Do we have any beekeeper here

WiBeekeeper · Dec 30, 2012

Do you over winter your bees?

Dalet · Dec 30, 2012

I keep bees.
I keep there here over winter, I am in MN. They do okay.

Greg1959 · Dec 30, 2012

CCD wipes me out every year.

WiBeekeeper · Dec 30, 2012

(quoted from post at 19:32:43 12/30/12) CCD wipes me out every year.

Is it CCD or mites? My hives that were packages in 2011 over wintered fine and did well all year. I got 3 packages this year. All 3 have died. I think they had poor queens.

old · Dec 30, 2012

Back when I could still work with bees we would over winter them all the time but that was a few decades ago in NE. I know in this area of Missouri the people I know that have bees have a hard time over wintering them due to lack of good honey crops in this area. Neighbor up the road has been feeding his bees since Oct if not before. Last I knew he had 2 hives

glennster · Dec 30, 2012

i read an article on ccd, and they found a parasite fly that may be causing the ccd. it said that a large number of honey bees are imported from australia, and they are susceptible to the parasite fly here in the us. here is a link to one of the articles. interesting read.
ccd

Greg1959 · Dec 30, 2012

My hives did great all spring, summer and fall. Then winter approached and they started thinning out. At first, I thought it was a weasel or skunk just nabbing them at the entrance, I also had the strips in for mite control. The colonies just disappeared. No dead bees left in hives. Just empty hives. I even fed them during the winter months.

My neighbors that have bees have experienced the same problem. Now there are a bunch of hive bodies and supers left empty around here.

uncle henry · Dec 30, 2012

the beekeeper here in my area winters his bees here
in east texas and summers them in south dakota

Dalet · Dec 30, 2012

I am only one year into bee's but its my second winter. Hopefully they survive this winter. They are all bees from a tree we cut down last winter so they are acclimated to the climate, and I haven't treated them for anything thinking they may be better off doing what they have done best over the years.

MarkWV · Dec 30, 2012

overwintered past 11 years, some years loose 1/3 of hives, but make new ones by splits from survivors. Main thing is check that you leave enough honey on them to overwinter,check on them to see if they have moved up to very top, starting mid-late december, if they are at top you have to feed rest of winter , cluster wont go back down til warmer weather

redtom · Dec 30, 2012

What else would you do with em if you didn't "over winter"? My dad kept as many as 9 hives-now he's too old. He would feed them late fall and if spring didn't come soon enough feed em in the spring. They have a certain number of days they can go inside without a "potty" flight so if a slightly warm day arrives in the spring they will take flight to relieve themselves. Problem is if its not warm enough they cool off and can't make it back. His last ones were ravaged by CCD no matter what he did. He kept buying new but they never lasted. He blames CCD on pesticides.

WiBeekeeper · Dec 30, 2012

(quoted from post at 21:58:39 12/30/12) What else would you do with em if you didn't "over winter"? My dad kept as many as 9 hives-now he's too old. He would feed them late fall and if spring didn't come soon enough feed em in the spring. They have a certain number of days they can go inside without a "potty" flight so if a slightly warm day arrives in the spring they will take flight to relieve themselves. Problem is if its not warm enough they cool off and can't make it back. His last ones were ravaged by CCD no matter what he did. He kept buying new but they never lasted. He blames CCD on pesticides.

Some beekeepers always kill their bees off. My family has had bees over 100 years, and we were well known for over wintering our bees, but after the mites got here in the late 1980s it's been next to impossible to keep them alive.

ohiojim · Dec 31, 2012

that's a new one for me,..never heard of killing off your bees...where you come up with next years ?????

WiBeekeeper · Dec 31, 2012

(quoted from post at 06:05:35 12/31/12) that's a new one for me,..never heard of killing off your bees...where you come up with next years ?????

They buy package bees.

WOpp · Dec 31, 2012

I wintered in California some years we wintered well somwe not. Everyone blames CCD, I dont allways agree. We learned the hard way you treat for mites and you must verifie that it realy worked. The bees have made it possible for me to play with tractors, not all bad

Flewster · Dec 31, 2012

(quoted from post at 21:09:56 12/30/12) Do you over winter your bees?

I run about 100 hives in eastern Kansas. Over winter them all in our out yards. THis has been a tough year as the drought took all the fall flowers and we got hardly any stores in any hives. Been feeding since oct.....next year will be better....right?

WiBeekeeper · Dec 31, 2012

(quoted from post at 14:57:23 12/31/12)

(quoted from post at 21:09:56 12/30/12) Do you over winter your bees?

Click to expand...

I run about 100 hives in eastern Kansas. Over winter them all in our out yards. THis has been a tough year as the drought took all the fall flowers and we got hardly any stores in any hives. Been feeding since oct.....next year will be better....right?

I had a good Honey crop this year.

Do we have any beekeeper here

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