Hi Everyone, thanks for tuning in!
Today i got in to some of the colonies at home. The flow has as usual, started really early and its good news and bad news. Good news were getting some feed in to the colonies, bad news is its just way too much! see the video to find out why!
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Richard
Your video is the first video I've watched since November. Ive been bedridden since then. After a far last year, my bees have been on their own. They've swarmed and absconded due to my neglect. Went from 10 down to 4. 2 made it through winter and are flying. I'm not a treater so these are true survivors. After watching your video, I know I can make my way to the bee yard again. Glad on hive is a horizontal I made 2 years ago and the other a top bar so things will be doable with my rolling walker. Thanks for the uplifting video. Hearing your voice again and seeing your hives gives me hope I can do this. Hoping I can lift the frames.
Hello Sherry, sorry to hear you’ve been so poorly, life throws things at us sometimes!!! Glad your feeling a little motivated! Bees do amazing things, giving us a good reason to get up early in the morning! Best wishes for a speedy recovery 🫶🙌🐝
Same here in Devon Richard. Lots of fresh nectar and tons of pollen. Even hundreds of dandelion flowers out already. Lime is in full flower and blackthorn is nearly there. We didn’t cut our hedges last year so there is more blackthorn than ever. No OSR luckily, but swarming is always a possibility. Great videos as always🎉
And in Wisconsin the whole winter was mild hardly any snow bees flying , now the end of March winter showed up just lovely.
I think it is impossible to just put them in a box and aspect they won't swarm. They need work.. opening the brood nest with drawn frames for new brood, so young bees have always something to do.. maybe a sheet to draw (but not too many this time of year),reversing boxes with LR equipment. Give them work and space and they will never swarm. In my experience they won't swarm before there's a big bunch of drones in the hive.
We aren't far behind here in North Carolina. Have already put supers on 12 hives.....and a little nectar is coming in. About 2 weeks early here. Low's in 40's and highs in the 60's.....4.5C - 15.5C) Hope we all have a great season!!!!
I'm waiting for my bees to come, we have loads of nectar source in SE coast.
Exciting time of the year Richard! Tell us about your qr code system you've labelled each colony with!
I love how you teach on your videos
Mug up from across the pond, central NH, USA. Winter is losing its grip, and it is mud season here. Highs mid 40f, lows in the low 20s. No natural pollen yet, but a couple 50 f days will bring some willows and alders to bloom. Thanks for the observation tips. I'm a backyard beek, increased my numbers to 10 colonies at this point. So much to learn. Thanks for sharing, Brice
Central Maine here. The last warm day the bees were working the snow drop flowers and bringing in white pollen.
@@williambates6811 I have a hive up the road, there the bees are on snowdrops as well as a small amount of Heather, but here swampside, things are a bit behind. Warm winter here, low was 34°f warmer than last winter's low.
Honey flow! Woah !
Of the poorest quality!! We don’t need this much too quickly!! Damn farmers crops!! 🥱🤣🤣🤣 moan moan moan! 💥😬🤓
Very useful to hear you "yapping" and explaining what you are doing and why!
Wow, that first colony is bursting at the seams!! 😍 We still have 50 cm of snow and -8 degree nights! 😂 My bees haven't even done their first cleansing flight yet. 😜
Get your umbrella ready it’s gonna be a Sh1t show ☂️ 💩 . Best of luck 🤞
@@richardnoel3141 Lol! 😂 Thankfully, they're not close to my house. 😜
Red Maple started last week in SW VA
Please bee more aware of them deadly spiders on your hives, good thing you had gloves on!
Beautiful bees in a beautiful place. You picked a nice area to be a beekeeper
Brilliant here we go mine just out hopefully I will be able to start doing inspections after the next cold spell . Brilliant thank you Richard
I've taken a few days out in Bordeaux before the season kicks off. And the weather is terrific at the moment. 21 yesterday 18 today.
We had 60F weather here in New England a few days ago. Several days in the 50s. I took a quick look and was surprised to see them bringing in a lot of nectar and pollen. They are all over pussy willow trees. Apparently, pussy willow will start making nectar in mid February but we usually don't notice since it is typically too cold for the bees to fly. Seems like the bees teach me something new all the time. Regards.
Instead of moving a frame of brood over to the weaker hive, wouldn't be a good idea to shake a frame of nurse bees into the hive of weaker bees to build up the workforce without having the extra burden of feeding brood?
Most of the brood is capped and we choose emerging brood. Nurse bees ( bees of a very young age help rejuvenate the colony. You can shake bees in to the box but lots will fly back to their original colony. For me it’s just easier to add a frame of mostly emerging brood . 🙌🐝🙏
Great thoughts about the early OSR and swarming.
Whats the temp max and min that is a guide to full inspection please
33:42 I spy with my little eye. 😂 33:52 nah! you’ll have to be quicker than that. 😛
Thanks for all your great clips, nice to see that you have a lot of viewers from the US, while much great content comes from there. I was wondering why you don't use broodframes like Bob Binnie is doing. Keep up the great work.
i mean droneframes
@@sangalli69 i used too and occasionally will but not at the moment. Thanks for your kind words.
Is fondant or sugar bricks(sugar moistened with a little water) best for supplemental feeding
Starved out, bigger than expected, bees are telling you something. It's time to get back to work.
Hi how often do you change out your combs as all the combs i see are very very dark... Can be a repository of disease.
see reply f further down, but within 2 years all combs are changed on almost all colonies.
Bob's your uncle and Fanny's your aunt :)
Spider says go easy Richard
Why not just swap the boxes on a hot day? 5:30
Does OSR make bees tetchy or is it just me?
Yes Indeed it makes mine atrocious at times!! It’s well known
@@richardnoel3141 thanks Richard thoroughly enjoy your work.
Are they commercial hive your using Richard
No in France we use Dadant. well the majority are using Dadant. a few Waree and a few more Langsdroth.
much of our rape has succumbed to excessive rain fall here in yorkshire so goodluck with yours