Links we enjoy
We started keeping bees during covid (not on purpose) so we didn’t get our mentor. Our fallback plan was to watch people on YouTube. Here is a list of some of the channels we watch.
Our Primary Mentor
When we needed a mentor we “found” Fred Dunn on YouTube. He is a Certified Master Beekeeper in Pennsylvania. We like his humility and his ability to make a joke from time to time. His level of professionalism is outstanding and yet, he wants to share his knowledge of backyard beekeeping. He has changed ideas about things that either science or his research has proved out. His flexibility has helped us grow in our beekeeping strategies.
Cut outs, re-hiving, harvest time
Once we had our apiary under way we branched out to seek other YouTubers. Enter “Mr. Ed”, a.k.a. Jeff Horchoff. He is located in Louisiana and he does cut-outs only. In the early days we learned tips and tricks to re-hiving swarms and our one “cut-out”.
Technicalities of cut-outs
When watching cut-outs, we learn a lot about bees in “nature” even if the cut-out is the floor of a house. 628DirtRooster, a.k.a. Randy McCaffrey, has some fairly challenging cut-outs. He was great to learn from during Hive Life 2023.
Flow Hive
We have three Flow Hives in our home apiary. Yes, they work in Missouri but they work best during a strong nectar flow. Some tips: first, use only authentic Flow Hives. We know you can find cheaper knockoffs from online sellers but we also know there are several problems with those knockoffs that can discourage bees from using them for storage. Second, we found that for our first usage, the frames are just like foundation in that bees are more likely to use them if they are primed with bees wax. Third, make sure the frames are in the “closed” position after installation. Bees are not impressed by the amount of work to do if the frames are “open”. For more information watch Flow Hive videos or Frederick Dunn.