Dead Bees? Hive Inspection Beekeeping 101 : GardenFork.TV

[jaycbobo1]

Love your beekeeping series from Gardenfork TV. I am also new to beekeeping and your videos have answered some questions for me. I am trying to keep my hive chemical free so I appreciated your powdered sugar treatment for varroa mites.

[erochow]

@jaycbobo1 thx jay, you might want to check out The Backwards Beekeepers, they have LA and New York chapters, and have some videos up here.

We also did a beginning beekeeping FAQ on our GardenFork Radio show, you can find it on our GardenFork website. thx, eric.

[tzkelley]

I lost my bees last week to a bear attack. Sucks.

[Riversland6544]

how big is that top hole ? thanks

[erochow]

@Riversland6544 its 3/4" i think but it should be a 1" hole. thx for watching, eric.

[cuercuscoccifera]

Are they breathing from this 3 litle holes???

[erochow]

@cuercuscoccifera the bottom board of the hive is screened, so they get plenty of air.

[cuercuscoccifera]

@erochow If u are using a screened bottom board, u need better isolation (styrofoam ) at the top or much more food for winter.

And fondant? It is a long long story. Just feed them with "enough" syrup at the beginning of the winter.

And have a search for oxalic acid on google...

[MrKanataMan]

Do you keep the bees just for honey, or for pollination, or both, or just for fun? Seems like an awful lot of work just to get some honey....

[erochow]

@MrKanataMan bees are an amazing hobby. and yes, we do harvest some honey. and we help pollinate our neighbor's crops. eric. 

[boxa888]

@MrKanataMan if u do gardening your vegatables and food crops go out of control!!! incredible increase in harvest!! hope you join the movement to raise the bees as a hobby or etc. it ensure there ultimate survival the more area they cover. thank you! they are really easy to get going, and natural honey is incredible!!! always make sure there is no hive moisture because this causes most problems for new beekeepers, we lost a hive to noxema, but we had so much hive moisture which caused it.

[1betrman]

so many keepers have these situations.

makes one wonder how bees survive at all over winter in a hollow tree ect...

good luck! enjoyed your post!

[boxa888]

@1betrman yea im trying a 3 large box hive instead of the 2 big boxes with supers, and leaving the bees, hopefully this gives them the extra space to store honey, mine ran out of food, which is really sad,no diseases, no sickness, just starved. keep the moisture out to stop noxema, the moisture really hurts the hive, one video said to remove the outer frames to make a draft area/insulate for air to get into the hive.yea im gonna try the open hole at the top, seems a good way to keep the hive dry

[doctore333]

may be you sould take off the guard to let the bees clear the entrance. from the dead ones. sorry if my engle isnt very good.

[erochow]

@doctore333 thanks for the suggestion. after i turned off the camera, i did open the mouse guard and there were not many dead bees on the bottom board, but i did clean out them out. thx, eric.

[MissCatlady33]

Glad the colony wasn't a lost cause! I hope they start thriving again soon. Looks tough to keep up with a successful colony.