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If they strong enough for your location and climate to swarm then you can split this hive. Maybe the bees need more fresh air. How about a kind of fantastic version that your hive stands in a bad place. Yes, it can be ridiculous, and we can laugh, but just try to remove the hive to 0,5-1m (a...

It's a new phrase for me to remember. Thanks. A few years ago I did the same thing. I lost 16 colonies out of 29 after the third winter. I decided that my life is too short to continue this experiment. I know a man from the northern forest region (Polissia) who keeps bees in the log hives as it...

I understand. They spend 0,5-0,6 kg of honey for processing. Total number is 3,5 kg. They also need pollen, but the amount of it was unknown in 1986. If bees have abundant of pollen they don't need so much honey for wax producing.

:) 1986, second edition, under revision of the doctor of biology. The researches were made in Russian Institution of beekeeping and Bashkir experimental station.

We talk about honey (energy) or about time? Of course bees lose much time drawing new combs while honeyflow and they don't bring much honey. Do you see the difference? I talk about energy, calories, which are contained in honey and wax. Therefore 1 kg of wax=3,5kg of honey.

I took my figures from a book which reffered to a scientific research. Maybe in your country bees consume more (twice) honey.(?) 10Є/kg is a very good price. Other figures are almost the same here. Many beekeeprs don't feed bees for winter. There is no reason with our ridiculous 1,5$/kg to do...

Ok. How much does your honey cost? My honey costs $1,5/kg - the lowest price in Europe and maybe in the world :). The price of so-called foundation (wax+parafin+pesticides+varroa treatment) is higher than you say, (I don't know exactly). But it's not just money for me, I don't want to have...

Have you used "natural combs" in your 55 years practice? As I'm not a professional beekeeper, I use natural combs for just two seasons. I agree there is a lot of dron cells but it doesn't mean that all of them are used for drones. Bees fill such combs with honey as well. I decided to use...

If workers are in a field during honeyflow... In your previous post you write that "drones are waste of energy", now you write that "natural combs are waste of energy". Please, Finman, be consistent. Have you used natural combs? Can you compare natural combs and combs on a fondation? If bees...

Bees always need certain amount of drones. Until they don't have enough they rear them everywhere. They never waste energy or resources. In my opinion drones also help to maintain high temperature in a nest. In the picture above the queen probably is old.

Couldn't visit the forum because of a virus which redirected me to another harmful website. I tried many antivirus programs and wanted to change my Windows but suddenly the forum is avaliable again. I still can't understand what has happened... Today is Easter, so I do nothing, but checked two...

The last two days were warm for the first cleance flight. There is still snow but it's melting quickly. Bees painted snow with orange spots. I scaned quickly 10 hives. Everything seems ok. I lost 4 colonies out of 32, 3 of them were small and weak but another one was strong and died because of...

There was -15-20°C last week. Those 10 cold days were good for skiing but I'm glad they passed away. West and South of the country have their cleance flyight, I'm still waiting - the following days, it's possible. I saw a few bees were flying around. Now it's +3-5°C, the mass of dirty snow on...

Leave 20 cm of honey (syrup) in every frame and everything will be ok. Fondant is an emergency exit. That colony might be weak, small or ill so it was not able to eat fondant especially while there was cold weather. I've already lost 3 colonies. They had the signs of chalkbrood and sacbrood in...

As I read here, British beekeepers feed bees during winter. Do you believe that any warm hive would allow them to keep bees without brood rearing and on the low level of consumption? Your observation about 50% is interesting but how about the fact that bees never heat their hive in (cold)...

Warm circles on some roofs have disappeared a few days ago. Bees could feel cold weather should come soon so they stopped brood rearing. I hope there wasn't much brood. I saw only a few capped cells, but who knows. Those who have burned their food for brood rearing are sentenced to death...

Finman, you know what kind of hives is used in Russia (Siberia, Far East). It's dadant hives both horizontal and vertical. Here this type of hives is popular as well. Big dadant frames in one box for winter are better than Langstroth two boxes. Another type, which is even better for cold...

Taranov G. Food and Feeding Bees. 1986. (Таранов Г. Корма и кормление пчел) The classical book of Soviet beekeeping. In that research they had two groups of colonies with different data. I took the higher figures. I want to say they provided very efficient research at that time because ruling...

That's all right. I think those authors would have been happy to speak with Finnish beekeeper. Maybe they visited an apiary in you country. It was 40 years ago at least. Unfortunately I don't know what is BBKA. :) Nevertheless, guys, I don't open all entrances completly, just in a bottom and in...

It doesn't matter because the temperature inside and outside is equal. Bees don't heat their hive. Just out of a wintering cluster the temperature is the same as outdoor. Condensation also happens if wet air is not deletad from the hive properly. I just translated it from that book. It was...