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About this video:Army Fighting For Winter Survival | Identifying a pre-deadout beehive.
In today’s video we will be taking advantage of this unseasonably warm day to inspect the Army beehive prior to the Bomb Cyclone.
About this Channel:
I hope you enjoy beekeeping and this video. If you are interested in becoming a beekeeper or experience backyard beekeeping for yourself have a look at some of the videos on this beekeeping channel as well as videos from beekeeping creators I have listed below. This is my third season as a beekeeper and everything I have learned came from YouTube and mostly from the channels listed below.
Although this beekeeping channel is primarily about beekeeping I am also a quasi pepper who believes in becoming self-sufficient. With that in mind, I have started a garden, planted fruit trees, replaced the hedges in front of my house with blueberry bushes, and have recently built a chicken coop. In short, I will share a lot more than beekeeping on this channel.
A little about me:
I am a person who believes you are never to old to learn something. Be it beekeeping, farming, raising chickens, painting, filming and editing video, making wine, beer, bread, cheese, and other fermentation consumables, play guitar etc… If I see something I want to try I start it immediately. If there is one thing I could choose to pass along to my children this would be it. Never be afraid to try. My wife famously told me once that if you are not willing to be bad at something, you will never be good at it. That means I am bad at quite a few things.
A little about you:
If you are new to beekeeping or are interested in becoming a beekeeper this channel might be for you. In my beekeeping adventures I show everything from my beekeeping successes to my beekeeping failures. I hide nothing and am never afraid to admit to a mistake.
I hope you find my beekeeping videos fun and entertaining as well as get something out of them. I hope I inspire someone to get out and try something new. If you do enjoy my videos, please take a moment to spread the word about this channel and help it, and myself, grow. Have a great day and BEE Happy!
My Mentors:
Vino Farm
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-xczyljpDKuM00-45OUrvg
Frederick Dunn
https://www.youtube.com/user/HTCSWEOD
Mike Barry
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCN4jr_hLv6HmZ3ICCdw4C6Q
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The gear I use:
Primary Camera: Sony FDRAX53/B 4K HD
Secondary Camera: Sony FDRAX53/B 4K HD
Primary MIC: Sony ECMXYST1M Stereo Microphone
Secondary MIC: Sony ECMXYST1M Stereo Microphone
Tripod: ( GEEKOTO Camera Tripod
Editing Software: Adobe Premier
Graphics Package: Adobe Photoshop
Learning Final Cut Pro
Channel Key words:
#beekeeping #flowhive #insects #prepping
A bit about my channel:
This channel is primarily about beekeeping or more specifically beekeeping 101 because I am just a beginning beekeeper and I figured the best way to learn beekeeping and to be a beekeeper was to buy a flow hive, sometimes spelled flowhive or a flow hive 2 which is sometimes known as a flowhive 2 and begin building by backyard apiary so I would have a place to keep bees. Now, backyard beekeeping is not the only thing I do. I consider myself to be urban farming as I also try to grow a sustainable and edible landscape. Backyard farming for me also includes keeping chicken and building other things in my shop that will help all of the birds, bees, insects, and other natural pollinators. I learn how to feed bees and chickens while showing you my day-to-day activities in my apiary, sometimes known as a bee yard. Some people consider me a prepper and yes there is a little truth to that. I do consider this a form of prepping and becoming self sufficient. Thank you for spending time with me learning about tap hives, flow hives, honeybees, and chickens.
19 Comments
I keep double deeps. . I sometimes rotate but it just depends on if the Queen moves down after Winter. Tbh, have only had to rotate boxes a handful of times.
I had one hive that started decreasing in December and I moved them to a single medium and 2 weeks later they were robbed out. It's hard to keep a weak hive in the winter here in Louisiana because we get so much flying time and nothing for them to get , they will rob a weak hive quick.
Sometimes the queen moves up in winter and the bottom box is empty so rotate them and now everything is in place. Getting a little snow here today so nothing is flying. ❤️🐝👍
Maybe add them to another hive
I only rotated because I needed to. Some didn't need rotated but yeah if they use the resources in the bottom and move up they say to rotate those in the spring to keep the main brood in the bottom box I guess is the idea. Do you have any hives in mostly full sun or are they all around your trees? Was curious how different the hive would be and was thinking might help with any SHB issues in the future.?
Try using 3” vinyl 3M tape. It will come off in one piece.
If you rotate your boxes before winter you moved the winter stores below the brood chamber in my opinion that’s a death sentence. They will be clustered above the stores and when cold they will starve. I very seldom have to rotate boxes they will move down on their own in the spring. Some people do it as a form of swarm control I do not
The queen moves up by winter, and you rotate to put the brood in the bottom. The bottom box is usually empty and is moved to the top.
I’m sure everyone is telling you the same thing but you need to combine them with another colony.
They are done. No eggs no brood. Queen gone. Set them on top of another colony and they will be fine.
Rotating the colony in the spring is to do what you said. Attempting to get the queen down stairs so you can start management again.
Good luck sir. Get them moved soon.
in PA ive been doing a slightly early fall harvest and let them have a double and sometimes triple deep and letting the girls figure it out. my thought process is that a cavity in a tree doesn't get smaller in the winter. im not sure if its right or what more seasoned apiarists or pro would say but its been working for my mostly Darwinian style. cheers
I’d probably check again for a queen and any evidence. If not, I would merge with another hive using the newspaper method. Love your vids and wishing you all the best.
Yea you have to eliminate space or combine them with another hive using newspaper to make sure they survive. In winter or fall I always either combine to keep Good population or if they do have queen I put them in a nuc . Get that space eliminated, top them off with a sugar resource and they will pull thru..
I also suggest to combine them with another hive and start over in the spring . Wax moth were a earlier sign of a weak and Queen less hive. Did you miss that on a fall inspection?
If there really is no queen, the quick and easy solution is to combine them with another hive, preferably one a bit short on workers.
Alternatively, if their only problem is a lack of a queen, you might wait until spring and give them a frame with eggs as soon as the queens in the other hives start laying again. That should give them time to raise a new queen of their own. If necessary, you can add some workers at that time as well. The advantage of this alternative is, that you don't rush things and if you happen to have overlooked the queen, you avoid having two queens in a combined hive.
I like your new lighting setup. Keep it. 😊
I'll never winter in double deeps again. Here in NC. I lost my only hive a week ago. I believe after inspecting the dead out. I believe it 3 things that cause the dead out. Condensation because queen stayed in bottom box. Cluster cleaned the bottom and they had mites. Maybe combine the bees you have left with anther hive. Good luck thanks for sharing
I think you made a wise decision merging the hive into one, easier to manage and heat, hive for the duration of the winter. 👍🐝🐝BEE Happy!! Have a great weekend! New video posted this morning. Cheers!
❤🙏🙏👍👍👍
https://youtu.be/PtPTKPsYZfY