Submerse yourself in the life of a Canadian commercial beekeeper

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Working in Circles, Troubleshooting My Backup Ezyloader Electrical Issue

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Sustainability

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The Importance of Preserving Pockets of our Natural World

3.3K views May 4, 2018 10:57 pm

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Nature -Beekeepers- Agriculture , June 19 2020

11.7K views June 20, 2020 4:43 am

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Pulling Honey Off Our Pasture👍06/27/2019

10.6K views June 29, 2019 4:49 am

a Canadian Beekeeper’s Blog I have been asked to speak at the Manitoba Watersheds Conference December 3 2019, Canad Inns Polo Park Winnipeg. Our farm had accepted the 2018 Pembina Valley Conservation District Award last year and the organizers of this year’s event want me to bring my perspective on sustainability, conservation and agriculture as we manage our grain, cattle and honey farm.
My view point comes from that of a commercial beekeeper on how our industry has suddenly been faced with challenges as the management of our landscape has changed and how our farm has focused on certain aspects to help manage these issues. “Keynote: Ian Steppler
12:45 PM 1 hr
Steppler Farms was the winner of the 2018 Pembina Valley Conservation District Award for their work on regenerative agriculture. Ian will speak about their work and lessons learned for conservation and agriculture.”
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5d1970615efdf4000145bc48/t/5dd31391dcacb37f07468d31/1574114202688/Brochure_The-Manitoba-Watersheds-Conference.pdf https://www.manitobawatersheds.org/conference

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Speaking at the Manitoba Watersheds Conference December 3rd, 12:45, Canad Inns Polo Park Winnipeg

3.4K views November 30, 2019 4:16 pm

a Canadian Beekeeper’s Blog I’ve grown 25 acres of Pollinator Strips around the edges of our farm’s fields which couldn’t be sewed due to wet conditions. These places are sewed to flowering plants which will provide flowering nutrition to my bees and anything else needing pollen and nectar to sustain their growth. These strips will bloom during the last half of summer until freeze up and provide precious pollen and nectar to during a time when my bees set themselves up for winter.
A small effort, in many places around the edges add up to huge impacts.

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Pollinator Strips, Admiring my Catch - July 12, 2020

8.6K views July 12, 2020 1:19 pm

A Canadian Beekeeper’s Blog This is one of the set asides that I sewed down to Phacillia, Canola and Sunflowers. The deer ate my sunflowers but the Phacillia and canola are just opening their bloom. Right about now the countryside is limited with flowering growth which makes this little patch of flowers an oasis to all pollinators. Little bits of pollen and nectar across the countryside is what we need to promote pollinator health with habitat

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Pollinator PLOTS, the promotion of fall flowers

6.8K views August 17, 2020 4:42 pm

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The Sunflowers Have Bloomed in my Pollinator Plots 🌻 August 22, 2020

9.3K views August 22, 2020 3:13 pm

a Canadian Beekeeper’s Blog https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-32681-y “ For both food security and biodiversity conservation, there is a critical need to move beyond documentation of pollinator declines and identify solutions to reduce bee disease and improve bee health. Sunflower pollen reduced the severity of infection by pathogens in bee species that are important for pollination services in natural and agroecosystems. Many beekeepers already provide pollen supplements to their colonies, and all levels of government, as well as growers, nonprofits, and the general public, are investing in plantings to improve pollinator habitat51. As both a domesticated crop and native wild species, sunflower could be prioritized for inclusion in agroecosystems and regionally appropriate native habitat. Our discovery that sunflower pollen reduced infection of multiple bee pathogens suggests the potential for simple, easily implemented approaches that could be tested for their ability to reduce disease and increase bee health.”

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Medicinal Properties of Sunflower Pollen to Bees 🌻

9.6K views September 19, 2020 4:10 am

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Cows Eating Sunflowers 🌻

7.2K views September 27, 2020 4:14 am

Recent Rewind

a Canadian Beekeeper's Blog I put together and edited a Honey Flow compilation of my 2019 farm year. Starting were I had left off from the "2019 a Canadian Beekeeper's Blog Spring REWIND" vidoe posted earlier:
https://youtu.be/oTLYsoGF9oQ
and will be followed up with a fall/winter compilation soon as I get a chance to edit that together. Feel free to leave a comment below,
hope you enjoy, I sure did while editing this together...I cant wait until next season!
Ian

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2019 Summer REWIND - Pulling in a 300,000 lbs Honey Crop

102.9K views January 12, 2020 4:27 pm

a Canadian Beekeeper's Blog I put together an edited compilation of my management for the 2019 Spring season. This season was very challenging which involved employing all my spring time management strategies. My efforts must of worked because the year ended as one of my highest production years on record. You can follow up with this video by watching "HONEY FLOW 2019 REWIND - a Canadian Beekeeper's Blog":
https://youtu.be/I2jIxS2hgWg
where my spring management unfolds into a monster honey crop.
Feel free to leave a comment below,
Hope you enjoy the video compilation
Ian

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YouTube Video UEx5REJUd1hLZzkyR1VlU3ZIa0R3YklyTGhpd1BxT1k0OS4yODlGNEE0NkRGMEEzMEQy

2019 Spring REWIND - Brood Nest Management

309.1K views December 25, 2019 6:02 am

a Canadian Beekeeper's Blog
"2019 Fall Rewind" is a video edit of all my videos from when I pulled off the last of my honey boxes at the end of August to when I sorted the last of my honey bee hives into the winter shed in Mid November. The fall of 2019 was one of the most challenging years for our farm, here I provide a glimpse from the honey farm. A hot dry summer lead into 6 inches of rain throughout September which followed by over a foot of wet snow at the beginning of October. This weather not only shortened our opportunity to properly feed the bee hives up for winter but it also caused us terrible grief as we battled the mud and then frost as we tried to pick the hives up to move them in for winter. It was a fall that we never forget!
Index:
0:00 Opening Title
0:11 - inserting escape board over the nucs
0:53 - pulling the last honey supers off the nucs
3:29 - the focus on bulk syrup feeding
11:25 - moving field edge yards closer to home
13:29 - fighting fall colony attrition
21:01 - the OCTOBER 1st feed deadline
22:48 - monitoring for mites
25:45 - treating with Apivar
27:15 - getting stuck
28:52 - weighing colonies for winter weight
30:50 - Apivar mite monitoring check back
35:44 - October 11th winter storm
38:22 - the wake of the winter storm, hive igloos
46:32 - treating hives with Oxalic Acid Vapour
48:49 - ProVap 110
55:02 - bee yard under water
57:22 - picking hives out of water with the Ezyloader
1:00:31 - pulling the bee truck out with two tractors!
1:07:48 - moving the first hives inside the winter shed
1:11:11 - prying hives off the frozen ground, moving hives inside for winter
1:14:35 - take your kid to work day, lesson #1 - honey in the morning coffee
1:21:51 - bee hive dumped onto the loading pad
1:31:20 - Oxalic Acid treatment efficacy and varroa mite drop
1:37:10 - Apivar strip removal before moving hives in for winter
1:39:30 - stacking honey bee hives inside the winter shed for winter
1:43:50 - the reason why I use pliable hive top inner covers (foamies)
1:52:17 - the last 4 hives inside, door closed, lights off,
1:54:21 - listening to the roar of 40-50 million bees inside

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YouTube Video UEx5REJUd1hLZzkyR1VlU3ZIa0R3YklyTGhpd1BxT1k0OS4wOTA3OTZBNzVEMTUzOTMy

Preparing Honey Bees for a Canadian Winter - 2019 Fall Video Compilation

161.4K views December 22, 2020 3:46 am

a Canadian Beekeeper's Blog
The spring of 2020 challenged both the resilience of my honey bee stock and the resilience of my patience! PART 1 (APRIL) of this 2020 spring compilation, demonstrates commercial management practices which promotes growth throughout our variable Canadian Spring conditions. You will notice throughout our April work, I direct complete attention towards the management of the colonies which is focuses on the exact conditions around and within that colony without actually opening up it's nest.
I have indexed this video for your convenience. Don't hesitate to comment below if you have any questions! 0:00 - Opening Credits
2:11 - The management of Indoor winter shed conditions as I set the hives out
15:51 - First spring flight
24:24 - First round work, INITIAL COLONY ASSESSMENTS, EMERGENCY FEEDING, CULLING
28:15 - Looking for breeder queens, breeder queen assessment criteria
32:20 - Early season actions to remedy queenless hives, nuc mergers
35:20 - Hoplessly Queenless, nuc mergers
36:54 - Open feeding dry supplement
40:15 - Tallying losses
42:42 - Cold weather shutdown, reflection on first round work, plan for work ahead
44:57 - Cold weather work - equipment maintenance and preparation
47:12 - Honey farm RULE OF THUMB
47:30 - Open feeding dry supplement, open feeding syrup
49:30 - Colony assessment, observing the colony's development by reading the brood nest activity after that cold weather event
57:43 - Cold weather shutdown, filling in dead spots
1:00:30 - In-depth philosophy of understanding progressive colony growth
1:07:50 - Shifting gears - switching from open syrup feeding to pail feeding
1:11:31 - Syrup pails, love hate relationship - In-depth explanation on our pail feeding strategy
1:20:04 - Warmth, SHIFTING GEARS
1:24:25 - First POLLEN
1:30:50 - "that's what she said"
1:32:40 - Boosting small nucs, how to determine vigor when assessing a small nest
1:37:50 - Drift issues due to our work
1:41:30 - Moving spring yards out to their summer locations
1:50:15 - Colony assessment, grading, culling and promoting
1:57:13 - Getting stuck, ***a clip for Ruben Josey***
2:00:00 - Assessment ques of a box of bees, how to read the frames bottoms
2:02:36 - Philosophy of keeping the hives tight, giving them space and all those cluster dynamics involved.

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YouTube Video UEx5REJUd1hLZzkyR1VlU3ZIa0R3YklyTGhpd1BxT1k0OS4xMkVGQjNCMUM1N0RFNEUx

2020 Spring REWIND - Early Spring Nest Management, a cold Canadian Spring- part 1

51.3K views January 15, 2021 12:16 am

a Canadian Beekeeper's Blog The spring of 2020 challenged both the resilience of my honey bee stock and the resilience of my patience!
Part 1 :
https://youtu.be/9Ks8rodryJ0 PART 2:
(May-June) of this 2020 spring compilation is a detailed demonstration of how I approached my brood nest management through 2020's COLD variable Spring. This spring vlog compilation provides a detailed look into my management practices and provides on the spot commentary as I assess, adjust and reflect all the conditions.
I have indexed this video for your convenience. Don't hesitate to comment below if you have any questions! 0:00 - Opening Video
2:30 - Boosting Small Nucs With Merger- One Week Check Back
5:33 - Adding Seconds, Providing Space For Growth
9:40 - COLD weather Growth Interruption
15:47 - Assessing COLD weather Colony Growth
24:05 - Stripping Merger Colonies
34:37 - Detailed Insight into Boosting Small Nucs through Mergers
44:42 - Building Cell Builders
49:33 - First Graft Check
1:01:26 - Cell Builder Management - Cycling the Graft Frames
1:15:30 - Colony Cull - No Place Takers
1:27:27 - Finding Graftable Larvae in our Breeder Hive
1:37:06 - Beginning the Colony Split
1:49:50 - Placing Queen Cells
2:00:00 - Mating Yard Dynamics
2:08:56 - Colony Cull - Break Down into NUCS
2:14:30 - Nucs Getting ROBBED!
2:16:34 - Checking Queen Cell Emergence with the Kids
2:30:54 - Checking Last Graft
2:33:46 - Queen Mating Success Rate
2:49:25 - Shaking Bees Down into the Single
2:54:30 - Adding Thirds
3:01:00 - Cell Check, Final Round - Hives Set for the Flow

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2020 Spring Rewind Part 2 - COLD weather Brood Nest Management

96.8K views February 16, 2021 2:58 am

A Canadian Beekeeper Blog Highlights

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Working in Circles, Troubleshooting My Backup Ezyloader Electrical Issue

2.5K views 17 hours ago

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One Naked Looking Stubby 😳

3.7K views January 23, 2022 3:21 pm

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New and Overdue 🙂

8.2K views January 17, 2022 1:08 am

Manitoba's Bee Health Monitoring Program:
manitobabee.org/hive/2929/services-to-beekeepers-manitoba-bee-health-monitoring-program/ David Lee, a long time heavy equipment mechanic by trade is a beekeeper from Rosewood Manitoba Canada, owner operator of a 70 hive operation. Join us for a nice causal chat as we explore David's accomplishments within his operation as he aspires to build bee into he and his wife's retirement project. Join this channel to get access to perks:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkQVs6-xm3mVNdwW4Zt8McQ/join a Canadian Beekeeper's Blog

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Manitoba's Bee Health Monitoring Program, Talking With Beekeepers - Lee's Bees

2.8K views January 16, 2022 11:44 pm

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Deck Mount Re-Do For the Ezyloader

6.4K views January 9, 2022 12:59 am

a Canadian Beekeeper’s Blog As a nervous public speaker, I’ve learnt how to manage my nerves. This morning even though I was not at Tennessee at Kamon’s Hive Life conference, my nerves were shot!! Crazy enough feeling that way, my drive was to be down there speaking!
I’ve come a long way over the last 4 years. Starting to learn how to embrace this feeling and redirecting it into positive energy,

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An Interesting Feeling This Morning,

6.2K views January 7, 2022 3:44 pm

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🐝YouTubers BeeKeeper Unite 🎉 I’m Missing Out on the PARTY!!

5.8K views January 7, 2022 1:47 am

a Canadian Beekeeper’s Blog Massey Harris 21 A Combine
1949 Chrysler straight 6

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Massey Harris 21 Combine- First Cylinder Bore Measure With the Snap Gauge, WTF is going on?!

4.8K views January 2, 2022 10:15 pm

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How to Piss Off 900 Beekeepers😖

13.3K views January 2, 2022 4:32 pm

a Canadian Beekeeper’s Blog
Open feeding dry Ultrabee to my Apiary. After the hives are set out, we set out feed for the hives to take before natural pollen becomes available

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Open Dry Feeding Honey Bees, terrific activity around the feeders today - April 15 2019

5.7M views April 16, 2019 12:03 am

A glimpse of my summer honey flow operating strategies from hive split straight to stripping boxes in the fall. I manage my hives in single brood boxes,and because of that I employ many strategies to manage swarming and to maximize my honey crop. I don't focus at all on the split, even though it is a major part of this strategy, I will leave the brood nest management for its own video. During the 2018 crop year, my honey crop came in hard off the start and then ended extremely early. I typically get flows that run well into August but this year my flows ended in last week of July. Too hot and too dry.
With these type of unpredictable weather conditions it is very important to capitalize on that nectar flow the moment it starts to flow. This is the reason why I put so much attention towards colony population brood nest management.
Last year within roughly 4-5 weeks, we gathered 197,000 lbs off 1200 production hives. Very little came in on the nucs because they matured later in summer. But we did fill some boxes in some yards 🙂
We never know whats ahead of us so that is why I manage to grab it when its there! without capitalizing during the opportune times, we risk missing our main stream of income.

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Tips to a big honey crop

473.4K views January 28, 2019 3:54 pm

a Canadian Beekeeper's Blog a detailed look at a couple way I feed my hives syrup through the fall and spring.
Open feeding and Pail feeding.

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Tips for feeding honey bees

383K views December 20, 2018 2:26 pm

Single Hive Management Explained, a Canadian Beekeepers Blog
A step by step walk through my commercial beekeeping season explaining what I do and why. www.stepplerfarms.com

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Single Hive Management Explained

242.6K views December 17, 2017 4:18 am

a Canadian Beekeeper's Blog Here is a collection of all my 2018 queen rearing videos starting with setting up the queenless cell builder, managing the graft, rotation of the graft frames though the cell builder and into the queen cell incubator. I show how we make up nuc, and then the process of using the queen cells to mate in the nucs which then I use as multi queen colonies to collect the late summer honey crop. Hope you enjoy the recap from the 2018 season! Don't hesitate to comment below with question on this video and I'll do my best to answer. Ian

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Small Scale Commercial Queen Rearing

199.7K views December 8, 2018 6:16 am

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My honey farm in 1 min, a video edit request for Apimondia

180.1K views June 15, 2019 7:50 pm

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Quick and Exact Way to Split Hives

126.6K views June 5, 2018 5:09 am

a Canadian Beekeeper's Blog Beekeeping on the prairies can be a challenging endeavor. No one year seem to be the same. Sometime we do everything right as beekeepers but mother nature does not deal us the same cards. Because of this we as beekeepers need to manage our hives with many tricks in our pockets. Salvaging weak or small hives in the spring is one management strategy not generally favored because weak colonies are seen as inferior stock. But in years when the failure of colonies is not related to colony inferiority but rather to poor weather related factors, the choice to salvage these failing colonies is warranted. This is a Montague of a few "salvage" related videos from the 2018 year after a hard winter. We managed to boost and preserve over 30% of our operating stock with a simple trick of merger. Watch the videos and try to understand

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YouTube Video UEx5REJUd1hLZzkySDBjSTN2SUJRMFhPWWJQUXVhNVB6TC5CNTcxMDQ0NThBNzMxODYz

a Quick and Simple Trick to Saving Small Honey Bee Hives

105.5K views January 20, 2019 2:04 am

a Canadian Beekeeper’s Blog, Question/Answer on inner covers and top entrance. My feedback on these techniques are very specific to my Beekeeping operation but with that you should be able to glean some useful information to use towards your own operation.

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YouTube Video UEx5REJUd1hLZzkySDBjSTN2SUJRMFhPWWJQUXVhNVB6TC43NDhFRTgwOTRERTU4Rjg3

Why I use pliable inner covers and thoughts on upper entrances

91.2K views December 1, 2017 6:19 pm

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