Hives can benefit from being wrapped to make it easier for the bees to stay warm during the winter. As we have mentioned before in our previous blog, no one solution will fit everyone's needs. You as the beekeeper will need to analyze and customize your approach to winter prep depending on your region and climate. For most of Western and Northern Canada beekeepers benefit from wrapping and insulating their hives as the drops in temperature can be quite significant. The colder it is outside the hive, the more energy the colony will need to expand to keep itself warm. More energy means more food will be consumed, which can raise the possibility that there will not be enough food stores to last through the winter.
There's no one size fits all when it comes down to overwintering your bees. Each location comes with its own microclimates that will determine what you need to consider when insulating your hive. Things like: Sunlight, Wind, Rain, etc.
Oxalic Acidtreatment. This is a very effective treatment for late fall and early spring. The reason is that during this time you will have almost no capped brood, which is the ideal time to use oxalic acid. The treatment is only effective on the bees and is unable to penetrate through the comb. It’s safe for the bees and is entirely natural. Oxalic acid is an organic compound that can be found in many vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, and other plants. It has been shown to be an effective treatment for Varroa Mite and approved to be used in Canada for many years.
Hiveworld first started to deliver bees to our customers in 2006. Since then, we have successfully delivered thousands of packages and nucs throughout western Canada. Over the years we have delivered packages, nucs and starter hives to commercial beekeepers replacing losses and hobby and sideline beekeepers starting an alternate revenue stream.
Some of our customers have come across Hiveworld being mentioned on the Alberta government website regarding qurantin and undertaking. We wanted to take this opportunity to provide our customers with more information and context regarding the events that transpired. As well as what measures we have taken to prevent such events from occurring again.
The 2022 season has come to an end and beekeepers are starting to prepare for the 2023. This is when you evaluate what beekeeping equipment you may need for next year and the bees you may need. You might be a new beekeeper looking to get started or you know what you’re doing and looking to expand your current beeyard. In this blog we will explain the different types of live bee products we will carry for 2023 and the different benefits of each product
Some signs of a weak hive may be a small population of bees by the end of September. The hive needs to have a big enough cluster to survive the winter, which is approximately 6 to 8 full frames of bees. You might notice wasps and other pests trying to enter your hive if you have a low amount of bees. Robbing of honey stores may occur, which will further deplete your colony's strength.
Fumagilin is used to treat a very serious disease found in adult honey bees called nosema. This disease has contributed to loss of colonies in both autumn and spring. Nosema is a fungal infection of the bee's intestines.
In September there are a lot of variables that will set your hive up for the winter. You might be wondering what the end goal is? What will your hive look like? If you’re a first time beekeeper, it can be intimidating not knowing what to look for in your hive before you close it up.
Varroa Mite has been the prevalent cause of many bee deaths. For fall wrap up, going into winter, you need to make sure to check for varroa and treat your hives accordingly. There are various ways to treat Varroa Mite and treatments can differ depending on the season. In this blog we will cover what a Varroa Mite is and what fall treatments to use.
There are many reasons as to why you should feed your bees during the fall. It could be that the weather didn’t allow them to forage as much as they needed and they don’t have enough stores for the winter. It may be that the stores they did have were used up by the hive for food or drawing out comb. Maybe you over harvested honey hoping that the flow would provide the hive with the rest. Regardless of the reasons, if you weigh your hive and it does not have a weight between 140lbs - 150lbs, you need to feed.
As the honey flow starts to come to an end we look towards fall. There are few key things that need to be prepared, to give your hive the best chance to survive the winter.
