Open Feeding Honey Bees Do's Don't and Why

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Little Bits Honey Bees joe may

4 жыл бұрын

A better way to open feed honey bees.

Пікірлер: 95

@houstonsheltonbees814 2 жыл бұрын

Joe you should get a Patten for that. Great job man 👍 this is why I love the Beekeeping community. Beekeeper's helping beekeeper's. Thanks, good health and God bless 👍

@richardkuhn8115 4 жыл бұрын

Very interesting Joe. Looks like a fine idea. Thanks for sharing. Blessings.

@ozlundk 3 жыл бұрын

I tried this and thank you Joe it works great.

@calvinkalmon6746 4 жыл бұрын

I'm gonna try it...thanks for the tip Joe!

@pnwRC. 4 жыл бұрын

Awesome idea, I love it! THANKS for sharing!

@framcesmoore 4 жыл бұрын

This was great I had decided to stop open feeding because of the dead bees but I am going to try this thanks. Have a wonderful day

@Mr123Gladiator Жыл бұрын

Thank you for the suggestion. That seems like a great idea that I will try 😀

@PhillipHall01 4 жыл бұрын

I like it. Thank you Joe. Phillip Hall

@massachusettsprepper 4 жыл бұрын

Now, this is a very good idea. Thanks for sharing my friend.

@daryldaigle7214 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks Joe!

@honeydropfarm1605 2 жыл бұрын

Joe, thanks for sharing this idea, it was just what I was looking for. I think you have lots of good ideas, and KZfaq would share them with more people if you edit some of the silent spots out of your videos.

@VWFamilyFarm 10 ай бұрын

That’s the best idea I’ve seen on feeding several hives!

@virgilcrites8906 4 жыл бұрын

Great idea thanks

@philjanikjr9805 4 жыл бұрын

TOTALLY useful tip! Thank you for sharing. HBM

@thomasrape4616 10 ай бұрын

I've tryed several feeders that didn't work very well. What is working very well is a 5 gal chicken waterer with the trough part filled with marble size gravel, not seeing any drowned bees, easy to refill, and relatively cheap.

@danwerkman 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the great tip

@eddevault4604 4 жыл бұрын

Good idea....I will definitely try it....southwestern Ohio....

@richardhyatt-beekeeping 9 ай бұрын

Very good and just what I needed to know. Going to try this.

@jimmcgee8725 4 жыл бұрын

Hey I just wanted to say thank you for your advice you really help me out a lot of times I’m going to try this I’m Jim Mcgee thank you again

@brucesbees 4 жыл бұрын

Great idea. Thanks!

@ricardodominguez3785 3 жыл бұрын

Great idea!

@mark-wn5ek 4 жыл бұрын

Joe, have you ever considered doing a drone video of your house/home yard? In your videos, I can see many hives but it'd be great to see your entire layout from above. Neat idea on the noodles.

@LittleBitsHoneyBeesjoemay 2 жыл бұрын

I don't have a drone sorry.

@bruceford9036 4 жыл бұрын

Outstanding!

@stufarnham 4 жыл бұрын

Good video, Joe. We are going into dearth and I was just about to start bucket feeding but will give this a shot. I can place mine on the far side of the house and garage for my home yard a put one 100 yards from my out yard, which will save me a ton of time. Thanks as always. Stu

@robertkajor3774 2 жыл бұрын

How did it go Stu?

@stufarnham 2 жыл бұрын

@@robertkajor3774 Not well. I majorrobbing outbreak. Last year’s weather wasstrange, though. Very hot and very dry. What little honey the bees put up way too dry to spin out. This may have exacerbated the robbing implulse.

@jmichaelsbees8857 4 жыл бұрын

Great idea with the noodles....!

@ThePurepoison1 4 жыл бұрын

I do the same thing for water, I started a couple years ago. Wish I could open feed like that

@cricketscorner6514 4 жыл бұрын

I'm definitely going to try that I'm going to try to zip tie the bath mat under the noodles let you know if it works.😎👍👍

@dandamanman2200 2 жыл бұрын

I use a chicken feeder with clay pebbles. They float so if you put enough in there it might be enough surface to not drowned any.

@LittleBitsHoneyBeesjoemay 2 жыл бұрын

Where do you get clay pebbles that float?

@dandamanman2200 2 жыл бұрын

@@LittleBitsHoneyBeesjoemay thay are used for gardening. You can find them online or at most hydroponic or gardening centers. Sometimes called hydration pebbles.

@LittleBitsHoneyBeesjoemay 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you I will check them out.

@jerrydegroot1573 4 жыл бұрын

Fantastic, just yesterday bought 2 bales of straw to get ready. Had good luck with fresh straw but as you said it gets messy! What kind of glue did you use?

@FernvalleyFarm 4 жыл бұрын

was just looking at thoes totes today for feeding , was thinking of using queen excluders ? ever try that ?

@beegribeekeeper3783 3 жыл бұрын

Good 😌

@fergieferguson2457 2 жыл бұрын

I do mine still with bath mat,it’s longer than my tote so it comes up the ends..then I took the drawer mat made 3” wide strips stapled it from inside below the holes I drilled,then cut my staples off were it come through my tote,put silicone over then wood glue..got 3 none leak and if the bee’s get covered in syrup they can crawl up the drawer mat…cut my drowning down a lot…

@luelee7603 4 жыл бұрын

nice

@othalee 4 жыл бұрын

So, do the noodles float on top? And then go down as the level goes down?

@aRedstepchild 2 жыл бұрын

Put porch screen under it. $7 a roll. Or those foamy cupboard liners from dollar store. They float and bees can land and drink through webbing. No construction required. Just cut and drop in container. Pour over it.

@amandalaubinger1102 2 жыл бұрын

Hi Joe. This is very interesting. I guess we can take thus idea and make it as large or small as needed? It has been a year since you posted this so do you still like this system? Any suggestions which may differ now than before?

@LittleBitsHoneyBeesjoemay 2 жыл бұрын

I use it in the summer time to keep the robbing down.

@robertkajor3774 2 жыл бұрын

I would skewer them together like a raft where the spacers are

@olddansbees2072 4 жыл бұрын

w What type glue you using Joe to hold them together, thanks for your videos I send all my bee customers to your channel to learn how to keep bees. OldDans Bees Providence NC.

@LittleBitsHoneyBeesjoemay 4 жыл бұрын

Contact cement not rubber cement.

@PhillipHall01 4 жыл бұрын

What brand Joe? I do not know if all contact cement had the same ingredients, that may make a difference?

@Roger_Cope 4 жыл бұрын

Maybe you could hot glue some screen in the gaps across the bottom side, so the feed comes through but no bees drown?

@hltalbert 2 жыл бұрын

Great video as usual. I know that some glues will dissolve the foam that pool noodles are made of. What glue do you use? Thanks for the help!

@LittleBitsHoneyBeesjoemay 2 жыл бұрын

Weld Wood contact cement .

@hltalbert 2 жыл бұрын

@@LittleBitsHoneyBeesjoemay Thanks again!

@WoolieBsApiary 4 жыл бұрын

just made a video of me using those in my new watering pond.

@chadeikenhorst4333 3 жыл бұрын

I found that those yellow lids where confusing my bees with the light that goes though them, i had bees ballin up inside. I pulled the lids of the top and balling stoped, ive been using the shower mats that you featured last year, any reason you switched to the pool toys?

@LittleBitsHoneyBeesjoemay 3 жыл бұрын

I keep feed in the totes all the time the mats were soaking up syrup so they didn't float as well was drowning to many bees.

@charlesthomas5737 4 жыл бұрын

Joe are using 1 to 1 sugar water or pro sweet and do you feed constantly during the nectar dearth or do you feed for a few days a week and then stop for a while. how much sugar water do you go thru in a week? I have 30 Nuc's and 10 honey hives. been using the feeder buckets like Barn Yard this year, tried your way last year with the bath mats but drowned a lot of bees.

@LittleBitsHoneyBeesjoemay 4 жыл бұрын

I feed about 3/8 to one in summer just want to keep them from robbing. I go though about 100 gallons a week.

@jimhughes4765 4 жыл бұрын

I made a feeder based on your design. The bees are eating the syrup like crazy. Today they went through 4 gallons in 5 hours. I do not have any idea how much (volume) should be fed on a daily basis. Is there a formula, based on hive numbers or some other way, to determine how much should be fed? Do you fill the tote to the top, allowing for the mat thickness or do you simply pour in a 5 gallon bucket full and call it a day? I am in the north Atlanta, Georgia area. Thanks.

@LittleBitsHoneyBeesjoemay 4 жыл бұрын

It depends if you have a bunch of small hives you are tiring to build up I feed 1:1 about a quart a day per hive. If i have big hives I feed .25:1 just to keep them from robbing. You just have to watch the bees it's not how much you feed it's putting a little out 3 or 4 times a day keeping the bees busy. I usually put 4 gallons out 3 times a day. If I were to feed them all they want it would be 50 gallons a day. After the golden rod comes in the fall I won't open feed, I will go to 2:1 on top of the hives giving them all they want.

@davidsoloninka7742 2 жыл бұрын

Do you have a "how to make" video of the your black and yellow tote with cut swimming noodles? Thx, DS

@LittleBitsHoneyBeesjoemay 2 жыл бұрын

kzfaq.info/get/bejne/q7uYqdN5q6jLZXU.html still look for the pool noddles.

@LittleBitsHoneyBeesjoemay 2 жыл бұрын

kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ibF-fsWVt83MiWg.html

@frankcorbett6227 4 жыл бұрын

Hi Joe Frank here from Ireland do you get problems from yellow jackets [wasps]

@LittleBitsHoneyBeesjoemay 4 жыл бұрын

I do sometimes but they seam to not fight at the feeder.

@PhillipHall01 4 жыл бұрын

What brand contact cement do you use Joe? I do not know if all contact cement has the same ingredients, that may make a difference? Thanks Phillip Hall

@LittleBitsHoneyBeesjoemay 4 жыл бұрын

Dap Weldwood

@PhillipHall01 4 жыл бұрын

@@LittleBitsHoneyBeesjoemay Thanks Joe

@robbphillip6663 4 жыл бұрын

Hey Joe....Robb here from Seattle..Yu said you have your open feeders on the other side of your house.. and you say the tubs should be over 100 yards away? I dont own property of over 100 yards...I watched this a couple times and to my understanding as long as the tub is not in dirrect sight of hives? I want to place mine on other side of house not seen by bee yard but is only like 25 yards away..maybe less...would this be an okay place?

@robbphillip6663 4 жыл бұрын

My appolagies Joe..I heard yours are 50 feet away...thanks

@LittleBitsHoneyBeesjoemay 4 жыл бұрын

No I said out of line of sight of the hive or 100 yards away

@noahriding5780 3 жыл бұрын

What do you mean by 'line of sight'? Can you explain this better? (This phrase was mentioned when you said to prevent robbing it has to be 100 yards away or line of sight' of the hives.)

@LittleBitsHoneyBeesjoemay 3 жыл бұрын

It means the bees can't see the food from their hive.

@noahriding5780 3 жыл бұрын

@@LittleBitsHoneyBeesjoemay Thanks! I also like your videos. You have a lot of experience.

@Dougarrowhead Жыл бұрын

Who the hell doesn't know what line of sight means?

@noahriding5780 2 жыл бұрын

Can you suggest some kind of ratio of # of gallons of sugar water per # of colonies?

@LittleBitsHoneyBeesjoemay 2 жыл бұрын

A quart a day will keep a hive going all summer but in mid to late fall it may take a gallon a day to get them ready for winter.

@LittleBitsHoneyBeesjoemay 2 жыл бұрын

You really have to look at the comb. Make sure they have open nectar in the summer but not to much queen needs plenty of room to lay. In late fall it ok to plug the hive out.

@noahriding5780 2 жыл бұрын

@@LittleBitsHoneyBeesjoemay Thank you Joe.

@Dvvideo55 2 жыл бұрын

Are the pool noodles toxic? What are they made of?

@LittleBitsHoneyBeesjoemay 2 жыл бұрын

They are made for Kids I have not seen any bad effects on the bees.

@richardboltar3564 4 жыл бұрын

Is 200 yards too far away?

@LittleBitsHoneyBeesjoemay 4 жыл бұрын

No they will find it.

@donstanley8514 2 жыл бұрын

Is it ok to feed soy flour?

@LittleBitsHoneyBeesjoemay 2 жыл бұрын

Some people do I think there is to much starch in it bees don't do well with starch.

@steveramirez2589 4 жыл бұрын

What about the plastic floating in the food source. isn’t it a chemical contamination problem from the plastic. Pool noodles are not food safe

@LittleBitsHoneyBeesjoemay 4 жыл бұрын

I don't know not got any side effects.

@suzanneguiho4882 4 жыл бұрын

What about exposing yourself to feeding the neighbor’s bees in the case where it applies?

@LittleBitsHoneyBeesjoemay 4 жыл бұрын

It dose but I would not open feed unless I had over 20 hive. My be will be closer than the neighbor's so they will get the bulk of the feed it is worth it to me for time saving. Now if your neighbor has 100 hive and you only have 20 that won't work very well.

@suzanneguiho4882 4 жыл бұрын

Little Bits Honey Bees joe mayI had a friend whose neighbor was not open feeding his bees because he knew that he was doing so . This is not something that is talked about and that is why I brought it up. I had not thought about that aspect of the open feeding and I wonder how many have? Thank you for your videos I realy learn a lot from them.