November exploratory inspections....Good chance to observe behaviors. And of course it's time to get back into the full time wood works. Thanks for sharing the northern operation Brad! We think we know until we don't!!
Brad, I'm here in my kitchen tonight filling bottles of hot honey while watching your video. When I saw your quilt boxes I thought you must be going back to a design that worked for you in the past. I used a very similar quilt box design for several years, and they worked very well for my bees. I wasn't able to overwinter my bees until I began using the quilt box, with a little mountain camp sugar on top the frames to capture any drips. -Darren
Hi Darren. Yes, did use these back in 2015 and I had 100% wintering success that year so I know it can work. Thanks for the feeback on your experience. That helps my confidence in the system. Thanks for watching!
Hi Brad. One of my mentors, who is in his 80’s, tells me that when he started it was common practice for beekeepers here to cage their queen going into winter then release them in early spring. The caged queen was just left sitting on the top bars of the brood box. If you really want the bees to go broodless you could cage the queen at some point around the start of October and release her when they come out of the building. That would be an interesting experiment.
@ I think I may like that more then hear lol man it’s like a yo yo here it can be -15 one day then 5 degrees the next it’s always up and down can never get use to it the damp is what I don’t like my old bones feel it lol
Oh wow, i just realized that i think we have the same rather old radial arm saw. Is that an old sears craftsman unit that has an accesory drive on the side? Im struggling with mine right now, i found it kinda hard to make it square, i screwed a backstop on it but i dont feel its perfect
Yes, that's a Craftsman that goes back to about 1975. Most of those are 10" but that one is a 12" and it's a beast! 240V and tons of power. I use it a lot for breaking down long lumber when I build pallets and covers. You can see it in use in a number of my woodshop videos. Thanks for watching!
November exploratory inspections....Good chance to observe behaviors. And of course it's time to get back into the full time wood works. Thanks for sharing the northern operation Brad! We think we know until we don't!!
You nailed it, we think we know until we don't. Thanks for watching, Mike!
That’s right happy Poppy Day
Forget everything you know about wintering indoors when wintering outdoors.
Are getting warm weather too it’s not good lol flying bees eat were getting 5 to 12 degrees
This is exactly what I do to overwinter my bees in Montana. It’s worked well for me.
That helps my confidence in the system. Thanks!
That’s almost an early spring time nest !
Yes, it looks better than some of my April nests. I'm not sure how to interpret it at this point. It is what it is I suppose. Thanks for watching!
Brad, I'm here in my kitchen tonight filling bottles of hot honey while watching your video. When I saw your quilt boxes I thought you must be going back to a design that worked for you in the past. I used a very similar quilt box design for several years, and they worked very well for my bees. I wasn't able to overwinter my bees until I began using the quilt box, with a little mountain camp sugar on top the frames to capture any drips. -Darren
Hi Darren. Yes, did use these back in 2015 and I had 100% wintering success that year so I know it can work. Thanks for the feeback on your experience. That helps my confidence in the system. Thanks for watching!
Wow, i was hoping mine were getting close to bloodless but after watching this i guess not (northern Indiana). Thanks for sharing.
Try some bloodletting. Thanks for watching!
Hi Brad. One of my mentors, who is in his 80’s, tells me that when he started it was common practice for beekeepers here to cage their queen going into winter then release them in early spring. The caged queen was just left sitting on the top bars of the brood box. If you really want the bees to go broodless you could cage the queen at some point around the start of October and release her when they come out of the building. That would be an interesting experiment.
Interesting concept. Thanks for watching!
I don’t go into my hives after
End of September
Brad colder here in Vermont low 40 f day time high 20 f night time last 2 weeks for weather
Those are perfect wintering temperatures, IMO. Thanks for watching!
Hi Braddoesn't Canada know Winter should have started already, tell Fall it'sout of here...
You bet! It's been unseasonably warm! Thanks for watching!
Are you guys colder than us in Nova Scotia ? We see -10 -15 but it’s wet not dry
Yes. It gets to -40 here but it's very dry.
@ I think I may like that more then hear lol man it’s like a yo yo here it can be -15 one day then 5 degrees the next it’s always up and down can never get use to it the damp is what I don’t like my old bones feel it lol
Oh wow, i just realized that i think we have the same rather old radial arm saw. Is that an old sears craftsman unit that has an accesory drive on the side? Im struggling with mine right now, i found it kinda hard to make it square, i screwed a backstop on it but i dont feel its perfect
Yes, that's a Craftsman that goes back to about 1975. Most of those are 10" but that one is a 12" and it's a beast! 240V and tons of power. I use it a lot for breaking down long lumber when I build pallets and covers. You can see it in use in a number of my woodshop videos. Thanks for watching!
You can download a manual for yours that shows you how to adjust it. vintagemachinery.org/mfgindex/detail.aspx?id=222&tab=3