Why I Am Pulling Formic Strips Off My Hives in a September Heat Wave

Eighty-eight degrees at ten in the morning on the fourth of September. Ninety-one yesterday and forecast to hold through next week. That is late-August weather showing up in the first week of fall, and it broke the treatment plan I had lined up for this week across all twenty-eight of my colonies here in the Northeast Kingdom. In this video I take you through a full working day on the farm — start to finish, hive by hive, with the actual decisions I make as the day goes. Pulling formic acid strips off five colonies because the heat pushed evaporation past the safe range for brood and queens. Watching every strong hive beard up out front and run water constantly. Watching the goldenrod peak in the low field even as the treatment schedule falls apart. Managing the heavy robbing risk that hot weather plus a tapering flow creates. Choosing not to do a mite wash today because a number I cannot act on for another week is a number I can just as well take next week. Reading fresh bear sign at the out-yard fence. Extracting two supers of dark goldenrod. Refilling water three times. Most weeks in beekeeping are like this. Not one big lesson, but a series of small correct choices made in the right order, with the weather constantly changing what you thought you were going to do. ⏱ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 — Eighty-eight degrees at ten in the morning 00:55 — Pulling the formic strips 02:10 — What the heat does to a colony 03:20 — The goldenrod is peak 04:35 — The robbing risk in hot September weather 06:10 — Why I am not washing today 07:30 — Bear sign at the out-yard 08:45 — Extracting the goldenrod supers 09:40 — Down to Doreen's store 10:35 — Water is the main thing 11:40 — Writing the day into the book 12:35 — Closing thoughts 📚 SOURCES AND FURTHER READING Honey Bee Health Coalition — Formic Acid Temperature Guidelines and Treatment Protocols: honeybeehealthcoalition.org/varroa NOD Apiary Products — Formic Pro Application Temperature Range and Safety: nodglobal.com University of Vermont Extension — Heat Stress in Honey Bee Colonies: uvm.edu/extension/agriculture/beekeeping Penn State Extension — Robbing Behavior Prevention and Management: extension.psu.edu Cornell University — Northeast Beekeeping Guide, Fall Management: pollinator.cals.cornell.edu Randy Oliver — Scientific Beekeeping, Formic Acid Application Windows: scientificbeekeeping.com USDA Bee Research Laboratory — Colony Thermoregulation Studies: ars.usda.gov/northeast-area/beltsville-md/ beltsville-agricultural-research-center/bee- research-laboratory Vermont Fish and Wildlife — Black Bear and Apiary Protection Guidelines: vtfishandwildlife.com Vermont Beekeepers Association: vermontbeekeepers.org 🐝 ABOUT THIS CHANNEL The Old Yankee Apiary is a Vermont farm in the Northeast Kingdom, where the bees are kept, the maples are tapped, and the farm ledger goes back to 1912. Everett Blackwood is 74 years old, third generation on the same land, keeping 28 colonies and doing the work his father and grandfather did before him. Everett is a character voiced through AI, sharing real beekeeping knowledge from a working Vermont farm. All information is accurate and based on established beekeeping practice and the sources listed above. 🔔 SUBSCRIBE for practical beekeeping, sugar season, orchard work, honey extraction, family stories from the Ledger, and the honest rhythm of a Vermont farm through the seasons. New videos posted regularly. #beekeeping #vermontbeekeeping #northeastkingdom #formicacid #heatwave #goldenrod #robbing #beefeeding #beeextraction #honeyharvest #beekeepingtips #langstroth #homesteading #oldyankeeapiary