Oct. 15, 2026
Plain Talk: A Flooded Smoker & Failed Queen (305)
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RSS Feed A beautiful autumn day in the bee yard begins with an unexpected discovery for Dr. Jim Tew: his normally reliable smoker-storage system has failed spectacularly. A windblown lid and several rainstorms have left his smoker half submerged, his hive tools soaked, and his carefully organized system in need of drying out.
But that isn't the only surprise waiting for Jim.
A swarm colony he had collected earlier in the season has died, so Jim opens the hive for a late-season autopsy. Wax moths have already moved in, but the comb tells a larger story. Jim finds scattered drone brood, no queen cells, and no obvious signs of American foulbrood or a Varroa collapse. His conclusion: the colony likely declined after its queen failed.
That leads to a harder question: even if Jim had caught the problem several weeks earlier, would requeening a small colony in September have made sense?
Jim considers the cost of a queen, the time required for introduction, dwindling fall forage, and the risks of combining a weak colony with a stronger one. Then he turns his attention to another small nuc that may still deserve some extra care before winter.
It's a thoughtful walk through the realities of fall beekeeping—where sometimes the most difficult management decision is deciding when not to intervene.
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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)
Copyright © 2026 by Growing Planet Media, LLC
WEBVTT
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Well beekeepers, it is an absolutely spectacular day.
00:00:07.680 --> 00:00:10.480
The colors are just starting to turn
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And I just said in a beekeeping article that I'm writing, I'm in a reflective stage of beekeeping.
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What does that mean?
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That means I just like being back here
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I don't have to really do anything other than just be here and enjoy
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the beauty of everything.
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But, alas
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,
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I've got a mistake that's happened that's not very pretty at all.
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I'll tell you about it just as soon as we get started in
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this segment.
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This
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is I'm Jim Tew
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and I come to you here
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about once a week
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where I try to talk about something to do with
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plain
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talk
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tea.
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Welcome!
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To Honey Bee Obscura, brought to you by Growing Planet Media, the producers of the Beekeeping Today
00:00:59.239 --> 00:01:00.840
podcast.
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Join Jim
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2, your guide through the complexities, the beauty, the fun, and
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And the challenges of managing honey bees.
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Jim hosts fun and interesting guests who take a deep dive into the intricate world of honey bees.
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Whether you're a seasoned beekeeper
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or just getting started, get ready for some plain
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talk.
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that'll delve into all things honey bees.
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I don't know when it happened.
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I haven't been back here in five or six days.
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I took a trip.
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I was gone for about the better part of a week.
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I don't know when it happened, but I've got a foolproof system that I really like.
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Years ago, at a surplus equipment sale
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,
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I got
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I bought three or four
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really heavy duty
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heavy duty
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old fashioned
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can't find them anymore
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Galvanized cans.
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They're about ten
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gallons, and they have lids that go with them.
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So I used one of those
00:02:03.740 --> 00:02:04.060
to
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hold my smoker fuel and my lighter
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and
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some
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paper for
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starting the smoker
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And then the other one I would put my lit smoker in that I had stuffed the entrance to.
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And I would let it die out
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in that other can so I didn't have a fire hazard back in my yard.
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And then when I would come back in this beautiful plan, I would use one of the heavy lids and I would dump out the previous smoker fuel
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that had partially burned down.
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And using that charcoal
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and that fresh piece of paper, I would restart the smoker and it would start right up, and then I would add fresh shavings to it.
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I use wood shavings.
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And pack it and pack it and add more, puff it, puff it, pack it, and then I could get a smoker
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going
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fairly quickly.
00:03:03.340 --> 00:03:03.660
And
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it's worked beautifully for 10 or 12 years.
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But somewhere along the way a strong wind came through and blew the lid
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off.
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And we've had, of course, like everybody else, really good rain showers every now and then.
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So
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my smoker was halfway submerged, my two hive tools are wet.
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I don't know if
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the striker or the lighter will ever work again.
00:03:29.140 --> 00:03:30.580
So I just got a mess
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because somehow
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that tight
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fitting lid
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blew off
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That's a screw
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up.
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So I've got my smoker drying.
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I've got the hive tools drying.
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I got the can upturned
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draining.
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And I hope that in the next couple of warm days
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That
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everything will dry out and I can restart my system.
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I don't know if my smoker's ruined or not.
00:03:57.760 --> 00:04:00.960
The bellows was about half underwater.
00:04:00.860 --> 00:04:01.900
It's not good
00:04:02.140 --> 00:04:05.900
unless this is a way to wash your smoker.
00:04:05.900 --> 00:04:08.140
Alright, I wasn't expecting that.
00:04:08.140 --> 00:04:12.860
It's just another exciting event in the bee yard.
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What I came back here for was to do
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a quick review, an autopsy
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of a swarm that died
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looked
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like about, I don't know, two or three weeks ago.
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Like I said, I was traveling.
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Went down to Tennessee and Alabama
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and I was gone for a while and I didn't come back here every day.
00:04:33.940 --> 00:04:38.740
And I was surprised to see that this swarm that I picked up, I don't remember the exact swarm
00:04:38.840 --> 00:04:39.640
story behind it.
00:04:39.800 --> 00:04:44.520
Every time I picked up a swarm I told you about it, but I've got two back here.
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I don't know which are which.
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This
00:04:47.240 --> 00:04:48.200
dead.
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So
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let's have a look at it.
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It's
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got a
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a plastic cover.
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It's glued down.
00:04:58.700 --> 00:04:59.340
Got that
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off.
00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:02.479
It's got an inner cover
00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:05.520
that's glued down to.
00:05:05.680 --> 00:05:07.840
Must sound like I've got one long
00:05:10.759 --> 00:05:13.320
So I'm breaking the inner cover loose.
00:05:13.320 --> 00:05:15.000
It was tied down with some
00:05:15.960 --> 00:05:16.919
burr comb
00:05:17.980 --> 00:05:21.180
Oh, they've really propolized this up
00:05:22.140 --> 00:05:23.100
nicely
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with all this burr
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cone.
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It's just a swarm.
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It was a small swarm and I had it in a single
00:05:31.120 --> 00:05:36.880
deep, but they did a really good job of propalizing everything.
00:05:37.240 --> 00:05:37.400
So
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this is going to be a pistol to get a frame out.
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This is where I do
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should do the Jim Tew
00:05:43.320 --> 00:05:43.560
thing.
00:05:43.560 --> 00:05:45.160
I don't have my little hammer with me
00:05:45.320 --> 00:05:45.960
though
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and
00:05:46.960 --> 00:05:52.240
open it from the bottom up and drive a the first frame out from the bottom but let me see
00:05:52.720 --> 00:05:54.160
if I can pry
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that
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out
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It's
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slowly
00:06:01.340 --> 00:06:05.020
snapping out.
00:06:05.020 --> 00:06:06.220
No, come on
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out.
00:06:07.580 --> 00:06:10.460
And everybody says these are removable frames
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and these cut
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and these modern beehives
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we call it
00:06:15.520 --> 00:06:18.400
But unless you and I go in all the time
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and keep the propolis
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scraped down, this is
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not really a movable
00:06:24.400 --> 00:06:25.520
framed hive
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I got a frame out.
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Nothing's on it.
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I don't have any protective gear on and I'm right next door
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to a fairly powerful colony.
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I'll probably get lit up.
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Yeah, here it is.
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Well I'm officially
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keeping both the greater and lesser wax moths
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So
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the wax
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mobs have made their move on it, taking out pollen.
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And listeners, very clearly, they went queenless.
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And
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Died
00:07:03.440 --> 00:07:07.360
from having either a laying worker.
00:07:07.360 --> 00:07:09.120
It it looks like a laying worker.
00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:09.360
It doesn't
00:07:09.520 --> 00:07:10.240
I don't see queen
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cells.
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I
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got the nice autumn sun
00:07:14.479 --> 00:07:17.360
coming over my shoulder.
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And I'm looking on what would be the lower edge
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of
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the
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cones
00:07:25.660 --> 00:07:27.980
Just to be sure I don't see
00:07:28.940 --> 00:07:29.180
any
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flat scales
00:07:30.780 --> 00:07:33.580
from American foulbrood.
00:07:33.580 --> 00:07:37.580
And happily, I don't see that.
00:07:38.060 --> 00:07:39.980
At one time it was a good colony.
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It's really doing a great job with these wax moths.
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I'm gonna shake them out.
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I've got yellow jackets coming in to explore all
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this.
00:07:49.620 --> 00:07:50.259
You know, I
00:07:50.419 --> 00:07:55.620
told you before this is a real ecosystem back here in the bee yard.
00:07:55.620 --> 00:08:01.060
Here's yet another frame, and now I've got a few bees on it researching it.
00:08:01.060 --> 00:08:03.060
Nothing is here.
00:08:03.840 --> 00:08:05.680
Same drill.
00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:06.480
All it is
00:08:06.640 --> 00:08:06.880
is
00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:08.960
very, very scattered
00:08:09.280 --> 00:08:10.160
uncapped
00:08:10.400 --> 00:08:11.040
drones
00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:14.400
No queen
00:08:14.720 --> 00:08:16.000
cells.
00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:18.160
So I'm guessing it was either a
00:08:18.639 --> 00:08:19.919
drone layer or
00:08:21.520 --> 00:08:23.440
I'm gonna go with the drone layer.
00:08:23.440 --> 00:08:25.039
I'm I'm just guessing
00:08:25.440 --> 00:08:26.720
as I do this
00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:28.879
basic
00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:30.080
inspection
00:08:31.340 --> 00:08:35.820
Because the drones are all the correct size, they're not undersized.
00:08:35.820 --> 00:08:36.140
So
00:08:36.300 --> 00:08:42.140
as is so often the case, I'm going to blame the Queen.
00:08:42.140 --> 00:08:45.660
The queen lost her goodness.
00:08:45.540 --> 00:08:48.900
Couldn't perform the job.
00:08:48.900 --> 00:08:52.180
And for whatever reasons, the bees didn't replace her
00:08:53.840 --> 00:08:56.000
They're dead.
00:08:56.000 --> 00:08:56.240
So
00:08:56.400 --> 00:09:02.240
I was looking to see if I'd had some kind of varroa collapse to see if my treatment plan wasn't working.
00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:05.360
There doesn't seem to be a varroa collapse
00:09:05.820 --> 00:09:10.220
It doesn't appear to be American foulbrood.
00:09:10.220 --> 00:09:13.340
It appears that I just had a defective queen
00:09:13.900 --> 00:09:15.900
that got away from me.
00:09:16.020 --> 00:09:19.060
What would I have done if I had known?
00:09:19.060 --> 00:09:24.020
I've talked about this, I've given talks about it, I've got a talk coming up on the subject.
00:09:24.020 --> 00:09:27.060
Let's take a break and hear from our sponsor.
00:09:27.200 --> 00:09:32.640
And I'll quickly go into what I should have done had I been on the job better.
00:09:32.640 --> 00:09:41.360
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00:10:24.360 --> 00:10:27.960
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healthier colonies.
00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:44.240
Well I guess I'll date this segment by telling you that it's
00:10:44.400 --> 00:10:47.680
it's about the first week in October now.
00:10:47.680 --> 00:10:47.920
So
00:10:48.160 --> 00:10:49.600
three weeks ago
00:10:49.920 --> 00:10:52.400
would have been mid-September.
00:10:52.860 --> 00:10:56.060
And I have frequently said that sometimes
00:10:56.860 --> 00:10:58.620
it's not worth it.
00:10:58.620 --> 00:11:04.380
So even if I'd caught this queen three weeks ago, the colony was already in decline.
00:11:04.160 --> 00:11:07.760
It's already late summer, early fall.
00:11:07.760 --> 00:11:09.520
Queens, if you can get them,
00:11:09.680 --> 00:11:11.040
have probably been banked.
00:11:11.040 --> 00:11:12.000
Who knows how long.
00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:13.200
I don't know what that means.
00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:14.160
Is it good or bad?
00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:14.560
Does it
00:11:14.800 --> 00:11:15.440
matter
00:11:15.900 --> 00:11:19.580
That the queen was probably produced last spring and then held in
00:11:20.060 --> 00:11:25.900
in reservoir colonies or nursery colonies until there was a demand to sell them.
00:11:26.120 --> 00:11:26.360
It
00:11:26.519 --> 00:11:27.959
would have been kind of pricey.
00:11:28.040 --> 00:11:29.800
The colony would have gotten the queen
00:11:30.120 --> 00:11:31.720
late.
00:11:31.720 --> 00:11:33.160
It would have been expensive.
00:11:33.160 --> 00:11:35.880
I have to drive to go get the queen about 40 miles
00:11:36.040 --> 00:11:37.320
one way.
00:11:37.420 --> 00:11:38.380
I don't know what
00:11:38.540 --> 00:11:39.660
$35-40
00:11:39.899 --> 00:11:40.779
for the queen.
00:11:40.779 --> 00:11:47.259
Come back, go through the introduction process, take about a week, and then all that just in time
00:11:47.899 --> 00:11:49.100
for what bit of golden
00:11:49.339 --> 00:11:50.779
rod they're going to get
00:11:51.279 --> 00:11:53.839
and wild asters.
00:11:53.839 --> 00:11:56.000
Question.
00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:59.440
Would I even have requeened it if I'd found it?
00:11:59.440 --> 00:12:01.920
That sounds heartless, doesn't it?
00:12:02.340 --> 00:12:02.660
But
00:12:03.380 --> 00:12:04.980
you consider the energy
00:12:05.620 --> 00:12:07.620
and the money.
00:12:07.620 --> 00:12:09.540
I can't say it any better than Kim.
00:12:09.540 --> 00:12:12.020
He said it in almost every segment when we had Kim.
00:12:12.020 --> 00:12:13.620
What's your time worth?
00:12:13.620 --> 00:12:16.580
What's your time worth?
00:12:15.880 --> 00:12:19.400
You remember I went over to my friend's house who had that tiny little swarm
00:12:19.560 --> 00:12:25.720
barely bigger than a softball that she wanted to save and I told her it's going to die and it died.
00:12:25.720 --> 00:12:28.680
So I think I need to listen to my own lecture here
00:12:29.840 --> 00:12:35.360
Even if I'd found this colony, I
00:12:35.680 --> 00:12:36.320
probably
00:12:36.640 --> 00:12:38.720
would have just combined it.
00:12:39.140 --> 00:12:39.460
But
00:12:39.780 --> 00:12:46.020
others have said, far more intelligent in beekeeping than I, you're not doing another colony any favors.
00:12:46.020 --> 00:12:51.700
Putting on a weak run-down colony with a lot of drones, you're just giving it more comb.
00:12:51.640 --> 00:12:55.240
and more drones and more comb to take care of.
00:12:55.240 --> 00:12:55.400
So
00:12:55.560 --> 00:12:56.200
it's really
00:12:56.520 --> 00:12:58.120
not really sure what
00:12:58.440 --> 00:12:59.720
to do.
00:13:00.180 --> 00:13:00.340
with
00:13:00.500 --> 00:13:02.820
weak colonies, small colonies
00:13:03.060 --> 00:13:04.340
in the fall.
00:13:04.340 --> 00:13:08.260
And it sounds like you're you you know you're just letting them die heartlessly.
00:13:08.260 --> 00:13:10.820
No, it's it's not heartlessly at all.
00:13:10.820 --> 00:13:13.060
I'm just not sure what else to do
00:13:13.680 --> 00:13:17.200
All you beekeepers in warm climates, you'd have a better shot at it.
00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:18.080
You could feed maybe
00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:21.120
throughout the winter more than I could do.
00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:24.080
Anytime I open the colony to feed it during the winter, I
00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:24.960
disturb it, it
00:13:25.520 --> 00:13:26.960
lets out the heat
00:13:27.420 --> 00:13:28.699
I'm just complaining
00:13:28.860 --> 00:13:29.660
now.
00:13:29.660 --> 00:13:33.100
I guess I'm trying to justify why this colony is dead
00:13:33.339 --> 00:13:35.500
and I didn't know about it.
00:13:35.860 --> 00:13:39.779
And I think it was because I was absent from duty.
00:13:39.779 --> 00:13:40.420
I was
00:13:41.300 --> 00:13:45.300
I was not on the wall, so that colony is gone.
00:13:45.300 --> 00:13:47.860
It probably would have been gone anyway.
00:13:48.380 --> 00:13:50.940
This colony had a sister swarm
00:13:51.660 --> 00:13:55.900
that I just put into a six-frame nuc.
00:13:55.900 --> 00:13:56.780
And you know it's
00:13:56.940 --> 00:13:58.060
over here in the in the weeds
00:13:58.220 --> 00:14:02.860
now and I'd actually forgotten it was over here and it's showing good flight.
00:14:03.480 --> 00:14:03.800
And
00:14:04.120 --> 00:14:06.840
they're throwing out drones.
00:14:06.840 --> 00:14:07.080
I'm
00:14:07.240 --> 00:14:08.440
gonna check other colonies
00:14:08.600 --> 00:14:09.560
to see if if
00:14:10.600 --> 00:14:13.640
they're throwing out drones too.
00:14:13.640 --> 00:14:14.040
It's just
00:14:14.200 --> 00:14:15.160
a couple.
00:14:16.500 --> 00:14:20.420
But there's good flight out of that box.
00:14:20.420 --> 00:14:21.860
Maybe I'll get Anne Frey
00:14:22.100 --> 00:14:25.140
on and I'll talk to her and get her opinion on what to do
00:14:25.700 --> 00:14:27.860
with a small colony this time of the year.
00:14:27.860 --> 00:14:29.700
Can I insulate it?
00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:30.560
Can
00:14:30.880 --> 00:14:31.120
I
00:14:32.319 --> 00:14:32.959
put on
00:14:33.199 --> 00:14:34.160
sugar patties
00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:36.880
to feed it?
00:14:37.120 --> 00:14:39.519
So I will tinker with this one.
00:14:39.519 --> 00:14:40.959
This one has potential.
00:14:40.959 --> 00:14:41.839
The other one
00:14:42.740 --> 00:14:44.500
Absolutely.
00:14:44.500 --> 00:14:44.819
Did
00:14:44.980 --> 00:14:45.300
not.
00:14:45.300 --> 00:14:49.300
The other colonies are showing reasonable flight.
00:14:49.300 --> 00:14:52.420
You know, this time of the year they're downsizing.
00:14:53.680 --> 00:14:57.839
They're not really adding a lot of population.
00:14:57.839 --> 00:14:58.160
And
00:14:59.680 --> 00:15:01.120
I don't see any
00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:01.760
other
00:15:03.500 --> 00:15:03.980
drones
00:15:04.220 --> 00:15:06.300
being tossed out.
00:15:06.380 --> 00:15:07.660
Let me walk over here
00:15:07.900 --> 00:15:12.060
around the other colonies.
00:15:12.060 --> 00:15:12.460
I'm not
00:15:12.620 --> 00:15:14.140
going to open these.
00:15:16.920 --> 00:15:18.120
And I guess I'm at a
00:15:18.280 --> 00:15:20.120
like I said a reflective stage in life
00:15:20.280 --> 00:15:24.680
where I only open a colony if there's a good clear reason for it.
00:15:24.680 --> 00:15:27.080
And just looking at the fall flow here
00:15:28.340 --> 00:15:29.460
That's just waning
00:15:29.620 --> 00:15:31.540
with these asters.
00:15:31.540 --> 00:15:35.140
They last considerably longer than goldenrod.
00:15:35.140 --> 00:15:37.780
Have I noticed that before and just haven't thought about it?
00:15:37.780 --> 00:15:38.660
But goldenrod
00:15:38.980 --> 00:15:39.860
is 98
00:15:40.100 --> 00:15:40.260
%
00:15:40.580 --> 00:15:41.220
gone
00:15:41.820 --> 00:15:45.500
And those asters are still here, and the bees are on them
00:15:45.980 --> 00:15:48.220
along with the other insects.
00:15:49.900 --> 00:15:50.220
And
00:15:50.380 --> 00:15:50.700
it
00:15:51.340 --> 00:15:54.060
looks like that's about the last thing they'd got
00:15:54.220 --> 00:15:55.660
other than some sedum
00:15:56.780 --> 00:16:01.660
that's blooming around the community, some of it in my garden back at the house
00:16:02.640 --> 00:16:05.200
Everything else is over.
00:16:05.200 --> 00:16:08.560
All these colonies have decent flight.
00:16:08.560 --> 00:16:11.600
I'm not going to try to winterize them yet.
00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:12.320
I think I'm going to
00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:14.800
dread that just a while longer.
00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:16.160
There's these
00:16:16.399 --> 00:16:16.880
all over
00:16:17.040 --> 00:16:17.200
the
00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:17.920
aster.
00:16:17.920 --> 00:16:19.600
There's a gentle breeze blowing.
00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:21.600
Why do I keep talking about the weather?
00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:22.080
Because
00:16:22.600 --> 00:16:28.040
I guess the weather in the nice bee yard on a nice day is just part of the atmosphere.
00:16:28.040 --> 00:16:33.560
It's part of the reason for bees.
00:16:33.560 --> 00:16:35.959
Well, that seems to be going okay
00:16:37.040 --> 00:16:38.960
Walking by a drowned
00:16:39.280 --> 00:16:40.880
smoker.
00:16:40.880 --> 00:16:43.280
All in all, the
00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:46.400
other day, late season in the bee yard, the 2026
00:16:46.640 --> 00:16:47.520
season.
00:16:47.520 --> 00:16:49.120
is breathing its last
00:16:49.440 --> 00:16:50.800
gasp, nectarin
00:16:50.960 --> 00:16:55.760
pollen season, before the big dearth starts up
00:16:56.840 --> 00:16:58.840
Everything else seems all right.
00:16:58.840 --> 00:17:02.200
Quick walk to two other colonies.
00:17:02.200 --> 00:17:04.360
No drones there either
00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:06.160
Pollen
00:17:06.320 --> 00:17:10.240
coming in from who knows where, bright orange.
00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:13.440
No signs of damage or harassment
00:17:13.600 --> 00:17:15.520
in the front of them.
00:17:15.520 --> 00:17:16.800
There it is.
00:17:17.019 --> 00:17:17.179
So
00:17:17.339 --> 00:17:20.059
I had a flood in a can in the bee yard.
00:17:20.059 --> 00:17:24.139
I had a colony that apparently died of a defective queen.
00:17:24.139 --> 00:17:25.100
Rest of the colony
00:17:25.260 --> 00:17:26.779
seemed to be okay.
00:17:26.779 --> 00:17:28.220
The six-frame nuc
00:17:28.860 --> 00:17:31.659
off to one side.
00:17:31.440 --> 00:17:31.760
is
00:17:32.080 --> 00:17:33.040
interesting
00:17:33.360 --> 00:17:34.960
and might deserve
00:17:35.280 --> 00:17:38.560
a little bit more TLC than I was going to give the other colonies
00:17:38.720 --> 00:17:40.720
that are pretty much on their own
00:17:41.019 --> 00:17:45.740
I feel like I'm a little bit early, but that's all there is, and I'd be wasting your time to keep going.
00:17:45.740 --> 00:17:48.059
So I'm gonna tell you bye at this point, but know this.
00:17:48.059 --> 00:17:50.620
I always enjoy talking to you.
00:17:50.620 --> 00:17:50.940
And
00:17:51.260 --> 00:17:52.299
Kevin S.
00:17:52.380 --> 00:17:52.460
from
00:17:52.620 --> 00:17:53.419
Alabama
00:17:53.980 --> 00:17:54.139
will
00:17:54.299 --> 00:17:55.580
reach out to you in a rare way.
00:17:56.019 --> 00:17:57.380
opportunity of me using part
00:17:57.539 --> 00:17:59.059
of your name.
00:17:59.059 --> 00:18:05.779
He told me over and over again how much he enjoyed the podcast and he made me feel good about it.
00:18:05.779 --> 00:18:07.860
Thank you for that, Kevin.
00:18:07.860 --> 00:18:08.659
And with that,
00:18:08.820 --> 00:18:10.659
beekeepers, I'll talk to you next week.
00:00:01.600 --> 00:00:07.680
Well beekeepers, it is an absolutely spectacular day.
00:00:07.680 --> 00:00:10.480
The colors are just starting to turn
00:00:11.360 --> 00:00:18.000
And I just said in a beekeeping article that I'm writing, I'm in a reflective stage of beekeeping.
00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:19.279
What does that mean?
00:00:19.279 --> 00:00:21.520
That means I just like being back here
00:00:22.279 --> 00:00:26.759
I don't have to really do anything other than just be here and enjoy
00:00:27.000 --> 00:00:30.199
the beauty of everything.
00:00:30.199 --> 00:00:31.640
But, alas
00:00:32.040 --> 00:00:32.279
,
00:00:33.480 --> 00:00:36.760
I've got a mistake that's happened that's not very pretty at all.
00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:40.480
I'll tell you about it just as soon as we get started in
00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:42.079
this segment.
00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:42.239
This
00:00:42.399 --> 00:00:43.440
is I'm Jim Tew
00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:44.879
and I come to you here
00:00:45.199 --> 00:00:46.640
about once a week
00:00:46.879 --> 00:00:48.960
where I try to talk about something to do with
00:00:49.120 --> 00:00:49.440
plain
00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:49.840
talk
00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:51.040
tea.
00:00:51.040 --> 00:00:51.760
Welcome!
00:00:51.960 --> 00:00:59.000
To Honey Bee Obscura, brought to you by Growing Planet Media, the producers of the Beekeeping Today
00:00:59.239 --> 00:01:00.840
podcast.
00:01:00.840 --> 00:01:01.800
Join Jim
00:01:01.960 --> 00:01:06.520
2, your guide through the complexities, the beauty, the fun, and
00:01:06.880 --> 00:01:09.760
And the challenges of managing honey bees.
00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:16.640
Jim hosts fun and interesting guests who take a deep dive into the intricate world of honey bees.
00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:18.400
Whether you're a seasoned beekeeper
00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:21.200
or just getting started, get ready for some plain
00:01:21.360 --> 00:01:21.680
talk.
00:01:21.960 --> 00:01:24.760
that'll delve into all things honey bees.
00:01:24.840 --> 00:01:26.120
I don't know when it happened.
00:01:26.120 --> 00:01:28.920
I haven't been back here in five or six days.
00:01:28.920 --> 00:01:30.760
I took a trip.
00:01:30.760 --> 00:01:34.440
I was gone for about the better part of a week.
00:01:34.940 --> 00:01:39.420
I don't know when it happened, but I've got a foolproof system that I really like.
00:01:39.420 --> 00:01:44.140
Years ago, at a surplus equipment sale
00:01:44.300 --> 00:01:44.620
,
00:01:45.140 --> 00:01:45.780
I got
00:01:46.020 --> 00:01:47.380
I bought three or four
00:01:47.620 --> 00:01:48.820
really heavy duty
00:01:49.060 --> 00:01:49.780
heavy duty
00:01:49.940 --> 00:01:50.740
old fashioned
00:01:50.900 --> 00:01:52.100
can't find them anymore
00:01:53.180 --> 00:01:55.659
Galvanized cans.
00:01:55.659 --> 00:01:56.539
They're about ten
00:01:56.780 --> 00:02:00.700
gallons, and they have lids that go with them.
00:02:00.700 --> 00:02:02.860
So I used one of those
00:02:03.740 --> 00:02:04.060
to
00:02:04.299 --> 00:02:07.820
hold my smoker fuel and my lighter
00:02:08.459 --> 00:02:08.780
and
00:02:09.100 --> 00:02:09.420
some
00:02:09.660 --> 00:02:10.539
paper for
00:02:10.860 --> 00:02:12.380
starting the smoker
00:02:12.820 --> 00:02:19.940
And then the other one I would put my lit smoker in that I had stuffed the entrance to.
00:02:19.940 --> 00:02:21.780
And I would let it die out
00:02:21.940 --> 00:02:27.460
in that other can so I didn't have a fire hazard back in my yard.
00:02:26.980 --> 00:02:37.380
And then when I would come back in this beautiful plan, I would use one of the heavy lids and I would dump out the previous smoker fuel
00:02:37.940 --> 00:02:41.460
that had partially burned down.
00:02:40.820 --> 00:02:42.900
And using that charcoal
00:02:43.780 --> 00:02:52.500
and that fresh piece of paper, I would restart the smoker and it would start right up, and then I would add fresh shavings to it.
00:02:52.500 --> 00:02:54.420
I use wood shavings.
00:02:54.780 --> 00:02:59.740
And pack it and pack it and add more, puff it, puff it, pack it, and then I could get a smoker
00:02:59.980 --> 00:03:00.300
going
00:03:00.460 --> 00:03:02.620
fairly quickly.
00:03:03.340 --> 00:03:03.660
And
00:03:04.300 --> 00:03:08.620
it's worked beautifully for 10 or 12 years.
00:03:08.620 --> 00:03:13.099
But somewhere along the way a strong wind came through and blew the lid
00:03:13.420 --> 00:03:14.060
off.
00:03:14.480 --> 00:03:20.480
And we've had, of course, like everybody else, really good rain showers every now and then.
00:03:20.480 --> 00:03:20.720
So
00:03:20.880 --> 00:03:24.480
my smoker was halfway submerged, my two hive tools are wet.
00:03:24.480 --> 00:03:25.040
I don't know if
00:03:25.520 --> 00:03:28.800
the striker or the lighter will ever work again.
00:03:29.140 --> 00:03:30.580
So I just got a mess
00:03:30.820 --> 00:03:32.100
because somehow
00:03:32.740 --> 00:03:33.620
that tight
00:03:33.780 --> 00:03:34.820
fitting lid
00:03:36.020 --> 00:03:36.980
blew off
00:03:37.440 --> 00:03:38.400
That's a screw
00:03:38.640 --> 00:03:39.200
up.
00:03:39.200 --> 00:03:40.800
So I've got my smoker drying.
00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:43.040
I've got the hive tools drying.
00:03:43.040 --> 00:03:44.800
I got the can upturned
00:03:44.959 --> 00:03:46.239
draining.
00:03:46.239 --> 00:03:49.680
And I hope that in the next couple of warm days
00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:51.120
That
00:03:51.760 --> 00:03:55.040
everything will dry out and I can restart my system.
00:03:55.040 --> 00:03:57.760
I don't know if my smoker's ruined or not.
00:03:57.760 --> 00:04:00.960
The bellows was about half underwater.
00:04:00.860 --> 00:04:01.900
It's not good
00:04:02.140 --> 00:04:05.900
unless this is a way to wash your smoker.
00:04:05.900 --> 00:04:08.140
Alright, I wasn't expecting that.
00:04:08.140 --> 00:04:12.860
It's just another exciting event in the bee yard.
00:04:13.180 --> 00:04:15.980
What I came back here for was to do
00:04:16.139 --> 00:04:19.660
a quick review, an autopsy
00:04:20.780 --> 00:04:22.540
of a swarm that died
00:04:22.700 --> 00:04:22.940
looked
00:04:23.100 --> 00:04:25.100
like about, I don't know, two or three weeks ago.
00:04:25.100 --> 00:04:27.660
Like I said, I was traveling.
00:04:27.220 --> 00:04:29.699
Went down to Tennessee and Alabama
00:04:30.100 --> 00:04:33.940
and I was gone for a while and I didn't come back here every day.
00:04:33.940 --> 00:04:38.740
And I was surprised to see that this swarm that I picked up, I don't remember the exact swarm
00:04:38.840 --> 00:04:39.640
story behind it.
00:04:39.800 --> 00:04:44.520
Every time I picked up a swarm I told you about it, but I've got two back here.
00:04:44.520 --> 00:04:46.840
I don't know which are which.
00:04:46.840 --> 00:04:47.080
This
00:04:47.240 --> 00:04:48.200
dead.
00:04:48.200 --> 00:04:48.520
So
00:04:48.920 --> 00:04:50.200
let's have a look at it.
00:04:50.200 --> 00:04:50.360
It's
00:04:50.520 --> 00:04:51.000
got a
00:04:52.620 --> 00:04:55.580
a plastic cover.
00:04:55.580 --> 00:04:58.700
It's glued down.
00:04:58.700 --> 00:04:59.340
Got that
00:04:59.660 --> 00:05:00.620
off.
00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:02.479
It's got an inner cover
00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:05.520
that's glued down to.
00:05:05.680 --> 00:05:07.840
Must sound like I've got one long
00:05:10.759 --> 00:05:13.320
So I'm breaking the inner cover loose.
00:05:13.320 --> 00:05:15.000
It was tied down with some
00:05:15.960 --> 00:05:16.919
burr comb
00:05:17.980 --> 00:05:21.180
Oh, they've really propolized this up
00:05:22.140 --> 00:05:23.100
nicely
00:05:23.900 --> 00:05:25.020
with all this burr
00:05:25.180 --> 00:05:26.220
cone.
00:05:26.480 --> 00:05:27.760
It's just a swarm.
00:05:27.760 --> 00:05:30.880
It was a small swarm and I had it in a single
00:05:31.120 --> 00:05:36.880
deep, but they did a really good job of propalizing everything.
00:05:37.240 --> 00:05:37.400
So
00:05:37.720 --> 00:05:41.000
this is going to be a pistol to get a frame out.
00:05:41.000 --> 00:05:41.880
This is where I do
00:05:42.040 --> 00:05:43.160
should do the Jim Tew
00:05:43.320 --> 00:05:43.560
thing.
00:05:43.560 --> 00:05:45.160
I don't have my little hammer with me
00:05:45.320 --> 00:05:45.960
though
00:05:46.480 --> 00:05:46.720
and
00:05:46.960 --> 00:05:52.240
open it from the bottom up and drive a the first frame out from the bottom but let me see
00:05:52.720 --> 00:05:54.160
if I can pry
00:05:55.120 --> 00:05:55.440
that
00:05:55.760 --> 00:05:56.080
out
00:05:58.060 --> 00:05:58.700
It's
00:05:59.020 --> 00:05:59.980
slowly
00:06:01.340 --> 00:06:05.020
snapping out.
00:06:05.020 --> 00:06:06.220
No, come on
00:06:06.460 --> 00:06:07.340
out.
00:06:07.580 --> 00:06:10.460
And everybody says these are removable frames
00:06:10.860 --> 00:06:11.580
and these cut
00:06:11.740 --> 00:06:13.260
and these modern beehives
00:06:13.420 --> 00:06:14.300
we call it
00:06:15.520 --> 00:06:18.400
But unless you and I go in all the time
00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:20.400
and keep the propolis
00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:23.040
scraped down, this is
00:06:23.200 --> 00:06:24.240
not really a movable
00:06:24.400 --> 00:06:25.520
framed hive
00:06:26.220 --> 00:06:27.900
I got a frame out.
00:06:27.900 --> 00:06:28.780
Nothing's on it.
00:06:28.780 --> 00:06:31.979
I don't have any protective gear on and I'm right next door
00:06:32.300 --> 00:06:35.340
to a fairly powerful colony.
00:06:35.340 --> 00:06:37.900
I'll probably get lit up.
00:06:40.800 --> 00:06:43.200
Yeah, here it is.
00:06:43.200 --> 00:06:44.800
Well I'm officially
00:06:45.440 --> 00:06:49.200
keeping both the greater and lesser wax moths
00:06:50.660 --> 00:06:50.980
So
00:06:51.140 --> 00:06:51.700
the wax
00:06:51.860 --> 00:06:57.220
mobs have made their move on it, taking out pollen.
00:06:57.220 --> 00:07:01.300
And listeners, very clearly, they went queenless.
00:07:01.300 --> 00:07:01.620
And
00:07:02.960 --> 00:07:03.280
Died
00:07:03.440 --> 00:07:07.360
from having either a laying worker.
00:07:07.360 --> 00:07:09.120
It it looks like a laying worker.
00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:09.360
It doesn't
00:07:09.520 --> 00:07:10.240
I don't see queen
00:07:10.400 --> 00:07:11.600
cells.
00:07:12.080 --> 00:07:12.160
I
00:07:12.400 --> 00:07:14.240
got the nice autumn sun
00:07:14.479 --> 00:07:17.360
coming over my shoulder.
00:07:17.240 --> 00:07:20.760
And I'm looking on what would be the lower edge
00:07:22.040 --> 00:07:22.360
of
00:07:22.680 --> 00:07:23.000
the
00:07:23.640 --> 00:07:24.280
cones
00:07:25.660 --> 00:07:27.980
Just to be sure I don't see
00:07:28.940 --> 00:07:29.180
any
00:07:29.500 --> 00:07:30.460
flat scales
00:07:30.780 --> 00:07:33.580
from American foulbrood.
00:07:33.580 --> 00:07:37.580
And happily, I don't see that.
00:07:38.060 --> 00:07:39.980
At one time it was a good colony.
00:07:39.980 --> 00:07:42.380
It's really doing a great job with these wax moths.
00:07:42.380 --> 00:07:45.020
I'm gonna shake them out.
00:07:45.020 --> 00:07:48.460
I've got yellow jackets coming in to explore all
00:07:48.780 --> 00:07:49.420
this.
00:07:49.620 --> 00:07:50.259
You know, I
00:07:50.419 --> 00:07:55.620
told you before this is a real ecosystem back here in the bee yard.
00:07:55.620 --> 00:08:01.060
Here's yet another frame, and now I've got a few bees on it researching it.
00:08:01.060 --> 00:08:03.060
Nothing is here.
00:08:03.840 --> 00:08:05.680
Same drill.
00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:06.480
All it is
00:08:06.640 --> 00:08:06.880
is
00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:08.960
very, very scattered
00:08:09.280 --> 00:08:10.160
uncapped
00:08:10.400 --> 00:08:11.040
drones
00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:14.400
No queen
00:08:14.720 --> 00:08:16.000
cells.
00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:18.160
So I'm guessing it was either a
00:08:18.639 --> 00:08:19.919
drone layer or
00:08:21.520 --> 00:08:23.440
I'm gonna go with the drone layer.
00:08:23.440 --> 00:08:25.039
I'm I'm just guessing
00:08:25.440 --> 00:08:26.720
as I do this
00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:28.879
basic
00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:30.080
inspection
00:08:31.340 --> 00:08:35.820
Because the drones are all the correct size, they're not undersized.
00:08:35.820 --> 00:08:36.140
So
00:08:36.300 --> 00:08:42.140
as is so often the case, I'm going to blame the Queen.
00:08:42.140 --> 00:08:45.660
The queen lost her goodness.
00:08:45.540 --> 00:08:48.900
Couldn't perform the job.
00:08:48.900 --> 00:08:52.180
And for whatever reasons, the bees didn't replace her
00:08:53.840 --> 00:08:56.000
They're dead.
00:08:56.000 --> 00:08:56.240
So
00:08:56.400 --> 00:09:02.240
I was looking to see if I'd had some kind of varroa collapse to see if my treatment plan wasn't working.
00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:05.360
There doesn't seem to be a varroa collapse
00:09:05.820 --> 00:09:10.220
It doesn't appear to be American foulbrood.
00:09:10.220 --> 00:09:13.340
It appears that I just had a defective queen
00:09:13.900 --> 00:09:15.900
that got away from me.
00:09:16.020 --> 00:09:19.060
What would I have done if I had known?
00:09:19.060 --> 00:09:24.020
I've talked about this, I've given talks about it, I've got a talk coming up on the subject.
00:09:24.020 --> 00:09:27.060
Let's take a break and hear from our sponsor.
00:09:27.200 --> 00:09:32.640
And I'll quickly go into what I should have done had I been on the job better.
00:09:32.640 --> 00:09:41.360
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Beekeeping
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Well I guess I'll date this segment by telling you that it's
00:10:44.400 --> 00:10:47.680
it's about the first week in October now.
00:10:47.680 --> 00:10:47.920
So
00:10:48.160 --> 00:10:49.600
three weeks ago
00:10:49.920 --> 00:10:52.400
would have been mid-September.
00:10:52.860 --> 00:10:56.060
And I have frequently said that sometimes
00:10:56.860 --> 00:10:58.620
it's not worth it.
00:10:58.620 --> 00:11:04.380
So even if I'd caught this queen three weeks ago, the colony was already in decline.
00:11:04.160 --> 00:11:07.760
It's already late summer, early fall.
00:11:07.760 --> 00:11:09.520
Queens, if you can get them,
00:11:09.680 --> 00:11:11.040
have probably been banked.
00:11:11.040 --> 00:11:12.000
Who knows how long.
00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:13.200
I don't know what that means.
00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:14.160
Is it good or bad?
00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:14.560
Does it
00:11:14.800 --> 00:11:15.440
matter
00:11:15.900 --> 00:11:19.580
That the queen was probably produced last spring and then held in
00:11:20.060 --> 00:11:25.900
in reservoir colonies or nursery colonies until there was a demand to sell them.
00:11:26.120 --> 00:11:26.360
It
00:11:26.519 --> 00:11:27.959
would have been kind of pricey.
00:11:28.040 --> 00:11:29.800
The colony would have gotten the queen
00:11:30.120 --> 00:11:31.720
late.
00:11:31.720 --> 00:11:33.160
It would have been expensive.
00:11:33.160 --> 00:11:35.880
I have to drive to go get the queen about 40 miles
00:11:36.040 --> 00:11:37.320
one way.
00:11:37.420 --> 00:11:38.380
I don't know what
00:11:38.540 --> 00:11:39.660
$35-40
00:11:39.899 --> 00:11:40.779
for the queen.
00:11:40.779 --> 00:11:47.259
Come back, go through the introduction process, take about a week, and then all that just in time
00:11:47.899 --> 00:11:49.100
for what bit of golden
00:11:49.339 --> 00:11:50.779
rod they're going to get
00:11:51.279 --> 00:11:53.839
and wild asters.
00:11:53.839 --> 00:11:56.000
Question.
00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:59.440
Would I even have requeened it if I'd found it?
00:11:59.440 --> 00:12:01.920
That sounds heartless, doesn't it?
00:12:02.340 --> 00:12:02.660
But
00:12:03.380 --> 00:12:04.980
you consider the energy
00:12:05.620 --> 00:12:07.620
and the money.
00:12:07.620 --> 00:12:09.540
I can't say it any better than Kim.
00:12:09.540 --> 00:12:12.020
He said it in almost every segment when we had Kim.
00:12:12.020 --> 00:12:13.620
What's your time worth?
00:12:13.620 --> 00:12:16.580
What's your time worth?
00:12:15.880 --> 00:12:19.400
You remember I went over to my friend's house who had that tiny little swarm
00:12:19.560 --> 00:12:25.720
barely bigger than a softball that she wanted to save and I told her it's going to die and it died.
00:12:25.720 --> 00:12:28.680
So I think I need to listen to my own lecture here
00:12:29.840 --> 00:12:35.360
Even if I'd found this colony, I
00:12:35.680 --> 00:12:36.320
probably
00:12:36.640 --> 00:12:38.720
would have just combined it.
00:12:39.140 --> 00:12:39.460
But
00:12:39.780 --> 00:12:46.020
others have said, far more intelligent in beekeeping than I, you're not doing another colony any favors.
00:12:46.020 --> 00:12:51.700
Putting on a weak run-down colony with a lot of drones, you're just giving it more comb.
00:12:51.640 --> 00:12:55.240
and more drones and more comb to take care of.
00:12:55.240 --> 00:12:55.400
So
00:12:55.560 --> 00:12:56.200
it's really
00:12:56.520 --> 00:12:58.120
not really sure what
00:12:58.440 --> 00:12:59.720
to do.
00:13:00.180 --> 00:13:00.340
with
00:13:00.500 --> 00:13:02.820
weak colonies, small colonies
00:13:03.060 --> 00:13:04.340
in the fall.
00:13:04.340 --> 00:13:08.260
And it sounds like you're you you know you're just letting them die heartlessly.
00:13:08.260 --> 00:13:10.820
No, it's it's not heartlessly at all.
00:13:10.820 --> 00:13:13.060
I'm just not sure what else to do
00:13:13.680 --> 00:13:17.200
All you beekeepers in warm climates, you'd have a better shot at it.
00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:18.080
You could feed maybe
00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:21.120
throughout the winter more than I could do.
00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:24.080
Anytime I open the colony to feed it during the winter, I
00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:24.960
disturb it, it
00:13:25.520 --> 00:13:26.960
lets out the heat
00:13:27.420 --> 00:13:28.699
I'm just complaining
00:13:28.860 --> 00:13:29.660
now.
00:13:29.660 --> 00:13:33.100
I guess I'm trying to justify why this colony is dead
00:13:33.339 --> 00:13:35.500
and I didn't know about it.
00:13:35.860 --> 00:13:39.779
And I think it was because I was absent from duty.
00:13:39.779 --> 00:13:40.420
I was
00:13:41.300 --> 00:13:45.300
I was not on the wall, so that colony is gone.
00:13:45.300 --> 00:13:47.860
It probably would have been gone anyway.
00:13:48.380 --> 00:13:50.940
This colony had a sister swarm
00:13:51.660 --> 00:13:55.900
that I just put into a six-frame nuc.
00:13:55.900 --> 00:13:56.780
And you know it's
00:13:56.940 --> 00:13:58.060
over here in the in the weeds
00:13:58.220 --> 00:14:02.860
now and I'd actually forgotten it was over here and it's showing good flight.
00:14:03.480 --> 00:14:03.800
And
00:14:04.120 --> 00:14:06.840
they're throwing out drones.
00:14:06.840 --> 00:14:07.080
I'm
00:14:07.240 --> 00:14:08.440
gonna check other colonies
00:14:08.600 --> 00:14:09.560
to see if if
00:14:10.600 --> 00:14:13.640
they're throwing out drones too.
00:14:13.640 --> 00:14:14.040
It's just
00:14:14.200 --> 00:14:15.160
a couple.
00:14:16.500 --> 00:14:20.420
But there's good flight out of that box.
00:14:20.420 --> 00:14:21.860
Maybe I'll get Anne Frey
00:14:22.100 --> 00:14:25.140
on and I'll talk to her and get her opinion on what to do
00:14:25.700 --> 00:14:27.860
with a small colony this time of the year.
00:14:27.860 --> 00:14:29.700
Can I insulate it?
00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:30.560
Can
00:14:30.880 --> 00:14:31.120
I
00:14:32.319 --> 00:14:32.959
put on
00:14:33.199 --> 00:14:34.160
sugar patties
00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:36.880
to feed it?
00:14:37.120 --> 00:14:39.519
So I will tinker with this one.
00:14:39.519 --> 00:14:40.959
This one has potential.
00:14:40.959 --> 00:14:41.839
The other one
00:14:42.740 --> 00:14:44.500
Absolutely.
00:14:44.500 --> 00:14:44.819
Did
00:14:44.980 --> 00:14:45.300
not.
00:14:45.300 --> 00:14:49.300
The other colonies are showing reasonable flight.
00:14:49.300 --> 00:14:52.420
You know, this time of the year they're downsizing.
00:14:53.680 --> 00:14:57.839
They're not really adding a lot of population.
00:14:57.839 --> 00:14:58.160
And
00:14:59.680 --> 00:15:01.120
I don't see any
00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:01.760
other
00:15:03.500 --> 00:15:03.980
drones
00:15:04.220 --> 00:15:06.300
being tossed out.
00:15:06.380 --> 00:15:07.660
Let me walk over here
00:15:07.900 --> 00:15:12.060
around the other colonies.
00:15:12.060 --> 00:15:12.460
I'm not
00:15:12.620 --> 00:15:14.140
going to open these.
00:15:16.920 --> 00:15:18.120
And I guess I'm at a
00:15:18.280 --> 00:15:20.120
like I said a reflective stage in life
00:15:20.280 --> 00:15:24.680
where I only open a colony if there's a good clear reason for it.
00:15:24.680 --> 00:15:27.080
And just looking at the fall flow here
00:15:28.340 --> 00:15:29.460
That's just waning
00:15:29.620 --> 00:15:31.540
with these asters.
00:15:31.540 --> 00:15:35.140
They last considerably longer than goldenrod.
00:15:35.140 --> 00:15:37.780
Have I noticed that before and just haven't thought about it?
00:15:37.780 --> 00:15:38.660
But goldenrod
00:15:38.980 --> 00:15:39.860
is 98
00:15:40.100 --> 00:15:40.260
%
00:15:40.580 --> 00:15:41.220
gone
00:15:41.820 --> 00:15:45.500
And those asters are still here, and the bees are on them
00:15:45.980 --> 00:15:48.220
along with the other insects.
00:15:49.900 --> 00:15:50.220
And
00:15:50.380 --> 00:15:50.700
it
00:15:51.340 --> 00:15:54.060
looks like that's about the last thing they'd got
00:15:54.220 --> 00:15:55.660
other than some sedum
00:15:56.780 --> 00:16:01.660
that's blooming around the community, some of it in my garden back at the house
00:16:02.640 --> 00:16:05.200
Everything else is over.
00:16:05.200 --> 00:16:08.560
All these colonies have decent flight.
00:16:08.560 --> 00:16:11.600
I'm not going to try to winterize them yet.
00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:12.320
I think I'm going to
00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:14.800
dread that just a while longer.
00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:16.160
There's these
00:16:16.399 --> 00:16:16.880
all over
00:16:17.040 --> 00:16:17.200
the
00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:17.920
aster.
00:16:17.920 --> 00:16:19.600
There's a gentle breeze blowing.
00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:21.600
Why do I keep talking about the weather?
00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:22.080
Because
00:16:22.600 --> 00:16:28.040
I guess the weather in the nice bee yard on a nice day is just part of the atmosphere.
00:16:28.040 --> 00:16:33.560
It's part of the reason for bees.
00:16:33.560 --> 00:16:35.959
Well, that seems to be going okay
00:16:37.040 --> 00:16:38.960
Walking by a drowned
00:16:39.280 --> 00:16:40.880
smoker.
00:16:40.880 --> 00:16:43.280
All in all, the
00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:46.400
other day, late season in the bee yard, the 2026
00:16:46.640 --> 00:16:47.520
season.
00:16:47.520 --> 00:16:49.120
is breathing its last
00:16:49.440 --> 00:16:50.800
gasp, nectarin
00:16:50.960 --> 00:16:55.760
pollen season, before the big dearth starts up
00:16:56.840 --> 00:16:58.840
Everything else seems all right.
00:16:58.840 --> 00:17:02.200
Quick walk to two other colonies.
00:17:02.200 --> 00:17:04.360
No drones there either
00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:06.160
Pollen
00:17:06.320 --> 00:17:10.240
coming in from who knows where, bright orange.
00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:13.440
No signs of damage or harassment
00:17:13.600 --> 00:17:15.520
in the front of them.
00:17:15.520 --> 00:17:16.800
There it is.
00:17:17.019 --> 00:17:17.179
So
00:17:17.339 --> 00:17:20.059
I had a flood in a can in the bee yard.
00:17:20.059 --> 00:17:24.139
I had a colony that apparently died of a defective queen.
00:17:24.139 --> 00:17:25.100
Rest of the colony
00:17:25.260 --> 00:17:26.779
seemed to be okay.
00:17:26.779 --> 00:17:28.220
The six-frame nuc
00:17:28.860 --> 00:17:31.659
off to one side.
00:17:31.440 --> 00:17:31.760
is
00:17:32.080 --> 00:17:33.040
interesting
00:17:33.360 --> 00:17:34.960
and might deserve
00:17:35.280 --> 00:17:38.560
a little bit more TLC than I was going to give the other colonies
00:17:38.720 --> 00:17:40.720
that are pretty much on their own
00:17:41.019 --> 00:17:45.740
I feel like I'm a little bit early, but that's all there is, and I'd be wasting your time to keep going.
00:17:45.740 --> 00:17:48.059
So I'm gonna tell you bye at this point, but know this.
00:17:48.059 --> 00:17:50.620
I always enjoy talking to you.
00:17:50.620 --> 00:17:50.940
And
00:17:51.260 --> 00:17:52.299
Kevin S.
00:17:52.380 --> 00:17:52.460
from
00:17:52.620 --> 00:17:53.419
Alabama
00:17:53.980 --> 00:17:54.139
will
00:17:54.299 --> 00:17:55.580
reach out to you in a rare way.
00:17:56.019 --> 00:17:57.380
opportunity of me using part
00:17:57.539 --> 00:17:59.059
of your name.
00:17:59.059 --> 00:18:05.779
He told me over and over again how much he enjoyed the podcast and he made me feel good about it.
00:18:05.779 --> 00:18:07.860
Thank you for that, Kevin.
00:18:07.860 --> 00:18:08.659
And with that,
00:18:08.820 --> 00:18:10.659
beekeepers, I'll talk to you next week.
