Some signs of a weak hive may be a small population of bees by the end of September. The hive needs to have a big enough cluster to survive the winter, which is approximately 6 to 8 full frames of bees. You might notice wasps and other pests trying to enter your hive if you have a low amount of bees. Robbing of honey stores may occur, which will further deplete your colony's strength.
Fumagilin is used to treat a very serious disease found in adult honey bees called nosema. This disease has contributed to loss of colonies in both autumn and spring. Nosema is a fungal infection of the bee's intestines.
In September there are a lot of variables that will set your hive up for the winter. You might be wondering what the end goal is? What will your hive look like? If you’re a first time beekeeper, it can be intimidating not knowing what to look for in your hive before you close it up.
Varroa Mite has been the prevalent cause of many bee deaths. For fall wrap up, going into winter, you need to make sure to check for varroa and treat your hives accordingly. There are various ways to treat Varroa Mite and treatments can differ depending on the season. In this blog we will cover what a Varroa Mite is and what fall treatments to use.
There are many reasons as to why you should feed your bees during the fall. It could be that the weather didn’t allow them to forage as much as they needed and they don’t have enough stores for the winter. It may be that the stores they did have were used up by the hive for food or drawing out comb. Maybe you over harvested honey hoping that the flow would provide the hive with the rest. Regardless of the reasons, if you weigh your hive and it does not have a weight between 140lbs - 150lbs, you need to feed.
As the honey flow starts to come to an end we look towards fall. There are few key things that need to be prepared, to give your hive the best chance to survive the winter.
It’s August and both you and your bees have been working hard the whole summer to get that delicious honey. The next questions on your mind might be, when is it time to harvest the honey and how much should you take?
We all love hot summers, but too much heat can mean different things for our bees. Heat affects crops, water sources and so much more that affect honey bee colonies. Hot weather can affect colonies by:
This is something no beekeeper can go without. It makes our life easier to do hive checks and make sure that both beekeeper and hive are as calm as possible. A reliable smoker, like the Hiveworld Global Smoker, can last you for years if maintained properly.
There are many factors that can make or break the arrival of honey bees to Canada. Factors like how the beekeeping season is progressing overseas, the weather, flight availability and government requirements can affect the timing of the bees' arrival. Honey bees are considered livestock and need to meet a lot of requirement before they depart and arrive in Canada.
If you are a beginner beekeeper, knowing if there are enough honey stores can be hard to figure out on your very first overwintered hive check. The simplest way to check if there are enough stores is to gently lift your hive from the bottom board (without disturbing the hive too much). If it is very light and easy to lift, you DO NOT have enough stores.
The new beekeeping season is just around the corner, and we can't wait for the sounds of buzzing bees and sights of flowers blooming. Depending on what you’re beekeeping plans are for 2022, here are our live bees that will suit your every need.
