Inside a Bee Tree - Bee Vlog #155 - Nov 12, 2014

How do bees cope with freezing temperatures? What advantages do trees have over our man-made hive boxes? In this video we get to take a peek inside a bee tree and see if I can mimic the conditions of a tree.

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[JCsBees]

I like your upper entrance on your nuc. The over hanging lip acts as a wind block. Very nice.
Bee trees are very cool we need feral bees. I own a bee gum and last winter I got video of them moving around in the hive on a 22 degree (F) day. Your right they are insulated very well. The problem with mine was they eat themselves to death. It was a dry fall which resulted in low nectar flows and besides open feedings did not know how to feed them to build up stores. You can't really stick a entrance feeder on them. So they starved. Since then have gotten another one and had great nectar flows this fall so I am keeping my fingers crossed. :)

[WayOutWestx]

Great video! I am so envious of your bee tree. (Almost all the trees in this country were cut down, and only recently has replanting begun, so it's rare to see big trees here at all - let alone with bees inside.) Thanks, Tim

[timwessels]

Nice job Bill. I'll be looking for your comments on the 2014/15 winter survey for the results of your top cover insulation. Nice job on shooting the interior of the bee tree and the sounds scape is perfect. Oddly, that's the same sound I hear every time I open my hives. 

[smokymountainbeekeep]

Great video. As a new beek, I have always been curious about the cluster during winter. Thanks for the interior view of the regular and tree hive.

[adrianforrester]

just got to say iv watched all your vids and really enjoyed them lots of food for thought to keep my mind active over the winter already looking forward to your next updates

[rk]

Fellow beekeeper here. Just food for thought. The honey bee originated in Africa, were transported to Europe by humans and then in the early 1600's made it to North America. Bees don't live in trees in Africa. They create hives off of branches and rock faces and actually abscond and follow the water. Or so Ive been told by someone who mentors me and teaches beekeeping to less knowledgeable folks in Africa. So trying to mimic a tree that bees have adapted to living in for say a couple hundred years is very minuet compared the the actual revolution of the honey bee. What do you think?

[superbee]

Some very good info, i always though trees was thicker to with stand cold better than the Langstroth Hives Plus they eat and  use the sap out of the trees too!  I hate this time of year, cause the summer bees and drones are dieing out for the winter bees Plus too when they stick there heads in the comb and start eating pollen making more heat and the empty comb cells acts as a insulation like a coat in extreme cold. So the cold weather makes em eat more for more empty cells to crawl into as they hibernate in the ball around the queen..  You talk about crazy weather it don't get 20 deg in Nov. here but it did for a week, now its going to be 75 deg that crazy! The trees and animals don't even know when to hibernate my bees went crazy there throwing the sugar candy and sugar out of the hives now, they never done this be for they always ate it.  idk if the done some thing to the crane sugar or what, it suppose to be 100% pure cane sugar !...Seem like they only wont nectar and i wont put sugar water into the hives, they have to fly out of the hives 40 feet for the sugar water

[AmerijamAcres]

Have you considered wrapping 3 sides with the same material with some areas for ventilation. I think I saw someone insulating their bees for winter not sure where I saw it tho.

[sogsifu]

Great Video.  This winter I'm trying quilt boxes with cedar chips. Any experience with this method? Also, have you had issues with Yellow Jackets. I know they have been horrible in the portland/vancouver area this year. Any suggestions on how to deal with them. Thanks

[TheBeeVlog]

But both hypothesis seem to agree that Apis Mellifera originated and evolved from a cavity-nesting honey bee. Yes, there are bees in Africa that create open-air nests, but that is a different species than what we are using here in North America. Which brings up the influence that modern beekeeping has had on the evolution and adaptation of the honeybee. Especially in non-native lands. In my area, and most areas of North America, feral honeybees survive in cavities, not open-air nests. And when they swarm they seek out cavities. So whether influenced by millions of years of evolution, or more recently by human interbreeding, the honeybees in North America prefer and survive better in cavities. And natural cavities don't have the square edges, smooth walls, flat ceilings, and uniform shapes of our more convenient boxes.

[fattoshala]

I just wont to know about ventilation. You let this open space in all time of winter or you close it later? :)