Api Life Var Help please

[Steveuk]

Hi All
again would appriciate some advice please, this is my first year , i have one hive.

I have one brood box and one super on with lots of stores for them to go through winter, my question is regarding api life var, i understand that i put 4 bits on each corner of the brood box, is this on top of the queen excluder or underneath it,

the super above has good stores as i did not take the honey off this one, the second super i did and now storing that 2nd super using first for feed

I belive that api life var could taint the stores and that i may have to change all the frames next year.

Being a newbie and going into my first winter i know to come here for sound advice and again any help appriciated.
Regards
Steve

 

[MuswellMetro]

if you must keep a super for winter feeding then you cannot leave a QE on with a super above in winter as the bee cluster can migrate to the super or split into two clusters leaving the queen in the brood box below with no food and she will get isolated and die of cold

could i suggest a slight alternative

put the super above the crown board with the feed hole partially blocked to allow two or three bees through at a time, QE under crown board to stop HM going up , then bruise the honey cappings with your hive tool so the honey comes to the surface

this will make the bees pull down the honey into the brood box and the stores either side of the cluster is a natural insulation, you may still have to feed more

if you are on omf then in late october remove the QE and place the super under the brood box to act as a wind break ( two person job as the brood box should be very heavy with stores)

my own way is

I would remove both supers then treat, then feed sugar or their own honey back, a full brood box of stores should be enough the first year and by leaving a super on a small colony you are giving them more area to heat and that means they eat more food

 

[For want of a better word]

Take all the capped stores from your supers to extract.
If your bees have filled the brood frames up to the gunnells with stores that is right up to the end outer frames then that should get them through the winter.

Fit an eke to allow a bit of space on top of the brood box split the whole packet of A L var into four and place a piece on top and in each corner of the BB. put crown board back on.
in 2 weeks repeat.
Once your bees have had the full months worth of treatment, you can put the empty supers on top of the crownboard of a final clean~up and polish before storing away until next years golden harvest! and you will have no concerns of "tainting"!

Reading the instructions it says there are 2 lots of one weeks dose in each yellow pack, but on the website one 2 week dose.
To limit bee disturbance I do a 2 week course....... basically you will need 2 full packets of var for a full round of treatment!

Feed any time if needed 2:1 sugar (White beet or cane no difference)

 

[Steveuk]

Thank you very much