Your videos are practically the only videos worth watching on KZfaq. I appreciate the time you take to make these videos and help us. If we take care of bees the way they take care of us, everything will be in good shape. I'm glad you pointed out that no matter the amount of hives, we must keep the beekeeping standards true.

Learn more watching those videos , than the bee course I took last year . . Don't stop .... You are a very good Teacher.

Ian, recently I found your channel and I've watched perhaps a dozen of your videos ( and I follow quite a few beekeeping / apiarist channels as well ). Now, I'm the exception to your rule on basic beekeeping work and the scaling of that work - cause I have no hives of my own and so zero work ( but lots of entertainment and learning ). You have the right attitude, you're positive and generous in sharing your insights with your audience and you work at a scale that allows your experience and observation to inform your practice ( problems becoming solutions ). Besides that you have good narration, clear presentation and quality production values. Carry on :)

I've been watching you for a few weeks now. I'm not a beekeeper yet, may never be - but I do hope to do it. So I keep working on my education toward that goal. But I find I am learning a LOT from you. You are open - you answer questions - you care about the bees - you work hard - and so far as I can tell, you share not just what you do, but how you do it and why. I can't tell you how impressive that is, and I really appreciate it. Subscribed.

Ian You Always make me smile! Well said Brother beekeeper!!! God Bless you and our Bees!!!

I would be very interested in seeing this indoor wintering operation. Thank you for the videos!

Excellent info as always.. and the scale message at the end is gold! In essence... "Let's not belittle ourselves out of business" :) Thanks!

I always get information that is useful to me from your videos. Thanks for your efforts.

Great video! I'm in a completely different environment (East Texas), but it's really nice to see the ingenuity of an extremely northern bee keeper. Thank you for your humility and transparency.

great video thanks so much for explaining this. We are in northern BC and experience what sounds like the same weather during the winter. Its great finding videos from canadian bee keepers. thank you

Thank you for your the useful videos, and your time to do the videos for us new and small beekeepers.

I honestly wish I could come up there from USA and help you for the experience. I have watched your approach and explanations, Very impressed! I once ran Nuclear Power plants and I would have been proud to work for you! That is the level I can determine!

Thank you Ian,like you said it doesn't matter how many hives you have.I am a backyard beekeeper live in a village in Illinois with homes all around me I have 4 hives and one log house that is completely wild with no excess to it.I lost bees many times over but did not give up.Thanks to you and a few other guys on you tube.I just realized now how much you can learn wish I new many years back.Thank you again for the sincere advice and wish you a plenty harvest in 2020.

we here in western NH are watching you and telling others about you. Thank You for all you do.

Really enjoy seeing how you keep your bees in Manitoba. So interesting compared to what we see here in Florida. Keep posting I’ll keep watching!

In the USA the product is marketed under the name 'reflectix". Home Depot sells it in rolls. It's meant to be used as duct insulation. Here in central Illinois I put feeder shims on hives prior to wrapping. I bore a hole in the shim and the bees like it. I know because they never seal the holes shut. A vent combined with insulating the cover allows moisture to get out of the hive rather than condensing on bottom of lid. If you've got moldy lids...you need to provide a vent and insulate. Some beeks wrap hives with reflectix too. Spray it black.

It's nice to hear a beekeeper being honest and sharing his experience and views , I love beekeeping and find it satisfying. The info you give out is ace . Keep it up , many thanks 😎

Literally this is a question of been asking is I've watched beekeepers with different hives and I've noticed this. This is the exact video to answer the questions I'm wondering.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge! Very helpful.

Thank You Ian, great video! Thanks for all of your help. Chester

This is great stuff Ian! Keep it coming!

Thank you for that explanation video. I wondered the same thing about the covers but now I know. You are an amazing man & amazing business man. I'm honored as an accountant and analyst to listen to you. You fill my brain up.lol

Ontario Beekeeper here :) Great video and information sharing .

Ian your videos are amazing, everyone of the video's are great, so much wealth of knowledge..I like how you said basically that you need a system for 4 hives or 400..you need the same system

Thanks for all you do!

Love your videos helping me alot Thanks . Going on my second year with 2 hives I am keeping to the basics of beeking lots of work no lots of FUN work . Your videos are inspiring me to step up and grow my apiary . Will see what happens in the future. God bless and keep the videos coming.

Thank you!! Great video once again

Thanks for the video, like the Q&A format.

I just found your videos. Great stuff. I only have two hives at the moment and am excited to finally pull honey. Just trying to educate myself on best practices because I've got a lot of questions. I previously watched your video on bee escapes and ended up at this video (because upper entrances has always been a question in my mind). Anyway, thanks for the kick in the pants parting shot you made about work vs scale. It made me realize that I need to be more attentive to my girls. I enjoy beekeeping as a minor hobby, but I need to treat it more seriously. I'm not doing it to sell the honey. Heck, at this point, I'd be lucky to break even. :) Thanks for the great videos!

Thanks for the info, keep up the good work...

I love all your help and knowledge that you have and share , am trying to do the same as you and guess what .., I got 4 hives now 😆 next year 2020 I hope I can get to 50+ and go from there , I hope one day to visit you and help you work for no money there to learn more, my goal/dream is to get to few thousand hives and I’ll need all the knowledge that I can get , thank you for all your videos and help!

Start my first hive in 3 days now thanks for sharing it was my question also and now answered

Thanks for sharing and helping me understand the importance of patience.

Great video thanks for the info!!

I'm 69 and half crippled, but I got interested in bees because I never saw any around here. Which spiked my interest for pollinators. I will never be a big bee keeper, infact I am going to start with horizontal hives. No heavy lifting for my bad back and hip or my fake knee. Will try to keep them from swarming if I can, but if a swarm gets away, that's okay too. It's all about helping them come back in my area. Too old to worry about making lots of money, so this will be a fun hobby for me. However watching what you do as a big bee keeper will make it so much easier for the bee hobbiest to have success. Thanks for sharing.

Ian, great video. I know you understand the hot button issue of this very question. Thank you for taking the time to convey your knowledge and experience on it. I appreciate the last bit there too about operator size. You are a larger operate and i like that you don't turn your nose up at others.

Love your videos!

I'm beginning a hobby in beekeeping this upcoming season. Starting out with 2 hives to get into it and hoping to keep building from this point forward as my knowledge and experience grows, and eventually working towards a large bee operation where I can quit my day job and make a living with bees. With the whole covid situation, the Saskatchewan Beekeepers Development Commission cancelled their Beginner Beekeeping Course last year and will likely do so this year too. I'm reading as many relevant books as I can get my hands on, but they're mainly based on climates/conditions different than those on the Canadian Prairies. That's not to mention that the theory read in books does not meet up with the practicality of videos where an experienced beekeeper shares his knowledge and experience first hand. I find your video's invaluable and I very much appreciate your KZfaq channel. Thanks for your efforts!

Thanks for posting. We've struggled for 4 years now trying to get our bees thru the Winters in the Cariboo region of BC and have lost many colonies. We're ready to pack it in but we had one hive make it thru this past Winter so we're going to give it another try. Please keep posting.

Ian thank you so much this is very helpful for me , i have been following your videos and always go to them for clarity . It is so true we as bee keepers are all doing the same thing just on different scales. I am moving away from telescoping cover because of the ants and roach issues and this will definitely be the way i will be going

Awesome mi was wondering about the inner cover. Man I want to drink some coffee too now!!! See you on the Mountain on KZfaq!!!

That’s what I’m wondering about. I always worry about condensation and airflow on outdoor hives. I always have upper entrances.Thank both of you 👍

Ian, Great video I enjoy your work and information I very much agree 2 hives or the 40000 hives they are all really connected.

Another great Vid! thank you !

Great information! Thank you much 💯

Was just thinking you must be kin to my husband. You both have that cup of coffee in your hand! Haha! Thanks for all the time you put into your explanations and concerns. I can see you think over you options. Thanks! :)

Great Video Ian 🏆

The silver wrap idea is a really good idea! We've also had that issue with patties and all! The other one is. we like to have our lids Polyurethane'd. So it minimizes water seeping during the rainy seasons! Top entrance is a really good idea all season. It helps with "midnight Marauders".

I've clicked on this video three times without my glasses thinking it's Mike Row 👍

In America, you can buy rolls of this at Menards and other home improvement stores. It's in the attic insulation section.

Thank you for the video. Hello from Ukraine:)

thanks for the video, very good tips. It could be worth doing a video on the basics and essentials of beekeeping from your perspective. In Lithuania, we use very similar roofs for the hives, but we have additional insulation for our roofs just to give that extra insulation during hot summer days and cold winter days as we winter bees outside.

Gracias colega por compartir su trabajo, mucho éxito desde Chile saludos...

great video! thanks!

Thanks so much for your time and valuable information! What is your opinion on a double queen hives for small scale beekeepers? Thanks.

Thanks Ian you’re videos are very informative

Ian, thank you and your crew for the great videos. Do you have any problems with rainwater seeping in with that style hive top, either when feeding and not? Thanks.

Great Video.

Thanks from Guelph Ontario

How about focusing on them dinks in the yard today? (4-24-18) At my size I will always give a dinky weak hive a chance. Have experienced some amazing comebacks where a dink turned into the monster in the yard. Usually all it takes is one "attention inspection" where I'll give a weak one a frame of emerging capped brood and a honey/pollen frame. This March I found one that had maybe a softball size cluster with a what was a good queen. As soon as they started feeding her right it bounced back (gave them honey and pollen from a deadout).

Have you noticed if the material has prevented your lids from rotting out early ?Great words on the basic/work ethic .

Good job! Thank-you

We use this type of cover in europe especialy in springtime It keeps the moisture in ,prevent draft and stimulate comb construction Moisture is important when there is brood

Ian...good comment at the 8:22 mark....ran into that with a beekeeping company I was working for this past summer.....they looked too much at having hive numbers and didn't have the time to care for them all...and the losses were catastrophic.

Ian really enjoy your videos. I’m in my first winter ❄️ I’ve gone from 1 hive to 5 and my goal is to get through this Northern California winter with 5 and make queens and splits in the spring. My big ???? Is ventilation, We are getting a lot of rain, and snow in the upper elevations. Temps are in 40s and 50s, what should I be doing to keep the moisture out of the 8 and 10 frame hives? Any suggestions? Should I be using your bubble inner cover? Trying the simple as possible method, since I work regular job 50 +hours per week. Thank You really appreciate that

Thanks very informative

Ola sou do Brasil e adoro ver os seus videos acho incrível o modo como cuida de suas caixas.

Love your double hives on pallets with migratory covers. Hives will stay warmer, not as easy to steal, no more inner covers to make the list goes on... My question is i winter my bees outside usually under the barn or in a chicken coop with 3 sides protected. Wanting to use the pliable inner covers that you use, my concern is moisture without an upper entrance? My normal practice is inverted inner cover notch facing up and a piece of 2 inch foam then my outer cover for winter. Any tips you might suggest? I could cut a notch in the migratory 3/8 spacer on opposite sides but trying to avoid having two entrances.

Old carpet inside the hive is a useful layer of extra insulation

Nice video

What do you think of the blue shop towel way, Randy Oliver.???

One minor concern about the foam top cover. It’s important to maintain proper bee-space so hive beatles don’t have a place to hide. The foam being flexible this might not be a problem. I don’t know, just voicing a concern.

Great video, I live in the USA in Michigan and it gets cold here but not the kind you get there typically. I’m just getting started with two hives I have the traditional inner cover but really like yours if only for wind going through the hive. Does it have an R-factor or should I just get water heater wrapping? Thanks again for al your videos, been watching a lot of them getting ready to get started.

Get that stuff at home depot, they call it reflectix, comes in 16 inch wide rolls, just cut them to length for use on a hive. Works for a quick and easy wrap too, good wind break and a small amount (R3) of insulation.

Thank you!

Great stuff ... love them covers glad you showed that 1/2 " rim on the inside thanks.... 2 Q .... how do you melt the screen in the lid ? I bought the same feeders work great but need to make larger size ...... those yellow caps do you know what there called so I can hunt some down ..... thank you for the video good stuff

Does the foamy not get glued by the bees, and if so, does it rip when removed

Hi there, those ply lids look nice and simple. What thickness, treatment is the plywood & do you experience much warping or rot. cheers

Where can you get those plastic “bungs” that you use when not feeding?

Ian. How many hives do you think 1 average man can have and run successfully with just him doing the work? I know there are a lot of factors to consider ,but I just want your opinion on the matter. I'm looking to expand, but I don't know how big to go and I don't want to waste a lot of time figuring it out a little at a time. Any suggestions?

Wow nice Thank you .Bee keepingis apart of my heritage. We werestationary mainly. But we were hit by a fire .So now I'm trying to rebuild .Part of the main income is renting out bee hives to the Almung groves in the start on the bloom witch is in January. We are payed by frame count So we need over hive to be full of bees .How to we achieve that so early in the spring. My bees are highbreads German with some Italian .of feral strain from. Sworm trading .Because we think that they are more producing than bees from.a breading yard .Kel

So is the 1/2 "rim around the lid is the same as making the box 1/2 " higher ? Also i made the screen bottom board with the tray and it works great,thanks

What are your winter loss percentages overwintering indoors?

What about top entrances during harvest?that should in theory increase the nectar gathering capacity.leaving aside the robbing situation.any thoughts on that?many thanks

Hello Ian great video I'm from the UK I've noticed you don't have ventilations in you top cover how do the bees cop with that . Thanks for your video one off the best on KZfaq I must john

Wow I was wondering about the front entrance icing up 5:29

Hi Ian, I’m a retired machinist, still trying to get used to “close enough” when making my own equipment. Regarding your 1/2” step inside your top cover, when you said it was a 1/2” runner, are you saying it is 3/4” wide x 1/2” thick, or 1/2” x 1/2” or what? Thanks, California Mike

Can you open the lid of your feeder bucket please and show us the detail. Do you make these yourselves or buy them in? If you make them, please show us. Enjoying your vids very much in Perth, Western AUSTRALIA

Do you heat your shed during the winter month? If I winter my bees outside and keep the bottom entrance open 1" do you think they will survive?

I just got 2 hives within the last month. After I learned about the plight of our pollinators I began feeding in my back yard. 2 years I had swarms of Honey bees coming in for syrup and pollen I offered. This year 2018 I didn't observe a single bee or pollinator of any sort. Not only that but I also noticed that anything blooming had no action either and went out of bloom quick. No vibrancy at all. It just all looked drab. I decided to take the next step and get some hives. No intention of selling anything. Products from the hive will be for personal use. My intention is to use commercial practices in two small hives to repopulate the feral population. Unfortunately this is a great year to start and a terrible year to start. It was almost impossible to find bees. Then the two hive I got both had chalk brood and were demoralized to the point that they wouldn't even clean it out. Took out a couple of old honey frames and put in a couple new foundation in the brood area and they immediately went to work. Next day the mummies began flying out of the hive. I checked a week later and they had the one side drawn and she laid that frame almost wall to wall. Had to do the same on the second hive and am seeing the same results. Literally a pile of mummies being tossed out. As per the topic this video I will be adopting your feeding practices. I also went out last night well after dark and screened off the top entrance. At first I thought a top entrance would save them miles but after putting on the honey super I noticed that they were storing most of their pollen there instead of in the brood chamber where they need it. I also beginning to think that getting the bees all coming out the bottom will greatly improve the hygiene in these hives. Most of the garbage and waste is dropped to the bottom board but with the vast majority of the bees using the top entrance so it just sits there for the most part. When it comes to bee hives there are a million videos on the same subjects but you are that ray of light that covers it all. 1 hive or 1000 hives your common sense practices and your openness to express and educate others on your methods is unique and should be lauded. Absolutely love your videos. There are a ton of videos out there but nothing that pertains to harsh northern climates. I'm from Saskatchewan so that is certainly the case here. Bee hives here only get 1/3 of a season to produce as compared to Florida so timing IS EVERYTHING. I'm about as green and wet behind the ears as it gets. Your videos are priceless. The constant updates let me know exactly what is happening with my hives. I have adopted your single hive practices but was too late in getting the bees to implement the way you super charge your hives for brood and honey production in the spring . I intend to implement that next year. With chalk brood only being resolved at this late date, I'm afraid that this year for me will all be about health and welfare before winter to even have a chance of having bees still alive next year. Honey and splits for feral swarms is gonna have to wait a year. I hate anything commercial but you are that ray of light. I truly hope your genuine concern for the environment and working with nature spreads like wildfire. Commerce and nature can both exist and prosper the moment we all realize that neither side can have it all. Sacrifices must be made but the payoff is huge. Keep up the good work and Thank you!

How did you make top entrance with the migratory top when you did wintered outside?

I was told to check inside the hive around a month or if I see something different then then check it

Can I winter NJ USA hives in a chicken coop or a shed?

Where do you get the pails with the screens?

Do those bucket lids wear out with time? when do they start leaking?

Do you have any ventilation issues? Doesn’t look like you have any top ventilation?

What kind of screen is that on the buckets! How fine is it? I know it's stainless steel!

I have the lid that goes over the hive all the ay around

Where can I get feed pails like what you use? Or did you make them yourself?

👍👍🎯