I love the patience involved, a virtue I sadly don't have. Not just waiting to see how many queens will take, but in your saving all the footage over a month & uploading it all in one video to give us less-than-patient viewers a picture of the whole process. 🐝

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Yes it is a bit of a chore. I appreciate the kind words. I wish I could figure out how to grow quicker but I am super thankful for the community we have.

I appreciate the time you take to show step by step what you did and how you did it, adding the virgin queens! Im always learning something new from you! 🐝💖

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Hey thanks for watching and for the support.

Cool video Bruce! Two of my queen mating locations are on my parents place. Same conditions, same breeder queen, same cell starter all that stuff. One had 21-22 queens come back and the other one I got 8 out of 20! Only difference was 10 days apart. Weird! I have had really good success with Corey's queens (from cells) laying well after almost a year. I have never tried buying virgins though. Might have to give it a shot some time.

@kushtrimmuja866

Жыл бұрын

Hi have two questions; how long can a virgin queen stay in a cage and have you tried with push in cage to introduce a queen cell ore a virgin queen😊?

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

I am not sure. Would be a great question for Cory. It is longer than you might think though. I have never used a push in cage.

@stevensbeeco767

Жыл бұрын

I’ve accidentally banked them for over three weeks, and they still open mated and functioned fine. I would suspect they have a higher rate of failure the longer you hold them though.

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for that clarification.

Best video on the virgin queens i’ve seen thanks

@brucesbees

Ай бұрын

Thanks!

Looking forward to my Stevens Queens! Hopefully soon.

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Good luck with it.

What a blessed life you live! Surrounded by all those “honies!”.

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

I would agree

Its not been that long and your bees are getting calmer. It is good to see the process of taming bees and you are becoming the master of your bees.

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Overall they have become more calm this year though there are still a few that are a bit feisty.

Thanks for the follow ups and would like more of the same.

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Will do my best.

Enjoyed, like the orange mark , good way to keep track of your new mite maulers . Thank you

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Yep. Eager to see how they do.

love corey's stock!!

Thanks for the videos. Appreciate the genuine nature of you and your story.

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Hey thanks so much for the comment and for the support. This means a lot to me.

Another great video, helpful content!

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching!

I think this was an excellent first try with a big split trying to get 12 queens going. I have watched you enough to know you are working through why you think the ones succeeded and the ones that failed. I'd bet the next one you try will have a higher success rate, not that this one was bad at all! Bruce, Keep up the good work and thank you for sharing and teaching!!

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Yeah. I am always learning. Two of the losses were my fault I think. But always trying to get better. I think it turned out pretty well for my first time using virgin queens like this.

Thanks Bruce, great video, looking forward to seeing the results, God bless ! Roll Tide!

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Yes me too and Roll Tide to you as well!

Looking good there Bruce!! Appreciate all your videos too. This year I’ve become more proactive with my bees thanks to you and all the others keep up the good work!

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the kind words. Being proactive is so important even though I seem to stay behind with mine. Somehow I am able to keep a few around in spite of myself…🤷🏻‍♂️🙂

Bob Binnie poked a hole in the tape on a video to buy a little more time than the candy alone gives if you don't want to come back and release or whatever. Thanks for the video.

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the tip. And for checking in.

Great video

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Thanks Mike!

I appreciate this series of videos. I was going to get some of Cory’s queens this year but chickened out. I wasn’t sure about timing of getting them and introduction. You can bet I’ll be one of the first to order some this coming January. Thanks Bruce

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Yep I think it could be a little tricky but I am happy with the initial take and results and am eager to see how they do.

Great video Bruce!!! Them apiamay a hives are gorgeous!!! I’m going to get my mom one for her yard.

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Yes they are very nice. Pricy but nice.

It is a good feeling to find new queens doing well. I recently put in three purchased queens after walk aways failed. Two of the three are laying and doing great. The third was found tonight but not yet laying, but she was also let out of her cage sometime in the last three days. Fingers crossed for three of three. Also 8 new nucs are doing great. Good feelings after a rocky start in this spring.

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Good deal. Hope things continue to go well for you. It has been a strange year so far for sure. Haven’t been able to get into mine the last few days like I need to. Hope they are ok.

I think that's pretty good results for releasing virgins. I am glad you showed this bc I have been wondering about it. Thanks

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching. I was pleased but can always improve.

Thanks for showing the whole process of virgin queen intro and acceptance. You’re so natural at picking up the queens and marking. I’m not quite there yet on that.

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Oh I am still learning this technique. Greg Burns and Seth Hill use it. Can also gently grab the queens my the thorax instead of the legs. But have primarily used this method this year and am maybe getting better at it. One problem I have is that I am missing my index finger on Lu left hand which makes fine motor stuff a little difficult. But I am figuring it out.

Pretty decent take! Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Great video!

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Yeah overall I am pleased for my first time using this method. Two of the losses were 100% my fault.

It looks like those virgin queens are doing pretty good. I just tried my hand at grafting for the first time and let's just say my results were not stellar by any means but it's definitely a start. Thanks for sharing my friend.

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Yep will have to see how they do over time. I may try grafting and get serious about raising queens in the future. But for now trying to get my genetics figured out a bit.

Good job my friend

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Thanks!

Put nucs on top of double screened boards on top of full colony to keep brood warm in nucs.

Seems like a good acceptance rate. Hopefully the one where you didn't see eggs or larva, the virgin was out dating at the time or maybe they will make a queen cell from the frame you transferred. Let us know how it goes. Curious to see what happens.

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Yep we will see. Thanks for checking in!

I think the best practice would be to make the splits 8-9 days before you ever put the virgins in, and knock the cells down the day before or as you get ready to put the virgins in. Thats pretty much how Cory explains it I believe, because if you give them another way to make a queen, they may kill the virgin. Thats why its important to age out every larva and egg before the virgin goes in, I believe that would the best way, the Stevens introduction method 😊. Also, i believe it Missouri Mite Hunter instead of mauler, as I dont think he breeds for the bees to maul the mite legs and such. Anyway, great video Bruce, just thought I'd drop that info 😊

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for checking in. With my schedule as it is I consulted with Cory on how to do it. By putting tape over the end of the candy it basically accomplished the same thing. Two of them were bad splits and I really kind of figured the success would be sketchy at best. The one obviously with one wing didn’t have a chance. I sure of the other one. So I really think I had 80% acceptance since two of them were my fault. And who knows if the one winged bee would have worked out if she had two wings. Remember the other one that failed had a stick on the top of the box that I put there because I thought it was a weak split. However they survived and maybe will end up doing ok. I do agree though that Cory says 8ot 9 days is best.

@jasonpowell4114

Жыл бұрын

Sounds good Bruce, I had a queen get killed in a cage once (not one of Corys) and it has me scared to death that it'll happen again. But that was a different situation where we thought the hive went queenless since there was no eggs, larva, or even capped brood left and mean as hornets, but a queen ended up coming back mated and they killed the caged queen, different circumstance but always left me scared about them killing her in the cage. You did right though, especially consulting with the queen guru lol, Id call it a success. 👍

Hope those Queens do well I have thought about ordering some from Corey

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Yeah it was a good experience. Hope to get more.

Got 3 mated Russian queens last week from Steven Coy in Miss... they are doing great...

@jasonpowell4114

Жыл бұрын

Cory Stevens is a breader that works with the VSH trait. I thought about trying some russians from Steven Coy though, but thats two different people with almost the same name 😊

@davidsbeefarm6156

Жыл бұрын

@@jasonpowell4114 yeah it is.. he is only a couple hours away from me. Plus i like the traits of the russians..

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Good deal. Hope they work out well for you.

Nicely done! Kudos to you for making quality videos. Bee Happy HBM

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for checking in!

You had a better take than I did, but, it starting raining the day after introduction and has rained 15 days out of the last 20, so, I am pleased with 50% take. That is farming for ya!

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Yes weather definitely plays a roll. Overall have had horrible success rates with mating this year I think in large part due to weather. But those were early splits. These did better. It’s been a strange year all the way around for us.

Thanks for sharing your videos. I have picked up some very good ideas from watching. I want to make a nuc but not sure how late would be to late.

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

You could probably do it now. Where do you live and what type of queen are you trying to use?

I had one split that I tried 3 times to get a queen take. They appear to have a drone layer now. I gave up . I’m out of queen cells so I guess that one is going to fizzle out. You had a good success rate with yours. Thanks for making the videos. I enjoy watching and learning.

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Yeah when they become drone layers sometimes you have to just shake them out.

@larryschoenberger7957

Жыл бұрын

You can probably shake those bees out in front of a strong colony, freeze the drone larva, then give it back to some other bees to to clean it out...

Thanks Bruce, love the vids. Maybe the orange marker doesn't run as much as the red. I think I saw University of Guelph making a case for virgin queens.

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

I think it is similar. Haven’t had that happen again with the red one and have marked a bunch. Just have to check it right before marking each queen. But yes the orange one worked well.

Hey Bruce, jackflash is right that's a pretty good result from virgins. Also if you use the cheapest painters tape and poke a small hole in it, by the time they chew through the tape and then the candy, you get a really good extended release without having to go back and remove tape. Not my idea but thought I'd pass it along, oh and don't use the blue tape. Good luck with the bees.

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the tip. Why not blue?

@ziggysbees

Жыл бұрын

@@brucesbees apparently the blue tape is stronger so takes too long to chew through. The cheap green tape works well, the poking a hole let's them get a start other wise they would not realize there's candy under the tape.

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Ok. I see. Thanks for the tip and for the clarification.

Ha Bruce this was great. I am getting 10 mated queens from Greg Burns in June. I am looking forward to it I hope u will give updates on how they do for you. I had some queens like that before not from cory I found that they just tore the brood out way to much and they never rally did any thing for me and I do treat to so please let us know how they do it would be cool to have queens from cory. You take care and have a great week.

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

I hope Greg’s queens do well for you. I think they will. Here is an interview I did with Cory a few weeks back. There is a difference between hygienic bees and VSH bees. Will be I treated to see how they do. kzread.info/dash/bejne/X3-G1cubiMW3cbw.html

@framcesmoore

Жыл бұрын

@@brucesbees Thanks have a Blessed week

Me. Dave from north florida waiting for them bees myself From Cory.

Excellent video Bruce, don't you want to get one marked excessive with Orange Crush to match your Big Red Queen!

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Thanks. But no I will stick with the regular dot haha. The marker spill Makes her easier to see but is quite risky. Not sure it always works out well. Thanks for checking in!

@honeyandthecoop803

Жыл бұрын

@brucesbees it is definitely risky, i myself did the same thing earlier this year. Ironically, after seeing your video, i got it all over her, including one of her wings, but she's still laying fine with no issues.

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Yes. They can be resilient critters for sure.

I have two coming this next week, small try at them. I’ll have to follow this method and hopefully I’ll get 1 of the 2 mated. Curious how they’ll do with Ohio genetics mixed.

@wittencreekbeez9384

Жыл бұрын

Very interested in learning of your results here in OH.

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Maybe they will both take Brian!

@CastleHives

Жыл бұрын

@@brucesbees We'll soon find out.

Making me nervous with that marker Bruce!! 😅

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Haha I hear ya! Big red is the only one I have messed up this year. Out of probably 40 plus I have marked this year.

@johnhudson412

Жыл бұрын

@@brucesbeesyea you did good!

@timbervalleyhomestead

Жыл бұрын

@@brucesbeeshaha Bruce I now have a big red myself 😂😂 summer heat in spring was not easy on my pens.

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Wow there ya go! Yep. I have been much more careful. I had one more incident twitch that pen where I checked it and I’m glad I did. It would have been big red all over again. But once the pen bled a little it has continue to work fine.

Great video! Why do you press the queen cage into capped brood? Don't the killed pupae cause a problem? I know you want to put the queen where she will stay warm, but I saw empty cells within the brood pattern on at least some of them.

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Yeah you could do that. It may kill just a few pupae but minimal. If the queen is placed in the brood area the bees will be in the area taking care of the brood. Have not had an issue doing it this way.

8 of 12 is a great take rate on virgins

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Yeah. I actually think it was better since two of the splits were doomed to fail from the beginning. And the other one with one wing obviously couldn’t get mated. Interested to see how they do moving forward and what their attitude is.

I have been grafting several hundred per month since Feb and am becoming of the mind that one framers are pretty dicey as a percentage for mating nucs. Am going to stitch to two plus a shake or two to avoid the dwindling bee and slimed mess.

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Yes. They need to be a little stronger than that. These were 2 frame splits with a lot of brood that I thought would emerge. Not a huge population once the foragers flew home. By enough. Except for 2 or 3 of them. Most worked out great. Exactly as planned but obviously some did not. I just done think there were enough irse bees in those two that died out to cover the brood until it emerged.

Hi Bruce, I'm back at the drawing board, just caught my 3rd swarm, one fill a 10 frame box up...not sure what paint you are using, but mine had to dry for about 5 minutes or the bees chew off fresh paint quickly... I have one virgin that was laying ( HAD LARVAE) but when they capped it, it was drone brood...maybe she wasn't mated properly? You are SURE when you see capped worker brood. Hopefully you got something from this...Great Videos

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Yep sounds like you have a drone laying queen. May not have gotten mated good. I have seen lots of that this year than ever before and it is frustrating. This year has been strange. A bit frustrating. But we will see how things storm out. Maybe it will turn around.

@larryschoenberger7957

Жыл бұрын

Yep, but 3 large swarms and a cutout, all produced 8- 10 frames each, using larger swarm traps will catch larger swarms, none of these colonies would even pay attention to a 6 frame nuke, it wouldn't even fit them, and no space to grow...a double deep box, or a deep and a medium ( is what I used) for primary/swarms... I put my last swarm into a Mega large hollow tree that I made to fit boxes on top...the hole in trunk is now the only exit...lol

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Wow that’s interesting stuff!

@larryschoenberger7957

Жыл бұрын

@@brucesbees lol, wish I had a easy way to send you pics. I'm into some interesting stuff right now, hatching a few queens in my living room in a observation hive...When the queen cells emerge, I open it and remove the queen, then wait for the next to emerge...😉

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Hey you can always send pictures via fb messenger. Or email them to me.

Hi, excellent video...thanks for sharing. This may be a dumb question, or maybe I just missed something, but what was the reason for introducing virgins rather than mated queens? Are there advantages or are you just experimenting.

@brucesbees

11 ай бұрын

These were VSH virgin queens form Cory Stevens at Stevens Bee Company. The idea is that the birthing queens can mate with my drones to create local varroa specific hygienic bees.

Hi Bruce, have you ever tried to smash (spread) the wonky comb into & around the frame and let the bees re-purpose that wax? It worked most of the time I did it.

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

I haven’t but thanks for the tip. Maybe I will try it sometime.

Will be interesting to see if they remove the dot since they are HSA

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Yes will have to see. The beauty of VSH queens is that they are “Varroa Sensitive” so they are bred to be hygienic specifically for varroa mites. But we will see.

Finding queens is something I still have trouble with >.< Bred several queens last year, some of which i never found. They're doing excellent work though :D But they're hiding like ninjas

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Yes it can be difficult. I am getting better at it though. Really helps to mark them.

@lagrangebees

Жыл бұрын

@@brucesbees you gotta find them to mark them heheheh It's a chicken and the egg thing I guess :D

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

#truth. They are easier to find in new smaller splits for sure. But I have some that line you I have never seen.

@18:03 are you able to leave the wax you scrap off somewhere for the girls to reuse? If so, where would you leave it?

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

I usually put it in a bucket. Melt it down and use it or sell it.

I did 5 splits and did the jars to feed them. They got robbed out because there’s just not enough bees to guard it. Even with a reduced entrance.

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Ugh. Yeah you can get away with it better if a good flow going but there need to be enough bees in the hive for sure. That might have been what happened to those two that died out.

@johnhudson412

Жыл бұрын

@@brucesbees it surprised me a bit.. we’re in a flow now but they’re still robbing. I think with my small numbers in one of mine (like yours) and getting robbed made the queen nervous and she took off. I’m still learning.

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Yeah. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out. And I am still learning as well. Things this year have not been as smooth as in years past. So I guess learning is a life long process with bees.

you should have the candy faceing down, because when they chew threw the candy it can fall in the queen cage pinnining the queen in hurting here or worth!!

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

I see your point but has not been my experience. Typically there is no candy left when they eat through it. Dead workers however can get pinned between the cage and candy it down. Actually the cages are mostly horizontal with an upwards tilt when I place them.

Interesting, never introduced virgin queens before.

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

This was my first time doing it like this. I have messed around faith virgins a little in the past but usually just last minute experiment type stuff. Never intentionally introduced virgin queens like this before.

Are you holding the queen by the legs when you Mark them,could you show us a close up as to mark the queen's

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Yes I am. I done really have a good video of it and I am still learning myself. The key is to pick her up by the wings and then let her grab you ginger on the other hand with her legs. You have to be sure and get three legs on one side so she doesn’t twist away. Another method is to he your grab her by the thorax instead of the legs. If worried about it you can always practice on drones.

Why Virgin queens instead of Mated? Also, isn’t it always a good idea to remove attendants prior to inserting her? I’ve always found attendants to be the main reason a queen is not accepted. Thx

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Cory Stevens is an authority on VSH genetics. He only sells cells and virgins. The idea is that the VSH virgins will with local stock and create a better bee. Here is an interview I did with him awhile back where we discuss what he is doing. I she never had an issue with attendants. I think it would be tough to remove them. kzread.info/dash/bejne/X3-G1cubiMW3cbw.html

How long a queen take to mate if she is in cage for 7 to 10 days?

@brucesbees

4 ай бұрын

I think she gets mated fairly quickly but I typically leave the splits alone for 2 to 3 weeks before going into them.

I love watching God's creation at work, i would love to have some honey bee's

@brucesbees

5 ай бұрын

Yes bees are amazing! Maybe you can get some one day.

@moondog4313

5 ай бұрын

@@brucesbees I would definitely love to

I’m making two splits today and installing mated queens, could I tape the sugar plug on them as well and for how long? One has tender bees one doesn’t

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Yeah I think you could use this same method. If you put the queen cage in there about 24 hours later they will usually release the queen successfully as they chew through the candy. But if you wait too long to put her in there they will start to make emergency queens that you will need to tear down when you introduce the queens.

@toddknecht2106

Жыл бұрын

@@brucesbees thank you for the reply, I pulled frames from parent colony and immediately installed queen cages, fingers crossed!

Bruce, this is not criticism, I just want to ask a you a question. Have you turned Auburn on us? Marking a Queen orange?

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Nah lol. Didn’t even think of that.🤦🏻‍♂️

65-70%. Still a decent take.

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Yeah. I really think those two were my fault. Would like to say 80% but the reality is I started with 12 and ended up with 8. Hopefully will get better at it but I happy with the results.

those small hives have brood and all...Maybe I missed the fact that you just grabbed them from splitting.

@brucesbees

10 ай бұрын

Yes I split them from strong colonies.

What is the specific marker you used from Walmart?

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

It is the Painters Brand Paint Pen.

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Medium tip.

I was just about to subscribe, then I saw that you were wearing that awful hat... I subscribed anyways... I would like to see a follow up on how the mite resistance is working for you...

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Haha. Roll Tide!!! Thanks for the support in spite of the hat🐝😎

@CastleHives

Жыл бұрын

Hahaha. . That hat is just horrible.

@redfish440

Жыл бұрын

That hat is awesome!

@carlsledge3868

Жыл бұрын

I don't pick on Bruce about his hat anymore, cause everybody knows the wheels done fell off the Tide and they just dont roll no more!!!! GO DAWGS!!!! Looking to make it 3 Nat. Championships in a row. Now to the Cory virgins, I only 6, here's how I did mine, I put 2 frame of brood and a frame of mixed pollen an honey setup in Jester EZ-NUCS 10 days before the queens were due, rather than push the shipping cages into the frame,I used some .020" SS safety wire and made a "V" with support legs to hang between the frames of brood and got 100% mated and laying slab brood frames in less than 10 days after Cory's virgins were installed, I'm hoping they mated with the Johnson Nixon red Italians I recently acquired, these bees are so calm and easy going after they were laying well I transfered them to wooden nuc boxes so I could feed them with pint jars, didn't even need smoke or a veil or gloves, basically I was in a tee, a Dawgs cap, shorts and flip flops, now they're up to 3 frames brood, second round of capped brood on the center frame, so this weekend I'll be moving them onto 2 way pallet singles and to the yard where I'll be keeping the 20 colonies of "Col-Binnies" as Hillbilly Earl calls them, Seth's bringing ❤❤❤❤❤, good job on the 80% Bruce, Bob Binnie sez anything over 75% is good in his mating yards, so it's better to be lucky than good in my case, I'm waiting on the cotton field behind my main yard to be planted, these cool spells ain't helping any.

@brucesbees

Жыл бұрын

Sounds like things are going well well for you. I am eager to see Joe these queens from Cory do.