Curry trays

[For want of a better word]

Now that's what my grandad called THE QUILT... his WBCs never had a crown board, just this piece of felted cloth over the top brood/ super.
I believe he had one with a hole in it so that a feeder could be placed through it?
also remember stealing bits of "bee icing".... reminiscent of Kendal mint cake, without the mint... not as hard as loaf sugar.... not as soft as fondant, but very very sweet!!
and I was in very very short trousers ( and have a good memory!)

 

[Poly Hive]

No. In the good old days they put blankets over the candy.

Bernard used to say dinna forget to give the bees their Christmas present. Then wrap them up.

Meaning give them candy and a blanket or two. He also had a slide which I think I may have myself from his wintering lecture which showed a cat on the blanket... meaning dinna forget about the mice too.

PH

 

[the naked beekeeper]

Does everyone use a super or eke?

Some people sound as though they put it straight on the top bars, or over the cb feed hole....in which case, surely the roof wouldn't sit flush and just let in cold draft???

 

[Hivemaker.]

or over the cb feed hole....in which case, surely the roof wouldn't sit flush and just let in cold draft???

Most wooden roofs iv'e ever seen have plenty of room for fondant to sit over crown board,and seal exactly the same,ie two or three inches.

 

[Gardenbees]

I very rarely use fondant, but here's another version: on the rare occasions that I make fondant, I let it cool a bit then stuff it into the thicker type of freezer bag. The "tall" (i.e. National) hive gets the bag on top of the crownboard central hole, with a corresponding hole cut in the bag. The bag sits in an eke with loose insulation all round the bag and filling the rest of the space. That way, the insulation doesn't get gooey, and the bag develops a hollowed out eating-space which doesn't lose too much heat from the colony below. If they polish off a whole bagful, it isn't too traumatic to cut a hole in the top of the old, empty bag and slide a new, full bag on top, with a hole underneath to match. That way I don't have to peel up the whole lot, bees 'n' all.

For the long hive, I hang the bag from a frame or top bar and cut a few small holes in the side, making sure that it's in a suitable place for the bees to get to (i.e. not way up one end of the hive where they won't move to it). The cluster moves over and around it. You have to make sure the bag is strong enough (e.g. by putting one or two others around it). Once (years ago now, after a really awful cold, wet winter) I found a whole, empty bag completely covered with the bee cluster, and had to gently insert a warmed bag alongside. They gradually shuffled over it like a grateful, vibrating tide.

It will be interesting to see the effect of the current snowy spell, possibly followed by a much milder patch of winter weather and then maybe more snow. An odd winter for bees to cope with, especially after a rather thin foraging season earlier on, at least for some of us.

They're OK at the moment, but maybe I should get some freezer bags in, just in case...

 

[richardbees]

Heather,
Thanks.....I'm same micro climate as you and assumed they'd be OK until after Xmas.
I'll 'heft' them tomorrow!

Richard

 

[Hombre]

. . . bee farmers here in Sussex seem to be experiencing lighter hives than they expected for this time of the year so are putting fondant on now. Could be a tricky winter in store- -or no store!!

I imagine that the reason for lighter hives at this time, this year, has a lot to do with the prolonged mild autumn weather with perhaps slightly larger than normal colonies as brood rearing was also influenced by the mild weather?

I think that it was despicable to point out your wax comment Heather . . .

The only problem putting unprotected fondant directly on the top bars is if it flows down between the bars and makes a mess that is a right royal pain in the spring.

Thick slices, thin slices are all a matter of personal taste, determined by maintenance, cost and convenience. As long as it doesn't run between the top bars or dry out then the world is your oxter (oyster).

 

[Heather]

I think that it was despicable to point out your wax comment Heather . . .

Ha! Must have had waxing on my brain - cos off to the Maldives for a couple of weeks!! Well I cant go in the summer ......bees do that to your life

 

[Hombre]

I spent a year on Gan, an island in Addu attol at the end of the Seyshels chain - many years ago -. The Tsunami of a few years back all but destroyed it.

Lovely weather until the rain set in for two weeks and then all the blokes got a bit touchy and of ill disposition. When the sun came out again all the smiles returned.

Enjoy your holidays and if you are swimming in the sea, watch that little fish that follows you incessantly. If I had a quid for every time I got out of the water made paranoid by it's persistence, whilst all sorts of other large fish swam by. I would kick to make it go away, but it would just close up that little bit more. I knew it was all in my mind but could almost not help my feelings of insecurity rise with it's persistence. All it wanted was a big fish to follow . . . I must have been a real disappointment to it . . . ha ha.

 

[Heather]

Hee hee- I am going looking for black tipped reef sharks that swim close by.
I spend hours with those little fish- beautiful. And am VERY naughty as I nick bread from the table and go feed them (I know it disturbs the eco system but its only a small drop in the ocean...)- they steal from my fingers. Doesnt matter if it rains -am wet anyway - and a free bar will help me dry out -

Be good whilst I am away- no hand bagging!
My bees all fondanted up.

 

[Poly Hive]

I hear your concern about the fondant dripping.

I am using the Bako fondant and it is very stiff and so the risk of dripping is zero so far I have found. I cannot comment on any other type as I have not used it.

If it is home made and on the softer side of firm then yes there would indeed be that risk.

PH

 

[MrB]

Well, lots of answers as usual! thanks all.
think i will just wrap a slab of wax, oops, sorry, fondant in cling film so as not to stick all over the crown board, put a slit in it and bung over feed hole.
again, thanks all

 

[Heather]

Careful Mr B ....We may meet sometime
And in this cold weather only thing to drip will be your nose