HOW TO REQUEEN YOUR HIVE

Posted April 8, 2016
by Hilary

how to requeen your hive

This week, you are spared from reading anything at all! Instead, you can absorb your dose of beekeeping knowledge by watching the video below. I teamed up with local queen breeders Wildflower Meadows to bring you this instructional video. I feel pretty proud of it since I happened to film, edit  and star in it. Enjoy!

What did you think? I hope to make more video like this one in the future so, feedback is welcome!

17 Comments

  1. John Foster

    Hillary I am a brand new beekeeper only having my two hives populated a for a week now. You blog posts have been preparing me and now comes your video. Well done as it takes some of the mystery and apprehension out of the mix.

    Keep up the good work,

    John from Tampa

    Reply
  2. mco18

    Awesome video, Hilary!! Would love to see more videos from you 😀

    Reply
    • Lisa Smith

      Hi Hilary, loved your info videos. I have a bee problem at some houses that I rent and was thinking “Flow” might spare me from the issue but after watching your videos I’m thinking, probably not.
      I’m not trying to become a bee keeper and if it’s going to create another job for me, I definitely don’t want it. I don’t want to kill bees either so, I’m at a loss.
      What would you suggest I do? I have 3 beach houses that I rent on Airbnb and at least once a year I have to have bees removed at an average cost of $500 per house! I dont know what to do. Help!
      Thanks
      Aida

      Reply
      • Hilary

        Hi Aida, Once you have bees living in a space, they will often return. My advice is not just to try to seal the entrances to whatever cavity they have been living in, but to fill in the cavity. Take away the negative space so they cannot build. If you do not have an interest in beekeeping, the Flow Hive (or any hive) is not for you. You may just have to budget for the bee removal expense, unfortunately.

        Reply
  3. Bob Simpson

    Excellent Hillary….more please.

    Reply
  4. Carlos Richardson

    This video is very helpful. I just got a Wildflower Gardens VSH queen and will try to find the old queen of a hot TB hive today.

    Reply
  5. Carlos Richardson

    After going through the whole hive today and not finding the queen, I decided the bees were not overly defensive. I think I’ll make a split with the new queen tomorrow.

    Reply
    • Hilary

      Always good news.

      Reply
  6. Christine Brown

    Excellent video. Very clear visuals and clear instructions.
    Thank you for making it available to everyone to help the bees.

    Reply
  7. Ben

    Hello, You may need to check for brood disease, possibly EFB, at 1.15 on the video. Sunken cappings and melted looking larvae are indicators. Here in the UK we leave the bees queenless for 10 days then remove all queen cells before introduction to improve acceptance. This could be because our weather is more inclement! I like your site, thanks.

    Reply
    • Hilary

      Hi, I wrote, filmed and edited this video myself so, I am well aware of the brood issues you have pointed out. This is in fact the reason why I requeened the hive. The new queen has resolved the problem and the hive is thriving once again.

      Reply
  8. Sleepy Mike

    Great video!! I’m thinking of getting a top bar hive and was curious about where you got the one in the video. I would like to get one with a hinged, peaked roof. I also like that style of top bar. Could you point me in the right direction to buy that model? Or possiblly some plans? Thank you.

    Reply
    • Hilary

      The company that made this model went out of business, but the designer now works for beebuilt.com so, you might like their model.

      Reply
  9. Robyn

    I am a new beekeeper, bought and installed a NUC on May 26th only to find it was without a queen, there was brood but also supercedure cells. Thinking that the queen was hiding because we smoked the NUC before installation, my mentor removed the cells(probably a mistake) and we waited another week to see that there was no new brood, hatched cells but with lots of bees. I called the company I purchased this from and they said they would give me a laying queen and two or three frames filled with brood…and to bring my empty NUC box with me to transfer them. My question is, how do I install them successfully?

    Reply
    • Hilary

      I would ask the company you are working with to advise you on this, but generally you can combine them by using a piece of newspaper between them and the other colony or by smoking them heavily when you put them both in the same box.

      Reply
  10. Kelly Carpenter

    Wow cool.Im in Alpine California. Just up the hill .I have a hot hive .so I’m planing to requeen with pure Italian queen as soon as I can get one or two .I’m sending one of my bees to UC Davis hopefully to Identify it’s as I set sworm traps .these guys are little with a mild sting .I can not go around without glus on any skin exposed at all I will get sting but as I said Its mild I’m going to requeen with a queen from

    Reply

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My name is Hilary Kearney. I’m the author of the book, “Queenspotting” and founder of the urban beekeeping business Girl Next Door Honey in San Diego, California. I’m an artist turned beekeeper on a mission to help new beekeepers succeed and educate the public about the magic of bees!

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