Small Late-Summer Colonies with Anne Frey (299)

Late summer can expose the colonies that simply haven't kept pace. Maybe they're late splits, small nucs, colonies recovering from swarming, or colonies that never developed the population you expected. What should you do with them before winter?

In this episode of Honey Bee Obscura, Jim Tew welcomes Anne Frey of Betterbee for a practical conversation about managing small colonies as summer gives way to fall.

Anne and Jim discuss how small a colony can be and still have a reasonable chance of overwintering, along with ways beekeepers can improve those odds. That includes making sure Varroa mites are under control, providing adequate honey and pollen, donating resources from stronger colonies, reducing environmental stresses, adding top insulation, and positioning small colonies so they can benefit from shared warmth.

They also explore overwintering nucs above stronger colonies using double-screen boards, multi-compartment equipment, equalizing colonies with frames of capped brood, and when simply combining two weak colonies may be the better choice.

And what about moving colonies indoors—or even hauling them hundreds of miles south? Jim has stories about both.

The bottom line: small colonies require extra attention, realistic expectations, and sometimes a willingness to cut your losses while protecting valuable drawn comb for another season.

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Thanks to Betterbee for sponsoring today's episode. Betterbee's mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, Betterbee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com

We'd like to thank Vita Bee Health for supporting the podcast. Vita provides proven tools for controlling Varroa—from Apistan and Apiguard to the new VarroxSan extended-release oxalic acid strips—helping beekeepers keep stronger, healthier colonies.

Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of Honey Bee Obscura. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com

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Honey Bee Obscura is brought to you by Growing Planet Media, LLC, the home of Beekeeping Today Podcast.

Music: Heart & Soul by Gyom, All We Know by Midway Music; Christmas Avenue by Immersive Music; original guitar music by Jeffrey Ott

Cartoons by: John Martin (Beezwax Comics)

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