Truthfully, you are the kindest and most informative RU-vid Contant maker that I have ever found! You are answering everyone’s questions, you are so knowledgeable, and so good at teaching. You could’ve created a master class and got paid instead of going through all the trouble of filming, editing and offering all of this information to us. That is so generous of you, and you have inspired me to someday “bee” a beekeeper! 🐝💛🖤💛🖤🍯
This is absolutely amazing the other day I was watching the bees at my humming bird feeder and was Thinking what happens to bees in the Winter? I then came across your video and it was absolutely fantastic.
@@BohemiaBees stray bees came to my yard for the hummingbird feeders so i've been giving them 4# sugar with enough water to make a half gallon every day. drilled holes in bottles set in tray with rocks. they come in morning when i fill the bottles and drizzle the rocks, and stay most of the day. thinking their hive and keeper must be nearby. wondering how much longer i need to help them til they stay at their hive. 7b huntsville.
Here where I am in Australia (mid East Coast) we don't go through a 'dearth' or under snow. But then we don't have the big boom that you guys do.. Our Eucalypts don't always flower every year either. The suburbs are the best providers. Pls take a few mins. to view some of my videos - searcn jimandthebees on instagram; or Country Contacts Beekeeping. cheers from down under.
They go into Torpor. A lot of people have actually killed hives that were in Torpor, because they thought the hive had died out when in fact they were just asleep. And if you leave thim alone when the weather warms up they come back to life. It's actually kind of neat
Greg Waskom you are correct. We have some bees that will fly closer to 45-50f. You are also correct that they only maintain the brood nest around 93f if there is brood. Most believe the queen stops 100% laying but they don’t actually. They slow dramatically sometimes pause but as you pass the winter solstice she slowly increases.
Thanks for the upload! I think it`s a myth from the ancient belief that coldness does not kill bees, moisture does. Yes, moisture kill bees but so does the coldness. At cold winter climate, beehives should bee properly insulated. I have lost too many colonies with the old assumption. That`s why I insulate my cubes in a properly way so that the temperature inside is stable day and night. In this way, as a sideeffect, the bees will need significantly less food as well.
I won’t argue that cold doesn’t kill bees. But it’s more about the management of the fluctuations of temperature in the colony that allows condensation to build and drip down on a colony. The cold itself doesn’t kill bees, it’s the effects of sustained extreme cold and erratic fluctuations that really kill them. Wrapping a hive only help to manage fluctuations.
I have one main entrance that's it and I'm in Canada I believe bees do get cold so I like to keep my hives well insulated I have great success you do not need a wet box lol that's what I call them a wet box that holds moisture above the cluster
They use the sun and geo location to know where to go back too. They also have their own colony pheromone signatures so the guard bees know when another bee doesn’t belong and will let the lost bee know they are not welcome. They also use visual indicators. Sort of like how people know where there home apartment is in a large apartment complex.
I always wondered this and it always bothered me how in school when bees are talked about in science class, they never talk about what they do during the winter.
Robbie Sines if you are overwintering that nuc you want to wait until it’s strong enough to even put a honey super on in early spring. Then monitor that super when the frames are capped you can harvest. That is likely closer to June or early July. Unless they are very strong coming out of winter and you may get to pull frames in May. I wouldn’t be too quick to harvest honey, definitely focus on colony strength first.
Hi Is that a piece of baking sheet you've put the sugar on? Can the bees chew through that or have you made slices in it? Thinking of doing the same this year as my bees use a lot of feed due to warm weather
Great question. It’s food grade paper directly on the frames with dry sugar on it. It helps provide an emergency food source and aides in moisture absorption.
We only take the extra. However sometimes a stronger colony needs more or the winter is longer so we add reserves in the form of dry sugar, fondant , etc. to give them additional resources should they need it b
So... have a question for you. Right now its cold enough where I am that the bees only can fly for about 3 or 4 hours of the day. The rest of the day its below flying temperature, sometimes freezing sometimes not (above 30 degrees F but below 50 degrees). This means I technically could put out sugar syrup still for the 3 or so hours of the day. What do you reccomend? Would you put out sugar syrup (outside the hives) in feeder buckets? Or would you just only do mountain camp method with the raw sugar? I should add that a primary element affecting this is that during the temperatures where its too cold for the bees to fly, the feeding stations are absolutely totally infested with yellowjackets, and wasps; literally seeing hundreds of these per feeding bucket. So even if I put the feed out, it may have some awckward spots where it may also be hard for them to break the yellow jacket infestation issues even when they can fly. And this is why its hard for me to tell if outside bucket feeders of syrup will still be worth it. Thanks for any thoughts.
I use the avg low temps to guide when I stop syrup feeding and put on dry sugar (mt. camp method) Remember, bees cluster when the outside temps drop to 50 degrees or below. They only can eat what they can reach and won’t break cluster to forage food in the far reaches of a nest or leave the small amount of brood. This includes going to a feeder even internal. The other issue is continuing to feed syrup adds moisture to the inside of the hive. I feed 1:1 for pure energy and comb/brood making. Then switch to 2:1 in late fall because it’s less water and they store it close to the current brood nest. Then when avg low temps reach 50 I put dry sugar on (or some do fondant or candy boards) and leave them alone for winter. If for some reason you see a few days in winter where it does warn up to mid 60s for a few days you can feed a small amount. But it isn’t necessary unless they are really lite and still have some winter left to go.
Not necessarily. Wrapping hives are not necessarily required but are a good practice to have some type of better insulation in much colder climates if you overwinter outdoors and not in a root cellar or temp controlled facility. The key is to have strong colony, low mites, and heavy stores going into winter.
I am new and got a swarm last may... They lived through the winter with me doing nothing with them, no feed no syrup... |I have 1000 maybe at best.. I have just gave them sugar water and have ordered some feed... Will they survive? a couple of eggs are there and some pollen but no sign of a queen.. Help..
@@BohemiaBees In Wexford Ireland... Could I introduce a queen? I fed them loads of sugar water yesterday, hoping they would get some strength and make a queen.. but I'm not hopeful at this stage.
Yes but depends on weather. It needs to be 10-15+ degrees Celsius in order for bees to break cluster. Feeding will help but they cannot “ make a queen” without fertile eggs from another mated queen. In other words if there is no queen as of 3-4 days ago then there are likely no eggs. No eggs no new queen. The only option is obtain a mated queen and install it. But you will likely need a frame of cappped brood also so the bees that are naturally dying off can be replaced by new bees. Remember it takes 21 days for an egg to emerge as a new worker bee.
Hi again, new question for you... Where I'm at it, it seems to be getting harder to get carnis. Lately when I go to get queens people keep trying to give me italian looking queens. But before now everyone had carni muts. I've been wondering if its suicide to try straight italian genetics through a long winter climate area? And we have long winters, short growing season. This makes me worried also about if its going to be really hard to get carni genetics in a few years. So i wanted to ask you about this. How well does almost straight italian genetics do through long winter, short growing season areas? There are lots of videos on overwintering. But almost none of them go into italian genetics versus long winter.
Well fortunately I have had no issues breeding queens with Carni genetics. I don’t import many queens from south so much of my stock has Carniolan/buckfast/Saskatraz
QUESTION FOR YOU. if you only keep the bottom entrance open in the winter with no top entrance, won't all the condensation stay at the bottom where the cool air is?
@@Melaniejd902 Oh wonderful to hear. This was my first winter here in NYC, and I ended up adding a 1/2" hole in a top shim, and only having like a 1" hole in the bottom entrance as well. I also added a 3" sugar brick. Thanks for getting back with me.
@@bradgoliphant I would expect our beekeeping styles would be very similar given we are close geographically. All the best with your hive this winter! I haven't added my sugar bricks yet. I'm hoping I get a mild day to pop in them in. It's not unusual for Nova Scotia to have some warmer days in December.
Yes but very infrequently. They first drink any of the condensation they create from the cluster in the hive cavity. Then on any day the temp gets above 50 they will break cluster and forage water.
I’m in Oregon. Even when temps are in mid 40s my bees break cluster and move up to feed on sugar cake, sip condensation precipitated on the inner cover or suck it out of fabric lining a quilt box. Point is , behaviour can vary with climate; plus, there are water sources inside the hive and they do not necessarily need to forage for it.
Because then the temperature drops below 50 degrees bees need to cluster to stay warm and keep their brood nest warm. So they cluster in a ball and shiver to produce heat. Only moving the cluster slowly to eat their stores
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This does not explain how they survive sub-zero temps, sometimes twenty below zero; which occurs in Northern USA and Canada. In particular, WILD bees that do not have nice houses. Please explain how they survive that.
We don’t raise bees in sub-zero temps or in Canada so we wouldn’t be able to comment on or provide insight as to how they survive. I’m sure the same principles apply. Wild bees survive in cavities of trees usually which aide in better R value and natural absorption of excess moisture. Our video is primarily focused on beekeeping experiences from our region and research we have performed.
@@BohemiaBees Thanks, I know they use heaters sometimes in northern states and canada in farmed hives. Makes sense, they got into my foundation cracks for a few years , I let them stay
I have a very small hive 3 frames as had to rear a new queen from the frame of brood, got from another hive. So Question. How will I get them through winter? It is now 5th October. Need help as only new to this.
lol, well technically yes, its primarily based on the length of daylight. Bees need the sun to orient their flight and help find forage. the winter solstice is the shortest DAY of the year and days leading up to it are progressively shorter. Therefore the colony knows what they need to do to prepare for that point. It's also a turning point in a winter hive, in that the next day after the winter solstice is a bit longer daylight, as spring reaches the Daylight is longer, hence more time to forage and warmer weather. So yes technically they have a little calenders...lol
@@BohemiaBees that's very interesting, thank you for explaining that. Also, while I have you, thank you for your content! You make great, informative and entertaining videos! Keep up the awesome work!
I found a lonely bee in my garden. Her wings were wet and she couldn't fly. Then she passed out. I brought her back to life I think and put her in a plant bowl thing so when she was better she could fly away but today I found her dead in the plant bowl frozen I think. So that brought me here. 💔 Can a be survive winter on her own?
Typically no. Bees need to cluster in their cavity (hive) and use the stored resources as a colony (super-organism). Also any worker bee that leaves the hive to forage are at the end of their life anyway. Foraging worker bees are approximately 25-30 days of their 45-50 day total lifespan.
