How We Prepare Bees For Winter Part 1

A behind the scenes look at how we prepare our bees for winter,
including mite treatments, feeding, re-queening and more.

Effects of delayed acaricide treatment in honey bee colonies parasitized by Varroa jacobsoni and a late-season treatment threshold for the southeastern USA
January 1997Journal of Apicultural Research 36(3-4):125-132

[rab]

The dulcet tones of Bob Binnie teaching is one of my favorite things. Thank you.

[joer]

Always appreciate your videos, Bob. It’s a nice feeling to see I’m slowly learning. I gauge that by how closely I’m doing what you cover in your videos.

[pcdeputy]

Hi, we are in Colorado Springs and we are first time Beekeepers. We just wanted to THANK YOU for making the Videos. We have learned so much from your videos. Thank you again. Keep up the good work sir.

[jasonseaward]

This is how I'm trying to get into beekeeping myself, I have no $ so I'm trying to locate some old equipment that I can buy from someone that doesn't want them anymore and I'll start from the bottom and I'll become successful just like you and lots of others out there

[pnwRC.]

Great video Bob. Thanks for helping to educate us potentially new beekeepers!

[kevinhoward]

Thanks for your educational videos. I am amazed at how much you know. I was at the pickens county bee meeting that you spoke at in June 2022. I believe it was on queen management. I really enjoyed it. Thanks for what you have done in the world of beekeeping.

[crabmanbc]

Mr. Binnie I appreciate your videos. When you show the flowers and describe what they are and what the bees get from them is a huge help. My wife and I run G's Bees Apiary in Blairsville and your videos are very relevant to us. We say hi to you and Tommy when we see y'all in your store and we truly enjoy going there.

[dawnpaskell]

Came in to your store and bought 20 2 gal feed buckets for my colonies and have been doing everything including treatments with apivar right along the same timeline as you. I'm in the Mtns of Western North Carolina as well. Thanks Bob!

[kylejackson]

Not sure if you’ll see this but thanks so much for the time you take to make these videos and the thought and caution you practice when giving advice. You inspired me greatly to practice beekeeping as you do and thank God I finally caught a swarm this year! Keep it up and thank you so much to you and your crew for these videos!

[peterlightbody]

Love the old box story, thats one for the book.

[sonofthunder.]

what a gorgeous river, im going to use my bee keeping as inroads to find deer hunting spots, as sprawl is taking over where I am nw Arkansas, this my 1st year 3 hives, Thank you

[_J.F_]

I have only been a beekeeper (and a hobby beekeeper at that) for about 10 years so I still love to pick up good seasonal tips from wherever, and in particular from those who have almost a lifetime of experience that they do not mind sharing. Besides treating and putting weight on the hives in preparation for winter I am always trying to boost my colonies through feeding sugar syrup and quality pollen substitute just when the bees are about to rear the winter bees - typically just around now where I live. Having as healthy and as strong a colony of bees, with all the resources they can chew through, to rear the winter bees makes sense to me, a bit like it does when queen rearing (starter/finisher). The challenge is to find just the right time to boost the colonies resources, and not make the mistake of backfilling the brood frames at the same time, so probably not very practical for commercial beekeepers who cannot pamper each colony in the same way, but otherwise a very good way to increase winter survival of your colonies.

[robertcool]

Thanks for the video, I learned more in 30 mins than I have the last 10 years! The beekeeping year starting in August is gold!

[nancynolton]

Cannot thank you enough for the wealth of knowledge you are sharing. Totally agree with listen, learn, read, watch, talk to other beekeepers... take it all in and devise your own timelines and schedules based on local conditions to figure out what is best for your bees.

[keithfaithful]

I really enjoy your videos. I am happy you can take the time to share your knowledge, it’s a treasure. Thank You.

[mccombeesapiaries]

I could watch your stuff all day. I'm in Northeast Indiana and have almost matched exactly what you are doing to get your colonies ready for winter. Thank you for affirming what I'm doing. You give me confidence to keep doing things a little different in my area.

[fishmut]

Some really good points in your video, got some good notes from you, never stop learning, happy bee keeping . 👍

[martssss]

I was watching this and I felt to sleep, great video

[russellkoopman]

Bob, you don't make a lot of videos but there is always so much knowledge too absorb in each one. Thanks again, I keep learning from your experience.

[calvinkalmon]

Wow I am learning so much, thank you!