Having started beekeeping this year I realise that there is a lot to learn so will probably be on here a lot. One thing I have noticed is that you should remove the queen excluder in winter. If I do this how do I stop the queen moving up int my super containing the feed?
Queen excluder
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mjt68
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You want the queen to move to where the food is.
Welshboyarchrr
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I think you do it to allow the queen and the ball of bees up to the feed.
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What a number of beeks on here do is nadir the super in winter, but this is mainly with stores that haven't been capped.
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easy solution - take the super off, if you really must, replace it (empty, or with any unripe/uncapped frames of honey) underneath - if you are still feeding, the bees will then store the honey above and part of the cluster will drop into the shallow
B
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She does lay in the super if it's above the Brood box... the warmest part of the hive. For some reason many beekeepers are uncomfortable with this.
Try wintering with it beneath you BB as has been previously suggested.
enrico
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You need to understand why bees do what they do
During the summer bees collect stores and store it above the brood. As winter approaches they start to eat the stores they start at the bottom and work their way upwards because as stores get low the heat is retained further up the hive. The further up they go the less stores are needed to keep warm. Spring arrives and the queen starts laying in the first available places under any remaining stores.
So in autumn in your hive the bees will have stores above the last of the brood. In spring the queen starts laying below any remaining stores. If that is in a box where you want to store honey then you can always add a queen excluder and make sure the queen is below it and any brood will emerge and they can then use the comb for food.
The important thing is to make sure the queen is where the food is in the winter. Bees don't carry the food, the cluster moves round where the food is. If the queen cant get to it she will die.
It will all become apparent as the year moves on. Read a good book about how a hive works during the year. Bees at the bottom of the garden is a good starter level book
Hope this helps
E
During the summer bees collect stores and store it above the brood. As winter approaches they start to eat the stores they start at the bottom and work their way upwards because as stores get low the heat is retained further up the hive. The further up they go the less stores are needed to keep warm. Spring arrives and the queen starts laying in the first available places under any remaining stores.
So in autumn in your hive the bees will have stores above the last of the brood. In spring the queen starts laying below any remaining stores. If that is in a box where you want to store honey then you can always add a queen excluder and make sure the queen is below it and any brood will emerge and they can then use the comb for food.
The important thing is to make sure the queen is where the food is in the winter. Bees don't carry the food, the cluster moves round where the food is. If the queen cant get to it she will die.
It will all become apparent as the year moves on. Read a good book about how a hive works during the year. Bees at the bottom of the garden is a good starter level book
Hope this helps
E
Poly Hive
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The reason many dislike brood and a half which is what you would end up iwth if the queen lays in the super. Which is why some put the super below the brood box.
Personally, I keep my supers for honey and put a block of bakers fondant on top of the brood box in an eke which I make from insulation material (used in floors or walls) glued and screwed together. I check every few weeks to make sure they never run out. By block I do not mean a couple of ounces but two to three kilos a time.
I hope that clarifies matters a bit. There are at least 10 ways to do everything so its a matter of judging for yourself what is going to work best for you. It's all very well saying I want to feed honey (as a principle) but the problem is what if there is no honey to feed back????
PH
Personally, I keep my supers for honey and put a block of bakers fondant on top of the brood box in an eke which I make from insulation material (used in floors or walls) glued and screwed together. I check every few weeks to make sure they never run out. By block I do not mean a couple of ounces but two to three kilos a time.
I hope that clarifies matters a bit. There are at least 10 ways to do everything so its a matter of judging for yourself what is going to work best for you. It's all very well saying I want to feed honey (as a principle) but the problem is what if there is no honey to feed back????
PH
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Or more often than not, the bees won't abandon the queen and the whole colony will starve within inches of plentiful stores.
Poly Hive
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Oddly this does not happen with a block of fondant on the top bars....
KISS
PH
KISS
PH
enrico
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That is because the fondant always stays on the top bars as they eat it. so there is never a gap between the excluder and the food. I have often been tempted to wack a large block of fondant on instead of feeding sugar. Don't know why i don't do it really, it would probably be easier in the long run.
E
E
