WEBVTT 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:06.660 in a world brimming with complexity few creatures 00:00:06.660 --> 00:00:12.839 embody harmony like the honeybee with tireless 00:00:12.839 --> 00:00:17.699 precision she dances from bloom to bloom each 00:00:17.699 --> 00:00:22.420 motion guided by millennia upon millennia of 00:00:22.420 --> 00:00:28.800 instinct each act in service to the whole and 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:34.560 then There are the beekeepers, watchful stewards 00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:40.500 of this ancient symbiosis. Part agriscientist, 00:00:40.840 --> 00:00:45.460 part poet, they move along their hives with the 00:00:45.460 --> 00:00:50.560 efficiency of mow, levy and curly, tending to 00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:54.219 the bees' needs as best they can comprehend, 00:00:54.859 --> 00:00:59.670 and with the infrequency of a waterfall in the 00:00:59.670 --> 00:01:05.590 Sahara, sometimes running off flapping and flailing 00:01:05.590 --> 00:01:12.150 like a penguin on a hot sidewalk. This is their 00:01:12.150 --> 00:01:23.900 journey. Welcome, welcome to Be Love Beekeeping 00:01:23.900 --> 00:01:26.920 presented by our great friends and partners in 00:01:26.920 --> 00:01:30.280 beekeeping, Man Lake. By the way, if you haven't 00:01:30.280 --> 00:01:33.280 yet, please subscribe to and follow this podcast. 00:01:33.700 --> 00:01:35.760 Tell your friends about it and click on over 00:01:35.760 --> 00:01:39.060 to BeLoveBeekeeping .com to sign up for our free 00:01:39.060 --> 00:01:42.819 newsletter. Today's guest is a beekeeper in British 00:01:42.819 --> 00:01:46.219 Columbia, Canada, and we're going to be discussing 00:01:46.219 --> 00:01:50.290 his custom designed home -built long -laying 00:01:50.290 --> 00:01:53.030 hive. It was even made with wood from a tree 00:01:53.030 --> 00:01:56.469 on his own property. First, how about a couple 00:01:56.469 --> 00:01:59.049 of feel -good stories from the world of beekeeping. 00:01:59.689 --> 00:02:02.030 Here's a headline that happened just a few miles 00:02:02.030 --> 00:02:06.230 from where I live. Quote, firefighters save 25 00:02:06.230 --> 00:02:09.789 million honey bees stuck on an overheated tractor 00:02:09.789 --> 00:02:14.430 trailer on a Utah highway. So what happened is 00:02:14.430 --> 00:02:19.270 a semi -truck carrying approximately 480 hives 00:02:19.270 --> 00:02:22.509 broke down climbing Parley's Canyon. That's a 00:02:22.509 --> 00:02:25.449 high mountain pass near Park City. It was an 00:02:25.449 --> 00:02:28.310 unusually hot spring day and the fear was that 00:02:28.310 --> 00:02:31.210 the bees were going to die from the heat as the 00:02:31.210 --> 00:02:33.389 truck was parked on the side of the highway for 00:02:33.389 --> 00:02:36.659 a few hours. But then to the rescue came a fire 00:02:36.659 --> 00:02:39.639 truck which pulled up behind the bees and the 00:02:39.639 --> 00:02:42.520 firefighters began misting the hives with water 00:02:42.520 --> 00:02:46.659 to keep them cool. And it worked. The bees survived 00:02:46.659 --> 00:02:50.520 and not a single firefighter was stung. Next 00:02:50.520 --> 00:02:52.800 up, have you heard about the fancy new beehive 00:02:52.800 --> 00:02:55.560 in the White House's garden? Google it if you 00:02:55.560 --> 00:02:58.500 haven't seen it. It looks just like a miniature 00:02:58.500 --> 00:03:01.759 version of the White House. Anyway, it's gotten 00:03:01.759 --> 00:03:04.460 a lot of press recently with the First Lady showing 00:03:04.460 --> 00:03:07.759 it off to King Charles and others, but then last 00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:10.840 week something happened. The bees in that hive 00:03:10.840 --> 00:03:14.159 decided to swarm. According to a White House 00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:17.840 reporter, a huge swarm of bees took over the 00:03:17.840 --> 00:03:22.159 North Lawn driveway. She called it a Bee Tornado. 00:03:22.680 --> 00:03:25.479 A dense cloud of bees descended on broadcast 00:03:25.479 --> 00:03:29.259 tents before relocating to a tree. No injuries 00:03:29.259 --> 00:03:32.800 or stings were reported, but social media was 00:03:32.800 --> 00:03:36.520 abuzz with videos and jokes about the event. 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:45.039 I'd like to welcome to the show today. Wow, this 00:03:45.039 --> 00:03:46.699 is gonna be different today. This is gonna be 00:03:46.699 --> 00:03:52.759 fun. I've got Curtis Nielsen here. aka fill in 00:03:52.759 --> 00:03:57.000 the blank jack lumber jack lumber jack lumber 00:03:57.000 --> 00:04:00.139 yeah so if anybody wants to find him on uh facebook 00:04:00.139 --> 00:04:02.560 i don't know are you on other social media too 00:04:02.560 --> 00:04:05.680 no that's it just facebook okay look up jack 00:04:05.680 --> 00:04:08.939 lumber because we're going to be looking at and 00:04:08.939 --> 00:04:12.729 talking about his hive design today And this 00:04:12.729 --> 00:04:16.850 is especially unusual that someone who doesn't 00:04:16.850 --> 00:04:19.569 have beekeeping experience and wants to jump 00:04:19.569 --> 00:04:23.089 in would jump in in such a big way to not only 00:04:23.089 --> 00:04:26.370 build their own hive but build a big one, make 00:04:26.370 --> 00:04:30.250 modifications. Let's start with this. Jack, what 00:04:30.250 --> 00:04:32.470 got you interested in beekeeping in the first 00:04:32.470 --> 00:04:34.389 place? To be honest, I'd have to say it would 00:04:34.389 --> 00:04:37.310 be the health. side of things with the family 00:04:37.310 --> 00:04:41.110 and just the negative effects of sugar and the 00:04:41.110 --> 00:04:44.769 positive effects of honey. I wanted to supplement 00:04:44.769 --> 00:04:47.970 out the sugar and in with the honey and you know 00:04:47.970 --> 00:04:50.910 when you're a small family on a tight budget 00:04:50.910 --> 00:04:53.129 sometimes you can only afford one of those kilos 00:04:53.129 --> 00:04:55.410 of honey per month and you know that's not quite 00:04:55.410 --> 00:04:57.910 enough so I was hoping to be able to build a 00:04:57.910 --> 00:04:59.970 hive that would provide me with enough honey 00:04:59.970 --> 00:05:02.899 to support the needs of my family. I've actually 00:05:02.899 --> 00:05:06.000 been known to tell some beekeepers if you're 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:09.079 only in it for the honey it might be cheaper 00:05:09.079 --> 00:05:11.379 to go buy it someplace. I'm learning that, I'm 00:05:11.379 --> 00:05:14.339 learning that. Because as a hobby this can get 00:05:14.339 --> 00:05:16.439 a little bit expensive but you also put your 00:05:16.439 --> 00:05:19.139 talents to use building equipment and stuff so 00:05:19.139 --> 00:05:23.600 that that helps a ton. As you were looking at 00:05:23.600 --> 00:05:26.600 getting into beekeeping, there are a lot of choices 00:05:26.600 --> 00:05:29.180 as to what kind of beehive you're going to use, 00:05:29.660 --> 00:05:32.360 right? There's regular Langstroth, there's Top 00:05:32.360 --> 00:05:35.579 Bar, there's... Well, I don't even want to start 00:05:35.579 --> 00:05:37.939 trying to name all of them, but what got you 00:05:37.939 --> 00:05:40.279 interested in doing this kind of a design of 00:05:40.279 --> 00:05:43.639 a long Langstroth? So when I first started doing 00:05:43.639 --> 00:05:46.180 my research, I ended up talking to a bee supplier, 00:05:46.740 --> 00:05:48.980 a slightly local bee supplier. And like he said 00:05:48.980 --> 00:05:50.560 with the budget, you know, he was telling me 00:05:50.560 --> 00:05:52.879 that I should be budgeting around $1 ,200 to 00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:55.480 kind of jump in this season. And I was like, 00:05:55.480 --> 00:05:58.300 well, that's great. I got about $700 in the budget 00:05:58.300 --> 00:06:01.259 for us. So that's that's where I started thinking 00:06:01.259 --> 00:06:04.199 that, hey, I might not be able to afford to hop 00:06:04.199 --> 00:06:06.959 in with both feet. So I wonder if I could possibly 00:06:06.959 --> 00:06:10.279 build my own hives. Then started researching 00:06:10.279 --> 00:06:14.000 that and just looking at this the standard Langstroth 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:16.139 and I don't want to ruffle any feathers But that's 00:06:16.139 --> 00:06:18.519 just not a very beautiful system and most standards 00:06:18.519 --> 00:06:20.740 aren't you know the standards are they're meant 00:06:20.740 --> 00:06:25.000 for? Traveling and and all sorts of things where 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:26.579 obviously this one doesn't this thing's not gonna 00:06:26.579 --> 00:06:28.160 move I don't think I can move it if I wanted 00:06:28.160 --> 00:06:30.980 to so then I really started thinking like you 00:06:30.980 --> 00:06:33.579 know this I hate to say it, but this is a really 00:06:33.579 --> 00:06:35.680 ugly beehive to me, you know what I mean? And 00:06:35.680 --> 00:06:38.459 it's like, I'm back in crown land. These bees 00:06:38.459 --> 00:06:40.639 that I'm trying to catch are coming out of, you 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:44.779 know, like 200 year old furs. So for me to take 00:06:44.779 --> 00:06:47.019 them from there and then put them into here, 00:06:47.220 --> 00:06:50.639 it just didn't seem right. So I started thinking 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:52.040 like, hey, there's got to be a different, there's 00:06:52.040 --> 00:06:53.459 got to be a different hive than the standard 00:06:53.459 --> 00:06:55.860 Lange trough. And that's when I found these long 00:06:55.860 --> 00:06:59.160 Lange troughs and people were, they're all different. 00:06:59.220 --> 00:07:02.149 Every single one was different. And my first 00:07:02.149 --> 00:07:04.750 thought was like, this is something that I can 00:07:04.750 --> 00:07:07.790 make beautiful, you know what I mean? Not just 00:07:07.790 --> 00:07:09.790 for myself, but for the bees. I got a little 00:07:09.790 --> 00:07:12.370 farm here and I do the same type of thing with, 00:07:12.490 --> 00:07:14.449 you know, I got a nice barn and it's just for 00:07:14.449 --> 00:07:16.509 the sheep. They might not appreciate it, but 00:07:16.509 --> 00:07:18.550 you got a nice barn, nice home for the sheep, 00:07:18.629 --> 00:07:20.550 you get nice milk, you got a nice chicken coop, 00:07:20.550 --> 00:07:23.329 you get nice, nice tasting eggs. I figure, you 00:07:23.329 --> 00:07:26.870 know, if I give them a nice big bulky house to 00:07:26.870 --> 00:07:30.269 live in, that's, I'll get good honey. I like 00:07:30.269 --> 00:07:33.509 it. By the way, where do you live? I'm in British 00:07:33.509 --> 00:07:37.550 Columbia, Canada in central west on Chilcot and 00:07:37.550 --> 00:07:40.470 Plateau. I'm glad you're outside. We can see 00:07:40.470 --> 00:07:44.370 that gigantic tree behind you. I can't really 00:07:44.370 --> 00:07:46.290 tell what kind it is, though. I can't see it 00:07:46.290 --> 00:07:48.949 quite well enough. Is that a ponderosa? It might 00:07:48.949 --> 00:07:52.250 just be... It's one of the pines. I'm not sure 00:07:52.250 --> 00:07:53.529 which one of the pines. I don't think it's a 00:07:53.529 --> 00:07:56.579 dark pine, but one of the pine trees, yeah. For 00:07:56.579 --> 00:07:59.100 this hive design and and let me just say this 00:07:59.100 --> 00:08:02.040 up front because it's slightly Complicated the 00:08:02.040 --> 00:08:05.500 way we do this podcast the majority of our audience 00:08:05.500 --> 00:08:09.439 is listening on one of the podcast apps We also 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:12.560 put out the video of our conversation on YouTube 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:16.600 on that video I'll insert a couple of pictures 00:08:16.600 --> 00:08:20.420 of your hive so people can see it But let's assume 00:08:20.420 --> 00:08:23.540 that the majority of people can't so when we 00:08:23.540 --> 00:08:26.430 start talking about What it looks like we're 00:08:26.430 --> 00:08:28.649 gonna have to use a lot of descriptive words 00:08:28.649 --> 00:08:31.269 My first question for you is do you mill your 00:08:31.269 --> 00:08:34.529 own lumber? Yes I do and so when I see the live 00:08:34.529 --> 00:08:38.070 edge on the roof That makes sense because you 00:08:38.070 --> 00:08:39.889 were able to mill that yourself because that 00:08:39.889 --> 00:08:41.730 kind of wood is not that easy to find You're 00:08:41.730 --> 00:08:43.549 not gonna get it at home. Do you know absolutely 00:08:43.549 --> 00:08:47.269 not? This this whole hive almost the whole hive 00:08:47.269 --> 00:08:51.110 came from one eight foot log about 24 inches 00:08:51.110 --> 00:08:53.960 in diameter and it was kind of planned out before 00:08:53.960 --> 00:08:57.019 it was milled so I could you know I kind of every 00:08:57.019 --> 00:09:00.220 slice was going to a certain aspect of this hive 00:09:00.220 --> 00:09:03.019 like even like I have a the trays are made out 00:09:03.019 --> 00:09:05.700 of a half inch slice of it that's 15 and a half 00:09:05.700 --> 00:09:07.539 inches wide you know I mean solid wood not a 00:09:07.539 --> 00:09:09.690 single piece of plywood in the whole hive That 00:09:09.690 --> 00:09:12.649 is really cool. Before we jump into yours, why 00:09:12.649 --> 00:09:14.889 don't we just talk about long layings in general. 00:09:15.509 --> 00:09:17.870 Jack, I don't know how much you know about them. 00:09:17.970 --> 00:09:20.169 I know you do quite a bit. You did a lot of research, 00:09:20.169 --> 00:09:23.370 but for those that aren't familiar, basically 00:09:23.370 --> 00:09:27.549 a long laying strath is instead of stacking boxes 00:09:27.549 --> 00:09:30.909 up like in a normal laying system, it's as if 00:09:30.909 --> 00:09:34.809 you're stacking them side by side. So you would 00:09:34.809 --> 00:09:38.470 have what looks like a brood box but it might 00:09:38.470 --> 00:09:41.450 be it's going to be three or four feet long instead 00:09:41.450 --> 00:09:44.950 of just the width of one box and the idea is 00:09:44.950 --> 00:09:48.690 you can then just take frames in a row and just 00:09:48.690 --> 00:09:51.370 have instead of ten frames in a box or eight 00:09:51.370 --> 00:09:54.710 in a box you can have 30 or whatever number it 00:09:54.710 --> 00:09:58.129 is that you choose to do You can put a follower 00:09:58.129 --> 00:10:01.090 board. You can do different things. There still 00:10:01.090 --> 00:10:04.129 are ways to put queen excluders in. So you have 00:10:04.129 --> 00:10:06.490 some of the box that's for honey and some for 00:10:06.490 --> 00:10:09.610 not, but it's all horizontal. And for people 00:10:09.610 --> 00:10:12.330 that maybe have a hard time lifting really heavy 00:10:12.330 --> 00:10:15.570 boxes, it can be a wonderful system because you 00:10:15.570 --> 00:10:18.029 shouldn't have to lift anything heavier than 00:10:18.029 --> 00:10:21.590 one frame at a time unless your lids heavy. So 00:10:21.590 --> 00:10:24.809 that's the general idea. Do you have anything 00:10:24.809 --> 00:10:27.289 to add to that? You kind of hit it on the mark 00:10:27.289 --> 00:10:28.990 there. It's especially good, and that's what 00:10:28.990 --> 00:10:31.850 I found. A lot of the people in this ecosystem 00:10:31.850 --> 00:10:36.370 are in it due to the ease of inspecting frame 00:10:36.370 --> 00:10:39.029 by frame, lifting frame by frame, rather than 00:10:39.029 --> 00:10:43.090 the whole honey super. And that's where it kind 00:10:43.090 --> 00:10:45.490 of brings me also to the inline configuration. 00:10:45.730 --> 00:10:47.669 Half of this is the inline configuration, which 00:10:47.669 --> 00:10:52.110 also goes even beyond just the horizontal ergonomics 00:10:52.110 --> 00:10:54.490 and puts those frames directly in front of you. 00:10:54.879 --> 00:10:57.200 so that there's no twist motion when you're pulling 00:10:57.200 --> 00:11:00.580 them out. Yeah good point. Course you're young 00:11:00.580 --> 00:11:02.620 enough that shouldn't be a problem yet, but maybe 00:11:02.620 --> 00:11:05.700 one of these. Yeah, correct All right. Let's 00:11:05.700 --> 00:11:08.379 talk about your hive design because it's not 00:11:08.379 --> 00:11:11.539 a normal long laying either You've made some 00:11:11.539 --> 00:11:15.340 modifications Give us an idea how big it is how 00:11:15.340 --> 00:11:19.919 long how wide how tall is it on a stand? Explain 00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:22.279 the thing. Okay. So like you said, it was made 00:11:22.279 --> 00:11:25.700 out of all live dug for live edge dug for all 00:11:25.700 --> 00:11:30.379 two inch planks The box is 80 inches long which 00:11:30.379 --> 00:11:33.700 allows for me to do two entire inline systems 00:11:33.700 --> 00:11:36.820 if I chose to. I chose to keep it as half long 00:11:36.820 --> 00:11:39.159 -laying, half inline, just because I've never 00:11:39.159 --> 00:11:41.419 really dealt with either ecosystem. So now I'll 00:11:41.419 --> 00:11:44.899 be able to work one immediately, work the other, 00:11:45.059 --> 00:11:47.559 and really get a handle on my preference of which 00:11:47.559 --> 00:11:51.000 one I prefer. Okay, before you move on, I want 00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:54.039 us to make sure we understand that. Long -laying 00:11:54.039 --> 00:11:57.860 and you said inline? Yeah. you have some frames 00:11:57.860 --> 00:12:00.820 going one direction and then there's a great 00:12:00.820 --> 00:12:03.259 big divider in the middle as if you have two 00:12:03.259 --> 00:12:06.019 hives and then you have some going the other 00:12:06.019 --> 00:12:09.419 direction correct so that i got about a divider 00:12:09.419 --> 00:12:11.419 a two inch divider in the middle so when i was 00:12:11.419 --> 00:12:13.059 researching this hive a lot of the things i was 00:12:13.059 --> 00:12:15.460 doing is going through a lot of the the posts 00:12:15.460 --> 00:12:18.299 and topics and just trying to find people's problems 00:12:18.299 --> 00:12:21.840 and solve the problems within my hive before 00:12:21.840 --> 00:12:24.429 building the hive So that's what brought me to 00:12:24.429 --> 00:12:26.990 the center divider to completely divide the hive 00:12:26.990 --> 00:12:28.929 in half, which because people were having a problem 00:12:28.929 --> 00:12:30.789 with cupping their wood cupping because obviously 00:12:30.789 --> 00:12:33.269 the inner part of the hive is moist and the outer 00:12:33.269 --> 00:12:36.129 part is sitting in the sun. So I really wanted 00:12:36.129 --> 00:12:38.690 to firm that up with that center divider because 00:12:38.690 --> 00:12:41.470 another big aspect, I guess we can get into two 00:12:41.470 --> 00:12:44.169 theories of why I built it this way afterwards. 00:12:44.870 --> 00:12:47.450 So go ahead. You were explaining why you're going 00:12:47.450 --> 00:12:50.389 to have some frames going. I can't really call 00:12:50.389 --> 00:12:52.980 them vertical and horizontal. because everything 00:12:52.980 --> 00:12:56.779 is horizontal but you have some where the skinny 00:12:56.779 --> 00:12:59.559 end is towards you and somewhere the wide end 00:12:59.559 --> 00:13:01.080 is towards you in other words. So the inline 00:13:01.080 --> 00:13:03.519 would be the perpendicular ones to the body and 00:13:03.519 --> 00:13:05.659 those are two chambers so like with the inline 00:13:05.659 --> 00:13:07.980 model you're set with your two chambers. Mine 00:13:07.980 --> 00:13:10.820 are 13 because I made them square so that I could 00:13:10.820 --> 00:13:12.440 if I wanted to switch it back to inline it's 00:13:12.440 --> 00:13:14.259 just a matter of taking out that mounted queen 00:13:14.259 --> 00:13:16.480 excluder and it's back to inline. Versatility 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:20.269 was a big plan with this hive. So the inline 00:13:20.269 --> 00:13:24.149 system is set up for a 13 frame brood box and 00:13:24.149 --> 00:13:27.929 a 13 frame honey box separated by a permanent 00:13:27.929 --> 00:13:30.529 queen excluder. Whereas like you were saying 00:13:30.529 --> 00:13:32.210 with the long line you have a follower board 00:13:32.210 --> 00:13:35.309 and the long line side can be a 6 frame, 8 frame, 00:13:35.350 --> 00:13:38.529 10 frame all the way up to the main box is 26 00:13:38.529 --> 00:13:40.950 frames on each side. Well you know your stuff 00:13:40.950 --> 00:13:43.370 considering you're new at this. I can tell you've 00:13:43.370 --> 00:13:46.009 done a lot of research. Let me make sure I also 00:13:46.009 --> 00:13:48.350 understand one thing. You're going to use a queen 00:13:48.350 --> 00:13:52.470 excluder and you are going to have honey supers 00:13:52.470 --> 00:13:58.590 on top of these brood frames or horizontally 00:13:58.590 --> 00:14:03.090 next to? Both. So my plan with the main chamber 00:14:03.090 --> 00:14:05.210 and I like running on theory I don't know if 00:14:05.210 --> 00:14:08.210 it's possible going through a few posts you know 00:14:08.210 --> 00:14:10.970 people were saying that in this system about 00:14:10.970 --> 00:14:14.269 a 13 frame brood is kind of sufficient you don't 00:14:14.269 --> 00:14:16.610 really need to go beyond that otherwise you're 00:14:16.610 --> 00:14:19.070 going to start getting honey in your brood my 00:14:19.070 --> 00:14:22.210 original intention with the 26 frames was you 00:14:22.210 --> 00:14:25.610 know if i could push brood to 18 19 frames which 00:14:25.610 --> 00:14:27.870 is what i read that standard long straight tross 00:14:27.870 --> 00:14:30.340 do they do about two deep boxes of brood run 00:14:30.340 --> 00:14:33.679 in about 80 % so run in 16 to 18 frames of brood 00:14:33.679 --> 00:14:35.580 and then they go up into their honey supers so 00:14:35.580 --> 00:14:37.360 I was thinking that I could possibly do the same 00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:39.340 thing so then that would leave me with about 00:14:39.340 --> 00:14:42.080 eight deep frames of honey which I would then 00:14:42.080 --> 00:14:44.379 use that for winter storage and then anything 00:14:44.379 --> 00:14:47.200 that goes up into the supers is kind of for me 00:14:47.200 --> 00:14:50.059 to to harvest because that was another one of 00:14:50.059 --> 00:14:52.740 the the magic ratio numbers was for going into 00:14:52.740 --> 00:14:56.799 winter with these sealed chambers that I'd want 00:14:56.799 --> 00:15:00.129 four open cell frames with about nine honey frames. 00:15:00.870 --> 00:15:02.990 Quick break to discuss what just might be on 00:15:02.990 --> 00:15:06.559 your mind. right now come on admit it you're 00:15:06.559 --> 00:15:09.759 imagining the upcoming honey harvest because 00:15:09.759 --> 00:15:11.759 no matter where you live in the world it's either 00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:15.179 here now or it will be in the near future and 00:15:15.179 --> 00:15:18.720 Man Lake is making it so easy to plan for click 00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:21.720 on over to Man Lake's website for an amazing 00:15:21.720 --> 00:15:25.940 selection of extractors filters bottling supplies 00:15:25.940 --> 00:15:30.120 uncapping knives supplies for a comb honey everything 00:15:30.120 --> 00:15:33.460 and I mean everything you'll need. But if you 00:15:33.460 --> 00:15:35.919 aren't there quite yet and the honey flow is 00:15:35.919 --> 00:15:38.879 right around the corner, make sure you have extra 00:15:38.879 --> 00:15:42.379 supers on hand. You never can have too many or 00:15:42.379 --> 00:15:45.519 be too prepared. And right now Man Lake is offering 00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:50.100 podcast listeners $10 off your next order. Just 00:15:50.100 --> 00:15:54.840 enter code MLBLove10 at checkout. That's manlakeltd 00:15:54.840 --> 00:16:00.029 .com, discount code MLBLove10. So that's kind 00:16:00.029 --> 00:16:02.470 of my goal is to hit those amount of deep frames 00:16:02.470 --> 00:16:04.490 and then anything else goes into the medium frames 00:16:04.490 --> 00:16:07.870 for me to harvest and How thick did you say the 00:16:07.870 --> 00:16:11.049 walls of this thing are how the original walls 00:16:11.049 --> 00:16:14.230 and the floor are two inches thick but then in 00:16:14.230 --> 00:16:17.429 order to Make the the whole hive bigger to allow 00:16:17.429 --> 00:16:19.590 the lid and allow the supers I added an extra 00:16:19.590 --> 00:16:23.210 inch and a quarter on both upper sides the top 00:16:23.210 --> 00:16:25.210 Nine inches of the hive is three and a quarter 00:16:25.210 --> 00:16:27.980 inches thick That's a lot of insulation. That's 00:16:27.980 --> 00:16:30.379 a lot of our value and you know that the little 00:16:30.379 --> 00:16:32.580 be Insulated and that's where it kind of comes 00:16:32.580 --> 00:16:34.700 to the whole the whole hive is kind of based 00:16:34.700 --> 00:16:37.919 off the condensing hive method Why don't you 00:16:37.919 --> 00:16:39.840 explain that a little bit for those that aren't 00:16:39.840 --> 00:16:42.659 familiar? Okay So the condensing hive method 00:16:42.659 --> 00:16:45.399 is basically the research that I found it was 00:16:45.399 --> 00:16:48.580 based off of Fellows research up in the Yukon 00:16:48.580 --> 00:16:51.669 guy by the name of Tardif He was beekeeping up 00:16:51.669 --> 00:16:54.450 there and really wanted to find out what was 00:16:54.450 --> 00:16:56.350 going on with his hives, fill them full of sensors. 00:16:57.169 --> 00:17:00.769 And what he found was that the sealed chamber, 00:17:01.149 --> 00:17:06.250 the only vent being your entrance, was beneficial 00:17:06.250 --> 00:17:10.089 to the bees in many ways. So everybody's worried 00:17:10.089 --> 00:17:11.670 and like I've seen this in all the beekeeping 00:17:11.670 --> 00:17:13.069 groups, you know, when you're building stuff, 00:17:13.230 --> 00:17:14.869 it's like everybody's venting, venting, venting, 00:17:14.930 --> 00:17:18.220 venting, venting. And according to this guy's 00:17:18.220 --> 00:17:20.819 research, there should be zero venting in a climate 00:17:20.819 --> 00:17:22.880 like mine, in a northern climate. Absolutely 00:17:22.880 --> 00:17:25.420 none. And people worry about, you know, the CO2 00:17:25.420 --> 00:17:28.019 buildup and the moisture buildup, and these are 00:17:28.019 --> 00:17:30.980 actually, what he is showing, beneficial to the 00:17:30.980 --> 00:17:35.180 bees. So the CO2 buildup actually puts them into 00:17:35.180 --> 00:17:37.799 a state, I can't remember what it's called, epoxy 00:17:37.799 --> 00:17:39.819 or something like that, but basically a hibernation 00:17:39.819 --> 00:17:43.200 state. So this hibernation state allows them 00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:47.130 to slow down their entire body, to actually you 00:17:47.130 --> 00:17:50.410 know kind of go to sleep whereas I find the normal 00:17:50.410 --> 00:17:55.190 vented systems that maybe the bees and like these 00:17:55.190 --> 00:17:56.529 are the ones that are going through tons of honey 00:17:56.529 --> 00:17:58.890 they're not getting to go into that hibernation 00:17:58.890 --> 00:18:01.529 state so they're working all winter long when 00:18:01.529 --> 00:18:03.690 I seen this research I was like it just clicked 00:18:03.690 --> 00:18:05.289 with me I'm like this makes sense like I live 00:18:05.289 --> 00:18:07.269 in the forest I've never seen a vented tree in 00:18:07.269 --> 00:18:10.390 my life they're not out there so why are we venting 00:18:10.390 --> 00:18:13.990 these hives the way that we are and another apparent 00:18:13.990 --> 00:18:17.450 benefit to this condensing method is that this 00:18:17.450 --> 00:18:21.470 CO2 chamber will kill off the mites. So not only 00:18:21.470 --> 00:18:25.170 has you know they get their hibernation state 00:18:25.170 --> 00:18:27.069 but you know nature's kind of solved this mite 00:18:27.069 --> 00:18:29.089 problem with itself is hey they go hibernate 00:18:29.089 --> 00:18:32.470 in this super condensed CO2 chamber and it's 00:18:32.470 --> 00:18:34.289 going to kill off the mites that are present. 00:18:34.650 --> 00:18:36.829 All right, I need you to send me a link to that 00:18:36.829 --> 00:18:39.750 research I have to admit I'm not familiar with 00:18:39.750 --> 00:18:42.029 it and I would love to read it because some of 00:18:42.029 --> 00:18:44.950 this stuff sounds counter to what a lot of us 00:18:44.950 --> 00:18:47.829 have learned but I'm open -minded I would love 00:18:47.829 --> 00:18:50.569 to read it and I tell you what you will find 00:18:50.569 --> 00:18:53.369 something over the next few years on this beekeeping 00:18:53.369 --> 00:18:57.710 journey of yours is that Some things that work 00:18:57.710 --> 00:19:00.450 for one person may not work for you. You have 00:19:00.450 --> 00:19:04.099 to be willing to adjust and change or you've 00:19:04.099 --> 00:19:06.940 got it all figured out already and we'll see 00:19:06.940 --> 00:19:09.460 where are the entrances and how big are they 00:19:09.460 --> 00:19:12.740 so i have two hive gate entrances at each end 00:19:12.740 --> 00:19:15.200 and these entrances are also kind of in line 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:17.279 with this condensing hive method they're really 00:19:17.279 --> 00:19:21.380 good for airflow so they're very very small little 00:19:21.380 --> 00:19:23.900 entrances and i have two of them for higher flow 00:19:23.900 --> 00:19:26.319 and then winter time you break it down to just 00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:30.319 one then what these entrances do is allow basically 00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:33.059 and this is kind of how they market it is they 00:19:33.059 --> 00:19:35.420 allow the bees to open and close the front door 00:19:35.420 --> 00:19:37.960 basically and regulate that that one little bit 00:19:37.960 --> 00:19:39.960 of air that's coming in they they have a good 00:19:39.960 --> 00:19:43.140 chance of being able to block it or open it or 00:19:43.140 --> 00:19:46.220 do whatever they need to do with that air to 00:19:46.220 --> 00:19:48.799 to regulate the hive. Are the entrances round 00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:51.099 or horizontal? They're horizontal and they're 00:19:51.099 --> 00:19:54.500 about four inches and they seem to be about the 00:19:54.500 --> 00:19:57.410 three eights. Height the bee space at heart. 00:19:57.549 --> 00:20:00.630 I also noticed on your Facebook page in one of 00:20:00.630 --> 00:20:03.630 the pictures You had a great big drawer on the 00:20:03.630 --> 00:20:06.789 bottom that you pulled out Explain what that's 00:20:06.789 --> 00:20:09.670 for. So yeah, that was one thing that I was really 00:20:09.670 --> 00:20:13.569 unsure about installing in the hive Because that 00:20:13.569 --> 00:20:15.410 came in with a screen bottom and when I put in 00:20:15.410 --> 00:20:17.849 the screen bottom, you know that to me was like, 00:20:17.869 --> 00:20:19.970 okay now I'm making a space in this hive that 00:20:19.970 --> 00:20:22.109 the bees cannot get to so if I have a problem 00:20:22.109 --> 00:20:24.980 with this space That problem is on me to fix 00:20:24.980 --> 00:20:26.460 because the bees aren't able to get there to 00:20:26.460 --> 00:20:28.559 clean it or do the business that they need to 00:20:28.559 --> 00:20:31.359 do. After talking to more people, I was kind 00:20:31.359 --> 00:20:33.059 of put in line that this is more of a treatment 00:20:33.059 --> 00:20:36.480 tray than a hive checking tray. So these trays 00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:39.349 I will fill with Demataceous Earth. So basically 00:20:39.349 --> 00:20:44.390 any any bug or mite or anything that falls down 00:20:44.390 --> 00:20:46.410 out of the hive or off the bee or anything is 00:20:46.410 --> 00:20:48.029 going to fall down into the tray of demataceous 00:20:48.029 --> 00:20:51.029 earth and then I will then find it and kind of 00:20:51.029 --> 00:20:53.150 know that hey there's there's some stuff going 00:20:53.150 --> 00:20:55.849 on in here that I need to I need to take care 00:20:55.849 --> 00:20:58.829 of I can't wait to hear how your first year goes 00:20:58.829 --> 00:21:01.549 and I'll tell you what let's make a date right 00:21:01.549 --> 00:21:03.470 now five years from now you're going to be back 00:21:03.470 --> 00:21:07.369 on the show and you're going to be saying Every 00:21:07.369 --> 00:21:09.789 single thing worked or here are the modifications 00:21:09.789 --> 00:21:12.349 that I realized I made to make to it. Absolutely 00:21:12.349 --> 00:21:15.769 It's gonna be fun to see what kind of stand you 00:21:15.769 --> 00:21:20.190 have this on This stand is actually on 18 inch 00:21:20.190 --> 00:21:24.589 for rounds. I was planning on building a like 00:21:24.589 --> 00:21:28.089 a little crib frame out of logs and I had built 00:21:28.089 --> 00:21:30.650 this thing on pallets about four feet from where 00:21:30.650 --> 00:21:34.190 it's sitting right now and I just could not figure 00:21:34.190 --> 00:21:38.180 out how I was gonna move it onto the stand. So 00:21:38.180 --> 00:21:40.319 I brought these rounds that were actually, my 00:21:40.319 --> 00:21:43.119 fireplace takes 16s. I accidentally cut these 00:21:43.119 --> 00:21:45.599 at 18. I was like, perfect, they're beautiful. 00:21:45.700 --> 00:21:47.839 They still got lichen on them. So I brought those 00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:52.079 out, placed those on the pad and then very sketchily 00:21:52.079 --> 00:21:55.180 pulled the whole hive kind of off the pallets 00:21:55.180 --> 00:21:57.519 and the pallets tipped over and it just kind 00:21:57.519 --> 00:22:00.559 of landed in place and that's where it's gonna 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:04.140 live. And it just worked. I think it looks great 00:22:04.140 --> 00:22:06.859 on the logs. Thank you. Tell me about the roof. 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:09.980 Is that also that two inch or two and a half 00:22:09.980 --> 00:22:12.299 inch thick? Yeah, the roof is two inch thick 00:22:12.299 --> 00:22:15.299 on the walls. The live edge planks are an inch 00:22:15.299 --> 00:22:18.000 and a half. And then there's going to be with 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:21.279 the condensed hive method. The goal is to reach 00:22:21.279 --> 00:22:24.420 an R 40 in the roof. So I'm going to be heavily 00:22:24.420 --> 00:22:27.059 insulating the roof. And, you know, with these 00:22:27.059 --> 00:22:29.859 with these hives, people use like over top of 00:22:29.859 --> 00:22:33.769 the inner. inner box, they use blankets or wool 00:22:33.769 --> 00:22:36.269 insulation or whatever they need to give them 00:22:36.269 --> 00:22:39.029 that R40 and prevent that heat escape coming 00:22:39.029 --> 00:22:41.690 up from the chamber. And if you're worried about 00:22:41.690 --> 00:22:44.630 condensation, you may want to use something that 00:22:44.630 --> 00:22:47.410 would absorb a little bit of that also when you're 00:22:47.410 --> 00:22:49.920 talking about blankets or something. Do you have 00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:52.579 your bees yet? I do not have my bees yet. I'm 00:22:52.579 --> 00:22:55.640 actually I'm setting swarm traps. There's no 00:22:55.640 --> 00:22:58.099 apiaries closest apiary and I don't even know 00:22:58.099 --> 00:23:00.380 if it's an active apiary is 40 miles from here 00:23:00.380 --> 00:23:02.539 but this property that I'm on now I've been here 00:23:02.539 --> 00:23:06.240 for five years and it has like the best bee population 00:23:06.240 --> 00:23:08.240 I've ever seen and the honeybee showed up about 00:23:08.240 --> 00:23:11.579 a week ago. And the numbers of them are growing 00:23:11.579 --> 00:23:13.680 every day. Like I just got these little bushes 00:23:13.680 --> 00:23:16.079 that are the first to bloom. We've had dandelions 00:23:16.079 --> 00:23:18.259 for about a week. And so that the honeybee numbers 00:23:18.259 --> 00:23:20.920 are really growing. So I'm hoping that I can 00:23:20.920 --> 00:23:23.200 hopefully catch a swarm. I think you will. What 00:23:23.200 --> 00:23:25.359 are you using for bait? What kind of sand? I'm 00:23:25.359 --> 00:23:28.160 using lemongrass oil and a couple brood frames 00:23:28.160 --> 00:23:30.759 that I bought off an old beekeeper. And that's 00:23:30.759 --> 00:23:33.859 why I had one box that was one of my four mediums 00:23:33.859 --> 00:23:36.819 was an old deep that I bought that I cut down. 00:23:37.279 --> 00:23:39.220 You've got it figured out. How many traps did 00:23:39.220 --> 00:23:41.420 you say you're putting up? I'm putting up three 00:23:41.420 --> 00:23:44.660 and I baited the hive as well because I do believe 00:23:44.660 --> 00:23:47.400 that it's like right back here in this in this 00:23:47.400 --> 00:23:49.240 crown land. They're flying right by the hive. 00:23:49.259 --> 00:23:51.359 I know it's obviously not the right height but 00:23:51.359 --> 00:23:55.140 sometimes you get lucky. I've had it happen before. 00:23:55.460 --> 00:23:58.460 It's rare but it can certainly happen. Okay this 00:23:58.460 --> 00:24:01.940 thing is 80 inches long. It's made of thick wood. 00:24:02.460 --> 00:24:05.539 Take a guess on what it weighs. I'd say 500 pounds. 00:24:05.799 --> 00:24:09.279 I'd say the lid on it has got to be a hundred 00:24:09.279 --> 00:24:11.500 pounds. Before I got the hinges on it, I was 00:24:11.500 --> 00:24:13.779 trying to lift it up with the two hands and it 00:24:13.779 --> 00:24:17.279 was tough. Yeah, the hinges, I think that could 00:24:17.279 --> 00:24:19.460 also be a game changer in this ecosystem because 00:24:19.460 --> 00:24:21.859 I've seen a lot of complaints about the heavy 00:24:21.859 --> 00:24:26.460 lids on these things and I installed five recycled 00:24:26.460 --> 00:24:29.579 hinges from deep freezers, the spring loaded 00:24:29.579 --> 00:24:32.160 hinges and they take all the weight of that lid. 00:24:32.940 --> 00:24:35.349 You've thought of everything. So how much money 00:24:35.349 --> 00:24:38.170 do you have into this? Um you know most of the 00:24:38.170 --> 00:24:40.210 money went to the frames to be honest the frames 00:24:40.210 --> 00:24:43.150 and the honey excluders the actual hive itself 00:24:43.150 --> 00:24:46.009 maybe 150 bucks into the hive itself and then 00:24:46.009 --> 00:24:47.930 the rest of the money into quite a bit of frames 00:24:47.930 --> 00:24:50.250 to fill it and the honey excluders and stuff 00:24:50.250 --> 00:24:51.990 so maybe another four or five hundred bucks on 00:24:51.990 --> 00:24:54.630 all all the fun stuff probably not even that 00:24:54.630 --> 00:24:58.150 much that is so awesome i wish you all the best 00:24:58.150 --> 00:25:02.599 of luck swarm traps Oh man, I wish we could count 00:25:02.599 --> 00:25:06.579 on them. They work great. They just don't always 00:25:06.579 --> 00:25:10.319 work every single time. We've had people on this 00:25:10.319 --> 00:25:14.000 podcast that live down in the south of the U 00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:16.819 .S. and they're just catching swarms right and 00:25:16.819 --> 00:25:20.380 left, it seems like. Up where I am, if I put 00:25:20.380 --> 00:25:24.180 out a half a dozen, I'll catch one or two a year 00:25:24.180 --> 00:25:27.259 and that's it. and I've had like one year where 00:25:27.259 --> 00:25:30.039 I caught zero so I think you're doing everything 00:25:30.039 --> 00:25:32.339 right and I think you deserve to catch a swarm 00:25:32.339 --> 00:25:36.079 or two and no commercial beekeepers are going 00:25:36.079 --> 00:25:39.180 to beat down your door to buy a hive like this 00:25:39.180 --> 00:25:41.519 because it doesn't make sense for them but it 00:25:41.519 --> 00:25:44.480 makes so much sense for you and I love how thick 00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:46.779 it is and what kind of art value that's going 00:25:46.779 --> 00:25:49.779 to give it that is just so important and it's 00:25:49.779 --> 00:25:53.460 going to be in many ways like them being in a 00:25:53.460 --> 00:25:57.029 tree. or at least a horizontal tree. Yeah that 00:25:57.029 --> 00:26:01.029 down rotten log. So in those swarm traps that 00:26:01.029 --> 00:26:03.430 lemongrass oil works great as you know there's 00:26:03.430 --> 00:26:07.029 also other things that you can buy like swarm 00:26:07.029 --> 00:26:10.089 commander that a lot of people swear by. I've 00:26:10.089 --> 00:26:13.349 had good luck with lemongrass oil. There is a 00:26:13.349 --> 00:26:16.089 sort of a sweet spot between not using enough 00:26:16.089 --> 00:26:19.809 and using too much and we don't have a scientific 00:26:19.809 --> 00:26:22.890 way to measure that that I know of. but I know 00:26:22.890 --> 00:26:25.829 if when you walk by it really smells strong of 00:26:25.829 --> 00:26:28.089 lemongrass oil you've probably got too much. 00:26:28.269 --> 00:26:31.529 I usually just take a q -tip and put two or three 00:26:31.529 --> 00:26:35.369 drops of oil on it stick it in that's all it 00:26:35.369 --> 00:26:37.410 needs and then I'll refresh that once a week 00:26:37.410 --> 00:26:39.789 or something like that and I'm sure there's people 00:26:39.789 --> 00:26:42.069 out there going that's not how I do it that won't 00:26:42.069 --> 00:26:45.299 work and Everybody does it different and everything 00:26:45.299 --> 00:26:47.420 works different for different people and that's 00:26:47.420 --> 00:26:49.440 one thing that you're gonna find about beekeepers 00:26:49.440 --> 00:26:52.440 and Beekeeping but hopefully you can also find 00:26:52.440 --> 00:26:54.539 somebody up in your neck of the woods that can 00:26:54.539 --> 00:26:56.839 be kind of a mentor to you that you can reach 00:26:56.839 --> 00:26:59.799 out to When you have questions and stuff if not, 00:26:59.799 --> 00:27:01.859 give me a buzz Yeah, definitely will and honestly 00:27:01.859 --> 00:27:03.900 that group that I joined on Facebook the long 00:27:03.900 --> 00:27:06.180 Langstroth hive group a bunch of amazing guys 00:27:06.180 --> 00:27:08.740 I really want to help you get on your feet and 00:27:08.740 --> 00:27:11.259 that's kind of what helped me get online beekeepers 00:27:11.259 --> 00:27:14.319 are that way They're very helpful and ask nothing 00:27:14.319 --> 00:27:18.700 in return and you fit in so much because of your 00:27:18.700 --> 00:27:21.680 do -it -yourself attitude and being able to build 00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:25.279 this yourself and even change you know design 00:27:25.279 --> 00:27:28.680 around from a traditional longling yourself and 00:27:28.680 --> 00:27:31.740 that's fantastic. So just enjoy the journey. 00:27:31.960 --> 00:27:34.920 Thank you. Jack Lomber is where people can find 00:27:34.920 --> 00:27:37.400 you on Facebook and we're going to circle back 00:27:37.400 --> 00:27:39.180 in a while and everybody's going to hear how 00:27:39.180 --> 00:27:40.759 well this works. Sounds good. Thank you very 00:27:40.759 --> 00:27:46.069 much. Thanks again for joining us on Be Love, 00:27:46.190 --> 00:27:49.329 Be Keeping presented by Manlike. Another big 00:27:49.329 --> 00:27:51.730 thank you goes to V2B Health for their support. 00:27:52.170 --> 00:27:55.289 Vita's Varroa Control Ranger products includes 00:27:55.289 --> 00:27:59.470 Epistan, Epigard, and now Varroxan Extended Release 00:27:59.470 --> 00:28:03.069 Oxalic Acids Trips. Hey thanks a lot guys. And 00:28:03.069 --> 00:28:05.670 if you haven't yet, please subscribe to and follow 00:28:05.670 --> 00:28:07.910 the show, tell your friends about it, and click 00:28:07.910 --> 00:28:11.210 on over to BeLoveBekeeping .com to sign up for 00:28:11.210 --> 00:28:14.430 our free newsletter. If you have a guest suggestion 00:28:14.430 --> 00:28:17.509 or topic you'd like discussed on the show, shoot 00:28:17.509 --> 00:28:21.009 me an email eric at BeLoveBekeeping .com and 00:28:21.009 --> 00:28:23.509 remember if you're not just in it for the honey 00:28:23.509 --> 00:28:26.549 or the money, you're in it for the love. See 00:28:26.549 --> 00:28:27.269 you next week.