Beekeeping | Should You Leave A Honey Super On For Winter?
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- čas přidán 21. 07. 2024
- Winter is coming fast. Should you leave one honey super on for the bees? In this video I'll inspect a hive in the fall to see if it is ready for winter and I'll share how to decided to leave or take off a honey super for winter.
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I’ve been following you for some time now and love your content. Very informative! I am hoping to start with a couple of hives next spring, so trying to learn as much as I can before hand.
Good for you Christa! Go for it! I'm glad you are starting out. You'll love it. Beekeeping can be a challenge but now matter what, it is still a hoot!
Love your videos. I always look forward to your notification. I am going to tackle my honey this week. My brother got a terrible robbing situation going when he done his. Im going to try the wiping boxes with vinegar to try and discourage the robbibg
I am enjoying the videos. I'm going to get bees this coming spring to start my first time beekeeping. I've learned alot from your classes and your videos! Keep em coming! Thanks
Thank you because I had that question about the honey super and you answered it.
Beautiful honey, we do appreciate all the great videos.
Thank you !
Thank you Rodney, I appreciate that.
Thank you for your content! I plan on catching up this winter with the rest of your videos. Right now I'm trying to do right by my one hive. I took 3 supers off my combined hive. Harvested one. Considering taking one of the two left that I haven't harvested and putting back on. It's been safely stored on my kitchen table for the last week. 😊 I felt very unsure about taking all 3 but worried that the winter weather would be hard for bees to keep warm with 2 deeps and a medium super here in the Northern Colorado plains.
Thanks for the great videos and information! We really appreciate all of your knowledge and expertise!
Thank you Nickie!
Good for you both with the solar! Smart move…I have subscribed and hope you will do a video about that someday. Thanks!
Ok, I'm here, and this is a question I just had in my apiary last week.
Glad to help
Just love and appreciate all you do! Much love from SC.
Thank you so much Melissa. I appreciate that alot.
Thanks for all the videos. We have learned a lot. Keep them coming
I appreciate you letting me know.
Great video! Very informative, I’m looking to maybe start a hive next spring. I have a friend of mine that has 5 hives that I’m going to get some helpful pointers from. Also from you of course!
Awesome, good for you, thank you!
Thanks for today's video. I live a 100 miles from your area, so I feel quite confident about applying your info to my own hives.
Welcome to the area!
I bought 3 of your Winter Bee Kind boards. I'm excited to try them out
Thank you!
The bubbles were darling 💕! Helpful info as well of course 😊
Thank you Gerri. I thought I might as well leave the bubbles in 😀
I,ve been watching you for a year now, great information, I was wondering if I needed a super for winter, checked my hive last week and they don't need a super yet, but maybe next year or whenever they need it, love the online corses, so great, love the videos, hope you get 100,000 subscribers soon, good luck.
Wow, thank you so much!
I have had good luck with 1 deep and 1 full super for winter here in Texas. I usually have empty frames on the outside so I replace the outer frames with full frames from above. Single brood box seems like a gamble
It also depends on the region where one is keeping colonies. Here we have mild winters so I leave them on.
Thank you for sharing your bee keeplng skills they help me for sure.
I appreciate that David. I feel like I'm trying to help the new to sorta new beginner, not the commercial beekeeper, so I make content that can help out the new beekeeper. Glad it is useful.
I've got a super still on one of my hives but plan on moving it to another hive (1 deep) and let them have it for winter.
very informative video. Thanks for sharing.
David, Thanks so much for making the videos. I’ve learned so much from you! I’m very interested in the solar panels so I’ll be waiting for an update. I’m a first year beekeeper in Georgia. I have one hive with a screened bottom board and one with a solid bottom board. I’m interested in changing the solid bottom board out for another screened bottom board but I have no clue how to go about it and if it’s a bad time of the year to start a project like that. Especially since you mentioned to limit inspections to 15 min. Do you recommend changing out the solid board? Thanks!
I hope you never get tired of bringing us great videos, David. This was so timely for me personally because just last night I was asking a friend if he was feeding his bees yet. It's difficult for me to know when to start feeding and I don't want to start too early. I have a pasture full of blooming golden rod as well as yellow daises and some white flowering things. Lots of flying insects on them but very few honey bees. I'm bush hogging the pasture but leaving big swaths of the golden rod in hopes MY bees will find them as they're not very close to their flight path.
I'm planning to inspect them in the coming week. A couple of weeks ago the brood box had quite a few capped drone cells and a fairly good amount of capped brood. I want to see more of that. The queen excluder is on and I need to take it off. The super is on top of that then another deep on top. Both boxes were full of nectar but neither one of them had been capped, other than a little here and there. So I need to see what if any progress they have made in those two boxes. I will gladly give them all the honey if it will keep them going all winter. Oh, and I've been giving them some protein patties for the last several weeks too. It's a really strong, healthy colony and I'm hoping to keep them fat and happy all winter so I can split them come Spring!
Thank you Sharon!!
Your working on our Beehalf! :D
David your so much help. I'm getting a strong existing hive and hope to do a good job splitting it. 2 deep 2 medium all 10 frame. This will be my first time keeping bees. Get my hive this weekend. Thanks for all your help great videos . . John
Thank you John, I'm glad to be of help
Thumps up Bro, your videos are wonderful, am learning something here in Africa, kenya to be precise. Thanks a million.
I've been to Africa several times into Liberia just at the end of the second civil war.
Thanks 😊
thank you so much! so helpful.
Ha David Great video I am in a full suite now I have several hives that try to kill me they get me trough my jeans. and I am just feeding them we have a real bad dearth here, I have treated them for mites, 3 times now for this season, I have checked the frames for capped brood as well I think all should make it trough the winter but I have done every thing I know to do I love the inspections I like seeing what u say is a good thing any way great video Thanks for doing them and I hope u continue to do them as well. Hope u have a great week.
Thank you Frances. I've had hives require a full suit. Thank you for your kind words.
David, where are you located, it gives an idea for variations. Thank you for all the info you provide for us.
I was just wondering about this. Thank you!
Happy to help!
Thank you David for the veidos
Well I appreciate your encouragement. Negative comments are always discouraging so I appreciate the encouragement.
The bubbles are hilarious
Love your videos!
These bubbles are hilarious while he is being so serious informing us lol they are kinda distracting
Love your videos. Could you do one on all the different options for mite treatment? There are a lot of differing opinions. Would love to hear what you think.
Yikes! I agree BUT it would be way, way to complicated and intensive for a CZcams video. I spent many months making an online Mite Control Course. Check it out: www.honeybeesonline.com/mite-control-course/
I did not put the queen excluder on when I added the super. The hive is very strong and I was just making space. So what I was really trying to determine was when spring flow starts should I slip an excluder between the brood box and the super at that time. Even if it has brood cells in the super. New beekeeper. Thanks
You can BUT make sure the queen is below the excluder
my bees were pissed at me going in today lol and one got in the veil.....
it's my first year and I have two hives, one has a massive population, can't even see the comb on a single frame.....
the other hive's a bit smaller, but I witnessed a couple of bees emerging for the first time when I was checking out the comb......
very cool, I think I'm in a good place so far they all look healthy
Nice to hear!!
We appreciate...
Thank you for the encouragement!
Good info
Thank you Christ, much appreciated.
I love all the bee content here but..... I want a video on that solar set up! cost, install, all of it!
California, I believe, requires all new homes to be built with solar panels. It is such a good feeling to receive electricity from the sun! I'll keep you posted. The initial investment is what scares people.....scared me 😄
Would they have enough honey in the brood chambers to survive if you took the honey super off?
Locally here in KY a lot of keepers condense down to 1 brood box and allow them to backfill the emerged winter brood with syrup or robbed-out honey frames they leave out. They also feed above the bees sugar bricks as an insurance.
It was explained to me that in our area, where we can see many days above flying temp and then have several days of freezing (very yo-yo weather), that the queen can continue to lay during the nice days and when the bad days hit the bees can be clustered around the brood away from food. This happens most in the late winter they said. So here where winters are mild and late cold snaps are common,it may not be ideal to leave the super on. Just leaves more room for the cluster to re-form away from food.
ETA we are in extreme southern KY. The TN state line is minutes away.
Nice!
We have had a wet spring and the honey is not capped. Do I wait till it is dry and capped to pull honey?
People can take them off if they are willing to put the amount of sugar syrup water to them needed, with the goldenrod flow in my area I am still feeding 6 gallons of 2:1 to each hive. Should be enough to get me through until spring flow hits.
In Keller TX, I’ll help any bee keeper with their chiropractic needs. You must keep your core activated and strong. Don’t lift a heavy super weighing50 pounds without being warmed up and ready to lift. I am learning as much as I can about bee keeping. Ordered my first Bee Hive.
I have the highest respect for chiropractic doctors such as yourself. One of my children had a mild case of scoliosis and his Dr. recommend working with a chiropractor after x-rays, and wow, she has done wonders!! You are soooooo right about having a strong core..BRAVO!! Next time you're in Illinois lets make a video on "warm up exercises for beekeepers".
How can we tell what Drone brood look like??
Great
Thanks Jim
Sadly you won't save $ installing the solar panels but your kids or grandkids will if they decide to keep the farm.
Is it common to see drone brood that time of year? If they kick the drones out in the Fall I’m surprised you’d see brood.
Pull or leave them. 54 days since last measurable rain 31 days 100+ temp. I have a deep and a super as winter conf.and a honey super on top of that. They are dry and very little brood and colony is weak. Leave the honey super and hope for fall flow or go into damage control and pull super and start feeding 1:1 sugarwater
I love your videos, they have helped me very much as a first year beek. I have a hive that has started building comb away from the frame. How can I remedy this, and should I do it now or wait until spring. My frames are plastic, its a new colony and I live in eastern NC. Thanx.
If it has brood, it is best to leave it and work around it. Maybe after winter, bees will be off of it. If it has only honey or pollen, slide it a bit on the edge of the brood nest area so the queen will not lay in it so you can eventually fix it by scraping off the wax and trying again.
Thank yo so much for the reply. That's kind of my thoughts also. I'm thinking either my spacing was off or there wasn't any wax on the plastic frame and they didn't like it. I'm learning so much from your videos. thank you! @@beek
Hi, I have been following you for quite some time now and love the content. I would like to ask about squashing the bees. I see a lot of beekeepers online putting supers on seemingly without worrying about crushing bees. What is your opinion on this matter? Tips for avoiding this are most welcome. Thanks!
It is going to happen. You just need to reduce the number of bees that are killed by smoking the bees off the top of the box edges or brush them off as best you can but a very full hive makes that impossible.
Who makes the queen excluder that you had in this hive? I noticed that it's flexible and that may have some advantages over others I've seen. Thanks for all you do in YT!!!
Dunno, I just always like the plastic QE
Love your videos. But you didn't talk about parameters on why you should or shouldn't take a super off
The best way to decide whether to remove the super for yourself or leave it on for the bees, is based on how severe your winters are, how cold it gets and how long they last. Or how long of a dearth you may have in a warmer climate between floral gaps. Once you determine that, you need to keep enough stored honey on the hive to make it through that period of time. There's no quick and easy answer.
You're awesome David. Let me get you a cup of coffee!
Oh, wait. It's decaf
That's coffee on training wheels
What bubbles...LOL, there they are🇭🇲🇭🇲
Good video, but didn’t really follow your rationale for leaving the super. Was it because you did not see any stores in the hive? Maybe because of the large amount of winter brood you saw? Based on this, you would always leave it on. I’m still looking for answers.
Link to winter bee kind doesn't work. I'd like to have a few on hand, this is my first fall with bees and im trying to be ahead of the game. Do you sell them for 5 frames and 10 frames? Also do u have a video on making candy boards? Thanks for all the knowledge love what your doing here!
Here you go: www.honeybeesonline.com/feeders/
Another great video David. I am a first year beekeeper here in Ohio trying to prepare for fall / winter. Is it normal to see drone brood this late in the season?
Yes, and if a hive is raising a queen, they will not kill their drones. I still have tons of drones too!
Post mite treatment (Formic pro strips) Inspected, saw queen in all hives. Capped brood some uncapped but no eggs. Is she done laying?? Central Michigan and had a wet cold front come through this week.
Golden rod is almost done. Should I pull supers and start 1-1 to get her laying again?
1:1 to feed bees after goldenrod works for me!
I right now have a similar situation. What do you do next spring? Do you put a queen excluder between this super and the brood box for getting honey next spring or what?
If you have a cold winter, queen excluders must be removed. If the winter cluster moves up into the super through a queen excluder, the queen will be abandoned below.
Will they still start filling the lower frames with honey from goldenrod once the winter brood cells emerge?
Maybe, but usually they fill cells above the brood nest area.
Great timing on the subject. It is so hard to store supers over winter without getting wax moths. Have left them on with good success through winter. But fear it may lead to increased small hive beetles. What if the super is not capped-would you remove it for winter? It’s still viable food for bees? You did not show outer frame where most of the food is stored. Why mot harvest the super and let the bees gorge of the leftovers? Looked crowed in brood box with no where to put wax that will be produced. Shouldn’t you add and empty frame?
Hi Charles, I assure you, you cannot assess a hive from where the camera was, so the frames were well balanced and most of those bees will be dying soon because they are summer bees. I have to rely on brood for future hive populations. Storing honey supers is tough. Never bag them. Never put them in your basement. Freeze first to kill wax moth and eggs of wax moths, then store in a bug free, climate controlled area.
@@beek what if your bug free environment is your basement.?
Why should the queen excluder be removed? Thanks!
If you go through winter with a queen excluder, should the cluster move up into the honey, the queen is abandoned below.
What kind of bee gloves do you use? I remember you mentioning those "blue gloves". Which are the best?
The blue ones I wear are the best. I do not believe they are considered sting proof, but I've never been stung through them. They've had stingers in the gloves, but never made it to my hands or fingers.
The super was full of honey? The deep had brood, was there any honey in it also? I was curious if the bottom deep had honey too. Seems to me that the super must be left on for winter. Or would the two deeps have enough stored honey to overwinter safely? Along with feeding.
I never bank on what's in my deeps, especially the lower one because my bees always move way up into the top of the second deep and super in the winter.
Did you give me any information to help me determine if I need to leave the honey or take it?
The best way to decide whether to remove the super for yourself or leave it on for the bees, is based on how severe your winters are, how cold it gets and how long they last. Or how long of a dearth you may have in a warmer climate between floral gaps. Once you determine that, you need to keep enough stored honey on the hive to make it through that period of time. There's no quick and easy answer.
Where are you located? It makes a big do in how severe the winter is.
Central Illinois
Hi David. My bees are still bringing in a lot of pollen. One of my hives is a late swarm from August. I am trying to get them to fill out a ten frame brood box right now. Should I give them a honey super to fill ? I'm afraid that they won't have enough to eat this winter.
Stanley, that is an impossible question to answer because they might fill it and they may not. Depends on the weather and how long the flow continues. All of us suffer from the same unknowns about this.
can't you feed them so they'll forage if they can and at least store sugar?
When doing a fall hive inspection, approx how many frames of brood should there be going into winter to make it through and to make sure the numbers will be high enough come Spring????
I've mentioned this in recent videos. But depends on how long a period of winter or dearth you experience. For me in Illinois I'd like to have 6-8 frames, because that would equal 42,000-56,000 (7,000 bees per frame of pupae on a deep frame).
@@beek thank you. I’ve just started watching ur videos.
I have a honey super but didn’t put a queen excluder on so can I harvest any of the honey? Or just leave it for the bees?
The best way to decide whether to remove the super for yourself or leave it on for the bees, is based on how severe your winters are, how cold it gets and how long they last. Or how long of a dearth you may have in a warmer climate between floral gaps. Once you determine that, you need to keep enough stored honey on the hive to make it through that period of time. There's no quick and easy answer.
@@beek thanks I live in West Virginia a zone 5 so I’ll leave it for the bees. If I choose to keep it would there be an issue with the honey due to the queen having access to the honey super. Is there going to be eggs in the honey?
and I still dont understand how much honey to leave
You said you will continue to feed them to about the first frost . When would you consider to treat for mites . Some products suggest not feeding them duri ng treatment
I suggest checking for mites once a month and based on the result choose with treatment approach works best based on the time of year.
@@beek thank you for replying.
Opened one of my weaker hives and found wax moths.... Got rid of it... Hopefully they don't get into my other hives... I have heard that formic acid has successfully been used to control wax moths in Europe.... Anyone have any advice??? Thanks
Wax moths are a sign that the colony is weak, usually from a low population caused by a failing or poor performing queen. A strong colony always controls wax moths.
@@beek Thanks!
DO YOU NEED ONE MEDIUM SUPER FEED THEM OR TWO?
My next video will answer this question, thanks.
Wasps robbed both my hives of all honey. They also killed thousands of my girls. Besides an entrance reducer any helpful hints. I never guessed this would happen.
Tried looking at your Winter be kind links and got "404 Error - Page not found"
Sorry here you go: www.honeybeesonline.com/feeders/
Is you are to leave that super for the winter, would you remove the queen excluder or leave it? And why?
Remove the queen excluder because the winter cluster may pass up into the upper super but you queen cannot and she will be left to freeze
No problem with plastic frames here
leave the super on
Absolutely!
Left a honey supper on, killed my hive. Dumb mistake
My bees love the plastic
Your Honey-Be-Kind link gets an 404 error for me.
Thank you, Fixed.
Definitely not plastic the world is trying to get rid of the bloody stuff.
No back legs on your solar? Now I will listen.
Never mind. I see the legs are in the middle. Now for bees. Checked my hives and found lots of brood, honey, pollen in both hives but no eggs or larva. We did see an emerging queen. Any chance we will have a working hive in the spring?
If she gets mated, yes, chances are good.
Don’t no if you know this Dave but solar panel destroy the ground for farming
david, i have some question, can i email you ...