What Are Your Bees Doing All Winter? Checking on hives 

=) Geologist engineer here. Thank you, completely forgot about this parameter.

@@etiennelavigueur2955 Hello fellow engineer! :) Hope your engineering is going well.

Questions please, I don't have the infrared camera. Will an infrared laser thermometer work for this? Even though it doesn't give you a picture, it does give an accurate temperature. I was thinking that this might get the job done also, but without the convenience of the picture ?? And again thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and love of the bees 🐝...

Ya sure. if you can get a reading showing heat coming out of the hive, that's all you need. Alternatively you can just go up to a hive, knock on the side of it, and listen for the bees inside. That doesn't require any equipment.

That has to be very frustrating. I'm sorry that happened to your hives. My mentor was just talking about drift from inexperienced backyard beekeepers and how things like that can effects his commercial practice.

What's that winter wrap on that 4 pack on the pallet?

I agree as I’m going to single brood boxes this coming season too. 8 frame boxes tho not 10 frame.

@@debbierodda2203 how did you do with 8 frame hives. I am going that way simply due to weight. I'm a wuss and can't lift the 10 frames. ☺️

@@terrim.602 I use the Paradise Honey Hives (polystyrene) for their light weight and great thermal qualities. They are 8/9 frame boxes. I put 9 fr in brood box and 8 in honey supers. Works great. Most over here use 8 frame boxes and many who were in 10 are changing back to 8 due to the weight. I also have gone ideal size for honey boxes as I cant lift a full deep box. A deep brood box with one ideal ontop full of honey does well here over winter. But we dont get snow over winter (usually).

@@debbierodda2203 thank you! I will look them up. Where do you live?

What are the 3" shims used for? Or are you talking about a feeder chamber on top?

tonylalondesales.ca/product-category/wintering-equipment/wraps/

Haha, what? No, I didn't go to business school. Is this a setup for a joke?

Devan Rawn Haha, you remind me of Canadian comdeian Nathan Felder and that's the opening line of his TV show.

Tyler, I am curious where to get the wraps, as well as when to add them? What are the wraps called? Did you find out when it's recommended to add them?

OOPS,if i'd read the comment, I would have seen it's a FLIR but what model? it looks like they run from 250.00 usd +/_ to $1,500 USD

Generally I think it's bad idea. I haven't really worked with packages lately, but when I used to see australian packages years ago we could order them in different sizes (3 lb or 4 lb i think) and some people would split the bigger packages in two. Just keep in mind the bees you get in that package are the only bees your colony has for it's first 3 weeks, and they've already gone through the stress of being shaken and shipped. If your weather is anything like mine, when we get packages we need every bee available in them to have a decent sized colony so that queen can be laying strong and they'll raise enough brood. If you're trying to get your packages up to spec for a pollination rental then you need them raising as much brood as possible, and splitting them up is going to mean 2 crappy hives that the grower might not like. But obviously that depends on what you do with your bees.

Devan Rawn I am just a back yarder. This will be my second year. I am getting two packages. I think I am going to try one as a single brood chamber and the other as two. I was curious to what breed of bees you use? Thank you

I breed my own bees and make no claims about what race/type/sub-species they are. They are simply bees that produce and survive well in my part of the world. Too many people put way too much emphasis on the label of race their bees come with.

Excellent point.

Ok, 1. ya, shake the bees out of the "honey super" and slide a queen excluder in there. If your queen has already laid eggs in that box you better leave it on the hive and let them raise that brood though. In this case I wouldn't be calling that box a honey super. Was that box exposed to a mite treatment or anitbiotics? 2. just shake your packages into a single, which is pretty standard anyway until they're a decent strength. 3. you should definitely feed packages to get them started, how much depends on if you're shaking them onto comb that already has honey stored from your dead colonies. Only feed your surviving hive if you think it needs it.

She has already laid eggs in the lower box. The top box with honey probably was exposed to an oxalic acid vaporization. My understanding is it won't affect the honey. Thank you for all of your help.

The brood box is a 9 frame. Do you think I could transfer it to a ten frame? Or I could pull the spacers out and put in a tenth.

These ones are from Tony Lalonde in Saskatchewan (not sure if you're canadian), check this link: tonylalondesales.ca/product-category/wintering-equipment/wraps/ I don't know off hand of any american retailers carrying similar wraps, but they probably do. Might have to ask suppliers in Minnesota or North Dakota.

Devan Rawn Thank You very much. It is a shame that we cannot get the polypropylene wraps here in the USA. I used to use the Mann Lake version and would really like to be able to get these. Any leads on who manufactures them would be greatly appreciated. Otherwise, Great videos and good luck this upcoming season.

Only time you have to worry about moisture is if your no that well insulated.

Nope.

Hey, great idea. I'm a nurse, so right up my alley! I'll give them a head to toe assessment and formulate a care plan, provide interventions based of the care plan, reevaluate and adjust the care plan as needed. I'll call the doctor if I see anything critical! (Doctor is aka my Mentor, ☺️☺️)

Less than 10 hives should be pretty easy. Just stick a number on the front and take notes. I number a lot of my colonies, and use an excel spreadsheet if they're potential breeders. At the very least I have hives labeled with the line that the queen is from, all my queens are marked in the colonies so I can verify how my queens are performing.

So you are pretty basic then. Awesome thx!

he messed with them so I don't have to ;)