Beekeeping Mistakes Beekeepers Make In The Fall & How To Avoid Them

[@mulebee]

I'm just back into bee keeping with two hives in mn. Never have thoroughly checked each hive because there are so many bees and brood. This video makes me want to get back there today. Thanks.

[@howdydoody6634]

Great video David! Keep up the great work! Jeff B in NJ

[@amandaaskew7606]

Thank you for these tips! I am going into my first fall with my bees, and this is a great reminder!

[@guillaumelafleche9477]

Same here!

[@wakingupcountry]

New subscriber. This is my first year beekeeping in northern Idaho, where it gets really cold. Great advice. Thanks for sharing.

[@geoffhaines8397]

Great video Dave. I just did my fall inspection. Resources look great, mite counts are low, eggs are fine, queen is fine…I did not see a ton of brood. Any suggestions?

[@bunhelsingslegacy3549]

Second year beekeeper sharing a yard with my mom who's in her first year... last year we learned about mites, and this year we learned about robbing when her strongest producer ate my two recent splits, they weren't even being subtle about it. So we have learned our lesson about entrance reducers!! We also learned about AFB and provincial bee inspectors and which vet to call to get a prescription for antibiotics when one of our neighbours who also keeps bees had AFB two hives, believed to have come with nucleus colonies purchased this spring... We've got feed on what was a single deep but so full of bees after we took off the supers that they were becoming thieves, so we gave them another deep from the hive they ate most recently, and will be adding feeders on everything else as soon as we're done with the antibiotics. This year was really weird, the summer was kind of dry and the goldenrod came a month early so it's already all done and all we've got out now in profusion is the asters. Haven't had a frost yet but things are cooling down, honey supers are all off and mite strips are in...

[@beeamazzzinghives]

Starting my beekeeping journey in the spring and have been watching as many of your videos as possible in preparation. All great information! Thanks

[@leonunlimited7552]

There are a ton of great beekeepers on KZbin.. David is awesome, Kamon Reynolds is great.. check out horizontal and top bar hives, they are cool.. I just started this year with 1 colony.. I read every book in the library and watched as many videos as I could. Take a course if available to you, there is a wealth of information and hands on training there. Good luck! My plan is, if they die, I buy more and learn.. I want to be a bee guy eventually..

[@beek]

That is awesome!

[@devroy6456]

@david Sorry for all the questions I have asked on 1. First is can you feed while treating with Formic pro, Apivar or oxalic acid? 2. After using Formic pro, Apivar or oxalic acid are the frames permanently tainted and dangerous to extract from? How long do I need to wait until they are safe again? 3. When treating with Formic pro, Apivar or oxalic acid do I need to leave the entrance open, partially closed or completely closed? 4. What daytime or night time temperature should I winterize at? Meaning wrap with a bee cozy, add insulated cover etc…? Thanks again for your time! Any or all guidance will be greatly appreciated!

[@beek]

I always suggest when beekeepers have treatment questions to consult the label, as the label is the law. The label can change, so it's best to always consult the label or the company.

[@kathyhathaway8823]

Very well spoken David . THANKS

[@charrison2005]

I highly recommend the Winter Bee Kinds!

[@lisastevens2431]

Thanks Dave! I've been pretty hands off this year due to buying a house and trying to get moved but the hives seem to be doing well. I did treat with Apiguard and was very please with the ease of using it. This video reminder of Fall practices is great!

[@eastsussexbeesandwildlife5801]

Thanks David, always enjoy your videos, best wishes from all your friends in the UK!

[@rebeccahoffman5914]

I started feeding my girls 2weeks ago.They aren't very interested in it though. We had our first freeze the other night in NY . I guess if they need it they will take it. Really hoping nature keeps hives strong into the spring.

[@avalonunitygarden2394]

Please help! In my hive my top super box is full of honey. I have new bees coming but everything is full if I do winter bees of physiology where will they go? Do I need to put another box on there for them. If yes Will it be another brewed box? Or will they kick the males out and that will give them more room should I add another honey super on top? Or just start feeding like you suggested? I don’t want them to fly away swarm because there’s no place for them it makes me leery of growing more baby bees. I’m in northern Illinois an hour and a half south of Rockford and hour and a half north of Peoria

[@wesleynichols5676]

At what temperatures do you recommend installing the screen cover over the screened bottom board? To reduce cold air ventilation.

[@BugFarmerBees]

Great tips.

[@beek]

Glad you think so!

[@janahamilton9588]

Thank you for your wonderful help and encouragement

[@beek]

You are so welcome

[@TinyTrailFarm]

Thanks again Dave... you rock!

[@ruthpenick4520]

Should I move my bees if they're in a shaded area for the Winter. So should I put them in the Sunny area

[@jerrysmethills8058]

How do I get gloves like the ones you are using? They look to be sting proof, are they rubberized?

[@MERRLINN]

Thanks!

[@beek]

Thank you so much

[@christopherroop4937]

I mentioned you to Brian before a live stream about six weeks ago. I hope the live stream helps you get 100,000 subscribers.

[@neilstafford4166]

Thanks you for the great information. I was wondering if you can talk about moisture in the winter. I live in central Wisconsin. Thank you again.

[@ericfrancis7816]

Will you be doing a video on ways to insulate a hive? I'm in New England and our community garden hives didn't make it through last winter, even though I wrapped the hives. I'd love to hear your methods!

[@beek]

Sorry you lost the community garden hives. It is most never from being cold. Wrapping makes very little difference. Most winter losses are due to poor management practices allow too small of winter populations, poor mite control during summer or poor queen performance. My online winter class can help shed light in all these area.

[@davidrollyson6873]

I treated for mites with Formic starting on 8/29 for the specified time. I put an empty drone comb back in after and was able to capture more mites in that. Counted 3 mites in 5 drone cells. Concerned that treating again in October may be more harmful than helpful. Interested if treating is worth the risk to the queen and the potential of lost brood production.

[@ME_MeAndMyBees]

Yes, Treat ! Right away !!! Maybe do a Programme of a Product that will not knock your Queen out. Maybe try Apiguard, or an Oxalic Acid Trickle (if local Laws allow this !) And keep the Formic Pro... for when it's Spring (or you know a Dead Queen can be replaced easily,) in the Queen Breeding Season of Spring to late Summer ! A Colony with VM is a Walking Dead 'Hive' ! A Colony with no Queen (cos she was whacked by a to a Strong VM Prep, is also a dead colony*.) Just saying... 🤔 * Unless you have another Hive you can combine the Queenless part to : Using a Slow connection : through Newspaper Sheet Method. Works a treat... 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝 Happy Beekeeping 2022. 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝

[@iglord7]

Do I need to be concerned about switching to dry feeding instead of sugar water as soon as the lows hit below 50, or once the average/high hits 50? Trying to get the girls ready for winter, but don't want to commit to the mountain camp feeding method until as late as possible so I can still inspect.

[@beek]

It really depends on many factors but I like feeding hard candy from the top, my winter-bee-kinds when temps drop below 50.

[@mse1333]

Hi David, I believe you said this is a good time to use formic pro for mite treatment. I am pretty sure formic shuts down the queen laying for several weeks, not a good time to stop the queen laying in preparation for winter. Can you explain late September is a good time to shut down the queen?

[@beek]

Formic Pro has never shut down my queens.

[@CastleHives]

Great info here David. This time of the year is so critical. I just said the similar, do not rely on the fall flow for your colonies. Looking forward to the chat. P.S. I ordered one of your books. Looking forward to reading it.

[@beek]

Awesome

[@dynamokev4253]

First year as a beekeeper, based in the UK. last 2 times I opened the hive in September the bees were too cranky for me to do anything.

[@ME_MeAndMyBees]

You can still learn... from Cranky Bees. 👀 Yep, they might come straight at you and your Bee Suit. But hey, you can still ascertain : Do they have Good Stores. Do they need a Reduced Entrance to fend off Robbers. Is the Queen laying Brood (Bees of Winter Physiology : Long Lived, re Winter length. And have you done a good Varroa Mite Control Programme. And or do another type, so VM don't build up resistance to any one Med or Product. 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝 Happy Beekeeping 2022. 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝 We are coming to the end of Bee Season here in Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Been a great year with Bees, more Hives, Nucs, and Oh the Honey! 🍯 😎

[@dalekthump2590]

Mine dont seem like they have enough population to sustain the winter. First year. Hoping i didn't do too much. I feel like i removed off-frame comb too much in summer.

[@stevewelches1955]

I have herd you and others talk about winter bees. Is their an actual biological bifference between summer and winter bees that has a basis in science or is it just an assumption that they must be different. It would seem logical that they are different but I have never seen anyone reference a study stating such. My thinking has been that winter bees and summer bees were the same but winter bees lived longer because of less physical demand from lack of work associated with spring and summer build up and food gathering. I thank you in advance for your response and any information you have on this subject.

[@henryparrott2447]

Great job 👏 👍

[@mr.msadventures427]

I'm not seeing eggs or brood in my hive, I think I'm queenless, is there anything I can do to save this colony this year or will I have to start over next spring?

[@beek]

I'm making a video about that right now should publishing it this week, hopefully 🤞

[@mr.msadventures427]

@@beek OK good that works perfect, I'm a new beekeeper this year but things aren't looking very good

[@leonunlimited7552]

I do not understand how to open the hive in the winter to feed them... I am in Canada, in the Kootenays BC.. it rarely gets really cold, but these last few winters have been terrible and I expect this one will be as well.. when can I open them? We wait in Spring for the right temperature to open.. it never gets that warm here in the winter and I am afraid of popping the top even to put a candy board in.. but I would also be sad if I found out they all died from starvation when I could have fed them...

[@leonunlimited7552]

I dont even want to do the alcohol test lol..

[@beek]

Bees heat the cluster not the inside of the hive. Opening it up for less than a minute to replace the feeder is fine.

[@cultleader6977]

What do I do if a hive was robbed ?? Just keep feeding from within ?

[@JoeHHarrell]

These tips are helpful, I just hope I didn't wait too long to start feeding, doing so now and they polished off a half gallon in a couple days. Temps are starting to swing wildly, low 50's today, down to the 20's tonight but mid to high 60's by the end of the week. I'm a bit nervous about the transition from liquid to solid feed, putting on insulation, etc. But if I hadn't started watching your youtube videos I've no doubt that my bees would have been dead by spring, at least now I have some hope that they'll survive despite my newbie mistakes.

[@philipmccorkle9317]

2:17 - you said larvae will emerge as an adult bee in 8-13 days... A little confused about your math there. An egg hatches on day 3 and a larvae is capped on around day 9, with an adult emerging on day 21, so... shouldn't the range for a larvae to emerge as an adult be 13-18 days?

[@sharriceowens913]

My queen is gone..most all apraries I called are all out is there anything else I can do to save my hive by forcing them to create a queen

[@Kevin_Dyke]

If they are strong in numbers they will almost 100% make a new queen. Keep an eye out for queen cells in the next 2 weeks.

[@halfcircleworkshop]

Best bet this late in the year is to combine it with another hive

[@kathyhathaway8823]

Even if you were to get a queen this time of year there are probably no drones around or very few so she would not get mated . If a lot of your bees got killed in the robbing the best or only thing to do this time of year is to reduce the boxes down to match the amount of bees you have then combined them with another colony using the news paper combine method. Then take all extra comb out and put in the freezer to kill any hive beetle larva or wax moth larvae. Then store frames to keep out wax moths so they do not get damaged . Hope this helps you out . Ask if any other questions

[@erilandes5257]

Hello David, thank you for all you do for us budding apiarians. Question: When you feed bees in the winter, does it risk the bees warmth to lift the lid for feeding?

[@beek]

Most queens are sold already mated.

[@chrismc8548]

Worst beekeeping mistake is letting a bear eat your hive. I don't have many bees after that.

[@veronicac660]

Sorry

[@monacacisek4460]

Ugh I'm so sorry. Same thing happened to me this spring. First hive to make it thru winter and then bear 😣

[@terrasokolovic7520]

:(