Backyard Beekeeping Questions and Answers Episode 138 with Frederick Dunn, lots of wintering questions

This is the audio track from today's Youtube video:  https://youtu.be/0Sg_8GP_pTQ

 

Today's topics are listed below with video time-links, provided generously by:

Adam Holmes

1) When your honey bee colony goes brood-less, do the varroa mites die? 1:30

 

2) Will you go over various bottom boards and why you choose each one? When do you switch them? 8:17

 

3) I know that you insulate the top of your hives. Is it true that bees only have a hard time in winter, is when they are very cold for an extended period. Can they handle 1 week, maybe 2? 16:27

 

4) Do you put out syrup for the bees if the temperatures are going to be high enough for them to forage? 30:08

 

5) We are expanding our apiary, I noticed that you used Lyson adjustable stands, is there a reason that you moved to iron T-Posts? 34:47

 

6) Will honey bees clean out the poop left behind in the cells by varroa destructor mites? 42:28

 

7) I was thinking of putting up a swarm trap with better-comb, Tom Seeley said pieces of comb was not advisable in his article. Will wax moths or small hive beetles destroy it? 46:05

 

8) We are planning to move a hive this winter, over rocky terrain. Can you recommend a good way to secure it? 53:00

 

9) I'm being told that bees won't lay comb on the plastic frames unless they are pre-waxed by using melted beeswax, is this the case? 56:25

 

10) How close can my hives be to my chickens, would free-range chickens eat the bees, or would the bees attack the chickens? 1:00:43

 

11) What are the top 3 reads for beginning beekeepers when opening a hive? 1:06:21

 

12) If I put fondant on, is it better than honey or the syrup, and will this cause the bees to starve because they won't go back down to the honey stores? 1:09:28