Storing Honey Supers Video Part 2 | Killing Mites In The Fall | Wrapping Your Hive

[@1wildwackywoman]

Great vid! Thank you. Last year I made packed sugar boards and put one on each of my 2-brood box hives. I found that the heat from the hive seem to melt some of the sugar and it dripped down inside the brood boxes ( I noticed this when I pulled out the damper board. there was some ‘pooling’ of liquified sugar on the damper board. Not a lot, but I was concerned that that would not be good for the bees. When I packed in the slightly moist sugar I put a block of wood in each corner and one in the center so when the sugar was hard I removed the blocks, this left five openings in the sugar board for ventilation. My question is, do you notice your sugar has some melting effect? My hives seemed to do very well over winter so maybe my concern was not really a concern. I live in the Pacific Northwest and this is my third year of beekeeping.

[@1wildwackywoman]

Very timely for me here in Washington State. This is the first year I have actually been able to pull honey. When I pulled my honey I removed any foundations that had at least 95% drawn capped honey and replaced those with empty foundations. Of course the bees started filling up the newly inserted foundations. I repeated this process two more times. Currently I have one honey super on each of my hives and would like to remove them in preparation for winter. I’ve been wondering what to do with some of the partially filled, and uncapped frames as I know I don’t want to store them like that over winter. I will remove all of those honey supers and set them up as you’ve demonstrated in your videos. Problem solved. Thank you!

[@woodchucktinman9893]

Perfect timing as I just spun my fall harvest yesterday. Thank you!

[@louism9891]

I remember this in my 2nd winter, storing honey supers in bags, spring time wax moths got them all, Never did that again...seeing this video reminded me of doing this, I been keeping them in a freezer ever since

[@beek]

Lots of people make that mistake

[@quietpianist]

I miss your video updates, I hope life is going well for you and the family.

[@beek]

Thanks, we are doing well.

[@erikdarm]

Thanks for the video David.

[@beek]

Thank you, my pleasure

[@jqueen1380]

Do you close the entrance reducer completely when you wrap with the insulation? Do the critters (mice?) bother the insulation or try to dislodge the reducer to get into the hive?

[@brucewest4862]

With the fiberglas batting, don't they get soggy with rain and snow?

[@beepasbees]

Thanks David always enjoy your video presentations...Walt

[@mrcshoneybees]

great video. Good timing. Thanks

[@katepetreny6397]

Hi Dave. Thank you for your very informative video. Question: What about ventilation flow through the hive? Would moisture be a problem if you close out the entrance and only leave a small opening at the top?

[@laserconkitfox]

David Burns: thanks for your videos. Can you please tell why is it that when a hive swarms, (with the old queen, fertile) there are lots of drones with the swarm. Aren´t they suppose to stay in the old hive to copulate with the new queen??? thanks for your answer from Venezuela.

[@beek]

Good question. Drones carry the DNA off to their new hive. Drones never mate with queens produced within their own colony. If a colony raised a queen, and she mated with drones from the same hive, those would be her brothers. To naturally control inbreeding she flies away from her colony into a drone congregational area some distance away so as not to breed with her brothers.

[@donaldbarth3404]

Freeze the frames then put them in a sealed bag and freeze them again for three days and then, leaving the bag closed, store them all winter. You will never have a frame destroyed using this method.

[@johnneumann9902]

miss your regular videos......... thank you......

[@SparkieDog1]

Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge!! It's been 36 years since I've kept bees. At 4:43 what are those flea looking critters there by that Wax Moth?

[@framcesmoore]

Ha David I live in Virginia in wrapping the hive I would like to know your winter temperatures are also I freeze my empties and bag them in clear trash bags to keep the bugs out and to prevent any new bugs from getting them could this cause mold thanks and have a great day great video thanks

[@beek]

Frances, the bag will hold too much moisture and potentially cause mildew and mold. I wouldn't recommend it.

[@Tj-ot4jp]

I freeze frames as a matter of course, always.

[@beek]

Always a good idea!

[@craigieb]

Respectfully, please do something to stop the camera movement...maybe a tripod. :) Your audio is great, but seriously...your content is too good for all this camera woggling. :)

[@beek]

I agree Craig, I'm training a young, up and coming videographer and it would have broken his heart not to have used his footage. It was his first time to be around bees, and he was nervous. I try to involve young people and motivate them to try challenging things. Thank you for your positive comment about my content!

[@craigieb]

I understand completely. I was a young buck once, and someone gave me a chance, and it started a 40-year career. And because one of my hives is full of really nasty, grumpy bees, I totally get being nervous. :) Great content...keep it up! ;)