I'm not gonna lie Brett you might be my favorite beekeeper. You've done nothing but help me as I grow and this channel is amazing!! Thanks for the time and effort for all of this.

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

Awwhh dude thanks so much for the comment. This will sound cheesy, but, this is why I do this stuff, so comments like this are greatly appreciated.

Appreciate you putting yourself out there, to help others learn! Good luck in this next year!

Good to see you back. Sounds like we both leaned about mites the hard way.

Thanks for sharing your stories. looking forward to more videos this season.

Welcome back. A good topic. I’m starting year 4. Still tons to learn

If I wasn't sitting in my living room watching you on KZread, I could have shut my eyes and still seen you at the front of the room running our bee meeting. Great job as usual......

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Dwayne.

Great video Brett. The Queen we got from you this year did great all summer. Your a great speaker. New bee keepers need good help.

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Jody!

Thank you brother. Your passion is infectious.

Great video feel your pain my first 2 nucs we used the large top hive feeders quickly had 50,000 bees attacking & robbing out both but 4th year in now 15 hives coming into early Spring hoping for a good year of honey and growth

I was going to go treatment free my first year. Only problem is I thought the idea of not doing mite counts was stupid. So as a new beekeeper I did alcohol wash on my three hives of Russian Stock. Two of them had no mites but the third had 6 per 300. OAV treatment 4 weekends in a row for August fixed that problem. Videos like yours and Mr. Dunn helped me avoid making poor decisions.

Great video. Thank you so much for sharing. ❤

I just installed my first package. Now pressing the frames together completely… yeah I had to fix that one and learned the hard way.

Thank you for the video. I just finished my first year and lost all 5 of my hives this winter in Eastern WA State. My wife cried the other day when I told her the last 2 hives were gone. It definitely knocked me back down to reality with how much you have to learn and just difficult this can be. Ive re-read a couple books and focused on learning more about the diseases and treatments for the bees. On a funny note, my wife heard you say "you became obsessed with bees" and looked at me and was like that is so you!!

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

Ahh man, I feel for you, I know exactly how you feel right now. I think your obsession, and the fact that you immediately went back to the research material will pull you out of this and make you a great beekeeper. Keep it up, unfortunately there are some more lessons you'll have to learn, but if you take this one truly to heart, all of the rest of the lessons will pale in comparison. Good luck. Don't hesitate to shoot questions my way if you're concerned about something.

@treycampo4239

3 жыл бұрын

@@BKBees Thanks. I've heard the first 3 years are very hard and most people give up by year 3, so I definitely expect some more rough spots. Its nice to hear of others who talk about the struggles getting going, so I will definitely bounce some questions to you. Good luck this year.

Thanks for the advice!!

My man is back!

Glad your Back!!! look forward to your videos.

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Philip!

@HoneyStoneFarm

3 жыл бұрын

@@BKBees Hope I can get a couple of your Queens for summer splits.

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

For sure, shoot me a message when you need em, or just get them from bkbees.com

Great Video !!!! I have been a Bee Keeper all my life and I am still learning about Bees

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Erik!

Wow Brett, your mite situation sounds like what I went through in my first two years, considering I am completing my 4th year. I went through the first two years not treating for mites, had three colonies and at the end of the 2nd year I lost all three colonies. I had to start over and now I'm treating at 3 times per year....so far it's good.

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I think a lot of us have stories like that. I'm glad I realized the err of my ways, and I think you'll be glad in that same way.

@amylarson3958

3 жыл бұрын

My darned machine broke. Didnt get to all rhe hives before going into winter. This summer the count was low......we'll see.

I’m so damn excited to get into beekeeping. I had my first short lesson last evening, and plan to do several more before I start my own. I need more zen activities in my life.

Good advice I’m new so this is helpful.

Thanks for the lesson thought. 👍

Just got my first hive recently I just want to say thank you for making all these videos they are so helpful I would be lost without you do the people around me that raise bees are not willing to help or teach new people sadly

@BKBees

2 жыл бұрын

I'm happy to help. I hate hearing that about beeks, but, unfortunately that's not an uncommon sentiment. Please feel free to comment any concerns or questions you might have on any video of mine, I'm always happy to assist beginning beeks.

Amen brother....we all have similar stories....I’ve been at it 35 years....every year there’s a lesson.....and don’t worry about your past ego trip.....time has a way of healing that problem between your ears.....Love you man.....

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Ed!

Great video Brett Hope you get back into it soon.

Honesty is tough.Good Jon.

B&K Bees = best beekeeping channel!

@BKBees

2 жыл бұрын

Thankya.

Thank you!

Just started beekeeping last year but it was after 3-4 years of reading books, watching KZread videos, including Varroa Mite biology and treatments before getting in the hobby. Nevertheless, had very low Varroa counts via alcohol wash in the spring, got lazy in monitoring and thought my apiary was secluded enough from Varroa Mites. August yielded 36 mites/300 bees in one colony, thankfully ApiGuard (Thymol) really reduced the Varroa load and the colony rebounded. Now I monitor each colony with alcohol wash per month. Treatments, mite counts, colony notes are stored in Excel to help track it and further hone the timing of treatments.

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

Fantastic. Well done.

@cbbees1468

3 жыл бұрын

@@BKBees Thank you, glad they rebounded, honeybees and bumblebees are some incredible creatures.

I agree with you on that a lot of the people say they don't treat catches a lot of swarms and does a lot of be removals to have bees

I started bee keeping late last year I had 1 strong hive and 1 very weak hive, Christmas eve the weak hive died they simply starved to death, despite having atleast 10lbs of honey/syrup and a big chunck of fondant they just never moved up to the food, however my hive that was strong going into winter is thriving. I bought a gas vap and have done 2 oxalic acid treatments so far might even get another in before the temps raise meanwhile I will continue learning about beekeeping from videos such as this

@cbbees1468

3 жыл бұрын

Depending on how cold it gets in your area, honeybees can starve to death with plenty of food in the colony if they can't break cluster to access honey a frame or two away.

Great video… love your content. Was there a reason not to use featherboards to rip your frame rests and bottom beespace before you chopsaw to length?

Great video. What Nuc box do you prefer to grow bees??? Have you ever used the box that brushy mountain had???

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

I'm not sure what kind of boxes Brushy Mountain have, maybe you're talking about the brown and yellow plastic boxes I've seen so many pictures of? Either way, I own a few hundred wooden nuc boxes and use those for most "nuc" applications, but, for years I have relied on the corrugated EZ nuc boxes, they're like $15 a piece, and they'll last you quite a long time. The only downsides to those are the bees can lock the lids down, making them pretty frustrating if you've ignored the nuc for a while, and they gather water in the gaps in the corrugated part of the box. If you're looking for a cheap box to help you grow your operation, I highly recommend them.

I wish I knew that lumber prices were going to double and triple so I could have stocked up on hive making lumber.

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

I'm lucky in that we aren't buying equipment this year, or, at least I don't plan to, so I haven't noticed the increase in the cost.

@amylarson3958

3 жыл бұрын

Amen. I ran out of stock myself

Hey Brett, great video! I'm currently in my first winter as a beekeeper and hoping my 3 hives all make it to spring. I did the same thing last year and listened to a lot of treatment free keepers. But the more I read and watched, OA seemed like a necessity so I hit my hives with a mid December treatment hoping I wasn't too late. I guess we'll know in a month or so how I did. When you treat with OA do you do one treatment or a few treatments spaced over a few weeks?

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

That depends on what the brood situation in the hive is. If it's brooded up, with open and capped brood, I do three treatments 6 days apart. If I do it in November or December I just blast 'em good once, because the brood levels are nil or low.

@dgoodhoney3000

3 жыл бұрын

Sir do, it is good in the sense that you have reached this level of learning, however, you have quite some way to go yet. I am still in that learning 🎓 phase as a beekeeper and have been taking home classes directly from observing the bees, and have learned so much from them during the recent willful recent poisening of my bees by a nearby neighbor. So do, observation and paying attention is an important part of keeping bees healthy as I seak to be a better beekeeper. I can see you will be a better beekeeper every year good luck to you and thanks for sharing such a vital part of your experience with me 🙏.

Great to see a new video. I also became a believer in treatment after losing some hives following natural methods. So many people believe that the treatment of a hive with a naturally occurring chemical must be bad because it is a "chemical", and don't understand that WATER is also a "chemical" with a funny sounding name (dihydrogen monoxide). Vitamins are chemicals. The assumption that if you can't pronounce it, it must be bad for the bees is unfounded. Test and treat responsibly...save your bees!

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

Perfectly stated.

I don’t have any Boardman feeders, but a friend does and he uses them above the hive in an empty hive body. Just like plain mason jar feeders with a spacer underneath.

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

I do something similar, when I'm spot feeding at the end of the year, I put all types of different containers above the hive surrounded by an empty box, I've used baking pans, buckets, rubbermaid tupperware, lots of different things.

Great info. It's been studying and watching tube videos on bee keeping for a couple of years , telling my wifi that I'm gonna do it. Well she bought me 2 hives for my b-day. I'll be setting them up this weekend 2/5/21 . I'll need to get bees soon I guess . I'll bee watching closely . P.s. I'm in south central tx. 84 degrees today. Is there a preferred time (of year)and temp to start colony?

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the comment, Charles. The optimal time to start a colony differs for different geographic regions but generally you want to get them set up before the buildup portion of the year, so, I'd start looking for some local packages or nucs now. Here in Michigan we're usually installing new colonies in mid - late April.

Can you go in detail about your Rubbermaid feeder process?

Your comments around 15 minutes in made me wonder if some of the hive failures from varroa etc, are higher in urban areas, and higher chemical residue areas like metros, larger cities... Curious what you think on this. Also curious if you think the entrance feeders may have a higher malfunction rate in areas with frequent winds or frequent higher winds? So much fun to talk bees with you and see comments, videos. Thanks.

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

Hmm, I would guess, and this is a total guess, that the majority of beekeepers in the urban areas are hobbyists, and therefore they would probably have a higher rate of failure than the rural areas, just because of the level of experience. I could be wrong, because there are tons of beginner hobbyists in the country too, but that's my guess. As far as the chemicals and pollution and stuff, I really don't know... I do know that being close to a managed orchard or farmyard can be dangerous because of the chemicals they broadcast, so, would the inherent pollution in a major city be worse than that? Your guess is as good as mine. The entrance feeder question is another good one that I don't have a good answer to. To be honest the crappy aspect of the entrance feeders is inherent, regardless of wind, and that is the robbing threat, and the ineffectiveness, feeding a quart at a time, and the lower shelf life of the syrup due to the transparent jars... So, would they be even less effective if they were in high wind areas? Maybe. Either way I say just steer clear of those types of feeders, get yourself a frame replacement feeder for each hive, and buy and modify a rubbermaid container for communal feeding. Thanks for the comments and support, Noah!

It is the mistakes that make better beekeepers. Even seasoned beekeepers make mistakes. We never forget the mistakes. Lesson learned. I'm a 3rd year. Great video. Susan NW Georgia

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

Every year I figure out a new way to mess things up, lol.

Do you have a video on the DIY communal feeder?

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

I have an old video on an old style of communal feeder. I don't use these feeder types anymore though: kzread.info/dash/bejne/qGRls8meoJS2pqg.html Here's a video where I deal with and talk about the feeder style I use today: kzread.info/dash/bejne/fIllu8h7drfSnsY.html

im a first year bee haver .THANK YOU

Great Video Brett....Should I do mite checks on every one of my colonies each month or Should I spot check them? Do you base your Oxalic Acid treatment schedule around the mite checks or do you have a schedule set up regardless? Thank You

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

I do a count from a random 4 or 5 hives per yard, and each yard contains between 20 and 40 hives. So, sampling a percentage of your hives is fine, but I wouldn't just sample one. You really do want to get enough of your overall total to give you a good representation. I do winter OA treatments regardless of counts, and I treat everything in August with formic acid regardless of the counts. Every treatment other than those two I just mentioned are on a case by case basis, depending on the mite count.

@HereWeGoSteelers

3 жыл бұрын

@@BKBees Thank you for the quick reply Brett... If you find a colony that has a high mite load during a honey flow how do you handle that situation using Oxalic Acid? Do I remove the honey supers then put them back on following the treatments? Thank you once again for taking the time out to help me.

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

@@HereWeGoSteelers Those are the times I reach for formic acid, honestly. Unless the colony is a single or smaller, with no honey boxes on. Not only can you use formic with supers on, but it's super effective during the middle of the bee year when most colonies are brooded up. OA doesn't affect the foundress mites, formic does.

Regarding mites, what do you think about just treating anyway, without doing alcohol washes? I'm new at this and only have 1 colony, but I'm getting more in the spring.

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

I think that's a better method than not doing anything. If I were to help you come up with a treatment regimen, I'd recommend one pre Summer, one mid Summer and OA at the end of the year. Mite washes aren't tough though, I have videos on that subject and am here to answer any questions if you have any. At the very least, make sure your bees are healthy before the winter bees start to emerge, for me that date is August 15th. If I fail to do anything mite wise before then, I always make sure the load is less than 2% by mid August.

@Makermook

3 жыл бұрын

@@BKBees -- This past year, I got my bees in July, so I did three rounds of Apiguard (thymol) starting mid-August, then one OA at the beginning of December on a day in the 40s. What pre-summer treatment would you suggest? And would you treat a new package after they've been in the box for a week?

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

@@Makermook I like to use OA whenever it's effective, because it's easy and cheap. So, in terms of the package that was recently hived, I'd go with OA. My treatment schedule is usually something like an OA round (and by "round" I mean three treatments 6 days apart) in April/ early May, then a full formic treatment in early June, another full formic treatment in mid August, and OA at the end of the year, November or December. Not all yards need all iterations of that schedule, but everything gets treated in August, regardless of the counts.

@CanineWild

3 жыл бұрын

@@BKBees hey there! Getting bees this spring and doing some extra research before hand, though I've taken a course several years ago. I'm wondering about your treatment timings there- as far as I'm aware, where I'm at we do our treatments in early spring and fall, cause doing them in the summer compromises the honey for several weeks. If you're doing them between there, I'm wondering if it's simply because your peak season is different than ours, or I'm perhaps missing something? I do know mites are an issue here (MB, Canada), so I'd love to get a good handle on the issue beforehand ;)

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

@@CanineWild when treating in the summer, or any time while there's a honey super on, we treat with formic acid, which doesn't contaminate the honey at all.

Thank you for sharing. I am about to get my bee this weekend May 15,2012. When should I start checking for mites? When should I apply the mite killer? What equipment should I purchase to kill the mites?

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

If it's a nuc I'd check a month after installation, if it's a package you can probably wait to do a mite wash until the end of summer. I don't think you should invest in any equipment this year, unless you really want to, and then in that case it would be an oxalic acid sublimator. If you don't feel like spending the money then I'd just plan to treat a couple of times with formic acid, either formic pro or mite away quick strips. Use 'em in June/July and mid to late August, do a mite wash in late August to verify a low mite load. If you do that stuff, you'll be doing wonderfully.

@richardwatchingfromhalifax2122

3 жыл бұрын

@@BKBees Thank you for your help.

Is there an organic acid that can be used with a vaporizer that is safe for honey consumption? I plan to use layens frames, brood and honey will be on same frame. Thanks for your videos.

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

No I don't know of an acid that you can vaporize that doesn't contaminate the honey, I'd suggest getting comfortable with formic.

Formic acid is a natural treatment for bees. I had a strange encounter with some of my bees on the landing board approaching a line of ants trying to enter the hive looking for honey and pollen droppings. The bees were not attacking the ants but more like dancing in front of them. Under closer inspection i saw that they were provoking the ants to spray formic acid on them and using their legs, rubbing their bodies with the spray and in a delirium. I have seen similar behaviour with chickens jumping into ant's nests briefly to get a similar treatment before finishing with a dust bath. Isn't Nature a wonderful thing. Where they get the oxalic acid from naturally is a mystery as I have not seen bees dancing on my Rhubarb ?

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

Oxalic acid is in lots of plants that produce honey and therefore is naturally occurring in the honey. In fact, there's a flower called oxalis. So, I'm not aware of the bees using oxalic for anything in particular, but it's definitely there.

It’s so funny (not haha) how similar new beekeepers are. When I retired from the Army I started researching the honey bee and how to keep them. I read everything I could and talked to everyone I could. Finally after four years a local beekeeper told me to go to the beginner beekeepers class and get some bees. So that’s what I did. Got my bees, started with two hives and actually got honey my first year (you were instrumental in making sure I took some)! Made it through my first winter, both hives made it. I was doing regular mite checks and treatments and got cocky thinking I had this beekeeping thing dialed in. Only to lose all ten of my hives through my second winter... Going through the hives, there was plenty of honey stores left. After talking to folks in the bee club realized that they too had had similar losses. The common factor was that we all finished out treatments in August. And a lot of us were near other hives (commercial Russian hives) who were not treating their bees... My bees brought mites back after my last treatment and I lost all of my hives... Lesson learned... Treatment, treatment, treatment... It is essential. Thanks for all you do! Thanks for your vulnerability in sharing your story and THANKS FOR BEING BACK, and bringing new videos. 😃

@Makermook

3 жыл бұрын

I've been taught to do an OA treatment in December to catch them when they're broodless.

@LarryLeesBees

3 жыл бұрын

@@Makermook - I’ve seen a lot of folks doing that... I’m in the Pacific Northwest and have pretty harsh winters (not this year... Warm, Cold, Warm, Cold all winter, horrible, also probably contributed to my issues), so was hesitant to treat when it’s so cold... That being said, it couldn’t have made things any worse, LoL!!! Definitely a learning curve... Always have next winter to try again... 😃

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

That story is exactly why I made this video. Thanks for sharing it, I hope others scroll down and read your account. Mites are too unpredictable to go at them with any kind of "system", other than just checking the mite loads every month being prepared to take action. I'll agree with Mark here too, hitting the bees while broodless with OA can help quite a bit, just be sure to realize it's a boon to the next year's health, and shouldn't be an effort to keep your bees alive through the winter. The damage, in terms of virus loads and mite counts, is largely inflicted by mid winter.

@treycampo4239

3 жыл бұрын

@@LarryLeesBees I'm in Eastern WA, just finished my first year and this week I lost the last 2 of my 5 hives. I Treated too late and not enough to do any help. I'm disappointed, my wife cried and I placed my order for a couple new packages. Definitely going into this season with a better overall management plan.

@LarryLeesBees

3 жыл бұрын

@@treycampo4239 - Where in eastern Wa are you located? I’m near the Palouse Highway, South of Spokane’s South Hill.

I follow WUR (Wageningen University) menu: 3 treatments per year. At spring cut drone brood or treat a split with oxalic acid sugar water solution by misting the bees, summer treat them with formic acid after you pulled last honey (around July), in winter when bees are in a cluster (not lower than -5C) use 5ml sugarwater with oxalic acid solution per row of bees (the space between two frames). 4th year of beekeeping, 16 hives, got 100+ beekeepers nearby, see loads of DWV and so far 0 loss. Last December I treated the last time and so far all made it. I'm dealing with loads of beekeepers around me that do not believe in treating, it is sometimes infuriating that people handle bees like this.

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

I couldn't agree with you more. Your plan is a good one though and I think it'll give you a lot of success, regardless of what those other beeks are doing. Keep it up.

QUESTION. Can i dont use deep box for nest and use only honey supers for the whole hive?

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

Yep you can use whatever size boxes you like.

@vytbbb7146

3 жыл бұрын

@@BKBees thanks for reply. will there be any productivity penalties or its just the matter of frames count?

Thanks for your videos, especially ones like this where you open yourself up to criticism. You have some great experience, and communicate it well. The treatment-free philosophy would say that your winter of 3 survivors out of 35 is to be expected and that this is somewhat a right-of-passage in order to cull the weak genetics and determine which are capable of surviving without treatments. Then you breed from the 3 survivors and rebuild your stock with those genetics, and then will have much lower loss rates in future years. Question from my inquisitive mind to yours... Since you were so ingrained in the treatment-free mindset, what caused you to see this as a failure instead of a necessary step in becoming truly treatment-free? Please don't take the question the wrong way. It's not a criticism. Just looking to understand your experience better, especially because you had such a strong conviction for being treatment-free rather than merely a passing interest.

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

Greg, the reality is, building a mite resistant stock from three colonies that only made it because of luck and numbers is really tough. In order to be good mite resistant bees they have to have the ability to: #1 detect mites under brood cappings, #2 remove mites when detected and/or #3 have very rigorous hygiene. None of those three things by themselves will create mite resistant stock, and all three are different gene sets, something you aren't likely to just happen to come across in your three survivors. Unfortunately these parasites are so foreign and the diseases they carry with them so deadly, mitigation efforts are necessary, especially if you want to make money from them or not have the bees cost you endless amounts of money. Now, we breed queens, so, mite hardiness is absolutely a part of our breeding regimen, but a totally treatment free system isn't something I see possible at the scale we're at, in our current global mite and virus situation. So, not only do you have to have these innate abilities, or at least have them in some of your colonies so that you can breed them together, but you also need to be free from other beekeepers influence, mite wise, which even up here near Lake Superior is a very difficult thing to do. Even the most mite resistant bees that exist on this planet in 2021 will succumb to a high mite load and virus load late in the season when bombarded by absconding mite ridden bees, so, even if you have the genes, it's still incredibly tough.

@gregsmit3829

3 жыл бұрын

Yes, it's tough. Keep learning, keep sharing what you learn. Thank you for your efforts.

Do you induce swarming? There needs to be a broodless period to help keep the bastard mites down

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

No, we split everything in the spring every year to knock out the swarm impulse but there's no induced swarming.

I think i would give up having bees if Varroa mite ever got into Australia. Its been in usa for 40 years , why is it that no one has come up with something to eradicate it for all time ,what research is going on to do this ???

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

We'd need everyone's cooperation, and then some luck on top of that, seeing as there are swarms leaving to enter houses and trees and all of that, carrying with them mites, eradication would be tough. I don't think it'll ever be eradicated, honestly, although I do think selective breeding programs will pull us through eventually to where they're more akin to tracheal mites or something else less serious.

When we took the bees from the tree and put them in a box. we became bee keepers and it is out duty to take care of them.

Sup Bret. Life is busy and I'm sure you busy at your website development company but.....my 2 granddaughters and myself miss your vids! I'm positive that you're keeping stinging insects 😉I hope everything is good with you ✅😁👍👍🍺🍺🍻

@BKBees

2 жыл бұрын

Haven't had the ability to get to any of my hives yet but the videos will start when that happens. Thanks brother.

@pirateprospecting707

2 жыл бұрын

@@BKBees Looking forward to watching those!!!👍👍

👍

Where are you located?

@BKBees

2 жыл бұрын

Michigan's UP. The Base of the Keweenaw Peninsula.

@mar1video

2 жыл бұрын

@@BKBees - one of the most beautiful places in the USA 😁

@BKBees

2 жыл бұрын

@@mar1video that's exactly why we're here.

I decided that my primary concern while beekeeping will be to keep the brood happy and healthy, collecting honey will be secondary in my mind...🐝

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

You'll get a lot of honey with that mindset, honestly.

If you break the brood cycle in your colony, is how you make treatment free work. The mites population boost when bees are rearing more brood, this is why wild/feral colonies swarm. And if you get feral colonies they have a better chance at being treatment free. But you half to do what your comfortable with.

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

Agreed, brood breaks via splits and swarming are essential for colonies to keep mites low. The problems with relying on only that are the late season mite booms, too late in the year to break the brood. As a part of the overall plan though, agreed, breaking the brood cycle is a great asset.

@russellkoopman3004

3 жыл бұрын

My thoughts are that brood breaks lower the levels but there is still a moderate level of mites in your hive. Do you let 3 or 4 wood ticks suck blood from your dog - it wouldn't kill them. But the virus level is the real kicker. How high of a level of viruses do you want in your hive? OAV is not harmful to the bees or the honey. I eat spinach and rhubarb all the time and I'm still alive. Take care of your livestock.

@farmofmilkandhoney3903

3 жыл бұрын

My swarms mostly do way better than any treated bee I've gotten. I aim for tolerance not really resistance, you will never achieve a mite free hive, but treatment makes mites treatment resistance, and bees weaker to threats. If they make it on there own we should mimic their patterns, that's just me.

@farmofmilkandhoney3903

3 жыл бұрын

And my main philosophy is, breed from treatment free survivor from one or two winters, and let the week colonies fail to get best genetics. Once you treat a hive it will always need it, and still has no guarantee of success mites always return.

I feel the same about "organic farming" when it comes to cows. If your cow is sick and there is a drug to help and you just watch them die. Seems tragic to me. This is my first year bee keeping and I know NOTHING.

@BKBees

2 жыл бұрын

You know enough to be a good beek. You're well ahead of quite a lot of beginning beeks, just based on this comment.

Glad you're bad. Good advice, though the school of hard knocks taught me a lot of it already. Interesting titles on your bookshelf. Burroughs?!

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

Yep, I have a bunch of beat generation authors on those shelves thanks to a hippy stage in college, lol.

Great information and certainly well presented and communicated. Perhaps it would be good to present something on the different approaches to mite control based on one’s goal(s) in beekeeping such as hobby vs. income and the number of hives. Thanks for this video! Josh, 6th year Beek

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

That is a good suggestion, thanks, Josh.

I wish I had known 1 out of 2 package queens are duds. Buy nucs.

Great content but please get a pop filter or something. Your S sounds are very harsh. Keep up the good work

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

Sorry about that, I'm well aware of the crappy audio in these videos, it isn't an issue anymore, the equipment has been upgraded, but, the string of videos I put out between February and March are pretty crappy, audio wise. Thanks for sticking with me.

@CoffeeNo0b0514

3 жыл бұрын

@@BKBees glad to hear that! We all start somewhere. Just picked up my first 2 packages today and your videos and mistakes and knowledge will help me and many other people.

@mar1video

2 жыл бұрын

@@CoffeeNo0b0514 - hahahaha. I’m picking up my first 2 hives next week. Now wish me luck 🤣

You are going to get a lot of bad comments. I tried treatment free for 3 years. Zero bees made it through winter all 3 years. Buying nucs got expensive.

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah I'm used to the negative comments when I talk about mite treatments. It used to bother me, now I just ignore it. And yeah, I think a lot of us have that type of story, unfortunately.

I wasn't able to hear this video well.

Treated bees aren't "survivors". So there's that.

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

Well what's a survivor then? Are those colonies that I had die before the second season that were riddled with deformed wing virus and on their way to death, were those survivors? Are they survivors if you implement strategies other than acid to kill the mites? Are they survivors if they exist only at this time because previous generations of that lineage were treated properly? What about the resulting generations, the ones that were split from the dying colonies before they died but still don't have anything in terms of natural defenses against these viruses and parasites, are they survivors? At what point can I call my bees survivors?

@Swarmstead

3 жыл бұрын

@@BKBees if you have to save them, they aren't survivors. The method one uses, "natural" or not, is irrelevant. My lap dog is not a survivor. You started with a bunch of packages, and up to the point I couldn't continue in this video (about the 12 minute mark), you were still just using leftover pollination packages dependent on mite treatments. What exactly did you expect? I personally don't care who treats their bees or not. But to sit there and say (paraphrased) that one can't sustain at the hobbyist level without treatments is simply untrue. Not everyone is in it as a business.

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

@@Swarmstead well I never said that you can't sustain. I actually make a point to talk about the people who do. Thanks for shitting on a video you didn't watch. Also, by your mark, there are no survivors that could be classified as Apis Mellifera. Not in modern hive management circumstances anyway, over a long enough period for the viruses to take effect. And none of this discussion really matters anyway, since I don't care what you call your bees or mine. My goal is to help people keep them alive and healthy, and following the advice in this video is undoubtedly an easier way to achieve that than anything you'd advocate under your arbitrary survivor definitions.

@Swarmstead

3 жыл бұрын

@@BKBees I didn't shit on your video. I watched as far as I could. You're just being hyper sensitive. So now you move the goalposts so far I can't see them anymore. No sense continuing.

I've always had a dream of getting my own ranch but at this stage of my life the idea of raising animals for slaughter does not appeal to me. Bee's may be the answer. Or at least a part of it...

@BKBees

3 жыл бұрын

I sympathize with that. I hate the idea of killing anything. Beekeeping is probably going to be something you'll love, if you give it a shot.

poor sound

Your mistake was starting to treat for mites. Sad to see you buy into the bullshit hook line and sinker. Very sad.