Everything You Can Learn About Your Bees Without Lifting The Lid

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.