This video popped up on You Tube about a flow beekeeper who’s neighbor lost interest & as it seams offered all his bees & gear to the flow keeper.
cheers
cheers
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Been following vinofarm for a while, his videos are great. He got so much grief over choosing to treat with MAQS though that was kind of shocking.
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…well when you choose to use youtube as a ‘learning & advice’ tool, you really leave yourself wide open. He makes the videos well, but I certainly wouldn’t follow his methods/practice very closely in terms of my own bees
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I like his videos. I’m not sure what methods you find to be unreasonable. I do things a little differently personally but what he has done so far seems reasonable. I don’t think he means the videos to teach other beekeepers.
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G’day Michael, I watched a few of his videos. The one thing that he has done that I wouldn’t recommend is using foundationless frames. On one of his videos, he wouldn’t open the top brood box up at all because he was frightened of having a “honey fall” all over the bottom brood box. If he used wax foundation frames, all of the comb would sit nicely in each frame, making it easier to maneuvre the frames while doing inspections. This inspection video shows beautifully what I’m talking about.
cheers:)
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Ya, I would agree with that. The first video I saw of his was the comb falling off the frame. What I’m saying is that while I might chose to do things differently, using foundationless frames is still a reasonable method. I just felt Kirsten was a bit harsh about his methods when they all seem pretty reasonable to me.
Now the methods of his neighbor however…
-Mike
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Hi Mike, yes well those frames in his neighbors hives shows good reason for not using plastic foundation. His own videos show good reason for not using all foundationless & the last video I put a link to shows every reason for using wax foundation.
I don’t think Kirsten was all that harsh. I’ve seen harsh on this forum:) Maybe you should ask Kirsten what methods she’d do differently.
PS, if you have shb in your area, you’d be well advised to go with all wax foundation frames.
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I think he went all foundationless because we was a brand new beek and that’s what the Flow Hive classic kit came with (no foundation) so he just went with it.
On the recomendation of my mentor I went with foundation in the bottom brood box, then when it was time to add another deep I used the foundationless frames with drawn foundation either side and checker boarded them. Gave me nice straight foundationless frames, although it was a total drone-fest to start with.
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He is trying natural beekeeping like many of us trying not to use anything contaminated and allowing the bees to thrive naturally. Brave of him considering the harsh opinions (and so many different ones) us newbies come across!
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Hi K’man, I tried foundationless frames exactly how you did a few years ago. It’s the drone-fest that’s the problem. It’s the drone-fest that’s the big problem with SHB. Without the drone-fest, foundationless done the correct way, like you did would be perfect.
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Hi LC, I’m sorry you’ve had to endure harsh criticism as a newbie. It must be difficult to figure out which criticism to take notice of or reject. For what it’s worth, a good place to get advice from, if it’s available is the person you acquire your bees from. Find out what system he/she uses because the mere fact that they have excess bees to sell proves that they must be doing something right.
If someone is harshly criticizing something that you do, first of all find out how successful they are with their bees & secondly find out if there’s any merit in what that person is saying. You own experiences in your beekeeping journey will be your best teacher. Good luck with that, cheers
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I love this video, we learned something new. It took us a while to work out what the inspector was saying at the 10:15 mark. He does a “shook swarm” every spring. I’m guessing that he gives each of his colonies fresh foundation to build on every year which keeps his comb nice & clean. I’d like to know what he does with the old brood.
Funny you mention that. Her bees seemed great but when I tried to ask her questions at pickup time she shut me down and literallly said she allowed 20 minutes for pickup time and did not have time to answer questions that I needed to take a class😳
I did a lot of research going in so I wasn’t completely ignorant and there are some really kind people in these forums and online that have valuable experience to share ! Thank god ! Maybe I can add you to my list of resources? 
Thanks !
Hi LC, I wondered if that would be the case. I keep bees in a sub-tropical zone. My practices for successful beekeeping may differ from yours. However the basics remain the same. That bee husbandry video is excellent because it shows bees on wax foundation, how easy it is to inspect the frames & what that bloke said about keeping his brood comb new every year is priceless information. What better person to learn from than a bee inspector?
I recently came to the conclusion that the first thing a new beekeeper should learn is properly wiring up frames & fitting wax foundation.
I learned a lot from a 20 minute video “City of Bees” by the Moody Institute of Science. Most of my strategy comes from the information contained in that video. It’s worth watching it several times because every time you watch it, you pick up something you missed last time.
Feel free to ask me any questions. Anything that can possibly go wrong with bees has happened to me:) & I’ve learnt from every experience, cheers.
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Really good news for Vino Farm. He acquired 20 frames of fully drawn comb & he replaced all the empty undrawn frames with them. He found a local mentor with 20 years experience. I think he’s on the right track now.
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I don’t see what’s harsh about my comment? I appreciate that he’s learning the craft of beekeeping, there are small things he does in handling the bees & inspections that may change as he has more experience. I wouldn’t follow his methods of beekeeping as my source for learning because he is a beginner himself, I’d rather learn from someone with experience. For example as Jeff mentions, [quote=“JeffH, post:5, topic:8779”]
he wouldn’t open the top brood box up at all because he was frightened of having a “honey fall” all over the bottom brood box
[/quote]
I wouldn’t use you tube as my primary ‘learning’ tool. I believe they have vineyard, I’m sure if you asked him he wouldn’t employ a viticulturist or winemaker whose primary qualification was a youtube ‘degree’ so called.
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Best thing he’s done so far, re local experienced beekeeper as mentor.
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Sorry, possibly I misread. When you say: " I certainly wouldn’t follow his methods/practice very closely in terms of my own bees" It sounds like you find his methods are wrong/unreasonable. I felt it was a bit harsh as he obviously reads outside of youtube, he has brought in 2 different experienced beekeepers already this year, and his methods for the most part seem pretty standard apart from some beginner mistakes.
-Mike
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No problem Mike. All healthy discussion & learning. What concerns me are the many people who comment or ‘advise’ him that eventually come out & say ‘I’ve never kept bees but… or I’m not a beekeeper but…’, it is evident in what they say, but he seems to engage with this ‘advice’ as something to consider?
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Hi Kristen, I know you’ve commented similarly on my channel. I appreciate that you have taken the time to watch my videos and leave advice. I just want to respond to your general criticism that I am not a reputable source of education and that my ‘practices’ and ‘methods’ are not to your liking…
I have never claimed to be anything but a beginner documenting my progress. Every single Flow Hive video I have uploaded has had “Beginner” or “novice” in the title. I am not pretending to teach anyone anything. I am going through the daily steps of learning to keep bees, filming myself and then sharing what I learn. That’s it. My channel is not a “How-to” channel but you keep criticizing it as if it is. It’s a documentary. It’s a blog. I think the people who watch it understand that.
I ask for advice often because I like to hear all sides of the issues and then do my own research to figure out what’s right for me. I use the comments I receive to steer me toward the research I need to do. I don’t just take what people write at face value. Youtube comments are a jumping off point for me. If I had weighed all the comments I received and followed what the majority of people were telling me, my hive would have wound up looking like my neighbor’s hives. My ‘practices’ may not be fully refined, but I did wind up with a booming double deep hive that is fully stocked for winter. Something went OK for me.
One last thing I’d like to say is that I think Youtube is just as valid a source of information as any other place on the internet. You have repeatedly stated that youtube is a bad place to learn anything and I have to disagree. Sure there are AWFUL videos on youtube filled with mis-information and terrible advice. (Some of the biggest beekeepers on youtube have offered advice I’d never follow.) But there are plenty of fantastic educational videos on youtube and if you know where to look and find people you can trust, there is a world of information for the taking. I can’t say I am one of them yet, because I am still learning. But I will say that I am honest, trying my hardest, and fully invested in caring for my bees. I have learned a LOT this season. I’m proud of the videos I’ve made and the little community of regular commenters on my channel. If nothing else, my videos are there to show someone what to expect in their first year of beekeeping. It’s not a lesson, or meant to replace a proper bee education, but it is a real life series of videos I wish I could have watched a year ago before I started. And that’s all I was trying to do.
Have a nice day.
Jim
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