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Putting Bees Into a Flow Hive Using the Wood Starter Strips

#1

I’m supplying a colony of bees with a young queen & I’m showing my method of getting the bees working the wood starter strips.


Cheers.

#2

Thanks Jeff, and well spotted Wilma! Cheers Tim.

#3

Thanks Tim, sure was. We never get tired of spotting queens. I think she is an exceptional one. I reckon natural selection beats random propagating every time.

#4

Another great video Jeff and Wilma. Thanks. I really like how you demonstrate that bee shaking technique Jeff. I’ve been trying to shake bees without as much success as I want. Those short, sharp sequenced shakes that Jeff does seem to do the trick. My shakes are often wild and bumpy. I get more of a cloud of bees rather than a neat patch of them under the frame where you want them to bee.

#5

Great video, Jeff and Wilma. Thank you for your effort. I was fascinated to see all that drone comb on the foundationless frame. What a gorgeous queen too! I reckon you ought to charge a premium for that colony, Jeff! :smile:

#6

Thanks for that video. Is that the pocket hive tool you have in your hand?

#7

Hi & many thanks @sciencemaster, @Dawn_SD, & @adagna. The shaking technique must take a bit of practice, I guess. I bet the butcher you see sharpening his/her knives didn’t make it look that easy when he/she first started out.

Dawn, those large areas of drone comb the bees build on foundationless frames is the main reason I prefer wax foundation.

I’m putting a colony together for a bloke who supplied me with wax coated (supposedly wax coated) plastic foundation in wood frames. It’s very apparent to me that the bees don’t like it. Maybe with a thicker coating of wax, the bees might like it. It gets back to the Goldilocks thing. I find that full sheets of wax foundation to be “just right”.

Hi Adam, that IS the PPHT:) I think it’s the best $6 any beekeeper will spend. However I tried pulling out nails with it today with no luck. Admittedly the nails were well in. I guess that’s what a claw hammer is for.

#8

They have those tools at Mann Lake if you want one, Adam. :imp:

My husband doesn’t get to use mine - he can have the big heavy clunky one! :smiling_imp:

#9

I have big hands, I would worry with gloves it would be hard to use. I may invest in one after I try out my full size one