WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:03.660 May I have your attention, please? The following 00:00:03.660 --> 00:00:10.480 is not the real Jeff Fox release If you have 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:16.980 actually named your queen bees You might be a 00:00:16.980 --> 00:00:24.780 beekeeper If you cried when your favorite colony 00:00:24.780 --> 00:00:33.560 swarmed You might be a beekeeper Varroa mites 00:00:33.560 --> 00:00:39.439 were created in a lab in Wuhan, China. You might 00:00:39.439 --> 00:00:43.380 be a beekeeper. Man, I better look out there. 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:49.560 That one might get me in trouble. If your beehives 00:00:49.560 --> 00:00:55.439 have more insulation than your house, you might 00:00:55.439 --> 00:01:03.159 be a beekeeper. Welcome, welcome to Be Love Beekeeping 00:01:03.159 --> 00:01:06.760 presented by our good friends at Man Lake. Our 00:01:06.760 --> 00:01:09.659 question of the day is this, how much can you 00:01:09.659 --> 00:01:12.500 know about the welfare of your bees without actually 00:01:12.500 --> 00:01:15.920 lifting the lid? Today our guest is Richard Wall 00:01:15.920 --> 00:01:18.640 and we'll be discussing answers to that question. 00:01:19.140 --> 00:01:22.579 But first, this just in from the UK. Headline 00:01:22.810 --> 00:01:26.150 Warning over surge in population of Asian hornets 00:01:26.150 --> 00:01:29.769 after unprecedented early sightings. In some 00:01:29.769 --> 00:01:33.170 areas, 11 times higher than the number of sightings 00:01:33.170 --> 00:01:36.549 last year. In fact, they're saying the number 00:01:36.549 --> 00:01:38.950 of these hornets is going to be up over a thousand 00:01:38.950 --> 00:01:41.390 percent this year. Now, if you don't live in 00:01:41.390 --> 00:01:43.170 the UK, you might be saying, well, what does 00:01:43.170 --> 00:01:45.510 that have to do with me? But it has a lot to 00:01:45.510 --> 00:01:48.590 do with us because if you're a beekeeper here 00:01:48.590 --> 00:01:51.310 in North America or other parts of the world, 00:01:51.689 --> 00:01:55.189 you may be next. Now let's clarify something. 00:01:55.489 --> 00:01:58.329 These are not the Asian giant hornets, also known 00:01:58.329 --> 00:02:02.390 as murder hornets. These Asian hornets are mostly 00:02:02.390 --> 00:02:05.769 known by the term yellow -legged hornets. They're 00:02:05.769 --> 00:02:08.270 not quite as big as the murder hornets, but they 00:02:08.270 --> 00:02:11.430 can be every bit as devastating. In fact, one 00:02:11.430 --> 00:02:15.310 of these hornets can kill up to 50 bees in a 00:02:15.310 --> 00:02:18.330 single day. Now these hornets have traveled from 00:02:18.330 --> 00:02:21.879 Asia to Europe, In fact, they've been found in 00:02:21.879 --> 00:02:25.099 about 15 different countries, and there is reason 00:02:25.099 --> 00:02:27.840 to be concerned about these. No matter what country 00:02:27.840 --> 00:02:30.780 you're in, they may be coming. I know here in 00:02:30.780 --> 00:02:33.159 the United States, they've been spotted in Georgia, 00:02:33.439 --> 00:02:35.780 South Carolina, and some of the other southern 00:02:35.780 --> 00:02:38.819 states. The people down there are working to 00:02:38.819 --> 00:02:41.639 eradicate them. We wish them the best. We hope 00:02:41.639 --> 00:02:44.280 they'll throw every resource possible at this 00:02:44.280 --> 00:02:46.719 problem so that they don't spread everywhere 00:02:46.719 --> 00:02:50.539 else. In some countries, like Spain and Belgium, 00:02:51.120 --> 00:02:53.639 they have seen numbers increase from a handful 00:02:53.639 --> 00:02:58.080 of nests to over 10 ,000 nests in four years. 00:02:58.639 --> 00:03:01.599 So these things can really spread like crazy. 00:03:02.620 --> 00:03:06.340 Research published in November of 2023 suggested 00:03:06.340 --> 00:03:09.120 in France, which is the worst hit country in 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:13.979 Europe, that upwards of 29 % of the country's 00:03:13.979 --> 00:03:17.139 bee colonies are at risk of being wiped out every 00:03:17.139 --> 00:03:20.919 year by these Asian hornets. So let's keep a 00:03:20.919 --> 00:03:23.879 heads up. Let's be vigilant. But now let's turn 00:03:23.879 --> 00:03:26.099 to something positive and fun. We're going to 00:03:26.099 --> 00:03:31.039 have a great talk with Richard. I'd like to welcome 00:03:31.039 --> 00:03:33.379 to the show today Richard Wall, coming to us 00:03:33.379 --> 00:03:35.680 all the way from the great state of Michigan. 00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:38.919 Good morning, Richard. How are you? I'm fine. 00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:42.439 How are you? I'm doing great. We have such a 00:03:42.439 --> 00:03:45.139 fun topic today. We're going to be talking about 00:03:45.139 --> 00:03:48.080 the article that just came out in Bee Culture 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:52.219 magazine, the May edition 2025, that you wrote 00:03:52.219 --> 00:03:56.360 about everything that we can learn from observing 00:03:56.360 --> 00:03:59.719 a hive entrance. You called it observations at 00:03:59.719 --> 00:04:03.280 the hive entrance. Before we jump into it, would 00:04:03.280 --> 00:04:08.039 you just give us a very brief idea of what your 00:04:08.039 --> 00:04:11.219 beekeeping background is like or anything else 00:04:11.219 --> 00:04:13.960 you'd like to tell us to get to know you? Well, 00:04:13.960 --> 00:04:17.899 I got started with bees 16 years ago with no 00:04:17.899 --> 00:04:22.160 intent to do so a Swarm landed in a backyard 00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:24.579 pine tree I found a beekeeper and I was going 00:04:24.579 --> 00:04:27.800 to give him a give him the bees and at one point 00:04:27.800 --> 00:04:31.220 he said Or you can give this a try if you would 00:04:31.220 --> 00:04:36.610 like Those words changed my whole last 16 years 00:04:36.610 --> 00:04:38.629 of my life because I thought what the heck you 00:04:38.629 --> 00:04:41.329 know bees living in the wild Set up a hive in 00:04:41.329 --> 00:04:43.329 the back. Maybe get some honey in the fall. What 00:04:43.329 --> 00:04:46.850 could be easier? I was totally naive when I got 00:04:46.850 --> 00:04:51.230 into it and That's how I got started Most of 00:04:51.230 --> 00:04:55.569 us were that naive it looks so simple And it 00:04:55.569 --> 00:04:59.750 is not there's so much to learn the topic that 00:04:59.750 --> 00:05:02.709 we have today is cool because you don't have 00:05:02.709 --> 00:05:06.230 to be an entomologist or a PhD or something to 00:05:06.230 --> 00:05:09.509 understand this. And for people that have been 00:05:09.509 --> 00:05:12.449 beekeeping for years and years, it may give you 00:05:12.449 --> 00:05:14.829 pause to think about some things and to spend 00:05:14.829 --> 00:05:19.230 a little bit more time just enjoying observing 00:05:19.230 --> 00:05:21.829 the bees. And for people that are new to beekeeping, 00:05:22.370 --> 00:05:24.230 I think you're going to learn a lot here. So 00:05:24.230 --> 00:05:27.310 let's jump right into it. One thing that I love 00:05:27.310 --> 00:05:30.910 is your recommendation on having the hives close 00:05:30.910 --> 00:05:34.209 if if this is possible for you close to your 00:05:34.209 --> 00:05:36.970 house so that it's easy to go out and observe 00:05:36.970 --> 00:05:39.490 them regularly. Tell me a little bit about that. 00:05:40.089 --> 00:05:42.490 That's kind of how I got started because I had 00:05:42.490 --> 00:05:46.750 no mentor. I didn't know clubs or classes or 00:05:46.750 --> 00:05:50.050 conferences even existed when I started, so I 00:05:50.050 --> 00:05:52.110 was just kind of do it on trial and error and 00:05:52.110 --> 00:05:55.829 a few things I could find in. the internet and 00:05:55.829 --> 00:05:58.850 beginner books. But I did spend a lot of time 00:05:58.850 --> 00:06:02.709 observing the bees coming and going. And then 00:06:02.709 --> 00:06:06.810 every time I would inspect, I'd always watch 00:06:06.810 --> 00:06:08.629 them for a little bit before I went into the 00:06:08.629 --> 00:06:12.189 hive. And I feel I learned a lot by doing that, 00:06:12.790 --> 00:06:15.350 just seeing what they were, how their actions 00:06:15.350 --> 00:06:17.709 were out at the entrance, on the porch entrance. 00:06:18.310 --> 00:06:22.660 So we're going to delve into almost like a checklist 00:06:22.660 --> 00:06:26.459 of things here, about 10 things, but let's start 00:06:26.459 --> 00:06:31.339 with overall. What is the overall thing that 00:06:31.339 --> 00:06:34.040 we can learn just by observing bees? You know, 00:06:34.040 --> 00:06:36.680 how they're coming in and out of the hive. When 00:06:36.680 --> 00:06:40.100 you observe, if you see pollen being brought 00:06:40.100 --> 00:06:43.339 in, that's an indication and you see a lot of 00:06:43.339 --> 00:06:46.100 activity, that's an indication that the hive 00:06:46.100 --> 00:06:48.540 is probably pretty strong. It's got a good queen. 00:06:48.920 --> 00:06:51.439 Otherwise they're not going to be bringing in 00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:53.839 pollen unless they have brood to raise and brood 00:06:53.839 --> 00:06:58.319 to feed and so When you see pollen being brought 00:06:58.319 --> 00:07:00.680 in in the rear legs, that's the first indication 00:07:00.680 --> 00:07:03.680 that you get a pretty strong hive Shouldn't be 00:07:03.680 --> 00:07:06.220 the only indication shouldn't preclude inspections, 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:09.220 but it's certainly a good indicator and None 00:07:09.220 --> 00:07:11.500 of what we're going to talk about today precludes 00:07:11.500 --> 00:07:14.740 inspections. We need to do those regularly correct 00:07:14.959 --> 00:07:18.180 But if we do them too often, we're actually not 00:07:18.180 --> 00:07:20.800 we're doing a disservice to the bees. But you 00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:23.920 can look at your bees every day if you want to. 00:07:24.279 --> 00:07:27.959 The overall thing is some of that behavior. And 00:07:27.959 --> 00:07:29.959 I love seeing the pollen coming in. That's one 00:07:29.959 --> 00:07:32.959 of the most beautiful things there is. Would 00:07:32.959 --> 00:07:35.360 you mind touching on and I'll help fill in some 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:38.740 blanks if you need it about that overall behavior? 00:07:38.779 --> 00:07:43.519 For example, sometimes. I can tell from a few 00:07:43.519 --> 00:07:46.120 feet away, these girls are just in kind of a 00:07:46.120 --> 00:07:49.000 bad mood today. A lot of that has to do with 00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:52.860 the noise they're making. You can watch the front 00:07:52.860 --> 00:07:56.459 of the hive and if they're just coming and going 00:07:56.459 --> 00:08:00.100 and doing their thing, there's probably not much 00:08:00.100 --> 00:08:03.560 wrong in the hive. But you'll see a lot of fanning 00:08:03.560 --> 00:08:08.079 going on, and especially in the summer hot days. 00:08:08.120 --> 00:08:10.240 And what they're trying to do is ventilate the 00:08:10.240 --> 00:08:13.509 hive. by ventilating, they're moving air through 00:08:13.509 --> 00:08:16.910 and they're taking care of the specific moisture 00:08:16.910 --> 00:08:21.149 and humidity level that they need, as well as 00:08:21.149 --> 00:08:25.790 the ventilation, reducing the nectar into the 00:08:25.790 --> 00:08:27.769 honey that they've stored in the comb to that 00:08:27.769 --> 00:08:30.430 18 % that we're after before we can collect the 00:08:30.430 --> 00:08:32.990 honey. So they're very busy and there's a lot 00:08:32.990 --> 00:08:36.090 of bees usually just sitting on the porch fanning 00:08:36.090 --> 00:08:39.049 to take care of those actions. What does that 00:08:39.049 --> 00:08:43.289 look like exactly? Well, the bees will be standing 00:08:43.289 --> 00:08:47.610 with all six feet on the porch and the bees, 00:08:47.889 --> 00:08:51.649 the wings will be moving to an almost imperceptible 00:08:51.649 --> 00:08:54.490 so fast that they're almost imperceptible. The 00:08:54.490 --> 00:08:56.769 bees might be facing inward or might be facing 00:08:56.769 --> 00:08:58.830 outward, depending on which way they're trying 00:08:58.830 --> 00:09:02.470 to get the airflow to go. And there'll be a good 00:09:02.470 --> 00:09:05.289 number of bees just sitting on the porch doing 00:09:05.289 --> 00:09:08.700 that fanning. Another action that the fanning 00:09:08.700 --> 00:09:11.200 serves is if they have their butts raised up 00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:15.460 a bit. They have this what's called a Nazanov 00:09:15.460 --> 00:09:19.960 scent cell between the second and third abdominal 00:09:19.960 --> 00:09:23.539 break on their back, and they may just be putting 00:09:23.539 --> 00:09:27.940 a scent out to encourage other bees to come back 00:09:27.940 --> 00:09:31.759 to their hive. This is especially important if... 00:09:31.820 --> 00:09:35.179 you've moved a hive or you've caught a swarm 00:09:35.179 --> 00:09:38.100 or something like that, fanning with the butts 00:09:38.100 --> 00:09:40.659 raised indicates that they're trying to pass 00:09:40.659 --> 00:09:43.480 the queen's scent out to the other sisters that 00:09:43.480 --> 00:09:45.519 recognize it so they come back to the correct 00:09:45.519 --> 00:09:48.879 hive. I don't remember if this was in the article 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:52.019 or not, but to me it kind of goes with fanning, 00:09:52.279 --> 00:09:54.740 and that is bearding. Tell us a little bit about 00:09:54.740 --> 00:09:58.120 what you know about bearding. Bearding is an 00:09:58.120 --> 00:10:02.259 action that the bees take if the humidity and 00:10:02.259 --> 00:10:04.820 the temperature in the hive generally gets a 00:10:04.820 --> 00:10:08.860 bit too great. One of my first actions, the first 00:10:08.860 --> 00:10:13.460 summer I had bees in a single deep hive, somewhere 00:10:13.460 --> 00:10:17.299 in early August and July, I saw a heavy bearding 00:10:17.299 --> 00:10:20.879 outside the hive. And being uninitiated at that 00:10:20.879 --> 00:10:22.779 point, I thought, well, there's probably not 00:10:22.779 --> 00:10:26.100 enough room. I'll give them a second deep. really 00:10:26.100 --> 00:10:28.600 what they needed was a better ventilation. In 00:10:28.600 --> 00:10:32.860 order to accomplish that, now I know that if 00:10:32.860 --> 00:10:36.320 I raise the top of the outer cover on the front 00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:39.059 edge and put a stick across there, it allows 00:10:39.059 --> 00:10:41.460 for more ventilation up through the inner cover 00:10:41.460 --> 00:10:45.559 and out, and it decreases the necessity of them 00:10:45.559 --> 00:10:48.379 veering and moving so many bees outside. Because 00:10:48.379 --> 00:10:50.299 what you want is you want to have the bees working 00:10:50.299 --> 00:10:52.620 inside the hive as much as possible and not hanging 00:10:52.620 --> 00:10:56.889 around outside. It's just one of the things I 00:10:56.889 --> 00:10:59.870 learned in the process of my beekeeping, that 00:10:59.870 --> 00:11:03.029 if they have better ventilation, in addition 00:11:03.029 --> 00:11:05.570 to the fanning that they're doing, it will cut 00:11:05.570 --> 00:11:08.009 down on the bearding and you'll have more worker 00:11:08.009 --> 00:11:09.870 bees working rather than just hanging around 00:11:09.870 --> 00:11:13.330 outside. That makes sense. All right, let's talk 00:11:13.330 --> 00:11:16.730 about guard bees. Guard bees is another element 00:11:16.730 --> 00:11:19.110 of the bees standing on the porch and they'll 00:11:19.110 --> 00:11:21.909 usually be one or two and you can actually, if 00:11:21.909 --> 00:11:25.100 you observe. the bees come in going, you'll see 00:11:25.100 --> 00:11:29.139 one or two that are normally facing away from 00:11:29.139 --> 00:11:32.620 the entrance, and those bees may come out and 00:11:32.620 --> 00:11:37.100 bump returning bees, or even if they perceive 00:11:37.100 --> 00:11:39.720 you as a threat, they may come up and bump your 00:11:39.720 --> 00:11:43.000 head or buzz around yourself, especially if you 00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:45.379 get a veil on, or even if you don't have a veil 00:11:45.379 --> 00:11:47.980 on. And I've had bees bump my head, and they're 00:11:47.980 --> 00:11:50.559 the guard bees. They're usually standing with 00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:53.840 their front legs raised, their front of the body 00:11:53.840 --> 00:11:55.639 raised, and they're just checking the returning 00:11:55.639 --> 00:11:58.259 bees to see that they're the ones that really 00:11:58.259 --> 00:12:00.899 belong to the hive. And if they don't, they'll 00:12:00.899 --> 00:12:05.139 go out and attack them or fight with them not 00:12:05.139 --> 00:12:08.179 to let them into the hive. And so that way they 00:12:08.179 --> 00:12:11.440 know that they're at the bees with the right 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:13.460 pheromone or at the right hive, and they're allowed 00:12:13.460 --> 00:12:16.259 to enter, especially if they have a load of pollen 00:12:16.259 --> 00:12:19.679 or nectar with them. They just serve that purpose 00:12:19.679 --> 00:12:23.779 to keep other bees or robbers or a lot of times 00:12:23.779 --> 00:12:25.899 I see it with the yellow jackets in the fall. 00:12:26.159 --> 00:12:28.659 They'll attack a yellow jacket that's come because 00:12:28.659 --> 00:12:30.500 it doesn't have the pheromone. It doesn't have 00:12:30.500 --> 00:12:33.720 the sense of those guard bees are facing outward 00:12:33.720 --> 00:12:36.440 in a different stance than your standard fanning 00:12:36.440 --> 00:12:39.039 bees. So let's remember guard bees. That's actually 00:12:39.039 --> 00:12:43.220 a good thing. Yes, they're taking a stance to 00:12:43.220 --> 00:12:46.879 try and preclude any invaders or any aggressors 00:12:46.879 --> 00:12:49.779 from coming in. And like if you had critters 00:12:49.779 --> 00:12:51.720 or skunks or something, they'd be the first ones 00:12:51.720 --> 00:12:54.379 to go out and sting. They're the first ones that 00:12:54.379 --> 00:12:57.659 are going to come up and bump on your veil. If 00:12:57.659 --> 00:12:59.559 you're wearing a veil, if they feel it, feel 00:12:59.559 --> 00:13:01.480 that you as a beekeeper are being a little rough 00:13:01.480 --> 00:13:04.580 and you're a threat to the hive, they have a 00:13:04.580 --> 00:13:07.659 specific duty. and usually those are bees that 00:13:07.659 --> 00:13:10.919 have matured beyond the two or three week stage 00:13:10.919 --> 00:13:13.720 and have gotten to the point where they're taking 00:13:13.720 --> 00:13:16.820 on other duties other than just nurse bees or 00:13:16.820 --> 00:13:19.799 clean up bees inside the hive. I think this is 00:13:19.799 --> 00:13:21.659 a good time to throw out a little recommendation. 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:24.980 Not everybody can do this based on where their 00:13:24.980 --> 00:13:29.279 hives are sitting, but if you can, it just makes 00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:32.080 sense to work your hives from the back. True. 00:13:32.250 --> 00:13:35.649 sneak up on them from the back instead of straight 00:13:35.649 --> 00:13:39.049 from the front, which just alerts the guard bees. 00:13:39.570 --> 00:13:42.090 Hey, there's this gigantic creature coming towards 00:13:42.090 --> 00:13:45.549 me. If you work from the back and you very calmly 00:13:45.549 --> 00:13:48.830 and quietly take off the lid and start doing 00:13:48.830 --> 00:13:51.429 your business, it usually takes a lot longer 00:13:51.429 --> 00:13:55.129 before they get alerted. And that's a nice thing 00:13:55.129 --> 00:13:58.509 because they don't just, you know, one or two 00:13:58.509 --> 00:14:00.870 come and give you a bump. If there's a problem, 00:14:00.889 --> 00:14:04.129 they alert everybody else. Correct. A little 00:14:04.129 --> 00:14:07.549 puffer to a smoke really decreases that alarm 00:14:07.549 --> 00:14:11.669 pheromone, and it also calms the bees. And lots 00:14:11.669 --> 00:14:14.710 of times, if the hive is just going about its 00:14:14.710 --> 00:14:18.090 business, if I open the hive and start pulling 00:14:18.090 --> 00:14:20.070 out frames and they continue to go about their 00:14:20.070 --> 00:14:22.799 business, I don't even have to use smoke. because 00:14:22.799 --> 00:14:26.179 they've gotten to recognize me, I think, based 00:14:26.179 --> 00:14:30.139 on the years I've worked with the bees. They're 00:14:30.139 --> 00:14:33.820 much calmer if you're calm and not nervous and 00:14:33.820 --> 00:14:35.700 not threatening them and definitely one of you 00:14:35.700 --> 00:14:37.419 working from the back of the hive rather than 00:14:37.419 --> 00:14:39.860 the front. Because if you're standing in front, 00:14:39.980 --> 00:14:43.740 you become a perceived threat rather than quietly 00:14:43.740 --> 00:14:46.360 working from the back of the hive. There is a 00:14:46.360 --> 00:14:49.940 behavior that is interesting that can happen 00:14:49.940 --> 00:14:53.200 in the middle of the winter on a warm day or 00:14:53.200 --> 00:14:56.360 very early spring. You're not going to probably 00:14:56.360 --> 00:14:59.639 see this happen in July. What are cleansing flights? 00:15:00.120 --> 00:15:02.440 OK, cleansing flights are when the bees need 00:15:02.440 --> 00:15:07.059 to go outside and defecate. In my instance here, 00:15:07.059 --> 00:15:11.639 we have some winters where it'll be below freezing 00:15:11.639 --> 00:15:14.519 during the day during the night for days on end. 00:15:14.840 --> 00:15:19.080 And bees do not make a habit of relieving themselves 00:15:19.080 --> 00:15:22.700 within the hive if they can possibly avoid it. 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:26.860 Some bees can go up to 60, 70, 80 days without 00:15:26.860 --> 00:15:29.559 relieving themselves if it's a very cold period 00:15:29.559 --> 00:15:32.019 of several months. And then you'll get one of 00:15:32.019 --> 00:15:36.700 those white winter snows. And usually we have 00:15:36.700 --> 00:15:41.309 a very warm, sunny day after the snow. And that's 00:15:41.309 --> 00:15:44.090 when, if it's above freezing and warm enough 00:15:44.090 --> 00:15:46.269 for the bees, they'll come out and you'll see 00:15:46.269 --> 00:15:48.570 all these yellow and brown spots on the snow. 00:15:48.669 --> 00:15:50.870 And what they've done is they're coming out and 00:15:50.870 --> 00:15:54.950 defecating in the snow and relieving themselves 00:15:54.950 --> 00:15:58.490 because it hadn't been a chance to do that for 00:15:58.490 --> 00:16:01.990 maybe weeks on end when they were cooped up in 00:16:01.990 --> 00:16:05.289 the hive. So cleansing flights are very obvious 00:16:05.289 --> 00:16:09.289 if you have white snow. In the winter probably 00:16:09.289 --> 00:16:11.610 not so obvious if you're in an area where you 00:16:11.610 --> 00:16:14.169 don't have snow on those warm days They'll come 00:16:14.169 --> 00:16:17.649 out and in mass Just one after the other after 00:16:17.649 --> 00:16:20.570 the other come and go come and go and relieving 00:16:20.570 --> 00:16:22.389 themselves because they haven't had a chance 00:16:22.389 --> 00:16:25.850 to do that cooped up in the hive for Weeks or 00:16:25.850 --> 00:16:28.889 maybe even a month on end and by the way, they're 00:16:28.889 --> 00:16:32.690 talented. They can do that mid -flight. Yes They 00:16:32.690 --> 00:16:36.210 don't have to stop. And anyway, we won't go into 00:16:36.210 --> 00:16:38.970 all that detail. I had a couple of years ago, 00:16:38.990 --> 00:16:43.309 we had a very long, very cold winter here where 00:16:43.309 --> 00:16:47.450 I am. And most of my bees didn't make it. And 00:16:47.450 --> 00:16:52.889 there was five months straight where it was not 00:16:52.889 --> 00:16:55.090 warm enough for them to take a cleansing flight. 00:16:55.309 --> 00:16:58.570 And I wondered if that had something to do with 00:16:58.570 --> 00:17:01.379 them not making it through that winter. Do you 00:17:01.379 --> 00:17:04.119 know anything about that? I'm going to say possibly 00:17:04.119 --> 00:17:08.259 yes and possibly no because I've had the good 00:17:08.259 --> 00:17:11.319 fortune of twice in the past six years going 00:17:11.319 --> 00:17:13.720 a perfect hundred percent through some pretty 00:17:13.720 --> 00:17:16.900 cold winters as was the case this past year. 00:17:17.420 --> 00:17:21.019 This year, this last fall, I went into the fall 00:17:21.019 --> 00:17:23.960 with 11 hives and I still have 11 hives that 00:17:23.960 --> 00:17:26.519 are very active. I'm getting ready to probably 00:17:26.519 --> 00:17:29.750 in another week do splits. And a lot of that, 00:17:29.750 --> 00:17:32.650 I think, has to do with the insulation. A lot 00:17:32.650 --> 00:17:34.730 of it, I think, has to do with the winter feeding. 00:17:35.069 --> 00:17:38.549 But even more so, it's having the mites under 00:17:38.549 --> 00:17:42.609 control in late summer, early fall as your winter 00:17:42.609 --> 00:17:46.609 bees are being raised so that the mite population 00:17:46.609 --> 00:17:49.970 is not spreading viruses and disease within the 00:17:49.970 --> 00:17:54.390 hive. Let me just take a minute here to thank 00:17:54.390 --> 00:17:57.450 our presenting sponsor, Man Lake. One of the 00:17:57.450 --> 00:17:59.829 things I love about Man Lake is their commitment 00:17:59.829 --> 00:18:03.049 to education because that commitment shows how 00:18:03.049 --> 00:18:05.869 much they want you to be successful at beekeeping. 00:18:06.250 --> 00:18:09.349 One great resource is their mobile app. You know, 00:18:09.470 --> 00:18:12.150 it's not just for shopping. It's packed full 00:18:12.150 --> 00:18:15.029 of all kinds of helpful information, including 00:18:15.029 --> 00:18:18.369 videos, articles, plus a plant identification 00:18:18.369 --> 00:18:21.269 feature designed to help beekeepers identify 00:18:21.269 --> 00:18:23.710 and plant bee healthy plants for their area. 00:18:24.250 --> 00:18:27.150 It's free, so download the Man Lake app today. 00:18:27.789 --> 00:18:30.109 And speaking of shopping, don't forget your discount 00:18:30.109 --> 00:18:34.029 code MLBlove10. It's in the show notes. For $10 00:18:34.029 --> 00:18:38.349 off your first $100 dollar purchase. Now back 00:18:38.349 --> 00:18:44.349 to the guest. The cold itself, bees have survived 00:18:44.349 --> 00:18:48.430 in the cold for for years in the woods and natural 00:18:48.430 --> 00:18:52.210 environments. So if we provide a little bit of 00:18:52.210 --> 00:18:55.430 insulation, a little bit of winter feed as they 00:18:55.430 --> 00:18:57.990 require it and make sure the mites are under 00:18:57.990 --> 00:19:00.990 control, I think there's a good chance that most 00:19:00.990 --> 00:19:04.009 of people's hives, if they did those things, 00:19:04.170 --> 00:19:07.809 would survive. through even some very pretty 00:19:07.809 --> 00:19:10.049 cold winters because we have some pretty nasty 00:19:10.049 --> 00:19:12.849 winters here in Michigan too at times. Amen to 00:19:12.849 --> 00:19:16.269 all that and congratulations on having such good 00:19:16.269 --> 00:19:19.690 success. You've figured some things out. All 00:19:19.690 --> 00:19:22.990 right bees have all kinds of duties during their 00:19:22.990 --> 00:19:26.430 lifetime in the hive. Undertaker bees you called 00:19:26.430 --> 00:19:29.269 them. What do they do and when is that in their 00:19:29.269 --> 00:19:32.230 life cycle? A bee's life cycle normally starts 00:19:32.230 --> 00:19:37.190 by emerging from the capped brood cell. And when 00:19:37.190 --> 00:19:41.589 the bee emerges, its normal first duties are 00:19:41.589 --> 00:19:45.029 as a clean up bee, it cleans up its cell and 00:19:45.029 --> 00:19:48.470 surrounding cells, as well as becoming a nurse 00:19:48.470 --> 00:19:51.029 bee and a caretaker of other bees that are just 00:19:51.029 --> 00:19:55.269 emerging. Those bees need to be fed. They need 00:19:55.269 --> 00:19:59.009 to be bred. They need their area cleaned up. 00:19:59.170 --> 00:20:02.869 And that normally goes on for maybe a week or 00:20:02.869 --> 00:20:06.099 two to two weeks. At about the end of two weeks, 00:20:06.680 --> 00:20:09.579 when large group of bees emerge, that's when 00:20:09.579 --> 00:20:14.000 their wax glands develop. There's six to eight 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:16.440 wax glands underneath their abdomen that develop 00:20:16.440 --> 00:20:20.319 and they can then go on and draw a new comb with 00:20:20.319 --> 00:20:25.200 those new wax bits that they produce. And then 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:30.440 somewhere in the, I think it's 18 to 20 day time 00:20:30.440 --> 00:20:34.099 frame, there'll be doing orientation flights 00:20:34.099 --> 00:20:37.500 and start to look at working outside the hive. 00:20:37.960 --> 00:20:40.519 This is the period when they've gotten into older 00:20:40.519 --> 00:20:43.380 duties such as undertaker bees and undertaker 00:20:43.380 --> 00:20:45.440 bees are the ones that are going to carry dead 00:20:45.440 --> 00:20:49.119 bodies out of the hive. Bees basically wear themselves 00:20:49.119 --> 00:20:52.460 out after six to eight weeks in the summer, maybe 00:20:52.460 --> 00:20:54.400 even a little shorter because they're making 00:20:54.400 --> 00:20:56.900 so many foraging flights as they get further 00:20:56.900 --> 00:21:00.130 along in their life. The last few weeks of their 00:21:00.130 --> 00:21:02.410 life, that's not only what they're doing is coming 00:21:02.410 --> 00:21:05.029 and going, bringing nectar, bringing water, bringing 00:21:05.029 --> 00:21:07.930 resin and pollen back into the hive. And they 00:21:07.930 --> 00:21:10.250 work so hard, they literally wear themselves 00:21:10.250 --> 00:21:12.170 out until they don't have the energy and they 00:21:12.170 --> 00:21:14.970 just die. Well, some of them end up dying in 00:21:14.970 --> 00:21:18.670 the hive. And so other bees have to be designated 00:21:18.670 --> 00:21:21.430 as undertaker bees in order to carry those dead 00:21:21.430 --> 00:21:24.549 bodies out of the hive. Because the winter bees 00:21:24.549 --> 00:21:28.549 last a lot longer, often four to six months because 00:21:28.549 --> 00:21:32.150 of the lesser activity, you'll see on warm days 00:21:32.150 --> 00:21:36.470 pretty large expansion of the undertaker bees 00:21:36.470 --> 00:21:40.930 carrying out dead bodies. It's not unusual in 00:21:40.930 --> 00:21:43.950 warmer winter days to see an alarming number 00:21:43.950 --> 00:21:46.769 of dead bees just outside the hive entrance because 00:21:46.769 --> 00:21:50.109 the bees that are taking the undertaker duty 00:21:50.109 --> 00:21:52.890 are dragging all those dead bodies out. The more 00:21:52.890 --> 00:21:55.029 dead bodies they can gather the hive, the less 00:21:55.029 --> 00:21:58.349 moisture less potential for disease to be spread 00:21:58.349 --> 00:22:01.349 inside the hive. So if you've got a good colony 00:22:01.349 --> 00:22:04.650 that's got good undertaker bees and a strong 00:22:04.650 --> 00:22:07.210 colony going into winter, you'll see that the 00:22:07.210 --> 00:22:10.829 bottom boards are almost clean when you inspect 00:22:10.829 --> 00:22:13.289 them at the first time in spring, because those 00:22:13.289 --> 00:22:16.690 bees have been cleaning out that bottom board 00:22:16.690 --> 00:22:21.150 and moving all the dead bees out. The other thing 00:22:21.150 --> 00:22:24.410 that's pretty obvious in the fall is you'll see 00:22:24.410 --> 00:22:27.950 them dragging live drones out of the hive. And 00:22:27.950 --> 00:22:30.190 the drones are driven out of the hive in the 00:22:30.190 --> 00:22:32.390 fall because their only purpose in the whole 00:22:32.390 --> 00:22:35.170 structure is to mate with virgin queens. Well, 00:22:35.369 --> 00:22:37.549 going into winter, late fall and winter, there 00:22:37.549 --> 00:22:40.410 are no more virgin queens. The hive's not going 00:22:40.410 --> 00:22:43.670 to be producing new queens at that time. And 00:22:43.670 --> 00:22:46.509 so the drones, as the male bees' only purpose 00:22:46.509 --> 00:22:49.160 is to mate, gets kicked out of the hive. And 00:22:49.160 --> 00:22:51.880 you'll see many of them kind of struggling as 00:22:51.880 --> 00:22:54.420 they're being dragged out of the hive in the 00:22:54.420 --> 00:22:57.960 fall. And that's another purpose of the undertaker 00:22:57.960 --> 00:23:00.900 bees is to eliminate as many drones as they can 00:23:00.900 --> 00:23:02.700 in the fall. They don't eliminate all of them, 00:23:02.700 --> 00:23:04.720 but they eliminate a pretty good percentage of 00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:06.880 them because all they're going to do is use up 00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:10.119 resources because there's no mating ritual that 00:23:10.119 --> 00:23:12.700 has to go on as you go into the fall and winter. 00:23:12.940 --> 00:23:16.920 Oh, the life of a drone. I don't know what to 00:23:16.920 --> 00:23:20.410 say besides that. Anyway, this undertaker bee 00:23:20.410 --> 00:23:23.150 thing, it's kind of a good lesson, especially 00:23:23.150 --> 00:23:25.630 for new beekeepers, because sometimes you see 00:23:25.630 --> 00:23:27.829 a bunch of dead bees around the entrance of the 00:23:27.829 --> 00:23:31.589 hive and go, oh, no, oh, no. But once again, 00:23:31.670 --> 00:23:33.990 it's actually a good thing. It's good behavior 00:23:33.990 --> 00:23:36.829 on their part to be cleaning out the hive and 00:23:36.829 --> 00:23:39.849 keeping things as sanitary as they can. OK, one 00:23:39.849 --> 00:23:42.430 of the most beautiful things that I love to observe 00:23:42.430 --> 00:23:47.069 is orientation flights. Now, if you're new to 00:23:47.069 --> 00:23:50.009 observing bees, it may look like mass chaos. 00:23:50.529 --> 00:23:53.430 Tell us about orientation flights and how can 00:23:53.430 --> 00:23:55.910 you tell the direction they're actually going 00:23:55.910 --> 00:23:58.789 on orientation flights? There's there's several 00:23:58.789 --> 00:24:00.950 different cases when you'll see a lot of activity 00:24:00.950 --> 00:24:04.450 out of the hive. One is swarming, and that's 00:24:04.450 --> 00:24:06.750 probably the most chaotic, which should get into 00:24:06.750 --> 00:24:10.269 at some other point. Orientation flights is a 00:24:10.269 --> 00:24:13.240 little bit alarming because you see all. Bees 00:24:13.240 --> 00:24:15.980 are making a circular pattern, normally looking 00:24:15.980 --> 00:24:19.079 back at the front of the hive, maybe flying a 00:24:19.079 --> 00:24:22.259 little further away, making another circle, circular 00:24:22.259 --> 00:24:25.700 pattern and looking again. And in many cases, 00:24:25.859 --> 00:24:28.240 there'll be dozens, if not hundreds of bees doing 00:24:28.240 --> 00:24:31.180 this at the same time, because that queen that 00:24:31.180 --> 00:24:34.380 was laying eggs is probably laying 1500 to 2000 00:24:34.380 --> 00:24:39.339 eggs. It can lay that much in a day. So she may 00:24:39.339 --> 00:24:43.500 have laid dozens or hundreds of eggs in the same 00:24:43.500 --> 00:24:46.819 time frame and all those bees have emerged close 00:24:46.819 --> 00:24:50.319 to the same time. So in a warm morning day, you 00:24:50.319 --> 00:24:52.779 may go out and look at your hive mid morning 00:24:52.779 --> 00:24:55.420 and there'll be all these this activity just 00:24:55.420 --> 00:24:58.339 outside the front of the hive. And what those 00:24:58.339 --> 00:25:00.960 bees are doing is they're getting their navigation 00:25:00.960 --> 00:25:04.099 skills down to figure out what the environment 00:25:04.099 --> 00:25:07.420 looks like around their hive to get the. sense 00:25:07.420 --> 00:25:10.140 of the pheromone smell to come back to the hive 00:25:10.140 --> 00:25:12.839 and to just orientate themselves in relation 00:25:12.839 --> 00:25:15.619 to the sun and the other environment around them 00:25:15.619 --> 00:25:18.539 so that they know which hive to come back to. 00:25:18.859 --> 00:25:21.900 And this is somewhat amazing because in my case, 00:25:21.980 --> 00:25:24.339 like I said, I have 11 hives sitting in a row 00:25:24.339 --> 00:25:27.259 and you may see one hive doing this and no activity 00:25:27.259 --> 00:25:29.579 in the others. And then the day later you see 00:25:29.579 --> 00:25:31.700 a different hive do it with all this orientation 00:25:31.700 --> 00:25:34.440 activity and none others. And they're just in 00:25:34.440 --> 00:25:37.359 that particular hive. getting oriented to the 00:25:37.359 --> 00:25:39.119 location of the hive, the color of the hive, 00:25:39.220 --> 00:25:41.740 the scent of the hive, so that when they go out 00:25:41.740 --> 00:25:44.059 in greater distance in relationship to the sun, 00:25:44.319 --> 00:25:46.400 they can find their way back to the hive that 00:25:46.400 --> 00:25:48.680 they came from. And Richard, have you ever thought 00:25:48.680 --> 00:25:51.940 about this? These bees have actually never been 00:25:51.940 --> 00:25:55.579 outside at all. In fact, inside the hive is quite 00:25:55.579 --> 00:25:59.460 dark. Right. I mean, this is a big jump from 00:25:59.460 --> 00:26:03.240 living in this tiny little pretty dark quarters 00:26:03.240 --> 00:26:06.460 to all of a sudden. you're going to go out and 00:26:06.460 --> 00:26:09.779 fly and do your job. You need orientation of 00:26:09.779 --> 00:26:12.539 some sort. It'd be like a person living in a 00:26:12.539 --> 00:26:15.940 cave and one day coming out and seeing what the 00:26:15.940 --> 00:26:19.119 world looks like outside. But that's the nature 00:26:19.119 --> 00:26:21.940 of the insect is they have the means to do that. 00:26:22.180 --> 00:26:24.839 And they're smart enough to know that they need 00:26:24.839 --> 00:26:28.539 to maybe make several orientation flights. They 00:26:28.539 --> 00:26:31.720 may go back in the hive and continue with. Queen 00:26:31.720 --> 00:26:34.720 helping duties or cleansing duties or something 00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:38.039 like that and come back out and do another orientation 00:26:38.039 --> 00:26:40.019 flight. They may do this three, four times before 00:26:40.019 --> 00:26:42.039 they actually go out and forage to a greater 00:26:42.039 --> 00:26:45.599 distance. But it's an important feature of the 00:26:45.599 --> 00:26:48.799 hive that they can orient to where the hive is 00:26:48.799 --> 00:26:50.740 located and know how to get back to the hive 00:26:50.740 --> 00:26:53.140 that they belong to. All right. One of the last 00:26:53.140 --> 00:26:56.019 things that we're going to talk about is robbing. 00:26:56.039 --> 00:26:58.339 And if you haven't seen this behavior before, 00:26:58.599 --> 00:27:01.740 explain to us what it looks like. Robbing is 00:27:01.740 --> 00:27:04.160 one of the three things that you'll see that 00:27:04.160 --> 00:27:06.799 looks chaotic outside the hive. I mentioned swarming, 00:27:07.000 --> 00:27:09.299 which is a whole different issue. And then the 00:27:09.299 --> 00:27:11.900 orientation flights. Orientation flights are 00:27:11.900 --> 00:27:16.619 condensed usually within 5, 10, 15 feet of the 00:27:16.619 --> 00:27:19.880 hive as the orientation gets further and further 00:27:19.880 --> 00:27:22.839 out. Robbing is another condition where you'll 00:27:22.839 --> 00:27:25.359 see a lot of fights going on outside the hive, 00:27:25.660 --> 00:27:29.000 but even more so. along any of the cracks of 00:27:29.000 --> 00:27:32.500 the hive or the joints between two different 00:27:32.500 --> 00:27:37.079 deeps or supers, the bees from a different hive 00:27:37.079 --> 00:27:39.859 will be looking for those cracks and crevices 00:27:39.859 --> 00:27:45.279 to find their way in to rob from the hive they're 00:27:45.279 --> 00:27:48.559 attacking. This happens in particular with the 00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:51.839 weak hive, sometimes with a new starter nuke 00:27:51.839 --> 00:27:54.299 hive that doesn't have the strength to defend 00:27:54.299 --> 00:27:59.680 itself and The robbing is a very chaotic fighting 00:27:59.680 --> 00:28:04.180 event often between bees, especially with a stronger 00:28:04.180 --> 00:28:07.180 hive against a weaker hive. That's why it's well 00:28:07.180 --> 00:28:10.460 advised that if you're working with open hive 00:28:10.460 --> 00:28:13.140 to cover the part that you're now working with 00:28:13.140 --> 00:28:17.180 a sheet or just a part of the outer cover or 00:28:17.180 --> 00:28:19.720 something and only have a minimal amount open 00:28:19.720 --> 00:28:24.079 because bees can sense when honey is available 00:28:24.079 --> 00:28:28.200 and a hive is open. And if it sits open too long, 00:28:28.359 --> 00:28:30.720 you might induce robbing, especially if you've 00:28:30.720 --> 00:28:33.660 got a hive that's not found any nectar in a while 00:28:33.660 --> 00:28:37.279 or there's a dearth going on and they want to 00:28:37.279 --> 00:28:40.920 get more honey for their own hive, it can increase 00:28:40.920 --> 00:28:43.400 the potential for a robbing event. The other 00:28:43.400 --> 00:28:47.299 thing to do is use an entrance reducer and reduce 00:28:47.299 --> 00:28:49.859 to the smallest size so the gargbees have smaller 00:28:49.859 --> 00:28:52.799 rate to reduce or you can throw a sheet over 00:28:52.799 --> 00:28:57.359 the hive. and just close it up for a day and 00:28:57.359 --> 00:28:59.660 then come back and check it to make sure that 00:28:59.660 --> 00:29:02.720 you haven't lost that colony. Robbing can occur 00:29:02.720 --> 00:29:05.920 to the extent that one hive will totally eliminate 00:29:05.920 --> 00:29:09.619 the weaker hive if you're not careful and you 00:29:09.619 --> 00:29:12.359 have robbing going on. Another feature of robbing 00:29:12.359 --> 00:29:18.259 that causes robbing is outside feeding. A bucket 00:29:18.259 --> 00:29:22.319 of some type of feed that's set outside the hives 00:29:22.519 --> 00:29:27.160 is a real inducement for introducing robbing 00:29:27.160 --> 00:29:30.799 among other bees. That's why I like to use enclosed 00:29:30.799 --> 00:29:35.640 containers or inside feeders or a super around 00:29:35.640 --> 00:29:38.500 a jar feeder that's sitting over the inner cover 00:29:38.500 --> 00:29:41.900 opening because then only the bees and no other 00:29:41.900 --> 00:29:44.759 yellow jackets and other critters can get to 00:29:44.759 --> 00:29:48.900 the honey and it precludes any potential for 00:29:48.900 --> 00:29:51.789 other bees to get into this robbing mode. Are 00:29:51.789 --> 00:29:54.029 there any other things that we could be looking 00:29:54.029 --> 00:29:57.470 for outside the hive that may be signs that there 00:29:57.470 --> 00:30:00.930 is something wrong? You know, diseases or mites 00:30:00.930 --> 00:30:03.769 or queenless, anything else that we can observe 00:30:03.769 --> 00:30:07.470 that maybe should alert us that, hey, I need 00:30:07.470 --> 00:30:10.089 to dig into this hive today and figure out what's 00:30:10.089 --> 00:30:13.490 going on? Well, the advice that I've always I 00:30:13.490 --> 00:30:15.950 learned fairly early on was that if you have 00:30:15.950 --> 00:30:19.980 more than one hive, and you see one hive's activity 00:30:19.980 --> 00:30:21.900 considerably different than the others, it's 00:30:21.900 --> 00:30:25.319 probably worth checking out. Outside observations 00:30:25.319 --> 00:30:29.000 on the porch should never take the place of whatever 00:30:29.000 --> 00:30:32.180 routine inspections, whatever your inspection 00:30:32.180 --> 00:30:36.059 schedule is. If I do my spring inspections and 00:30:36.059 --> 00:30:39.940 I find that I've got a queen and I got a good 00:30:39.940 --> 00:30:43.539 egg and larva and brood pattern and she's doing 00:30:43.539 --> 00:30:46.579 well and I continue to see the bees on the outside 00:30:46.579 --> 00:30:50.640 bringing in pollen, I may not open and inspect 00:30:50.640 --> 00:30:53.880 every frame for a couple of months, maybe two 00:30:53.880 --> 00:30:56.220 months, maybe even a little more than that on 00:30:56.220 --> 00:30:58.259 end, unless I suspect that there's a problem. 00:30:58.779 --> 00:31:01.099 The reason you would suspect a problem is that 00:31:01.099 --> 00:31:04.500 you don't see the activity outside the hive. 00:31:04.599 --> 00:31:06.819 You don't see the bees coming and going the way 00:31:06.819 --> 00:31:09.500 you would expect, and this comes with experience. 00:31:09.839 --> 00:31:12.319 I spend a lot of time in my first few years just 00:31:12.319 --> 00:31:15.460 watching the bees and getting a feel for what 00:31:15.460 --> 00:31:18.519 was going on inside the hive before I'd open 00:31:18.519 --> 00:31:20.880 it by watching what was going on outside the 00:31:20.880 --> 00:31:24.059 hive. And that helped me learn a lot about what 00:31:24.059 --> 00:31:27.240 to expect when I did open a hive later on. But 00:31:27.240 --> 00:31:30.680 if there's a dirth and no nectar or there's a 00:31:30.680 --> 00:31:34.380 queen problem, problem with using, relying totally 00:31:34.380 --> 00:31:37.480 on outside inspections is the problem has probably 00:31:37.480 --> 00:31:39.640 existed for two to three weeks before you've 00:31:39.640 --> 00:31:42.759 caught it. And so inspections are not to be. 00:31:43.039 --> 00:31:47.160 replaced by observing outside. But watching what's 00:31:47.160 --> 00:31:49.140 going on outside, especially when you have two 00:31:49.140 --> 00:31:52.579 or three hives that you can compare, really should 00:31:52.579 --> 00:31:55.559 alert you to the need for an inspection. If you 00:31:55.559 --> 00:31:59.200 see a drastic difference in activity from one 00:31:59.200 --> 00:32:01.640 hive to the other, especially a lack of activity, 00:32:02.299 --> 00:32:05.019 that's a key indicator that there may be something 00:32:05.019 --> 00:32:07.640 wrong within the hive. You mentioned swarming 00:32:07.640 --> 00:32:09.779 a minute ago, and I want to finish up with this 00:32:09.779 --> 00:32:12.839 one. What is swarming behavior going to look 00:32:12.839 --> 00:32:16.740 like from outside the hive? And if you observe 00:32:16.740 --> 00:32:18.819 it at that point, is there anything you can do 00:32:18.819 --> 00:32:22.740 about it? Or is it too late? Yes and yes. Swarming 00:32:22.740 --> 00:32:26.819 activity, the first time I saw, I went out and 00:32:26.819 --> 00:32:30.880 was checking, going to check my hives and I observed 00:32:30.880 --> 00:32:34.900 bees just in mass, wave after wave, leaving a 00:32:34.900 --> 00:32:38.599 hive. And I really Thought it was swarming, but 00:32:38.599 --> 00:32:41.180 I really didn't know the first time I saw it 00:32:41.180 --> 00:32:45.599 and so in an area maybe 50 60 feet wide 40 50 00:32:45.599 --> 00:32:48.980 feet in front of the hive 2 to 3 feet to 12 feet 00:32:48.980 --> 00:32:53.240 was just total chaos with bees all over the place 00:32:53.240 --> 00:32:58.220 and this Exodus of the bees leaving the hive 00:32:58.220 --> 00:33:02.099 continued more and more bees in this chaotic 00:33:02.099 --> 00:33:07.019 huge area out in front the hive and then Suddenly 00:33:07.019 --> 00:33:09.559 the queen, which I learned later is going to 00:33:09.559 --> 00:33:12.680 be one of the last to leave. She leaves and once 00:33:12.680 --> 00:33:17.460 she joins this chaotic, huge, chaotic flying 00:33:17.460 --> 00:33:20.880 of bees outside, they coalesced into about a 00:33:20.880 --> 00:33:25.240 six to eight foot wide mass and then departed 00:33:25.240 --> 00:33:28.640 to the south. The rabble rouser bees or the scout 00:33:28.640 --> 00:33:30.900 bees that were leading them finally had the queen 00:33:30.900 --> 00:33:32.819 join them and when the queen join them off they 00:33:32.819 --> 00:33:35.900 go. That's what I witnessed the first time. I 00:33:35.900 --> 00:33:38.019 just stood there mesmerized and watched it as 00:33:38.019 --> 00:33:41.539 I lost a swarm out of one of my hives. The second 00:33:41.539 --> 00:33:43.720 time I saw that was probably two or three years 00:33:43.720 --> 00:33:47.279 later. And as soon as I saw this mass exodus 00:33:47.279 --> 00:33:50.380 starting, I pulled, it was in two deeps, and 00:33:50.380 --> 00:33:54.079 I pulled the top deep off and I interrupted that 00:33:54.079 --> 00:33:56.859 tendency of whatever the bees were leaving. Started 00:33:56.859 --> 00:33:59.140 pulling frames from the bottom deep that had 00:33:59.140 --> 00:34:02.240 brood on them and basically did a split on the 00:34:02.240 --> 00:34:06.599 spot. with the swarm trying to coalesce. Well, 00:34:06.599 --> 00:34:09.039 as the queen is one of the last out, she stayed 00:34:09.039 --> 00:34:12.019 on the bottom deep because I think I interrupted 00:34:12.019 --> 00:34:16.119 the process by removing frames. And so I had 00:34:16.119 --> 00:34:18.920 the queen that was going to swarm and the swarm 00:34:18.920 --> 00:34:21.280 resettle on the bottom deep. In the meantime, 00:34:21.340 --> 00:34:23.280 I pulled some frames up, put some new frames 00:34:23.280 --> 00:34:26.019 in, took the second deep and set it aside as 00:34:26.019 --> 00:34:28.400 a second hive to allow them to make a queen with 00:34:28.400 --> 00:34:31.380 some of the brood frames and managed to catch 00:34:31.380 --> 00:34:36.389 the swarm mid midstream. So you can, if you catch 00:34:36.389 --> 00:34:38.409 it in the middle, because that whole process 00:34:38.409 --> 00:34:42.050 that I talked about in the first element probably 00:34:42.050 --> 00:34:45.829 didn't take but maybe five, no more than 10 minutes 00:34:45.829 --> 00:34:49.289 at most, maybe five minutes that whole event 00:34:49.289 --> 00:34:52.550 was over when I lost the swarm to the south. 00:34:53.130 --> 00:34:56.650 And then a few years later I saw a swarm and 00:34:56.650 --> 00:35:00.280 fortunately When I was working with some nukes, 00:35:00.280 --> 00:35:03.679 this is the third time I saw it in my hives the 00:35:03.679 --> 00:35:07.860 swarm coalesced and landed on a bush maybe 20 00:35:07.860 --> 00:35:10.539 feet away from me and I was able to get a stepladder 00:35:10.539 --> 00:35:13.179 and Bucket and capture it and put it in the new 00:35:13.179 --> 00:35:15.960 hive and the thing that was interesting about 00:35:15.960 --> 00:35:19.019 the third time I saw the swarm is there was a 00:35:19.019 --> 00:35:21.480 secondary swarm the afternoon out of that same 00:35:21.480 --> 00:35:25.000 hive I witnessed both of them with a virgin queen 00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:29.760 and So I got another bucket another empty hive 00:35:29.760 --> 00:35:32.820 and ended up catching the the virgin queen who 00:35:32.820 --> 00:35:35.960 was at what they called an after swarm after 00:35:35.960 --> 00:35:38.380 the first swarm which was probably twice as big 00:35:38.380 --> 00:35:42.260 a size as the after swarm was but still two swarms 00:35:42.260 --> 00:35:45.900 out of the same hive on the same day and three 00:35:45.900 --> 00:35:49.500 times in my career i've been in the yard when 00:35:49.500 --> 00:35:52.349 i've actually seen a swarm First one I lost, 00:35:52.369 --> 00:35:55.630 the second one I stopped in the middle, and the 00:35:55.630 --> 00:35:57.929 third one I caught them after they landed in 00:35:57.929 --> 00:36:01.469 the bush. So it's an interesting thing. And I 00:36:01.469 --> 00:36:04.230 think the thing that amazed me is the whole process 00:36:04.230 --> 00:36:07.309 is over in probably not much more than five minutes. 00:36:07.929 --> 00:36:10.769 Do you ever just take some time, take a chair, 00:36:11.489 --> 00:36:13.809 just sit out by the beehives and watch them? 00:36:14.349 --> 00:36:16.949 I do that as often as I can. You know, a sunny 00:36:16.949 --> 00:36:19.929 warm day, I'll go out and... I don't necessarily 00:36:19.929 --> 00:36:25.030 sit in a chair, but I'll sit and watch the bees 00:36:25.030 --> 00:36:29.469 coming and going. It's a relaxing thing to do. 00:36:30.230 --> 00:36:32.730 It's interesting to see what they're bringing 00:36:32.730 --> 00:36:35.769 back in, whether their bodies are somewhat seem 00:36:35.769 --> 00:36:38.309 to be engorged when they're bringing back in 00:36:38.309 --> 00:36:40.909 nectar or water in their honey crop, because 00:36:40.909 --> 00:36:44.289 they do look a little larger in the abdomen when 00:36:44.289 --> 00:36:48.389 they are carrying stuff back in. And it's just 00:36:48.389 --> 00:36:53.530 relaxing to hear the constant low buzz of the 00:36:53.530 --> 00:36:55.650 bees, knowing that they're not upset, you're 00:36:55.650 --> 00:36:59.309 just observing them. And they come and go and 00:36:59.309 --> 00:37:02.230 don't seem to be minding me. They're watching, 00:37:02.369 --> 00:37:05.449 standing and watching them for a while by myself 00:37:05.449 --> 00:37:09.449 without interfering with them. And it's just 00:37:09.449 --> 00:37:12.190 a very relaxing thing to do. And on the other 00:37:12.190 --> 00:37:14.250 side of the coin, you learn a lot by just watching 00:37:14.250 --> 00:37:16.570 them coming and going. I think it's something 00:37:16.570 --> 00:37:19.969 that we don't do often enough, most of it, especially 00:37:19.969 --> 00:37:23.010 if we've been beekeeping for a long time. I'm 00:37:23.010 --> 00:37:24.690 gonna put out a little challenge for everybody. 00:37:24.909 --> 00:37:29.530 This week, just in the next few days, do that 00:37:29.530 --> 00:37:32.670 sometime, maybe early morning, maybe evening 00:37:32.670 --> 00:37:36.090 at dusk or something when it's nice and. calm 00:37:36.090 --> 00:37:40.190 and pleasant and take a chair take a beverage 00:37:40.190 --> 00:37:44.110 if you want and just relax and spend some time 00:37:44.110 --> 00:37:47.150 reminding yourself of the joy and the peace that 00:37:47.150 --> 00:37:50.289 comes from bees and that's a challenge for commercial 00:37:50.289 --> 00:37:53.670 beekeepers too because they don't it's a business 00:37:53.670 --> 00:37:58.750 i get it but enjoy the bees as well okay last 00:37:58.750 --> 00:38:01.329 thing richard before i let you go do you have 00:38:01.329 --> 00:38:03.610 a wild and crazy beekeeping story you want to 00:38:03.610 --> 00:38:07.639 share with us Well, by the second year, at the 00:38:07.639 --> 00:38:10.400 time I was a high school teacher and I had a 00:38:10.400 --> 00:38:12.900 freshman student who was just every, he knew 00:38:12.900 --> 00:38:15.059 I had B's that first year and he was just full 00:38:15.059 --> 00:38:19.599 of questions. So I told him if he could get his 00:38:19.599 --> 00:38:22.440 parents to buy him the woodenware, I would give 00:38:22.440 --> 00:38:27.400 him a swarm or I would buy a package and I had 00:38:27.400 --> 00:38:30.159 already arranged to buy two packages that second 00:38:30.159 --> 00:38:33.929 year and I would give him one. Well, to my surprise, 00:38:34.050 --> 00:38:36.789 his parents got him the woodenware. And so in 00:38:36.789 --> 00:38:39.849 the second year of my beekeeping, I'm not only 00:38:39.849 --> 00:38:42.630 learning myself, but now I'm trying to help him 00:38:42.630 --> 00:38:46.510 do his beekeeping. So by my third year, which 00:38:46.510 --> 00:38:49.750 was his second, he had reached the point where 00:38:49.750 --> 00:38:52.989 he was going to be able to take some honey. And 00:38:52.989 --> 00:38:57.230 so he tells me one day, yeah, I took my honey 00:38:57.230 --> 00:39:00.650 supers off this like midweek Wednesday. with 00:39:00.650 --> 00:39:03.550 the idea that come Saturday I was going to go 00:39:03.550 --> 00:39:06.130 process the honey. But what he did is he set 00:39:06.130 --> 00:39:09.610 the honey supers under an awning of the garage, 00:39:09.769 --> 00:39:12.469 which was not enclosed. And he told me when he 00:39:12.469 --> 00:39:14.630 went back that Saturday after having setting 00:39:14.630 --> 00:39:19.309 them out on Sunday or on Wednesday, that the 00:39:19.309 --> 00:39:21.690 bees had virtually taken every bit of honey out 00:39:21.690 --> 00:39:23.789 of those honey supers and taken it back to the 00:39:23.789 --> 00:39:26.670 hive, which surprised him and gave us both a 00:39:26.670 --> 00:39:30.280 lesson in how fast they can quickly return. Whatever 00:39:30.280 --> 00:39:32.920 you've taken away if you haven't extracted it 00:39:32.920 --> 00:39:35.320 or put it in a place where they can't get to 00:39:35.320 --> 00:39:38.559 it They are amazing. I keep saying it over and 00:39:38.559 --> 00:39:41.260 over and over. Hey Richard wall Thank you so 00:39:41.260 --> 00:39:44.179 much for being with me. Check him out and be 00:39:44.179 --> 00:39:46.860 culture magazine. He has an article every month 00:39:46.860 --> 00:39:51.619 Do you do every month? Yes, I do I've On my fourth 00:39:51.619 --> 00:39:53.579 year of an article every month that's aimed at 00:39:53.579 --> 00:39:56.980 the beginners. My pages are always in blue I 00:39:56.980 --> 00:40:00.239 usually have on average about three pages and 00:40:00.239 --> 00:40:03.280 any mistakes in there are mine because there's 00:40:03.280 --> 00:40:05.960 not too much editing that goes on. I know the 00:40:05.960 --> 00:40:08.800 read the articles, but I don't get many critiques 00:40:08.800 --> 00:40:11.940 about change the sentence or do something here. 00:40:12.400 --> 00:40:16.780 So it's my experience with my beekeeping starting 00:40:16.780 --> 00:40:19.500 16 years ago, which is where most of this come 00:40:19.500 --> 00:40:22.079 from a lot of things that I've learned and managed 00:40:22.079 --> 00:40:25.380 to come across of my own doing. Thanks for your 00:40:25.380 --> 00:40:27.780 time today, Richard. Appreciate it. Thank you 00:40:27.780 --> 00:40:32.760 for having me. Thanks again for joining us here 00:40:32.760 --> 00:40:35.739 on Be Love Beekeeping presented by Man Lake. 00:40:36.320 --> 00:40:39.760 Remember right now to follow or subscribe and 00:40:39.760 --> 00:40:42.840 share this podcast. Also a quick shout out to 00:40:42.840 --> 00:40:46.260 Vita Bee Health for their support. Vita's Varroa 00:40:46.260 --> 00:40:49.860 Control range of products includes Apistan, Apigard, 00:40:50.300 --> 00:40:53.719 and now Varroxan Extended Release Oxalic Acid 00:40:53.719 --> 00:40:57.059 Strips. Thanks guys. Enjoy spring everybody, 00:40:57.280 --> 00:40:59.980 enjoy your bees, and remember, if you're not 00:40:59.980 --> 00:41:02.579 just in it for the honey or the money, you're 00:41:02.579 --> 00:41:04.599 in it for the love. See you next week.