I know this sounds like a sales pitch but the apimaye hive is pretty forgiving. I feel confident if I take care of mites and leave food in the fall the bees will do just fine even if I screw some things up.
@@kkiebs1238 I just ordered a couple of them to give them a try here in New England. Here in Northwestern Massachusetts, we can get some pretty brutal weather at times so it should be a good test for them this coming winter.
I was wondering why you didn’t use the Apimaye too feeder inserts that go above the brood box under the cover? And if you have, did the bees feed from top feeder insert?
@@soniaames2119 lol .... Insert. I'm not a big fan of the apimaye feeders. They are to small, have too many small parts and are not insulated. I'm in the process of running two or three gallon too feeders on all my hives.
Good update. What parts are you from? My Apimaye test hive did well just with honey stores in Midwest WI but have 2 deep broods. Just added pollen patties last weekend and sugar syrup this weekend. Really like the bubblewrap idea for feeder. Been trying to come up with a shim idea that works best for the Apimaye and probably overthinking it after seeing your shim setup. Was going to customize a queen excluder so that the top can still be latched. Probably will still test it out since have a couple extra. ;) Btw, the last fall link in description shows that you removed the video.
Hello Nick, I'm from SE Michigan. Zone is close to midwest WI. I was probably two weeks ahead of you on the pollen patties and just put liquid in the rest of my hives yesterday, because weather is looking high 50's mid 60's for the next couple weeks. Bees seem to be going thru food fast with maple buds not out yet. The bubble wrap is working great. I understand what your saying about the shim. They are not insulated and dont fit the latches. My poly feeders have flat bottoms so the shim is required to fit the patty. Even a modified queen excluder would not work. Shims are also too small for the latch kit. Maybe latch extensions would be nice. Thanks for the heads up on the link.
@@kkiebs1238 Yeah, I should've done it earlier but been been working out of state and running a tad behind. Need to move the colony down to bottom brood today and do a little more thorough inspection before heading out for another 2 weeks. Definitely glad to see yours all survived. Mine are in a club Apiary and the neighbor wood hives did not make it. I ordered Apimayes large top feeder which didn't make it by this weekend but can't wait to test it out to see how it works. Latch extensions are definitely nice but nothing wrong with straps either. ;) Ever try the pollen frame? Ordered one of those to test out as well since been debating on using instead of patties on top.
Apimaye had a special last year and I got four of the pollen frames for free. Im on the fence about trying them. I didnt really want to remove a frame of honey and I'm not sure if the bees will consume patty the same on the side vs on top. They would solve my shim problem. Let me know if you try them out.
Pollen patties just help kickstart the queen into laying a couple weeks before trees start producing in my area. If your in the northern part of the US with a short season you might find this more useful than say, somebody in the south.
Do you have any wooden hives to compare how they overwintered compared to your Apimaye? I am shocked at how much honey was still in the hives. Part of me thinks they just couldnt get to it which would be impressive if they overwintered on ~6 frames of honey. Also I cannot find your video, but why did you chose to forgo the Apimaye feeders?
I was also surprised they had so much honey left. Need a couple more winters to compare and see if that was abnormal or not for the cluster size and winter conditions. I changed out the apimaye feeder because its not insulated and its small. I'll probably continue to run a combination of apimaye and poly feeders going forward.
That bubble wrap idea is genius!
It looks like all three methods were successful. And I would definitely go with the one that makes it easier for you for sure. Thanks for sharing.
I know this sounds like a sales pitch but the apimaye hive is pretty forgiving. I feel confident if I take care of mites and leave food in the fall the bees will do just fine even if I screw some things up.
@@kkiebs1238 I just ordered a couple of them to give them a try here in New England. Here in Northwestern Massachusetts, we can get some pretty brutal weather at times so it should be a good test for them this coming winter.
great video ty
Why did you choose not to use the top feeder spinster option for feeding through winter?
Not sure what a top feeder spinster is. Do you have a link for one ?
Insert. Sorry…spell check at its best.
I was wondering why you didn’t use the Apimaye too feeder inserts that go above the brood box under the cover? And if you have, did the bees feed from top feeder insert?
@@soniaames2119 lol .... Insert. I'm not a big fan of the apimaye feeders. They are to small, have too many small parts and are not insulated. I'm in the process of running two or three gallon too feeders on all my hives.
@@kkiebs1238 Gotcha. Good to know! Thank you! 😊
Good update. What parts are you from? My Apimaye test hive did well just with honey stores in Midwest WI but have 2 deep broods. Just added pollen patties last weekend and sugar syrup this weekend.
Really like the bubblewrap idea for feeder. Been trying to come up with a shim idea that works best for the Apimaye and probably overthinking it after seeing your shim setup. Was going to customize a queen excluder so that the top can still be latched. Probably will still test it out since have a couple extra. ;)
Btw, the last fall link in description shows that you removed the video.
Hello Nick, I'm from SE Michigan. Zone is close to midwest WI. I was probably two weeks ahead of you on the pollen patties and just put liquid in the rest of my hives yesterday, because weather is looking high 50's mid 60's for the next couple weeks. Bees seem to be going thru food fast with maple buds not out yet.
The bubble wrap is working great. I understand what your saying about the shim. They are not insulated and dont fit the latches. My poly feeders have flat bottoms so the shim is required to fit the patty. Even a modified queen excluder would not work. Shims are also too small for the latch kit. Maybe latch extensions would be nice.
Thanks for the heads up on the link.
@@kkiebs1238 Yeah, I should've done it earlier but been been working out of state and running a tad behind. Need to move the colony down to bottom brood today and do a little more thorough inspection before heading out for another 2 weeks.
Definitely glad to see yours all survived. Mine are in a club Apiary and the neighbor wood hives did not make it.
I ordered Apimayes large top feeder which didn't make it by this weekend but can't wait to test it out to see how it works. Latch extensions are definitely nice but nothing wrong with straps either. ;)
Ever try the pollen frame? Ordered one of those to test out as well since been debating on using instead of patties on top.
Apimaye had a special last year and I got four of the pollen frames for free. Im on the fence about trying them. I didnt really want to remove a frame of honey and I'm not sure if the bees will consume patty the same on the side vs on top. They would solve my shim problem. Let me know if you try them out.
What’s the draw back if you don’t give the hive a pollen patty?
Pollen patties just help kickstart the queen into laying a couple weeks before trees start producing in my area. If your in the northern part of the US with a short season you might find this more useful than say, somebody in the south.
Do you have any wooden hives to compare how they overwintered compared to your Apimaye? I am shocked at how much honey was still in the hives. Part of me thinks they just couldnt get to it which would be impressive if they overwintered on ~6 frames of honey.
Also I cannot find your video, but why did you chose to forgo the Apimaye feeders?
I was also surprised they had so much honey left. Need a couple more winters to compare and see if that was abnormal or not for the cluster size and winter conditions. I changed out the apimaye feeder because its not insulated and its small. I'll probably continue to run a combination of apimaye and poly feeders going forward.