Checking Remote Layens Bee Hives for the First Time in Months

At the beginning of March I inspected hives I've placed at remote locations - hives I hadn't visited since winterizing them last fall. Come along as I see which are doing well and which... are not.

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I grew up on a farm on the edge of the Nebraska sandhills. A cattle ranch that bears our family name, founded in the late 1800s by my ancestors, is still owned and worked by my cousin. Life events have put me in the suburbs of a major metropolitan area in middle America, where my wife and I have raised our two kids. It's in this environment that I work to make as sustainable a life as I can, converting much of our backyard to grow food, including a garden, fruit trees and bee hives.

I attempt to use natural methods, as much as is possible, in my gardening and beekeeping. I garden organically and continue to learn to work with the soil and the plants, without the use of chemical supplements, herbicides or pesticides, to improve our harvest. Our honey bees are sourced from local colonies through swarms, trap-outs and cut-outs, and are kept, using treatment-free, natural methods, in Layens horizontal hives.

[jermz]

Thanks for the video! Did you keep a gap in the divider board when you winterized with the foam on top? I'm interested in how you insulate your other covers

[lambbrookfarm]

Mug up from central NH where we are still waiting for natural pollen to come in. I lost a colony mid-winter...my bad. 10 still surviving. All bees were flying a couple days this week and they will get out today. Still have some ice and snow behind the house and some frost in the ground. Cleaned pest trays in 2) 25 frame Layens hives and checked 1 of them for mite drop. I examined the mites for signs of bee chews but came up inconclusive...need younger eyes! I will check the other for a 2-day mite drop today. NOAA says high of 49 degrees today, and a high of 43 degrees for the next 5 days.I would love to open them up, but I feel it too early here. Thanks for sharing, have a great day!

[RobertZackMountainBees]

As usual, your video has a huge amount of valuable information for any beekeeper.
I recently performed my first inspection of the Layens Horizontal Hive (video is on my channel) the bee colony survived the winter without any problems.
I do not use any treatment or supplemental feeding for my bees.
I am very happy that the family of backyard beekeepers is growing thanks to beekeepers like you.

[huckleberry]

Appreciate the look inside your hives. Glad to see them doing well for the most part. Can you tell what is blooming that might be the yellow and orange pollen?

[ericd.slyter]

Great stuff! Looking forward to SUMMER!

[kevinkessell]

Great display of hive inspection and explaination of what what we were looking at on the frame and inside the hive. Going to save this one. Thanks

[joyceboyle]

Located in NWLA with three Layens hives.
I did a split a week ago from my hive that had 16 frames over winter. (Their 2nd winter, and i left them all their stores)
At least one of the other two will probably be split this year too. (Their 1st winter)
Still going to swarm catch too, so a big built up year. 😊

[bmarshall]

Great Video! Where do you place your frame feeders when feeding? Are the feeders behind the follower board in the position they were when you opened the hives and the bees access them from under the follower board? I noticed on the space themed hive the follower board had a slit entrance in it when you removed the feeder, what was the purpose of that slit?

[pmlm]

Faced with a colony too small with a failing queen going into winter: what if one removed all these frames into their own section of one of your other boxes, next door to a stronger colony, and eventually removed both the excluder/divider board and the old queen. Would the queenless bees merge in?

[quackersplatfarm]

When I winterized last year I had some extra layens frames with just wax comb and a tiny strip of capped honey at the top. Stored them in the basement this winter, in an open topped box. I noticed a thin layer of mold on them... if I give them back to the bees, will the bees clean them up?

[haroldmarsh]

Dear Sodbusters, , , What dose one have to do with the woodwhere of a deadout, ,, lots of bees headfirst in the cells brushed off what I could???

[maggiewatte]

I need to split my layens . I can’t find the queen. I’m able to acquire new queens for splits. Since I can’t find the queen and know she’s there based on seeing eggs. How long should I leave split to determine which side needs the new queen?