The internet has been abuzz with questions about fall feeding; “when should I do it?” “How much?” “What method should I use?” . The questions they should be asking is “Should I even be doing it at all? Is it necessary?”
I have seen a lot of discussions on hive beetles and many people identify hive beetles as a major concern. They go to extreme measures to combat hive beetles and spend lots of time, money and concern with these little pests. In our beekeeping experience we see hive beetles only as dangerous to a colony of bees as a tick is dangerous to the life of a person (leaving out diseases). (Please review the video below for more details.)
Following one of my favorite beekeeping experts, Randy Oliver of Scientific Beekeeping we created a video demonstrating our experience one day checking drone brood.
There is an adage in beekeeping that goes "Take your winter losses in the fall".
It took me years to gain a strong understanding of this concept.
For years I tried to nurse weak colonies though the winter hoping for good results and more hives in the spring. All the while I was hurting my operation and causing bees to suffer unnecessarily. I would like to tell a tale of two apiaries/beekeepers.