Bug Farmer Beekeeping

Cold weather beehive feeding -- Topping off the hives with sugar syrup before winter and fixing hive heater. Natural nectar and pollen are almost gone. Topping off the hives with heavy sugar syrup to sustain the bees through the winter. Also, fixing the heating element in one of the winter boxes. Fall is here and the the outside temperature is dropping fast but the bees are tucked away in their 65 degree hives sipping honey-coladas. Outside of the one malfunction the internal beehive heaters are working perfectly and keeping the beehives within a set temperature range. The internal heaters are working as expected. Not only do the beehive heaters keep the bees warm but they also keep the internal bucket feeder filled with sugar syrup at a constant temp to allow the feeding of sugar syrup well into the col season. The internal temp of the beehive is also warm enough for the bees to successfully evaporate the sugar syrup for capping. If you are interested in building your own hive heaters I have created a 4 part how-to video series showing you exactly how I build my hive heaters and how to control them. You can find the videos in my upload stream or in the Things I build playlist on this channel. If you are considering becoming a beekeeper or starting beekeeper as a hobby this is the channel for you. I will show you everything I learned in my first year of beekeeping and you can learn with me as I experience and overcome challenges I encounter in my second year and beyond. I will also feature some how-to videos because I am perpetually curious and creative and am always building something. Thank you for visiting my channel and I really hope you like, subscribe, and ring the bell. #beehive #winterfeeding #sugarsyrup #beehiveheater #hiveheater #flowhive #flowhive2 #bee #prepping

Getting the Flowhive and the standard hives ready for winter. Adding and testing my hive heaters. Time to get the hives ready for winter by adding the internal beehive heaters (winter boxes) and removing the flow frames from each of the two flow hives. I also remove any excess honey frames and replace them with sugar frames and gallon bucket feeders. Fall is here and it is time to feed, feed, feed the bees 2:1 sugar syrup and pollen if they need it. I will also check the beetle traps. If you want to see how I build my beehive heaters and how to install the beehive heaters I have created a four part series which can be found in my upload stream or in the Things I Build playlist. Either way, this is how I get my bees ready for winter. Because I have hive heaters I have no need to wrap the hives. All of that being said, this is my first winter with the bees and the first full season with the hive heaters so anything can happen. So... If you are considering becoming a beekeeper or starting beekeeper as a hobby this is the channel for you. I will show you everything I learned in my first year of beekeeping and you can learn with me as I experience and overcome challenges I encounter in my second year and beyond. I will also feature some how-to videos because I am perpetually curious and creative and am always building something. Thank you for visiting my channel and I really hope you like, subscribe, and ring the bell. #beekeeping #beehive #flowhive #organic #honey #prepared #urban farming #how-to #prepping

Beehive Feeding. Comparing sugar syrup, honey, and sugar with anise. What do the bees prefer to eat over the winter? I compare sugar syrup with and without anise extract added with honey. Is it possible the anise extract is causing my beehives to rob each other or is it just a coincidence? Feeding bees sugar syrup either 1:1 ratio or 2:1 ration or just mix it by eyeballing it like I do, the bees will feed on sugar syrup to prepare for winter or to begin the brood build out just before the spring flow. I feed my bees as much sugar syrup as they will take. This food works for both standard hives or the flow hive one and the flow hive two. I have concluded the bees do prefer sugar syrup with essential oils like anise added over sugar syrup without anise. Of course given their choice bees will always choose to store the real nectar and eat the real honey they produce over sugar syrup for feeding the bees any time of year. Also, does feeding sugar syrup with anise oil lead to robbing? Does anise make the bees more active and defensive? Whether feeding wild bees or your entire beehive this video will test to discover what the bees like best. If you are considering becoming a beekeeper or starting beekeeper as a hobby this is the channel for you. I will show you everything I learned in my first year of beekeeping and you can learn with me as I experience and overcome the challenges I encounter in my second year and beyond. I will also feature some how-to videos because I am perpetually curious and creative and am always building something. Thank you for visiting my channel and I really hope you like, subscribe, and ring the bell. Happy Halloween #flowhive #beekeeping #how-to

Making colored sugar syrup for winter beehive feeding.-- There are a million videos on YouTube showing you how to make sugar syrup but I make mine a bit different. I add food coloring and anise extract. Keeping the honey pure and the bees happy is what it's all about. This is how I make sugar syrup for winter feeding with a few extra ingredients. I add anise extract to get the bees excited and food coloring to make sure I never confuse sugar syrup honey from real honey. Colored sugar syrup is the bees knees. I use standard food coloring added to the sugar syrup in either blue, red, or purple which can be easily distinguished from real honey even after the bees have capped the honey. If you are considering becoming a beekeeper or starting beekeeper as a hobby this is the channel for you. I will show you everything I learned in my first year of beekeeping and you can learn with me as I experience and overcome challenges I encounter in my second year and beyond. I will also feature some how-to videos because I am perpetually curious and creative and am always building something. Thank you for visiting my channel and I really hope you like, subscribe, and ring the bell. #coloredsugarsyrup sugarsyrup #beehivefeeding #beehive #flowhive #beekeeping #flowhive2 #flowhive #beekeeping #how-to

Ants in the beehive. How to stop a beehive ant invasion. Ants are invading the beehives. Here is how I stop them. Fall beekeeping is challenging without having to deal with ants. Everyone is looking for winter stores including the ants and yellow jackets. I will show you the easy solution I use to keep the ants out of the beehive. Ants do not like to get their little feet dirty especially with grease because they can't get it off. I keep the ants off my beehive by greasing the legs of the beehive. The ants will not cross it and it is especially effective in the summer months. However, when fall rolls around and the outside temp is on the cold side the grease will firm up and it is possible for the ants to cross. Fall is the time to be diligent when keeping external threats and pests from going after the food the bees have put away for the winter. If you are considering becoming a beekeeper or starting beekeeper as a hobby this is the channel for you. I will show you everything I learned in my first year of beekeeping and you can learn with me as I experience and overcome the challenges I encounter in my second year and beyond. I will also feature some how-to videos because I am perpetually curious and creative and am always building something. Thank you for visiting my channel and I really hope you like, subscribe, and ring the bell. #antsinhive #flowhive #beekeeping #how-to

Beehive and Varroa Inspection - PT 2 of 2 looking for Varroa. Robbing. Inspecting the 2nd hive for Varroa mites on the bottom board or any sign of them on the bees. Looking for crinkly wings or infected drone cells, etc. During the inspection I accidentally set off a robbing situation between the hives. I think the bees get really excited when they smell the anise I put in my sugar syrup. All four hives begin robbing each other. I may even have bees from other outside colonies in the melee. This is my first fall dealing with bees and it shows. A good example of what NOT to do when inspecting your hive in the fall. If you are considering becoming a beekeeper or starting beekeeper as a hobby this is the channel for you. I will show you everything I learned in my first year of beekeeping and you can learn with me as I experience and overcome challenges I encounter in my second year and beyond. I will also feature some how-to videos because I am perpetually curious and creative and am always building something. Thank you for visiting my channel and I really hope you like, subscribe, and ring the bell. #beehive #varroa #beehiveinspection #beekeeping #flowhive #beekeeping #flowhive2 #honey #nectar #organic #bee

Beehive and Varroa Inspection - PT 1 of 2 : It's that time of year when I have to decide weather to treat for Varroa mites or not. To treat or not to treat? This is my first time doing this and I am really hesitant to expose my bees to any chemicals or treatment for mites. That said, If after going through the hives I find a lot of varroa I will have no choice but to treat. Opening hive for varroa mite inspection and hive inspection this time of year can be disasterous and just like that, the unexpected happens. I guess the neighbor bees are hungry? The beginning of a massive robbing scenario. What should I do when other colonies decide to rob my beehives. Do I close up the hives? Set the entrance reducers to the smallest setting, or do I let the bees figure it out on their own and learn to defend their hives. If you are considering becoming a beekeeper or starting beekeeper as a hobby this is the channel for you. I will show you everything I learned in my first year of beekeeping and you can learn with me as I experience and overcome challenges I encounter in my second year and beyond. I will also feature some how-to videos because I am perpetually curious and creative and am always building something. Thank you for visiting my channel and I really hope you like, subscribe, and ring the bell. #beehive #varroa #beehiveinspection #beekeeping #apivar #quickstrips #mites #flowhive #flowhive2 #honey #nectar #organic #bee

In this video we take a tour through a beehive. I made this video to share my first season of beekeeping with my sons 3rd and 4th grade conservation club students at my children's school. After showing the video to several people they told me to start a YouTube channel. After some consideration I decided to give it a shot and see what happens. I am no expert but if you can follow along and learn from my mistakes we can at the very least increase the honeybee population which is good for everybody. So... If you are considering becoming a beekeeper or starting beekeeper as a hobby this is the channel for you. I will show you everything I learned in my first year of beekeeping and you can learn with me as I experience and overcome challenges I encounter in my second year and beyond. I will also feature some how-to videos because I am perpetually curious and creative and am always building something. Thank you for visiting my channel and I really hope you like, subscribe, and ring the bell. #beehive #flowhive #beekeeping #flowhive2 #honey #nectar #organic #bee

#Time-lapse video of the October sun rising on the apiary.#Sunrise over #apiary. The bees are the first to see the sunrise every morning. #shorts #sunrise #beekeeping

OK, This was unexpected -- I raise honeybees, not baby cats. While preparing to create and edit my first YouTube video I was amazed by an unexpected find. Usually I raise bees, build bee related gear, make sugar syrup, and related honeybee things but today I am dealing with a buried cat? Yes, a buried cat. I guess I will inspect the beehives after I deal with this. How in the world did this happen and what to do next? If you are considering becoming a beekeeper and starting beekeeper as a hobby this is the channel for you. I will show you everything I learned in my first year of beekeeping and you can learn with me as I experience and overcome challenges I encounter in my second year and beyond. I will also feature some how-to videos because I am perpetually curious and creative and am always building something. Thank you for visiting my channel and I really hope you like, subscribe, and ring the bell. Thanks for watching. #beekeeping #beehive #cats #burriedcat #firstyear #flowhive #flowhive2 #honey #nectar #organic #bee