WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:03.660 May I have your attention, please? The following 00:00:03.660 --> 00:00:10.759 is not the real Jeff Fox release. If your teenage 00:00:10.759 --> 00:00:14.599 son wants nothing more than to live the life 00:00:14.599 --> 00:00:23.100 of a drone bee, you might be a beekeeper. If 00:00:23.100 --> 00:00:29.570 you do more splits than a gymnast, You might 00:00:29.570 --> 00:00:36.189 be a beekeeper. If you refer to your divorce 00:00:36.189 --> 00:00:42.890 as swarming behavior, you might be a beekeeper. 00:00:43.929 --> 00:00:46.789 I'll give you a minute to think about that one. 00:00:54.170 --> 00:00:56.750 Welcome, welcome to Be Love Beekeeping presented 00:00:56.750 --> 00:01:00.109 by Man Lake. Hey, another thank you to all those 00:01:00.109 --> 00:01:03.429 who contributed ideas for the new Not Jeff Foxworthy 00:01:03.429 --> 00:01:06.049 intro. They were excellent. We've used quite 00:01:06.049 --> 00:01:08.230 a few of them, and if you're still thinking of 00:01:08.230 --> 00:01:11.650 others, keep them coming. We love them. Our guest 00:01:11.650 --> 00:01:14.549 today is in fact two guests from the Keepers' 00:01:14.629 --> 00:01:17.790 Hive. We'll be discussing the Dimari method of 00:01:17.790 --> 00:01:21.189 beekeeping, including single brood chamber management. 00:01:21.750 --> 00:01:24.530 It's a truly interesting concept and different 00:01:24.530 --> 00:01:26.730 than how most of us were taught in traditional 00:01:26.730 --> 00:01:32.260 beekeeping. Before we check in with them, let's 00:01:32.260 --> 00:01:35.879 check in on bees in the news, starting with commercial 00:01:35.879 --> 00:01:39.359 beekeeping economics. Headline. United States 00:01:39.359 --> 00:01:43.780 honey production down 4 % in 2024. While the 00:01:43.780 --> 00:01:46.480 average number of colonies producing honey was 00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:51.780 actually up 3 % from 2023, the yield per colony 00:01:51.780 --> 00:01:57.719 averaged 51 .7 pounds, which was down 6%. But 00:01:57.719 --> 00:02:01.560 the good news, honey prices were up 5 % in 2024, 00:02:02.219 --> 00:02:05.799 to an average of $269 per pound. These of course 00:02:05.799 --> 00:02:09.479 are wholesale numbers. Average price paid per 00:02:09.479 --> 00:02:14.099 queen was $18 in 2024. Pollination income for 00:02:14.099 --> 00:02:23.060 2024 was $226 million, down 11 % from 2023. And 00:02:23.060 --> 00:02:26.469 from India, and I'm trying so hard not to laugh. 00:02:26.550 --> 00:02:29.710 This is serious. The police confirmed that a 00:02:29.710 --> 00:02:33.129 bee swarm injured 50 people attending a funeral 00:02:33.129 --> 00:02:36.650 on Monday. According to a station house officer, 00:02:37.189 --> 00:02:40.129 the bees attacked the congregation after being 00:02:40.129 --> 00:02:43.370 disturbed by the heat from the cremation fire. 00:02:44.030 --> 00:02:46.669 Police stated that those affected received first 00:02:46.669 --> 00:02:50.370 aid at a nearby facility before some were hospitalized. 00:02:50.810 --> 00:02:53.650 The officer added that medical personnel treated 00:02:53.650 --> 00:02:57.110 all casualties and most victims were later sent 00:02:57.110 --> 00:03:00.930 home. Also in India, a swarm of bees attacked 00:03:00.930 --> 00:03:04.150 a group of tourists at the Alora Caves on Monday 00:03:04.150 --> 00:03:07.449 afternoon, leaving at least 70 people injured, 00:03:07.949 --> 00:03:11.840 one needing hospitalization. And speaking of 00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:16.039 stings, this comes from Surprise Arizona. A man 00:03:16.039 --> 00:03:18.280 is recovering in the hospital after he and a 00:03:18.280 --> 00:03:21.060 group of kids were attacked by a swarm of bees. 00:03:21.860 --> 00:03:24.419 Here's the quote, the adult male was checking 00:03:24.419 --> 00:03:27.419 his mailbox when he unknowingly came across a 00:03:27.419 --> 00:03:30.419 beehive. The bees became aggressive and he was 00:03:30.419 --> 00:03:34.120 stung multiple times. Firefighters were called 00:03:34.120 --> 00:03:36.659 and arrived on the scene after the adult was 00:03:36.659 --> 00:03:39.479 stung and as they arrived they saw a group of 00:03:39.479 --> 00:03:42.379 youth riding their bikes in the area and also 00:03:42.379 --> 00:03:45.659 being stung. Firefighters put the kids inside 00:03:45.659 --> 00:03:48.280 the fire engine to keep them away and in the 00:03:48.280 --> 00:03:51.939 process four firefighters were stung. And the 00:03:51.939 --> 00:03:55.159 article concludes with this quote, a beekeeper 00:03:55.159 --> 00:03:58.949 arrived at the scene to control the swarm. Now, 00:03:58.969 --> 00:04:01.289 by the way, if you're that beekeeper, please 00:04:01.289 --> 00:04:03.969 reach out to me because I don't know how to control 00:04:03.969 --> 00:04:07.530 a swarm in attack mode. Alrighty, let's get to 00:04:07.530 --> 00:04:14.110 today's interview. I'd like to welcome to the 00:04:14.110 --> 00:04:17.790 show today, George Datto. Oh, please tell me 00:04:17.790 --> 00:04:21.889 I pronounced that right. 100 % correct. George 00:04:21.889 --> 00:04:25.730 Datto and Nate Wolf coming to us from beautiful 00:04:25.730 --> 00:04:30.910 Pennsylvania or Delaware. How are you guys? We're 00:04:30.910 --> 00:04:33.649 doing great. Eric, how are you today? Good. Thanks 00:04:33.649 --> 00:04:35.810 for having me. I know one of you lives in Pennsylvania 00:04:35.810 --> 00:04:37.930 and one Delaware. Whose house are you at today? 00:04:38.290 --> 00:04:40.449 We're at Georgia's house in Pennsylvania. Hey, 00:04:40.689 --> 00:04:43.910 we're going to be talking about something fun. 00:04:44.149 --> 00:04:47.370 As listeners know, I love new products. I love 00:04:47.370 --> 00:04:51.230 gadgets, but I also like really great new concepts 00:04:51.230 --> 00:04:53.689 and beekeeping, too, because I just don't think 00:04:53.689 --> 00:04:55.839 we have it all figured out. And today we're going 00:04:55.839 --> 00:04:59.019 to be talking about the keepers hive and the 00:04:59.019 --> 00:05:02.040 whole philosophy behind it, because it's a little 00:05:02.040 --> 00:05:05.519 bit different than beekeeping in a regular Langstroth 00:05:05.519 --> 00:05:08.579 hive or a top bar hive or something else. We're 00:05:08.579 --> 00:05:10.879 going to be talking all about that. But first, 00:05:11.079 --> 00:05:14.300 let's meet who we have on here today. Hey, George. 00:05:14.660 --> 00:05:17.139 Hey, Eric. Tell us a little bit about you and 00:05:17.139 --> 00:05:19.569 what your beekeeping journey has been like. So 00:05:19.569 --> 00:05:21.949 yeah, my name is George and I've been keeping 00:05:21.949 --> 00:05:25.029 bees in southeast Pennsylvania for about 15 years 00:05:25.029 --> 00:05:28.529 now. I guess I would consider myself a sideliner 00:05:28.529 --> 00:05:32.649 beekeeper. I manage about 70 hives, largely for 00:05:32.649 --> 00:05:35.930 honey production. I love innovation and I love 00:05:35.930 --> 00:05:39.990 that aspect of it too. I've also raised over 00:05:39.990 --> 00:05:43.170 100 queens a year, made nukes, so all aspects 00:05:43.170 --> 00:05:47.160 of beekeeping I find tremendously fun and and 00:05:47.160 --> 00:05:50.339 just love the hobby of beekeeping. And Nat, you 00:05:50.339 --> 00:05:53.160 haven't been beekeeping as long, but you brought 00:05:53.160 --> 00:05:57.279 to this project your woodworking skills. Tell 00:05:57.279 --> 00:06:00.379 us a little bit about that. Well, I'd say it's 00:06:00.379 --> 00:06:03.819 been about eight, nine years ago. I saw this 00:06:03.819 --> 00:06:06.819 fellow that I had never met before working bees, 00:06:06.839 --> 00:06:09.420 and I thought to myself, this guy's got to be 00:06:09.420 --> 00:06:11.560 crazy in all those bees. Isn't he getting stung 00:06:11.560 --> 00:06:14.180 or something? But he kept coming back and he 00:06:14.180 --> 00:06:16.899 got me interested. And one day I said, Can I 00:06:16.899 --> 00:06:18.860 come watch what you're doing?" And he said, sure, 00:06:18.959 --> 00:06:21.819 come on. And from that day on, I was hooked. 00:06:22.139 --> 00:06:25.000 I do not consider myself a big beekeeper. I'm 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:29.180 just a hobbyist. And there isn't very much time 00:06:29.180 --> 00:06:31.120 that goes by that I don't come back to George 00:06:31.120 --> 00:06:32.759 and say, okay, George, I have another problem. 00:06:32.800 --> 00:06:35.459 What do I do? We've been together now for about 00:06:35.459 --> 00:06:39.459 nine years. Yeah, I've spent my living as a woodworker, 00:06:39.519 --> 00:06:42.800 as a carpenter. So that's where I come into this. 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:46.459 We had We had some ideas and I tried to put it 00:06:46.459 --> 00:06:49.259 together and George has helped me over the years 00:06:49.259 --> 00:06:52.079 to get it polished to a point where it is now. 00:06:52.680 --> 00:06:55.259 So George, give us an idea for those that haven't 00:06:55.259 --> 00:07:00.079 seen the hive keeper hive. My understanding is 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:03.800 that it uses a single brood chamber and that 00:07:03.800 --> 00:07:07.360 brings with it a whole other kind of beekeeping 00:07:07.360 --> 00:07:09.459 and a little bit different philosophy for those 00:07:09.459 --> 00:07:12.629 of us. that are used to using very traditional 00:07:12.629 --> 00:07:16.850 couple of Langstroth deeps. Tell us what led 00:07:16.850 --> 00:07:20.310 you up to coming up with this idea and a little 00:07:20.310 --> 00:07:22.750 bit about how it works. So the keepers hive has 00:07:22.750 --> 00:07:25.910 two products. It has a one queen keeper and a 00:07:25.910 --> 00:07:28.649 two queen keeper. So the history of this hive 00:07:28.649 --> 00:07:32.870 goes back to when I started my beekeeping, I 00:07:32.870 --> 00:07:35.790 apprenticed under sideliner slash commercial 00:07:35.790 --> 00:07:39.790 beekeeper who ran single brood chamber hives. 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:42.920 and use the Demere swarm control as management 00:07:42.920 --> 00:07:47.000 for managing the single brood chamber. And I 00:07:47.000 --> 00:07:51.579 saw how effective that management strategy was 00:07:51.579 --> 00:07:56.319 for not only swarm prevention, but honey production. 00:07:56.879 --> 00:07:59.980 I was like, wow. So I really learned how to do 00:07:59.980 --> 00:08:03.139 the Demere really well, but I also learned how 00:08:03.139 --> 00:08:07.120 much work that that entailed. And I think through 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:10.939 the years, many people don't consider that as 00:08:10.939 --> 00:08:14.019 a management strategy. One, because it can be 00:08:14.019 --> 00:08:16.500 somewhat confusing on how to do it. And secondly, 00:08:16.720 --> 00:08:19.480 it does involve lifting a lot of boxes off to 00:08:19.480 --> 00:08:21.639 do it because you ultimately need to get down 00:08:21.639 --> 00:08:23.600 to your single brew chamber and therefore you 00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:25.839 need to remove all the boxes above it. Yeah, 00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:29.600 that's the history of my beekeeping and how we're 00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:32.299 here today, at least the foundation of it. So 00:08:32.299 --> 00:08:36.019 your idea then was use this Demery philosophy, 00:08:36.519 --> 00:08:41.419 but fix the problem of having to lift five or 00:08:41.419 --> 00:08:44.019 however many boxes off so that you could get 00:08:44.019 --> 00:08:46.139 to the brood chamber. Is that right? Well, that 00:08:46.139 --> 00:08:49.360 was Nats. I didn't know any better. Right. So 00:08:49.360 --> 00:08:51.539 someone taught me this and it seemed to work. 00:08:51.740 --> 00:08:54.399 So I said, OK, I can do this. You know, every 00:08:54.399 --> 00:08:56.940 so often I take all the boxes off, you know, 00:08:56.960 --> 00:08:59.259 go down to the brood chamber, move brood up. 00:08:59.309 --> 00:09:01.789 Put all the boxes back together and the hive 00:09:01.789 --> 00:09:03.570 won't swarm and you'll make a lot of honey. This 00:09:03.570 --> 00:09:07.009 is awesome, right? I told you years ago when 00:09:07.009 --> 00:09:09.690 I was watching George and I said, can I go with 00:09:09.690 --> 00:09:12.250 you and just show me? And he said, come on. Well, 00:09:12.250 --> 00:09:14.509 I went with him several different times and it 00:09:14.509 --> 00:09:16.830 was in the middle of the summer and it was hot. 00:09:17.330 --> 00:09:20.230 And he kept saying, OK, lift these boxes, take 00:09:20.230 --> 00:09:22.429 this apart. And every time we did, the bees were 00:09:22.429 --> 00:09:26.789 going all over the place. And it was hot and 00:09:27.259 --> 00:09:30.259 Neither one of us have a really good back. And 00:09:30.259 --> 00:09:32.460 I said to him one day, I said, George, this is 00:09:32.460 --> 00:09:35.220 crazy. Why do you do this every single time we 00:09:35.220 --> 00:09:37.940 come up to these bees? I mean, isn't there a 00:09:37.940 --> 00:09:40.279 better way? And he says, well, no, not really. 00:09:40.980 --> 00:09:44.440 You have to get down to the bottom in order to 00:09:44.440 --> 00:09:47.379 take care of your bees. And I thought, this is 00:09:47.379 --> 00:09:49.620 crazy. There's got to be a better way. And George 00:09:49.620 --> 00:09:52.240 says, well, if you can come up with it. Go for 00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:54.620 it. And I told that people have tried. People 00:09:54.620 --> 00:09:57.059 have tried to put bees in drawers. People have 00:09:57.059 --> 00:10:00.659 tried to do all kinds of different innovations 00:10:00.659 --> 00:10:05.899 to keep the vertically oriented hive. Yet remove 00:10:05.899 --> 00:10:09.539 the need to move boxes to get to the bottom, 00:10:09.539 --> 00:10:13.379 right? So I've always thought that and not that 00:10:13.379 --> 00:10:15.740 I have a lot of experience with horizontal hive 00:10:15.740 --> 00:10:17.840 configuration, whether or not it be a top bar, 00:10:17.840 --> 00:10:20.960 a lands hive or or whatever, but I have always. 00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:24.440 thought the bees prefer to go up and down then 00:10:24.440 --> 00:10:28.440 side to side from just a honey storage standpoint 00:10:28.440 --> 00:10:32.100 and orient their brood to the honey. So that 00:10:32.100 --> 00:10:34.159 was the challenge. I was like, Nat, let's try 00:10:34.159 --> 00:10:37.179 to keep it vertical and not go horizontal with 00:10:37.179 --> 00:10:40.320 it. I think the challenge that we had to overcome 00:10:40.320 --> 00:10:45.759 was to somehow gain the ability to move frames 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:49.980 in a hive And the only way to do that is to prevent 00:10:49.980 --> 00:10:53.059 them from being propylized in place. We had to 00:10:53.059 --> 00:10:56.720 stop and think about, OK, well, how do you stop 00:10:56.720 --> 00:11:00.279 a bee from propylizing? And the fact is, it can't 00:11:00.279 --> 00:11:04.460 be done. Anything a bee walks on, she will propylize. 00:11:05.340 --> 00:11:10.179 So that got me thinking, what if somehow I prevent 00:11:10.179 --> 00:11:13.980 them from walking on the areas that I need to 00:11:13.980 --> 00:11:17.629 keep clean? So that's basically how we came up 00:11:17.629 --> 00:11:21.950 with this whole system of being able to access 00:11:21.950 --> 00:11:25.549 your frames without lifting off your honey supers. 00:11:25.990 --> 00:11:29.210 And we have actually made it possible to slide 00:11:29.210 --> 00:11:31.610 frames out from underneath the honey supers. 00:11:32.210 --> 00:11:34.450 And we've been able to prevent them from being 00:11:34.450 --> 00:11:37.090 propolized in place. Now for people listening 00:11:37.090 --> 00:11:40.220 to this podcast, Which does not have video right 00:11:40.220 --> 00:11:43.659 now. I recommend that you go to thekeepershive 00:11:43.659 --> 00:11:46.799 .com You'll be able to see what George and Nat 00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:50.519 are talking about But guys go ahead and just 00:11:50.519 --> 00:11:53.879 describe for us in case we had our eyes closed 00:11:53.879 --> 00:11:57.539 Or we're out exercising or driving right now. 00:11:57.539 --> 00:12:01.100 We can't look at the website Describe what it 00:12:01.100 --> 00:12:04.210 is that you've come up with So essentially what 00:12:04.210 --> 00:12:08.110 we have is a single brood chamber hive. So the 00:12:08.110 --> 00:12:11.889 brood is in one box and on both the one queen 00:12:11.889 --> 00:12:14.149 and the two queen keepers, it's an eight frame 00:12:14.149 --> 00:12:16.409 deep brood chamber. So basically we have a brood 00:12:16.409 --> 00:12:19.269 chamber and then we have a queen excluder. And 00:12:19.269 --> 00:12:22.330 then above that we have our supers. And what 00:12:22.330 --> 00:12:25.929 you're able to do is you're able to basically 00:12:25.929 --> 00:12:29.289 on the side of the brood chamber, we have a hinge 00:12:29.289 --> 00:12:32.700 roof. You basically open a hinge roof. Four frames 00:12:32.700 --> 00:12:34.740 are underneath the roof, four frames are underneath 00:12:34.740 --> 00:12:36.980 the queen excluder, and you can sort of open 00:12:36.980 --> 00:12:39.059 the hinge roof, look at your bees through our 00:12:39.059 --> 00:12:41.740 observation window, remove the observation window 00:12:41.740 --> 00:12:44.240 and the frame guards, and get to all eight of 00:12:44.240 --> 00:12:46.580 the frames that are in the brood box without 00:12:46.580 --> 00:12:52.039 removing the supers above. Let me just take a 00:12:52.039 --> 00:12:54.200 minute here to thank our presenting sponsor, 00:12:54.740 --> 00:12:57.279 Man Lake. Whether you're a seasoned beekeeper 00:12:57.279 --> 00:13:00.600 or just getting started, Man Lake has the equipment 00:13:00.600 --> 00:13:04.080 and the expertise that you need to set your bees 00:13:04.080 --> 00:13:08.820 up for success. Including my new favorite woodenware, 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:13.440 Man Lake's wax dipped hive kits. They are absolutely 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:16.600 beautiful with a natural finish and they're made 00:13:16.600 --> 00:13:20.139 to last in fact for up to 25 years. No painting 00:13:20.139 --> 00:13:23.240 necessary. And don't forget your discount code 00:13:23.240 --> 00:13:27.320 MLBlove10. It's in the show notes. For $10 off 00:13:27.320 --> 00:13:31.759 your first $100 purchase. Now back to the guest. 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:37.600 So all of a sudden now to do your brood inspections, 00:13:37.960 --> 00:13:40.460 to see if you need to demerade, to see if to 00:13:40.460 --> 00:13:43.720 do a mic count, whatever you want to do with 00:13:43.720 --> 00:13:46.580 your bees. You don't have to disturb all the 00:13:46.580 --> 00:13:49.120 boxes above and all the foragers. You basically 00:13:49.120 --> 00:13:52.720 sit down, open up the roof, and do what you need 00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:56.059 to do. So that's on a one queen, on a two queen 00:13:56.059 --> 00:13:59.250 keeper. It's basically the same thing, but it's 00:13:59.250 --> 00:14:02.629 two hives, two of these back to back with using 00:14:02.629 --> 00:14:06.389 10 frame supers, while the one frame hive uses 00:14:06.389 --> 00:14:10.350 five frame supers. So it's basically a double 00:14:10.350 --> 00:14:12.669 instead of a single. But the brew chamber and 00:14:12.669 --> 00:14:14.870 the way you work the hive is essentially the 00:14:14.870 --> 00:14:17.850 same on both hives. Okay, let's talk about the 00:14:17.850 --> 00:14:21.169 single first. I think if people understand the 00:14:21.169 --> 00:14:25.070 single queen setup. then picturing the double 00:14:25.070 --> 00:14:28.470 queen is fairly easy. So you mentioned that the 00:14:28.470 --> 00:14:32.789 honey supers that are above the brood box, there 00:14:32.789 --> 00:14:38.950 is room to open a like a roof on half of the 00:14:38.950 --> 00:14:42.350 brood chamber and get to all of the frames. So 00:14:42.350 --> 00:14:46.610 based on that, what size are the supers above? 00:14:46.710 --> 00:14:50.809 Are they like nuke size or are they some special 00:14:50.809 --> 00:14:54.419 thing that we need to get from you? The one queen 00:14:54.419 --> 00:14:59.360 keeper is nuke sized supers. The two queen keeper 00:14:59.360 --> 00:15:03.700 uses 10 frame supers. In both situations, the 00:15:03.700 --> 00:15:09.419 honey supers cantilever over half of the brood 00:15:09.419 --> 00:15:13.000 box. The other half is exposed when you open 00:15:13.000 --> 00:15:15.840 the hinged roof. What was important to us when 00:15:15.840 --> 00:15:18.940 we were designing both hives is that we wanted 00:15:18.940 --> 00:15:21.340 beekeepers to be able to use all their existing 00:15:21.340 --> 00:15:23.700 equipment, right? So we didn't want to have special 00:15:23.700 --> 00:15:26.379 bottom boards or special frames or special supers 00:15:26.379 --> 00:15:29.220 or special outer covers. So whatever you are 00:15:29.220 --> 00:15:32.340 currently using that is a traditional Langstroth 00:15:32.340 --> 00:15:36.559 equipment will absolutely 100 % work on the keepers 00:15:36.559 --> 00:15:39.559 hive. It is using all standard equipment except 00:15:39.559 --> 00:15:42.580 for the brood box. Which is what we get from 00:15:42.580 --> 00:15:45.740 you. Okay. Yeah. And it looks pretty cool. Now, 00:15:45.740 --> 00:15:50.700 I don't have a bunch of Nuke boxes. I need some, 00:15:50.919 --> 00:15:53.320 but so for me, it might make more sense to do 00:15:53.320 --> 00:15:56.379 the double queen and then I can put regular 10 00:15:56.379 --> 00:15:59.460 frame boxes on top. And I think the idea of a 00:15:59.460 --> 00:16:02.879 double queen is really cool anyway. It may be 00:16:02.879 --> 00:16:05.299 a little bit above my IQ level to figure out 00:16:05.299 --> 00:16:07.419 how to do that, but we'll see how we can do. 00:16:07.659 --> 00:16:10.539 Let's talk about the Demery method that keeps 00:16:10.539 --> 00:16:13.639 coming up and what it's like keeping bees in 00:16:13.639 --> 00:16:16.659 a single brood chamber, because this could apply 00:16:16.659 --> 00:16:20.039 whether people are using your system or a Flow 00:16:20.039 --> 00:16:25.399 Hive or just a regular Demery system. Give us, 00:16:25.799 --> 00:16:31.220 George, just a little primer 101 on what beekeeping 00:16:31.220 --> 00:16:34.120 is like that way. So when we say single brood 00:16:34.120 --> 00:16:38.470 chamber hive, What we mean is that the queen 00:16:38.470 --> 00:16:42.690 and the brood is limited to one box and you use 00:16:42.690 --> 00:16:45.129 a queen excluder in that configuration So when 00:16:45.129 --> 00:16:47.029 you're doing a single brood chamber hive, you 00:16:47.029 --> 00:16:49.289 are using a queen excluder You have your queen 00:16:49.289 --> 00:16:51.509 in your brood generally in the bottom box You 00:16:51.509 --> 00:16:53.850 have a queen excluder on top of that and then 00:16:53.850 --> 00:16:56.809 your supers above the the challenge of a single 00:16:56.809 --> 00:16:59.309 brood chamber hive is first swarm management, 00:16:59.309 --> 00:17:02.980 right because when bees are maximally building 00:17:02.980 --> 00:17:05.859 up in spring or wherever that is, wherever you're 00:17:05.859 --> 00:17:09.740 beekeeping, the colony is likely to swarm if 00:17:09.740 --> 00:17:11.700 you just leave them without any management in 00:17:11.700 --> 00:17:14.819 the single brood chamber, right? So your options 00:17:14.819 --> 00:17:18.339 are some people in order to prevent swarming 00:17:18.339 --> 00:17:21.319 will just make lots of splits. So in the single 00:17:21.319 --> 00:17:24.470 brood chamber, they'll pull out. 60 to 70 percent 00:17:24.470 --> 00:17:27.069 of the brood and potentially the queen and make 00:17:27.069 --> 00:17:29.730 two or three splits and That'll be their swarm 00:17:29.730 --> 00:17:32.549 management for single brood chamber and that 00:17:32.549 --> 00:17:36.170 works really well You just have to be want and 00:17:36.170 --> 00:17:38.890 need all these highs, right? So you can split 00:17:38.890 --> 00:17:42.049 away But your number of hives is going to increase 00:17:42.049 --> 00:17:44.390 tremendously quickly with that method, right? 00:17:44.710 --> 00:17:47.720 The other thing that that does is it decreases 00:17:47.720 --> 00:17:50.039 your forager force in your hive, right? So all 00:17:50.039 --> 00:17:52.559 of a sudden, you don't have as many bees in that 00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:55.460 hive. It won't swarm, but it may not produce 00:17:55.460 --> 00:17:58.279 as much honey. Some people say, you know, you 00:17:58.279 --> 00:18:00.539 can make a decision what you want your hive to 00:18:00.539 --> 00:18:02.420 do. You can make your colony either make honey 00:18:02.420 --> 00:18:05.259 or make splits, and it's hard to do both. So 00:18:05.259 --> 00:18:08.059 when you do the split method for swarm control, 00:18:08.279 --> 00:18:10.220 you make lots of bees, but you don't make as 00:18:10.220 --> 00:18:12.839 much honey. So the demeria is an option where 00:18:12.839 --> 00:18:15.039 you basically are making a vertical split within 00:18:15.039 --> 00:18:17.809 the hive. to decrease swarming, but maintaining 00:18:17.809 --> 00:18:20.470 the bee population in that hive and not making 00:18:20.470 --> 00:18:25.250 increases. So that is another way to do swarm 00:18:25.250 --> 00:18:27.369 control when you're doing single brood chamber 00:18:27.369 --> 00:18:31.309 hive is the demuree. Let me see if I can just 00:18:31.309 --> 00:18:35.369 sort of summarize my understanding of how that's 00:18:35.369 --> 00:18:38.430 going to work. And please correct me along the 00:18:38.430 --> 00:18:42.190 way. OK, but to put it in its most simplest terms 00:18:42.190 --> 00:18:46.930 with the demuree. to keep from swarming i'm going 00:18:46.930 --> 00:18:50.769 to take i'm going to do a split okay so i'm going 00:18:50.769 --> 00:18:54.769 to take a nuke box and i'm going to take out 00:18:54.769 --> 00:18:58.849 the frames that have queen cells i'm going to 00:18:58.849 --> 00:19:02.109 put them in this nuke box and then i'm going 00:19:02.109 --> 00:19:05.630 to take that nuke box and put it up as if it 00:19:05.630 --> 00:19:08.390 were a honey super there's not going to be a 00:19:08.390 --> 00:19:10.869 queen in there there may be some queen cells 00:19:10.869 --> 00:19:15.039 and remember we have separated the brood chamber 00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:20.779 with a queen excluder. So up in this box that 00:19:20.779 --> 00:19:24.299 is acting like a honey super now, eventually 00:19:24.299 --> 00:19:28.099 those bees are going to be gone. All of the brood 00:19:28.099 --> 00:19:30.299 is going to be gone. And then the bees are going 00:19:30.299 --> 00:19:32.579 to backfill it with honey. Did I get that even 00:19:32.579 --> 00:19:36.000 close? Pretty close, Eric. So what you're doing 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:39.630 is. Early in the spring and the bees are building 00:19:39.630 --> 00:19:42.029 up and there's a lot of brood down in your single 00:19:42.029 --> 00:19:44.730 brood chamber. You're going to go in there, you're 00:19:44.730 --> 00:19:47.190 basically going to leave the queen and one frame 00:19:47.190 --> 00:19:50.630 of emerging brood in the bottom and you're going 00:19:50.630 --> 00:19:53.029 to take all the other brood and move it up in 00:19:53.029 --> 00:19:55.529 the hive in a one queen keeper of five frame 00:19:55.529 --> 00:19:57.369 deep because there are deep frames in the brood 00:19:57.369 --> 00:19:58.730 box. So you're going to have a deep at the top 00:19:58.730 --> 00:20:01.450 of your stack and that's going to basically take 00:20:01.450 --> 00:20:03.829 all the nurse bees and all the bees to the top 00:20:03.829 --> 00:20:06.460 of the hive. and it's going to decongest the 00:20:06.460 --> 00:20:09.680 brood chamber, and the colony is going to decide 00:20:09.680 --> 00:20:11.700 it doesn't want to swarm anymore. The queen's 00:20:11.700 --> 00:20:14.220 going to continue to lay. And as you said, those 00:20:14.220 --> 00:20:16.480 bees, all that brood at the top is eventually 00:20:16.480 --> 00:20:19.099 going to hatch out and rejoin the colony at the 00:20:19.099 --> 00:20:21.940 bottom. And then they'll backfill that five -frame 00:20:21.940 --> 00:20:25.079 nuke box with honey. So pretty much what you 00:20:25.079 --> 00:20:27.200 said is what happens. You're basically doing 00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:30.200 a vertical split within the hive, leaving the 00:20:30.200 --> 00:20:32.400 queen down below in the single brood chamber. 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:35.640 and moving all the other brood and nurse bees 00:20:35.640 --> 00:20:38.859 up to the top. Now, what makes the keepers hive, 00:20:39.319 --> 00:20:42.220 what makes it so easy to do that is you don't 00:20:42.220 --> 00:20:45.259 have to lift and remove and take apart boxes 00:20:45.259 --> 00:20:48.440 to do that. It basically takes that, the ability 00:20:48.440 --> 00:20:51.440 to do that and makes it so simple and so easy 00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:54.779 for any beekeeper to do. And one thing you don't 00:20:54.779 --> 00:20:57.099 want to do, Eric, while you're doing this is 00:20:57.099 --> 00:20:59.710 you mentioned queen cells. While you're doing 00:20:59.710 --> 00:21:03.289 the demuree in this hive, one thing we don't 00:21:03.289 --> 00:21:06.609 want to do is have queen cells at the top of 00:21:06.609 --> 00:21:10.450 this hive. So if you should go in and find a 00:21:10.450 --> 00:21:12.750 queen cell while you're doing the demuree, we 00:21:12.750 --> 00:21:15.650 recommend that either you take and make a walk 00:21:15.650 --> 00:21:18.809 -away split or just scrape that queen cell off. 00:21:19.109 --> 00:21:21.430 You don't want to set another queen in the top 00:21:21.430 --> 00:21:24.039 of your hive. Thank you for clarifying that. 00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:27.380 So ultimately, it's best to do this even before 00:21:27.380 --> 00:21:29.980 you have any of those queen cells then. Correct. 00:21:30.539 --> 00:21:33.240 Yeah. Okay. The art of the Demery is when to 00:21:33.240 --> 00:21:36.000 do it. How to do it is one part of the Demery, 00:21:36.160 --> 00:21:38.940 right? Which is easier to learn once you think 00:21:38.940 --> 00:21:41.299 about it a little bit. The art is when to do 00:21:41.299 --> 00:21:43.980 it, right? And that really depends on the weather. 00:21:44.200 --> 00:21:46.690 It depends on what your colony is doing. are 00:21:46.690 --> 00:21:49.289 the factors that are going to make you decide, 00:21:49.309 --> 00:21:53.009 but ideally it's done preemptively right before 00:21:53.009 --> 00:21:56.470 they start to make queen cells. Okay, I'll ask 00:21:56.470 --> 00:21:59.509 the bees what date that is this year where I 00:21:59.509 --> 00:22:03.369 live because I know I'm going to tell everybody 00:22:03.369 --> 00:22:05.990 George to email you and ask them what date they 00:22:05.990 --> 00:22:09.470 should do that. I think people get really fascinated 00:22:09.470 --> 00:22:12.549 by the Demery and really get into the weeds on 00:22:12.549 --> 00:22:16.900 what to move and how to do it. But the really 00:22:16.900 --> 00:22:19.680 question is, is when to do it? And people have 00:22:19.680 --> 00:22:23.220 asked me that, Eric. And unfortunately, I say, 00:22:23.400 --> 00:22:26.380 I can't tell you, because it's all, there's so 00:22:26.380 --> 00:22:29.640 many factors that go into that, that is the art 00:22:29.640 --> 00:22:32.180 of beekeeping, right? And every colony is different, 00:22:32.440 --> 00:22:34.720 and every, you know, your weather is different. 00:22:35.240 --> 00:22:38.579 And yeah, so you get, the more you do it, the 00:22:38.579 --> 00:22:42.089 more you learn beekeeping in your area. And you 00:22:42.089 --> 00:22:44.930 sort of get a you sort of get an intuition of 00:22:44.930 --> 00:22:47.670 when to do that Demere to start. And I realize 00:22:47.670 --> 00:22:50.430 that you can't do that, which is why I said everybody 00:22:50.430 --> 00:22:53.490 should email you asking. So at the keepers side, 00:22:53.569 --> 00:22:56.269 we really want to try to do good customer service, 00:22:56.269 --> 00:22:59.369 you know. So Dave says, OK, answer everybody's 00:22:59.369 --> 00:23:02.049 question. Don't blow anybody off. Smile as you're 00:23:02.049 --> 00:23:04.690 answering that question. So I try really hard. 00:23:05.319 --> 00:23:09.339 to help people. Okay, you're asking for it, George. 00:23:10.220 --> 00:23:12.740 Eric, I think one important thing here is, and 00:23:12.740 --> 00:23:16.039 I don't mean to push just our product, but I 00:23:16.039 --> 00:23:20.180 think one thing about beekeeping and management 00:23:20.180 --> 00:23:23.160 and figuring out just when to do your demerit 00:23:23.160 --> 00:23:27.759 is being able to keep a check on your bees. You 00:23:27.759 --> 00:23:30.240 can't just walk away and come back three weeks 00:23:30.240 --> 00:23:33.000 later and think you're going to be able to solve 00:23:33.000 --> 00:23:35.380 all the problems or whatever issues come up. 00:23:35.779 --> 00:23:38.180 You have to be able to be into your bees on a 00:23:38.180 --> 00:23:41.180 regular basis. And that is one of the features 00:23:41.180 --> 00:23:45.700 that we tell people that we're making management 00:23:45.700 --> 00:23:50.359 better simply because we're giving you the ability 00:23:50.359 --> 00:23:53.759 to easily check on your bees. You can go and 00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:56.880 check one of these hives. in 10 minutes from 00:23:56.880 --> 00:24:01.000 start to finish and walk away. And if you have 00:24:01.000 --> 00:24:04.420 that ability, you're going to be much more prone 00:24:04.420 --> 00:24:08.000 to keep a regular check on these bees. And you 00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:10.819 will know when it's time to demerit because you're 00:24:10.819 --> 00:24:13.759 going to be able to pace that queen and that 00:24:13.759 --> 00:24:16.579 what she's doing. And if you're not lifting a 00:24:16.579 --> 00:24:19.119 bunch of 50 pound boxes, you're more likely to 00:24:19.119 --> 00:24:22.619 do it too. Exactly. I mean, there's been many 00:24:22.619 --> 00:24:25.359 days, you know, that I thought I just don't feel 00:24:25.359 --> 00:24:27.160 like lifting those boxes. I'm not going to go 00:24:27.160 --> 00:24:28.720 up there and do it today. And you know what? 00:24:28.980 --> 00:24:31.279 I suffered the consequences because there was 00:24:31.279 --> 00:24:34.539 a problem and I didn't tend to it in time. You're 00:24:34.539 --> 00:24:37.119 getting me tucked into this. There was a summer 00:24:37.119 --> 00:24:40.480 where I started out in overwinter with nine hives 00:24:40.480 --> 00:24:44.059 out right out in my backyard. And come March, 00:24:44.099 --> 00:24:47.799 I was down to two because I just did not pay 00:24:47.799 --> 00:24:50.119 the attention that needed it. And that was before 00:24:50.119 --> 00:24:52.970 we came up with this solution. Don't forget that 00:24:52.970 --> 00:24:55.210 you could sit on a stool and do the whole thing, 00:24:55.289 --> 00:24:57.710 too. That's right. And I tell people and they 00:24:57.710 --> 00:25:00.609 know I want to stand. I was like, OK, you can 00:25:00.609 --> 00:25:02.390 stand and work the keepers hive if you want. 00:25:02.529 --> 00:25:04.650 I'd highly recommend sitting on a stool and doing 00:25:04.650 --> 00:25:09.400 the whole thing. But hey, I want to sit. Sign 00:25:09.400 --> 00:25:11.660 me up for the sit. Does the Keepers Hive come 00:25:11.660 --> 00:25:16.440 with a bench or a stool? Not yet, but you can 00:25:16.440 --> 00:25:20.500 use a five gallon bucket or a 10 frame deep box 00:25:20.500 --> 00:25:22.740 on its side. You probably have a company, Eric, 00:25:22.740 --> 00:25:25.619 that would function as a stool. All right. But 00:25:25.619 --> 00:25:28.039 it's mind blowing. It's like, yeah, you really 00:25:28.039 --> 00:25:31.059 can do your whole hive inspection while sitting 00:25:31.059 --> 00:25:34.240 in one place on a stool. And that's working a 00:25:34.240 --> 00:25:39.140 Langstroth hive on a stool. How about that? All 00:25:39.140 --> 00:25:41.839 right. I love it. Now I have to ask a hard question. 00:25:42.119 --> 00:25:43.940 I have a feeling some people are going to tell 00:25:43.940 --> 00:25:47.099 me, hey, you're in a cold climate. You can't 00:25:47.099 --> 00:25:50.380 overwinter with just one brood box. How does 00:25:50.380 --> 00:25:54.160 that work? So we have options. You can overwinter 00:25:54.160 --> 00:25:57.039 with a single eight frame deep brood box if you'd 00:25:57.039 --> 00:25:59.559 like. You could also overwinter with five deep 00:25:59.559 --> 00:26:02.880 frames above your brood box. And you can stack 00:26:02.880 --> 00:26:06.400 on more five frame boxes on top of that too. 00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:10.170 So The keepers hive design does not limit you 00:26:10.170 --> 00:26:13.329 to only overwintering in a single. You can overwinter 00:26:13.329 --> 00:26:16.349 in a single plus a new box or multiple new boxes 00:26:16.349 --> 00:26:19.589 above it. One thing I've learned through this 00:26:19.589 --> 00:26:22.890 is that bees really do like being in a single 00:26:22.890 --> 00:26:25.930 brood box most of the time, honestly. The only 00:26:25.930 --> 00:26:28.390 time bees do not like being in a single brood 00:26:28.390 --> 00:26:30.890 box, well, they may like it, but they'll swarm, 00:26:30.970 --> 00:26:33.910 right? Outside of swarm season, your colony is 00:26:33.910 --> 00:26:37.910 going to do so, so much better. when you keep 00:26:37.910 --> 00:26:40.210 your brood in a single brood box, and you keep 00:26:40.210 --> 00:26:43.049 your bees wall -to -wall in that box. And that 00:26:43.049 --> 00:26:46.529 goes for the summer, during the dearth, dealing 00:26:46.529 --> 00:26:49.390 with small high beetles, and even overwintering. 00:26:49.430 --> 00:26:52.609 I really think that you're going to notice some 00:26:52.609 --> 00:26:55.990 pretty cool stuff when you get your bees down 00:26:55.990 --> 00:26:59.690 to a single box to overwinter. Just so they have 00:26:59.690 --> 00:27:02.789 enough honey above them. Right. Now one option 00:27:02.789 --> 00:27:07.359 here is when we... take the one queen keeper 00:27:07.359 --> 00:27:10.740 and we set it up to winterize. Once we've harvested 00:27:10.740 --> 00:27:13.400 our honey and we're just going to winterize our 00:27:13.400 --> 00:27:17.980 bees, we will come all the way down to only having 00:27:17.980 --> 00:27:21.819 one super above the brew chamber, and then we 00:27:21.819 --> 00:27:25.619 remove the queen excluder. Now there are two 00:27:25.619 --> 00:27:30.720 ways. The super above the brew chamber can now 00:27:30.720 --> 00:27:34.779 be loaded with five frames of honey. Without 00:27:34.779 --> 00:27:37.599 the queen excluder, as they empty the brood chamber 00:27:37.599 --> 00:27:40.140 during the course of the winter, and the cluster 00:27:40.140 --> 00:27:42.980 moves up to that next box, the queen will be 00:27:42.980 --> 00:27:46.279 able to move with the cluster. The second option 00:27:46.279 --> 00:27:50.460 is that instead of putting five frames of honey 00:27:50.460 --> 00:27:54.880 above the brood chamber, you can leave that box 00:27:54.880 --> 00:27:59.599 empty, leave the queen excluder on, and put supplemental 00:27:59.599 --> 00:28:03.799 feed in that box. Some people say while I produce 00:28:03.799 --> 00:28:06.920 honey, I want it all and they want to do supplemental 00:28:06.920 --> 00:28:11.660 feed and that works. Other people are not as 00:28:11.660 --> 00:28:13.839 worried about their honey production and would 00:28:13.839 --> 00:28:16.220 rather leave the five frames of honey for them. 00:28:16.380 --> 00:28:19.599 So that's a two option. Yeah, I'd rather have 00:28:19.599 --> 00:28:21.700 my bees eating their own honey during winter. 00:28:21.839 --> 00:28:25.450 That's just me. Right. Everybody works it a little 00:28:25.450 --> 00:28:28.190 different. But that's how we do the single -brewed 00:28:28.190 --> 00:28:31.029 chamber. We do remove the queen excluder for 00:28:31.029 --> 00:28:33.609 the winner and allow her to come up with the 00:28:33.609 --> 00:28:36.210 cluster. Yeah, I mean, in general, I agree with 00:28:36.210 --> 00:28:42.130 you, Eric. Again, above the queen excluder on 00:28:42.130 --> 00:28:45.190 the keepers high, the exchange boxes are deep. 00:28:45.319 --> 00:28:47.420 where you do the Demarais and the other boxes 00:28:47.420 --> 00:28:50.200 are mediums. So all the mediums I harvest for 00:28:50.200 --> 00:28:52.700 myself and that deep exchange box, which still 00:28:52.700 --> 00:28:55.160 backfill with honey, as you said, I just drop 00:28:55.160 --> 00:28:57.859 that down on the brew chamber for winter. So 00:28:57.859 --> 00:29:00.140 I'm basically overwintering with eight frames 00:29:00.140 --> 00:29:02.720 in the brew chamber and five deep frames from 00:29:02.720 --> 00:29:05.839 the exchange box. So for me, I want to harvest 00:29:05.839 --> 00:29:08.960 my honey out of my mediums and the deeps I want 00:29:08.960 --> 00:29:11.910 to leave for the bees. It's how I organize. Everybody 00:29:11.910 --> 00:29:14.589 organizes it differently, but I say mediums are 00:29:14.589 --> 00:29:17.250 for me and the deeps are for the bees. Now I 00:29:17.250 --> 00:29:18.849 feel like there's something that I really should 00:29:18.849 --> 00:29:22.769 have said up front, and that is for our brand 00:29:22.769 --> 00:29:25.329 new beekeepers or those that are just thinking 00:29:25.329 --> 00:29:28.430 about getting into beekeeping, my apologies. 00:29:28.630 --> 00:29:31.930 This probably made no sense to you, but for those 00:29:31.930 --> 00:29:33.529 that have been beekeeping for a while, I think 00:29:33.529 --> 00:29:36.170 they can picture most of this. Your website will 00:29:36.170 --> 00:29:39.339 be in the show notes. It's been fun talking to 00:29:39.339 --> 00:29:42.539 you guys. I have one last thing to ask. George 00:29:42.539 --> 00:29:45.380 or Nat, either one of you or both, can you give 00:29:45.380 --> 00:29:48.259 us a wild and crazy beekeeping experience that 00:29:48.259 --> 00:29:51.720 you've had? Well, I'm also president of the Chester 00:29:51.720 --> 00:29:53.859 County Beekeepers Club in southeast Pennsylvania. 00:29:53.859 --> 00:29:56.660 And in 2021, we had a great flood come through 00:29:56.660 --> 00:29:59.099 our apiary, right? So we had a flood come through. 00:29:59.259 --> 00:30:01.779 We had 30 hives in our apiary and basically washed 00:30:01.779 --> 00:30:04.519 them all down the river. Believe it or not, 20 00:30:04.519 --> 00:30:07.000 of them, we were able to go down the river, find 00:30:07.000 --> 00:30:09.849 them. and ended up putting them back in single 00:30:09.849 --> 00:30:12.789 five -frame boxes, and they all overwintered 00:30:12.789 --> 00:30:15.190 in single five -frame boxes. So it got me to 00:30:15.190 --> 00:30:18.250 really think hard about how much space and how 00:30:18.250 --> 00:30:20.630 much food do the bees really need to survive 00:30:20.630 --> 00:30:22.970 the winter. So that was just one of my cool experiences 00:30:22.970 --> 00:30:26.390 of being devastated from the flood and thinking, 00:30:26.549 --> 00:30:28.809 oh my goodness, and then learning a whole lot 00:30:28.809 --> 00:30:31.750 afterwards. How did they not drown? We had them 00:30:31.750 --> 00:30:35.119 all strapped. So somehow the strap kept them 00:30:35.119 --> 00:30:37.880 and then they floated down the river. Some drowned, 00:30:38.220 --> 00:30:40.859 but I think the ones that floated on the top 00:30:40.859 --> 00:30:42.779 and they all ended up in a certain spot. So they 00:30:42.779 --> 00:30:45.640 went down the river about 500 feet and then basically 00:30:45.640 --> 00:30:47.779 a bunch of trees stopped them. So we had all 00:30:47.779 --> 00:30:50.160 these nukes that were all piled up on each other 00:30:50.160 --> 00:30:52.799 and two thirds of them actually survived the 00:30:52.799 --> 00:30:55.400 flood and then survived the winter in a single 00:30:55.400 --> 00:30:59.769 five frame deep box. So cool. Awesome. By the 00:30:59.769 --> 00:31:02.410 way, that just reminds me, I saw an article recently 00:31:02.410 --> 00:31:05.490 of these beekeepers over in England that are 00:31:05.490 --> 00:31:08.869 in a floodplain and they kept losing hives and 00:31:08.869 --> 00:31:13.029 they finally for their hive stands, they basically 00:31:13.029 --> 00:31:18.299 built pontoons so that when a flood came. the 00:31:18.299 --> 00:31:22.380 hives could float and be OK. And then when the 00:31:22.380 --> 00:31:24.400 waters came down, they were OK and they could 00:31:24.400 --> 00:31:26.700 rescue them and put them back or whatever. But 00:31:26.700 --> 00:31:28.779 a couple of our club members said we should raise 00:31:28.779 --> 00:31:31.779 the hive stands up to be six feet in that apiary 00:31:31.779 --> 00:31:34.160 and have like a steps that you go up and manage. 00:31:34.319 --> 00:31:36.359 I was like, dude, this is a this is once in a 00:31:36.359 --> 00:31:38.440 hundred year flood. I don't know if we want to 00:31:38.440 --> 00:31:41.059 go there. But I tell you, it's like those moments 00:31:41.059 --> 00:31:44.509 is when you learn, right? Absolutely. Yeah, it's 00:31:44.509 --> 00:31:46.869 from the crazy things that happen and sometimes 00:31:46.869 --> 00:31:50.210 the disasters that happen that we learn the most. 00:31:50.789 --> 00:31:54.089 100%. We just want people to do the management 00:31:54.089 --> 00:31:57.210 that we know is going to help them keep their 00:31:57.210 --> 00:32:01.289 bees healthy and alive and just making a hive 00:32:01.289 --> 00:32:05.589 where you can do it easier and potentially more 00:32:05.589 --> 00:32:08.170 effective by using a single brood chamber, honestly. 00:32:08.470 --> 00:32:10.150 That's what it's about at the end of the day. 00:32:10.630 --> 00:32:12.920 That's the message. There's a lot of no lift 00:32:12.920 --> 00:32:15.940 messaging out there and a lot of no lift options, 00:32:16.059 --> 00:32:18.740 but I think our hive goes beyond a no lift option. 00:32:19.079 --> 00:32:22.259 I really think it's about optimizing a single 00:32:22.259 --> 00:32:25.940 brew chamber in Demere that really can make your 00:32:25.940 --> 00:32:29.859 beekeeping more fun and probably more effective 00:32:29.859 --> 00:32:32.759 at the end of the day. With this method, I would 00:32:32.759 --> 00:32:35.730 think that people need to They need to be checking 00:32:35.730 --> 00:32:38.710 their hives often. How often would you recommend? 00:32:39.250 --> 00:32:41.549 Once you get outside a swarm season once a month 00:32:41.549 --> 00:32:44.250 is enough, honestly. Okay. Bees are quite happy 00:32:44.250 --> 00:32:46.509 in a single brood chamber once the swarm impulse 00:32:46.509 --> 00:32:49.950 is done, right? So it's during the swarm season 00:32:49.950 --> 00:32:52.430 that you need to check probably once every 10 00:32:52.430 --> 00:32:55.289 to 2 weeks, but you have to know the duration 00:32:55.289 --> 00:32:57.069 of your swarm season and you have to know when 00:32:57.069 --> 00:32:59.289 your swarm season is done, but then it's done. 00:32:59.529 --> 00:33:01.670 And then it's mite management. Well, think about 00:33:01.670 --> 00:33:04.230 how easy it is to check mite levels in this hive, 00:33:04.309 --> 00:33:06.349 right? You just go, you open up the roof, you 00:33:06.349 --> 00:33:09.950 pull out root frame three, you shake your bees 00:33:09.950 --> 00:33:12.529 and you're done. No tearing apart the hive to 00:33:12.529 --> 00:33:16.230 do a mite level. No lifting boxes. And some people 00:33:16.230 --> 00:33:18.490 will say... I don't know if I agree with this. 00:33:18.609 --> 00:33:20.950 Some people say, well, if you super a hive enough, 00:33:21.069 --> 00:33:23.990 if you take a single brood chamber hive and super 00:33:23.990 --> 00:33:28.589 it enough right before the honey flow, you can 00:33:28.589 --> 00:33:31.390 decrease swarm impulse too just by not having 00:33:31.390 --> 00:33:33.849 them backfill the brood chamber. You just give 00:33:33.849 --> 00:33:36.630 them ton of space to store all the nectar, and 00:33:36.630 --> 00:33:40.170 then they're unlikely to swarm. That's another. 00:33:40.700 --> 00:33:43.559 aspect of single brood chamber. I don't see why 00:33:43.559 --> 00:33:46.420 not to do single brood chamber management. And 00:33:46.420 --> 00:33:48.839 I think it's catching on a little bit. Beekeepers 00:33:48.839 --> 00:33:51.359 start with double deep brood boxes or multiple 00:33:51.359 --> 00:33:53.500 medium brood boxes, and that's how we learn. 00:33:53.839 --> 00:33:56.019 And people say, well, your hive is really not 00:33:56.019 --> 00:33:58.579 for beginners. It's too complicated. I was like, 00:33:58.619 --> 00:34:00.440 you got to learn something at some point. So 00:34:00.440 --> 00:34:02.579 why don't you learn the most easiest and effective 00:34:02.579 --> 00:34:05.700 way right off the bat, honestly. Double deep 00:34:05.700 --> 00:34:08.260 brood chambers are... I think part of the reason 00:34:08.260 --> 00:34:10.780 why new beekeepers lose so many hives to some 00:34:10.780 --> 00:34:13.579 extent. I think that's harder to manage in some 00:34:13.579 --> 00:34:16.199 ways than what I'm asking people to manage, honestly. 00:34:16.719 --> 00:34:18.599 I think there's many people to get into beekeeping 00:34:18.599 --> 00:34:22.219 that don't realize the weight of these boxes 00:34:22.219 --> 00:34:25.920 and do not realize until it happens that, oh, 00:34:25.940 --> 00:34:28.179 my goodness, this box is so heavy. I can't lift 00:34:28.179 --> 00:34:31.239 this. Or when they get into inspect and they 00:34:31.239 --> 00:34:33.539 tear it apart, all of a sudden you got a lot 00:34:33.539 --> 00:34:35.989 of bees. flying all over the place, you know? 00:34:36.130 --> 00:34:38.429 I mean, that's another beauty of the design is 00:34:38.429 --> 00:34:41.190 like, when you sit down and do your hive inspection, 00:34:41.889 --> 00:34:44.949 you're not disturbing the colony to do your inspection. 00:34:45.369 --> 00:34:47.010 Dave always says, George, you really should put 00:34:47.010 --> 00:34:49.090 on a veil. You really should be showing people 00:34:49.090 --> 00:34:50.829 the right way to protect yourself. I was like, 00:34:50.989 --> 00:34:53.369 dude, the bees are fine with me doing a hive 00:34:53.369 --> 00:34:55.769 inspection, honestly. I'm not disturbing them. 00:34:56.050 --> 00:34:58.389 I'm just gently going through the brew chamber 00:34:58.389 --> 00:35:01.119 and doing what I need to do. We think the best 00:35:01.119 --> 00:35:03.219 way to get started with beekeeping is apprentice, 00:35:03.420 --> 00:35:06.039 right? Go like that hung out with me or go hang 00:35:06.039 --> 00:35:08.300 out with Eric or go find somebody to hang out 00:35:08.300 --> 00:35:10.219 with them, you know, and see whether or not you 00:35:10.219 --> 00:35:11.719 love it or not. Because if you don't love it, 00:35:11.760 --> 00:35:15.239 don't do it. All right, George Datto and Nate 00:35:15.239 --> 00:35:17.719 Wolf, thank you a ton for being on the show with 00:35:17.719 --> 00:35:20.079 me today. Hey, Eric, thanks a lot for having 00:35:20.079 --> 00:35:22.880 us. We really appreciate your time. Happy beekeeping, 00:35:23.039 --> 00:35:27.860 Eric. Thanks again for joining us here on Be 00:35:27.860 --> 00:35:31.380 Love Beekeeping presented by Man Lake. Another 00:35:31.380 --> 00:35:34.500 great place for more information on everything 00:35:34.500 --> 00:35:37.760 related to this podcast is in our email newsletter. 00:35:38.340 --> 00:35:41.059 You can sign up for it for free at BeLoveBeekeeping 00:35:41.059 --> 00:35:44.099 .com. And remember, if you're not just in it 00:35:44.099 --> 00:35:46.380 for the honey or the money, you're in it for 00:35:46.380 --> 00:35:48.079 the love. See you next week.