Over wintering Colonies?

[Hawklord]

If using multiple brood chambers do the bees get condensed into 1 brood chamber for winter? How are they emptied of bees/brood? If a queen excluder is put above the queen do the bees abandon brood in upper chambers in favour of the queen in the lower 1? Is it just a case of removing hatched frames until the bees are on the required amount of frames?

 

[Finman]

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Before winterfeeding you move brood frames to the winter box. Winter cluster will be same size how much colony has brood area in before autumn.

You may shake bees in one box. It s better to shake them in front of hive or you use clearer board. Spread newspapers to the ground so bees walk quickly into the hive. When doing the job rain comes, put a sheet of newspaper on bees.

Order of frames for winter:

- clean combs on sides or foundations (old comb get mold easily)
- pollen combs for spring
- in the middle normal brood combs.

When bees do not get food on fields, foragers die in 2 weeks before autumn.
The colony became to winter size quickly even if it has been strong.

If the hive have had in late summer 10 frames of brood, it will need one winter box.

If a lot of bees remain outside, you may add another box under the wintering box.
When combs are full of food, it press sometimes bees out.

Feed in short time the hive for winter that it does not continue brood rearing and bees stuck free cells with syrup.

Feed the box full because bees do not capp the food unless cells are not full.

The volume of syrup depends on how much you left honey into combs.
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[Finman]

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If the hive has box full of brood and you should however to feed it for winter.

Put the brood box down and another box of empty combs up. Feed fill and cap the upper box. When bees emerge later, they have capped winter stores and lower empty box make no harm to bees.

 

[Finno]

Do not leave the QE in - queen may become isolated as cluster moves on stores she will die if that happens.