Dearth and Drought whilst Caging queens! API-MO-BRU Cages

Working in the Dearth and Heat to Cage Queens by Api-Mo-Bru! The summer heatwave is relentless, and the drought is taking a devastating toll. At the start of this video, you can see the local maize crops completely shriveling up in the fields. It’s an absolute nightmare for agriculture right now—crops are failing, the sunflowers are failing, and the remainder of the buckwheat is failing completely. With no nectar coming in and a severe summer dearth upon us, we are harvesting our very last queen bees of the season and shifting our focus entirely to colony survival and long-term health. To protect our hives and prep them for winter success, we are implementing a total brood break using the Api-Mo-Bru queen caging system from Italy. Watch step-by-step as we: -Find and Isolate the Queen: Safely locating the queen in the intense heat of the day. -Install the Cage into the Frame: We demonstrate how to safely install the Api-Mo-Bru cage directly into the comb. -If you didn't already fit these into your frames back in the spring, you will need to cut out a space for the cage now—but we show you how this is actually very quick and easy to do, provided you know exactly where your frame wires are located. The Science of the Brood Break: We discuss why a 21 to 24-day brood break is essential to breaking the Varroa mite reproductive cycle. By cutting off the queen's ability to lay, we ensure that all the phoretic mites in the hive are completely exposed on the Oxalic Acid, leaving them with absolutely nowhere to hide or reproduce. Why 24 Days is Preferential? We explain why waiting the full 24 days is the gold standard. This guarantees that absolutely all remaining brood—including the drone brood, which has a full 24-day development cycle—has completely hatched out. Oxalic Acid Clean-Up: With the hive guaranteed to be 100% broodless after 24 days, we prepare the colony for a highly effective Oxalic Acid treatment, catching the exposed mites at their most vulnerable moment for maximum efficacy. Managing bees when the environment is collapsing around them isn't easy, but taking strict control of your brood cycle right now is the best way to guarantee strong, healthy winter clusters. #Beekeeping #QueenCaging #ApiMoBru #VarroaControl #HoneyBees #BroodBreak #OxalicAcid #SummerDearth #ApiaryManagement