cinnamon
New Bee
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2017
- Messages
- 58
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- Heriot
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- 1
I am guessing this is normal but I don't know what normal looks like, as it's my first winter with my one and only hive.
A bit of background: Last time I opened the hive was October 26. I then added 1.5 litres of 2:1 syrup and 1350gr of fondant. I was planning on leaving them to it until early spring.
I leave home when it's dark and come home when it's dark so first time in ages I get to see the hive in daylight. Today is the first day that I'm home and not working.
Anyway, here are the pictures of some dead bees. As you may noticed I've reduced the hive entry. I've also placed a varroa board under the open mesh but I may remove that because it seems to cause condensation. I saw condensation because I removed the lid to see (through the CLEAR crown board but did not open it completely to prevent heat loss) if there's any fondant left and yes there's at least half the fondant still there.
What would you say to this newbie? Should I worry or is this normal?
A bit of background: Last time I opened the hive was October 26. I then added 1.5 litres of 2:1 syrup and 1350gr of fondant. I was planning on leaving them to it until early spring.
I leave home when it's dark and come home when it's dark so first time in ages I get to see the hive in daylight. Today is the first day that I'm home and not working.
Anyway, here are the pictures of some dead bees. As you may noticed I've reduced the hive entry. I've also placed a varroa board under the open mesh but I may remove that because it seems to cause condensation. I saw condensation because I removed the lid to see (through the CLEAR crown board but did not open it completely to prevent heat loss) if there's any fondant left and yes there's at least half the fondant still there.
What would you say to this newbie? Should I worry or is this normal?