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Phil Serafinas
United States
Приєднався 2 жов 2011
This is my Adventures in beekeeping channel. Here can view my beekeeper's experiences over the last several years. My plan is to add short tutorials on various aspects of backyard beekeeping. Hopefully some will be helpful to you.
Bee Happy!
Phil
Bee Happy!
Phil
Follow up on screen inner cover
Here is a follow up to the screen inner cover I added to a bearding hive.
Переглядів: 198
Відео
Hot Bees need ventilation
Переглядів 4912 місяці тому
With the July temperatures in the 90's and the high humidity the bees need a break from the heat too. Some of my strong hives are bearding due to the high heat and too many bees. Ventilated inner covers or moving screens can help with the excessive heat.
Double Screen Board Cell Builder
Переглядів 1,7 тис.3 місяці тому
Here is a small batch of queen cells raised via the DSB method. I did a dry graft vs my usual wet graft, I got 13 nice cells out of 20 . It may be due to my grafting ? This method uses only one strong hive as the cell builder.
March 13, 2024 Pollen Haul
Переглядів 1435 місяців тому
Yesterday’s bee activity shows a strong hive. The bees were very active bringing in pollen. So much so that they had a bunch of pollen dropped in front of the hive. Saw a few empty queen cups.
A Queen is born
Переглядів 1,8 тис.6 місяців тому
Here is a video I took a while ago and just thought I would share. When I was inspecting a hive I found a queen cell where the virgin queen was emerging.
False Swarm May 6, 2023
Переглядів 144Рік тому
Here is another False swarm at one of my outyards today.
False Swarm
Переглядів 281Рік тому
Here is a video of a potential swarm. It looks like a typical swarm when the bees come pouring out of the hive and cloud the air with bees. They never clustered in the trees above and neventually settled down back in the hive. One reason this could occur is that queen did not leave with the swarm. hence a false swarm. Upon inspection of this hive I found many capped queen cells. I did a Snellgr...
Home made Pollen Feeder
Переглядів 261Рік тому
Here is a short video of my pollen feeder. The bees seem to enjoy this early season pollen collection.
Bait Hive Hit June 17,2022
Переглядів 1632 роки тому
Here is another swarm taking up residence in one of my outyard bait hivesbait.
A new queen is born
Переглядів 1892 роки тому
Here is a short video of a virgin queen emerging from her cell.
May 2, 2022 bait hive
Переглядів 1832 роки тому
Here is one of my bait hives at an out yard. The bees look like they are on an initial cluster point. I'll check back in a few days and hopefully they are in the hive.
Assassin Bug eating a honey bee
Переглядів 7012 роки тому
Here is a short video of an Assassin bug on one of my hives eating a honey bee. Beware the Assassin bugs do bite.
Three Frame Mating Nucs
Переглядів 3,8 тис.2 роки тому
Here is a easy way to make 3 frame mating nucs. Before you assemble your 10 frame deep brood boxes you cut slots on both ends of the deep box so you have 3 equally spaced sections. . You can do it with a circular saw. Feeder holes are cut with a 1 5/8 inch hole saw.
June 4 , 2021 Bait hive Hit
Переглядів 2943 роки тому
Here is another successful bait hive hit. Bait hives are very useful especially for out yards.
Swarm Sunday
Переглядів 1583 роки тому
I received a couple swarm calls Sunday morning. The first swarm left before I got there. The second swarm was caught and moved to a new home. The next 2 swarms were caught in my bait hives. So 3 of the 4 swarms were captured.
The war is not over keep nukem ✌🏻
Does cage orientation matter much? I placed mine between the frames with the candy facing down (and without the red cap)
The sugar plug should be pointed down or horizontal. I would remove any attendant bees if you have them in the cage.
How did this turn out? I hope it worked for you.
It worked great. I have had a couple winters now and the bees in the nucs all survived.
Great video, Phil. Thanks!
Good catch.
I have a few questions about cloake board queen rearing. Was wondering if I could get your e-mail, or should I ask here?
Thanks Phil!!I just got a nice swarm.🐝safe and keep your smoker lit!!! Konrad
If you couldnt find the queen whats your method for getting her upstairs.
In method 2 you do not necessarily need to find the queen. You just have to make sure she is not in the bottom box. That's part of the beauty of method 2. All the QC , queen and nurse bees are in the upstairs box. There is a 10 page .pdf paper published in the UK on the Snelgrove method. I highly recommend you read it (Google it). It provides some insight on how you can use the Snelgrove i.e. method 1 or method 2.
Nice video #villaofficialnepal
I have several queen cells in my hive and I'm expecting the potential for rival virgin queens. My mentors are telling me not to destroy them, but to watch and wait. Good to know what I should look out for to correctly diagnose what's going on!
I'm totally doing this. I just screwed up an order of supers for my 10 framers......and got almost half a pallet of 8 frame mediums. *facepalm*
Nice, I wanna build a few of these. I'm in Hagerstown. Just started keeping last year. Thanks for Sharing.
Good luck catching bees!
Does the spin damage the wax ?
No, but it is possible to blow out a wax foundation frame if you do not flip it a couple time.
AWESOME video! Thanks for sharing!!
Thanks Phil.
I noticed in another later 2019 video you showed your feeding board on a nuc, but it was not inverted. There was the hole in the middle and the bees accessed the sugar without a problem. Yet, for this 8-frame feeding board you DID invert it, correct? Does it make any difference one way or the other?
Great seeing a queen emerge and to see your homemade incubator. I know you hesitate to make recommendations on how to introduce virgins, but here is what I do: I cage them and introduce to a nuc that has been queenless for at least a day or so. Smallish mating nucs seem to work just fine for me. I use 5-frame nucs with a couple frames of bees with mixed brood and a frame of stores. They seem to be friendly and soon accept the virgin. I release in a few days and watch how her hive-mates treat her. Usually they largely ignore her. I have never tried releasing into a full-size queenless hive.
Thanks for this. I thought rapeseed and canola were the same, but here is what I found online: "While the words rapeseed and canola are sometimes used interchangeably, they are not quite the same thing. While they belong to the same species, canola is a specific cultivar of the rape plant that is grown to produce food grade oil. Not all varieties of rapeseed are edible for humans due to the presence of erucic acid, which is especially low in canola varieties. The name “canola” was actually registered in 1973 when it was developed as an alternative to rapeseed for edible oil." (Ref: www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/herbs/rapeseed/rapeseed-plant-information.htm)
Looking great! I’m going to winter in two nucs next year just like you did. I tried the single lower unit with two nuc hives on top but I think I’ll stick with 4 separate units like you did. Good luck
Sounds great!
Hi Phil, I am just getting interested in Honey and I wonder if you can advise me on the best way to increase the time that the honey stays in liquid form before crystallizing. IF it is filtered through a super fine sieve to remove the 'Nidi' , can the the liquid stage be increased? Thanks
I use to use the super fine filter but it slows things down too much. I only use the stainless steel strainers now. As far as the crystalization, it depends more on the nectar source. Some honey will crystalize fater than others.
Thanks for this. Do you recall how things turned out with this hive?
Very nice solar melter build. I see that you converted to a mesh from the multiple smaller drill holes. Were the drill holes not keeping up with the wax melt flow?
Good video .love my 4 over 4's 🐝safe and keep your smoker lit!! Konrad
Do you sell these?
No, I have moved and had to get rid of my wood shop.
Ahh the Michael Palmer method. That works well.
Hi phil i also do 4 over's .work really well .🐝safe and keep your smoker lit. Konrad
Thanks 👍
I've been giving a bit of thought to trying brewing mead out for a while now. Do you still make mead?
Yes, I have made many 1 gallon batches. It is a great use of surplus honey. Plus my friends are always asking for free Mead.
nice, i bet my bees would like a field of that about now.
Snelgrove Method can be difficult to grasp at first. The Demaree Method also prevents swarming but it requires more work.
Yes, but as with all swarming timing is everything. I like the Snelgrove method It works most of the time and provides a good honey crop.
place queen excluders on both sides of your cloak board to keep out roug virgins
love it
When does the plant start coming up from the ground in the second year?
That is a great Idea, all inspectors should have dogs.
can you use a swarm sell as a queen sell to start a nuc.
Yes, Swarm Cells are Queen cells
Approximate geographic location?
Woodbine MD
Fantastic!
superb sharing.. thnx god bless you...
Thank you for the video. Can you leave the honey supers on while treating.
The short answer is no. We do not get a Fall Nectar flow in my area and Fall is a good time to treat for mites. It is also advisable to check your mite count % after treatments. Check with the Manufacturer's instruction for the correct ApiGuard treatment recommendation.
@@PhilSerafinasBeeHappy Thank you very much for answering my question.
Fine looking nuc! I wanted to make up some nucs last year to overwinter but other things got in the way. Seeing your nuc and hearing of another beekeeper here in South PA having two 4 over 4 nucs make it through the polar vortex tells me it can be done. LOL I seen even more nuc equipment in my near future. Question I do have for you is how and when you set / start up that nuc and what was its size and comb content going into winter in say October? If you could share I'd appreciate.
Nancy, I raise a few queens and I seem to always have a few left over at the end of the season. I hate to pinch a good queen so I will make a nuc for winter. I have done dual 4x4 nucs in the past. It was the year we had a 33 inch snow storm. It;s in my previous years videos. I think this nuc was started in October. It is in a remote bee yard so I can't check it very often. Control your mites and feed the bees and should be Okay.
@@PhilSerafinasBeeHappy I remember that snowstorm... lived in Catonsville back then. I agree, keep your bees fed, treat for mites and have plenty of emergency rations just in case and one should be pretty successful with their bees. So far I have had 3 successful winters although one hive came out queenless I was still able to save the hive with a southern queen purchase. Watched your other videos on the double nucs very impressive.
Thanks, good luck with your nucs.
You can put quin cell on the top betvin frames, that is like i doo
Thanks Phil! I’m enjoying your vids! I’m taking a couple colonies through winter in a double nuc setup. Each has 4 over 4. Both are up top right now and sure do like to cluster in the middle.
I always push mine together in the winter, but run migratory tops.
It got warm here in Tulsa, Oklahoma this weekend and I too inspected my bees, especially the nucs and added sugar blocks. It may not warm up again till March. You don't want them to starve just before the nectar flow.
Just curious, if you check by either weight and guessing or by visual check, how is their capped stores in the frames? Did they have a good supply in October or really light that they would not make it without all the top feeding? Thanks for taking the time to make this video and share it!
I had a queen left over last fall so I made a nuc to overwinter. No, I did not weigh the nuc. You never know what winter will bring here in MD. I knew it was light on stores so I added a candy board and filled it with cold fondant with pollen patties. If have the time I have overwintered a 4x4 nucs several years ago. It was the year we had a 31 inch snow. Both hives did very well. see play list: ua-cam.com/play/PL1J3qgjE0mwu_TK90Pean1l0_VFvEy6Ea.html
@@PhilSerafinasBeeHappy thank you, just trying to study how and when neccessary candy boards are. Sounds like your circumstances here do need it. Thank you, I enjoy the videos!
Always good to see bees flying after a bad cold snap like we had!
Good vid checked mine just the other day after the below zero days
Hi, Phil it was great speaking with you. This is a great video.
Glad you liked it.
That is so neat to see in use...again living vicariously through your videos. Stay warm! 🔥
Gina, Glad you liked it. Keep watching!
What was outcome?
The Bees made it through the winter when we had our biggest snowstorm in my life time. 30 + Inches at one time. The hives were strong and were eagerly taken over by a new beekeeper in early March. see: ua-cam.com/video/stHSrCStAek/v-deo.html And See: ua-cam.com/video/DJ2Ie6pDptk/v-deo.html
My broodminder was delivered this evening, I purchased 4 T2 devices, will buy a scale before spring, looking forward to the data!