Beekeeping Tips and Techniques

Effective Hive Inspections

The speaker got into beekeeping in the 70s after taking a course at Cornell University.

- They kept bees in the late 70s and early 80s but stopped until two years ago when they retired and got back into it.

- In their first year back, their hive swarmed and did not survive the winter.

- Last year, they bought two packages and successfully split them into three hives, which all survived the winter.

- The speaker uses a smoker to calm and confuse the bees when opening the hives.

Hive Placement and Sunlight Exposure

The Science of Hive Placement: Maximizing Sunlight for Happy Bees

How to choose the best location for your beehive. It should cover aspects like hive orientation, the angle of the sun, protection from harsh weather, and the advantages of morning sun exposure. Step-by-step, explain how to analyze your apiary location for ideal sunlight.

- Southern exposure is ideal for beekeeping as it provides full sunlight and warmth.

- Wind protection is also important for beekeeping.

How to Prepare Your Bees for Winter

Winter is a hard season for beekeepers, we would like to show how we prepare our beehives for winter. To winterize beehives, we use Candy Boards and Hive top feeders, we do what we can to give our bees what they need to make it through winter. This is a step-by-step guide for preparing a Candy Board and the steps we take in preparing our hives for winter.

The video shares 5 bad tips for overwintering bees that could kill the colony.

- Using a heating lamp or heating pads can give a wrong signal to the bees and mislead them into thinking it's summertime, causing them to fly out into cold weather and not make it back to the hive.

- Snow and ice can suffocate the hive and cut off airflow, so it's important to clear it away from the entrance.

- Winter critters like raccoons and mice can steal feeders and honey and even kill the colony, so it's important to use mouse guards and seal any holes or corners in the hive.

- Leaving gaping holes open in the hive is not recommended, as it can allow too much winter wind and rain in and other colonies to rob out the honey supers.

- It's recommended to take a good look around the hive…