High winter losses

[Levitt53]

All 5 of mine ok in Cambridgeshire in poly hives.

 

[Mart_got_hives]

Lost one out of 11 here and picked up an abandoned colony.

Spoke to another beekeeper based in East Yorkshire a couple of months ago who'd managed to lose 19 out of 20 colonies but I think that was more to do with inept beekeeping than anything else - was a little organic farming operation which bought 20 hives with zero prior learning..

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[jenkinsbrynmair]

I'm more concerned for the bees owned by the BBKA types over the next month or so seeing from the April edition that the 'Chair' is already getting revved up to shook swarm the poor buggers

 

[beeno]

All production colonies have survived, but a few of them weaker than I would like. Lost all my nucs though. Queens just gone.

Stolen?

 

[drex]

No. Just dead

 

[Ian123]

I'm more concerned for the bees owned by the BBKA types over the next month or so seeing from the April edition that the 'Chair' is already getting revved up to shook swarm the poor buggers

I wish you were joking!! There is absolutely no good reason in general beekeeping to shook swarm bees, what a bunch of muppets.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I wish you were joking!! There is absolutely no good reason in general beekeeping to shook swarm bees, what a bunch of muppets.

Nope - there in black and white,

Another club member has helped out and put my brood frames and wax together. I am not sure my bees will appreciate what I have planned for them......

So why bloody do it then?!!!!!

I threw down the comic in depair at that point, it's a pity they've gone down the glossy paper line for the magazine - it may have had a use seeing the shortages of certain items we are seeing at the moment

 

[Tim.S]

West Sussex also, lost one out of 16 and that was weak going into winter so no surprise. As for the Bailey comb change - I despair.
I wish It was just one simple thing that enabled me to keep my bees every year through the winter but the truth is that it is a range of things. First and foremost Varroa control. Then feeding, esp this year as there was a dearth of pollen due to rain here from the first week of October. And Varroa.
And no Bailey comb changes either!

 

[Ian123]

A comb change is fine if it’s needed you don’t need to shook swarm them to achieve it though.

 

[PaulCarroll]

Have never had such a disastrous winter having lost 2 out of 4 colonies, with another Q- and weak. I have now United the colonies and will rebuild from here, but looking like a poor season for me.


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[The Poot in Somerset]

No losses here thankfully

 

[Erichalfbee]

All mine through comfortably. 4 poly 1 cedar 1 poly nuc.

 

[simonforeman]

Lost 1 out of 8, shook out today as was a drone layer. 1 moved last week to a nuc as was 2-3 frames. Of the others 4 are big and have supers added the other 2 not quite ready.

The 4 big strong hives are all queens from the same supplier so will use one of these for my first year of grafting and hopefully requeen and try over wintering some nucs

 

[Ian123]

Lost 1 out of 8, shook out today as was a drone layer. 1 moved last week to a nuc as was 2-3 frames. Of the others 4 are big and have supers added the other 2 not quite ready.

The 4 big strong hives are all queens from the same supplier so will use one of these for my first year of grafting and hopefully requeen and try over wintering some nucs

Just ensure that the queens you intend to rear from are not just open mated f1 but are suitable for rearing. Now I am not saying don’t do it you will certainly learn the process but just accept results from these f1 queens can be patchy.

 

[tonyofarr]

So far so good, found 1 hive queen less so have requeened with a nuc but I still have 15 hives to check through. Most colonies checked so far have needed supers and I can see some early swarming if I don't catch up fast. Apart from 1 DLQ all the nucs have come through well and I am really pleased with them.

 

[BeeSpace]

All good here in South Yorkshire.

My son's two colonies both came through well, one in cedar, one in poly - the poly one is going gangbusters.

My cedar hive was unexpectedly strong when I checked it on Sunday, my double brood poly nuc was going well and moved into a cedar hive and much to my astonishment, my weak nuc is still clininging on and may yet make it (dregs of two late season DLQ colonies, with a queen chucked in and a bucket of hope).

 

[XYZ]

Entered winter with 3 colonies - 2 in full Abelo poly nationals, the other in a Maisemore Poly Nuc.
Latest inspection reveals we still have the same queens and they're all laying. I'm pretty happy with that.

 

[Cuckmere couple]

amazingly 10 of 10 here survived

all looking strong too

 

[masterBK]

Just the one loss out of 28.

 

[thedozzer]

Both Hives fine and dandy.