#beekeeping #winterbeekeeping #hiveinspection #honeybees #deadout #apiary #honeytopbees #winterbeekeeping
Winter is the “make or break” moment for every apiary. In today’s video, we are heading into the yard for a transparent look at how our colonies are faring. Beekeeping isn’t always about the honey—sometimes it’s about the hard lessons learned from a winter “dead-out.”
We’ll walk through several hives to show you the difference between a thriving cluster and a colony that didn’t make it. We’ll perform a hive autopsy to look for signs of starvation and moisture issues, and we’ll also highlight the “gold standard” of winter survival.
In this video, we cover:
Queen Status & Cluster Size: How to identify a healthy, heat-producing cluster without chilling the bees.
Brood Patterns: Looking for the first signs of spring buildup.
Food Store Assessment: Checking honey and pollen levels to determine if emergency feeding is required.
The “Dead-Out” Analysis: Analyzing a loss to prevent it from happening next year.
Action Taken: Adding sugar fondant patties and adjusting moisture management.
