Thanks for adding this. I made this vid a long time ago and it may not be entirely clear about some areas.

@@berrrygr The legend returns

Yeah, I’ve tried to tell them to stay in as well but they just keep flying. We are supposed to hit minus temps later this week. That should also help dry things out some.

Thank you for yourkind words. Late last Oct. both colonies were busting at the seams with bees. That’s why I added the third box with honey stores in it. Over the period of Nov and Dec we received an unusually large amount of rain. And seeing mould and dead wet bees lead me to the conclusion that they were just to wet as I didn’t put outter covers on the boxes. Cold and wet will kill bees really quickly.

@@berrrygr yes I realise wet and cold will kill bees, my point being is that the more space they have the more likely they will be exposed as the space is too much for them to control the temperature, humidity, condensation etc. I doubt the heavy rain itself is what caused your bees to die unless of course the rain was dripping directly on top of your colony which watching your video I did not see any evidence of a damaged leaking roof or hive, some mould yes but that is not uncommon for any hive going through a winter or wet period.

Thanks DC. I am considering a roof of some kind. Predicting what the weather is going to be like in the future is going to be really hard. It seems to be really different from year to year now. Yeah the mold is just a sign of conditions inside the boxes and not so much a factor in the bees dying.

Yeah it's a kick in the butt. It's really difficult to figure out how to configure colonies with winter protection now. I didn't do anything different than what I have done in the past but it's been so wet this year that if I had known it was going to be like this I could have put better covers on the boxes. It's pouring rain again this morning. Only time will tell if the nuc is going to make it through. Fingers crossed.

Thank you for your kind words. I also hope your bees make it through the rest of winter. It seems to be getting more difficult to foresee how things are going to turn out. I have never lost all my colonies that are out in the open before. Just seems that the weather is so unpredictable now to figure out how to configure colonies with winter protection.

Thanks for the info. I did not know that they shut down if there wasn't enough pollen coming in. I was watching the foragers as they returned and they seemed to be bringing in a good amount. No telling what they were getting it from though.

@berrrygr it is strange..i was expecting fresh new swarm queen, then seen her marked...i run Carniolans mostly and they always shut down in dearth .

I for one am really looking forward to some nice spring weather. I am starting to get that itch to get outside and do stuff. Being stuck indoors is getting old real fast.☺️

Thanks for watching. I am also very happy they are still going. Actually happy to see all of them in fairly good condition. Got a long way to go yet before spring weather comes around. It’s supposed to get colder here in the next week or two. Our winter isn’t done with us yet. We may also get some of that white fluffy rain but only time will tell.

I feel ya..2 degrees in sw Missouri

Perhaps when it warms up some more. I didn’t want to risk killing any brood by pulling them out in the cold temps right now.

@berrrygr I hear you!

I don't know, something for me to look into. It would be better with something that will shut off the electricity when it reaches a certain temp and turns it back on when the temp goes down. I was looking into temp controllers but the 12 volt models don't reach a high enough temp range.

@berrrygr we use Klixons in hvac to control elecric heat. They turn it on and of automatically. Also a sequencer, some are adjustable.

@ I did not know that. Thanks for the info. I will look into these things. Maybe a winter project for me to work on. 😊

So I have looked these devices up and I have seen these before used in clothes dryers. I looked them up on amazon and picked a couple that should fit the bill. Once they arrive I may do a video on getting one of them working on my vapourizer and see how well it works. Also looking into making an led light circuit that will indicate on/off states.

@berrrygr * Now you're off to the races. 🫠

I'm not sure what you mean. You talking about lights perhaps. It's possible I guess. I didn't think about that when I was making them.

@berrrygr The metal cover for your pet bear 🐻... zapp!

@@gallowaylights Ahh, now I understand. I have a fence set up for my pet bear now. Not sure how I could electrify the lids and still make them removable but I am sure it could be done.

Thanks, those little windows sure make it easy to see what's going on inside the feeder.

Try the fondant readily consumed,since they need water to process dry sugar

He was back last night. No damage so I think he got a blast of electricity. Hopefully that will keep him away. I have accidentally touched the wire and yes it works pretty good. I was actually thinking about a sign for delivery people just in case they get curious. A little project for tonight as it's pouring rain again.

Thanks for that. It did look like there was a good population left in the box. I hope the queen is OK as I didn't look very hard for her. Just wanted to get them setup and closed up again as quickly as possible. I could feel the warmth coming off the frames as I was moving them and didn't want to loose to much of that while I was fixing them up. I still feel sad about it as I could have had an electric deterrent set up some time ago that may have prevented that from happening in the first place.

Thanks for watching. Here on Vanvouver Island we are progressing towards our normal winter weather. Lots of rain coming down to west coast from Alaska bringing cooler temps. At this point we get daily highs between 9C to 11C which is around 48F to 52F. Which is just warm enough for the girls to be a little active. It’s pouring again this morning and will be like this for a couple of days. I was watching them yesterday afternoon as we had a bit of sun and they were bringing in pollen so there is still some stuff blooming for them to forage from. I don’t think that will last much longer though. Most of the flowering plants around here have stopped for this year.

Side deck, faces south and the bees seem to like it there.

Yup, kind of cool today. Only about 9C. I hope pulling that frame didn’t do any harm to them. They can use all the bees they can get. Spring is a long way off.

Yeah, I was trying to be as quick as possible to get them closed up again. Man I haven't seen it rain like that in a very long time. We estimate about 150mm of rain over two days. Some flooding here and there and lots of run off.

Thanks DC I guess your Thanksgiving isn’t for a little while yet. Yeah, I think it was a young black bear. Has not been back as of yet. The viewing window is goig to make ckecking the sugar feeders so much easier and safer for me as well as the bees. Yeah the new kitty is quite the handful already😊

Hi, I am on the south end of Vancouver Island, B.C. I stopped using tar paper as it was getting the hives to warm during sunny days and I was losing a great deal of bees that figured they could leave the hives and forage. Our temps around here in winter can range from 5C to -10C. Usually hangs in around just above freezing. So it didn’t take long for the girls to get cold and not be able to return to the warmth of their homes.

I have over wintered nucs before here. The nuc is well protected here from the wind and rain so I think it will do OK. Only time will tell though.

Yeah that was only the second treatment on these colonies and I am waiting six days before doing another so I will be treating again this Friday

Thanks dc, i do hope i can get the mite numbers down. The girls will have an easier time over the winter months.

As far as I know there isn't a medicinal cure for this virus. What I have done in the past is go through the colony and pick out any infected bees. This will keep them from feeding new brood and passing the virus to them. Also I try my best to treat for varroa mites to get rid of them as they are usually the main cause of this virus. If you can get the mite load down to near zero them the virus will run it's course and not get spread any further.

I am glad it’s not just mine. I did artificial swarms in the spring. The swarming colonies all raised new queens and they went right back into swarm mode again even though the new queens were laying like crazy and the hive populations did not seem to be over crowded. Still have not figuered that out. It seems to something different every year.

I guess I am not entertaining enough. But thank you for watching and commenting.

Yup, I still feed dry sugar however I won’t start that process until mid October when it gets to cold to give them sugar water.

@@berrrygr Why not now with dry sugar ? Sugar water gives robbing in my hives

@@soupvis2616 That's a good question that I don't have a really good answer to. My bees don't seem to be to concerned about the sugar water so no robbing. It's easier for them to collect the sugar water and store it if necessary so I will continue until temps get down to where it begins to be dangerous to give them liquid feed. I think we still have some fall nectar coming in as well (golden rod) so they have something else to focus on at the moment. That could change in the blink of eye of course.

@@berrrygr Of course it depends on where you live ... I live in belgium , the fall will start in a few days ... ( robbing starting now )

Well, welcome from Belgium. Great to hear from the other side of the world. I am on the south end of Vancouver Island, B.C.

I tried that at one point but there were so many bees inside the cap that there were some buried when I pulled the cap. I am doing things a little different this year and I will be doing a short video on it when I switch the colonies to dry sugar.

@@berrrygr ok

Yeah, I am pleased at their progress. They appear to be in great shape for the upcoming winter.

Yeah, in the past I have taken partally capped frames after testing with my spectrometer. I am not in a great rush this year to collect honey so I am leaving it on and the bees can cap it if they so desire. Come the end of the season in about three weeks I will be pulling it all capped or not. I will have to move the girls back home and the lighter the box the better.

@@berrrygr * It's safer to over winter at home?

@@gallowaylights It is a lot safer at home. That's bear country up there. If you watched the very end of the video you will see one of them running down the road ahead of the car. Besides, it's a long trip to run up there to give them sugar water and treat them for mites and such. Much easier in the back yard.

Hi and thanks for subbing and watching my vid. I do sometimes use a smoker but we are in a forest area where it is bone dry. I do not want any risk of a forest fire so I go smokeless unless it is absolutely nessessary. The bees I have are really gentle so unless they suddenly turn really aggresive I won’t light a smoker at all. For myself, I find that I don’t need to smoke them at all even when I have the bees at home. I guess you would have to be the judge of how your bees are when you inspect and then decide to smoke or not. I did have excuders in at first but the bees were not moving up into the supers so I decided to take them out. I am using the full honey frames in the bottom super as a barrier to keep the queens from laying in the supers. I used excuders last year without any issues for the whole season. This year seems to be a different story. I think our up and down weather we are experiencing this summer is a major factor in the bees behaviour. It’s still gropping to 12 - 13 C at night which is most likely causing the bees to cluster more in the brood boxes keeping the brood warm. At least that’s what I have come up with.

Yeah, they sure do. However the weather we are experiencing is just so not like our regular weather we may not get much in the way of a honey harvest. The wind alone has been blowing here since Sunday and doesn't seem to want to let up.

I believe there is an addon module that you can use to create curved text.

That's a good question I don't have the answer to. I am only treating because I have seen mites riding on the backs of some of the bees. The more I can get rid of the less there are to reproduce.

I have tried the rubber caps and have on occasion had them blow out. I know my treatment rig is a little risky but I have used it for two years now without any issues. I don't have enough colonies to justify spending a small fortune on a real treatment device. If I had more colonies then I would get one of the newer battery operated devices.

Treating for mites now when the colony doesn't have any capped brood due to being queenless for a bit will get the best coverage as well.

@@berrrygr I also get blowouts on my diy, usually when tip clogs... steam has a lot of stored energy!

@@berrrygr * You're doing great... I guess it is my turn to kill mites!

Yeah, that’s california lilac. It’s full of bees of all kinds collecting pollen. Most of them are bumble bees of various sizes.

Sometimes you can’t but this queen was really loud. I could hear her 6 feet away. I found homes for the extra queens as well so they did not go to waste.

Hi, thanks for the response. Yeah, It seems to be one of those areas of beekeeping that’s still not quite understood yet. I am going to leave them for about 10 days and see if this new queen lays eggs and if they turn into workers and not drones.🙂

I will keep that in mind. I am trying to strike a balance between being to close and to far away. Thank you for watching.

@berrrygr * I hold mine up to the camera, and editing takes out my looking at them. Tedious but so enjoyable for later replay.🫠

Yeah, they are really calm. Hopefully the split will go ok. This is the first year I have seen signs of swarming this early.

They are making the best of it. The weather was cold and wet yesterday and today doesn’t look any better. Supposed to be nice tomorrow though.