot. You can't plan it, largely pure luck.

@josephdavis556 5 күн бұрын

Another great video

@FrederickDunn 5 күн бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it :)

@saintjohncoleman8602 5 күн бұрын

Is this a new camera?! These video segments are spectacular!

@FrederickDunn 5 күн бұрын

Thank you so much, and no.... nothing new :)

@cobberpete1 5 күн бұрын

Ha, Ha, Ha. The Agatha Christie plot twist. Miss direction. The culprit is not identified until the last scene.

@FrederickDunn 5 күн бұрын

@willobrien353 5 күн бұрын

That was another great video. Thank you for that. Is there a reason that you are not going into the hive to find and removing the marked virgin? That would be my next move and I would create a nuc for her and see what happens. Your thought…

@FrederickDunn 5 күн бұрын

My goal is not to take the hive apart... you "could" definitely do that, but they are unsettled and you risk an abscond with too much manipulation at this point. I don't need another queen.

@willobrien353 5 күн бұрын

@@FrederickDunn got it. Thanks for the response.

@francinekeane9900 4 күн бұрын

Great video Fred thanks. Do you wash out your Queen marker after each Queen? My daughter and I both had the same experience of the bees balling the Queen after marking.

@FrederickDunn 4 күн бұрын

I haven't cleaned my Queen Marking holder for quite a while, and watching this video convinced me that I need to do that. :) Yes, they bail to get away from the marking paint. This marker is alcohol based.

@Avierra 5 күн бұрын

What is the likelihood of the workers or the old queen hunting down the virgin queen and stinging her to death? Or is it more likely as you said that she'd just fly off?

@FrederickDunn 5 күн бұрын

As that colony settles, it's likely that they may just cook the virgin queen and we may find her on the landing board one morning.

@aaronparis4714 5 күн бұрын

It’s sucks when that happens

@FrederickDunn 5 күн бұрын

It's fun to see...

@danpszeniczny9664 4 күн бұрын

Hi Fredrick, do you queen exclude in your hives? I'm not really in it for the honey so I usually let the queen do her thing without exclusion. It does make it a little more difficult when inspecting hives though.

@FrederickDunn 4 күн бұрын

I don't use queen excluders. I have the bees build out their brood box first, then at least one medium super... that honey super serves as a "honey-bridge" and above that I have supers for my own use. If you're keeping just a single entrance with no additional venting above, then it's easy to go without an excluder. It's a predictable pattern.

@danpszeniczny9664 4 күн бұрын

@@FrederickDunn I went without an excluder on one of my hives and the queen went from top to bottom laying eggs. The new hive I used a brood box with a medium frame on top for about three weeks. I checked it and found the new hive full of honey and brood. I added two boxes above an excluder. I can hear the workers in the top two now building comb and storing. Lots of activity with this new setup for me. Not a lot of activity but bearding on the old swarmed off hive. It is nearly full as I can feel the weight of that hive being quite full. I am curious to see how the summer and fall nectar season influence each hive.

@liefhands3389 4 күн бұрын

Hello. I noticed you have an Apimaye hive in your rotation of past videos. Does the Flowhive Super fit on those hives? Or is that not a great fit? Any insight would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

@FrederickDunn 3 күн бұрын

I responded in another video, watch today's Q&A for some ideas regarding how to make that work :)

@liefhands3389 3 күн бұрын

@@FrederickDunn awesome! Thank you for the response.

@Ittiz 5 күн бұрын

So wouldn't some time in the next week be the best time to treat that hive with oxalic acid?

@FrederickDunn 5 күн бұрын

Not in this case since it's already occupied, but we will count mites for sure.

@aaronparis4714 5 күн бұрын

When you say it’s too late for a swarm to build up are you guys close to fall already in your area ?

@FrederickDunn 5 күн бұрын

No, but in the past you'd need to provide additional resources to a colony that starts mid-July and on. If all is perfect, they make it, but no surplus for the beekeeper.