Our Bees Are Preparing For Winter

[@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog]

I completely agree with you, some of those treatments shut down the queen. I might consider it in late September because it might not hurt to help shut down the queen then to make OXalix Acid treatment more effective. Our queens have dramatically reduced their laying now and we are starting to backfill

[@bobbinnie9872]

I know of few more challenging situations than the length of time your bees have to live through winter. Our area is much more forgiving. You guys have to nail it in fall or you're screwed.

[@thuffman44]

Still waiting for the 'feels like' temperature to drop below a hundred degrees down here in south Florida, LOL. Wishing your bees all the best of success. Appreciate your videos! Keep 'em coming! 🐝🐝

[@bryanbetournay5557]

Good Morning Bob and Crew. Thanks for an other great video. Always look forward to your Sunday morning Videos. Keep up the great work!

[@robertlewis3336]

I've been at this hobby for quite a while but I'm always learning. I do so appreciate your videos. You are both entertaining and educational

[@beesandbeats]

I fully agree.. Living with my hives in Europe but I taking my lessons from Mr. Bob.. His calm voice adds only on top..

[@bradgoliphant]

Thank you Bob for all your help this year. I had a great year. Blessings to you

[@ROD_OF_IRON]

Very well sir thanks again I watch all your videos my Bees are doing good I have basically your variant

[@toddknecht2106]

Thanks for the video Bob, I’m in Northeast Pennsylvania,our goldenrod and Japanese knotweed are banging right now hauling in the pollen and nectar!

[@jtlearn1]

I'm in nj by the del water gap and having a good fall flow too

[@russellkoopman3004]

Thanks Bob for your insights that you share. I always look forward to your video.

[@bobbinnie9872]

Hi Russell, thanks.

[@dmurphydrtc]

Wonderful content as always. Here in Sydney the Eastern Koel has arrived down from PNG and marks the start of spring. Mother nature is beautiful and mystic.

[@aidanquick3151]

That seems so early for them

[@carpenterandhisbees]

I've been following you for a few years now. I started out in California and moved last winter to Kentucky. I do my best to take your advice and apply it to my region. California feels like 24/7 compared to Kentucky. My highest mite count this year is 3 but most were zero and 1. It helps to have all your experience to rely on and I don't have the years left in me to learn the hard way.

[@babybeeapiaries8667]

Thanks Bob.

[@paulgroth5414]

HI Bob, I am in southeast michigan and golden rod has been out over a month and the final variety is blooming, hives are loaded with brood, we dipped to 41 the other night but we will see temps into high 80s this week. Nice tip on the mite treatment this time of year

[@lenturtle7954]

Im having a good fall the volunteer canola has stopped blooming near me . And the underseeded red clover near me is blooming hard it will be a nightmare for the farmer to combine the canola nurse crop. The hawksbeard is done 😢. I look forward to these videos every week ,much appreciated Bob.

[@SIBEEMAN]

Good morning Bob happy Sunday. Thank you for the great video. That sure is a beautiful location for a bee yard.

[@bobbinnie9872]

Good morning.

[@ronaldburleson1099]

Thanks Bob. I treated my bees in August here in Gaston County NC believe it or not I got away with it. The temp.were in the 80s so I tried it and it worked. Lost 2 or 3 but the rest are booming full boxes of brood and bees. Thanks again

[@timwood8733]

these are wonderful videos -very interesting

[@robinkennedy9974]

Another excellent instruction video from Binnie U….and the fees are so reasonable! Best value on KZbin. We finally got a little rain in N Fl. for a day. (Dont believe what the weather people/maps say. Most rain is south of Tally area). Still in a serious dearth but some signs of a little pollen coming in. Summer was hell temp wise. Some signs of Fall but hard to tell if sourwood etc is reacting to lower temps or the trees have given up in the dry conditions. Whats happened to the rains from hurricanes we normally get? Dont want the associated wind but need the rain. The only good news is the low bee population makes going through the hives a breeze. Cheers

[@bobbinnie9872]

Cheers.

[@Sanbatongmatmientayofficial]

Nice video của ❤

[@carloscrenz9433]

Bueno día Bob muy lindo sus trabajos saludos 👏👏👏👏👍🐝

[@russellaymond312]

Good morning Bob, thank you for sharing.

[@bobbinnie9872]

Good morning.

[@antoineignizio1376]

Thank you Bob, HCBK🐝😊

[@timlewis9873]

Good morning Bob, and crew.

[@bobbinnie9872]

Good morning!

[@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog]

I completely agree with you, some of those treatments shut down the queen. I might consider it in late September because it might not hurt to help shut down the queen then to make OXalix Acid treatment better

[@garryforsythe6274]

I have a few Saskatraz colonies and I really like then. I'm in north Alabama.

[@MagnoliaSpringsFarm19]

Good morning, Bob and crew!

[@bobbinnie9872]

Good morning.

[@dcsblessedbees]

Yep Fall is here and Winter is Coming, Northern Beekeepers be warned.😁At least hear in SW WA we are building our Winter nests. 🤔I wana own a Mountain, that way I can say get off my mountain.😂 I had Sourwood honey for the 1st time, it's an interesting flavor. Thanks for sharing your time with us Bob, Blessed Days...

[@dcsblessedbees]

I actually have to watch the amount of pollen coming in my boxes in late Summer and Fall, I have no nectar flow but I get slammed with pollen from the CSA farm across from me. Turns out a GIANT vegetable garden makes a lot of pollen when you add that to the natives, that's a lot of pollen.🤯I actually trapped like 10 lbs of it in 2 weeks with 5 traps and I was only taking maybe a 3rd of what was coming into my stronger colonies. I'll start feeding a little of it back to them here later Fall, mostly I want it for Spring time.

[@WilliamBryan-q5q]

I made this exact mistake this year. Thank you for the recap.

[@adkfoothills1973]

I'm glad you decided to do these videos, Bob. You have made a huge impact, and I "thank you". Your knowledge and experience have helped me out an awful lot. I do have one question that I've always been curios about. How does a successful beekeeper like yourself, both look like Kenny Rogers and sound like Kenny Rogers all at the same time?

[@bobbinnie9872]

😉

[@markbooth8458]

Hello Bob Fall is definitely coming. Whether we are ready or not.

[@bobbinnie9872]

It will be Christmas before we know it. 😉

[@johnemmenecker4859]

not me, a full time beekeeper pre-emptively stopping the video to count and accurately estimate exactly how many is your "small yard" and then hearing the exact answer seconds later, cheers from OH-IO :)

[@taylerrussell9088]

Bob, can you show how you make the bucket feeders (drilling the hole in the lid) also the hole in the lid for the colony?

[@bobbinnie9872]

Check out "The Chemistry Behind Feeding Bees Part 2". kzbin.info/www/bejne/hmqZoX5olrOjg5I

[@taylerrussell9088]

@@bobbinnie9872 Your the best, thank you!

[@robertdemers5125]

Good Morning Bob !

[@bobbinnie9872]

Good morning sir!

[@SamGeer-x5h]

Bob, thanks for all the helpful content. I'd like to make an estimate of how much I'll need to feed a colony to get the desired weight of stored food. When preparing for winter and trying to get your boxes heavy, do you have a guideline you use to anticipate conversion rate of sugar syrup to food stored in the colony?

[@robertcarden9013]

my sourwood hasn't turned red yet, your elevation must be effecting your sourwood. i think elevation is a larger factor than subtle lattitude.

[@stevenaamos]

Good morning Bob! The packages that I got from you this spring are still doing great! Planning on making a trip down, have you sold all of the propola boxes? Thanks for all you do!!

[@bobbinnie9872]

Thanks. We still have some on sale. I'll be using the left overs for myself soon. Oddly, they're not selling well.

[@nathanepaulsen38]

Hi Bob! Unrelated to this video. I know you do a lot to control / prevent swarming. Even with all that you do, over a 5 year average, what percent of your colonies naturally swarm every year? I feel like I'm gaining ground, but over the course of a year around 20% of mine still swarm, like they are absolutely determined too. Thanks for all you do. I look forward to every video you make.

[@bobbinnie9872]

It takes a lot of work and time to stay below 20%. Some years we do and some we don't.

[@Casandra1959]

My family is from the Topton/ Andrews are of Cherokee Co., N.C Are you ever in that area? My cousin Brandon Hyde raises and sales honey there. I now live in Wisconsin with my children I love your videos and channel. I wish so much that I could have bees but I live in a trailer park and with so many people and especially kids . I would be afraid to have hives of bees here. Also I live in the Fond Du Lac area and I would be afraid with the -15 F to -20F temperatures we get in the winter it would be very hard to keep bees in our winters here. Have a Bless Day , Cassie😊

[@bobbinnie9872]

Hi Cassie.I get to that area occasionally. I do know Brandon. He is a customer of ours.

[@mrfabiocosta]

Dear Bob, can you please give some information regarding the goldenrod varieties? I live in Germany, we also have some goldenrod and the wild bees love it, but the honeybees don't.

[@timbalzhyk9391]

Thank you Bob for another great video! When you have to add a second deep box, do you place it on top or under the existing hive?

[@bobbinnie9872]

We almost always place it on top.

[@toprakanaciftligi8037]

❤❤❤

[@charlesoneill466]

Thanks for the video. Are those 2 gallon feeders? Here in south Louisiana we have some of the same problems, but we are never broodless. I especially love the comments. So many people have great questions .

[@bobbinnie9872]

They are 1-1/2 Mann Lake feeders. In my opinion a two gallon is too tight with 8 frames in a box. A !-1/2 gallon actually gives you an extra 1/4 to 3/8 inch of space. I love the comments too.👍

[@steliandone4078]

Hello Bob. Thank you for filming the hives. I learned a lot by watching. Looks like they are going to hibernate on 8 frames and a feeder? Any other intervention besides feeding and treating? Thank you and God bless you all.

[@bobbinnie9872]

@@steliandone4078 Except for requeening a few colonies it's just feeding and treating. Eight frames and the rim will work for overwintering.

[@joeymullins3859]

I was thinking about trying the saskatraz bees here in sw Virginia how are the temperament, we have some rough winters also,they are supposed to be good for cold climates, would you recommend them.

[@robertstwalley3662]

Question, I seen that your team was keeping the lids back so far to create a rear entrance. I was very surprised, I would be worried about robbing this late in the year, what is the reasoning for this if I may ask?

[@bobbinnie9872]

That is a legitimate concern. We're trying to harvest some propolis as the season winds down. We're only doing it with colonies that are strong enough to defend themselves.

[@kevinarthur7108]

What do you do with sick hives with chalkbrood and sackbrood this time of year?

[@bobbinnie9872]

We don't have any but if we did we would requeen and nurse them with feed and essential oil.

[@sunduck1]

Bob, My bees are really hungry right now after my Apiguard Treatments and what seems to be a lack luster fall flow. You mentioned using two feeders and seemed to indicate a standard 3 gallon frame feeder would not be enough. I figured we had enough time if I fill the feeders weekly but it sounds like I should maybe put a frame feeder in the top and bottom box? If they are really short on food, shoould I be putting it in high gear right now and using two feeders? Or do I still have plenty of time to feed them with one feeder weekly? Trying not to jam up the brood areas but I don't want to run out of time either. And I know all the bees from the new brood will need feed as well.

[@bobbinnie9872]

If you can visit the colony often one feeder should be enough. Our problem here is that we can't get back in a timely manner.

[@PennsylvaniaBeekeeper]

Bob, as for the Apiguard when is the right time to use it? If a beekeeper doesn't want to use it before the flow, and doesn't want to use it in the late summer b/c it will affect hive population the next spring, when should a beekeeper use it? Maybe there is not an ideal time for Apiguard -Darren

[@bobbinnie9872]

Every region is different. Here we have a pollen dearth period in late July into August and the brood rearing slows down naturally which is a great time. Other locations have late summer flows followed by a short fall pollen flow which can be problematic. Whether Apigaurd can be used efficiently really depends on the location and timing.

[@bligon11]

in double deeps, which deep do you put the inbox feeder?

[@bobbinnie9872]

This time of year most are going into the bottom box. Even the ones in this video got moved down today. It gives the colony better access as the weather begins to cool because in our hives the majority of the bees will be in the bottom going forward.

[@austinwadsworth4991]

When do you remove queen excluders?

[@tylervet]

In July after the sourwood.

[@bobbinnie9872]

At the same time we harvest the last honey supers.

[@on5b416]

I'd be curious if you know or kept track of what lines of Saskatraz you got? We have used Saskatraz ALOT !! over the last 5 years or so. We requeened 700 colonies with saskatraz queens this year and I have not seen any colonies that act the way you describe.

[@bobbinnie9872]

They were sent to me by Ray Olivarez (Olivarez Honey Bees) to try out. He mentioned that there are a few lines of that bee in his operation and was surprised at my experiences also. I would be curious about your take on them. It's the first time I've tried them. Maybe it's a fluke.

[@on5b416]

@@bobbinnie9872 The most recent lines we got ( in the 700 replaced over the month of July) we had SBF-11XMRT-20 , SCN-29 X PRD- 22 , SL25 PRD X PRD- 23 , S96 KKY X BV-23 , S113 BV X TWR-21 , SG08 X BEN - 21 , SG08 X PRD - 23 , S96 X PRD - 21 , S14 X PRD - 23 Some of these lines are new to me however, In the past we have used a few variations of S96 and S113 with great success. I am also in Canada and order direct from Albert Robertson at Meadow Ridge , but the stock is produced at Olivazrez to get the earlier production. I spoke to Albert and told him I wanted lines that wintered frugally and responded quick to either stimulation from supplementation or natural sources. We are honey producers , but we also ship majority of the bees to wild blueberries on the east coast so we need them ready early. The lines we've got are what Albert believed would meet our needs best. If you'd like to ever talk about this further I'd be happy to do that if you wanted me to contact you somewhere other than as a reply here.

[@MinnesotaBeekeeper]

Sir are you going to throw any pollen sub on to augment the winter bee production?

[@bobbinnie9872]

No, they should be well nourished going into winter. I haven't used pollen supplement in several years.

[@sunduck1]

Bob, I planted 6 acres of Black Oil sunflowers and they just finished blooming. They were beautiful and my 15 hives were working them like crazy! Almost every head had 1 to 3 bees on them. After it was all said and done, I had big hopes for Sunflower honey and it just did not really happen as I hoped. However, it was in the smack middle of my August Apiguard Treatments. Could that of played a role or is there just not enough nectar to produce honey? You have any past experience with your bees around sunflower fields? Should I have planted more? Or would that of mattered. I want to plant multiple fields a couple weeks apart next year and have them blooming all fall. I know I am giving them great pollen, was just hoping it would produce enough nectar to help them build up some winter stores but did not really happen. Some say it's really rain dependent for Nectar as well.

[@bobbinnie9872]

I have limited experience with sunflowers but I do know that some varieties produce abundant nectar and some don't. I'm sure moisture plays a part too. The pollen alone is probably worth it.

[@williammiller5449]

I note you put your hive covers with a gap between the cover and the hive body. Could you give your reason for leaving the gap?

[@bobbinnie9872]

The reason at this time is to produce propolis.

[@Synergyfarm]

Do you keep any colonies near Franklin NC? My family just moved up there off 441 and I was wondering how the forage is in that area. I currently keep all my hives in the Ocala national forest but the summers are just tooooo hot. I’d love to chase the flow up there after we wrap up with the Florida spring flow

[@bobbinnie9872]

We have a number of yards in Otto which is just a few miles south of Franklin on HWY 441. It's a great area if the weather cooperates. Not all areas around Franklin have good stands of Sourwood though.

[@Synergyfarm]

@@bobbinnie9872 I appreciate that info very much! We will definitely be stopping by to check the shop out soon and the second I come to visit and I’d be more than happy to lend a hand if you ever need some free labor💪🏼. Hope you guys are doing well

[@daryldaigle7214]

Feeding one to one?

[@bobbinnie9872]

Each colony or yard will be different and we'll be feeding most multiple times.

[@miked.4407]

Hi Bob - learning a lot from watching your content..thank you! Total novice here....just curious are all your bee yards/apiaries protected with electric fencing? Just known yards where predators are present?

[@bobbinnie9872]

We have around 40 apiary sites with bees currently in 32. All but 3 have electric fences. Bears will tear us up if we don't.

[@michaelmcnair1880]

Bob, if you were not able to start using Apiguard until August 25th, because it's just too hot (95-98 degrees F), what would you do differently? Use smaller doses of Apiguard earlier? Use Apivar strips earlier? Other ideas? Now I'm exactly in the situation you describe here with my fall pollen flow coming in and I'm only two weeks (I try to treat 4 times at 7-day intervals) into my Apiguard treatment. The same condition happens every year and I'm curious how you would respond to this predicament.

[@bobbinnie9872]

I might be tempted to use Apivar which does not shut the queen down. If I had a smaller number of colonies, multiple oxalic acid vaporizations might do it. The problem with that is the labor. It takes at least 7 to 9 applications, 4 or 5 days apart.

[@michaelmcnair1880]

@@bobbinnie9872 Thank you Bob!