Hooray! The bees made it through the winter, now what! When should I start feeding them, should I feed them, how long should I feed them, what should I feed them? Spring weather is unpredictable in the spring, so the answer to that question is based on what the weather is doing. If it is […]
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This is a great video showing very common causes of bees not making it through the winter in southern Idaho. Many people think that starvation, lack of insulation, or moisture in the hive are the main causes. Kirk shows you that these are usually symptoms of a bigger problem, varroa mites. He walks you through […]
So, you’ve gone out to check your hive in the spring and discovered they didn’t make it. What do you do now? The beeswax and honey stores in a deaddout can be a wonderful resource for a new package of bees. If it is a winter dead out and there was no sign of brood […]
Our daughter’s top bar hive is still alive! Good information on what is going on in all hives this time of year!
Should I treat my package Bees with Oxalic acid? Short answer is we don’t recommend it. Now for the lists of pros and cons. First off, O.A. is a great mite treatment when no brood is present. (we like it as a late season treatment) We also know that it is important to start with […]
Why don’t you insulate your hives? If the hive is strong, has low mites, health bees and plenty of food, it’s a non-issue. Insulation works by resisting heat flow. It also works both ways it can prevent a hive from warming naturally on a warm day. The ebb and flow of daytime and nigh time […]
Hi fellow bee enthusiasts, I haven’t posted too much this winter, when its this cold you should be leaving them alone. I know its hard! I do expect winter losses to be high. A warm Oct, Nov and December is hard on overwintering bees, allows lots of mite migration. In the past this type of […]