Getting the bee hives ready for winter (Nov 2010)

Hi Guys!!!! Like a bad penny -- I'm finally back!! Thanks for being so patient. I'm slowly catching up and will be answering the notes and questions you've asked in the interim, so don't think you're being ignored, I'm just behind. (I've missed watching so many of your videos too!) Anyway, I NEVER want to endure a computer virus again. Oy!! What a hassle to put it mildly. But we seem to have everything back in order. We're also very busy with various projects that need to be completed around here before winter. My parsnips and carrots are still in the ground -- Yikes! Gotta get busy! Fortunately, we've been blessed with some unseasonably, beautiful weather this week, so I finally got around to getting my hives ready for winter -- a big load off my mind and "to-do" list -- AND I remembered to take my video camera along. So, here's a video on what I did / am doing to help my bees make it through the winter, fingers crossed. If I have one or both hives survive the winter, you're going to see one VERY, happy grateful homesteader in the Spring!

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• bee keeping
• apiary
• honey bees
• bee hives
• homesteading
• hobby farming
• self-sufficiency
• prepping
• prepper
• economic collapse

[generalbomax]

Curious to know if you plan on using the cedar chips this coming winter and if you liked using them last year? It sounds real similiar to what Warre suggests with a quilt box.

[Michigansnowpony]

@generalbomax -- yes, I'm going to be doing the cedar chips again this Fall. I think they  help with both the mites and especially the ventilation in controlling condensation / moisture build-up within the hive. I think if my traditional Langstroth hive bodies had fit together better (so water couldn't have gotten in) that hive would have survived. Next year we plan on building some type of shelter around the bees for the winter as well.

[dianemummvideos]

Very Interesting, the bees do stay in the hives over winter then??

[Michigansnowpony]

@dianemummvideos -- Yes. Some northern commercial bee keepers will ship their hives south or to California for the winter, but just like in nature, with enough honey stores and a strong colony, they can over-winter just fine.

[KainanRa]

Hey glad your back. I looked into bees and Im just not willing to make that jump yet. How did the rabbits go?

[Michigansnowpony]

@KainanRa -- Will be making a video on the delicious bunnies this week (I hope).

I'm geeked about homestead meat production now!!!

[honeeproducer34]

Is there an advantage to such skinny hives? They look like maybe 6 framers... I have some old 8 frame boxes I use as supers, but yours look considerably thinner...

[yachtnick05]

Did your bees make it thur the winter?

[58belvedere]

You can't have bees on the ground like that here in this part of pa. the bear will get into them.

[Gypsymoonfarm]

This looks like a really good idea. Thanks for sharing.  I'm going to try in in the winter of 2011.

[Michigansnowpony]

@bearlysceneranch -- I need to do a rabbit video. We just ate our first one the other night and it was delicious!!!!

[Michigansnowpony]

@Hoovesandpaws61 -- Yes I still love my solar oven, but I didn't use it as much as I intended / should have this summer. I find I need to get much better at planning meals ahead of time because you have to have stuff thawed / mixed up / etc. for supper so early in the day to use the solar oven. Hopefully, we'll get some sunny days this winter, but they're not too common here in the mitten during the winter months.