What do all my cold weather keepers do to keep the hive protected and warm?

New beekeeper, located in Massachusetts and I have a question about preparing for winter.

I have a insulation under the top cover of the hive to keep them from loosing heat there and they have plenty of honey to last the winter (with frames full of homey on the outside). Should I also wrap the hive in insulation?

Hi there,

Had a weak hive. Bees are now robbing and have basically killed off my hive.

Should I harvest the honey or will these bees stay? Not sure what to do next.

Utah

Thanks!

Did you check your mite count? As mite count got higher and weather got cooler in second half of August I treated with Formic pro 14 day treatment. After 4 weeks I checked mite count with alcohol wash. My best performing hive had 30 mites per 300 bees count. I blamed the poor performance of formic pro on honey supers on the hives. Second half of September after I removed the supers I treated again. All perfect conditions, full open front entrance, solid bottom board, good weather and temperatures, closed upper entrance and wasn't feedeng. Yesterday, just to assure my self that the second treatment worked, I did alkohol wash on some of my hives. The one that brought me the most honey in the summmer, I lost count after 30 mites, I was so disappointed didn't want to count again. Other hives had approximately 15 mites. Still far more than what is recommended going into the winter.
I tried to follow all Formic pro instructions. It was my number one treatment I used, and it was recommended by everyone. It wasn't expired (bought it this summer from Betterbee) Am I the only one? Could there be a bad batch of the Formic pro?

Does anyone else have a similar experience? (I keep my hives in Catskills, southwest of Albany, NY)

Hive 1 lost its queen in July

Hey everyone, first, you all have been a really great resource for my bee adventure. Thank you!

My hive #1 (uncovered) lost its queen in July and was pretty much dead by mid September. According to the BroodMinder sensor, internal temps are matching ambient temps.

I am outside of Denver, CO, I guess zone 6. We've had a few nights in the 30's and are now regularly in the 40's overnight. Saturday I wrapped hives #2, 3 and 4. Little blocks by the entrances to keep the wrap off. They are like little tunnels that are set off of the entrance about an inch so bees can go through or around the tunnels. Then I check today and these guys are hanging off #1! A fair amount of activity going into #1 too. Hives 2-4 all look normal activity. Do swarms move this late in the season and I have one moving in? Or could the wraps have freaked one of the other hives out and they are moving in to #1?

How long does this go on for? Until the post hurricane durth is over? I know the smart ass answer is "until one side wins".

Looks like there are less robbers today, but still a war outside my hive. I blocked the entrance to half its original size so hopefully that helps, but without a robbing screen... I dunno

Colorado, USA. I inspected a hive yesterday to see zero eggs or brood. Absolutely none, but saw the queen alive and well. No queen cells either. If the queen has stopped laying won't the workers supercede her with a queen cell? What should I do next. Cold temps are coming pretty soon!

Zone 9b East Bay Area

We have two hives started with purchased bees in April.

Things were going quite well. On Sept 27 we notice one hive leaving. I started thinking it might be a crowding issue.

I extracted all the honey from this hive and put the comb on top of the honey super in my healthy hive.

Today I’ve found my other hive to be empty with robber bees taking the honey.

I can’t see evidence of infestation.

There are not other beekeepers near me.

i've looked up a couple videos now showing a metal screen can deter the robbers, but me and my father have lost 30% of our queens due to our neighbor renting his property to host bee hives about 96 if i remember correctly. he just tilled his field and this guy min maxes how much money he can extract from his land, but its at the cost of our ecosystem and our year around honey bees.

well, im at the point where i need help from other people and pick their brain.... someone proposed the idea of trapping robber bees by baiting sugar water and moving a frame of larva in with them and see if they start a queen.

but, I'd rather just hear what works, should i just give up on trying to have organic hives and just put a bunch of sugar water out? I'm frustrated and stumped...

This is a video of a mite wash. I'm not affiliated with the creator of the video, but I do believe everyone should be able to complete this fundamental task. This is an extremely clear and short video.

https://youtu.be/9tcoEWtJ6oQ?si=u3SavZf2yW-BD2Ce

Shaker

https://a.co/d/faKp8Rd

Another shaker

https://a.co/d/9Jc8JYv

I have a hive that will likely just have filled their brood box by winter. There are plenty of bees, but the blossom season here was terrible. They have been supplementing and will have a candy board all season.

I need the height of a second deep in order to use either an insulation wrap (2 tall) or a HiveHeater (1.5 tall). Or, both, if I fold back 1 side of the insulation.

Do you think a deep quilt box will be too cold, even packed full of shavings? I'll take any other suggestions, too.

(Dallas Texas) I got a new apartment and there are groups of 5-20 bees that come every morning and sit on my exterior wall/door/steps. picture of bees and no they are not going inside the light, I have removed the debris seen in the pic and sealed it up since just to be safe

• I never see them flying, only crawling (and by extension can't see where they go) a bug savvy friend told me they are probably warming up
• Ive seen them as early as 5am but their numbers dwindle as the morning goes on and usually they are all gone by noon.
• I called my apt complex and they shot the largest group Ive seen (~20) with Raid but they returned the next day
• Hung up a fake wasp nest, no effect (ive even seen them on the fake nest)
• I found a spray (Hot shot Flying insect killer) that will get rid of them for a day or 2 but as soon as i stop spraying it daily they come back

Please help! My neighbor has a dog and now that the bees are on our shared steps I'm scared the dog will step on one or eat one. I cant see a hive but because its an apartment complex i can only see my side of the building.

Hello Keepers !!!🙂 I would like to ask if starting BeeKeeping by one's self is something that would be impossible ??? I love honey and I live on an island that traditionally produces excellent honey ...! The "problem" is that noone of the experienced is willing to share some knowledge ...! I would really like to start experimenting ! Thanx Keepers !✌🏽😎🐝🐝🐝

Hi, have you any idea how to protect bees from wasps? This year we have serious problem with them. They are robbing bees and aggressive against them. Thanks!

We did our first hive inspection after we caught a small swarm (Australia). Queen, eggs, capped cells, larvae, workers and drones all in one photo.

This is my last batch of hot pepper relish of the season. First freeze of the year tonight(Iowa). The only thing from the store is the Braggs. I always buy local honey from farmers markets. It makes a much better sweetener than white sugar. The peppers come from my garden. Habaneros, jalapeño, primero, cayenne, and Carolina Reaper make up the mix. The picture is deceiving, 5+lbs of peppers in the bowl. Anyway, thank you for keeping our pollinators alive and well!

For context, I’m in Central TX and a new beek. I have two hives, a Russian honeybee hive and an Italian Cordovan hive. Since installing the nucs, there has been a noticeable difference in the hives and the Russian honeybees have been much more productive and active and the Italians are slower. I just completed a 4 week treatment of apiguard (I’m a little late for this but I had some health stuff going on a few months ago that unfortunately took me away from the bees). I used half doses (25g) for each hive for a total of 4 weeks. Each week I opened the hive to put in the new half a tray but didn’t do anything else, no inspection or feeding. We are also still in a drought/dearth. Anyways, I went in today to do a full inspection and remove the last tray and fill al the feeder frames. I noticed there is hardly any brood in each hive, I did see both queens though moving around. I also noticed a significant decrease in their honey stores and pollen stores. Anyways, is this normal? It was my first time doing a mite treatment, and I wasn’t sure what to expect yet.

Idaho

I had an old bottle of syrup that I dumped in the yard to recycle the bottle. Now there is a huge swarm of bees around it. Is there anything I can do to disperse them? How long would it take for them to disappear? Location: MD