Great idea moving the hive with a metal bar strapped to the hive. I'm considering moving mine away from the garden area. Made a trip to the ER (stung by my girl) while gardening at the wrong time to day. Thankful that I didn't have the reactions allergist warned. Wondering if moving away from garden say 30 feet or so away would be worth it. Lol bloopers are great addition. Thanks again David.
Awesome video man, thanks for the help, I bought bees from you for years and years. I'm in Chicago and I was just wondering the other day if I should move my hive into a Sunny spot, but it will be sunny where they are right now in about a week or so.
It seems my hives do well on either side. However, a smaller colony which cannot produce as much heat from a lack of population will obviously do much better on the south, sunny side.
It's been in the upper 50's here in Tulsa. I'm going into my hives this weekend, and putting sugar blocks on. I usually don't go into mine until I get a warm day in the end of January, then the end of February to make sure they make it to spring. So, this is a great video to teach new beekeepers what to pay attention to in mild winters. Keep up the good job, I like watching your videos.
Really appreciate all your advice just started beekeeping this spring and have watched all your videos and find them greatly helpful!!! Please continue the super informational videos!!
Thanks for this video. Will those that do fly as it warms up fly back to the original site? Are bees flying back to the original location after a move not a problem during the winter? If not, I suppose winter would be a good time to move a hive, right? I understand the young bees do not know about the old site, but what about the older bees, will they return?
Hi Dale, This time of year those bees stay close to home. The hive I moved has not flown hardly at all this winter due to their shady cold location. And all summer foragers died off. These are winter bees that live 4-6 months so they haven't ever taken orientation flights yet. Just short potty breaks.
This is confusing to me. Why would you move your bees from the colder side to the warmer side, if you think flying is not that good for bees this time of the year?
Sheri, my wife, has a hive on the south side and it's 4 or 5 years old and she will not let me move it to the south, sunny side. It does fine. Smaller colonies which cannot produce as much heat due to lower populations would benefit from the southern, sunny side. Good question.
Hi Jonathan, Sometimes colonies do have enough honey and bee bread and pollen in the hive for winter. However, most beekeepers remove honey in the fall, and take off more than they should. Plus, bees continue to face a shortage of good floral sources because everyone hates flowering weeds. Not worth taking a chance that they will have enough all winter here in Illinois.
Hello David, Just a quick question, when moving your bees in the winter does the 3 yard or 3 mile rule not apply? I am new to beekeeping and want to move a hive about 30-40 yards can I just move them now?
Hi Steve, Good question. Normally, most of the summer foragers have died off and only winter bees are in the hive now and they really have never taken orientation flights. It always works great for me in my climate. But you certainly cannot do that in warmer weather when foragers are active.
Why feed them so much pollen, protein this early in winter? Versus mostly sugar, carbohydrates. Too much pollen could lead to early brood production right?
Bees are like humans, they need vitamins, minerals, protein and carbohydrates. Studies have show that bees consuming only sugar do not do as well. When bees consume their own honey, there are pollen grains in the honey for them to consume protein. I'm forcing my bees to build brood all winter because bees make heat and then I can make more splits in the spring.
