Always make your bees tell you what plants they visited that day!!!

@beek

Жыл бұрын

Make them give a report.

Liked this video, I have gone to the Laynes hive configuration. I understand why it's hard to change because of the loss of equipment from using the other hive boxes. Horizontal hives seems to be the way to go for older beekeepers, no more having to lift those heavy deeps or even medium, boxes. Commercial beekeepers will never make this move, they are all about the production of honey.

The old root beer was made from sassafras root. Cut down the Poison ivy during the winter when the sap is in the root, and there are no leaves I've even pulled some up by the root bear-handed during the winter,not realizing it was poison ivy. I love my horizontal hive! I have a layens.

David, I don't cut down poison ivy vines. I just take a 1" disk out of the main trunk with a saw which effectively kills the vine.

@beek

Жыл бұрын

Good point. I’ll do that.

for poison ivy, key identifying features - the middle leaf is extended out on its own stem, leaves are alternate not opposite

Another great video David. Keep them coming. Appreciate your enthusiasm and your teaching us. Thank you.

Very interesting! I learned something from you David. Thank you for all the information. Anything that helps your back is a great idea! God bless~

In Georgia we have Poison Ivy exerywhere , the vines take over trees quickly. We also, have beekeepers everywhere, and never had any honey issues.

I'm new to beekeeping and my first hive is the horizontal hive. Mine is a top bar type with 12 inch wide bars, 12 inch deep. Challenges for me are running out of room! I simply didn't build mine big enough! Also my bees are attaching comb to the side of the hive. Inspections I'll usually have tons of bees flying around when Im in the hive, it appears to really mess with them. Also finding the queen is a challenge because she can hop off one frame and go somewhere else in the hive when I smoke the hive. Replacing the bars can be hard without smoking them because they crawl all over the sides. Needless to say, my next hive will be a langstroth and hopefully I can avoid a split or swarm before next spring. That being said, your horizontal hive with the langstroth frames appears to be a better design and I may try this in the future! I built mine as well and it is solid wood 2x construction wood, VERY HEAVY!

I live in southern WV and have TONS of a few different types of rhododendrons. Catawba Rhododendron, Great Rhododendron, Mountain Laurel, and wild azaleas. Absolutely everywhere here, acres of them on some mountains around me (especially my backyard) and I’ve never seen any honey bees mess with any of them. I always see bumblebees on them but that’s it

I'm so glad you are enjoying your horizontal hive! I just love mine! I have 4 and I wouldn't trade them for anything!

@beek

Жыл бұрын

I love it!

I built a Layens hive. This will be my first year with it. So far so good. I installed a swarm April 29. They are working on 9th frame.

In Italy you can buy rhododendron honey it is very expensive and safe because it comes from european plants of rhododendron in the Alps and their flowers aren't posionous; otherwise if rhododendron plants are species from asia they are very poisonous both leaves and flowers ....it's a very delicious honey and I ate it many times!

I am so allergic to poison ivy that I leaned back when you showed the plant up close. Interesting about rhododendron toxicity.

Awesome video. What about pioson oak and pioson sumac. There are few different plants that produce Grayanotoxins. Laurels of many kinds contain it also.

Thanks Dave, I never thought about the poison ivy!

Nice to know this,if and when I start my on for my own honey there's not gonna be any this around for sure even though I can't either get oak or ivy

I found out Oregon bees are smart. They don't collect from our 'high concentration' of Rhodies; They themselves would die. It's Bumble bees that are symbionts with Rhodies.

Since childhood I've always been allergic to poison ivy, to where I'd get huge water blisters and have to get steroid shots and have even ended up in hospital. But a few years ago, under a drs care, I started taking Rhus Tox (toxicodendron) which is derived from poison ivy, in order to help the chronic debilitating pain caused by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (genetic connective tissue disorder) and surprisingly to me, it didn't cause any allergic reactions. I'm sure the Rhus Tox, combined with drinking milk from my goats that eat poison ivy like it's candy, and honey which more than likely has been made with some poison ivy nectar since it grows crazy around here, has made me far less allergic to the actual poison ivy plant over the past few years. Whatever the reason, I'm thankful.

You can tell them not to go to these plants. But, they just don't listen. Maybe if you can do a waggle dance for them, but bees still do what bees do. My NC property has Mountain Laurel on it (it's really beautiful) but lots and lots of sourwood around it! We'll be taking a trip there later this year for my ladies to collect some. Can you do a video on some of the best trees for honey?

Here in Australia we have a weed called Patterson's curse, it has a violet bloom and bees absolutely love this colour and gather nectar from it. it produces toxic honey, and you need to pull all honey prior to it coming into bloom. It doesn't seem to effect the bees so it is ok for them to winter on.

@beek

5 ай бұрын

Interesting to know

My brother has a few hives and he had a 8 inch diameter poison ivy vine in a ash tree we cut down this winter and I wondered about the nectar. There’s a lot of poison ivy by buffalo NY but a hour south there’s barely any

I agree that the horizontal hive would allow me to work my hive much more easily. As is I have my son doing the lifting. 😊

@beek

Жыл бұрын

Absolutely!!

My area is loaded with Mountain Laurel (Kalmia Latifolia). It's just starting to bloom and 90% of the pollen coming in is from mountain laurel. Luckily the only thing I'm try to do right now is draw comb.

Hi David, we a new beekeepers and have learned so much from you and we thank you. You mentioned Rhododendron but the plant you showed looks like Azalea. Could you clarify. I have a yard full of Azaleas and my bees do love them.

Hi David, I'm a new subscriber this is interesting . You said the concentration of the oil is very low . We have always gotten local honey to help with seasonal allergies. This holds true with how homeopathic medicine works. Food for thought . Myself and my sons love your videos, keep up the good work.

He's right. I told my bees to stop hanging around the rhododendrons but they wouldnt listen

I live in the Pacific Northwest, where sadly rhododendrons are quite prolific. Luckily, only a few houses on my street have them, and not a ton. I get why people grow them, though, they are gorgeous here.

Interesting about the poison ivy plants, would have never thought of that. We are not beekeepers yet. Trying to get as much info this fall and winter, learning everything we can! Would love more information on horizontal hives. Everyone we've talked to don't care for them. We are in our 60's and I'm not wanting to move heavy supers. Please give us more info on horizontal hives. I did see your video on it but I want more!!!!

I have a Layens hive and just put a swarm there last week. The hive is just exploding! I had to open up 5 more frames yesterday.

Sassafras confused with Poison Ivy? I can't imagine that. I can see people confusing Virginia Creeper with Poison Ivy because they are both vines and grow in similar locations, and sometimes together but creeper has 5 leaflets and that's the giveaway. I have read that Ohio Buckeye is poisonous to bees but have no first hand knowledge of that. I've also heard of plants who's pollen will kill brood when the hive has stored it. No first hand knowledge on that either, just someone who was breeding queens using it to explain why he had a massive die off of his queen larvae.

I live in an area with a lot of Rhododendrons and Azaleas, but the bees I mostly see in the flowers are wild bee species (bumblebees, miner bees, etc.) The wild bees here outcompete the honeybees on the rhodies. The honeybees stick mostly to berry and fruit blossoms here.

@beek

Жыл бұрын

Nice

@Pegasus209

Жыл бұрын

I was surprised recently to learn that Azalea nectar is toxic to honeybees, which is disturbing since I have a flowerbed full of Azaleas in front of my house.

Good video David, for sure need there are plants to be concerned about. Thanks fir sharing

Do you ever add more than 2 brood boxes? Will they not keep expanding? Is that when you just take out the queen cells?

I built my own horizontal hive, and I love it too!

@beek

Жыл бұрын

Yup they are pretty cool

We have one large rhododendron bush on our property which is full of blooms should I cut it down

From north east Michigan, have you ever been ask about bitter honey. Harvested some in the last year harvest. Not a tangy bitter but a slight dry tasting bitter?

David, GREAT VIDEOS on plants and horizontal hive. I built one 3 yrs ago and it works great, the BIG PLUS is it's very easy on our back. I live in Orangeville, NY which is in Western NY, summers are GREAT, winters not so good for honey bees in any type of hive. I made my horizontal hive with 2 inch thick wood, insulated with 2 inch insulation board on all sides, top and bottom! Feed them with WBK candy boards and never made it through the winter season yet. My Langsloth hives have made it with WBK boards. So, I think horizontal hives are for warmer climate areas. Also, great for queen rearing.

Azaleas are also in the rhododendron family and produce nectar that make mad honey.

@beek

Жыл бұрын

Yes

There are definitely plants to be concerned about, like mountain Laurel in the north east here.

@beek

Жыл бұрын

Indeed

Could it be possible that you may actually build up a resistance to the alergy by eating honey?

What if bees are using plants to keep disease and infestation out. ... And what about spectroscopy of the honey to really check the honey?

I had an interesting thought. Could you gain some immunity to poison ivy by consuming poison ivy honey? Food for thought.

I'm in Pennsylvania, how does a horizontal hive winter?

@beek

Жыл бұрын

I’m about to find out. It’s opposite of how bees naturally place their comb in hallow tree trunks.

Thank you

@beek

Жыл бұрын

You're welcome

Poison ivy pollen is the best

What about hydrangeas?

The best honey is from the sumac. My customer get less break outs after eating honey made from poison ivy

Good advice.

@beek

Жыл бұрын

Thanks

My bees are in a residential neighborhood. Please advise on a GPS tracker that will fit one of my bees. ;) lol

🙏

I would try that honey … can’t be that bad if a bee made it 🤷🏻‍♂️

What about Rhododendron schlippenbachii? These are native to east asia

Wow DAVE really Rhododendrons l have some in my yard and many other flowers and plants that l guess are safe 🫰cross my fingers that all ok and have bees 10 years now and not dead yet..

How about Azaleas they are all rhododendrons except some rhododendrons are not Azaleas. Thank you Mike

Your Horizontal hive looks like the work of ______. He makes some incredible hives. Top notch work!

@beek

Жыл бұрын

As I SAID in the video, I'll be sharing who made it and who painted it in an upcoming video. I'm building suspense. 😀

@Amigatech

Жыл бұрын

@@beek, Sorry. I edited my comment.

We have not even scratched the surface about plants or about bees if only we knew what they know.

I’ve never seen honey bees on any rhododendrons in my area, just bumble bees. The honey bees are on fruit trees at that time.

It helped me not be allergic to poison ivy anymore

Doubt it will affect you. I knew a guy one time that was allergic to poison ivy and he put some in his mouth and chewed on it. Barely had any effect on him.

Mountain laurel is related.

Who built that horizontal hive for you

@beek

Жыл бұрын

I'm making a video about who made it, coming soon.

mountain laurel is toxic as well.

Would Monks Hood be a problem ?

@beek

Жыл бұрын

Thursday I'm spending the whole hour answering these types of questions. Can you join us and ask it then? Thursday, 7pm central time, here's the link: www.honeybeesonline.com/live

Not good news for West Virginia beekeepers. Rhododendron is our state flower.

Another hazard: milk from a goat that has been eating a lot of rhododendron.

I've got poison ivy and sasafras by my hives. Lol,

Bees forage for miles around you can't stop them from getting nectar from bad plants.

@beek

Жыл бұрын

Yup that's what I said in the video

Soo poison ivy is healthy for idk interesting 🤔🤔🤔

are you sure thats poison ivey?

@beek

Жыл бұрын

Yes, VERY sure!!

@larosythejumpylizard

Жыл бұрын

Poison ivy on my country is not a tree, it's with small leaves and crawling in fences which is good in a cenented fences but it's good to hear this video of yours.. thanks

@Nothandled

Жыл бұрын

Doesn’t look like it to me

@beek

Жыл бұрын

This is NOT a tree. It is a poison ivy vine growing up into a tree.

@beek

Жыл бұрын

Trust me, IT IS

If I get with in 10 feet of poison ivy I get it 😮

Bees don't listen I tell them not to jump my neighbors fence but they do it anyway.

Box elder looks 10000% more like poison ivy than sassafras.

@beek

Жыл бұрын

True

I lick every bee 🐝 before they return to the hive. If my lips tingle I know that they’ve been around poisonous plants 🌱

@beek

Жыл бұрын

Thanks funny

I built a top bar hive, I have not tried it yet

@beek

Жыл бұрын

I never was able to over winter a top bar hive.

Cut a 1 foot section out of the base of the ivy. If you just cut it in one part it will fuse back together.

Don't be a dink, the bees would need to be in huge fields of only these plants to produce honey with high enough concentrations of anything harmful.

@beek

Жыл бұрын

Pretty sure that’s what I made abundantly clear several times in the video

@ryanmoore7098

Жыл бұрын

@@beekwow, you were right when you mentioned in the livestream, that people just come by to comment negatively about your videos. It’s free information, be happy he’s taking the time to make these videos.

Mountain Laurel (Kalmia sp.) makes poisonous honey. We even have a creek called Poisonhoney Fork where Mountain Laurel is abundant.