# Greetings From Western Alaska



## yukonjeff

Hi All

I live remote, in western Alaska,along the Yukon river about 70miles inland from the Bering Sea, I might be the western most bee keep on the North American continent. (unless there is someone keeping bee's in Nome)

I am a new bee keep with my first package of bee's installed about three weeks ago,( had to be flown in) they are doing great,we have a lot of pollen going on with all the alder and willow starting to leaf out,and tons of wildflowers on the tundra and hills starting to bloom.

I am pretty exited and want to try make comb honey and go treatment free,and foundationless any advice would be appreciated.

I want to try split them midsummer if they are strong enough so I can go into winter with two hives, I was also considering building some new brood chambers with 2x 12" to help them through our long winters more comfortably any thoughts on that ?

Our winters are long so I hope I can keep them alive, I sure am having fun watching them.


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## COAL REAPER

welcome!
foundationless is fun, plenty to read up on.
do you splits early enough so that you have young bees going into winter. these young bees need to be healthy in order to live through your whole winter confined in the hive. start with when you expect the bees to last be foraging and do some math to count back through the different jobs of a worker bee as they grow, then queen mating time, and queen cell development time. you have a short season so your new hives may not be built up enough in time to split. idk about rearing queens in alaska. she needs drones to mate with. and if yours is the only bee colonies within 5 miles she will be mating with your own hives.
if you already have boxes you would be better off with foam board insulation for the winter. if you are making your own anyway then have at it with the 2x12" but they will be heavy. consider mediums. 
have fun! you need more input from beekeeps in a climate similar to yours.


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## yukonjeff

Thanks for the welcome Coal Reaper.And thanks for the good advice! I don't have any bee keeps near me as far as I know and the ones that are closest are like 450 mi away, I have been reading up on their site and learned what I could by reading so far, my bees are still alive. (for now anyway) 

I didnt think of the interbreeding when I only ordered a single package, I had some serious logistics just getting them flow in and didn't want to kill two packages,so I am going to have to get a another queen? I have a Russian queen that was bred from Alaska overwinter bees according to my supply guy.

My weather and climate here is somewhat different than the Anchorage and Fairbanks Beeks and that will be a challenge mostly a lot of stormy weather with high winds on a regular basis ,but also has its upside like willow and wildflowers as far as the eye can see,no ants or skunks or any agriculture here at all other than my small organic garden.

I was considering the foam hives I have seen but not sure they wont blow away here.

Thanks again.


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## AmericasBeekeeper

Welcome Jeff!


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## photobiker

Welcome. Do you have bears in your neck of the woods? If so you might want to think about an electric fence and mostly likely solar in your case.


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## Redbug

Just thinking...If you treat for varroa, I bet you won't have problems in the future with varroa since there are not any other bees in your area to infect your bees. Pretty neat! Also, I bet you can keep your bee strain pure since there are no other bees around. I would also go with an electric fencer. I used to live at Fairbanks and King Salmon when younger and didn't know anything about bees back then.


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## yukonjeff

Thanks guys And yes we do have bears both brown and black and an occasional Polar bear are sighted.  I will look into a fence.

And yes I see and opportunity to have clean bees,I am new to this treatments and all but it makes sense if it gets them all,I will consider it. There is no other bees here so this could be a great opportunity to get clean bees.If I can keep them OK.

And I worked in Naknek for 8 yrs salmon fishing and cannery work neat place lots of bears and great fishing around the King Salmon area, miss it on occasion, I live a north of there in a Yupik Eskimo Village on the Yukon.


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## Redbug

That's great Yukonjeff. I know about Naknek, too. I was at the Air Force Station back in the day. The weather station. I am now retired...from the Weather Service.


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## TalonRedding

Looking forward to seeing how your bees do! I worked in King Salmon one summer while in school a few years ago. I did all my food shopping in Naknek. Loved it there and the folks were great too. And yes, PLENTY of bears! Best of luck to ya!


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## Lburou

I had bees near Anchorage a long time ago, it was pretty mild over winter there. But, it isn't mild where you are. What are your plans to protect the hives over winter?

I had a beekeeper from Kazakhstan visit my bee yard recently. His winter weather is probably similar to yours. He described a cellar where he kept his bees over winter. Ten feet underground. Honey bees can take the cold all right, it is the length of the winter that is the biggest challenge because of the lack of cleansing flights. (Get smart about nosema apis.)

Regards,


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## yukonjeff

Thanks guys and Alaska is a small state sometimes glad to see other past Alaskans on the forum and thanks for your service, I drank a few beers at the King co inn and at the airforce base too.

And Llburo I have been crunching my brain on overwinter ideas, I do have a connex and a small shed I could use to overwinter if I needed, but not suure how that works with the cleansing flights we do get warm spells during winter here since I am near the coast its not as cold as Fairbanks,but kind of long.

I was considering building 2x12 deeps and use them for winter wrapped or painted black. hopefully I can get them through summer first


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## Lburou

yukonjeff said:


> ...we do get warm spells during winter here since I am near the coast it's not as cold as Fairbanks, but kind of long...


How warm are your warm spells? How often do they come? We had one or two warm spells (40-50 degrees F) each winter near Anchorage, but the length of winter made up for the fairly mild temperatures caused by the coastal water temperatures. It needs to be almost 50 degrees for bees to fly. I watched several times as bees left the hive and went into a snowbank and die when temps weren't warm enough.

Commercial beekeepers in Canada keep their storage facilities a constant 39 degrees F. Any winter wind breaks you can manage will help. 2 X 12 construction can't hurt, but you need air circulation for humidity to escape as the bees consume honey (honey is about 18% water).


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## RichardsonTX

Congratulations Jeff! I hope you keep posting on here. I'd like to know how it goes with the beekeeping in your neck of the woods.

The only things I might suggest is consideration of snow depth (although I've heard it can act as an insulator), a top entrance for ventilation and access as winter starts to set in, exposure to north winds, and supplemental feeding methods. 

I think Michael Palmer has some numbers on here as far as amount of honey for overwintering in that type of climate. I think he has a presentation on Youtube where he talks about overwintering in cold climates.


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## yukonjeff

Thanks, I appreciate the sound advice guys, looks like I came to the right place for sure. We get several warm spells in winter but only up to like 40-45 degrees F. with a lot of wind with it usually (Deadliest Catch kind of weather, we are coastal Bering Sea)if they leave the hive they probably wont be back in that wind. 

I did see Michael Palmers lecture and pictures of his buried hives so I am sold on top entrances for sure, and to help with ventilation, still considering if I should put them in shed and leave the door open on warm cleansing flight possible days.

I have a Russian queen and near Eastern Russia. like Sarah Palin said I can see it right out my door,but I am 500 miles closer than her.  so hope they feel right at home, they do go awfully quiet during bad weather days so that could be good.

Was hoping to leave them all/ enough honey to get them through winter we will have an amazing bloom happing nonstop all summer it never stops till fall,not sure how much they will be able to bring in before winter,or if we will get many fly days.

And I would also like to Thank all you guys that put up You tube videos. They sure do help us new bee keepers. Especially those that live in the boonies and have no chance for a mentor.

Here is my channel if its ok to post it,if ya all want some Alaskan outdoor entertainment and other Alaskan Redneckery.

https://www.youtube.com/user/yukonjeffimagery


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## Lburou

Jeff, how do you get Internet out in the bush?


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## COAL REAPER

cool videos, i wanna come visit!
x2 for the palmer videos. the advice from the southern states can only get you so far. there is guys from canada too, some winter indoors. lots of investment in humidity management.
with strong flow all through the summer, keep your bees drawing comb. put an empty frame between two capped frames of honey. can also do an empty frame between edge of brood nest and a pollen/honey frame.
anybody can get packages to replace every year, but we all want to know about overwintering bees in alaska!


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## Harley Craig

love the videos !


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## yukonjeff

Thanks again guys ! I do have a dish for internet,I live in a Eskimo Fishing village so its a small town, we do have power and two small stores, a school and post office, but we are isolated (no road in ) so everything flys in and out and cost $800 just to get to Anchorage from here. I had to fly in a friend to pick up my package of bees and she had to wait a week for the actual delivery date and then got weathered in Anchorage for a day then she was able to ship my package on a cargo flight. So you don't want to know how much these bees cost.

I hope I never have to replace them but that's wishfull thinking perhaps. lol


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## Scott Gough

That is awesome. It does not surprise me but Google does not even have street view of your village. I love the pictures of the village on Google images. 

Welcome to Beesource and definitely keep us posted on your progress. Good luck.


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## Rohe Bee Ranch

Hi Jeff,
How did your girls do over the winter? I have some friends that have bees in the Delta Junction area and they have not had any success overwintering their bees. I hope you have been successful.


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## yukonjeff

Hi Rohe Bee Ranch

I had a interesting summer bee keeping was totally awesome. They swarmed but I caught them.

I did build a quilt box and have them somewhat alive yet from what I could tell. Their last fly day was Nov 3. I recently talked with an experienced Alaskan bee keep that told me dysentery will kill the hive in March, he said the winters were just too long in Alaska and they make a mess of the equipment and that it might be a good idea to kill them to save the equipment.

Where I am, we don't get cold like Delta Junction, but we did get some -20 weather for a week or two, I painted my hive black hoping to take advantage of the solar heat now that the long days are coming back, they should warm up nicely, they were flying at 35 degrees this fall,so I have hopes yet.
Here is a thread on here entailing my bee keeping so far. Fingers crossed and will know how they do here in another month or two.

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?327227-Swarm-Queen-Not-Laying

Thanks for asking 

Here is a recent pic of the hive.


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## KAG

Small world indeed.....spent most of the 90's stationed at Greely, kept extending and they kept saying yes. Loved it. Bitter cold and I can see why the long winters would not be conducive to bee keeping. I would think down in the Tongrass and Kenai would be ok.


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## BradParadise

Hey there! Welcome to Beesource!


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## Lburou

Jeff, your bees could use weather now that is warm enough to fly. How far off are those warmish late winter or spring days?

Have you checked them since your last set of pictures a month ago? We are all rooting for success success with your bees!


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## yukonjeff

KAG said:


> Small world indeed.....spent most of the 90's stationed at Greely, kept extending and they kept saying yes. Loved it. Bitter cold and I can see why the long winters would not be conducive to bee keeping. I would think down in the Tongrass and Kenai would be ok.


Man That Fairbanks is a cold place ! I have no use for that kind of cold -50 !! no thanks ! lol

Thanks Again Guys.
And Lburou I have not been in the hive since my last check.The spot where the hive is will bake when the calm sunny solar days hit, That's why I chose it,Its tundra and heats up nicely. I am hoping for March, but we Are going below 0 for a short spell again.

After painting the hive black I noticed they flew at a lower outside temp, from 40 or so to 35 degrees and in the fall when it was 35 the landing deck with the black hive had like 80 degrees right up against the hive, so hope that will happen again this coming month, If they are still alive.

I have been considering setting up my wall tent over it, and putting a small wood stove in and heating it up for a day,not sure how that would go.


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## Lburou

yukonjeff said:


> ...I have been considering setting up my wall tent over it, and putting a small wood stove in and heating it up for a day,not sure how that would go.


It would probably go similar to the time (in Eagle River, AK) I brought the bees into the garage...It was a Disaster. Brown spots on all the windows & walls with dead bees clustered around my heat source (25W light bulb). A very bad idea and a humiliating experience.


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