Hi, I have loved your videos, but as a beekeeper myself I didn't enjoy that one. Some not great practice demonstrated. You just took all their stores without any sign of checking the main brood box to make sure they have enough for winter. If you aren't careful they will starve. No sign of any treatment for varroa - important just now as the queen will be laying winter bees that need to be strong and healthy. You should never put supers etc on the bare ground as they can pick up botulism. I wasn't sure why an empty frameless super was placed back on. If they have a late flow from ivy they will build more random comb but regardless they will struggle to heat that huge empty space over winter. If it started the year as a small colony and ended up as a small colony then alarm bells should be ringing. The box should be bursting with bees. I'm guessing no one has been doing regular inspections, otherwise the need for frames in the super would have been picked up long before it became a problem. You need to do regular inspections - some bee diseases are notifiable and it's not fair to nearby beekeepers to just leave them to their own devices. I'm sure that you have a local beekeeping association - they nearly all run winter courses for beekeepers and you would really enjoy it. You would then start in the Spring a lot more confident and knowledgeable. Sorry to be negative - and I'm aware that all sorts of stuff may have happened that never made the video so happy for you to moderate this out, just wanted to let you know that things are not right. Cheers John
1 comment:
Hi, I have loved your videos, but as a beekeeper myself I didn't enjoy that one. Some not great practice demonstrated. You just took all their stores without any sign of checking the main brood box to make sure they have enough for winter. If you aren't careful they will starve. No sign of any treatment for varroa - important just now as the queen will be laying winter bees that need to be strong and healthy. You should never put supers etc on the bare ground as they can pick up botulism. I wasn't sure why an empty frameless super was placed back on. If they have a late flow from ivy they will build more random comb but regardless they will struggle to heat that huge empty space over winter. If it started the year as a small colony and ended up as a small colony then alarm bells should be ringing. The box should be bursting with bees. I'm guessing no one has been doing regular inspections, otherwise the need for frames in the super would have been picked up long before it became a problem. You need to do regular inspections - some bee diseases are notifiable and it's not fair to nearby beekeepers to just leave them to their own devices. I'm sure that you have a local beekeeping association - they nearly all run winter courses for beekeepers and you would really enjoy it. You would then start in the Spring a lot more confident and knowledgeable. Sorry to be negative - and I'm aware that all sorts of stuff may have happened that never made the video so happy for you to moderate this out, just wanted to let you know that things are not right. Cheers John
Post a Comment
I would love to receive your comments and feedback, please bear in mind that they may not appear immediately as some comments are moderated.